Coming up in Advent – The First Look Course

The First Look Course is a 4 part course looking at the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s for anyone who wants to start exploring what Christians believe. The course is available for anyone to pick up and use on their own or in groups from here. During Advent 2021 I’m also going… Continue reading Coming up in Advent – The First Look Course

Another approach to the Sunday question

How might we approach the question of Sundays and church attendance? Well the first thing we have to do is to recognise the dangers that exist for pastors and elders when it comes to the issue.  It seems that Sunday attendance is so obviously a good and right thing to do that there can’t possibly… Continue reading Another approach to the Sunday question

COVID -the continent and partial lockdowns

Over the past few days there have been moves across Europe to forms of lockdown again. Some countries, most notably Austria have been implementing partial lockdowns with measures falling primarily on those who have not yet been vaccinated. This has raised questions about Whether or not it is ethical to single out the unvaccinated and… Continue reading COVID -the continent and partial lockdowns

Move along nothing to see?

On Tuesday 9th November 2021, Tzipi Hotovely, an Israeli ambassador  spoke at the London School of Economics.  At the venue, students gathered to protest.  Video footage shows her being greeted by a wall of noise, chants of “shame on you” and having to be ushered quickly into a car. Additional reports state that students had… Continue reading Move along nothing to see?

Is the church helping asylum seekers to game the system?

On Sunday morning a Liverpool taxi driver realised that his passenger had an explosive devise attached to him. Bravely he chose to lock the cab doors so that the potential bomber was secured in the vehicle. As a result, when the bomb went off at the Liverpool Women’s hospital significant loss of life and injury… Continue reading Is the church helping asylum seekers to game the system?

Vouchsafe thy preferences

Some of the things that Christians choose to argue is “interesting” to say the least. Here’s Ben Crosby arguing for the use of archaic language in church liturgy.  I say “interesting” because it’s an odd priority and the reasoning is surprising. Go back 30 years and I could imagine making the argument for continuing to… Continue reading Vouchsafe thy preferences

Submission revisited – why the Trinity debate matters

What we believe affects how we live. This means that you can’t really just have academic debates about Theology. Recent debates about the Trinity matter for two reasons.  First because the most crucial aspect of how we live is our desire to know, love, worship, glorify and enjoy God. If we get our doctrine wrong… Continue reading Submission revisited – why the Trinity debate matters

Regathering and Replanting

I want to think a little bit more about what is involved for churches coming out of lockdown.  I did one of my mini-surveys via twitter recently and here are the results. As always, I’m not claiming that my survey gives  infallible, fully representative, scientific, Gallup standard analysis. However, it is a good dip check… Continue reading Regathering and Replanting