Author: faithrootsdw

Why getting the full story of divided Sundays matters

I’ve just been to a day conference on racial reconciliation and the church. The main speaker Owen Hylton, gave the example of a Nigerian believer who joins your church. He wants to meet to pray You tell him “There’s the monthly prayer meeting for 1.5 hours in two weeks time.” He says “I was thinking… Continue reading Why getting the full story of divided Sundays matters

A redundant Temple

The Old Testament prophets promised good things for God’s Temple.  Whilst Isaiah prophesied destruction, devastation and defilement and Ezekiel and Daniel were set against the backdrop of that desolation already having happened, all the major prophets expressed hope of a coming day when God would bring his people back into the promised land, Jerusalem would… Continue reading A redundant Temple

The Russian people need to know where the real existential threat is coming from

The great tension over whether or not Vladimir Putin will use nuclear weapons or not comes down to two factors.  The first is that he has two types of nuclear weapon.  When we talk about nuclear weapons we primarily think of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles – strategic nuclear weapons. The UK’s version of this is the… Continue reading The Russian people need to know where the real existential threat is coming from

Revitalisation and the traumatised church

I’ve mentioned a few times now that sometimes a church acts and feels as though it has been through a form of corporate or collective trauma and is suffering corporate PTSD.  There may have been a number of factors leading up to this including specific events within the life of the church such as the… Continue reading Revitalisation and the traumatised church

Cursed

The cursing of the fig tree seems like one of the most peculiar events in the Gospels. What was going on there? Did Jesus just lose it with an inanimate object in the same way that I get frustrated when the internet plays up or the TV refuses to respond to the instructions I send… Continue reading Cursed

Blocked care and the church

Child psychologists working with families where the child has experienced significant trauma sometimes talk about a concept called “Blocked Care.” The concept is particular associated with Daniel Hughes.[1] Blocked care/parenting is a state parents can enter when prolonged stress suppresses their capacity to sustain loving and empathic feelings towards their child. Broadly, this happens almost… Continue reading Blocked care and the church

This is the moment

Spot the story arch between Mark 10 and Mark 11. At the end of chapter 10, Jesus has been interrupted on his journey through Jericho by a blind man crying to  receive his sight. Healed of his blindness, Bartimaeus now follows Jesus, joining with his disciples. When we get to chapter 11, we discover where… Continue reading This is the moment

Loose lips … careless talk is costly

There was a campaign during World War II with the theme “Loose lips sink ships.”  The point was that unguarded comments might give away intelligence to the enemy enabling U-Boats to target trans-Atlantic crossings.  It became a bit of an Anglo-American proverb, a reminder that careless talk is costly. It’s a proverb that Joe Biden… Continue reading Loose lips … careless talk is costly