faithrootsdw

The Chain

They say that moving house is in the top three stressful things that you can do though I’m not sure it has to be that stressful. I remember when we bought our first house that the process seemed fairly relaxed, mind you, we didn’t have to worry about selling too. This time around, we set… Continue reading The Chain

Too late? (Mark 5:21-43)

We’ve seen already how the story of Jairus’ daughter wraps around the healing of the woman with a discharge of blood. Here we see at first a contrast because Jesus is willing to pause for the one that no one else would notice even as he goes to help a man who is used to… Continue reading Too late? (Mark 5:21-43)

No Minister, my city is not “god awful”

Last week, Government minister Heather Wheeler was forced to apologise after commenting that she had just made a speech in “Birmingham or Blackpool or some god awful place.” It seems that politicians have trouble with the basic principle of not saying offensive things about the people they want to elect them. Remember Boris Johnson having… Continue reading No Minister, my city is not “god awful”

If I can just get close enough (Mark 5:21-43)

Perhaps one of the most moving accounts in the Gospels is the story of the woman who had suffered for many years with an illness that caused frequent discharge of blood. It’s wrapped around by the healing of Jairus’ daughter. This helps us to see a few things. First, we see Jesus’ willingness to be… Continue reading If I can just get close enough (Mark 5:21-43)

Hello Great Barr

Last week, we said goodbye to Bearwood and Smethwick and moved a short distance to the north of Birmingham. Today, I thought I’d share some photos from our new area. I’ve three reasons for this. I’d love to encourage you to pray for us as we seek to encourage and enable church planting into the… Continue reading Hello Great Barr

Are mission statements helpful?

I’ve seen a little bit of discussion about vision/mission and value statements recently. Generally speaking, most of the commentary has been negative. I get that, like my friend Steve Kneale, I don’t like to see the church dragged into a corporate/business culture. I’m also aware of two things. First, that so often, it seems that… Continue reading Are mission statements helpful?

Demons and Pigs (Mark 5:1-20)

Why does Jesus permit a legion of demons to leave a human being and possess pigs? Jesus and the disciples have crossed Galilee and on the other side, they find a man who is possessed by many demons so that he’s been given the nickname Legion. The demons bring with them superhuman strength so that… Continue reading Demons and Pigs (Mark 5:1-20)

Counting the Costa

A little while back Costa decided to change their soya milk brand. That shouldn’t be a big deal should it? Milk is milk, soya milk is soya milk. Except that when you start using milk replacement brands, they have to use a mix of ingredients to get the replacement right. Unfortunately, there were two problems… Continue reading Counting the Costa

Peace in the storm (Mark 4:35-41)

There’s a great storm raging, the waves are battering against the boat and it is being tossed about like a toy by the wind. The sailors are struggling against the storm. Several of them are seasoned sailors who know these waters well but there’s something different about this storm that fills them with dread. Meanwhile… Continue reading Peace in the storm (Mark 4:35-41)

It’s okay to go off-piste when preaching … providing you signpost it clearly

There’s been a few occasions when I’ve been preaching where something has struck me and I’ve felt it particularly relevant and helpful but it hasn’t been something that the passage specifically addresses. Rather, it’s been a question arising perhaps out of something the passage leaves unaddressed. There have been other occasions where I’ve drawn an… Continue reading It’s okay to go off-piste when preaching … providing you signpost it clearly