asadmin Before I was a minister, I was a market researcher. This was at a time when my kids were very young, and had no idea what sort of job their daddy had. So, when I came home from work and they asked me what I did, I said: ‘Counting. Daddy does counting for a living.’ … Read more
‘So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.’ What joy it must have been to write those words! Even better, to actually see the rebuilt wall; to walk around inside its perimeter, knowing that the city was secure; to celebrate with those who had put in so much hard work, had risked … Read more
What is the opposite of faith? Most of us would instinctively say ‘doubt’ – but that’s not the biblical answer. In the bible, the opposite of faith is fear. It’s why Jesus prefaces his post-resurrection encounters repeatedly with the words, ‘Do not be afraid.’ It’s why St John tells us that there is no fear … Read more
Followers of Jesus have often been treated as threats to the ‘established order.’ In many ways this is strange: a group committed to living peaceful, holy, servant-hearted lives ought to be the very last people to be considered subversive. On the other hand, we worship a different Lord, one to whom all the Powers That … Read more
Every year our city of Milton Keynes hosts a marathon. One of my good friends was running in it this year, his first marathon at the age of 56. Thankfully he made it, and he popped in afterwards for a cup of tea – I had offered a celebratory protein shake, but he went for … Read more
We take a brief break from Nehemiah to enjoy a couple of Psalms (today and tomorrow) which connect with some of the themes of Nehemiah: As a family we used to love the game Jenga. You may be familiar with it: a stack of wooden blocks is created and, little by little, blocks are removed … Read more
‘I can’t change the world; but I can change the world in me.’ This is a line from an early U2 song, and it’s always stayed with me. As we concluded yesterday, what Nehemiah tackled 2,500 years ago is still just as prevalent today, only on a much bigger scale. The possibility of change feels … Read more
The title for today’s reflection comes from is a famous slogan popularised by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa in the 1990s. The point is that, unless fundamental issues of justice are addressed within a society, even great changes which appear to improve peace are superficial. It’s no use giving people the vote … Read more
It is a sad fact of human nature that, in the end, the will of ‘the flesh’ tends to resort to brute force to achieve its ends. ‘Might is right’ has caused untold suffering over the centuries, but nothing much changes under the sun. Our ‘civilised’ world today has more wars currently than for eighty … Read more
In 1787 the young MP William Wilberforce first proposed the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in the UK parliament. Over the next twenty years he would submit this same bill fourteen times. On each of the first thirteen times the bill was rejected and Wilberforce was subjected to vitriolic opposition, both to his character … Read more