November 14, 2026
Can the blue and yellow of Ukraine’s flag help us see the relationship between heaven and earth, the spiritual and the material, the vastness of the sky and the fruitfulness of the soil? Ukraine’s national flag was formally adopted in 1992 following independence from the Soviet Union. Yet the flag’s colours are much older than […]
November 7, 2026
A chalet in the Swiss alps was the unlikely incubator of ideas which equipped evangelicals to engage constructively with changing western culture, yet paradoxically also helped lay intellectual foundations for America’s culture wars. Last week’s midterm elections in the United States revealed the contrast between these two expressions of public Christianity, as noted by several […]
October 31, 2026
The parallels are striking. A leader determined to fight for the moral dignity of his people and the survival of his nation refuses to accept surrender or defeat, despite facing overwhelming odds. He is caught between an aggressive, ruthless enemy on the one hand and allies on the other who see him as a stubborn […]
October 24, 2026
Washington’s capitulation to Moscow has caused me sleepless nights this week. I toss and turn as I wonder what is happening at that very moment to our friends in Kyiv, or other Ukrainian cities. How do Ukrainians feel about an American president who now stands together with a dictator inflicting death and destruction on their […]
October 17, 2026
The exemplary life, inspired teaching and violent murder of a Polish priest forty-two years ago offers hope for Ukrainians and Europeans troubled by injustices, whether emanating from Moscow or Washington. This Monday will be the anniversary of the abduction, torture and brutal murder of Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, a thirty-seven-year-old priest esteemed as the soul of the […]
October 9, 2026
(This Weekly Word is based on an article requested by Christian Daily) Many British Christians had their comfort zones disturbed recently when Pete Greig, founder of the 24-7 Prayer movement, sounded the alarm: ‘Prepare for war’. Speaking at the Wildfires Festival in August he described being impressed in his thoughts one day by those three […]
October 3, 2026
A tiny acorn, a retreat weekend in Norway, the papal visit to France and a dialogue in the European Parliament in Brussels wove for me this week a deep lesson on the renewal of Europe. Last weekend I found myself among more lawyers, judges and magistrates than ever before in my life. I had been […]
September 26, 2026
If Jesus was not a conservative, as we argued last week, was he maybe a nationalist? or a liberal? or a socialist? or a capitalist? While Jesus was conservative about the things of God, we concluded, he was radically subversive about everything that stood in their way. He did not come to defend a political […]
September 19, 2026
As I entered the large auditorium in Kyiv last month where the Faith and Freedom Forum was about to start, my feelings of apprehension began to grow. More than a thousand people from over 50 countries were attending this event billed as ‘bringing together conservative American political leaders and Christian organisations’. The invitation offered […]
September 12, 2026
What can church and mission leaders learn from British television detective dramas? In a zoom encounter this week with members of the European Disability Network, we noted the positive appearance of people with disabilities on detective programmes being portrayed as competent professionals. Their particular gifts make them indispensable members of the team – instead of […]
September 5, 2026
The name ‘Ukraine’ has often been translated as ‘borderland’ – for many of us Ukraine is still ‘way over there’ on Europe’s geographical frontier – yet much of Ukrainian history tells the opposite story. My trip to Kyiv last week has sharpened my understanding of how increasingly central Ukraine is to Europe’s future. Kyiv has […]
August 29, 2026
This week began with commemorations of 35 years of Ukrainian independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union, with emotions of gratitude, resolve and hope, mixed with frustration, fatigue and pain. I was invited to travel to Kyiv for the National Prayer Breakfast last Sunday, together with visitors from 50 nations. Some 1200 politicians, diplomats, […]
