We all have ways in which we are not prepared for the inevitable.  This lack of preparedness is perhaps the most serious risk in our relationship with God.  So how might we overcome it?

Have you ever come across a bride who is unprepared for her wedding day?  I can think of no other day

Why God calls us to be more like Clint Eastwood and less like Jonathan Ross when we pray to him.

Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others… Whenever you pray, go into your room and

Thus says the Lord: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth.

It is becoming common currency that three great scandals have afflicted British public life in the new century: politicians’ expenses;

True healing comes when people are restored to their rightful place in the community, which should be a guiding principle in our support of disabled people.     

The Church is sometimes accused of insensitivity to disabled people.  At a practical level, until recent legislative  .....

What does exposure to new sources of information do to our minds and how do we sift what is
important from what is trivial?  An old story gives us a clue.  

There is always the risk that some parables are carelessly restricted to certain situations or times of the year. .

Two people give up hope on the first day of the working week.  It sounds a familiar story to us. 
Except a stranger has a different idea.   

Two followers of Jesus who assume he is dead are joined by the risen Messiah but are kept from recognising him until he gives thanks .  .....

There were no bodyguards for Jesus, despite his status.  That the uncreated God would give his life for us instead is a continuing source of wonder and awe.

Among the must-have fashion accessories today, the personal bodyguard ranks highly.  They protect your space as you jog through a north, ......

We live in a little personal bubble in the busyness of urban life and need God to pop it to see what he has in store for us outside. 

One advert that makes me smile is the cosmetics pitch to ‘get the London look’.  In this case the London look is Kate Moss after three hours ......

We are so in love with the advances being made in technology year on year that it has diminished for incurious minds the wonder of human prayer. 

Polling carried out by BEBO, the social network site, has revealed that teenagers send an average of 10,000: ,......

No cash or connections or charisma?  You’re just the person for the job. 

I am always struck by the way the disciples just seemed to drop what they were doing to follow Jesus.  They must have known something about him.  Perhaps there was a buzz surrounding, ,......

There is no lottery about the gift of wisdom because God promises it to anyone who asks him for it in faith 

When you are taking on a new job where the consensus is that, though you are succeeding someone, you certainly won’t replace them, it’s a good idea not ,......

If you were a firework for God, which one would you be? 

Of all the dates we commemorate in our common life, the uncovering of the first high profile terrorist plot on November 5, 1605 is the most enduring.  Thankfully it has long been ,......

Religious
self-righteousness is an ugly trait, yet in a consumer society we are,
more than ever, making distinctions between ourselves and others that mimic this ancient human flaw
The parables of Jesus have a timeless capacity to inspire and ......

Two trends in society and the Church empty the joyful impulse of love of its divine authenticity. 
Recognition is the first step to overcoming them

The English language is rich and robust but there are points at which it fails us.  One perfect example is living with only ......

When a time of trial arrives we can be sure of only one thing: Jesus won’t desert us, won’t deny us and won’t disappoint us.  Such is the living God we worship. 

Plenty of studies show how people need to control their environment to feel secure.  This makes responding to a ......

The world is becoming a more dangerous place for many who believe in Christ.  What can be done about it? 

These are some of the places where it has been documented that Christians have faced persecution recently: , ......

Most of us are willing to let God bend our will in the hope that when he lets go, it will spring back to how it was.  Yet only by allowing ourselves to be broken can God re-make us. 

The verb to break has taken on a darker meaning in the twenty-first century, as it has come, ,......

Being thankful is one of the most subversive gestures we can make in life. 
But how do we get to this point in the first place? 

A short time ago, the public polling body MORI claimed to have uncovered a new social stereotype in Britain: grumpy middle aged men.  They called them ......

Our faces tell others all they need to know about the faith.  We can witness to the goodness of God in a look. 

Some time ago I was about to visit a family that had had a new baby.  When they heard I had a cold, I was   ,......

What does God do deep in the heart of a Christian?  Something startling and radical, we are told. 

One of the beautiful things about the Christian faith is the paradox of simplicity and depth.  The Gospel is disarmingly artless in its claims:  ......

Over ninety percent of human communication is non-verbal.  Sharing the risen Christ is a similar story

When I was young and trying to figure out whether Christianity was true or not I spent a lot of time thinking through the ,......

Final thoughts on a time of rest that held more surprises and joys than I could have hoped for. 

At last, journey’s end.  A life changing sabbatical draws to a close in the warm humidity of Wembley Stadium.  I last saw U2 in concert as an ....

A two week learning encounter with the worst atrocity in history has been, paradoxically,
a life-affirming experience like no other

Some lines in life are just conversation stoppers.  Telling people you are going to spend two weeks studying the .......

The war cemeteries speak more eloquently of our common humanity under God than perhaps any other public monument. 

Does equality matter?  Peter Mandelson once said that the Labour government was ‘intensely relaxed about people becoming filthy ,......

Personal liberty is more challenging than we like to think.

This question is posed by so many Christians now that it makes one wonder if there is a deeper issue still that needs to be addressed.  Are the churches, for instance,

What is joy and why does it have such a low profile today?

“I’ve got joy and it’s down in my heart, way deep down in my heart”

Anyone who attended Sunday school, holiday camps or beach missions

What should Christians pray for among all the problems that command their attention in an information rich world?

One of the outcomes of the information revolution has been an explosion of guilt and helplessness ....

The next four months of my life are a journey into the unknown, but I am ready for them

On Easter Sunday 2009 I begin a four month sabbatical from work (including annual holiday entitlement). Anglican clergy can do this ....

God’s goal is nothing less than the renewal of creation itself. 

Corporate vocabulary is full of cliché.  Some have to endure it on a daily basis.  Many are guilty of using it.  People are often, for instance, encouraged to do ‘blue skies .....

Word and Spirit act like the cutting edge of a pair of scissors in the Christian life. 

Research has shown that it can take up to ten years in the life of a non-Christian adult to move from their first expression of interest in . 

I shall shortly be approaching the half-way stage in my sabbatical.  It is time to share some observations. 

After the busyness of Easter I felt it important to spend some days away from home to mark an immediate break from the routine of work ......

How seriously does the Church take the secular workplace?  Not seriously enough if the following testimony from a recent publication is anything to go by:

I spend an hour a week teaching Sunday school and they haul me up to the front of church to pray for

The times they are a-changin’.  Once again. 

For all its global dominance, the English language sometimes lacks the subtlety of other languages in conveying meaning.  When we read the word ‘time’ in New Testament Greek, for example, ...........