Every church needs to be training up new worship leaders. But what does that mean? Here are some things we…
This page is a selection of what you’ll find on this site (see menu)…..
… and there’s a Search box at the foot of this page so you can find topics or Bible passages.
Latest: Another Way Of Looking At Mark, #4: Learning God’s Strength For Faith (8:31-11:25)
Now in our last Mark post we return to the questions or disappointments with which we began. The life of…
Latest: Another Way Of Looking At Mark, #3: Faith And Understanding The Seasons (6:45-8:30)
Last time we began reflecting on those experiences that only make sense if we grasp how our growing in relational…
Another Way Of Looking At Mark, #2: Understanding The Kingdom (1:1-6:44)
As we said last time: One of the most faith-destroying, soul-destroying things is the way bad things happen to good…
Another Way Of Looking At Mark #1
One of the most faith-destroying, soul-destroying things is the way bad things happen to good people. Another is the way…
Three Useful Tools For Evangelism
The biggest problem when we share our faith is supernatural. As we seek to share about Jesus, we so often…
Motivating For Evangelism
Motivation: sometimes we feel that that’s the crucial missing piece in seeing our fellowship move forward in effective evangelism! Here…
Someone’s Moving Away? Finding Their Next Church Home Is Vital
One of the most crucial times for pastoral care may be when someone leaves our church because they’re moving to…
Joel – When The Everyday Meets The Cosmic
As minor prophets go, Joel seems particularly minor. He prophesies during a national crisis; a horde of locusts have been…
Habakkuk – A Prophet We Really Should Know!
Feeding on the `minor` prophets is a challenge! As my former colleague Andrew Waugh said, they seem to move around…
Foundations 3-10: Growing In Following Jesus – God, The World, And Me
Last time we thought about how, since the Cross, Resurrection and Pentecost, Christ has been bringing more and more people…
Foundations 3-9: Growing In Following Jesus – God’s Plan For The World
Where is the world going? Many people are troubled about where everything is heading. We as children of its Creator…
Foundations 3-8: Growing In Following Jesus – What Are My Gifts & How Do I Grow Them?
This is a post-Easter post! `When [Jesus] ascended on high, he… gave gifts to his people` (Eph 4). So this…
Foundations 3-7: Growing In Following Jesus – What Is Church & How Does It Fit In?
In this post we’re focusing on one of the central and most glorious visions by which we live, the reason…
Foundations 3-6: Growing In Following Jesus – How Can I Know What Is Best To Do, How Will Jesus Guide Me?
What may the coming 18 months hold? Some of us will face big decisions: about a relationship; or a job,…
Foundations 3-5: Growing In Following Jesus – How Does That Work For My Work-Time?
Would you expect to think about worktime in a discipleship course? What does God have to say about it? He…
Foundations 3-4: Growing In Following Jesus – How Does That Work For My Time?
Here’s a vital topic for us to grapple with if we want our lives to be fruitful! God has put…
Foundations 3-3: Growing In Following Jesus – How Does That Work For My Money?
