culture watch
Pride month: Is culture telling more of the Beautiful Story?
Rebecca Chapman
Date posted: 27 Jun 2025
June has been Pride month – a global series of gatherings, begun as a march in the 1970s, that celebrate LGBTQ+ rights.
Interestingly, there have been articles this year suggesting that just perhaps we are starting to reach “the end of the rainbow” – some Reform-led councils have taken down Pride flags from their municipal properties. There are reports that Whitehall has banned civil servants from buying Pride lanyards.
Boomerang kids: Blessing or curse?
Tim Wilson
Date posted: 26 Jun 2025
Young men are returning to church. That is the headline which is grabbing all the attention right now. But an equally striking trend is unfolding that is not being considered by Christians. Young adults are also returning to live with their parents.
These are the “boomerang kids”, whose parents sent out but have come back. Their number is growing. A survey by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found that 18% of 25- to 34-year-olds still lived with their parents. This was more likely among young men (23%) than young women (15%). With 18- to 24-year-olds this is over half.
engaging with culture today
God cares about sport
Jonny Reid
Date posted: 23 Jun 2025
During a seminar, a pastor interrupted me with a simple question: “What even is the point of sport?” It’s a fair question.
Theologically, sport is often overlooked, yet it’s deeply woven into our society. Over 9 million people actively participate in sport in the UK, and millions more watch. Globally, its influence is vast.
Netflix's Black Mirror: looking at screens versus looking at Christ
Niv Lobo
Date posted: 18 Jun 2025
W.H. Auden, the 20th century poet, once said: "Every man carries with him through life a mirror, as unique and impossible to get rid of as his shadow." It’s a striking metaphor, describing the personal impact of how we see ourselves.
Auden proposes a "parlour game for a wet afternoon — imagining the mirrors of one’s friends." But in the 21st century, we don’t have to imagine.
the pastor's toolkit
How to start a preaching group (no prep required)
Martin Salter
Date posted: 17 Jun 2025
Over the years I’ve been involved in a number of different preaching groups.
The format has often been quite similar. There might be half a dozen of us who get together in a room. One of us will stand up and deliver a recent or upcoming sermon, and then the rest of us will offer feedback. It's a good and helpful thing to do, though not without a few downsides.
culture watch
Fathers, sons and the 'vital' importance of trust
Rebecca Chapman
Date posted: 15 Jun 2025
Trust between fathers and sons may sometimes be faltering, despite the best intentions of all involved, but recent headlines have shone an unpleasant spotlight on one particular royal father and son.
After Prince Harry lost a legal battle over taxpayer-funded security, his first instinct seems to have been to call the BBC to arrange an interview and publicly air his unhappiness. And also to fuel speculation over the health of his father by saying he “doesn’t know how long” the King has left. Loyalty to his father appeared to have left the building. Long-term royal correspondent and commentator Jennie Bond told LBC that “trust has been completely blown out of the window” – presumably on all sides. How that must hurt everyone concerned.
Rediscovering the Jewish roots of the Gospels
Ziggy Rogoff
Date posted: 12 Jun 2025
In today's world, where Christianity is seen as distinct from Judaism, it's easy to overlook the profound Jewish roots of the New Testament. Yet, understanding the Gospels through a Jewish lens can transform our evangelism when speaking to Jewish people.
The Jewish identity of Jesus and His message
One of the most common objections to Jesus being the Messiah is that His message doesn’t seem Jewish. But Yeshua (Jesus) isn’t just Jewish; He is the Jewish King. The gospel is a message for all people but especially for Jewish people, as they were the recipients of God's promises. This good news remains as relevant for Jewish people today as it was in the first century, when 3,000 Jewish men received the Holy Spirit during the Jewish festival of Pentecost. Understanding that the gospel is rooted in Jewish culture will help you approach your Jewish friends with confidence, knowing that Jesus' message speaks directly to what it truly means to be Jewish.
Can we experience our eternal inheritance now?
Tim Vasby-Burnie
Date posted: 11 Jun 2025
Do you want to experience the future, now? Read on!
