Posts

Confidentiality and pastoral care

Often in pastoral care, the question of confidentiality will come up.  This is important because when you are counselling someone, they are placing themselves in a vulnerable situation and may be telling you things that they’ve never told anyone before. They may be nervous about how making that known will affect them and their relationships.… Continue reading Confidentiality and pastoral care

Can I say to an unbeliever “God loves you?”

At least one pastor on social media doesn’t think so. This raises some interesting questions. The first of which is can we through a quick scan through Acts draw such a dogmatic conclusion as that the apostles “never” did something. Interestingly, if we are looking for examples from New Testament narrative, my friend -and experienced… Continue reading Can I say to an unbeliever “God loves you?”

The Fragility of Church Plants

Over the past decade, there has been a renewed interest in church planting. It’s something I write about quite a bit with a particular focus on reaching urban contexts.  Since we moved to the West Midlands, we have been linked with an initiative first known as 2020 Birmingham and now as The Birmingham Collective. The… Continue reading The Fragility of Church Plants

Should we sing “the father’s wrath completely satisfied”?

A friend recently asked on social media for recommendations of newish songs for their church to learn. One I mentioned was the Sovereign Grace song, “Jesus Thank you” by Pat Sczebel .  Another friend commented that whilst they too love this song, they struggle a bit with the chorus which goes: Your blood has washed… Continue reading Should we sing “the father’s wrath completely satisfied”?

Thinking about church planting but don’t know where or how to start?

I recently asked a couple of questions on twitter about church planting. One of the questions I asked was about the kinds of barriers that people experience that make it less likely for them to consider getting involved in church planting. Now, for a lot of people, it’s simply that they have no sense of… Continue reading Thinking about church planting but don’t know where or how to start?

COVID Spring 2022

It’s been a while since I wrote anything about COVID-19 however, I thought it might be worth a little update. Since I stopped updating charts daily, there have been substantial changes to testing and reporting including the ending of free Lateral flow tests. For that reason, I am not going to report on positive test… Continue reading COVID Spring 2022

Why I’m less keen on talking about class and church

There’s been much discussion about class and church in evangelical circles recently and despite the title I think that this is generally a good thing if it gets us talking about the missing people and unreached areas that should “rebuke our slothful ease” More so if it leads not just to talk but to action.… Continue reading Why I’m less keen on talking about class and church

Why is the Resurrection Good News?

The Resurrection is good News because it tells us that we are not alone Most of us find ourselves faced with two competing alternatives  Superstition This is driven by fear of the unknown and the unexplained. It leads to attempts to control the unknown through ritual. We might believe in spiritual forces but these are… Continue reading Why is the Resurrection Good News?

Britain isn’t in the middle of a migrant crisis

Newspaper headlines scream that we are in the middle of an asylum crisis. Britain is being swamped by asylum seekers turning up on our shores in little dinghies. This, we are told, is something the public wont put up with. Perhaps it is time for a reality check. Compared to the experience of countries on… Continue reading Britain isn’t in the middle of a migrant crisis