Seven up…

1) Covid pandemic brings British churches back to life – Fascinating but not necessarily surprising research from YourNeighbour.

2) Matt Redman: We need more worship songs about the holiness of God – Matt Redman’s music has a significant part of the Christian soundtrack to the last 20 years. Really interesting to hear him speak into where he sees the current Christian song-writing culture.

3) I’m a philosopher. We can’t think our way out of this mess. – Interesting and long-form reflective piece from James K. A. Smith: “I used to imagine my calling was to defend the Truth. Now I’m just trying to figure out how to love.” Worth knowing that the print edition of this had a different title: “The intelligence of love.”

4) What Can We Learn from the Ravi Zacharias Scandals? – You may be sick of this as a topic, and it’s certainly a horrifying topic – and yet we must learn and reflect on how such abuse occurs under the guise of Christianity, and how to respond to it. This interview with Sam Allberry, who worked for Zacharias’s RZIM organisation, is a sobering listen. I’m also hoping to listen to this conversation with Dr Diane Langberg, a specialist in trauma abuse with a hugely prophetic voice on where we find ourselves. She particularly speaks here on how we safeguard against more scandals in the future, support victims, ensure accountability, and the problem with pedestals.

5) Everyday Dadding: Dadding with Depression – I’ve just started listening to this podcast on being a Dad and have heard a heap of positive things about this latest episode on living with depression and how that affects his life as a Dad.

6) 3 Steps To Culture Change In A Small Church – I think this has a lot of wisdom in it.

7) Keep Your Eyes on the Trees: An Essay on 1917, the Most Profound Film Since Tree of Life – For something a little bit different, my brother-in-law recently told me that 1917 was the biggest box-office success of 2020 (obviously a surreal year for cinema takings). This is a staggering review that opens up the heart of the film. Keep your eyes on the trees…

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