It’s about more than preaching

Yesterday, I argued that If we wanted churches that are theologically rich and culturally engaged (and I believe we need that), then rich preaching has a big part to play.  However, even if we do the things that I argued for then I still think there’s a lot we need to do. We can’t expect… Continue reading It’s about more than preaching

Why Biblically rich cultural engagement may not be happening in our churches as much as we would like

I’m picking up on a theme from two sources.  First, there is my friend Tim Suffield’s tweet that prompted my little survey the other day. Then there’s a recent book that has been generating a lot of excitement among conservative evangelicals “Biblical Critical Theory” by Christopher Watkins.  The book, according to some of the most… Continue reading Why Biblically rich cultural engagement may not be happening in our churches as much as we would like

In a world where no-one is allowed to say no, this is an uncomfortable parable

You know the parable about the wedding feast don’t you? That’s right, it’s the one where the people are invited come up with lots of excuses for why they cannot attend on the day. Do you know how it ends?  You might assume that it ends with all the people brought in from the highways… Continue reading In a world where no-one is allowed to say no, this is an uncomfortable parable

“I’m saying this in love”

It’s the phrase that I suspect most Christians dread to hear but it’s one that I suspect is most used among believers too.  Tim Wilson recently asked on twitter which particular Christian cliches irritate us the most and the phrase “I’m saying this in love”   and presumably variants on that theme came up. Why does… Continue reading “I’m saying this in love”

A perplexing silence?

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Peter Mead thinks that there has been a perplexing silence from Christian leaders and that it has been left to others to “speak the hard truths.”  He writes about this in a three part series here, here and here. Now, as I’ve written a few times, I think that our track record as conservative evangelicals… Continue reading A perplexing silence?

Ten you may have missed

Photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels.com

Yesterday I published a list of this year’s top ten most read blog articles. It’s often a surprise and sometimes frustrating to see what does and doesn’t make it towards the top of the list. Sometimes you find that people are more interested in a particular subject than you would be, sometimes, something you expect… Continue reading Ten you may have missed

The evil heresy of “Christian nationalism”

Photo by Element5 Digital on Pexels.com

Fortunately this isn’t something that has particularly filtered through into the British Evangelical conscience but because some of my readers are from the USA and also because directly or indirectly, stuff happening there filters through here, I wanted to pick up on a particularly concerning cultural trend in America. Increasingly I’m hearing talk about Christian… Continue reading The evil heresy of “Christian nationalism”

The Gnostic presuppositions of The Crown

I understand that for some, The Crown is compulsive and essential viewing.  Netflix’s big budget drama tells the story of Queen Elizabeth and the Royal Family starting back with the death of George VI and over several seasons aiming presumably to bring things right up to date.  The show has proved both popular and controversial… Continue reading The Gnostic presuppositions of The Crown

On not throwing people under the bus -why you need to give that TGC article a second look

Photo by Olga Lioncat on Pexels.com

The other day, this article was posted on The Gospel Coalition website.  The article drew quite some ire. In fact, some of the responses on twitter may even ironically have been of the exact kind that the article has in its sights.  I understand that there are some reasons why some people may have struggled… Continue reading On not throwing people under the bus -why you need to give that TGC article a second look

Jesus for the good of the city

The other day I wrote a little bit about what it means to seek the good of the city. I was prompted to think about this because we’ve just had a week of prayer as a family of churches in Birmingham and on the Wednesday night, the theme was “For the good of the city”… Continue reading Jesus for the good of the city