Category: Opinion

Boris and a question of character

As I write, Boris Johnson is still clinging on to power. That could change quickly.  Prime Ministers are remembered as much by how the leave office as anything.  Gordon Brown will be remembered for eventually leaving with his two sons and a level of dignity left, David Cameron for humming a care free tune as… Continue reading Boris and a question of character

Why I’m grateful for the Australians

These are not words you expect from a Brit especially as we are about to resume our traditional sporting rivalry (think rugby league, rugby union and cricket) tussling to come out on top in the Commonwealth Games.  However, I wanted to say something here about what I’m thankful for about Australian Evangelicalism, specifically Sydney Anglicanism.… Continue reading Why I’m grateful for the Australians

Champagne Legalism

This week, Dominic Raab stood in for Boris Johnson at Prime Ministers’ Questions whilst the PM was at the NATO summit. Given Raab’s reputation for putting his foot in his mouth, I assume his main job was to demonstrate exactly why Boris is still Prime Minister.  He didn’t disappoint. Convention meant that if the PM… Continue reading Champagne Legalism

A genuine grace saturated culture? Don’t lose the challenge

This is kind of a postscript or P.S following my two articles on Evangelical futures.  There’s a further PPS to come in a few days where I want to talk about the positive aspects of Australian/Sydney Anglican influence on UK Evangelicalism. In this article I want to talk about two linked things that primarily are… Continue reading A genuine grace saturated culture? Don’t lose the challenge

There’s more to reformed evangelicalism than this

Yesterday I shared some reflections in response to an article in Evangelicals Now by Glen Scrivener. There’s much I agreed with in his article, much that resonated. However, one thing I’m not so comfortable with is that in many respects, his description was only of a small part of Evangelicalism.  Indeed, I think that the… Continue reading There’s more to reformed evangelicalism than this

Evangelical Futures – Evangelicals Now (reflections in response to Glen Scrivener)

Evangelicals Now have been running a series of articles from various prominent evangelicals entitled “Evangelical Futures.”  In the most recent article Glen Scrivener shares some of his experience of the conservative Evangelical scene. In the article, Glen reminds us of the book “The Trellis and the Vine” by Payne and Marshall. He suggests that there… Continue reading Evangelical Futures – Evangelicals Now (reflections in response to Glen Scrivener)

No Minister, my city is not “god awful”

Last week, Government minister Heather Wheeler was forced to apologise after commenting that she had just made a speech in “Birmingham or Blackpool or some god awful place.”  It seems that politicians have trouble with the basic principle of not saying offensive things about the people they want to elect them. Remember Boris Johnson having… Continue reading No Minister, my city is not “god awful”

What next for Boris?

Yesterday evening, Boris Johnson survived a “No Confidence” vote from his own MPs by 211 votes to 148. This meant that 41% of his own MPs declared no confidence in him. However, in fact, he fare worse than that.  Between 160-170 MPs are on the government payroll as ministers/aides.  It’s possible that some of these… Continue reading What next for Boris?

Is the national Anthem a prayer and should we sing it in church?

Before we leave behind some of the questions that have arisen out of the Jubilee weekend, I’d like to talk about one more thing.  One suggestion made has been that we could at least sing the National Anthem in our church services because it is a prayer. In fact, I’ve seen it argued that this… Continue reading Is the national Anthem a prayer and should we sing it in church?