I’m rather concerned at the number of people who seem rather gung-ho at the prospect of military intervention by NATO countries into Ukraine. As I’ve mentioned before, it seems that those who are pushing the prospect seem either to assume that the gamble is worth it because either it would not lead to the use… Continue reading Why we don’t want a nuclear conflict
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We urgently need to do more for Ukrainian refugees
On Sunday, it was reported that only 50 refugees from Ukraine had been granted visas to come to the UK. A Guardian report on Monday suggested that it had risen to 300 with about 17700 applications in process so we should expect further visas to be granted, indeed the New York Times reports Priti Patel… Continue reading We urgently need to do more for Ukrainian refugees
Should I give up on seeing people coming back to church?
It varies from church to church but most churches even if they’ve experienced growth through new people joining appear to have lost some people from in person attendance during COVID. I was arguing back in the Autumn that those who had not begun to re-join your gatherings or at least make active preparation probably would… Continue reading Should I give up on seeing people coming back to church?
What about pacifism?
The situation in Ukraine is really stretching our hearts and our thinking. On this week’s podcast, I talked with Ryan Burton King, a pastor in London who has family and church connections to the country. As well as talking about prayer points, we also discussed whether or not pastors could and should take sides in… Continue reading What about pacifism?
Should using nuclear weapons be a war crime?
The other day I mentioned that I wanted to talk in more depth about the ethical questions around the use of nuclear weapons. Is there ever an ethical/moral case for their use or are they intrinsically evil? Would the use of nuclear weapons be a war crime? I would suspect that instinctively most of us… Continue reading Should using nuclear weapons be a war crime?
Nuclear War and unaskable questions
One of the big questions concerning the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been whether or not NATO/Western allies should respond by committing to help defend Ukraine beyond supplying weapons and imposing sanctions. Some have suggested that at a minimum, NATO could commit to enforcing a no-fly zone against Russia. Now, one of the primary reasons… Continue reading Nuclear War and unaskable questions
Don’t forget who the real enemy is
Back after 911, there was a particularly intense period when anyone of Asian or middle eastern appearance was at risk from backlash. Not only did people conflate the attack by Islamist extremists with an attack from all Muslims but also people who were not even Muslims but rather Sikhs and Hindus were conflated with the… Continue reading Don’t forget who the real enemy is
Alone?
I saw this quote and image shared on Facebook the other day. I wonder what you made of it? “From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us, it’s different. Consider again that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you… Continue reading Alone?
Signs of the Times (Mark 13) – Preaching in a crisis
Over the past couple of weeks as we’ve seen Russian tanks and troops role into Ukraine and the awful spectre of nuclear conflict has been threatened against the West, I’ve written a bit about how we handled apocalyptic literature and questions about the end times. I thought it might be helpful to share an example… Continue reading Signs of the Times (Mark 13) – Preaching in a crisis
Confrontation in church life
The other day, I wrote about the risks of getting a response to trouble and confrontation wrong. I wrote specifically about the challenges facing the West in responding to Vladimir Putin. However, most of us are not involved in major geo-political issues and hold little power over politicians or big business so on one level,… Continue reading Confrontation in church life
