This is the 11th post in a short series trying to grapple with today’s sense of malaise in British evangelicalism. One of The West Wing's big themes is quest to find 'my guy'. By which I don't mean searching for the perfect…
This is a repost from 15 years ago on my old blog - I needed to refer to it from something but it can't have transferred. Such is life! So apologies for being slightly unseasonal (although technically this is still…
Something Hugh said at that meeting in Sheffield has been etched on my memory every since. I'd only been in ordained ministry perhaps 2 or 3 years and we were having our normal post-Summer catchup and planning session. We would habitually begin with a short devotional, but that day, Hugh was in reflective mood. Only a few weeks before, he’d celebrated his 50th birthday, and now he openly described how affecting that milestone had been. If memory serves, it was on the lines of “I now realize that I have more years of formal ministry behind me than ahead of me."
You will know of Godwin's law, I'm sure, whereby the longer an internet discussion countinues, "the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1." So, I'm afraid, the time has come. One of the most gripping if chilling works of history that I've read is one that I find myself returning to a lot these days, despite the fact that it is well over 10 years since I first encountered it (in early research for Wilderness of Mirrors). Sir Ian Kershaw has spent a lifetime researching 20th Century German history and has brought all kinds of profound insights to the anglophone world (including through his mammoth two-volume biography of Hitler).
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hoping 2021 is better than 2020!! Sacred Treasure Sad to begin 2021 like this, but I felt it was unavoidable. The repercussions are going to be felt for many years to come - and I fear the…
This one's been a struggle, strangely. Hence the delay. I keep returning to the fact that Lewis' original essay is entirely sufficient on the matter. So if you've not read The Inner Ring yet, or recently, then please do so.…
Before getting into the general treasure, here are a couple of notices. Opportunities for purloining your own treasure as it happens. Inklings and Yarnspinners Yay! I've opened an online 2nd-hand bookshop. Check it out and see what exciting Christmas presents…
C. S. Lewis nailed the phenomenon in a 1944 lecture given at King's London. He clarifies that he's not referring to the need for discretion or keeping confidences - there are plenty of circumstances which make those wise, if not…
Regulars will know that I've been doing increasing amounts with the fair friends of the Rabbit Room in Nashville. So today, a couple more bits or bobs. First up, there are 3 more 5&1 Classical music playlists: #4 A Sense…
This is the 6th post in a short series trying to grapple with today’s sense of malaise in British evangelicalism. One of my favourite novels ever does not, at first sight, have the kind of plot to inspire confidence. Not…
Sacred Treasure So timely and helpful: Paul Tripp's 12 principles for Christian leadership. 12 short videos to accompany his new Crossway book. And while we're at it, John Piper has important things to say about the collapse of Mark Driscoll's…
This is the 5th post in a short series trying to grapple with today's sense of malaise in British evangelicalism.We're all aware of body language, now. It's part of the vocabulary of daily life. Some are perhaps more conversant with…