Opinions/reflections - July - December 2018

Life without owning a car

Just imagine our places with fewer cars: three misconceptions about the car free life

Journey: the way of the disciple

What, as people of faith, if we saw our continuing and ordinary journey as an extraordinary pilgrimage?

A prayer and reflection for Brexit

A Baptist minister is urging congregations to pray for the Brexit separation negotiations - and offers this prayer

'Listen to our stories - then choose to change'

A reflection on the recent ‘Celebrating, Surviving and Thriving: Women in Baptist Ministry’ conference

How to thrive (not just survive) at university

Baptist minister Michael Shaw has this message for new students and their sending churches this summer

Reflection on a Firestarter event

Liz Connelly was a participant in the latest Firestarter, events which are exploring Baptist church growth

A Guide to the End of the World

Have we lost sight of the reality of Christ's second coming - and what are the consequences of this?

The God of all creation - and education

The school assembly hall is a space I long to see God fill. We have no right to stand there, but something better: opportunity

Goodbye, Ministry Today UK, and thank you

Paul Goodliff reflects on the cross-denominational organisation run by ministers, for ministers

'Living in the fullness of life'

How do we respond to shocking health inequality? Reflecting on the recent BBC Panorama documentary

Boris and the burka - a reflection

Why we need to stop being offended, and have the difficult conversations in the right language

Remember the doubt of John the Baptist

Doubt comes to us all - even John the Baptist is recorded as having doubts about Jesus. Let's not criticise or condemn

Big questions, good answers

This is what we learnt in creating a space for the big questions about Christianity, writes minister

Embracing the unexpected

Going to university in September? Have an open mind about where you might find community

70 years of the World Council of Churches

Baptist minister Simon Oxley, a former World Council of Churches staff member, reflects on its 70th anniversary

'I need you - and you even need me'

Love isn’t something you do at polite arms’ length - two key reasons why it's important to keep on meeting together

'More (modern) hymns, please'

We need a new canon of songs that help teach the Bible and are rich and passionate about the gospel, argues Keith Getty

Opening doors to students

(and what to do when they’re in). Second year student Kira Taylor shares some ideas for churches

The Gospel According to Google

Google is 20 years old this month, and its influence has reached bewildering heights. Is it a modern-day idol?

Honest expectations of a church planter

We have brilliant stories to tell... and times when we didn’t know if we were doing the right thing. It's important to record both

She is still my child, and part of God’s creation

Last year my son told me he is transgender. This is what has happened since, writes a Baptist church member

Generosity, hospitality and joy

Recent surveys show more people than we think believe in miracles; and our population is lonely. What can we learn?

Always be prepared to give an answer

A Baptist minister has a chance encounter with an agnostic in a coffee shop. How did the conversation go?

Baptists Together Mission Conference

'We need to encourage each other, and recognise the ministries we have' - a report from the recent conference

The church stepping into the breach

Could there be a closer relationship between church and state to address our children's mental health crisis?

Mindfulness, resilience and Gethsemane

A Baptist minister shares what it's like to feel anxious all the time - and what has been helpful in working through it

This matters more than church growing

A Baptist minister argues that we need to focus on growing our faith, as opposed to growing the church

The Parable of Maradona

How a conversation about football presented an opportunity to talk about a famous player - and Jesus

A life cut short - a wasted life?

There are no easy or clear answers on where God is: a reflection when a Christian life is cut short

Mission of the mind - Catalyst Live 2018

The latest Catalyst Live featured a typically diverse range of speakers. Here's a taste of audience reaction

I’m not supposed to feel like this

How a Baptist minister co-authored a book on a Christian approach to overcoming depression and anxiety

Are you ashamed of being a Baptist?

We don't need to be: people outside the church like key Baptist principles. Let's be more confident in our identity

Advent - where is the darkness?

Advent suffers from too much light pollution and churches should try not to contribute to it - a reflection for Advent

Parable of touch wood and the Druids

How a seemingly innocent remark about superstition led to a chat about our pagan ancestors - and the Gospel

Politics and the Way of Jesus

In these challenging political times, followers of Jesus have a duty to live by the standards he has set before us

A reflection on domestic abuse

There's a worldwide focus on violence against women. Andrew Caplen encourages Baptist churches to be involved

Always be prepared to give an answer

We have a message to share with our troubled world: we need to find appropriate ways of getting it across

Strand of Faith by Rachel Bonner

I wanted to create a world that had Christian foundations but was attractive to non-Christian readers, writes Rachel Bonner

Katowice: heads still in the sand?

John Weaver assesses COP24, the latest UN Climate Change Conference which took place in Poland, and the reaction to it

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