Last month Mark began his series building the picture of the apostle Paul’s extraordinary contribution to the shape of western thought and society. These are legacies in which we all live whatever our convictions. This month Mark focuses on how grace opened the way for a society without the markers of ethnicity, gender, status or religion, marked instead by love and gifting. Mark will also outline why he reads Paul, contrary to many scholars, as a radical advocate on behalf of women.
Mark is one of our most popular speakers and for a good reason; he is a revolutionary thinker who combines deep theological insight with down to earth language. Thus he makes profound truths accessible for ordinary people like us.
Mark’s career exemplifies the ‘whole of life’ identity that characterises Gospel Conversations. He was a truck driver in early life, studied at Westminster Theological College, started a community church which was the fellowship highlight for many lives, then plunged into consulting to leaders and organisations with Tony Golsby-Smith for many years. Their conversations and experiences of finding God in the public space provided lots of the ideas and passions behind GC. Mark led a large liberal arts college in New Zealand before writing a great book on leadership, “The Arts of the Wise Leader” and returning to consulting.
Mark wrote an influential book on the thinking of Paul which developed the core idea of his doctoral thesis—that Paul reframed the modern world not just Christianity.
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