Both are true: The beauty & cost of following Jesus
Tim Vasby-Burnie
Date posted: 2 Oct 2025
Should Christians live in a way that wins the favour of our community? Or should you follow Jesus in a way that shows your distinctiveness and causes people to accuse you of doing wrong?
Peter says: Why choose? Both are true! “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2v12).
Ryder Cup's verbal abuse - and following Jesus
Graham Daniels
Date posted: 30 Sep 2025
The Ryder Cup crowds were loud, proud, and at times out of control. Even in the gallery, Christian fans are called to a different way - one shaped by prayer, restraint, and witness.
Bethpage Black crackled with energy this weekend. American fans turned the Ryder Cup into a cauldron of noise. Flags waved, chants roared, and the U.S. team fed off the atmosphere. It was sport at its loudest and liveliest.
pastoral care
Helping those in the desert of prayerlessness
Helen Thorne-Allenson
Date posted: 30 Sep 2025
Hidden prayerlessness can damage the church. I’m not referring to the unbeliever on the fringe who has no relationship with the Lord – nor the suffering believer who is struggling to concentrate or find the words – but rather the seemingly passionate Christian who is active in the local church but is operating as from a place of self-dependence rather than dependent on God.
The person who leads Bible studies, engages in one-to-ones, talks about evangelism – maybe even leads and preaches on a Sunday – and, in the course of those things, will pray prayers that sound good but, in the quietness of their own heart, there is nothing. No wrestling with the Lord over personal sin. No pleading with the Lord for the salvation of their family and friends. No intercession for the war-torn, poverty-stricken areas of the world. No seeking the Lord’s guidance in the daily decisions of life. A Christian who looks flourishing on the outside but is hollow and dry within.
Evangelism without superhero capes
James Burnett
Date posted: 29 Sep 2025
The WhatsApp conversation went something like this:
Friend: Hey I need your help!
JB: Sure, what’s up?
Friend: Well, as a couple we’re not religious – in fact, we see religion as a spiritual crutch - no offence... 👊
JB: 🙉 None taken, but happy to explore this meme later... So, what’s the problem?
Friend: Wife’s just given birth and says to me, "This is – SHE is! – not a cosmic fluke, she is... designed! I believe in God!"
JB: And?
Friend: Well, we were so happy! And now this 😔 You’ve got to talk to her!
JB: Well, I’m hardly going to talk her out of it, I’m a vicar.😂Let’s have lunch first👊
imperfect parenting
To the irritable parent
Katie Holloway
Date posted: 28 Sep 2025
Before we delve into this, I want to say: I’m talking to myself, here. I’m certainly not pointing fingers, more like opening my hands in admittance, and perhaps welcoming others (all of us?) into the “irritable parents’ club”.
Whether your baby has had you up for most of the night, your toddler has refused to put on their shoes for 40 minutes (ask me how I know), or your teenager wants to start a debate about every instruction you give them, it feels like being irritable is part of the parenting package. But it doesn’t have to be.
Jenny Han's coming-of-age stories & sacrificial love
Rebecca Chapman
Date posted: 25 Sep 2025
“Sex sells” has been a marketing mantra since the 1800s. The same strategy seems to be increasingly used to “sell” film and television to us.
In September, the teaser trailer was released for Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights. Like her previous film, Saltburn, the teaser has produced countless headlines and not insignificant outrage. The film itself is due for release next Valentine’s Day, but the jury is out on whether it will reveal much about love.
Re-imagining the pulpit: Lectures or living Words?
Roger Carswell
Date posted: 23 Sep 2025
I wonder how many sermons you have heard in your lifetime. I reckon I have heard at least 15,000. And just a few have left such an impression that years later I can tell you what was said, who preached them and where I was.
Each of those was characterised by an earnestness - an expression of the heart of the preacher. They fed my soul, impacted my will and exalted the Lord Jesus.
Political violence? It's Satanic
Russell Moore
Date posted: 19 Sep 2025
After the shocking assassination of Turning Point USA founder, Charlie Kirk, I described the violence not merely as immoral and un-American but also as Satanic. A friend objected to that word. I stand by it - and here’s why.
The Bible explicitly defines murder as the way of the Devil (1 John 3v10-12). But when it comes to political violence in particular, Satanic is the only word I know that can describe the combination of calculated self-idolatry with senseless self-sabotage.
The gospel according to TK Maxx?
James Cary
Date posted: 19 Sep 2025
I’m a regular at retail store TK Maxx. I get all my shirts there, so I go in regularly to rummage.
