Sacred Treasure This is an extraordinary story that reads like a whodunnit: the stolen early manuscript of Mark? (long read but worth it)I'm an unashamed John Dickson fan - his new book on the historical Jesus looks great: here he…
Sacred Treasure The Josh Harris 'deconversion' story (for those who are aware) is very sad and my heart goes out to him and his family. Too many have leapt in as pundits. These are the better responses I've readOn Caution…
Does the legacy of a heroic struggle for justice cover over a multitude of sins? Or does the iconic hero’s fatal flaw render him and, perhaps even his legacy, leprous? Is it 'one strike and you're out' or might the twitteratti just possibly permit nuance and, dare I say it, complexity?
Sacred Treasure How many people view the recent death of missionary John Chau Emma Scrivener writes, as potently as ever, about the power of the gospel to counteract a self-harming mindset And then she followed it up with this blinder…
Regulars will know that John Stott is a frequent focus here. I've just finished reading Alister Chapman's excellent, scholarly engagement with John Stott's legacy: Godly Ambition. A fuller review may come in time... But I will say this. Having spent 12…
Yesterday was an unusual day. Which is, of course, not exactly news. In these turbulent times, each day tends to reveal its strangeness, especially if you read a newspaper. But for me, it marked the end of a decade's invovlement…
My father has been going through the diaries of his grandfather, Fra (for Francis) Meynell. For reasons that I won't bore you with now, the family name was originally Wood, and Fra's 1st cousin was the Holy Fox, Edward Wood,…
Sacred Treasure These are spectacular - ancient monasteries in Armenia: definitely on my bucket list. Chris Green on the cons and pros of pastors using social media And while I'm on his blog, great news about the volume of Mike…
I very rarely tweet about talks I’ve heard – not because they haven’t been good necessarily, but because I usually think even the better ones tend not to travel well (usually because they are well embedded into their contexts). But that’s another story. Last Sunday was different. Judge David Turner was speaking as part of All Souls’ short series on flashpoint issues in next week’s General Election. His topic was Immigration. (more…)
RANT ALERT (This is v abnormal for me, but I’m quite exercised about it!)
I’m getting tired of people complaining about immigration, and just wish politicians would have the courage to speak up for it. The UK has ALWAYS been a country of immigrants – you just have to look at the history of London’s East End over the last 5 centuries to see this. (more…)