word | spirit | world | church
My third and final Bible study question is probably the most mundane. Everyone asks this in our Bible studies. I imagine my readers here are convinced, as are most participants in a Bible study, that the Bible should in some fashion change us and will have practical applications to us or to the world around… Continue reading How do we apply this?
The second question I ask when studying the Bible with others, is ‘Where’s Jesus?’ By this time, we’ve spent some time discussing what is strange about the text in question. We’ve got under the skin of it a bit and are trying to face it on its own terms. We have not applied it, discussed… Continue reading Where’s Jesus?
In ministry ‘success criteria’ matter. On the face of it that sounds like business speak, exactly the sort of thing I am critical of creeping into pastoral work. Except I’m not sure that’s it. Practically speaking, to do something well you need to know how you are going to assess it afterwards. I’ve noticed in… Continue reading Knowing what good looks like
When I lead a Bible study, I invariably ask the same three questions every time. The first is simply ‘what’s weird?’ Occasionally, depending on the group, the text, and how easy it is for them to follow, I might start with a fourth: ‘what’s going on?’ This is the basic comprehension question, which does sometimes… Continue reading What’s Weird?
It’s Epiphany today, Christmas is over, the new year doesn’t start today but it’s as good a day as any for reflecting on the last twelve months. It’s become my tradition to celebrate the anniversary of nuakh with a review of the previous year of reading and writing on Epiphany. I've played with the usual format, but… Continue reading 2025 in Review
Advent is a time for silence. Or, to put it a little better, Advent is a time for facing up to the silence of God. We don’t like to admit it. This is the time of year for declaring the Emmanuel—that God is with us—and for saying that God is the one who steps into… Continue reading The Hidden God
I recently had the joy of having a chat with Jez Field of New Ground's Life and Leadership podcast about all things 'eucharismatic.' You can, if you so desire, listen to it here below or at your podcast venue of choice. Our conversation ranged all over the place, and there were many aspects of being… Continue reading Being Eucharismatic
In the western liturgical traditions, the last seven days of advent include singing these seven chants—they would be largely unknown to churches like mine whose hymnody owes more to Hillsong than ancient Latin verse. Except, I bet you recognise them. They’re the content of the only advent hymn most of us know, O Come, O… Continue reading The O Antiphons
Nietzsche attacked Christianity with all the strength his mind and powerful prose could summon up. His hatred for Christians was sourced in part because he considered the faith to be a religion for the weak and a religion that idolised and encouraged weakness. For Nietzsche the way of Jesus propagated what he called ‘slave morality’… Continue reading The weakness of God
This is a time full of feasting. Everywhere you go it seems you’re offered a plate of mince pies or piece of stollen, perhaps with a glass of mulled wine. You can’t escape it—biscuits and coffee at church become wine and cake week after week. Or at least that’s normal in the UK, I’m told… Continue reading Feasting at Christmastime
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