When leadership isn't serving
I have often wondered about the passage in Acts where the apostles appoint seven leaders to specifically oversee the distribution of food...
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- Jul 12
- 9 min
Individualism left and right
One of the things that I have been thinking about a bit over the last few years is the balance between individualism and collectivism in...
- May 23
- 10 min
The Least, the Last and the Lost should include the long-term unemployed
I was recently recommended Mez McConnell’s latest book, The Least, The Last and The Lost (I think that’s the right order!). Church Action...
- May 7
- 10 min
Poverty is not an individual choice, and that's not a Marxist idea
“There is no presumption in Scripture that if a person is poor it was because of injustice Now, we do see in Scripture, especially in the...
- Apr 10
- 9 min
The mission of Jesus: a response to Greg Koukl, part 2
Last time I posted the first blog of my response to Greg Koukl’s conversation with Dr Sean McDowell about the mission of Jesus. I queried...
- Mar 27
- 10 min
Is Jesus a social justice campaigner?
This morning I started listening to Dr Sean McDowell with Greg Koukl about ‘what was the mission of Jesus?’, based on Koukl’s 2021 book,...
- Mar 7
- 8 min
Standing to worship: why it matters
We think that we have an emotion, and our body then responds with the appropriate physiological response. One of my psychology lecturers...
- Feb 28
- 6 min
Standing to worship: does it exclude disabled people?
Yesterday I came across this tweet from Heather Renee Morgan, @H_R_Morgan: “"Stand if you are able" isn't the inclusive statement people...
- Feb 16
- 4 min
Money: its actions, not attitudes, that matter
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the relevance of our ‘attitudes’ to things in Christianity. It’s fairly common, at least in my...
- Feb 1
- 8 min
Love always trusts: when racism isn't.
My church currently runs weekly evening sessions where we get to discuss or hear about slightly ‘wider’ issues or perhaps one might say...
- May 2, 2021
- 4 min
Wealth is deceitful
I was interested today in the contrast between the sermon preached at my church today and that preached two weeks ago. Today, the speaker...
- Apr 26, 2021
- 4 min
Reflections on gardening: sin and relationship
I love gardening. I love sitting on the ground in the sun removing weeds, dead-heading flowers or re-training a clematis. I love pruning...
- Jan 10, 2021
- 3 min
Review: Neither Poverty Nor Riches, Part 1
This morning I started reading the book Neither Poverty Nor Riches by the American Craig L Blomberg. I can’t tell you how refreshing I...
- Jan 3, 2021
- 4 min
Types of undeserving poor
This is the third of three blog posts triggered by the book, The Myth of Undeserving Poor, which I recently finished reading. If you read...
- Jan 3, 2021
- 4 min
Grace to the undeserving poor
In my last blog post I discussed the myth of the undeserving poor, referencing a number of articles which prove the tenacity of the UK...
- Dec 20, 2020
- 6 min
The Myth of the Undeserving Poor
I recently finished reading The Myth of the Undeserving Poor: a Christian response to poverty in Britain today by Martin Charlesworth and...
- Nov 22, 2020
- 3 min
Not Just (or even?) For the Poor
II recently picked up the Church of England’s (CofE) 1986 report on the welfare state, Not Just For the Poor. It’s only 138 pages, so it...
- Nov 15, 2020
- 5 min
A challenge to rethink what the Old Testament laws mean for Christians today
Recently I have started listening to the back catalogue of podcasts from the Messiah Matters (previously, I think, the Rob and Caleb...
- Nov 8, 2020
- 4 min
Charity is not enough
One argument that I sometimes hear from those who are perhaps more right-wing politically, including Christians, is that our response to...
- Nov 1, 2020
- 3 min
On All Saints' Day, where are the saints?
My heart would have been full this week if my body weren’t so weary. My heart would be full because the outpouring of community spirit...