Being eulogised by Babylon

Last weekend, New York pastor and author, Timothy Keller, died.  Since then, many people have been paying their respects and expressing gratitude for Tim’s life.  This has included secular obituaries including In the New York Times.  However, as I indicated in my own reflections, there was a significant number of people who found controversy in… Continue reading Being eulogised by Babylon

Government, childcare, muddled values and faulty assumptions

The Government are concerned that shortages in the labour market risk harming economic growth. Of course, some might suggest that labour shortages have a bit of a relationship to recent changes to immigration policy post Brexit.[1] However, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt has come up with a different answer. As part of a… Continue reading Government, childcare, muddled values and faulty assumptions

What can we offer?

Photo by Cytonn Photography on Pexels.com

I’ve just been participating in a conversation about what churches pay, specifically what they are currently offering Youth Workers/Ministers.  The conversation was started by an observation that a lot of jobs are being advertised at around £23k.  Incidentally, a quick check on both the Evangelicals Now boards and Premier’s suggests that there are some churches… Continue reading What can we offer?

The Coronation, the Archbishop and the Holy Spirit

Did you watch the coronation of King Charles III yesterday? What did you make of it? Personally, I thought it was an impressive spectacle.  We do ceremony and pageantry well, here in the United Kingdom.  It was at times moving.  There were those little individual moments set against the pomp and circumstance, a son kissing… Continue reading The Coronation, the Archbishop and the Holy Spirit

The inevitable follow up question

Gradually over the years, my wife has trained me to do better. In the early days of our relationship, I’d share some news with her about a birth, death, engagement or such like. She’d then ask follow up questions – like the baby’s gender, weight, name etc and I wouldn’t know.  Sarah would keep telling… Continue reading The inevitable follow up question

Why I talk about the things I do

Photo by Harry Cunningham @harry.digital on Pexels.com

I occasionally speak to people who are thinking about giving some form of blogging a try -either a written blog like this or some form of podcast or vlog (video blog) on You Tube.  I thought it might be helpful for those of you considering this if I were to talk about why I blog… Continue reading Why I talk about the things I do

Better the devil you know?   What might Putin’s demise mean when it comes?

With regular frequency, you’ll see a newspaper article about how Vladimir Putin is seriously and terminally ill.  Usually this will come accompanied by some speculation regarding his mental health and the possibility that he is acting irrationally in Ukraine, raising the spectre of him going further in his supposed madness and ushering in a nuclear… Continue reading Better the devil you know?   What might Putin’s demise mean when it comes?