word | spirit | world | church
The UK church is having a difficult moment. It feels, if you’ll allow me to slip into a prophetic mode I don’t usually use in my writing, like everything is being shaken. Some of this is the aftermath of Covid. It was an apocalyptic moment for many. We have increasing numbers of churches who need… Continue reading Ex Opere Operato and the Abuse Crisis
No. That was easy. Except, I think most readers will expect me to say ‘yes.’ Aren’t we all without excuse before the wrath of God (Romans 1)? Yes, we are. Yet this is not saying the same thing. Having been fed—mostly evangelistically—on the (true!) idea that even the smallest sin is the enough to damn… Continue reading Is all sin equal?
This is the second part in an ongoing series where I’m collaborating with my friend Adsum Try Ravenhill to blog through St Polycarp’s Epistle to the Philippians by writing each other letters. You can read the first part on Adsum’s blog here. Dear Adsum Thank you for your letter and for suggesting this little endeavour… Continue reading Prepare for Action: Polycarp part 2
As Christians who want to love people well, we should prize clarity as being the kindest way we can speak. Luke Simmons tweeted this a few months back: https://twitter.com/lukedsimmons/status/1707883978018205719?s=20 The thread moves on to discuss ways he hadn’t been clear in his leadership in the past and how to produce clarity in the future. It’s… Continue reading Clarity is kind
Advent starts on Sunday, though I suspect many of us will be opening calendars to starting devotionals on Friday. Advent is dark. Advent is bleak. Advent is about staring at the wretched core of the ash we clutch onto so that when our eyes are lifted and the thrice holy God comes with the dawn… Continue reading Advent is Coming
Jesus tells us to render to Caesar what is Caesar's (Mark 12), what bears his image, meaning coinage; he continues that we should render to God what is God’s, what bears God’s image, meaning us. Our whole selves are supposed to be offered to God, such that the offering of my self to God becomes… Continue reading An Order of Loves
In Genesis chapter 18, Abraham has an encounter with Yahweh, the maker of heaven and earth. Not so strange, by this point he’s had multiple across his life and as readers we’re expecting God to deal with Abraham as a friend. Except, this time, the Lord most high comes for tea. It sounds like the… Continue reading When God Came to Dinner
I recently read Danny Webster’s response to the report into Mike Pilavachi’s abusive leadership. Pilavachi’s fall has rocked the charismatic evangelical world here in the UK. He was a strangely unifying figure who cut across streams and denominations. His abuse was longstanding and covered up by the charity’s trustees. Like many I attended Soul Survivor… Continue reading Leadership Development needs to go somewhere
In Matthew 16 Jesus declares to Peter that he is the rock on which he will build his church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. What does that mean? In popular piety it’s most often quoted when we feel under attack by the forces of the Enemy. We’re most likely under… Continue reading The Gates of Hell
There’s probably a lot to be said about using commentaries to prepare preaching, but I’m going to address one very narrow aspect: how I’ve developed a way of knowing which commentaries to regularly consult. I’m a pastor but not employed by the church, I preach approximately monthly and so don’t have the luxury of lots… Continue reading Developing a ‘canon’ of commentaries
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