Category: Church life

Trauma, grief and response to abuse

Over the past few years, I’ve written and spoken quite a bit about the problem of abusive cultures particularly in the context of church life. First of all, my concern is to see us doing better in letting what we believe affect how we live so that doctrines of grace lead to cultures of grace.… Continue reading Trauma, grief and response to abuse

Christians don’t (shouldn’t) bear grudges

One of the saddest things in Christian life is when you meet or hear about people, sometimes within the same church who have not spoken for years. Similarly you can even discover churches where there has been rivalry going on since a split decades ago.  Sometimes Christians will disagree sharply. The Apostle Paul disagreed with… Continue reading Christians don’t (shouldn’t) bear grudges

Why we should care about protecting each other from COVID

We probably are not quite out of the woods yet with the COVID-19 pandemic. The encouraging news is that we have fully vaccinated over 50% of the adult population and over 75% have received at least one dose. However, there are other pressures that are not such good news. First of all, the “Delta” (Indian)… Continue reading Why we should care about protecting each other from COVID

A last meal with Jesus

#TheDailyDose John 21 The problem of incompleteness A couple of things we’ve picked up on Jesus deals with sin and guilt  -I sort of get that and the objective guilt bit is easy enough but the shame less easy –how do I get on with things when people are still mocking or disowning me.  Okay… Continue reading A last meal with Jesus

How (not) to be a guilt driven church

#TheDailyDose – Ephesians 2:8-10 The book we bought and the book we read Rick Warren’s best sellers “The purpose driven life” and “The purpose  driven church” –but a lot of churches and Christian lives feel “guilt driven” …not purpose driven What do I mean …. Trying to bridge a gap “For it is by grace… Continue reading How (not) to be a guilt driven church

The truth about cats and dogs

#TheDailyDose (Psalm 51) The difference between cats and dogs                Dogs show guilt in their face                Cats cause you to feel guilt A lot of people carry a heavy burden of guilt and shame –it can cripple us as we seek to serve God. It can cripple churches too What is guilt? Often when… Continue reading The truth about cats and dogs

What should we do about online church after the pandemic ends?

If the government roadmap goes according to plan in England, churches will be able to fully reopen again from the 21st of June. During the pandemic, most of us have been providing online content for the many people who have been unable to attend our services in person. During that time, we have learnt that… Continue reading What should we do about online church after the pandemic ends?

The Guilt Driven Church or the Grace Saturated Church?

Over the next few days we’ve something a little different on #TheDailyDose . I’m taking a break from working through a book in order to look at a mini topical series.  Over the past few months, we’ve been challenged following the Fletcher, Smyth and Timmis scandals to look at our church culture. What kind of… Continue reading The Guilt Driven Church or the Grace Saturated Church?