Last term in our homegroups we spent time reflecting on the character of God. There is a limitless wealth of material when you do that and, inevitably, you cannot say everything. But there is one reality that I wish I had focused on more because I am not sure it is a strength of conservative […]
So what was 2018 like for you? Looking back I have had a good year- enjoyable holidays, pleasant times with family and friends, the privilege of speaking in a variety of contexts alongside a good year for us as a church (that I’ll aim to write about later in the week). But what if 2018 […]
Tonight was our annual biography evening at church. You can listen to the talk here. However, if you do so, you might find the handout that we used helpful to follow along. It is reproduced here: Early Life Born in 1832 to godly parents in Barnsley Converted as a teenager after a period of […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
It is easy when considering “Christian heroes” to have unrealistic people in our minds and forget that these were individuals who went through real pain and anguish. There is something very moving about the early years that Hudson Taylor faced in China. They were very trying and he found them immensely difficult. The trials that […]
As last year, I’m afraid that anybody looking for Christmas thoughts on the blog will be disappointed. That’s not just because of my “Bah-humbug” spirit but more because I have precious few thoughts at the best of times and I’m afraid any interesting thoughts on Christmas will need to be saved for the four sermons […]