Memorising Scripture as a tool for enjoyment
Jonty Allcock
Date posted: 12 Feb 2026
The Bank of England has deep underground vaults. They store gold bars that have an estimated worth of £200 billion. Squirrels store nuts. Humans store gold.
These are much the same. We stockpile what we consider to be of greatest value and discard what we consider to be worthless.
Are you suffering for 'doing good'? Read Peter's words
Tim Vasby-Burnie
Date posted: 10 Feb 2026
A calling from God is a noble, exciting, and gracious privilege.
Peter tells people who once lived in ignorance, who were led by evil desires, that they are called to be holy, like God (1 Peter 1v15-16). He builds up the church by telling them they have the honour of being called out of darkness into God’s wonderful light (2v9).
pastoral care
Helping believers in conspiracy theories
Helen Thorne-Allenson
Date posted: 9 Feb 2026
Conspiracy theories have always been part of human life (since the Fall at least). These false narratives, often claiming special insight into some event or the way life works, are repeated with passion despite flying in the face of truth. And with the growth of social media, internet celebrities now have a limitless platform to share what’s “really going on”.
Proponents use power to lead people astray. Sometimes with the odd Bible verse thrown in to provide an air of legitimacy, they suck congregation members into their misguided thinking and claim special knowledge of God. “This is who is really controlling the government…”; “This is what really happened behind that news article…”; “This is what is really being slipped into our food…”; “The truth is only to be found here”. It’s dangerous. It’s divisive. But for some in our churches, it’s alluring.
evangelicals & catholics
Mary, quite contrary ...
Leonardo De Chirico
Date posted: 8 Feb 2026
This is the final instalment of five articles in which I have been looking at Dan Strange’s five magnetic points – the five fundamentals that all human beings are looking for and to which they are magnetically drawn, and which can be seen in the lives of Catholics.
The fifth magnetic point is the reality of a higher power: a way to measure up to the supernatural. From a Biblical viewpoint, we must remember what Jesus said: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8v12). He is the Highest Power who became a human being we can know and love personally. He is also the only mediator between God and us (1 Tim. 2v5). He is the only one who died, rose from the dead and can intercede for us.
a Jewish Christian perspective
'Jewish evangelism is crucial to world evangelisation'
Joseph Steinberg
Date posted: 8 Feb 2026
Romans 11 confronts us with one of Scripture’s great paradoxes: God brings life out of death. Israel’s stumbling became salvation for the nations, and one day Israel’s restoration will mean “life from the dead” for the whole world. This mystery is not a theological puzzle – it is a mission challenge to the church.
Paul writes that God allowed Israel to experience a “spirit of stupor”, and many ask why. Why would the people chosen to be a light to the nations be blinded to the Messiah? Paul gives the answer: “Because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles – to make Israel envious.” Israel’s loss became our gain. Out of their rejection came reconciliation. Out of death came life. It is the pattern of the cross itself.
everyday theology
A melting heart
Michael Reeves
Date posted: 7 Feb 2026
Today, many rightly bemoan the lovelessness, superficiality, and spiritual hollowness they see spread all too widely across the church. Yet in our longing for a cure, we must not be seduced into thinking that superficial, pragmatic answers are the solution. A moral campaign for better Christian behaviour will not touch the roots of the problem.
The church today is surely in great need of reformation, but reformation of lives happens from the inside out as the Spirit heals hearts with the balm of the gospel. The gospel of Christ’s redemption and the Spirit’s regeneration is not just a message for outsiders: it is our only hope if we are to see the renewal and reformation of the church in our day.
everyday evangelism
It’s almost Life ’26!
Gavin Matthews
Date posted: 7 Feb 2026
With the countdown in full swing to this nationwide gospel outreach (see more via en article here), Gavin Matthews spoke to Nick McQuaker from A Passion for Life about what to expect and how to get involved.
What are AI 'deathbots' and how should we respond?
Andrew Drury
Date posted: 6 Feb 2026
It is natural for people to grieve for loved ones who have died. One of the ways that people have tried to cope is through artificial intelligence (AI), with the creation of "deathbots" (also known as "griefbots").
The process of developing deathbots includes inputting all the words that the deceased person would use into the computer programme by using personal material such as e-mails, texts, voice notes, and social media posts. One limitation is the inability to portray the nuances made in communication (such as stress or tone), so the resultant speech can be monotone. Nevertheless, while the interaction may lack authenticity, the emotion for the bereaved person will be undoubtedly real for there will be a psychological buy-in.
What do you think of when ‘mission’ is mentioned?
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 6 Feb 2026
Growing up in the UK church, when the word “mission” was mentioned, I’d instinctively picture overseas work. The phrase “mission field” conjured up images of far-away countries with people I perceived as different from myself. Was I correct in my definition?
