Jonathan PayI’ve been a Christian all of my life and I’m still not sure I’ve got it right. This is where I think out loud about belief, church, and what following Jesus looks like when life is complicated and theology is messy.
I got theological training from Andrew Wilson (author of Incomparable, God Stories, and more). That sentence probably doesn’t mean much if you don’t know the UK evangelical landscape. Andrew Wilson is a teaching pastor at King’s Church London (at the time he was Eastbourn based, IIRC), a theologian in the Newfrontiers network, and (for one […]
I grew up believing the Bible was one book with one voice. That’s what I was taught. God’s Word: singular, unified, without error. If two passages seem to contradict, the problem is your reading. If one author says something uncomfortable, keep reading until you find the verse that resolves it. The clear passages interpret the […]
Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things. (Ironic?) There is a line in The Usual Suspects lodged in my head, “the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”, and I keep circling back to the […]
Does understanding how something works diminish its capacity to move us? Between medical scans, we prayed, and healing came. The sceptic in me knows about unconscious pattern recognition. The believer has felt something larger. Here’s what I’m learning: I don’t have to choose between faith and reason.
Eighteen years after writing about faith and maturity, I’ve learned that theology isn’t about certainty, it’s about kindness. From striving to rootedness, from fear to grace, this is what growing up in faith really looks like.
Charlie Kirk’s death has sparked calls for prayer and condemnation of violence. But rhetoric matters. Kirk built a career on dehumanisation dressed in Christian language, helping create the climate that consumed him. Christian nationalism isn’t Christianity. Christ’s Kingdom is built on love, dignity, and welcome — that’s worth building.
I’m reminded of Jesus’ call to kindness and inclusion – welcoming the least, embracing outsiders, and rejecting division. Be kind. Be inclusive.
Whether it’s a school hall, an Anglican church, or my living room, I’m reminded that the location is indifferent. What truly matters is the encounter with God. Church isn’t about the place; it’s about the moments that transform spaces into something sacred. It’s the event that changes everything.
It should not surprise us that a religion whose fundamental doctrine is the incarnation should take space seriously in its worship. Not only did Jesus Christ enter human time, but he also came to dwell among us, occupying a specific and definite place on earth in Judea. The New Testament is full of place names; […]
“Jesus. The first word of this book must be Jesus, because everything, reformission included, begins and ends with him.” Mark Driscoll, Radical Reformission An incredibly simple point made by Mark Driscoll in Radical Reformission. I know I for one am constantly guilty of placing other things in my life ahead of Jesus. But to his […]
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