I guess it had to happen. A United Methodist Church has decided to ban straight marriage. Must be the 'yuck factor', I guess.

The yuck factor is a significant and deadly element of Christian thinking. Take, for example, the various denominations currently tearing apart over the issue of homosexuality and gay marriage. Many, if not all, such denominations have routinely allowed men, and often women, who deny the...

Ruth Moon of Christianity Today has a brief article summarising various Protestant reactions to the new Pope here . And the BeeGees have taken time off from their 24 hour non-stop 'world takeover' disco-thon to draw my attention to another selection of reactions to the election here . (Warning --...

While away with the Pope of Ealing last week, meeting with the BeeGees to talk about their megalomaniacal plans for the future ('Today disco, tomorrow the world!'), it seems that Ref21 has become a set for the new Doctor Who series, taken over by time-traveling, endless multiple subdivisional...

The March edition of Ordained Servant , the OPC journal for ministers and elders is now available online here . The topic is bereavement and loss. London Theological Seminary has launched a new online journal for preachers and pastors . Next week, Nancy Guthrie will be speaking at a Ladies' Coffee...

Two legal stories caught my eye today. In the first , drinkers are suing Anheuser-Busch for watering down its beers, such as Budweiser and Michelob. While I could sympathise with someone suing the company for calling their products 'beer,' I find this suit very odd. It is surely akin to suing a...

Please don't think I am stalking Denny Burk. I would not dare: he is bigger and stronger than me and probably packs heat; in comparison, I am just a small, unarmed Englishman. Still, at the risk of appearing to have an unhealthy interest in his life and career, I note that that he has drawn the...

Denny Burk is on a roll this week. His comments on the latest furore surrounding Tim Tebow's withdrawal from a church engagement are most apposite. Now, I have no sensitivity to (or sympathy with) American 'sports,' so, I am guessing TT is somewhat like Euan Murray but with protective pads, just so...

When you wash your hands in the rest room and drop the paper towel into the rubbish bin, you notice one of your own articles screwed up and lying on top of the trash. As Donna Summer once sang, 'I feel love.'

In the first two posts of this series, I argued that confessions are useful for the way in which they facilitate a disciplined church life: office bearers are bound to uphold confessional teaching; and their power is thus delimited by their subscription, something maintained by transparent...

Denny Burk offers a helpful reminder that it is good to read blogs before actually criticising them. I do hope that the next Rob Bell book (which I have not read, nor, despite the rumours, critiqued) uses sources somewhat more appropriately than the last one . If so, no-one will be happier than me.

'Your wife is never more beautiful than on your wedding day. It's all downhill from then on.' I can honestly say I have not received such animated and engaged feedback from The Sisterhood since the time I referred to Downton Abbey as a soap opera. And this time I had even more 'death stares.'

'Your wife is never more beautiful than on your wedding day. It's all downhill from then on.' I can honestly say I have not received such animated and engaged feedback from The Sisterhood since the time I referred to Downton Abbey as a soap opera. And this time I had even more 'death stares.'

Francis Beckwith has written an entertaining essay on Richard Dawkins' response to the Pope's resignation. WARNING: contains Roman Catholicism which some of our readers may find offensive. But, frankly, the last line all by itself makes the essay worth the read. A salutary lesson to Britain's...

Years ago, while teaching at a British university, I recall a colleague complaining one day about a review of one of his books which said that it should be read by all pastors. He was a bit upset by this, apparently on the grounds that the reviewer was implying that he had not been sufficiently...

Discussion of recent advocacy of the observation of Lent by some evangelicals continues. I am not a big liturgical calendar person myself, though I think it prudent and even appropriate to preach on the Incarnation on the Sundays around Christmas and the resurrection on the same around Easter. I am...

Over at Christianity Today , Ruth Moon has published an article which provides a variety of Protestant -- and ex-Protestant -- reactions to the Pope's resignation. Francis Beckwith also tells me that he will be publishing a short retrospective article on Benedict as a theologian later this week. I...

Having seen this , words almost fail me -- but not quite. Perhaps the weirdest thing is that I too have found peanut eating Italian monkeys to be a great source of spiritual inspiration -- it is as if, you know, Rob and I are like totally connected at some kind of deep spiritual level and stuff!...

The Christian world is today in shock with the sudden announcement that Derek Thomas will not be resigning as leader of the world's 26 readers of Ref21, despite his advanced age. Thomas has not been seen on a public ezine for months, leading to rumours and speculation about his health, given recent...

In the first post I pointed to the importance of confessions as stabilising and regulating the public teaching of the church. A second important use, however, is the way in which they bind elders and people together by setting the terms of their relationship and provide the necessary foundation of...

A British academic has attacked distinguished wildllife broadcaster , Sir David Attenborough, for not featuring enough gay animals in his documentaries. No, this is not a tribute to the dead Trotter but a true story . Now don't forget: it is the church, not the wider culture, that has this single-...

Simonetta agrees that there is a definite resemblance between La Denny and the picture of a Renaissance lady but points out that the latter is probably not Renee. So here is the genuine article alongside Sandy D: There's definitely a connection, methinks.

Simonetta Carr, known to Ref21 readers as the lady who spots uncanny resemblances between the members of Led Zeppelin and various members of the Savoy Conference, is also a talented writer. I have used her books for children in my monthly giveaways at church as a means of kindling interest in...

The last twenty-four hours have seen widespread reporting of the latest TGC 'kerfuffle,' this time over Mark Driscoll's comments about Joel Osteen. I guess I am becoming rather jaded, but I am surprised there is surprise: he is the man, after all, who gave T. D. Jakes a clean bill of health last...