Ok, it’s been a while since we ‘refilled’, but we’re back. Better late than never. Seven up…

1) Ten Hard Lessons from Decades of Failures and Mistakes – I appreciated these ten sentences from Pete Scazzero, author of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship.

2) Encanto and the Miracle of Empathy – The latest offering from Disney has filled our home and car stereo repeatedly over the last few months – and we love it! I enjoyed this reflection from Shigé Clarke on why this family movie is such a good family movie.

3) PreachingHacks – Whether this is the best title or not, there is some very helpful wisdom on preaching in this Twitter thread. Or for another preaching piece, try ‘The Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Your Sermon‘ – always fascinating to see how different people approach sermon preparation.

4) Everybody Loves Bavinck – If you’ve never heard of Herman the Great (as some like to call him), this is a great intro piece which explains why Bavinck’s work is increasingly giving helpful categories of thought to twenty-first century theologians and pastors, despite most of his own life occurring in nineteenth-century Netherlands. Grateful to Dan Strange for introducing him to me a few years ago…

5) Evangelists or Public Advocates for Christianity? – This clip from singer Dua Lipa’s interview with comedian & chat show host Stephen Colbert has prompted a lot of discussion & debate about how Christians might share their faith. And so it makes perfect fodder for a Speak Life podcast discussion, hence the link up top.

6) Reports of the Church of England’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Here’s where it is thriving – Encouraging reading from Bishop Ric Thorpe & John Valentine.

7) February – For something a bit different, remember everyone – it is February!