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There are two important clues to show us what the parable of the Good Samaritan is about.  First, the parable is preceded by a question from one of the scribes: He asks Jesus what he can do to inherit eternal life and Jesus responds by discussing the commandments with him.  The man rightly identifies whole hearted love for God and love for your neighbour as the greatest commandments.  To have…

As a side note in my discussion paper on divorce and re-marriage, I noted that there is the question of common-law marriage.   The term has historically been used to refer to a couple who are in effect living faithfully, long term, as husband and wife, are recognised as such by friends, relatives and the wider community but have never had a ceremony. As society has changed, the term has to some…

What do you say to a family watching the impact of dementia on a loved one as they see them robbed of memories, ability to communicate and even their personality?  What do you say to Iranian brothers and sisters getting daily news about family who have been murdered by the regime? How about when a friend messages to say they are having a really difficult time at work, their boss is making life…

Here’s the second part of our look at better application.

Here’s the first of two videos exploring how we can do better at applying God’s Word.

What do the red cards for US player Folarin Balogun and England right back Quansah, the penalty awarded against Harry Kane in the Mexico game and Nigel Farage’s attempt to seek a by-election in Clapton have in common?  I would suggest that the common thread is our interesting relationship to justice as human beings. In the England v Mexico game, it was obvious that Mexican players and fans were…

Here’s a talk from a little while back on Ephesians 5:21-33 and marriage. There are two parts. At the start I run through a brief exposition of the passage and then Sarah and I have a discussion on the practical application.

We all have a hermeneutic.  You see hermeneutics is all about interpretation.  It’s the lens through which we view texts, culture, arguments including and most importantly, Scripture.  I mentioned in my last article that ideologies are not just about the specific philosophical or religious beliefs they promote about offering a world view, a means by which you can view, interpretate and make sense…

Aaron Edwards has written about the Henry Nowak case and compared it with the George Floyd case and resulting Black Lives Matter movement.  Edwards has openly aligned himself with Christian Nationalism.  It’s worth observing that Christian Nationalism is increasingly offering not just an ideology but as is the case with philosophies and ideologies, a hermeneutic or lens through which to interpret…

Yesterday, I shared my response to an article by Douglas Wilson where he argued that women refusing to marry were turning to Satan.  You can read my response here.  Wilson closes his article by saying: If Someone asks you, as they always do, what you want to do after you graduate. You should say something like this: “I would like to have eight babies in a row. And I would like at least six of…

I’ve recently written, first in response to the report put together by Rupert Lowe explaining why it  was unhelpful and fell short of what is needed.  I then wrote about the questions I believe a grooming gang inquiry needs to consider.  I would like, in this third article to turn my attention to another question that comes up.  One of the standard concerns raised about grooming gangs is the way…

The short and simply answer to what might be considered a silly question is “No.”  But obviously for us to end up with such a silly question, Doug Wilson has been saying something silly. It’s worth having a look at what he has been saying as it gives us an insight into the kind of wony exegesis used to support culture war. You can find Wilson’s article here:  He writes: Paul says that women who…

I wrote recently about the “inquiry” that Rupert Lowe MP had undertaken into grooming gangs.  I concluded my note by observing that a properly constituted, independent judge led inquiry is necessary to properly understand what has happened, what went wrong, why and what needs to happen to bring an end to this problem and prevent it recurring in the future.  Here are some of the questions that I…

One of the big moves during my lifetime has been from a situation where it would be considered at best “fringe” to refer to some Christian leaders as apostles to it being fairly normalised.  This came up significantly in my deep dive into Bethel, Redding.   The New Apostolic Reformation has a particular view of apostles and prophets being the ones who capture a vision of heaven in order to…

“Christ over all” says that it is “Is a fellowship of pastor-theologians dedicated to helping the church see Christ as  Lord and everything else under his feet.” Those are noble aims from a blog that says it comes from a “Reformed Baptist heritage”.  With that in mind, I was saddened to see them publish this article.  I note that the article fails entirely to engage with Scripture or the…

There is a saying that “A lie can be half way around the world whilst truth is still putting his shoes on.” I was reminded by that when reflecting on the political and social media reaction to the murder of Henry Nowak.  First, go back to the original incident.   There is an early example of the phenomena there.   A lie was concocted, or rather a cluster of lies.  Those included that: Nowak…