Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her… I give my wife the dregs of my love. And like the bottom of the beer barrel, the dregs taste bitter. At the end of the long day at work I come into the kitchen and collapse with little or no emotional energy left to spend on her. So I make a few helpful comments about the tidiness of the house from the position of my chair, before slumping into the tea (supper for you southerners!) that she sets before me. I think...
November 16, 2014November 12, 2018
My 3rd Letter to Brian Cox
Background: Inspired by David Robertson’s “The Dawkins Letters”, I’m writing a series of short letters to Brian Cox in light of his new series, The Human Universe. Read 1st letter here, and 2nd letter here. Dear Brian Cox, I do hope you’re still with me. I’m writing several letters to try and keep things brief – addressing just a couple of points at a time. Seeking to persuade people is a funny old thing. I read with interest your recent admission that, when you went on Newsnight, you used a special underhand trick your friend had told you about –...
November 14, 2014November 12, 2018
My 2nd Letter to Brian Cox
My 2nd Letter to Brian Cox Background: Inspired by David Robertson’s “The Dawkins Letters”, I’m writing a series of short letters to Brian Cox in light of his new series, The Human Universe. Read the 1st letter here. Dear Brian Cox, You’ve certainly seen the world, during your series. It’s hard not to be envious of the stamps on your passport. You’re in the Rift Valley, then you’re watching that Soyz capsule land safely in Kazakhstan, then you’re at a shrine in Kyoto, then visiting Hindu boys at training school in Pushkar. I find myself imagining conversations between you and...
November 9, 2014November 12, 2018
My 1st Letter to Brian Cox
My 1st Letter to Brian Cox Background: Inspired by David Robertson’s “The Dawkins Letters”, I’m writing a series of short letters to Brian Cox in light of his new series, The Human Universe. Dear Brian Cox, Congratulations on your TV series, “The Human Universe”. It has been extremely well thought out, and marvellously well produced. For years I’ve enjoyed BBC documentaries that make science accessible, and in many respects your programme has achieved that aim. You’ve come a long way since you were playing the keyboard for D:REAM. Then again, as you sang yourselves, things could only get better. But...
October 31, 2014November 12, 2018
Reflecting on U2’s new album
What causes us trouble? I’ve been listening to U2’s new album, Songs of Innocence. Do you have it? The chances are, you might have it without even realizing. It was given for free to over 500 million people by being placed unordered into our iTunes accounts. I did find it interesting that this caused so much outrage. People have complained that getting the album for free without asking was an invasion of their privacy. It does seem as though we’re not very good at accepting gifts! And when we don’t accept a gift, it does show what we think of...
October 1, 2014November 12, 2018
The beauty of slavery
Romans 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. How can it be good news to be a slave? What is the blessing of belonging to someone else? The best answer I’ve heard comes from The Heidelberg Catechism. Well worth a “Google” for your encouragement. It was written in 1563. It’s a set of questions and answers designed to help people learn the great truths of the Christian faith. If I just remembered the first one my experience...
August 14, 2014November 12, 2018
Reflecting on Robin Williams
This Summer the news leaves me not knowing what to do – wanting to stop reading and hide from it all, wanting to despair, wanting to get on a plane to Iraq, or Israel, or Gaza or Liberia, as if that would help. But this week we’ve also had to deal with the tragic news of Robin Williams’ suicide. Like so many other people, I grew up watching Williams. I laughed, I cried, I thought about life, through Good Will Hunting, and Dead Poet’s Society, and Good Morning Vietnam. His creative work was wonderful. His energy was astonishing. I can’t say anything about...
August 8, 2014November 12, 2018
Why not sin this Summer?
It’s Summertime, you’re here and there with holidays, your mates from church are not around, other people are around, you’re not reading your bible as much so God seems far away, so … why not take your foot off the gas in the Christian life? Why not have a break from living wholeheartedly for God? Why not sin? When I’m tempted to sin, in the heat of the battle, it really helps me to have – at the forefront of my mind – some compelling reasons not to go down that road. The Bible gives us so many. But here’s...
August 1, 2014November 12, 2018
Head Bangers, Blackshirts, and Human Rights without God …
There’s a plaque on Dock Street in the East End of London that commemorates “the Battle of Cable Street”: “The people of East London rallied to Cable Street on the 4th October 1936 and forced back the march of the fascist Oswald Mosley and his Blackshirts through the streets of the East End. They Shall Not Pass.” Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists had organised a march through East London dressed in uniforms like Hitler’s Nazis, through the streets of the Jewish community. You can only imagine the fear that was beginning to creep into Jewish homes in London. But...
July 14, 2014November 12, 2018
How much are you worth?
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. This isn’t a suggestion on what to ask new church members when the coffers are running low, but rather the primary area of disagreement between me and the BBC reporter who interviewed me yesterday. I enjoyed meeting Graham Satchell. I think his piece on the BBC Breakfast programme that looked at what we believe about the different roles of men and women at All Saints was very fair. What he didn’t include was the question I asked him...