If I called in sick with a broken ankle, a severe bout of flu (genuine flu not man-flu) or because I was due serious surgery, you would probably think nothing of it. Yet, despite all of the progress in our understanding of mental health, we still have a problem with its stigma. Why is that? … Continue reading Why is there a stigma about mental health issues and suicide?
Author: faithrootsdw
Eternal Generation and the EFS debate
In what way is Christ “God’s Son”? We are talking specifically about his divine nature here because he is also “son of God” by virtue of his human nature just as Luke describes Adam as God’s Son. John 3:16 describes Jesus as God’s “only begotten son.” It seems that Arians who did not regard Jesus… Continue reading Eternal Generation and the EFS debate
How many times do you need to ask?
I remember a speaker at a conference I attended claiming that he had identified the secret to successful prayer. It was a matter of persistence in prayer and fasting. We give up too easily, he claimed. He was even prepared to put a number on this. Just as Jesus prayed and fasted for 40 days,… Continue reading How many times do you need to ask?
Last Night of The Proms and the annual patriotic hymns controversy
It’s that time of year again when we get the annual silly season story about whether the patriotic songs (Land of Hope and Glory and Rule Britannia) are going to be removed from The Last Night of The Proms. Well as someone whose interest in classical music is stuck firmly at the popular end of… Continue reading Last Night of The Proms and the annual patriotic hymns controversy
Suicide – who is responsible?
I have reflected on and wrestled with this over the last day or two and felt it would be right to respond to a particularly distressing tweet shared by a prominent Christian on twitter. Before I go any further, I want to recognise that some people will find this subject matter too distressing to engage… Continue reading Suicide – who is responsible?
Get these two words in your regular vocabulary
This is a subject I will keep coming back to because I believe it is so important that we get this right if we are going to see healthy gospel churches. They are “sorry” and “forgive”. Elton John sung that “sorry seems to be the hardest word.” It shouldn’t be should it. We know that… Continue reading Get these two words in your regular vocabulary
Haircuts and Purity policing … a modern parable
My hair is a lot shorter than it was meant to be. I had a lock down hair cut disaster. The problem is that you cut if more than intended on one side so you try to even it up on the other. Then that side ends up too short too. Some people end up… Continue reading Haircuts and Purity policing … a modern parable
Re-mapping the Gender Role debate
We tend to describe the debate about gender roles in church and the family as divided between egalitarians and complementarians. However, I have been wondering whether this properly captures the nuances of the discussion. So, here is an attempt to remap where the agreement and disagreement is. I am starting with the assumption that the… Continue reading Re-mapping the Gender Role debate
How do we allow others to help us remove our logs and specks?
In a previous post I began to build on Steve Kneale’s post on the challenges of “logs and specks” in the eye of the church. Steve said that the challenge is that we often cannot see our own logs to remove them. Here are some further thoughts. First of all, whilst I may not be… Continue reading How do we allow others to help us remove our logs and specks?
Racism is a sin of omission not just comission
One of the things that has been concerning for white church pastors like me in response to some of the discussion about racism has been the level of defensiveness. We want to say that we are not racist and so we get very defensive when people talk about systemic racism going on in our churches… Continue reading Racism is a sin of omission not just comission
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