In John 18, Jesus stands before Pilate and tells him, “the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth.” “What is truth?” retorts Pilate.
Jesus was the only entirely truthful person that ever lived. Leading up to His crucifixion, His accusers fabricated charges against Him. Peter fearfully and fervently denied that he knew Him.
Last weekend's second round of Six Nations rugby saw Scotland extend their remarkable Calcutta Cup record with a statement win over England at Murrayfield.
Scotland bounced back from a poor opening day defeat in Rome and played like men possessed to demolish England in a dominant 31-20 win, reclaiming the victors' trophy and ending Steve Borthwick’s side’s 12-game winning run.
The big news in the education world at the moment is that the government has published an updated draft of Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), the statutory safeguarding guidance for schools and colleges. And this version includes long-awaited guidance relating to “gender questioning” children — something the Association of Christian Teachers (ACT) has been pressing the government for over many years.
Schools were first promised this guidance in 2018, yet repeated delays, internal disagreements and a change of government meant schools were left waiting for almost eight years.
For some of us, the observance of Lent is a regular part of our faith. But for others, it might seem void of meaning - maybe an ancient ritual utterly disconnected from life in the here and now. "What does that have to do with us?" I understand the question. And that’s why slowing down and taking time to incorporate Lenten practices is so important for us all.
The meaning of Lent
Lent’s true meaning goes far beyond mere tradition. It is a profound spiritual practice that invites believers to deepen their faith and experience a transformative journey.
Political theology at its best can be an edifying pursuit as we learn together how to engage faithfully in our post-Christendom nation. However, the subject of "Christian nationalism" has become a flashpoint, where rigorously irenic disagreement seems to have been sacrificed for a series of alarmist diatribes.
Whilst legitimate critiques can be made of any number of the sprawling ideologies labelled "Christian nationalism," it does not serve anyone well to overreact. Indeed, those who ricochet against Christian nationalism are in danger of not only forcing today’s church into passionless political passivity, but also anathematising the vast majority of Christians throughout history who faithfully pursued Christian influence at a national level.
As a Welshman, I watched the opening weekend of this year’s Six Nations with a mixture of familiarity and unease. Familiarity, because we have seen difficult periods before. Unease, because this one feels deeper.
Much of the attention fell, quite rightly, on the efficiency of France and England, and on Italy’s impressive composure in closing out their win against Scotland. But for those of us with Welsh rugby in our bones, the story was less about the scoreboard and more about what seemed to lie beneath it.
Don’t get me wrong, every missionary is grateful for the financial support they receive from churches.
They’re also blessed by knowing that churches are praying for them from the moment they leave these shores until they return at some future point. In fact, I was just sharing with a church yesterday that when a missionary says they’re travelling from one place to another and would like people to pray, they really mean it. It isn’t a filler item in a list of prayer points; the journey probably involves dangerous, ice-covered or corrugated desert roads, or even the risk of hijacking.
One of the most ardent of President Trump’s supporters in Congress for the past five years has been the Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. But in the first week of January she abruptly resigned from the House of Representatives having publicly split with President Trump on a number of issues as vocally as she had supported him for most of those five years.
When she was first elected to the House in 2020, her politics were regarded by many as so extreme that within a month of her arrival she was removed from all her committee positions in the House after she had publicly endorsed the use of political violence.
This is not a post about Brexit. But I am going to use the 2016 Brexit referendum in the UK as an analogy.
To refresh your memory, in 2016 a referendum was held in the UK on whether or not to stay in the European Union (EU). This had been a longstanding issue for debate ever since the UK first joined the EU in 1971.
As mass demonstrations blend Christian imagery with nationalist politics, questions are growing about how Christians should respond to Christian nationalism.
Many Christians are uneasy about the ways faith and politics are increasingly intertwined.
One of my catchphrases is, "Psychology and theology can be friends." We have the truth in Christ, but we also benefit from God’s common grace to humanity through science.
However, it is very important – especially in psychology - that you are careful about the science.
