I was away for the weekend and read a handful of books, so I thought I would give them an airing this week as we work on trying to update our site in the coming weeks. Hopefully, we will be coming up with an all new blog format too! Watch this space. So, my second […]

I picked up this little book (and three others in the series—reviews to follow) on my recent trip to the States. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect given the evangelical church’s ‘pass the hand grenade’ approach to dealing with this topic. But what a great little book it is. Allberry reminds us from the […]

I often get asked how and why we have so many contacts and have so many unchurched people attending our services throughout the week. The answer is quite simple: 1. We pray for people. Are you really praying for people in your area, consistently, specifically, and intelligently? When I first came to Niddrie, I started […]

So, I’ve discovered Jared C. Wilson quite late. Up until recently, he wasn’t a person who had entered my radar. I then saw his name on a Matt Chandler book (Explicit Gospel, I think) and then one day, completely out of the blue, he emailed me to write one of those thing-a-ma-jigs people write on […]

More booklet than book, this is a short, snappy, punchy, and irenic (I looked it up—it means peaceable) look at what Jeremy (Walker sounds so formal and JW has other connotations) has termed ‘New Calvinists’. To be fair to him, it’s not his term, but he does adopt it and apply it to various high […]

This is David Robertson's follow up book to his immensely (and more) enjoyable “Dawkins Letters”. His subtext is Why Jesus IS Great and, I have to say, it is a masterfully (and mercifully) simple (in the non-critical sense!) work of apologetics. This is how you make highfalutin philosophy and theology accessible to mere mortals like […]

There is lots of talk around at the moment about ‘cultural defeaters’ (a la Keller) and ‘common grace bridges’ when it comes to talk about the ‘Post-Christian’ West. Personally, I think we need to be more careful about what we mean by using the term ‘Post-Christian’, because we certainly wouldn’t want to confuse it with […]

Our Youth leader is making a series of videos for young people in the scheme who have little to no idea about biblical Christianity. Here is their first offering. The young lady in the clip is my eldest daughter, Keziah.

In the interests of full disclosure, this is a book written by a pal of mine. We’re not best mates or anything, but I have met the guy a few times and I like him a lot. He writes a blog here and he is also the new Director of the Council for Biblical Manhood […]

This is the second of 12 books I am studying and discussing with my Assistant Pastor and 20schemes Ministry Apprentices over the course of the next year. I have been waiting to read it with high expectations. I must admit to receiving vague threats concerning my review of this book, which I have tried not to […]