There was a time long ago when the news on the radio or TV was occasionally good news. But there’s not been a lot of good news in 2018. My latest nightmare scenario is a rerun Brexit referendum, which Remain wins by 51% to 49....
Something rather different: two years ago I was asked to produce a Christmas short story set in Marod for Mightier Than The Sword's online publicity. So this is a little snippet of pre-"We Do Not Kill Children" backstory. Apologies to any of you who've read...
This is a very difficult post to write. One of the most common themes for Christians is the faithfulness of God. We are repeatedly encouraged, in the Bible and elsewhere, to rely on God’s faithfulness, and specifically faithfulness to His promises. God has certainly been pretty kind...
I don’t know if anyone else has had the experience of meeting people in the secular workplace who say something to the effect of, "You're very religious! Have you ever thought of being ordained?" Because that’s what holy people do. Except we know that they don’t (necessarily)....
I have known Matthew Perry since we met at college CU in 1980, and discovered a mutual passion for Tolkien. He was studying chemistry and has continued as a professional (industrial research) chemist ever since. In 2011 this led him and his family (artist wife ...
By the way, thank you everyone, for your very varied unfavourite hymns and songs. Do read all the comments, in order to find out which carol promised the young Judith Leader "fritters for ever". Very soon, the PPI Blogger is planning to watch a film called...
"What is your favourite hymn, psalm or spiritual song?" is a frequently asked question. Less often asked is: "What about your least favourite?" I have the interesting privilege of attending a church with three very different worship styles. One is worship from the book Mission Praise: basically...
For once, the PPI Blogger is putting on her (Scots) lawyer’s bunnet, to reflect on the case of WM Morrison (“Morrisons”) v Various Claimants [2018] EWCA Civ 2339. This case, which recently made the news, is in fact English. However, it reminded me of one...
Welcome back to the tent, writers! Last week, the Great British Write-Off featured Romance in all its forms. Star Writer was, perhaps surprisingly, JK, and we had to say goodbye to Bernard. Today, for the first time, The Great British Write-Off is featuring an SF/Fantasy week. So...
Recently, our vicar preached a sermon on the 3rd chapter of St Paul’s letter to the Colossians. In commenting on verse 5 (“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry”), he very...