the red pill

Here's a message that was shared recently in many Baptist Churches in the UK. I pray it will be a helpful blessing to you too. We are in strange times! There is no going back to how life was before, and we are not yet in what some people are calling "the new normal". This in between time needs new understanding, from timeless wisdom.

I've been meaning to get back into blogging for a while, and just struggling to find time. I haven't given up on it, but the limited time I've had for online stuff has been mainly on Facebook and Twitter, and a little on instagram (I know, i need to get with it...). I'm writing this blog today to encourage a bit of accountability for myself. Truth is, I'm a sinner, and one of the areas of real lack of control has been around food and exercise. I've been greedy. And I've been lazy. At Easter I decided to make some gentle changes, and then during my sabbatical in autumn I got more serious, eating less and increasing the amount of  walking I do. The upshot is that weight is slowly shifting, and quite a bit so far, but I know I will struggle to keep it up. So here is my permission to you to challenge me on it, and to ask how i'm doing. It's not going to be a big thing for me on social media, and although I have wondered about starting a new bl...

In Hebrews 13:8 we are reminded of a timeless truth, “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever.”  This morning in church I shared that if something were true at the time of Jesus’ life, it’s still true today. If there was any truth in His teaching 2000 yrs ago, it’s still true today. If His life and ministry are an example, they are still an example to us now. If his death on the cross had an effect 2000 yrs ago, it still has that effect today. If His resurrection was a sign of anything then, it’s still the same sign now. If His ascension into heaven meant He was powerfully interceding for us then, and preparing a place for us, then those things are still true today. And finally that if the giving of the Holy Spirit, so liberally poured out onto humanity that Pentecost day, empowered Christians to live, serve, love and minister in the power of God at the beginning of the Church’s story then the same is true today. Because Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, ...

Last autumn I started broadcasting on Periscope a couple of time a week, with the title "Ask the Pastor". They were quite popular broadcasts with people from all over the world tuning in sharing greetings, prayer requests and posing a wide range of questions from matters of faith through politics, sports and general information about living in the UK. A period of illness at the end of the year meant I stopped broadcasting and kinda got out of the habit. I'm happy to say, in response to several requests, the broadcasts are back. I'm aiming to broadcast weekly, and in the first instance it's most likely to be on Fridays at around 4pm UK time, that's 10am CST in the USA. If you aren't able to join me live, then please feel free to leave questions in the comments here then watch the broadcasts later on this link to my periscope profile. Or alternatively you can tweet questions to me on twitter where I am @baptistjon  and I'll include them in ...

Today Great Britain has embarked on an uncertain journey, following the referendum on whether we should remain a part of the European Union. Months of sharply divisive campaigning has revealed itself in a result that is far from resounding with 52% voting to leave, and 48% to remain. There are people in our neighbourhoods and churches who are struggling to make sense of the enormity of the decision, and as I write this our Prime Minister has just resigned, the Governor of the Bank of England has issued an emergency statement and our finance markets are in turmoil. How should those of us who follow Jesus respond to these events? Is there anything for us to do other than pull up our drawbridges and try and ride out the coming storms? Whether we voted to remain or leave, is there some shared action or attitude that will help in this time of questioning and uncertainty? I want to offer a few thoughts as someone who is first of all a pastor. My concern is to help church members ...

When I first began writing a blog, I had many good intentions of creating a space where conversations could be started and continued on various topics. The advent of social media has meant that most of that happens in a different space now, and this space has been updated far less frequently. It's my intention to still post here occasionally, but most of my online conversation happens on twitter and facebook these days, and I'm exploring Ello as an alternative space that doesn't share my details to marketing firms quite so easily.. You can find me on social media here:

Leaders of two of Britain’s major Churches say that the UK Government must not give into the rhetoric that Islamic State can simply be bombed out of existence. In a statement released today, leaders of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the Methodist Church in Britain say that the case for military intervention can only be supported as one part of a broader political and economic strategy to tackle the ideology of IS. The Churches have issued  a briefing on the issues  and are  urging their members to pray  and to write to their MPs asking the Government to offer greater support to refugees from Syria and Iraq as part of such a strategy. The full statement follows: The UK Government must treat with caution suggestions that Islamic State could be defeated primarily through military action. An ideology – even one as dangerous and perverse as that of IS – cannot be defeated by the use of weapons. Military action could help to protect persecuted minorities a...

A member of our music group used this verse from the Message translation in part of the devotions he led last night. I was struck by the wonderful language, and so share it with you here. With thanks to Alan Clark for drawing my eye to the text!

A few people have heard some things have been happening at Tabernacle Baptist Church Wolverhampton, and wanted to hear more. So I have written a brief summary of the exciting things that are happening. Over recent years the church has been in a season of growth. This has meant we’ve needed to rethink the way we do some of our leadership, decision making and structuring life together so that we can still be making sure people receive our well-known warm welcome and hospitality, and also find a way into the life of the church in such a way that they are enabled to grow as disciples of Jesus. A number of years ago we began supporting a local evangelical church that had been struggling, and in 2012 we merged the two churches into one church that meets in two locations. This year, God has been generous to us, and through a significant gift we have been enabled to make some serious headway on mission, vision, and strategy. When the leadership team went away on retreat, we fe...

