Death, sympathy and Distinguishing – Is Donald Trump equivalent to Bin Laden?

Have a watch of this video clip.  I wonder if you can spot the mistakes that Ash Sarker makes in her response. Sarkar’s argument is that she sympathises with those who have been celebrating Donald Trump’s illness and wishing for his death for three reasons. That we use black humour to cope with tragic situations… Continue reading Death, sympathy and Distinguishing – Is Donald Trump equivalent to Bin Laden?

Praying for Donald Trump and Boris Johnson -when it is okay to qualify and prefix

In my article about praying for Donald Trump (and other politicians), as well as dealing with why we shouldn’t wish others dead, I also warned against the temptation to preface our prayers and best wishes with words along the lines of “although I disagree with..” Steve Kneale makes a similar point here and in an… Continue reading Praying for Donald Trump and Boris Johnson -when it is okay to qualify and prefix

Is it time to rethink – or even drop – our ministry training schemes?

What if we were to close down our Ministry Training Schemes and start again?  Up and down the country for the past 2-30 years, churches and Gospel partnerships have been running these schemes. They tend primarily (though not exclusively) to be run from churches with high student numbers and a scheme typically involves One day… Continue reading Is it time to rethink – or even drop – our ministry training schemes?

Urban Church Planting – post COVID

For most of the past year most churches have had their heads down, focused on getting through this virus together without losing too many people and hopefully at the same time picking up new people via online services.  Yet whilst all of that has been happening, the need for new churches and church revitalisation hasn’t… Continue reading Urban Church Planting – post COVID

New (Matthew 9:14-17)

The music is playing loudly, people are dancing, laughing, chatting and drinking. Then someone comes into the room, switches the lights on, turns the music down, looks around scowling and says “please tone it down.” Then the best man goes across to them and says “excuse me but you’ve just interrupted a wedding.” You walk… Continue reading New (Matthew 9:14-17)

On wishing politicians dead

On wishing someone else dead “We should rejoice that this dictator is dead” said the preacher, to audible gasps from the congregation.  “My daughter prayed that he would die at our family prayer time yesterday, and it has happened.”  He then went on to explain his reasoning. The dictator could either die to himself and… Continue reading On wishing politicians dead

How to be a devil’s advocate

To be honest I’d rather that people wouldn’t. The Devil seems to be perfectly capable of being his own advocate and has a whole following of supporters genuinely willing to advocate for him. Furthermore, too often, it seems to me that “I’m just playing devil’s advocate” is what someone says when their argument has been… Continue reading How to be a devil’s advocate