Christian: you have received, in Jesus, an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. What a contrast to this passing age. The customs and priorities of your culture are an empty way of life, but you have been redeemed from that by the precious blood of Christ. Even gold is perishable compared to the everlasting certainty of your glorious inheritance.
A tale of three tennis players
Rosie Woodbridge
Date posted: 10 Jun 2025
One sport, yet three totally different experiences.
Federer: loved the game
Roger Federer is one of the most successful tennis players of all time: a twenty-time Grand Slam champion, once holding the world number one position for 237 weeks in a row. He is the most successful grass-court male player of all time, and played with a style, grace and elegance which made him loved by many. Fellow champion Novak Djokovic even remarked, "You have to wonder if he's from the same planet."
Ten questions with: Israel Oluwole Olofinjana
en staff
Date posted: 9 Jun 2025
Israel Oluwole Olofinjana is director of One People Commission, part of the Evangelical Alliance.
He is a Baptist minister and has led two multi-ethnic Baptist churches and an independent charismatic church. He is the founding director of Centre for Missionaries from the Majority World, a mission network initiative that provides cross-cultural training to reverse missionaries in Britain. He is a consultant to the executive team of Lausanne Europe, advising them on matters related to diaspora ministries in Europe.
the ENd word
From fed up to fed
Jon Barrett
Date posted: 9 Jun 2025
There was a time when I got a bit fed up with the 23rd psalm.
Admittedly, it’s not a great way to feel about a piece of Scripture, but I’d come to associate the psalm almost entirely with funerals of unbelievers. While an Anglican minister, before moving to the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC), I conducted many such funerals, and the default hymn choice for the generation of non-churchgoers I was burying was Abide With Me and The Lord’s my Shepherd, the latter always sung to the tune of Crimond.
Four books to enthuse your family in worldwide mission
Catherine MacKenzie
Date posted: 8 Jun 2025
I am writing this article from a hotel room in Krakow, Poland where I am meeting international Christian publishers and missionaries from around the world.
We are a stone’s throw away from the Schindler factory made famous by the book Schindler’s Ark and the subsequent film Schindler’s List.
earth watch
Energy, emissions, and the choice of Boaz
Paul Kunert
Date posted: 8 Jun 2025
Energy, and how we produce it, is the key to a stable climate. Three quarters of emissions come from energy production. Get energy right, and we’ve broken the back of it. So, the latest Global Energy Review report from the highly regarded International Energy Agency is a vital health check. What’s happening to energy demand? How are we producing it? Does the arc of emissions bend toward zero?
According to the report, the answers to those questions are: one, it’s going up; two, increasingly from renewables; and three, either no or only slowly. Now, I know it’s hard to engage with numbers and percentages. So, here are just two headlines. In 2024, global energy demand rose by 2.2%. And carbon emissions rose by 0.8%. Behind those headlines is a mixed story. On the plus side, most of the growth came from wind and solar energy. In fact, 40% of all energy now comes from low carbon renewables and nuclear. But on the minus side, use of gas, oil and coal also rose, and carbon emissions are still going up, when we need them to be going down (fast).
safeguarding briefing
Why Matthew 18 doesn’t apply to spiritual abuse
Jules Loveland
Date posted: 8 Jun 2025
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matt.18:15-17).
Matthew 18:15-17 is often the blueprint for resolving conflicts in church settings. It outlines a process:
South Asian interchange
Seeing spiritual realities?
Rani Joshi
Date posted: 7 Jun 2025
I don’t know about you, but I’ve walked through some difficult experiences in life – from losing my parents, broken relationships and financial trials, to trauma and health scares.
John 10:10 reminds us that we have an enemy who seeks to steal, kill and destroy. Yet Jesus came so that we might have life and have it abundantly. Time and time again, I see people held in bondage by trauma and sin. Although God has redeemed us, working out our salvation and discipleship is a continuous journey.
the pastor's toolkit
Church leaders, have you accidentally stopped leading?
Phil Moon
Date posted: 6 Jun 2025
When church leaders get busy, or just simply older, it’s very easy for some leadership qualities - and the things leaders are supposed to actually do - to fall by the wayside.
That doesn’t help our leadership, nor does it help those we lead. Here are seven leadership qualities that can so easily drop off the radar:
