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Paul’s first letter to the Confusions
[This is an extract of a letter that was recently found down the back of a sofa and which I have ‘translated’. Its authenticity has yet to be established.] To the Christians in Confusia Gravy and peas to you all. [The exact translation of this sentence is unclear]. I’m writing to you because it has…
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the parable of the wall
Outside the church is a wall. It separates the church from the street. It’s a low wall, just the right height for sitting on. It’s a convenient wall. Passers-by will sit on the wall in order to make a phone call, to eat an ice cream (in the summer) and to wait for someone. And…
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An ant called Declan
Declan was a busy ant, as were all his friends. He spent his day scampering around the countryside looking for food to forage for the rest of the ant colony. One day Declan crawled across a picnic table and came across a jam sandwich. A child had dropped it on the ground and although the…
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mission made simple
Churches seem to have the innate ability to make things complicated, don’t we. Putting aside all of the complexities of Church Meetings, Leadership Meetings, ordinations, inductions, church accounts and finances, child protection policies, insurance, choice of music in services, sitting in our favourite seats, charity law, constitutions, and so much more that goes into running a…
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the parable of the oasis
The Eastern Baptist Association, whom I now serve as a Regional Minister, is putting together a series of thoughts that we will send out in order to help us to think through how we can engage with mission and evangelism. Each month churches will receive a parable to introduce a theme and there will also be…
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going abroad
Foreign travel sounds exotic, exciting, and adventurous. If you have ever flown on a commercial airline you will know that once you arrive at the airport expectations of ‘exotic, exciting and adventurous’ are replaced with ‘queueing, waiting and boredom.’ First of all you arrive and find where you have to go to check in to confirm your place…
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sitting on a sofa in the middle of the street
The churches in Colchester and the surrounding area are in the middle of a fortnight of focused mission activity. For us it began with a community barbecue on our forecourt on Saturday – 500+ burgers given away, live music, face painting for children, a couple of talks, me doing some magic tricks (why did it…
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pointing out the obvious
I am fascinated by these arrows. I came across this image long ago, when I was in my first church, and it has remained with me ever since as a powerful image with a significant message for churches. When you look at them, what do you see? Red arrows pointing outwards? Is that all that…
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the heart of the matter
Sorry about the absence of a bloggage on Friday and over the weekend. On Friday I went to visit a church near Southampton as part of my sabbatical studies, and it was so encouraging. Thank you Gordon and your church for the hospitality and sharing. On Friday evening I stretched out my left arm at…
nukelearfishing 