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Today is a day when we do nothing. For those whose tradition takes them through a detailed re-enactment of the events of Passion Week, the seven days set out in the gospels (especially Mark), this day is striking in its stillness. In Catholic tradition, nothing can be celebrated, the only exception being in the case … Continue Reading
This week’s lectionary gospel reading, the last Sunday before Lent, is Luke 9.28-36, this gospel’s account of the Transfiguration, with the option of continuing to read the episode that follows immediately on the descent from the mountain. There some important things to note in relation to this passage as we think about preaching on it. All … Continue Reading
Benny Hazlehurst was raised in a liberal High Anglican family, but came to evangelical faith in his teens. He trained at Trinity College, Bristol before ordination, and a serious of encounters with gay Christians led him to change his view on the Church’s teaching on same-sex relationships, out of which he founded Accepting Evangelicals. Our … Continue Reading
I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a … Continue Reading
Why does our experience of Christian life often seem so contradictory? Why do we so often seem to move from experiences of triumph and wonder to experiences of doubt and failure? (I have a sense that this is a universal question, and not just a function of my getting older and more jaded…) An answer … Continue Reading
I have been at New Wine B this week, and at the early morning meetings Simon Ponsonby (from St Aldate’s, Oxford) has been reflected on verses from 2 Corinthians. This morning we reflected on perhaps some of the most challenging: I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and … Continue Reading
Whenever I travel on the train, I have to think carefully about whether I wear my clerical collar, or whether I travel in ‘mufti’. It partly depends on what kind of meeting or event I am travelling to, but it also depends on whether I want to work quietly on the train, or am happy … Continue Reading
During his address to the New Wine Leaders Conference in Harrogate this week, Justin Welby focussed on Paul’s defence of his ministry in 1 Cor 4.1–9 as part of his challenge to embrace the cost of ministry: we should be willing to suffer as Paul did. This was given particular poignancy by reference to the … Continue Reading
At our church weekend away last weekend, I ran two seminars on how we engage with difficult questions about faith. The blurb for the sessions said: One of the things that keeps us quiet about our faith is a fear of the questions that might follow. Can you prove the existence of God? Why is … Continue Reading
You really would have to have a heart of stone not to be distressed by the scenes of suffering caused by the Philippines typhoon. So began Jeremy Paxman’s broadcast on Newsnight yesterday evening. He wanted to explore how people in Britain turn this sense of distress into giving. But Christians are also faced with another … Continue Reading
Last week I read what I think is the most important article I have read all year. John Allen, writing in the Spectator, describes what he calls ‘The war on Christians’ and explains why he believes that ‘The global persecution of Christians is the unreported catastrophe of our time.’ Allen is an American Catholic based … Continue Reading