July 13th, 2017
Francis Chan was just a name to me. He was a famous and respected megachurch pastor, speaker and author, but although I had heard his name, I knew nothing more. In 2010 he did the unthinkable, and resigned from the leadership of “his” 5,000 strong megachurch in California, but I remained oblivious – you can’t […]
July 2nd, 2017
I am currently re-reading Chasing the Dragon, Jackie Pullinger’s remarkable story of “life and death in Kowloon Walled City”. It tells how the lives of thousands of poor and addicted Hong Kong residents were dramatically changed as they were miraculously healed of heroin addiction. It also speaks to me of how God can use an […]
June 18th, 2017
How do people mature? Does it just happen automatically as we grow, or are there things we can do to aid maturity? And do christians mature in any different way from other people?
June 2nd, 2017
Christianity is all about helping people change their minds and behaviour, right? We want to see people choosing to follow Jesus, then growing in their understanding of what that means and how they can follow him better. Don’t we? So why are we still using approaches that have been shown to be very ineffective?
May 22nd, 2017
Have you ever wondered how christians, who believe more or less the same things about Jesus and God, believe widely divergent things about politics and public morality? Specifically, if you are more conservative politically, do you wonder how more liberal christians can possibly think and vote as they do? And if you are more liberal […]
May 9th, 2017
In the discussion on my previous post, Nate has questioned my approach to authority and christian belief. I do not believe the Bible is inerrant, and I said that most christians accept other sources of knowledge also: “reason and evidence, church teaching and tradition, and the Holy Spirit”. And so he asked: “Why does the […]
May 7th, 2017
My (internet) friend Nate has a blog, Finding Truth which I regularly read. We disagree profoundly because Nate is an atheist and former christian, while I still follow Jesus. So we cross swords occasionally, often disagreeing (amicably) with the approach the other takes to questions, evidence and arguments. He is gracious enough to welcome my […]
April 27th, 2017
The church in first world countries, as a whole, is losing ground, neither making converts nor making an impact. There are many ideas, many books, talks and blog posts, outlining the problems and the way forward, as someone sees it. But I recently came across a brief overview that I think provides a better understanding […]
April 16th, 2017
Truth and love are both basic virtues for christians. The Bible tells us God is love, and Jesus is the truth (1 John 4:8, John 14:6). But sometimes truth and love seem to get in each other’s way. Or maybe it is what we think is the truth and what we think is loving. But […]
April 8th, 2017
I wrote last week of the grief I and many others had felt at the death of champion cyclist Mike Hall and the termination of the inaugural India Pacific Wheel Race. In the week that has followed, I have been enormously impressed by the dignity, sensitivity and camaraderie of the cycling fraternity. I think we […]
A list of all blog posts, in reverse chronological order, is on the Blog archive page.