I enjoy preaching and leading services at Woody Road- but I am always thrilled when I simply get to listen to God’s Word and the wisdom of God’s people without having to think about how to introduce the next song! I’ve had two opportunities to do this recently- at the FIEC Leaders’ Conference and the […]
Ukraine. Gaza. Iraq. The last few weeks have brought chilling news on a regular basis: pictures of grieving families with children being massacred. The persecution of Christians and other minorities in the Islamic State has mostly happened away from cameras but the reports of beheadings and crucifixions are hard to read and comprehend. A number […]
A couple of weeks ago I spent three days down in London at the Evangelical Ministry Assembly, organised by the Proclamation Trust. I’ve not been to this conference for a few years and it was good to catch up with old friends. The theme was “Removing the veil- the glory of God and the preaching […]
I feel very privileged- I often get the chance to spend time with Christians who are doing a fantastic job. I think of friends I visited last week- doing tremendous work in a tricky church situation at great personal cost. Other faces come to mind- those who persevere through painful temptations or suffering, those who […]
It’s time to complete this brief survey of the life of the 19th century pioneer missionary that I started before Christmas! Throughout these posts we have seen something of Hudson Taylor’s service- his passion for souls, willingness to embrace suffering and so on. In the last post I want to pose this question: how was […]
This evening was biography night at the church. I think it is good for us to remember the Lord’s work down through history and so each year I try to include a biography as part of an evening service. Tonight we looked at John Newton. You can hear the talk here. I tried to use […]
Apologies for the drawn out nature of this potted biography. In my last post on Hudson Taylor, I completed the story of his life. In the two remaining posts that I am planning I want to pick up some of the main emphases of his life. A Passion for Souls I think this is the […]
Last Sunday evening we held a Guest Event looking at the perennial question- “Why does a loving God allow suffering?” You can listen to my talk plus a helpful interview with Helen here. I was conscious that the talk didn’t include much Bible- and rather a lot of CS Lewis! In preparation I had worked […]
I had intended to write more about Hudson Taylor this week- I will try to return to him next week. But the main thing on everybody’s mind here is the formal opening of our new church building on Sunday- so, much as it would suit my historical brain, it would feel like an odd time […]
I am writing this on the eve of Good Friday. Tomorrow we will remember the death of our Lord Jesus. I always find John 12:24 one of the most moving descriptions of the purpose of the Lord’s death- “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. […]