Money seems a really profitable (!) topic for this post, since Christ presents it as a key force in opposition…
Foundations 3-2: Growing In Following Jesus – Learning Forgiveness
Jesus highlights just one aspect of relationships in the Lord’s Prayer, and the verses that follow; giving forgiveness (Matt 6:12-15). …
Foundations 3-1: Growing In Following Jesus – In Relationships
With this post we’re launching out on the third and final module of our Foundations course. My prayer is this…
Thinking Through Church Discipline Before It Arises
Church discipline is something we may well hope never to have to handle. Unfortunately, the new testament makes clear it’s…
Looking After Your Homegroup Leaders
It’s been said that a healthy church is like a bird with two wings. We need our sunday gatherings because…
Outreach Using Surveys & Questionnaires
In outreach we want to find ways to get into good conversations about Jesus! – and one way is through…
Fostering Warmer Fellowship In Our Homegroup
This is something we can helpfully reflect on in our own group, starting with two questions: What characterises our time…
Ephesians (part 8): `Church`, She’s Not Quite What We Think – God’s Temple, God’s Household (2:19-22)
I’ve been much blessed these last weeks absorbing God’s revelation in Ephesians of what `Church` means: She is Christ’s Bride…
Ephesians (part 5): `Church`, She’s Not Quite What We Think – The Bride (5:25-32)
We’ll relate better to Church if we grasp who She is! If we speed-read on through Ephesians, we’ll see how…
Ephesians (part 2): I Realise I Don’t Pray About The Things Paul Prays About… (1:15-23)
Now comes a chance for us to foster a habit that’s important to Bible feeding – to begin noticing times…
Ephesians: The Vision Of The Ultimate! (1:1-14)
Ephesians has been called the summit of the new testament. `It must be manifest to the most casual reader that…
Foundations 2-12: The Essential Art of Follow-Up – Doing Things That Will Really Last
Jesus did not call His followers just to win converts, but to make disciples! In physical birth, we don’t leave…
Foundations 2-11: When The Dream Comes True…
So the time comes when you’ve shared the gospel with your friend. And now you sense this may be the…
Foundations 2-10: Answering Commonly-Voiced Questions (The Contradictory Bible?, Why Trust the Gospels…)
This is the last of four posts on answering the questions friends pose to our faith. Actually, this is something…
Foundations 2-9: Answering Commonly-Voiced Questions (The Evil Church, Climate Change, Homosexuality, Slavery…)
Here’s our third post on how we can respond to common objections raised to our faith. Actually, many questions we…
Foundations 2-8: Answering Commonly-Voiced Questions (Only One Way? The Unevangelized… etc)s
Here’s the second of four posts to help us respond to objections friends raise to our faith. Today, `How can…
Foundations 2-7: Answering Commonly-Voiced Questions (Science & Faith, Suffering…)
Something that can weaken our confidence in sharing Jesus, is if we’re afraid of being asked questions we can’t answer.…
Foundations 2-6: Reasons For Faith 3 – Was Jesus Mad? Bad? Or God?
This is maybe the most central reason for faith. But it’s far more: this is the vital challenge at the heart of…
Foundations 2-5: Reasons For Faith 2 – The Resurrection: These Are The Facts
Here’s a really core reason why we have such good cause to worship Jesus as God. This can be solid…
Foundations 2-4: `But Have You Really Got Any Reasons For Your Faith?`
STARTER: Something that can destroy our confidence is if we feel we don’t know the reasons for our faith. And…
Foundations 2-3: Reading Jesus’ Biography With Friends Who Aren’t Yet Christians
Starter: God reveals himself most clearly in Jesus (Heb 1: 1-3). In what ways might friends you know really encounter…
Foundations 2-2: How We Prepare To Be Fruitful
STARTER: How do you think we can prepare ourselves for God to use us? What kind of – normal –…
Foundations 2-1: Sharing Jesus, & Why It Will Be Fruitful
At the end of Matthew Jesus gives us a command He desires should shape our lives as His followers: `Go…
Thinking Point – Why The English Novel Ignores God
The history of English literature is a curious thing. And one especially odd thing about it is it contains so…
A Fresh Way To Explore the Bible, As A Group! (Bob Grahmann Guest Blog)
Many small groups could discover vast new vistas of the Bible if they discovered Manuscript Bible Study! It’s astonishing how…
Rev 21&22: How God Closes Out The Bible
Grasp these final chapters of God’s Word, and we’ll catch the vision of something vital: we’ll grasp what the word…
Rev 19&20: The Three Ways The World Ends
There will be a real, conclusive End to history as we know it. (We need to grasp that!) Here we…
Rev 17&18 – How An Economic System Can Become Demonic, And What That Means For Us
Revelation 17 and 18 are absolutely fascinating, culturally and politically! They show how part of Satan’s final push will be…
Rev 14>16: Lots To Think About Here
What will we gain from feeding on these chapters? A lot! First, we’ll be reminded imaginatively, at the start of…
Britain Could Well Be Actively Persecuting Bible Christians in 2>3 Years Time…
We’re pausing our Revelation series for a week, because it’s vital to flag up that Britain could be actively persecuting…
Rev 13: We Need To Take This Very Seriously – We Just Might Live Through It…
The close of history: God shows us in Revelation that, before Christ finally intervenes as King, there will be a…
Vital Christian Lifestyle – Live More Simply So That Others May Simply Live! (Chua Wee Hian Guest Blog)
`Ten thousand died today because of inadequate food. 1 billion people are mentally retarded or physically deformed because of poor…
Romans (#9): `Fixed In The Certainty Of Love Unchanging!’ (8:30-39)
Romans’ central chapters have shown us one wonderful thing after another. `So what shall we say to these things?’ Surely,…
Romans (#8): Visions of Horror And Glory (8:22-30)
Romans’ central section has a whole series of glorious, inspirational revelations, that can lead our grasp of our faith to…
Facing Conflict And Tough Conversations?
