What shall we do with Halloween?

It’s strange isn’t it that October 31st has become quite the big deal in some ways, yet less so in other ways.  In fact, that’s true of this time of year generally.  Back when I was a child in the 1970s-80s, there were things that were big about late October/early November.  Bonfire Night was fast… Continue reading What shall we do with Halloween?

Taking care about what you are singing

Christian song writers can certainly have a knack for finding the most bewildering and cringeworthy song lyrics.  Sometimes, it ends up being silly and amusing. Sometimes, context just makes a hymn inappropriate and sometimes we suffer from the way that words and phrases have changed meaning and usage over time.  For example, a few centuries… Continue reading Taking care about what you are singing

How do you respond when God shakes your world?

Today at church we were looking at “The Birthday of the Church.”  You might think we are a bit out of season for Pentecost but we’ve been working through the big story of the Bible at our monthly “all-age-services”.  As you may recall, there were different responses to the events as people heard God’s name… Continue reading How do you respond when God shakes your world?

Curiosity is crucial

I think that often the difference between leaders who are able to change things and those that aren’t is often to do with curiosity.  Some people are naturally curious. They are always wondering why things are the way they are, always asking questions, always considering different options, scenarios and reasons.  They employ the famous “W”… Continue reading Curiosity is crucial

Not without hope

Genesis 11 paints a pretty hopeless picture.  The new, post flood humanity have in effect squandered the blessings and privileges of the covenant with Noah. Their hubristic rebellion against God has been crushed, they are divided by language and scattered across the world of the day.  However, at the end of the chapter, we are… Continue reading Not without hope

We shouldn’t be throwing anyone under the social media bus

The other day, I shared this Gospel Coalition article urging people not to throw their pastor under the bus.  The article was specifically about how Christians engage on social media.  I thought it might be helpful to say a little bit more about the specific subject. By social media we mean internet sites and phone/tablet… Continue reading We shouldn’t be throwing anyone under the social media bus

Is expository preaching “all that”?

I saw this little twitter thread this morning.  It’s worth a read, just to pick up on how some people perceive what is considered the gold standard approach to preaching among conservative evangelicals It’s important because I suspect that a lot of us will consider expository preaching as the norm and will be surprised that… Continue reading Is expository preaching “all that”?

Theology and the church

The other day I saw this twitter comment about the place, or more accurately, absence of theology in the local church. There was also this additional commentary from Marcus Honeysett.  I believe that the local church is the context where theology should primarily happen.  There are a few reasons for this but it boils down… Continue reading Theology and the church

Are you ready?

Mark 13 takes us to two questions. There’s the immediate question from the disciples is simple enough “when will the destruction of the Temple happen?” The second arises out of it and moves beyond one “mini-world-end” to the greater end of the world event when Jesus will return.  Jesus addresses this too. Read Mark 13:24-37… Continue reading Are you ready?

We need to challenge the disturbing ways that older generations are spoken about and to

About 100 years ago, as the world struggled with the aftermath of a Global pandemic, as warfare on a horrific scale in Europe brought fear and as people faced poverty and hardship because of economic depression, there were those who were keen to turn the focus on specific classes of people and encourage the politics… Continue reading We need to challenge the disturbing ways that older generations are spoken about and to