The musical Les Miserable starts with a big number focusing on the lead character’s status as a prisoner. He is simply known as a number 24601. This builds into the question “Who am I?” which will be later answered not just with his prison number but with his name “Who am I? I’m Jean Valjean.” … Continue reading Who am I? I’m raised up with Christ (Psalm 8)
Tag: witness
A tale of two countries – A Jubilee celebration for all?
Apparently, something big has been happening in Britain over the past few days. Read certain papers (The Telegraph, the tabloids) or watch the BBC and you’ll pick up on it. The UK are celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with street parties and pageants, festooning their houses and neighbourhoods with bunting and Union Jack flags. Those… Continue reading A tale of two countries – A Jubilee celebration for all?
Evangelism and the local church (1) Keep it simple
I’m sometimes asked about my approach to evangelism. I’ve particularly been asked this question a lot recently as we’ve been in conversations with churches about future ministry and I remember it coming up when I was interviewed at Bearwood. My answer to the question is: “We live in an area and get to know people… Continue reading Evangelism and the local church (1) Keep it simple
… but what if we haven’t had any new people join us?
When I asked my followers on twitter whether or not they were seeing new to church people at their in person meetings, 13.1% said that they hadn’t seen any new people at all. I can’t really ignore that part of the poll, so wanted to share some thoughts here. That’s not least because if you… Continue reading … but what if we haven’t had any new people join us?
What our Afghan friends need right now
Yesterday I wrote about where the battle for Afghanistan was lost. I argued that the fate of the Afghan people was sealed at Doha when the US signed a deal with the Taliban. Consider the impact of that. The people knew well what a return of the Taliban would mean: torture, rape, slavery, death. Yet… Continue reading What our Afghan friends need right now
How I read you
I own a lot of books. I like reading so I buy a lot of books and get given a lot of books. Sometimes I’m able to sit down and enjoy reading a book slowly and carefully over a period of time, sometimes I need to read and digest a few books quickly in order… Continue reading How I read you
Faithful witnesses
#TheDailyDose 2 Timothy 2:1-7
Christians don’t (shouldn’t) bear grudges
One of the saddest things in Christian life is when you meet or hear about people, sometimes within the same church who have not spoken for years. Similarly you can even discover churches where there has been rivalry going on since a split decades ago. Sometimes Christians will disagree sharply. The Apostle Paul disagreed with… Continue reading Christians don’t (shouldn’t) bear grudges
Unrepentant (Matthew 11:20-24)
What will it take to get you to repent? That’s quite a blunt way to start an article isn’t it? Repent of what exactly? And who am I to ask that of you? Isn’t the concept of repentance itself all a bit judgemental? Yet at the heart of the Bible’s good news message is a… Continue reading Unrepentant (Matthew 11:20-24)
Being Salty – Taste and See
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?”[1] “Taste and see that the Lord is good;”[2] Salt has a number of qualities, with regards to food, it acts as a preservative, but it also acts to enhance flavour. I think it is helpful to think of… Continue reading Being Salty – Taste and See
Faithroots 