Last week a senior minister in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa was Honoured for the role he played in serving South Africa during the apartheid struggle. He also happened to be a senior member of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) duri…

As I write this I am sitting in a rather comfy seat in the JetBlue terminal at JKF airport in New York – it is thanksgiving, the busiest travel day of the year! In hindsight it might not have been all that wise to travel home today! Still, as I told a …

Does the Church in South Africa adequately support members for their daily work life?
My most recently published research discusses this question and shares some statistical data gained from the broadest and most recent empirical research on faith and …

Last week I was asked to write an article for the Lausanne Global Pulse on Evangelism and the Christian response to Global (and local) Corruption and its relationship to poverty. I shall add a link to it here when it is published.In my reading I came a…

On the 29th of January 2015 Megan and I will be married to one another for 21 years. This has been a period of such immeasurable grace. For both of us this will make the point in our lives where we have been together for as long as we were alive before marrying one another. My experience of marriage has been as a means of grace – in fact at times I have wondered whether it was not in fact a sacrament which communicates God’s grace. We have rejoiced together, shared struggle, we have grown in our love and in maturity, we are blessed with children, we share our faith. It is a great blessing indeed. I found this letter below which was written by Tertullian a second century African Bishop to his wife. It is expresses so much of how I feel about Megan and our married life.

How beautiful, then, the marriage of two Christians, two who are one in hope, one in desire, one in the way of life they follow, one in the religion they practice. They are as brother and sister, both servants of the same Master. Nothing divides them, either in flesh or in spirit. They are, in very truth, two in one flesh; and where there is but one flesh there is also but one spirit. They pray together, they worship together, they fast together; instructing one another, encouraging one another, strengthening one another. Side by side they visit God’s church and partake of God’s Banquet; side by side they face difficulties and persecution, share their consolations. They have no secrets from one another; they never shun each other’s company; they never bring sorrow to each other’s hearts. Unembarrassed they visit the sick and assist the needy. They give alms without anxiety; they attend the Sacrifice without difficulty; they perform their daily exercises of piety without hindrance. They need not be furtive about making the Sign of the Cross, nor timorous in greeting the brethren, nor silent in asking a blessing of God. Psalms and hymns they sing to one another, striving to see which one of them will chant more beautifully the praises of their Lord. Hearing and seeing this, Christ rejoices. To such as these He gives His peace. Where there are two together, there also He is present; and where He is, there evil is not.

Tertullian, Bishop of Carthage (c.160-225)

This was my prayer in this morning’s devotional time. It is a great encouragement to me.  Perhaps it will encourage you?

Almighty God, by the power of your Holy Spirit open our eyes, ears, hearts, and very lives to your presence so that today we …

Today was such an amazing day!  
As I write this I am sitting in the Houses of Parliament in London listening to a presentation on International Corruption by Richard Alderman of the Serious Fraud Office.
The image on the left was taken at the ent…

I arrived in the beautiful city of London yesterday morning.  I am here to meet with various good people about the EXPOSED 2013 campaign that we are starting up.
This is such wonderful work! There is an increasing awareness of the need to grow our…

I am yet to find a quote that more clearly expresses my understanding of one of the critical tasks of the Church than the quote below.Our church has been fighting during these years only for its self-preservation, as if that were an end in itself. It h…

For the last week or so I have been reading Ranulph Fiennes amazing book ‘My Heroes’ (see the link below).

It tells the stories of various brave and courageous women and men who did extraordinary things in face of great danger and hardship.
The story …