Today has been a sad day for evangelicals in the UK. The largest umbrella organisation, the Evangelical Alliance (EA), has today discontinued the membership of Oasis Trust, an agency that has done more than almost any other to raise the profile of evangelism, youth ministry, gospel-inspired social action ministry and a distinctively Christian approach to matters of education, health and social welfare. The reason the EA did this? Steve Chalke, the founder and director of Oasis, has called for a public conversation between evangelicals around the issues of human sexuality, same-sex marriage and faithful examination of approaches to scripture. Let me be clear, what I feel is a tragedy is not that the wider evangelical constituency might differ with Steve and Oasis, but that the simple act of calling for a conversation has led to them being effectively defined as non-evangelical. It was remarked to me recently that Jesus merely had to say one sentence for Lazarus to be raised from t...

If your understanding of grace leads you to bring division to the body of Christ, it's broken. Time to think again.

We're looking for a special individual, couple or team to come and work with us in seeing this wonderful city impacted by the kingdom of God. If what follows appeals to you, then feel free to get in touch for a more full profile, and ways of finding out more. An Opportunity in Wolverhampton Tabernacle Baptist Church is a thriving, ethnically diverse, welcoming church in Wolverhampton. For the last two years we have been supporting, and then merging into our structures, a church in the city centre called the Church at Broad Street. The Church at Broad Street had once been a thriving evangelical church, but has, over many years, dwindled and struggled. The purpose of the recent merger is to release new ways of mission and ministry into that part of the city. The location is a tough one. The neighbours are fast-food restaurants, sex shops, a homeless hostel, a nightclub and a rock venue. Close by is the University, with a guesstimated 5,000 students living in halls ...

There's been a lot of discussion of abuse and threatening behaviour on social media in the last week or so. On of those caught up in the crossfire, for daring to voice her concern at the degrading representations of women in "Lads mags" and on page 3 of The Sun is the theologian / songwriter / journalist Vicky Beeching. Tonight she asks for prayers as she seeks to find peace and sleep following days of abusive comments and threats. So, I reproduce this as my prayer for her, and also other women, speaking out, shouting back, taking social media back from the voices and comments of an evil minority.  From "Celtic Daily Prayer" a prayer from Anne Wadey The sky is bright with uncountable stars. I know they are uncountable: I have tried this impossible task these sleepless nights. Where are You, Lord, as the fog of fatigue numbs me of all but the desperate desire to sleep? Comfort me, Lord, with Your presence as the ever-watchful mother soothes the...

This last weekend saw approx 1300 baptists joining together in a very sunny Blackpool for the annual Baptist Assembly; a time for us to gather in prayer, celebration and reflection about the life of our Baptist Union of Great Britain , and the work of BMS World Mission. For the last few years I've had the privilege of being one of those who gets to shape some of the larger sessions, we have the somewhat utilitarian title of "session Design Group". It has been a thrilling experience seeing words we've crafted and laboured over be used in ways that have brought joy, peace, hope, laughter, as well as creating space for people to encounter God or access his word afresh. This year I had the task of shaping a communion service that would be intergenerational, that is to say would speak in some way to people of every age. For various reasons there were some constraints (getting more than a thousand people moving around in a fairly full space can be tough, and we needed t...

Thanks to those who've been adding their details either in the comments here or on twitter using #BaptistTweeters Here's the next batch, with tweeting from the Scottish Baptist Assembly helping the search very much: Rachel J Lewis (Amphill BC, Bedfordshire) @Rachel_J_Lewis Barbara Carpenter (Stoke St Gregory BC, Taunton) @MrsCorny Ami Martin (Green Lane BC, Walsall) @am1mart1n Mark Thomas (Prison Chaplain, South Wales) @ReverendMark Paul Lavender (Mount Pleasant BC, Northampton) @paul_the_organ Shine Like Stars (Children's ministry, Stockport) @shinelikestars1 Chris Priddy (Youth Specialist, Swindon YFC) @chrispriddy Geoff Cook (Faversham BC) @revgeoffcook Judy White (Mission Development Co-ordinator, BUS) @wayfarersinc Martin J Clarke (Hillview Community Church, Aberdeen) @martinjclarke Steve Holmes (Lecturer, St Mary's College, St Andrew's) @SteveRHolmes DanielSturgeon (Ayr BC) @prophetmargins David Fraser (Alva BC) @RevRunD Jon Magee (Lochgelly B...

The following is a conversation I had yesterday with Robin Ince who has just become the patron of Dignity in Dying, a campaigning group that is seeking a change in the law in the UK to permit assisted suicide. It happened on Twitter, and I was delightfully surprised when my response to his tweet announcing his patronage was met with a reply, and a long conversation. Such is the nature of Twitter that these tweets could easily be lost in a few days, so I've attempted to repost them here as a record of that exchange.  Because of the pace of the conversation, I've sought to arrange tweets in order of their response, rather than simply chronologically. I hope it makes sense.  I'd love to hear your comments. Robin Ince   ‏ @ robinince have just become a patron of this enlightened campaign Dignity in Dying. here is Patrick Stewart voicing the campaign http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LPO4Ke1EtQ … Jonathan Somerville   ‏ @ baptistjon @ ro...