Category: Uncategorized
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Is this the reality we ordered?
We are told that the reality is that if we do not take drastic action on asylum, ‘dark forces will follow.’ Furthermore, ‘the crisis at our borders is an existential issue for mainstream parties.’ And to top it off, ‘Politics is about making arguments for things you think are right. That is what the Home…
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Clutter…
‘Create in me an uncluttered heart…’ So, I sit down to reflect on sincerity, simplicity, and submission to God, and my brain fills with clutter — submissions for the liturgy book I am editing that need to be processed, meeting requests, thinking of a meal to cook for night shelter, checking FaceBook… Then the home…
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More than being
So, I have been continuing to ruminate on the Rob Rinder quote I talked about a couple of days ago. Here it is in all its glory, ‘The story of Britain, at the moment, tragically, is being hijacked, perhaps by some people who claim to speak for its soul while doing everything to hollow it…
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the Britain that looks after one another quietly
Despite the so-called quiet revival – which I think probably has some traction – there is still a lot of disquiet about the state of the church. At the same time there is much angst about the state of the nation. These two issues often collide as people bemoan the decline of the church as…
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Still here?
So, I had the delight of preaching at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church this past Sunday. I had the twin tasks of talking about Peaceful Borders, the grassroots refugee agitation that I help run in London and Calais, and reflect on the anointing of David, a strange tale narrated in 1 Samuel 16. This is an…
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Jesus & Justice & tax in an election year
Earlier this year I edited a book for Red Letter Christians called Jesus & Justice. What follows is a brief presentation I gave to ministers and others at South Wales Baptist College in Cardiff. It has been tweaked in the light of pre-election announcements! My second chapter was a late entry into the book. We…
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Subversive Paul
It’s been a while. I wanted to post this sermon I preached in college chapel last month as a conversation starter. So, what do you make of it? Paul’s subversion of norms in 1 Cor 11:2-16 So, ten years ago we’re mid-way through a series on 1 Corinthians at our church’s afternoon service, Sunday Break.…
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Picking the right audience…
I wrote this blog back in the autumn for Stewardship and after it dragging its way through an approval process, I was told this week that they would not be publishing it due to ‘there being a risk concern that it might not land well with our demographic of supporters’. I have no idea who…
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Hoping, knowing, shining
A final thought about verbs. We have been looking at seven in the book of Philippians – there are lots more we could have chosen but these seemed pertinent to building community in our small gathering of Jesus followers. And the final three are hoping, knowing, and shining. Along the way we’ve looked at thinking,…
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Government by hubris
Government by outrage Hunger camps and shanty towns Dignity and love still holding This blue-green ball in black space Filled with beauty even now Battered and abused and lovely… Each one in his own heart Desperate to know where we stand Planet of the clowns in wet shoes. These lines by Bruce Cockburn from his…
A sideways glance 