There are loads of advice lists from writers out there. But I think I can safely claim to be a writer now. And bizarrely enough, folks do actually ask me for writing advice. So why not add to the plethora…
It is unavoidable. Each of us is motivated by many different desires and concerns: some positive, some negative, some altruistic, some self-oriented or even selfish.
The problem comes when we overlook that complexity (more…)
I wrote this a few months back - but have sat on it for a while. But somehow it feels more pressing than ever, amidst the drear of the daily news cycle that only alternates between triviality and the profoundest…
Standards in public discourse have deteriorated. I hope that is something on which we can all agree. Jeremy Corbyn came to the Labour leadership promising a kinder and more respectful politics – but that’s not happened. Of course, it was not really in his gift. Nor was he ever likely to control his more radical supporters, let alone political foes. (more…)
A couple of years ago, I reposted a little thing I had written 5 years before, An Arable Parable. Now that I'm back at my parents' home for a few weeks, I went for a wander in the field last…
For starters, I'm an unashamed fan. Orphan Black is fantastic TV. We've watched through the first 4 seasons now, but will have to wait until the release of the boxed set of 5 to see the conclusion of the matter…
An old friend, Ross Hendry, is the chief exec of Spurgeon's Children's Charity, a UK organisation (no, that's not him on the left, that's Spurgeon). The charity was founded by its illustrious namesake, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and continues today to…
I'm haunted by contemporary city life - the millions of parallel lives occupying the same square miles. Christopher Nevinson entitled one of his most striking paintings, The Soul of The Soulless City, and I was thinking about this recently. But…
It’s a much-loved story.
It’s midday, baking hot, and deserted. Nobody in their right mind goes out then. Except a Samaritan woman. And Jesus. It soon becomes obvious why she does: safest time of day. But Jesus…? It’s not at all obvious what he’s up to. (more…)
IVP has been running a blog series on John Stott's thought - they've produced a number of short videos about it, accompanied by relevant posts. So I was delighted to contribute, writing the article to accompany the great David Turner.…
Having just heard of her death - see WAPO, Guardian, Wiki - it seems appropriate to repost my post from 2010. I can't now remember exactly what I was doing that day, but back in early 1989, I had a couple…
This is history writing at its compelling best. Lynne Olson has beavered away to find an original angle on an oft-told story and does it with such force of insight that one's sense of the bigger story is given greater…