Not a day goes by during this pandemic that I don’t give thanks for Phillip Jensen, Tony Payne, and Col Marshall (see this recent article about their work on The Gospel Coalition website). The Trellis and the Vine has been invaluable to the Advent in seeing that we were well positioned for COVID-19. It was our hope to implement this kind of ministry in normal time, but God has seen fit to expedite things. Click here to read about our Shepherds Ministry.
When Phillip was with us four years ago, I received some negative feedback about his preaching and diagnosis of our ministry. As hard was it was for me to hear, he was right. Perhaps those who naysayed him then have now joined me in receiving the wisdom he imparted, albeit with some difficulty.
Tony and Col wrote the book in light of working with Phillip. As he doesn’t care to write books, the two of them simply wrote down what they saw Phillip do at St. Matthias and Uni churches in Sydney. God bless them for it.