The Jihad of Jesus

The Jihad of Jesus

His name was Jihad. That’s right, the name appropriated by Muslim extremists to sacralise and sanction violence and brutality. He was, and is, a Pastor. Pastor Jihad, leading the “True Vine” church in Zahle, Lebanon way down in the Bekaa valley on the border with...
The Jihad of Jesus

Old MacDonald no longer has a farm!

Most, but not all, of us who form Queen’s Park Baptist Church, live in an urban environment …either by choice, necessity, or brute circumstance, we are city dwellers. We are not alone in this, the global trend is one of growing city dwelling, and the pace of this...
Winter is Coming

Winter is Coming

Mont-Orford is a tourist magnet right now. This October tens of thousands of visitors will descend on this ski resort in Quebec, Canada to witness one of the world’s great displays of autumn glory. The Canadian “Fall” is a cascade of colour, orange and gold, auburn...
The Jihad of Jesus

Prophetic Word 2022

The coffin, the altar, and the aircraft carrier I am sure you will agree with me that the message Clive brought to us last Sunday was pivotal for us as a church. It invited us to deal with the bitter root of criticism that we may find ourselves living under or...
Winter is Coming

Faith in the Storm

If you want to walk on water… Junior Choice, the Saturday morning radio programme showcasing the latest poptastic pickings from the music charts was a regular feature of my childhood. One song, in particular, stands out. Bobby Gentry’s “what do you get when you fall...
The Jihad of Jesus

Where has “Bannerman” gone?

Where has “Bannerman” gone?   I have vague recollections of the Moscow Summer Olympics in 1980, but the first Olympics I have clear memories of were the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. These were the games in which the rivalry between Zola Bud and Mary Decker for...
The Jihad of Jesus

The biggest sermon in history?

Forget Peter on the day of Pentecost, or even the stadium tours of Billy Graham, the largest crowd gathered to hear a Christian message occurred this very week. Estimates suggest that 26 million people in the UK alone watched the funeral ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II...
Winter is Coming

Going Deeper with God

I’d like in this week’s blog to look back so that we can then look forward. With the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II there has been much looking back, and lots of reflection. Whether in mainstream media, social media, the printed press, conversations in coffee...
The Jihad of Jesus

The Word Became Flesh

The Word Sometime in the 15th century the great Russian painter Andrei Rublev created his masterpiece, The Trinity. Inspired by the story of the three angels visiting Abraham in Genesis 18, he portrayed the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit communing with each other...
Fuel for the journey

Fuel for the journey

So, how are you doing? I mean, how are you really doing? I had a conversation with someone recently where it was clear they were running on fumes. Life in general tends to throw things at us that are draining, and I think that for all of us navigating the past couple...