Dear Friends, Do you ever find yourself getting confused between the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit? “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23), while the gifts of the Spirit are things like “a message of wisdom … a message...
Read moreDear Friends, “No Planet B” has rapidly become a phrase that captures the urgent need for us to take better care of our planet. “There is No Planet B” is the title of a book by Mike Berners-Lee. NoPlanetB is the name of a project to inform EU citizens about global development issues, with the
Read moreDear Friends, When did you last think about Jesus’ return? I can still remember one of our children exclaiming in surprise, “What? Jesus is coming back?” I was embarrassed to realise that It clearly hadn’t been central to what I had been teaching them up until then. No doubt I had emphasised Jesus’ life, and
Read moreDear Friends, Tertullian, the ancient church father, is sometimes quoted as saying, “Just as Jesus was crucified between two thieves, so the gospel is ever crucified between these two errors.” (It seems he may not actually have said this, but the principle remains sound). What are these two errors to be avoided? Tim Keller calls
Read moreDear Friends, The song ‘Ancient of Days’ by City Alight seems particularly apt for our times, with all their political turmoil both within and without the United Kingdom: “Though the nations rage, kingdoms rise and fall There is still one King reigning over all So I will not fear for this truth remains: That my
Read moreDear Friends, It was somewhat dispiriting to return from holiday and open the September edition of Evangelicals Now (an excellent paper which I would highly recommend). And not because it means that holiday is over and summer is slipping away, but because one of the first articles my eyes fell on announced that American pastor
Read moreHow do you think about culture? Are you a “look in” kind of Christian? Do you try to ignore what’s going on out in the world, stick your fingers in your ears and sing loudly about Jesus coming back, trying to keep safe from being infected by the world’s values? Or are you a “lash
Read moreDear Friends, I enjoyed the story this week of diners in Manchester who had the happy experience of being served a bottle of wine worth 17 times as much as the one they had ordered. They had ordered a £260 bottle of Bordeaux and received instead a bottle of Chateau le Pin Pomerol 2001 costing
Read moreDear Friends, I’m sure we’ve all been in a situation where we wish we’d said something better, something more Christian and Christ-centered, but couldn’t work out what to say and so said nothing at all. Let me tell you of one such moment, in the hope that we might help one another to do better
Read moreDear Friends, I was dismayed when I read the latest GAFCON Quarterly. It spoke of the chaos surrounding the 2020 Lambeth Conference for bishops in the Anglican Communion. It turns out that the ‘spouses’ of three bishops who are in same-sex unions will not be invited because this is felt not to be “appropriate”. However...
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