Planted by Water

Good to hear that Abu Hamza is behind bars! It is also good to see that many politicians from all parties were calling yesterday for some action against the Muslim demonstrators who had clearly incited violence at the end of last week. This is not because I think that we should be out to get Muslims, but because I think that is essential that those in authority are not intimidated by fear of being thought racist or Islamophobic, to the point where …

I am glad to be back from the dreaming spires of Cambridge. I enjoyed my conference with the Jubilee Centre, with papers and discussions on numerous subjects including: Justice and Punishment, Sexual Offences, The Economy, Globalisation, the Family, Welfare, Nationhood, Government and International Relations/Peace-Building. For those who don’t know about the Jubilee Centre, find out more about them on ther website. They are evangelical …

I reviewed Snyders Community of the King yesterday. Below is an extract from it that I didn’t post yesterday but I think is particularly insightful; and a very relevant and important point if we consider how Christians are to engage with the world.

The temptation to accept substitute gods and counterfeit  satans is always before the Church. At various periods in history the Church has been decieved into warring against false archenemies…….In the name of opposition to these enemies Christians have been willing to put others to death; for when the Church accepts Satan’s …

The recent French riots have made for depressing news. But sadly I think it is the kind of thing that could hapen here, and has from time to time, most recently in Birmingham. There are no doubt a complex of reasons and causes for such rioting, and simplistic responses aren’t helpful. But surely the kinds of societies that we are producing in the Western world (in US as well as Western Europe) has something to do with it.

It is not only …

Poor old David Blunkett. Although he is guilty of some very poor judgements and maybe worse, I find it hard not to feel sorry for this man who has just had to resign for the second time from Blair’s Cabinet and probably ended his frontline political career. This was a fighter, a man who has overcome many obstacles - I am not just referring to his blindness, but to the fact that he was separated from his …

Generally speaking as I read about what Christians are saying in relation to world issues or cultural concerns they fall into two camps. Many evangelicals take a very cerebral and intellectual approach. Because they try to be informed and are actually thinking the issues through, they have some insights; but you seldom feel that a prophet of God is speaking, or that the Spirit is in it.  Then you get many charismatics-pentecostals who don’t think the issues through enough, often taking a knee-jerk reaction, or just concerned with personal life …