It was a relief to finish working through Judges last week. Preaching to a congregation which needs encouragement, I could think of more obvious books to choose than this one, especially when one considers the last four chapters. There one sees the corruption of family, of the priesthood, of a...

.... but you can't take the fundamentalism out of the boy. That was the point I made about Frank Schaeffer in his latest book. Apparently incapable of understanding with any degree of sympathy those who do not see the world as he does, he can only demonise them as `far right' and 'whackos' who are...

One question that has arrived in the Inbox as a result of yesterday's post on the difference between public figures and celebrities has interesting implications for preaching. The question is about the legitimacy of self-reference in sermons. The questioner gives the following reason for asking (...

A friend dropped me a note on Saturday to say, somewhat tongue in cheek, that I was becoming a celebrity by virtue of my anti-celebrity writing. I do not wish to prolong my anti-celebrity rants any more, having said all I really want to say on the subject; but at his suggestion I will make one...