We’re pausing Romans for one week for a guest blog written awhile ago on something practical and really important, by…
Romans (#7): `More Than We Can Ask Or Imagine!` (ch8:14-23)
`Sin shall not be your master’, we’ve seen! Thankyou, Father! But God has far more for us in Romans! Holiness…
Romans 6>8 (#3): Something Dramatic Happened When You Were Born Again…!
God promises us in Romans, unreservedly and remarkably, that `Sin shall not be your master!’ (6:14). Let’s absorb again just…
Using ChatGPT In Ministry
I’ve recently been on a quite staggering OM webinar on the potential uses of ChatGPT in ministry and mission, and…
Slavery And The Bible’s Attitude
I’m finding this a topic that often gets brought up dialoguing with atheists. Which feels a bit odd when you…
Revelation 12 – The Agelong Spiritual War!
We’re starting now on the last section of our Revelation series — with maybe the book’s obscurest chapter, ch12! But…
Rev 8 to 11: Understanding History’s Final Crisis
Does Revelation teach us the permanent principles hidden but active in every phase of history? Or does it show us…
Rev 7: Heaven’s Wonder From Another Angle!
Now Revelation 7. A slightly surprising chapter, but actually hugely uplifting – a key chapter, too, for catching Revelation’s flow,…
Growing In Pastoral Care In The Homegroup – And Elsewhere!
(The latest in our occasional series for homegroup leaders and homegroup leader training – for more see our Homegroup Leader…
Revelation 5 & 6 – The Unreadable Book of Human Suffering
In Revelation’s powerful chapters 5 and 6 we read of a sealed book no one can access. When it’s finally…
Old Testament Intro Course 6: The Prophets
Today we’re exploring the old testament’s great final section: the Prophets. And we’ll begin with the greatest of them all,…
Old Testament Intro Course 5: The `Writings` – Job to Song of Solomon
We come now to a wonderful but very different set of old testament books. Here’s a few introductory ideas that…
Marriage Crisis First Aid
Suddenly I hear there is a marriage in deep crisis among the people I’m caring for. It would be nice…
Genesis 1 part 1: What Is Our God Like?
Genesis opens the Bible with some of its most profound and enriching pages. It tackles some of the most fundamental…
Genesis 1 part 2: Why’s It So Great To Be Human?
Genesis: a fantastic book that answers so many of our most basic questions! In our last post we went right…
Genesis 2: And What Does It Mean To Be Human?
Genesis 2 moves on to present the arrival of humankind. And what it gives us is extremely important; it describes…
Revelation 4 & 5 – Basics To Help Us Worship!
Revelation records a lot about singing, and shows us a lot to help us learn to worship! Obviously a book…
Revelation 4 – What God Desires To Show Us About Heaven!
Today we launch out on a further series exploring the strange and wonderful book of Revelation – beginning with as…
39 Ways `The God Delusion` Is A Sloppy Book
The God Delusion seems to have become an atheist holy book. Its writer, Richard Dawkins, has elsewhere proved himself an…
Vision Building In The Homegroup
The crucial starting-point for vision in our homegroup is our own vision for God and what he is doing in…
20 Things To Check In The Week Before You Preach
Pray for God’s presence, as you prepare, and on the day: `I will not go unless You go with me!`…
Foundations 1-1: The Heart of Christian Faith: Christ Crucified
There’s nothing more important than really grasping the key themes of our faith. In these next posts we’ll be feeding…
Genesis 3: Why Is Our World Such A Mess?; And The 5 Crucial Temptations
Genesis 3 is an incredibly helpful chapter. It shows us the historical catastrophe that ruined our world; it records also…
Genesis 4: Why Is Our Culture In Such A Mess?
