the waiting country

by surprise at life returning before I'd even noticed that it was ever close; and life has returned before, and I, then, scarc...

I’ve long been impressed by Maria Popova’s ability to read and digest huge amounts of literature and to then write about it in such a seemi...

...there is no question (could there ever be) that Christians are obligated to serve God. Nor is there (for Paul) any question that believer...

Illustrations - all good sermons need them (apparently). All good preachers acquire them, store them, retrieve and deploy them. Stories, ana...

35 years ago today, a guy called Steve asked if he could sit down and talk to me about Jesus. And Jesus? He said, Come to me, all you who ar...

In his book, Simpy Brilliant , William C Taylor engages the work of Gregory Treverton on how national security services tackle their work. D...

Pertinent question asked by Oliver Burkeman in the latest issue of New Philosopher : What will your life have been, in the end, but the s...

Commenting on Ezekiel 36, Chris Wright says, Spiritually and psychologically there is profound insight in this chapter into the proper pla...

God is there. There are times when our doctrinal conviction of God's omnipresence needs to become an experienced reality again. Whether...

In their helpful book, How to read Job, John Walton and Tremper Longman III make the following comments about application in preaching that...

In my post of random thoughts on the experience of a sabbatical , I mentioned that I hadn't missed preaching and wasn't too sure wha...

Some pretty random, unrefined reflections on my recent sabbatical. Not in any particular order. 1. Don't leave it 22 years for your fi...

You'd think every pastor has a natural inclination towards reading and a natural aptitude for it. If that's the stereotype then I fi...

"Aslan, Aslan. Dear Aslan," sobbed Lucy. "At last." The great beast rolled over on his side so that Lucy fell, half sit...

"Maybe the best definition of the leader is the man who knows how to wait. During the waiting he learns to lead by prayer. He deepens h...

Parables...attract attention by their pictorial or paradoxical language, and at the same time their indirect approach serves to tease and pr...

"He did not set out to aggressively recruit followers by overwhelming power or manipulation; rather, he humbly acknowledged that God...

Acts 28:30,31 is "a marvellous conclusion to the earliest recorded history of the church. Whether intended or not, Luke strikes the twi...

Was it realistic to think I could develop [into] something maybe more like a contemplative pastor - a pastor who was able to be with people ...

The single most important way for pastors or church leaders to turn passive laypeople into courageous and gracious lay ministers is through ...