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Lent, Lament and Lockdown

Lent is a time of self denial and of giving things up, and also a period of lament in the lead up to Easter where we remember the Passion and death of Christ before we celebrated the glorious resurrection.  Often this is a personal affair on the discipline side of things, even if it's a practice shared within your church community, but this year has been so very different. With the outbreak of the coronavirus, or COVID-19, the whole world has slowly gone into lockdown country by country, creating a strange sort of global “Lent” where everyone is having to practice self control and self denial. This has been underpinned with a sense of lament at the way thi...

Doubting Defying Jihad: Questioning the Popular Conversion Story

This is a guest post by “KingsServant” In 2019 a book called Defying Jihad was published by Tyndale House, the reputable Christian publisher telling the story of “Esther Ahmad” a pseudonym used by the author alongside her co-author Craig Borlase, who has previously written alongside, well known Christian personalities such as Matt Redman the singer and Andrew Brunson, an American pastor imprisoned by the Turkish government. As I began to read this book over this past year I was expecting an encouraging account of how a former Jihadi found Christ and escaped her previous accomplices. Very quickly, however, I became uncomfortable, her descriptions of her...

Nails, Theses, and Myth: The Truth About Luther's Famous Door

As we commemorated the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation this year, the familiar image of Martin Luther striding up to the church door in Wittenberg — hammer in hand and fire in his eyes — has once again taken centre stage. It’s a compelling picture, etched into the imagination of many. But as is often the case with historical legends, closer scrutiny tells a far more nuanced and thought-provoking story. The Myth of the Door: Was the Hammer Ever Raised? Cambridge Reformation scholar Richard Rex is one among several historians who have challenged the romanticised narrative. “Strangely,” he observes, “there’s almost n...

8 Most Controversial Topics In The Church Today

What are Christians' thoughts on homosexual marriage? Are spiritual talents biblically sanctioned? Can Christians have alcohol? These are some of the issues that frequently spark passionate debate inside the church today. Christians hold widely varied views on these matters, and both sides cite Scripture to buttress their positions. Even within a community of Christians in today's world, discernment is unquestionably required. Whatever your thoughts are on each of those issues, studying this list of areas wherein the church regularly reviews division will hopefully inspire us as Christ-followers to strive for unity within our personal church buildings or even a...

A Journey Through Church History

After many, many months of working on this in between COVID and other “life events” that kept me busy, I’ve finally released the Third Edition of my book, 40 Day With the Fathers: A Journey Through Church History! The Third Edition includes: a foreword by Paul Pavao (author of Decoding Nicea), updated content and also a new chapter about the Council of Nicaea explaining what did (and didn’t) happen there. “I cannot imagine there is a better way to get familiar with 350 of the most important years of church history in seven hours spread over 40 days.” — Paul Pavao, author of Decoding Nicea If you are unfamiliar with my previous editions...

Why Read The Early Church Fathers?

Why read the Early Church Fathers? Maybe for some of you reading this, the question might better be phrased as: who are the Church Fathers? No doubt you will be familiar with some of their names: Augustine, Jerome, Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin Martyr et al. You may have even read portions or quotes by some of these men. But that still doesn't really explain to you who they are and why you should care, much less actually read any of their works. My new book deals with a selection of some of the most influential Early Church Fathers, sometimes also referred to as the Apostolic Fathers (if they lived between AD 70-150), or collectively as the Ante Nicene...