Apparently, something big has been happening in Britain over the past few days. Read certain papers (The Telegraph, the tabloids) or watch the BBC and you’ll pick up on it. The UK are celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with street parties and pageants, festooning their houses and neighbourhoods with bunting and Union Jack flags. Those… Continue reading A tale of two countries – A Jubilee celebration for all?
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Make it a real Jubilee – cancel the debt
Here’s some information about debt in the UK. The average debt in the UK was over £1.7 billion at the end of November 2021. The average total debt per household in 2021 was £63,112. Unsecured debt from personal loans was estimated at £208 billion in 2019. As stated in UK personal debt statistics, 63% of UK… Continue reading Make it a real Jubilee – cancel the debt
Why I won’t be celebrating Jubilee Sunday (if I can help it)
Yesterday, I began to talk about celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. As promised, here’s why I don’t intend to make a big thing of the so called Jubilee Sunday. The first thing to say is that my position doesn’t arise out of some passionate republicanism although my sympathies lie increasingly that way. I’m inclined to… Continue reading Why I won’t be celebrating Jubilee Sunday (if I can help it)
What is the Biblical basis for financially supporting pastors?
Having spent ten years as a paid pastor in a church, I’ve spent the past year and a bit in a slightly different position. I’m currently self-supported which means I’m responsible for raising my own support. There are a lot of positives and benefits to this. One reason I was keen to spend some time… Continue reading What is the Biblical basis for financially supporting pastors?
Is the Queen a Christian?
This weekend marks the official celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. A recent pastors’ discussion on Facebook was prompted by the question “How will you be marking Jubilee Sunday?” My answer is that “I won’t”. I’ll write a little bit more about that tomorrow. Steve Kneale has written here explaining why he won’t. Personally, I’ve… Continue reading Is the Queen a Christian?
The cost of living crisis and the New Testament Church
As I’m writing this article, it’s just been announced that inflation in Britain has hit 9%, the highest it has been in many years. Meanwhile there are dire warnings that inflation could soon be accompanied by recession which will lead to high unemployment and with it house repossessions. Over the past few months, I’ve been… Continue reading The cost of living crisis and the New Testament Church
Bradford, city of culture 2025, needs church planting
Yesterday, my home city, Bradford one the contest to be the UK city of culture 2025. The City of Culture designation is given to an area every 4 years and lasts for the year. The place hosts cultural events and receives significant investment. I’ve written before about Bradford’s bid and about both what the city… Continue reading Bradford, city of culture 2025, needs church planting
Headship is not about hierarchy
My friend, Steve Kneale has written a few articles about complementarian theology and practice. This follows someone misrepresenting his position in this article as being egalitarian not complementarian. I can certainly vouch for Steve as a fully paid up complementarian. It seems that what some people are doing is taking the term and narrowing down… Continue reading Headship is not about hierarchy
Joy, enjoyment and singing
In my article on singing the other day, I talked about the importance of enjoyment and joy when we are singing. I wanted to expand on a little footnote I included in the article. There I commented that: Incidentally, when I talk about joy and enjoyment here, I don’t think that means we are meant… Continue reading Joy, enjoyment and singing
Look after your leaders’ mental health
I’ve written before about my own brush with anxiety and depression. You can read my story here, here and in the book, The Pastor with a thorn in his side (ed. Steve Kneale). I wanted to say a bit more about how churches can look after the mental health of their pastors and other leaders… Continue reading Look after your leaders’ mental health
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