Posts

The election and immigration

Immigration was always going to be one of the big issues in this General Election Campaign.  Rishi Sunak made that so when he made “stopping the boats” one of his key objectives and pushed ahead with the Rwanda policy.  His opponents were going to be happy with this given that the Tories had been promising… Continue reading The election and immigration

Ephesians and Church leadership

We want our church leadership to be Biblical. Usually by this, we mean that we want to appoint people to the offices we find in Scripture and mirror the structures we find there. The problem is that there is often a lot of disagreement here because in fact the New Testament doesn’t really have that… Continue reading Ephesians and Church leadership

Revealed

The question of Jesus’ identity has now been established and answers offered.  Peter’s answer that Jesus is “The Messiah” has been recognised as the correct verdict but what exactly does this mean? Peter’s own understanding of Messiahship has proven faulty and Jesus has made it clear that his identity as King is wrapped up in… Continue reading Revealed

Journalists should stop trying to be the mediators

Whatever our views of individual politicians, good political debate can be helped or hindered by the journalists reporting, interviewing and debate moderating. I think Nick Robinson modelled reasonably well how to do it when interviewing Sunak but suffered from time constraints. I’m sure previous elections have seen a longer format. The moderating of the BBC… Continue reading Journalists should stop trying to be the mediators

Pensions, social care and an honest election conversation about the future

In 2017, Theresa May in effect blew up her own election campaign by attempting to tackle the question of social care.  The taxing question was about how we meet the rising cost of supporting an increasingly elderly population.  Her focus was on the bill for providing residential care for those who needed support in day… Continue reading Pensions, social care and an honest election conversation about the future

Messiah

Christ is not a proper name or even a surname, despite the impression that is sometimes given by talk of Jesus Christ.  We might do better to talk about Jesus The Christ as with John The Baptist. The Christ is an anglicised form of the Greek for “anointed one” or “The Messiah.”  This referred to… Continue reading Messiah

Is John Stott’s successor my friend?

Evangelicals Now reports that the rector at All Souls, Langham Place, Charlie Skrine has said in a speech in Sydney that “Justin Welby” is not his friend.  Looking on as an outsider to the Anglican scene, this strikes me as yet another example of why the internal Anglican debate and even more so the debate… Continue reading Is John Stott’s successor my friend?

Rishi’s bigger mistake

This may surprise you, but I don’t think Rishi Sunak’s biggest mistake was his decision to come home early from the D-Day commemorations.  Of course, it has prompted a thousand memes and jokes.  Yes it caused outrage, some of it genuine, some of it faux and it has definitely put his campaign on the back… Continue reading Rishi’s bigger mistake

Was the woman at the well ever married? A response to Denny Burk

Denny Burk writes here, speculating on whether or not the woman at the well (John 4:1-26) was married to any of the 5 men Jesus refers to.  His argument is based on the fact that the same Greek word, “aner” can be translated simply as “man” or as “husband” depending on context. Though having made… Continue reading Was the woman at the well ever married? A response to Denny Burk