Faithroots

We need to talk about depression

I’ve just been writing some responses to advice given from older guys in ministry via the Christian media. I’ve responded to a few of these in recent years where the time seemed to be very much “it is all terrible now. It was better in the past”. I wonder to what extent rather than editors… Continue reading We need to talk about depression

The visible church

In Matthew 13:21-30, Jesus tells a parable about a farmer who plants seed, only for an enemy to intentionally plant weeds in among the crop. The owner’s servants ask permission to go and uproot the weeds but the farmer says no because there is a risk that good crops will be uprooted with bad. This… Continue reading The visible church

Submitting to one another and learning love languages

My friend Steve Kneale has written a very helpful article here about how we learn to experience love across cultures. In his article, he picks up on how the concept of “love languages” has often been misunderstood and misused. Steve, observes that too often, people talk in terms of what their “love language” is meaning… Continue reading Submitting to one another and learning love languages

Unburdened by doctrine?

They saved the two best speeches until the end. Rishi Sunak left Downing Street speaking humbly rather than defiantly, apologising for his failings and then praising his successor, acknowledging that Sir Keir Starmer is a decent, public servant and encouraging everyone to see the new PM’s successes as “all our successes.” Starmer on his part… Continue reading Unburdened by doctrine?

Prophecy and the excluded middle

Sometimes’ a football team’s strategy is to hit the ball long, consistently bouncing it between defenders and strikers so that the midfielders become passive observers. The middle of the pitch is excluded. There are ways in which we can exclude the middle too. There is a tendency I think for churches to think in terms… Continue reading Prophecy and the excluded middle

The difference

So, that was that, for all the talk of England’s date with destiny, it turned out to be Spain that had the invite after all. The Three Lions managed to pull back level after going a goal behind and only lost 2-1 in the late stages of the game. However, the narrow scoreline and late… Continue reading The difference

Should we make our church harder to join?

“Yes and no” The question is raised by Tim Suffield here. Or rather, Tim answers the question from his perspective with a hard “yes”. He argues that we shouldn’t be too easy to join, that “welcome requires walls” and that this means a church should be clear in communicating what makes it distinctive and what… Continue reading Should we make our church harder to join?

Christ my only hope in life and death

Faithroots Podcast

Total Recall and VAR (lessons from Harry Kane’s penalty for cultural analysis)

In both of England’s recent Euro semi-finals, there’s been penalty controversy. Some pundits branded the decision in favour of Kane the other night “a disgrace.” At the time, I agreed with the VAR decision but have found the lively, good natured social media debate fascinating. Many England fans have argued that it should not have… Continue reading Total Recall and VAR (lessons from Harry Kane’s penalty for cultural analysis)

The future of the centre right

At the General Election, the Conservatives were reduced to a rump of 121 out of 650 MPs. If we consider Reform, or at least their voters as belonging to the centre-right too, then we are still only looking at 126 seats. However, that’s one part of the story. Whilst barely 24% of the electorate voted… Continue reading The future of the centre right