Palm Sunday: the Kingdom of God and a new social order
The Kingdom of God was heralded by the Messiah riding a donkey. By reason and provocation, He urged anyone who would fully accept that Kingdom to enter into its…
Salvation
Good Friday: love so amazing, so divine
Good Friday The Collects Almighty God, we beseech thee graciously to behold this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be betrayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer death…
Meaningful Chocolate and the meaningless M&S Dinosaur Easter Egg
Chicks and bunnies are a bit passé, so now we have the M&S Dinosaur Easter Egg. A decorated hollow milk chocolate T. rex with mini eggs in a speckled…
The Kingdom of God is within you, but it is also a future promise
Where is the Kingdom of God? Does it matter? How can it be both within you and yet still to come? Or has it already come? And if it…
Pentecost evangelism? What is the gospel in an age of religious relativism?
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have written to every clergyman and woman in England (all 11,300 of them, which is a lot of stamps), urging them to pray…
Pope Trump: walls, bridges, and judging who is a real Christian
Pope Trump has decreed more than a few anathemas, and has himself been anathematised by more than a few. "If anyone denies that Muslims, visible and invisible, do not present…
Does God still raise up prophets?
Prophecy is the most frequently-mentioned charism in the whole Pauline corpus: the role of the prophets is preeminent (eg 1Thess 5:20; 1Cor 11:4f; Rom 12:6; Eph 2:20; 1Tim 1:18).…
Global persecution of Christians more extreme than ever
This week many in the church and a few in the media have their eyes on Justin Welby and the Primates meeting in Canterbury, waiting to see if the…
Church of England continues its decline – but is revival stirring?
The Church of England has published its attendance stats ('Statistics for Mission') for 2014. Don't yawn. Yes, the interesting Anglican stuff is leavening this week in a Canterbury crypt,…
An abused dog howls for the love of God
An abused dog is stroked for the first time. The sound is piercing and distressing. It isn't quite a howl of anguish; more a shriek of intense fear. It…
On the Feast of Stephen
The funeral of St Stephen, by Filippo Lippi (1460). St Stephen – 'a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost' (Acts 6:5) – was chosen to be a…
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us
'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.. Through him all things were made.. In him was life.. the light of…
Stephen Crabb has no need to be ashamed of his Christian faith
Who could have imagined just 15 years ago at the turn of the century that we would now be living in such unpredictable times? What seems like a permanent…
Rev'd Barry Trayhorn "forced to resign" as prison worker – for quoting the Bible in chapel
HMP Littlehey is a 'Category C' men's prison ("Those who cannot be trusted in open conditions but who are unlikely to try to escape") and Young Offender Institute near…
Fr Raniero Cantalamessa – Preacher to the Papal Household – to speak at Synod Eucharist
As the Queen and Supreme Governor of the Church of England inaugurates the tenth General Synod on 24th November, it has been announced that the ceremony will be preceded…
Happy Reformation Day
Quite why Martin Luther chose to protest against Tetzel and his sale of indulgences on All Hallows' Eve is unknown, unless it was simply a marketing decision to ensure…
Bishop of Chelmsford repudiates episcopal "talent pool"
It was a glorious sermon, with an audacious, if not subversive (which some may call prophetic) intervention on the Church of England's emerging "talent pool" approach to recognising bishops.…
The social gospel is a legitimate child of evangelism
"I am so tired of hearing this social gospel held up as the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. The reason the Church pushes this social gospel is because by…
Evangelism threatened by counter-extremism measures
The Evangelical Alliance has been surveying Evangelicals. 1,730 of them, to be precise. And it transpires that four out of five of them think government policies to tackle extremism…
Welby: "Christians are not saints"; Cranmer: "O yes we are"
"Christians are not saints," tweeted Lambeth Palace, apparently quoting from a sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. "They are sinners calling other sinners to know and love…