There’s a vast amount that’s enormously important in Genesis 3 and 4. People often express a sense that something is,…
Genesis – Answering The Standard Questions
Why are we feeding on Genesis? Why do we believe it? And how do we answer the questions that we’re…
Adam and Eve: When and Where?
In recent decades we’ve needed people who can work out how a high view of the Bible’s reliability coheres with contemporary cosmology…
Leadership Review Questions On Our Evangelism
How can we see a lot more people start following Jesus? Here are some questions that may perhaps be useful…
Western Literature And The Death of God
(This extended post is a broad, top-level survey, adapted from a lecture given at Moscow State Linguistic University. Other posts…
What Should We Make Sure We Teach?
What shall we teach in our church this year? And how can our church’s teaching programme be as fruitful as…
Leading Effective Prayer Meetings (George Verwer guest blog)
Satan’s greatest aim is to destroy our prayer lives. Satan is not afraid of prayerless work or prayerless religion. But…
Rev 3: Jesus Says These Christians Make Him Spit… What About Me?
The last of Jesus’ letters in Revelation, to Laodicea, is probably the most well-known, & perhaps the most powerful. Jesus…
Rev 3 – Which Church Would You Rather Be Part Of?
In Revelation’s seven letters, Jesus speaks to seven churches linked with the aging apostle John. It’s a tough time: most…
Eleven Questions For Youth Leaders
It’s a fantastic privilege for us as youth leaders to unlock the destiny of the folk we serve. So how?…
Helping Our Church Love The World Like God Does
We worship a God who loved the lost world so much that he gave the most precious thing he had…
Rev 2 part 2 – Jesus On Not Being Tolerated, & On Tolerating
In these posts we’re listening to Revelation 2 and 3 – vital chapters, because, remarkably, they show us just how…
Revelation 2: Recovering God’s Truth – And Losing The Love…
This week we start Revelation 2. Which I suspect has something to say to any of us who are following…
Revelation 1 & intro: This Book Is About Jesus’ Glory!
We’re starting a new series of posts on the first half of the book of Revelation. I’m really looking forward…
Pastoral First-Response, Or Crisis, Resources: A Selection
One of the big challenges a church leader can face is when pastoral issues come up that we feel ill-equipped…
Isaiah 1 to 5 and intro
Today we’ve reached Isaiah: glorious, indispensable, once we find the path through it; the OT’s greatest prophet – so, one…
Planning Church Leadership Training
To be fruitful, churches need to be good at investing in good people, and so generating leaders! At our church…
Listening Together: Joint Muslim-Christian Events
On numerous occasions I’ve had the huge privilege of involvement in a get-together where many dozens of Muslim friends listened…
Your Church’s Statement of Faith: Why & How
Why do we need a church statement of faith? And what do we actually do with it? The answer’s simple.…
Isaiah 6: How God Prepares A Spokesperson
Today we’re in one of the old testament’s greatest chapters. We, like Isaiah here, are called to speak for God…
Esther intro
As we listen to God in Scripture we want to get a better grip on how we live for Him…
1 Samuel intro
The eight earliest books of the Bible seem to be setting out the fundamentals of faith. One way of looking…
Isaiah 7 and 8: Living By Faith At A Culture’s Turning-Point
Today, two highly important chapters of Isaiah; sections repeatedly quoted in the NT, chapters that actually introduce Jesus here! Their…
1 Samuel 1
1 Samuel and the next 8 Bible books offer a leadership training manual: what things mark people God uses –…
Parenting – part 1
1 Samuel is the Bible’s first `leadership manual`. And strikingly, the common factor in its very first stories is raising…