"By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion."
The words of Psalm 137 are familiar to most Christians around the world. The sentiment, however, was largely unfamiliar to conservative evangelical Christians in Britain - mostly, though not exclusively, white - who until recently felt at home both in the church and in the nation.
“Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3v22-23).
The context for many in today’s world may not be as devastating as the destruction of Jerusalem that provided the basis for Jeremiah’s Lamentations. Following its desolation and captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar, people in the context experienced significant suffering and deep sorrow as they faced exile and an uncertain future. It was in that situation of despair that the prophet Jeremiah in his lament provided glimpses of hope rooted in God’s mercies, compassion and enduring love.
A sermon clip of Alistair Begg has been repurposed by "influencer" Josh Howerton, who called it “the best 3-minute sermon ever preached.”
The premise is that the thief on the cross who acknowledged Jesus as Lord would that day be in paradise. He was not baptised, did not go to a Bible study, and did not hold any formal membership in a local church. The thief on the cross simply arrived into eternal glory because the “man in the middle said I could come.” Such is the grace of God. Amen.
The tail-end of last year saw over 1,200 politicians and leaders from business, faith, culture, sport and the media gather at Westminster Central Hall for the National Emergency Briefing on the climate and nature crisis.
Ten of the UK’s leading experts – including leading climate scientists at top British universities (Oxford, Manchester, Exeter, Newcastle, Lancaster and UCL), many of them global leaders in their fields, and a former lieutenant-general in the British army – briefed them on the latest implications for health, food, national security and the economy. (You can find recordings of the event at www.nebriefing.org/) What, I wondered as I watched, might be an Evangelical response?
Events since the beginning of 2026 have suggested the collapse of the “rules-based world order” that has held sway since the end of the Second World War.
US president Donald Trump ordered the seizure of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, threatened Columbia and Iran, and reasserted his determination to take control of Greenland. He has claimed American hegemony in Western Hemisphere, and seems prepared to allow other nations, including China and Russia, to have control over their own geographical spheres of influence. It feels as if the world is returning to the era of competing empires, with great powers forcing their will on smaller vassal nations. Britain feels especially vulnerable to this change because we are no longer the world power we were in 1945.
“I’m not a racist.” My observation is that if this were in fact the case, such protest would be unnecessary. I have learned to brace for what inevitably and almost immediately follows.
Seldom however, are these the first words spoken. Various thoughts and reflections slowly simmer and are finally brought to the boil of whatever "controversial" words apparently require this disclaimer. Indeed, the door of the conversation often bears no resemblance to this hinge on which it opens, or the grim hallway beyond.
Some of us will remember the old Orange mobile phone advert from the turn of the millennium: “The future’s bright, the future’s Orange.” The future did not, as it turned out, belong to Orange. But can it still be bright?
There is no doubt that Britain, like many of its neighbours, is afflicted by several overlapping crises. Pause for a moment and consider the state of our hospitals, our schools, our prisons, our armed forces, our borders, our economy, our collective mental health, and our social cohesion, and the picture becomes clear enough. And all this before we turn to the present condition of the Church of England. The skies all around us seem to be darkening. Recent remarks from the White House about “civilisational erasure” in Europe prompted the predictable response: what manner of incendiary rhetoric is this? Yet one cannot help wondering whether the proverbial frog in the water is quite as comfortable as it imagines, unaware that the temperature is still rising.
Comment
Praying for truth today
In John 18, Jesus stands before Pilate and tells him, “the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth.” “What is truth?” retorts Pilate.
Jesus was the only entirely truthful person that ever lived. Leading up to His crucifixion, His accusers fabricated charges against Him. Peter fearfully and fervently denied that he knew Him.
Scotland’s curious Calcutta Cup 'curse' over England
Last weekend's second round of Six Nations rugby saw Scotland extend their remarkable Calcutta Cup record with a statement win over England at Murrayfield.
