The Evangelical Times has its annual Christmas supplement out. I have an article in it called Is there room in your heart for Jesus?
A blog featuring whatever I fancy, often on the Christian faith but not exclusively
Article in Christmas ET
The Evangelical Times has its annual Christmas supplement out. I have an article in it called Is there room in your heart for Jesus?
Lord's Day November 23 2025
Once again, it was a slow start last Lord's Day with a decent morning congregation adn one not so good in the evening. A new lady came who comes to ouor mothers and toddlers so that was a first. Other new people from previous weeks were not back and lots of tohers missing again too. One lady who rarely gets to us was there though adn that is encouraging. I decided that with Ephesians completed and just two chapters to cover in 2 Chronicles that I would do both, one in the morning and one in the evening. So it was the seond part of Jsiah's reign in the morning and the great Passover in his time and then in the evening the wickedness of sin, the danger of judgement and the hope of restoration. Great to come to that point. People have enjoyed the series and were glad to see that there are excellent things to befound even in potentially unpromising looking material.
Midweek Meeting November 19 2025
We were a large number last night plus three online. This was partly because it was also a members meeting. We began with Psalm 117 then had the meeting and finally had time for a few to pray.
Lord's Day November 16 2025
Rather late with this but we were altogether last Sunday, of coourse. It was a slow start with the morning congregation doubling in it course. I preached the last sermon in the series on Ephesians (number 340). The new lady from last week returned and another new person came in with a fold up bicycle under his arm. Hope we see him again. Nice to have one of my former assistants and his wife with us. In the evening it was communion and 2 Chronicles 34. We were about 16.
Nuremberg
Popped to the cinema this afternoon to see the film Nuremberg. Great acting, powerful drama and touching on such a crucial moment in world history the film had everything in its favour. It sligktly annoys me that we tend to get the humanist version of events as opposed to anything Christian. I have read books on Nuremberg by chaplains but this film gives no hint that there were chaplains present or that there was a spiritual dimension to what happend at all. Rather, we focus on a psychiatrist who was there and who wrote a commercially unsuccessful book on his time. With that caveat, great stuff. Ironically, the psychiatrist seems to have worked out that the Nazis were just normal human beings gone wrong not preternatural monsters. Warning - it includes what I assume is genuine footage of the dead and dying in the camps. Two past oscar winners on show and two past nominees I understand. Only one light moment I noticed - two doctors fight and an officer berated them - you are mental health professionals!
Double International Win for Wales
We sit quite light to the nation's sporting successes but on a day when both the Association and Rugby football teams have won it is worth noting. We beat Japan by one point with the last kick of the game in the rugby, which I watched most of, and Liechtenstein 1-0 in the soccer, too. Hopes of world cu[ qualification remain alive.
Two Latest Library Lunch Time Lectures Now UP
You can find my lecture on John Fawcett and Fergus Pearson on Thomas Scott along with several other lectures at the Evangelical Library Channel.
https://youtu.be/UHoFm9sbbMY?si=Ld6piNpjuuZEF21X
https://youtu.be/K5OLUCMClU0?si=icrRknv2eWOzdMGr
In Writing 146
The latest issue of In Writing, the magazine of the Evangelical Library will soon be available.
Midweek Meeting November 12 2025
Eddie led prayer meeting last night. He took us to Acts 9 and looked at it from the angle of persecution and converted persecutors. We prayed first for North Korea, Northern Nigeria and Iran and then for more usual matters. All five of us plus one on zoom prayed twice. A good evening.
Day Off Week 46 2025
Various things on Tuesday. Quite early on I headed down to central London and to the National Gallery where there was an exhibition of paintings by Joseph Smith, the distinctive Derby artist. All the famous choriascuro works are there plus some interesting 3d exhibits and lots of helpful explanation about the background to the paintings. In the evening, we watched the BBC's Mr Burton. Monday marked the hunredth anniversary of the birth of that flawed Welshman, Richard Burton (born Jenkins). I presume the biopic was accurate enough. The bilingual situation is fascinating, especially in such an industrialised part of Wales and so relatively recently. There was a brief zoom meeting in the afternoon but most of the rest of the time went on reading the first 50 pages of the first volume of Densil Morgan's Theologica Cambrensia which I've been wanting to read for some time.
Lord's Day November 9 2025
We were about fifty last Sunday in the morning and many stayed for lunch after it. Always a nice time. I preached from Ephesians 6:18-20 on prayer. In the evening we were around 16 and I preached from 2 Chronicles 33, the wonderful chapter on Manasseh. Lots missing as ever but one new person.
The WInter's Tale
This lovely book retells the story of Shakespeare's late and lesser known Winter's Tale. It is beautifully illustrated and would be a great present for a child or an imaginative adult. I'm loving it. The reteller is Georghia Ellinas and the artist Jane Ray. It isndone by Shakespeare's Globe.
Midweek Meeting November 5 2025
Lots of fireworks on Wednesday night - outside and in our hearts, I trust. We looked at the wonderful doxology at the end of Romans 11 and then prayed. As happens from time to time a loal wandered in. This time a Mexican young lady studying dementia at Masters level. Hope we see her again.
Women of Grace and Guts
This historical work by Juila Jones covers a fairly little known aspect of mission in India at the beginning of the twentieth century. I suppose this is pretty ordinary and unspectacular work but it has produced fruit that continues to this day. The unusual aspect of what is presented is that it concentrates on the the work of women who, as the title suggests, are marked by grace and guts (Winifred Booth, Ruth Morling, Olive Elliot and others, including the many Indian Bible women). The story deserves to be rescued from the yellowing pages of the SBM Herald and presented in this way. This well reasearched, well illustrated work is well worth seeking out. (One or two typos but no-one is perfect).
Day Off Week 45 2025
Days off are a little different these days as my wife Eleri is not on work on Tuesdays. We headed over to Brent Cross before lunch to do a little shopping. Eleri was busy much of the rest of the day and so I did my usual thing and read. I read most of the signed history book by Julia Jones that I picked up at the GBM meetings. It is arattlung read and I have now finished it. More anon. In the evening we watched some episodes from the ITV drama Coldwater. Also spent some time dabbling wioth AI music to no great purpose.
Thomas Bilney: Forgotten Reformer
This brief little book seeks to rehabilitate the little known martyr Thomas Bilney. Information about Bilney is limited but Stuart Fisher has done a very thorough job in gathering what there is and presenting the material in a warm and devoted way. Two appendices show that Foxe's history can be relied on and that although Bilney recanted once he did not do so a second time. The timeline and the many illustrations add to the attractiveness of the book, part of an excellent Day One series.
Lord's Day November 2 2025
Back to preaching twice this last Lord's Day. We began with cmmunion and then I preached the last in the series on the armour of God. We were out for the afternoon but back in time for a fairly well attended evening service (nearly 20) and the last on Hezekiah, from 2 Chronicles 32. Lots missing as ever. I despair sometimes. But we press on
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