Posts under ‘Reflections’

Calling all university lecturers – it appears that you must now be careful who you quote in your lectures. It would seem that simply for quoting the words of a 14th Century Christian Emperor the Pope is in big trouble. According to the BBC his remarks have “angered clerics and commentators around the Muslim world”. [...]

“There is none like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you.” Jeremiah 10:6-7 Just a [...]

Earlier this week it was announced that Rev Richard Coekin had won his appeal against the loss of his licence. Whilst I, for one, am pleased by this decision (since it seems to me that Rev Coekin is doing a great job in proclaiming the Gospel in Southwark diocese) I do not feel adequately qualified [...]

So the blockbuster arrives and it does so with more of a whimper than a bang. It seems hard to find a decent review of this much anticipated film (this one from The Times seems fairly typical). But this site isn’t about film reviews. What’s all the fuss about? It is quite hard to pin [...]

This post has long been sitting in the melting pot, waiting for me to finish it. Musings on the up-coming performance of Jerry Springer at a local theatre have made me re-consider this particular line of thought. I got very annoyed some months ago by the extreme reaction of many Muslims to the publication of [...]

“People do not drift towards holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate towards godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indciscipline of [...]

A quote from the inimitable Spurgeon which relates to a conversation I had with a friend yesterday about how we begin to go about balancing a concern for “Doctrinal Purity” with a humble and loving respect for those of different traditions: “We are not to go about the world searching out heresies, like terrier dogs [...]

Civil partnerships have finally arrived and there is a predictably mixed response in the secular and Christian world. The BBC reporting Scottish Same-Sex Partnerships is typical of the secular coverage – a triumph for equality. As a Christian seeking to uphold the teaching of the Bible, I would find it difficult to support same-sex marriages [...]

So says David Jackman in a helpful article you can read here. As a young man in training for the ministry I found David’s article to well analysed some of the problems in some independent churches. Let’s be praying that the Lord of the Harvest will be raising up workers.

I was reflecting this morning on the wonderful liberating truth of justification by Faith alone. It frees us from the paralysis of trying to DO lots of things to please other people or to meet our own demanding standards. God has done EVERYTHING needed for us to be right with Him. Our worth comes from [...]