Being ‘relevant’ to modern culture can be a two-edged sword. Yes, it can draw people into the church. After all it is a lot easier to invite a friend to a Star Wars film night (I know for a fact that everyone loves Star Wars) or a sports quiz evening (surely everyone loves sport too) than it is to suggest they may wish to join you for a prayer and praise evening, or even worse the annual church Barn Dance. However it doesn’t always work out. Encouraging children to come dress

Ever since the early days of the Christianity, when the main aim was to avoid becoming dessert for a troop of hungry Lions, there has always been a tension between the Church and society. Should the church embrace modern culture? Should it try to be trendy and forward thinking? Or should it hold firm to its traditions, its roots and to a language that started dying out 1500 years ago with the fall of the Roman Empire? Or to put it in more modern terms, should we follow social

It never occurred to me that I had an accent until I went to University and found people looking back at me very confused when I ordered ‘toast’, asked the ‘way’ to my lectures or attempted to explain how ‘poor’ I was. Now for those reading this blog I will try and use the English alphabet to explain what I mean. Toast, pronounced Terst to the rest of the country, Way or ‘waaay’ and poor ‘poo er’. Generally as soon as I pronounced a word with a vowel in, which let’s be honest

2 v 1… yet again it was the hope that killed me. For a brief moment we had our hands firmly round that famous golden trophy and then it was snatched cruelly away. Did Argentina not understand that it was our time! After all they won it last time, surely we should share it around. That would be the ‘Christian’ thing to do. Waking up this morning to abject disappointment and dismay, I was about to stuff my England shirt back into the recesses of my wardrobe for another two long

We are all creatures of habit. That’s why we drive the same way to work each day even though Steve in the office is adamant that our route is slower than his by at least 7 minutes. It is why we have jacket potatoes for tea (dinner) every Wednesday despite the fact we don’t actually like them, but we have always done so, ever since we were 6 and our mother would bake them after work whilst endeavouring to tidy the increasingly chaotic house. It is also why we sit in the same s

It is that time of year again. Wimbledon is on the television and England are scraping unconvincing victories in the football World Cup. Plants are withering under the sun, last minute holiday deals are constantly on the TV and Christian festivals are about to launch into full swing. Now I love a good festival or conference or whatever you wish to call it. A week camping (unfortunately) with thousands of other Christians (fortunately), all full of love for God, each other and

Picture the scene, you are sat on a slightly uncomfortable seat, there is a genuine nip in the air despite it only being September and in front of you the preacher is coming to the end of their 20 minute talk. Your mind however isn’t on their inspirational words, but instead is picturing the Sunday roast waiting for you when you get home. Mouth watering, you can almost taste the slightly underdone beef, crispy roast potatoes, rosemary covered parsnips and of course, giant Yor

We have all been there... hands half raised in worship, singing of God's Amazing Grace when suddenly the screen displaying the words of the song freezes. Instead of your chains being removed, you find yourself repeating verse two. It’s not that verse two isn’t good, after all you are celebrating the Lord promising good to you, it’s just you have already declared this once. You carry on anyway, hoping that the ‘good’ which you are singing about includes a new laptop for the ba

‘It's coming home, It's coming home... it's not coming home'. This is the chant of English football fans every 2 years since that glorious long summer of 1996 when we came so close. I love sport and in particular I love the World Cup. I will spend hours and hours, watching teams that I know very little about kicking synthetic polyurethane covered rubber bladders around a piece of perfectly manicured lawn, too and fro, back and forth, up and down the pitch for 90 long minutes,

... without being considered rude? Going to the cinema has changed since I was a young lad. Back in those days, a new release came with excitement and anticipation. I recall having to arrive early to get my ticket and purchase copious amounts of overpriced edible snacks. Sometimes this involved queuing outside, down the road and almost into the River Humber. Why did I have to get there with at least 40 minutes to spare? Because back in the 1990s you couldn’t book online, you

We seem to be at a crunch moment in society in regards to Social Media. We are like the poor Samaritan who has donned his rucksack, put on his walking boots, packing a spare water bottle and bag of sherbet lemons for the trip, and is about to set out on the fated journey along the road to Jericho. Should he set off or should he stay behind? With hindsight we know the outcome for this poor traveller, yet the future is unknown to him. Likewise we stand, poised at a moment in hi