A few church leaders have put together a letter to the Prime Minister and the first ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It expresses support for proportional responses to COVID-19 whilst expressing concerns about some measures and where the limit to their support is. They are inviting other ministers to add their signatures. You… Continue reading A Great attempt at a letter -and why sadly I cannot sign it yet
Posts
Seeking advice
I’ve written a couple of articles about giving advice but one of the key points I made was that there is no point giving unsolicited advice. Therefore, if we want to receive advice, we need to seek it out. So here are some thoughts on the other side of the equation. First of all, think… Continue reading Seeking advice
Yes Advice changes!
You know how when you are driving through town, you get instructed by the road sign to drive at 40 miles per hour? It’s very frustrating when 5 minutes later those in charge of the road change their minds and tell you to drive at 30 miles per hour. Then to compound things you turn… Continue reading Yes Advice changes!
Giving advice
Here are some thoughts on giving advice and opinions, especially in a church context. The first thing to say is that it is best not to offer unsolicited advice, it is very rarely welcome. Indeed, often when people tell you something, they are not particularly looking for advice. They are looking for three things The… Continue reading Giving advice
Isolated (Proverbs 18)
“Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.”[1] These are probably not helpful words for a Government attempting to encouraging COVID-19 patients to self-isolate. Yet, our experience of having to socially isolate over these past 7 months have been a crash course in the cost of such isolation. When we… Continue reading Isolated (Proverbs 18)
Will a circuit break work?
The latest proposal for combatting coronavirus is a “circuit break.” The idea is that by taking short breaks from normal life by imposing mini lockdowns, we can help flatten the next wave of COVID-19. Is this likely to be effective. Well, if the question is “will such measures effectively combat the pandemic” then I don’t… Continue reading Will a circuit break work?
Facing your fears
In Sunday’s sermon I said that having peace with God means that we can face our fears. In this article, I want to talk through the practicalities of doing that. The first step of course is to recognise exactly what it is that we are afraid of. This also helps us to properly assess the… Continue reading Facing your fears
Deacons? -Another clue
In Acts 6, the early church faces one of its first internal crises. The Greek speaking Christians are complaining that they are being neglected, particularly in relation to food. The response of the apostles is to encourage a little bit of devolution and delegation. “The Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would… Continue reading Deacons? -Another clue
Authoritarian?
Over the past few weeks, I’ve increasingly seen Christians complaining about Government measures relating to coronavirus as “authoritarian”. Now, I want to be clear at this stage that I’m not a big fan of the Boris Johnson administration, I didn’t vote for them and I, like many have serious reservations about the characters, policies and… Continue reading Authoritarian?
Peace (Matthew 8:23-33)
“I just wish things could get back to normal.” Have you heard other people saying that? Have you found yourself saying it too? If I were to take you back to February and March, how did you feel then? Perhaps you were anxious but there was also the adrenalin of being in this together too… Continue reading Peace (Matthew 8:23-33)
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