Truth be told, I cry a fair bit.  I got the advice from William Booth (not in person, you understand) – ‘try tears’ he said.  Injustice moves me, poverty moves me, unwarranted suffering moves me.  Most of the time I’m not directly connected to that, especially these days.  Yet, over the years, another thing that … More Try Tears

Over the years there have been plenty of those ‘how to support your pastor’ posts written and that appear on Facebook etc. from a variety of perspectives.  Certainly, when I’ve read them there have been things that are useful and things that are less so, usually to do with the context.  I guess, over the … More How to support your pastor/minister

My last paper for my MA in Mission explored some of the key factors that might be required for any church stuck in a rut to get moving again.  Discounting dynamite, laxatives or any other such distasteful or destructive methods, the conclusion I argued for was simply to focus on ‘making missional disciples’.  OK, so … More Monuments and Movements

‘The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us’ – John 1:14 I picked up the two heavy ring binders containing my study notes from my days at International Christian College in Glasgow last night and enjoyed a good flick through the pages.  On one hand, I loved revisiting the pages, remembering even sitting … More On reading and learning…

As often happens, I only really get the opportunity to reflect on Christmas or Easter a few days after the ‘main thing.’  You may or may not realise, but a lot of your pastors’ minds are fixed on making sure that you have the opportunity to really share in the fulness of these seasons, and … More Catching up with Easter

Jesus:  Give it up! Disciple:  No Lord, let me do this instead. Jesus:  That’s not how it works. We come to Jesus, more or less, on our own terms.  We come with our houses, cars, abundant possessions that no sensible person needs, and with our leisure, pleasure and all the rest.  We come with the … More Give it up

A frequent reflection of mine over the years has been about the foundations of our Christian life and discipleship.  One of those foundations is the Bible; it is there we find much of the information that we build our faith experience on; and, it is there we find a full revelation of Jesus, who his, … More Foundations

We’re more or less into the last week of Lent now, give or take a few days, and I feel very intensely the ways in which the time has redirected my focus.  I’ve laughed, I’ve wept, I’ve mourned, I’ve been hopeful, I’ve been empty, I’ve been full.  More than all of that, Jesus has drawn … More Pressing on

Someone asked me the other day ‘what’s the worst thing about being in church leadership?’  I answered the question wrongly, because, not wanting to get too deep on the matter, I glibly said ‘meetings that don’t go anywhere and are for apparently nothing.’  Whilst that’s a waste of time, it’s not the real answer I’d … More We have a problem…

There are always ideas floating around in the world of church, mission and theology – some of them are weird, some are of little real or practical value, some are brilliant…and then there are those which provoke a deeper conversation.  I guess Martin’s blog post that I referred to yesterday is case in point (I’ll … More To the hills!