SANITY'S COVE

I have had the privilege of knowing more than one woman who carries the title of ‘pastor’. Many of them are perfectly lovely ladies with whom I merely disagree about church structure. Most of them carry the title together with their husband and work as a ‘pastoral couple’ (think Brian and Bobbie Houston of Hillsong). I don’t hold to that view, but still, these women seem to love the Lord and the lost and I don’t spend my time arguing with such ‘Egalitarians’. But the Egalitarian movement is being hijacked by intoleristas. These are the men and women who not only will fight for women’s ordination but who will fight against you for disagreeing. They are the Feminist Gestapo and sadly they are gaining ground. This is perhaps best illustrated by a horrendous piece (Here)published online by Faith & Leadership from Duke University of all places. Their missional subtext is A learning resource for Christian leaders and their institutions. I don’t know what leaders or institutions would fin…

[Response to the letter Dear Non-Affirming Christian]
Dear Pro-Gay Christian Friend,
Thank you for taking the time to write me. Sadly, it seems you misunderstand why I met with you for coffee. Please let me explain my motives by defining the words in my salutation above. Would this be too terrible a way to go about it?
Let’s start with ‘friend’ shall we? You rightly question this term as an accurate description of our relationship. For now, let's simply say I mean it as an expression of good will - but will return to it again at the end of the letter. Then there's this term, 'pro-gay'. By this, I don't mean your personal sexual urges. There have historically been – and are today – countless godly leaders in the church who have deep sexual and romantic attractions to people of the same gender. In spite of their desires, they remain celibate and teach orthodox views of gender and sexuality. In your letter, you repeatedly refer to me as a ‘non-affirming Christian’, but I …

Intimate Jesus: The sexuality of God incarnate By: Andy Angel Rating: 2.5/5 stars
I was given this book in exchange for free in exchange for a review. Sometimes it’s great when such things happen, sometimes it’s a bit… meh. It all depends on the book.
This book falls in the ‘meh’ category. It was thrillingly easy to put down. I think I read four other books during the time I was supposed to be reading this one.
I don’t mean that the book was terrible. I almost wish it was. Instead, it was just ‘kind of’ good. I occasionally read terrible books by arch-heretics. Gross error can at least make you pay attention. There were no major heresies here. Nor was he arguing for any form of orthodoxy that was especially shocking. What was disappointing about this book was that it was about sex and God – two of my favourite things – and yet I was bored by it.
It is based on exegesis from the gospel of John. The author – a University lecturer at St. Johns College in Nottingham – rightly uses two key text…

‘They will prophecy for 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth.’ -Rev. 11
Last week, a major denomination here in the UK announced that they would begin to recognise homosexual practicing relationship as sacred marriage. Although this would have been seen as an unthinkable act for 99% of church history, this announcement passed with relatively little comment from church leaders of other denominations. 
   There was no blowing of trumpet horns, no ashes, and no beating of the chest. There were no tears. Other denominations and churches did not assemble to mourn as Israel did in Judges 21 crying out ‘Why, God, has Israel lost one of its tribes?’ It has happened before and is it assumed that it will happen again.
The apocalyptic witness of Moses and Elijah in Revelation 11 – whether we see their appearance as something past, present, future, or some combination – gives us a glimpse into the prophetic call of the church in several ways. One of these is the description of their clothing: that of sa…

4/5 Stars. In many ways, this is an excellent book. If you want a book that gives a review of the social and political causes and impacts of recent immigration into Europe, this is the one. And I say that as an immigrant myself.
Regardless of your political stance or what you’d like to believe about immigration into Europe, it will be hard to argue with Murray’s research. The facts don’t care about our feelings and this book is filled with facts – many of which our feelings might not care for. His thesis is that Europe is committing suicide and one of its primary tools is through the unstrategic and (seemingly) unlimited immigration that has occurred in recent decades and – more importantly – in the last three years.
Those who may not like the facts that he presents may be tempted to paint him as a xenophobe or racist. He isn’t. He often shows how these policies aren’t particularly helping immigrants either and how genuine refugees who need our help the most, often aren’t getting it.
I …

Elijah took the child, and brought him down into the house, and gave him to his mother. -1 Kings 17
A superficial understanding of Elijah could mislead someone into believing that he – or perhaps even the God who worked through Elijah – was a misogynist.
Sadly, that term - in addition to being hard to spell - has become loaded, politicised, and increasingly vague. CS Lewis pointed out that when such things happen we are witnessing verbicide – the death of a word. It’s a shame because misogyny and its counterpart misandry are both real things. So, let’s define. By misogynist, we do not mean someone who despises a woman or who believes men and women are different. We mean someone who despises a woman because she is a woman.
Elijah was not one. Elijah stood against the work of a certain Sidonian princess – but not because she was a woman or even because she was a foreigner. He resisted her plans because she was leading God’s people into false worship and sexual immorality. Any man whose i…