[Broadcast as a ‘Midday Meditation’ on Radio Cayman, January 2016] Do you know what it’s like to be chosen for something? Maybe you won a random prize competition, or you’ve been chosen for a sports team or for a promotion at work. If you are married then you have chosen each other to be partners … More 11 Names of Jesus – Part II: Messiah
[One of a series of ‘Midday Meditations’ broadcast on Radio Cayman in January 2016.] Most of the best moments in our lives involve closeness with someone: our partner, children, family or friends – they’re the moments we really cling to and savour. So it is that God’s greatest gift to us is being with us. … More 11 Names of Jesus – Part 1: Emmanuel
[This column was first published in the Zimbabwe Sunday Mail on 13th November 2016.] It was several years since I last ordered pizza. An attempt to cut down on saturated fats, processed meats and an excess of salt led me away from the doughy circles since I started my campaign to lose weight in 2011 and … More Making God in our Image
The first time I went to (what qualifies to an Englishman as) a massive conference (>5,000 attendees), I judged the conference entirely on the teaching. And that was no bad thing – Together for the Gospel 2008 had blisteringly powerful messages including John Piper ‘s on Hebrews 13:13 with its soul-deep focus on Christ’s suffering, … More Gospel Coalition Conference 2015
This year’s T4G conference in Louisville (8th-10th April) entitled ‘Unashamed of the Gospel’ brought together 7,000 attendees to the worlds worst-named sports arena – ‘The KFC Yum! Center’. Anything positive taking place in a venue with that name is a bonus, and this year’s edition of the biennial conference certainly had a lot of bonuses. … More Reflections on T4G
I don’t remember too many other weeks as bad as this one for the sheer volume of tragic incidents around the world: – 16th September – Washington DC, USA. 12 killed by a lone gunman with unknown motives. – 16th September – Mexico. 110 dead after the country is hit by two storms: Hurricane Ingrid … More Tragedy, Grief & Sin
Last night the Junior Choir here at First Baptist Church in Grand Cayman did their summer musical: ‘That’s do Daniel!’, based on the life of Daniel from the Bible. It included my favourite song of the moment, and one that I hope we’ll get to sing in church as “grown-ups”: ‘You are God alone’… They … More Worshipping His Highest from Closer to the Ground
“Feel I failed the Lord in too much digging for sermon thoughts, and not enough time letting the Scripture speak to me.” (Jim Elliot) I’m currently reading through missionary martyr Jim Elliot’s edited journal – ‘Shadow of the Almighty’ with a good friend. I’ve come to both appreciate and be intimidated by Elliot’s consuming passion … More When "sermon thoughts" Ruin the Sermon
The theme is the Splendor of Holiness and the approach is relentless. Which is a good thing. My abiding impression…as in ‘imprint’ rather than ‘vague idea’, is the centrality of God’s holiness to everything we should be doing as we train our children. Jason Meyer, pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church here in Minneapolis, rammed that … More Children Desiring God Conference – Day 2 Review
“You’ve got a skirt hanging on your brain – it’s making you dumb.” Not the abiding memory of John Piper’s keynote, but definitely a memorable phrase. He was referencing the metaphor about girding one’s loins – hitching up the ancient near-eastern ‘skirt’ worn by men and women so that they could run, likening it to … More Children Desiring God Conference – Day 1 review
Paul T Reynolds 