In shock news, Judas Iscariot, one of the insiders of the nascent Jesus movement has walked away from the faith. The other disciples, who were those closest to him, didn’t pick it at the time, but noted afterwards that there were signs Judas was concerned about the direction Jesus was taking. Sounds kinda silly writing […]
Category: Culture
Martyn Iles: A good racer, not just a Strava king.
I’m a Strava junkie. I check it every day. You know Strava yeah? If you’re a runner, cyclist or triathlete, it’s the go-to app/website to upload your training. Strava is the social network for athletes. I put up my runs everyday on Strava. My hard training. My intervals. My long slow runs. My heart rate […]
Nonna and Poppa Christians for an Immigrant Age
I am attending a 21st birthday party tonight. I don’t get to so many of those these days. Usually fiftieths, funerals, and weddings of those younger than me who know me through church. It’s the 21st birthday of my god-daughter’s younger brother. The third child of four in an Italian family. The whole extended family […]
Off the road and into the ditch with James KA Smith
In this brave new world of post-Christian sexual ethics, even among Christians, I am not sure what counts as a disordered love any longer. Well, maybe I am, but more of that later. Calvin University Professor, James KA Smith, whose work interpreting Augustine’s moral and spiritual frameworks for post-moderns has rightly been hailed as groundbreaking, […]
Raise Up a Pile of Stones
As far as the east is from the west so far has he removed our sins from us. Psalm 103:12 That’s the message of the Bible at least. The message of our modern culture that spent about three decades telling us that God could not possibly be a God of judgement?: As far as the […]
A conversation with TGC Australia about my book
TGC Australia’s Andrew Moody interviewed me about my forthcoming book “Being the Bad Guys” recently. It all happened before the US shenanigans of last week, but it’s interesting how in our discussion we speak about how the church needs to move forward in these times. If you’re interested in a copy you can go to […]
Hey Franklin, that finger is pointing right back at ya!
A couple of Christmases ago I was accosted at the end of the service by a local pastor whose church was not holding a Christmas service. Not physically accosted, just verbally, so let’s not blow this thing up. But it got a bit too grinchy for my Christmas Day, and I veer towards the grinchy […]
Why get an Awomen to do an Amen’s job?
Just when we thought we had reached peak stupid with the manner in which many right-leaning Christians in the US were viewing the Messiah, er, I mean the President, we find out that there is indeed another summit beyond the lofty clouds of a Democrat in the White House. Rep Emanuel Cleaver, an ordained minister […]
The Black Toenail Award and Christmas re-gifting
Every year my run club hands out a perpetual trophy called The Black Toenail Award. It’s for the club’s best performer during the racing season, and throughout 2020 that trophy has sat proudly on my bookcase. Why black toenail you ask? Because as every runner knows, the constant pounding of your toes into the front […]
Ellen Turns A New Page
Ellen Page, the brilliant young star of Juno, The X-Men franchise, and lately the Netflix series, The Umbrella Academy, is now Elliot Page, having announced that she is trans. I say “she” advisedly, as Page has now offered the preferred pronouns of “they/he” to the world to use. Elliot Page has presented to the world, […]