Scotland bounced back from a poor opening day defeat in Rome and played like men possessed to demolish England in a dominant 31-20 win, reclaiming the victors' trophy and ending Steve Borthwick’s side’s 12-game winning run.
New guidance for 'gender questioning' children - good, or bad?
The big news in the education world at the moment is that the government has published an updated draft of Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), the statutory safeguarding guidance for schools and colleges. And this version includes long-awaited guidance relating to “gender questioning” children — something the Association of Christian Teachers (ACT) has been pressing the government for over many years.
Schools were first promised this guidance in 2018, yet repeated delays, internal disagreements and a change of government meant schools were left waiting for almost eight years.
Why Lent is more than a dead ritual observance
For some of us, the observance of Lent is a regular part of our faith. But for others, it might seem void of meaning - maybe an ancient ritual utterly disconnected from life in the here and now. "What does that have to do with us?" I understand the question. And that’s why slowing down and taking time to incorporate Lenten practices is so important for us all.
The meaning of Lent
Lent’s true meaning goes far beyond mere tradition. It is a profound spiritual practice that invites believers to deepen their faith and experience a transformative journey.
In defence of Christian nationalism
Political theology at its best can be an edifying pursuit as we learn together how to engage faithfully in our post-Christendom nation. However, the subject of "Christian nationalism" has become a flashpoint, where rigorously irenic disagreement seems to have been sacrificed for a series of alarmist diatribes.
Whilst legitimate critiques can be made of any number of the sprawling ideologies labelled "Christian nationalism," it does not serve anyone well to overreact. Indeed, those who ricochet against Christian nationalism are in danger of not only forcing today’s church into passionless political passivity, but also anathematising the vast majority of Christians throughout history who faithfully pursued Christian influence at a national level.
Rugby's Six Nations: Lessons for churches
As a Welshman, I watched the opening weekend of this year’s Six Nations with a mixture of familiarity and unease. Familiarity, because we have seen difficult periods before. Unease, because this one feels deeper.
Much of the attention fell, quite rightly, on the efficiency of France and England, and on Italy’s impressive composure in closing out their win against Scotland. But for those of us with Welsh rugby in our bones, the story was less about the scoreboard and more about what seemed to lie beneath it.
How do you relate to your church's mission partners?
Don’t get me wrong, every missionary is grateful for the financial support they receive from churches.
They’re also blessed by knowing that churches are praying for them from the moment they leave these shores until they return at some future point. In fact, I was just sharing with a church yesterday that when a missionary says they’re travelling from one place to another and would like people to pray, they really mean it. It isn’t a filler item in a list of prayer points; the journey probably involves dangerous, ice-covered or corrugated desert roads, or even the risk of hijacking.
Reflecting on Marjorie Taylor Greene's change
One of the most ardent of President Trump’s supporters in Congress for the past five years has been the Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. But in the first week of January she abruptly resigned from the House of Representatives having publicly split with President Trump on a number of issues as vocally as she had supported him for most of those five years.
When she was first elected to the House in 2020, her politics were regarded by many as so extreme that within a month of her arrival she was removed from all her committee positions in the House after she had publicly endorsed the use of political violence.
Can 'celebrity Christianity' disciple you effectively?
We live in a golden age of Christian content, but at the same time it is a fragile age for Christian community.
Sermons stream instantly. Conferences draw thousands. Podcasts, platforms, and personalities shape how many believers think about faithfulness.
Congregational church government: Yes or no?
This is not a post about Brexit. But I am going to use the 2016 Brexit referendum in the UK as an analogy.
To refresh your memory, in 2016 a referendum was held in the UK on whether or not to stay in the European Union (EU). This had been a longstanding issue for debate ever since the UK first joined the EU in 1971.
Christian nationalism: The mirror image of progressive Christianity?
As mass demonstrations blend Christian imagery with nationalist politics, questions are growing about how Christians should respond to Christian nationalism.
Many Christians are uneasy about the ways faith and politics are increasingly intertwined.
