Kindness, Compassion and Grace. Some of our most under used tools for mission.
I don’t know if you managed to catch the performance of Lewis Capaldi at Glastonbury this summer. He is an incredible singer, but also not free from some mental health concerns, he is prone to panic attacks, a shoulder twitch and a recent diagnosis of Tourette Syndrome. If you listen to him in interview you’ll also…
Most people quit just before the miracle happens…
David had been journeying long and hard. He had led his men valiantly. He had lived with incredible standards of integrity and righteous. He had always done the right thing. Yet he had just returned from the journey, hoping to come back to his wife and children, hoping for a time of rest and relaxation…
How about we leave the safety of the four walls of our churches and go do some inviting?
Over the last few weeks I’ve been reading a book by one of my favourite communicators. I’ve been reading “The other side of hope” by Danielle Strickland. It is a far more personal book than many of her previous offerings and talks about her upbringing and that of her parents and grandparents. It is quite…
You are so Significant
“We have 7 children at our kids club and our entire village has 30 children, we can’t do the things we hear in the big conferences.” “My wife is 65 and I’m 70. We run Messy Church for a few families each week, we can’t do more.” Underneath the statements is an unspoken feeling, what…
The Resurrection of the Crucified
The Jesus story is distinctly different. It is about the resurrection of the crucified. Jesus is unlike any other religious leader. Buddha died aged 80, surrounded by a host of followers, Mohammed died aged 62, leader of a united Arabia, in the arms of his favourite wife. The Jesus story is distinctly different. It is…
Room One
When I was in my early teens I used to play a computer game called “Calypso Island”. It was a text based adventure game. No graphics, no elaborate screen designs, just words. The first screen started: You are in a small room. There is a table in front of you. A small mouse rushes past. …
Calibrated for a World that Simply Doesn’t Exist
I want to talk to you about Mission – our mandate to communicate Jesus. And I want to talk to you about Ecclesiology – The Church – God’s vehicle for communicating Jesus to the world. And I really want us to talk about it. Because across most of the developing world Christianity has lost traction. …
Quite an Adventure…
As of this month I have been in full time Christian ministry for 30 years. Now I know that all followers of Jesus are in full time Christian ministry, but I have had the privilege of being employed by the Church for three decades. I wanted to use this terms blog to reflect on that…
The Missing Generations
THIS IS THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED AND SUBSEQUENTLY PUBLISHED IN THIS MONTHS JOURNAL FOR MISSIOLOGY. IT IS QUITE ACADEMIC AND FOCUSED ON A PARTICULAR COUNTRY, BUT HOPEFULLY NONETHELESS INTERESTING. Introduction In the latter months of 2019 representatives from various Welsh organisations working with young people gathered at St Padarn’s Cardiff[1]. They…
Between Death & Resurrection – a personal reflection
We tend to rush past the Saturday. Good Friday has happened. Jesus is crucified, forsaken, it is finished. Death has taken place. And then we’re onto Resurrection Sunday. The grave is empty. He’s alive. We celebrate. But what happened to Saturday. Our more ancient liturgies honour it, but we are more inclined to ignore it…
The Lightbringers have landed
It’s here! We are really excited to announce that The Lightbringers, the Freedom In Christ Message For Children has landed! For many years Freedom in Christ has had requests for a resource that teaches the Freedom In Christ message of “Truth, Turning, and Transformation” to children. And, after more than five years of development, The Lightbringers is launched.…
Leaving the 1 for the sake of the 99
According to the 21st Century Evangelicals Survey undertaken by the Evangelical Alliance, 54% of the present UK church cited growing up in a Christian home as the primary reason they are in church today. That’s in contrast to 6% citing Alpha, Christianity Explored and Emmaus as their way in. The obvious reality is that faith…
God is usually doing more behind our backs than in front of our faces!
For this blog I wanted to give you an extract from David Goodwin’s book, “Kids Ministry is for Real” published by Kidsreach Inc. David Goodwin is a New Zealand born Pastor and Children’s Ministry legend who now lives in Sydney Australia. The story is about me, it happened over 15 years ago on one of…
It seems to me that the Christian Church has a glorious future…
…as long as it can remember why it exists. I read a lot of negative statistics. Mainly along the lines of: “Church attendance continues to fall in all denominations across the UK.” I feel it acutely. Working for the training arm of the Church in Wales, those I am training are constantly being told that…
Half Way There! – A Reflection
HALF WAY THERE! I am 50 today. I grew up in a Welsh mining valley and left aged 19, as did many of my friends, with little more than the clothes we wore and the life skills our parents taught us, and the lessons we learnt from each other. But these lessons have served me…