Here’s an extra article this afternoon instead of sharing afternoon tea. The Kevin DeYoung article about having lots of children has certainly stirred emotions. Some people have taken this to mean that there are obstacles to pastors talking about discipleship issues that affect women. I don’t think so. I don’t think that the problem was… Continue reading Faith, hope and children (What Kevin DeYoung could have said)
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Families, Children and Childlessness (Responding to Kevin DeYoung)
The other day, Kevin DeYoung penned these words in an article for the Gospel Coalition “Here’s a culture war strategy conservative Christians should get behind: have more children and disciple them like crazy. Strongly consider having more children than you think you can handle.”[1] Kevin was writing primarily for a US audience. The concept of… Continue reading Families, Children and Childlessness (Responding to Kevin DeYoung)
Food from around the worldwide web (19/06/2020)
Grieving Well My Story practical advice on how to live through the immediate aftermath of bereavement. George Floyd and Me Hip hop artist Shai Linne writes movingly about how the death of George Floyd affected him. The problem of NRPF Free School Meals hit the headline this week through Marcus Radford’s campaign. Here is an… Continue reading Food from around the worldwide web (19/06/2020)
Harvest Time (Revelation 14)
What is going to keep you going through tough times? What gives you hope in the middle of lockdown. I suspect that for many of us, we look forward to future or postponed celebrations. Perhaps when the time comes we will roll together all of the celebrations we have missed or are likely to miss… Continue reading Harvest Time (Revelation 14)
A top down approach won’t get us out of lock-down
The Government’s proposals for ending lockdown suggested that it might be possible for places of worship to open again from July onwards. Back in May, I wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister encouraging him to engage with local churches on the ground and to provide a clear, phased plan for leaving lockdown. In… Continue reading A top down approach won’t get us out of lock-down
Beasts and Dragons (Revelation 12-13)
We normally run a teens discussion group alongside our 11:15 preaching and when we started studying Revelation a few years back, my wife asked the teens what they knew about the book. One teen responded “It’s full of beasts and dragons and other cool stuff like that.” I like that summing up and it’s great… Continue reading Beasts and Dragons (Revelation 12-13)
Leaders set the tone – sometimes it is about us
In a previous article I said that we set the tone by recognising that things are not always about us. However, sometimes they are. One of the things that concerned me about early comments during coronavirus was the speed with which some church leaders and prominent speakers and writers were quick to suggest that the… Continue reading Leaders set the tone – sometimes it is about us
A phased return out of lockdown for churches (a draft proposal)
Over the past few months, churches have willingly complied with COVID-19 lockdown measures. We have done so because we believed it was the right thing to do as we sought to love our neighbours. Throughout the lockdown we have sought to continue to care for the communities around us often providing practical and emotional support… Continue reading A phased return out of lockdown for churches (a draft proposal)
If you don’t want to be racist, don’t misrepresent what black people are saying
Since George Floyd’s death, I have been fascinated to see the number of tweets, Facebook posts and articles by Christians responding to the call to “take the knee.” Some Christians have chosen to do so, others have not and that’s the way it should be. We should not force people to take particular actions, these… Continue reading If you don’t want to be racist, don’t misrepresent what black people are saying
Witnesses (Revelation 10 – 11)
Chairman Mao’s cultural revolution saw the expulsion of missionaries from China, a crack down against the underground church and the closer of official churches. For many years, we were really in the dark about what was happening in China. Then when Deng Xiao Ping began to open up again, we were amazed to see that… Continue reading Witnesses (Revelation 10 – 11)
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