The problem of bogus behavioural research
One of my catchphrases is, "Psychology and theology can be friends." We have the truth in Christ, but we also benefit from God’s common grace to humanity through science.
However, it is very important – especially in psychology - that you are careful about the science.
Smartphones, social media and parental responsibility
It seems that the topic of smartphones and social media for children is now part of the cultural conversation.
The UK government recently announced a consultation on banning social media for all children under 16 – something already happening in Australia.
Six ways people experience exile in the UK
"By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion."
The words of Psalm 137 are familiar to most Christians around the world. The sentiment, however, was largely unfamiliar to conservative evangelical Christians in Britain - mostly, though not exclusively, white - who until recently felt at home both in the church and in the nation.
'New every morning'
“Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3v22-23).
The context for many in today’s world may not be as devastating as the destruction of Jerusalem that provided the basis for Jeremiah’s Lamentations. Following its desolation and captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar, people in the context experienced significant suffering and deep sorrow as they faced exile and an uncertain future. It was in that situation of despair that the prophet Jeremiah in his lament provided glimpses of hope rooted in God’s mercies, compassion and enduring love.
Grace is free - but it is not cheap
A sermon clip of Alistair Begg has been repurposed by "influencer" Josh Howerton, who called it “the best 3-minute sermon ever preached.”
The premise is that the thief on the cross who acknowledged Jesus as Lord would that day be in paradise. He was not baptised, did not go to a Bible study, and did not hold any formal membership in a local church. The thief on the cross simply arrived into eternal glory because the “man in the middle said I could come.” Such is the grace of God. Amen.
A national briefing
The tail-end of last year saw over 1,200 politicians and leaders from business, faith, culture, sport and the media gather at Westminster Central Hall for the National Emergency Briefing on the climate and nature crisis.
Ten of the UK’s leading experts – including leading climate scientists at top British universities (Oxford, Manchester, Exeter, Newcastle, Lancaster and UCL), many of them global leaders in their fields, and a former lieutenant-general in the British army – briefed them on the latest implications for health, food, national security and the economy. (You can find recordings of the event at www.nebriefing.org/) What, I wondered as I watched, might be an Evangelical response?
As one ‘rules-based order’ passes, another abides
Events since the beginning of 2026 have suggested the collapse of the “rules-based world order” that has held sway since the end of the Second World War.
US president Donald Trump ordered the seizure of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, threatened Columbia and Iran, and reasserted his determination to take control of Greenland. He has claimed American hegemony in Western Hemisphere, and seems prepared to allow other nations, including China and Russia, to have control over their own geographical spheres of influence. It feels as if the world is returning to the era of competing empires, with great powers forcing their will on smaller vassal nations. Britain feels especially vulnerable to this change because we are no longer the world power we were in 1945.
Responding to racism
“I’m not a racist.” My observation is that if this were in fact the case, such protest would be unnecessary. I have learned to brace for what inevitably and almost immediately follows.
Seldom however, are these the first words spoken. Various thoughts and reflections slowly simmer and are finally brought to the boil of whatever "controversial" words apparently require this disclaimer. Indeed, the door of the conversation often bears no resemblance to this hinge on which it opens, or the grim hallway beyond.
‘Civilizational erasure’ and Evangelicalism’s future
Some of us will remember the old Orange mobile phone advert from the turn of the millennium: “The future’s bright, the future’s Orange.” The future did not, as it turned out, belong to Orange. But can it still be bright?
There is no doubt that Britain, like many of its neighbours, is afflicted by several overlapping crises. Pause for a moment and consider the state of our hospitals, our schools, our prisons, our armed forces, our borders, our economy, our collective mental health, and our social cohesion, and the picture becomes clear enough. And all this before we turn to the present condition of the Church of England. The skies all around us seem to be darkening. Recent remarks from the White House about “civilisational erasure” in Europe prompted the predictable response: what manner of incendiary rhetoric is this? Yet one cannot help wondering whether the proverbial frog in the water is quite as comfortable as it imagines, unaware that the temperature is still rising.