Here in the UK, we’ve been living of late in a barely-believable world of political and humanitarian drama. This has included the refugee crisis that’s come close to our shores via the Calais Jungle and multiplied thousands who have drowned at sea in attempts to make it to Europe via the dinghies of death. Continue reading “The Political Right and the Kingdom of God”
“The greatest gift you can give anyone is a healthy you” as my previous pastor once said. It’s true – you’re not going to be the rock solid blessing you’re supposed to be to others if you’re not healthy and fit.
So, drawing on my decade of experience working in the NHS and for private health clubs as an exercise specialist, here’s a set of rapid-fire vlogs to help you get going this year – feel free to drop me a line for any specific help:
*Body Pump info HERE:
*Fitness Blender info HERE
*Science in Sport Electrolyte info HERE
* Self-Tracking info HERE
The Disney fairytale Cinderella is a story about an unlikely bride mistreated at the hands of her guardians but who eventually rises from the doldrums of her slave labour to become the star of the ball and the stunning wife of Prince Charming. The tale is a love story of redemption, beauty, justice and power, all punctuated by the sweet grace notes of gospel-joy.
More specifically, as the supernatural source of Cinderella’s salvation, The Fairy Godmother’s presence in the story is a poetic type of the gift-giving Spirit of Power in the life of the Christian. Cinderella herself typifies a specific gift of the Holy Spirit that we’re urged to long for – a gift that enables our tasting and seeing of the joy to be found only in God.Continue reading “The Cinderella Gift of Discernment”
I’m sure a lot of us are looking forward to this coming Sunday and the final of the twelfth series of Lord Sugar’s The Apprentice. I for one am going to be genuinely nervous for young Courtney as he attempts to string four or five words together before his buffering kicks in like a pre-broadband dial-up. Seriously though, I wish the lad well – wouldn’t he be the most unlikely winner ever?
Watching the semi-final last night, one main thing struck me and actually spoke to me quite powerfully: No, not the unbelievably unprofessional business plans that are handed to Claude and Karren every single series; no, not the unbelievably stupid personal content on the candidate’s CVs; no, not the unbelievably fabricated facts and figures that the young entrepreneurs think will hold water.
The thing that struck me most Continue reading “The Apprentice: I Genuinely Believe”
I was stood in a church worshipping last week when something happened that I have never seen before in more than 36 years of being in church.Continue reading “Into the Pray – Joy”
‘But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.’ Malachi 4:2
Four years ago I started praying for answers to major family difficulties that Nick and I had been facing at that particular time and that now, years later, seem ridiculous to still be praying about. I had (and still have) quite a naïve view of prayer and was holding out firmly for the moment when it would all make sense, when there would be full resolve and I could finally say “this is why this and that happened”.Continue reading “In His Wings”
If you’ve read the other 5 posts in this blog series, you’ll know that it’s a series that’s been born out of a deep distress with how a lot of church (fundamentally) functions today compared with how we see the Church (fundamentally) functioning in the Bible. It is also a blog series that’s been born out of a deep love for the church and a longing for her to be all that she is meant to be.
Before I write the final post in the series next week, I wanted to flag up a uniquely distressing aspect of the ‘schmorgers board’ of church life that I referred to in one of the earlier posts a few weeks ago.Continue reading “Into the Pray – Marriage”
Today is the 499th anniversary of the Reformation. This means that 500 years ago today it was the one year run-up to the defining moment in modern (church) history when Martin Luther would nail his 95 theses to the front door of Castle Church and All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg. Luther’s theses opposed the abusive practices of ‘preachers’ & ‘leaders’ who twisted the Bible, often to their own financial gain, via indulgences, rather than faithfully preaching the only doctrine at the centre of true biblical, Christian faith – the justification of grace by faith alone – Sola fide.
Next year, when the 31st October 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of something so profoundly important for all of us, can you imagine the excitement and the celebration and the stories that’ll be told?
But what about the year 1516, five centuries ago today, Continue reading “Into the Pray – The Bible”
Imagine you’re sitting at home with your nearest and dearest, around a fire, eating some food, watching a movie. You’re trying to make the most of those few weirdly glorious days in between Christmas and New Year when everyone loses touch with the day of the week and the time of the day. What day is it? Don’t know. What time is it? Who cares?
Next, imagine that it’s night time and a crowd of one thousand people silently appears outside your house. Vaguely familiar, they stand facing your fort of refuge with large, flamed torches illuminating one thousand columns of cumulus breath rising toward the naked sky and the stars beyond.Continue reading “The Peace and Might of Gideon”
At the end of last week’s post, I asked a whole bunch of probing questions and provided the link to Bible Gateway so you could punch in the areas in question and then see for yourself what the Bible actually says, and, in some cases, doesn’t say about them.
If I was to roll all of these questions into one paraphrased version, it would be this:
Why do we do stuff in church that clearly we were never meant to do; why do we not do stuff in church that clearly we are supposed to?
Writing specifically of prayer, Mike Bickle puts it like this,
What we do negatively and what we neglect to do positively deeply affect our (prayer) lives. (Emphasis mine)
firebrandnotes.com