In early August, I was startled to see Halloween gear already on display. Doesn’t Halloween come earlier every year? No surprise really: it’s now reckoned to be the UK’s biggest festival after Christmas. That’s strange for a Gen-Xer like me. In the 1980s, Bonfire Night was far more exciting; sparklers, fireworks, a giant bonfire plus the thrill of burning “the guy,” usually made from second-hand clothes stuffed with straw or newspaper. Written down, it sounds a bit Wicker Man, doesn’t it?
Leading through letting go
Jonny Pollock
Date posted: 19 Sep 2025
This summer saw a team effort in our back garden as my 12-year-old son and I prepared to build a raised garden bed. I am not in any way "handy" like this and had some doubt, but he was just so excited to be included and “grown-up". Then came his inevitable request: “Can I do it, Dad?”
Efficiency told me to say no. I had things to do: boards needed cutting, screws needed putting in with a power tool. But something nudged me... This moment wasn’t just about wood and soil. So I let him try. Of course, the initial measurements were off, and all the screws fell on the floor. Tears welled. “I can’t do it,” he loudly announced. My hand twitched impatiently, ready to take over. Yet the real project was not a garden bed but a boy learning perseverance, and a father needing some humility! If I stepped in too quickly, I’d definitely save the project but perhaps stunt the growth of my son. I could easily take over, but lose the real lesson for him and for me.
Rediscovering the 'lost' art of kneeling in prayer
Roger Carswell
Date posted: 18 Sep 2025
A visitor to the Continental Congress in America was eager to see George Washington. He asked a steward: “Which one of those men is George Washington?”
The reply came: “When the Congress goes to prayer, the one who kneels is General George Washington.”
The wonder of worship
Ben Slee
Date posted: 16 Sep 2025
There is an extraordinary ordinariness as your church gathers for congregational worship.
Our church was part of the revitalisation of a church in Wembley. It’s an ordinary church of ordinary people, especially compared to the huge stadium just around the corner where great multitudes gather to see the rise and fall of some of the greatest sports men and women in history.
Losing my Mum one memory at a time
Tim Thornborough
Date posted: 16 Sep 2025
Visits to my mum follow a predictable path. She recognises me as I walk in. I sit with her and hold her hand. She asks me how everyone is – her eyes betraying the internal struggle to remember who the people are that I am talking about. They are her grandchildren, her daughter-in-law. The conversation is punctuated by repeated questions. My answers are honed sharp by repetition.
“I’m ready to go home whenever you are.”
everyday theology
Finding true friendship
Michael Reeves
Date posted: 15 Sep 2025
I wonder if you’ve read C. S. Lewis’ The Four Loves? If you haven’t, you’ve got a treat to enjoy sometime. His chapter on friendship is a favourite of mine. It’s an insight-packed paean to friendship. And friendship is a vital part of our life together in Christ, a foretaste of what is to come.
A friendship is not the same thing as an exclusive coterie or cabal. “True Friendship,” says Lewis, “is the least jealous of loves. Two friends delight to be joined by a third, and three by a fourth, if only the newcomer is qualified to become a real friend.” The foundation for friendship, Lewis says, is companionship, which is what we often mean by the term “fellowship”. Companionship entails a basic willingness to get on and work well with others.
helping children find faith
Bridging generations
Ed Drew
Date posted: 15 Sep 2025
It was the start of a large event and the youth group had a crisis. It was their first evening and too many leaders were late arriving. The clock was ticking. I was searching for reliable, willing adults to stand in for the evening.
I was directed to a local godly retired woman. She was available but could not see how she was suitable. She felt out of touch with their fashions, tastes, technology and interests. I finished by saying that I expected the young people to walk into the room feeling awkward, alone and wishing their parents hadn’t brought them. We needed kind adults who could make them feel welcome, ask them good questions and take an interest in their answers. “I can do that!” was her enthusiastic reply. We had a deal. She solved the crisis.
Does it matter where I sit in church?
Phil Moon
Date posted: 14 Sep 2025
Are you sitting comfortably? Maybe, just maybe, you shouldn’t be!
There are real strengths to the senior minister sitting in a variety of places in church.
New term, new challenges for youth & children's work
Jonny Woodbridge
Date posted: 13 Sep 2025
It's the beginning of another academic year. And, for children, youth, and certainly their youth and children's workers, this is a big time of change.
There is so much to be thinking about, and I want to offer four pieces of advice, four things that we must seek to remember (yet I often forget) at the beginning of the new school year:
Pastor: Are you the same in public and private?
Dan Steel
Date posted: 12 Sep 2025
Paul writes to his protégé Timothy in 2 Timothy 3v10: “You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance…”
It’s striking to me that Paul doesn’t only point Timothy to his doctrine, to truth, but also to his lived example. Faith is taught and caught. His words and his way of life both bear witness to the reality of Christ.
