Posts

The problem with test, track and trace

One of the big questions asked about the UK’s response to COVID-19 is why we did not respond in the same way as South Korea. It’s a good question. If any country represents a true outlier in terms of significantly lower death rates, then South Korea is the best candidate. I recently noted in an… Continue reading The problem with test, track and trace

Love is not an excuse to tolerate and cover up abuse

Yesterday, I wrote about what love is not. This is because sometimes people use the concept of love to manipulate victims to continue living with abuse and without justice. I want to explore that a bit further today because one of the arguments used is that this is part of a wife’s responsibility to submit… Continue reading Love is not an excuse to tolerate and cover up abuse

Will God heal me? (Part 1)

Here’s our latest “Afternoon Tea discussion” and as usual, I’m going to give some summary notes here but the best thing to do is to watch it through. There’s some intro stuff including a book review and conversation about increased wild-life sightings but you can skip through the appetisers and get into the main content… Continue reading Will God heal me? (Part 1)

Healthy Church – marks that flow out from the one mark (love)

I argued in a previous post that when looking to see if a church is healthy, there is one essential, governing mark presented in the Bible and that is love. A few years back, Mark Dever wrote “9 Marks of a Healthy Church.” In it he proposed a list of marks that were important to… Continue reading Healthy Church – marks that flow out from the one mark (love)

Love is not

Last week I started writing some articles about what a healthy church looks like and I argued that the one most neglected mark is the one that Jesus and the New Testament argues is of first importance, Love. But there is a risk if we just talk about “love” without thinking carefully about what it… Continue reading Love is not

Rival Kings (Matthew 2:1-12)

Herod saw Jesus as a rival to his power. However, Jesus was the rightful king and Herod was no match for him. We can allow idols to become rivals for our affection for Jesus. These can be things we enjoy like food, relationships, sport etc, good things like going to church, serving, charity or things… Continue reading Rival Kings (Matthew 2:1-12)

“Put me to what you will…” What the Covenant Renewal service says about our view of gifts and ministry

What do you enjoy doing around the house?  I love making deserts like rice pudding I would say that’s my gift. I enjoy making them and I enjoy sharing in eating them with others. I don’t mind getting out in the garden and cutting the lawn either.  I’m not so keen on drying up or… Continue reading “Put me to what you will…” What the Covenant Renewal service says about our view of gifts and ministry

What does the Bible say about giving?

The Prosperity Gospel deal is that if you give the right amount of money to the right pastor and he gives it the right blessing then you will be blessed in your personal finances.  In other words you should tithe. I think that well-meaning Evangelicals come unstuck on the question of tithing. Or to go… Continue reading What does the Bible say about giving?

So should we talk about money in church?

There are all sorts of reasons why, as a pastor of a church in urban Britain I feel uncomfortable talking about money and particularly about giving. These include It’s just not the done thing in polite circles! To an English man, talking about money is like talking about politics and religion.   I can’t avoid one… Continue reading So should we talk about money in church?