David Baldwin, CEO of 2:19 Teach to Reach – which exists to help local churches share the gospel cross-culturally – maintains that there is a difference between evangelism and mission: “Whereas evangelism means sharing the gospel with those in our usual circles, mission always involves movement across some kind of boundary; geographical, cultural, ethnic or other.”
scattering seeds of hope
Colleges: 'I've never been as encouraged as I am now'
Claire Povey
Date posted: 5 Feb 2026
I have had the tremendous privilege of seeing God at work in colleges and sixth forms up and down the UK for the last 17 years.
The organisation I work for, Festive, supports 16-18 year olds in further education as they seek to live for Jesus and share Him where they study. In all my time with Festive, I have never been as encouraged as I am now.
Place matters: Today's church-hopping problem
Jonny Pollock
Date posted: 5 Feb 2026
There was a time when evangelical Christianity carried a value for place. Churches belonged somewhere. Not just in terms of a building in a location, but emotionally and relationally.
Pastors knew the weight of local stories from local people. Congregations carried shared memories – both the joy and pain of an area’s history.
faith and life
Jesus & the end of shame
Nathan Weston
Date posted: 5 Feb 2026
Have you ever been made to feel ashamed for being a Christian?
Perhaps you’ve been frozen out of friendship groups because you expressed an opinion that some in the group found offensive. Perhaps you’ve been overlooked at work because you wouldn’t go along with a sinful workplace culture. Or perhaps – hardest of all – you’ve been shunned or sidelined by your own family, because your Christian lifestyle is a rebuke to the religion or morality of your own flesh and blood.
history
Valentines and martyrdom
Michael Haykin
Date posted: 4 Feb 2026
In February many will celebrate St Valentine’s Day with gifts of flowers and maybe chocolates to their loved ones.
The association of romantic love with St Valentine’s Day dates back to Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, but the actual figure after which this saint’s day is named comes from the early centuries of the Church. Details of his life are shrouded in the mists of history. Indeed, it may well be that there are actually two different Christian figures by the name of Valentine. Whether one or two, there is good evidence that the church remembered one of them as an early Christian martyr. Our Saint Valentine was an Italian bishop who was martyred on 14 February, 269, after a trial before the Roman emperor Claudius Gothicus (reign 268–270).
the Bible in action
Death and money
Martin Horton
Date posted: 1 Feb 2026
“When he’d died, I didn’t like people saying ‘Oh, he’s passed’. Or ‘You’ve lost your dad,’ as though I’d let go of his hand in the supermarket.”
That was Simon Armitage, the Poet Laureate, speaking on Radio 4 about the sudden death of his father.
Cybersecurity: Loving your (digital) neighbour
Tristram Ridley-Jones
Date posted: 30 Jan 2026
It is a Tuesday morning in the church office. The administrator sits down, coffee in hand, to process the weekly DBS checks for the new Sunday School volunteers. It is a mundane, administrative task, a "Martha" moment in a world that often prizes "Mary" spirituality. But in today's day and age, this simple act of administration has become a frontline of spiritual stewardship.
Last year, the data breach involving the Access Personal Checking Services (APCS) (a third-party supplier used by many dioceses and Christian organisations) served as a stark wake-up call. It reminded us that the church is not invisible to the digital threats that prowl the modern world. For many church leaders, terms like "phishing," "ransomware," and "two-factor authentication" feel like a distraction from the Great Commission. They would rather talk about grace than firewalls.
How the gospel is going viral with LEGO
Jake Owen
Date posted: 29 Jan 2026
In a former church building overshadowed by a shopping centre, a small media organisation is producing Christian content which is going viral across social media.
Go Chatter Studios is animating Biblical stories - from the prophet Jonah’s reluctant journey to Nineveh to Christ’s raising of his friend Lazarus from the dead - using the much-loved construction toy, LEGO.
Did you know that anxiety is contagious?
Matt Waldock
Date posted: 28 Jan 2026
At least once a year a member of the staff team will drag themselves into the office with their nose running, full of cold and with a hacking cough; then everyone else will roll their eyes in the knowing frustration that unless their immune system is like an athlete, it’s only a matter of time before the whole team gets sick.
But what if there is a far more dangerous contagion that stalks among our congregations? That contagion is anxiety.
At a distance: Are we only willing to follow Jesus up to a point?
Wallace Benn
Date posted: 27 Jan 2026
“And Peter had followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest” (Mark 14v54).
This describes the worst moment in dear Peter’s life, of which he was later so ashamed, and about which he needed the Lord’s forgiveness and reinstatement, which he graciously received (John 21). It was not that Peter had given up following Jesus, it was that at a crucial moment when he was under pressure he denied his master and Lord. Peter wanted to follow Jesus, but he did not at this time want the hassle and danger of doing so – it was all too much for him to cope with. Later Peter thankfully showed that he was more than willing to take up his cross and follow Jesus wherever that led.
