Last year we were attending a major event and I decided to buy an ice cream from one of the vendors. As soon as I licked it, I knew something wasn’t right. It wasn’t outright disgusting yet but the milk was on the turn. I suspect that even if just about edible, it would not… Continue reading Sour ice cream
Category: Discipleship
It’s no sacrifice … or is it?
Steve Kneale writes that we should stop calling faithfulness a sacrifice. He argues that it is not a sacrifice to obey God’s commands and stay faithful to Christ because, the things we are being asked to give up are not good for us, we are being asked to turn our back on sin and idolatry. … Continue reading It’s no sacrifice … or is it?
I’m not your Saviour
I recently wrote in response to a quote from John MacArthur where he suggested that husbands are in effect their wife’s saviour, rescuing them from loneliness, a lack of care and protection and unfulfilled potential in terms of children. Of course, when MacArthur talked about husbands as saviours, he wasn’t intending us to think that… Continue reading I’m not your Saviour
When patching up no longer works
Our previous car lasted us a good decade. Well, strictly speaking it lasted a good seven years. Then things started to go wrong. Every time the car went in for service, it would come back with a big bill to pay and a significant bit of work. Then there were the times when we had… Continue reading When patching up no longer works
You don’t have to apologise because I disagree with you
US pastor and writer Kevin DeYoung has been at it again, offending people on twitter. This time with this tweet. A lot of people have been quick to react, seeing something deeply heretical and offensive in the tweet. How, they ask, can Kevin say that we are fundamentally sinners when Genesis 1 says that we… Continue reading You don’t have to apologise because I disagree with you
How to engage emerging adults in church Book Review
The other day I wrote some thoughts in response to an article by Rebecca Glover on the missing generation of 18-25s in the church. Rebecca’s article was part biographical and part an introduction to the short book I’m now reviewing. The book is part of aa Grove Youth series and is short at 28 pages… Continue reading How to engage emerging adults in church Book Review
On hospital visiting as a pastor
This is prompted by a twitter discussion recently about whether non-conformist pastors opt to wear a clerical dog-collar when visiting the sick. Dog-collars tend to be part of the traditional uniform of the clergy, particularly though not exclusively among Anglicans. A lot of us would tend to frown upon then seeing them as emphasising a… Continue reading On hospital visiting as a pastor
The hard work of the pastor
I think we can fall into one of three traps if we are involved in church pastoral ministry. At the one end of the spectrum are those who see pastors as basically chaplains, nice, homely sorts who are primarily employed to go round and visit the elderly church members and drink copious cups of tea.… Continue reading The hard work of the pastor
The danger of boxes
The other day, I wrote two articles which, it later struck me, highlighted the problem with our tendency to think we can compartmentalise out lives, putting things in different boxes. The first was a follow up on Stephen Sizer and antisemitism. I wrote about how it is possible to think that we couldn’t possibly be… Continue reading The danger of boxes
Continuing to trace the rainbow
Back a few months back, as the news came in that Queen Elizabeth II had died, a rainbow appeared over Windsor Castle. It was a beautiful symbol of God’s goodness and promises at a time of grief. I’ve frequently talked in terms of “tracing the rainbow” based on the lyrics of the hymn “Oh Love… Continue reading Continuing to trace the rainbow
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