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
Posts
How does a Christian doctrine of suffering affect counselling of the bereaved?
In June 2005, my Great Aunt was mugged and knocked unconscious. She died in hospital two days later. As a family we went through the full range of emotions; shock and sadness at the tragic loss, anger at those who did it, guilt at our failure to visit “Auntie” more often. Whilst each bereavement is… Continue reading How does a Christian doctrine of suffering affect counselling of the bereaved?
2023 daily devotionals
I’ve tried to include some form of regular devotional piece on Faithroots over the past few years. I hope this is useful for those looking for something to assist with their daily meditation. This has include #DailyDose audio podcasts and through last year, an article most days taking us into a little more detail in… Continue reading 2023 daily devotionals
Saving the NHS – one small step
One of the annual winter traditions in the UK is doom headlines about the NHS collapsing. This winter has been particularly grim with high levels of COVID, flu and other illnesses. Add into the mix key worker strikes including by nurses and ambulance drivers and it sounds like a lot of hospital A&E departments are… Continue reading Saving the NHS – one small step
Antisemitism -and when your defence further implicates
Squawk box is one of those websites that offers an alternative approach to the news, claiming to correct the mainstream media. A number of such outlets exist on both the alt-right and the far left. Squawkbox is a left-wing version. One of the main priorities on the far left over the past couple of years… Continue reading Antisemitism -and when your defence further implicates
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
A perplexing silence?
Peter Mead thinks that there has been a perplexing silence from Christian leaders and that it has been left to others to “speak the hard truths.” He writes about this in a three part series here, here and here. Now, as I’ve written a few times, I think that our track record as conservative evangelicals… Continue reading A perplexing silence?
A party in heaven?
On what would have been my mum’s birthday, I made this comment on twitter. Some guy saw this as his opportunity to attempt to provoke a reaction, telling me how terrible, immature and unbiblical my theology of heaven was. I’m not quite sure why he saw fit to wade into the grief of someone he… Continue reading A party in heaven?
How consistent are modern views of a spiritual resurrection of Jesus with the evidence of the gospels?
One of the major fault lines within Christian Theology in recent times has been over the statement “I believe in the resurrection.” What does it mean to claim this?[1] Many Christians would insist that this means that Jesus rose physically from the dead. However, a number of theologians have argued that this is not necessary. … Continue reading How consistent are modern views of a spiritual resurrection of Jesus with the evidence of the gospels?
Should the church care about social justice?
This is one of those issues that seem to split the evangelical world down the middle. On the one hand, you can find many church websites, supported by blogs and books arguing that we should be passionate about “social justice”. On the other hand, there are plenty of books, blogs and twitter threads arguing that… Continue reading Should the church care about social justice?
