"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers." - VoltairE

John Wesley's 22 Questions

February 27, 2023


John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, formed a club with his brother Charles while studying at Oxford and they had 22 questions that they would ask themselves every day to help them become more Christlike. I've found them very beneficial in my own walk with God too.

  1. Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I really am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?
  2. Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?
  3. Do I confidentially pass on to another what was told to me in confidence?
  4. Can I be trusted?
  5. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work, or habits?
  6. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?
  7. Did the Bible live in me today?
  8. Do I give it time to speak to me everyday?
  9. Am I enjoying prayer?
  10. When did I last speak to someone else about my faith?
  11. Do I pray about the money I spend?
  12. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?
  13. Do I disobey God in anything?
  14. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
  15. Am I defeated in any part of my life?
  16. Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy, or distrustful?
  17. How do I spend my spare time?
  18. Am I proud?
  19. Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?
  20. Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I doing about it?
  21. Do I grumble or complain constantly?
  22. Is Christ real to me?
 

Wondering Questions

February 2, 2023


One way to deepen relationships and encourage people to think about their values and beliefs is to ask good questions. I read a book by Doug Pollock called ‘God Space’ and in it he talked about using ‘Wondering questions’ in our conversations. There’s an excerpt on the Cru website here

To add to that, I’ve compiled a list of questions to help me understand the worldviews of my friends better and help them explore the basis of their beliefs. 

  • If there is no ultimate meaning, how do...

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Hiking the trail to the promised land

February 2, 2023


The Christian life is a bit like hiking the trail to the promised land. It’s something we’re called to do together and I’ve had the privilege of sharing the hike with some precious friends over the years. It can be really tough, but we know the effort is getting us to where we want to be and there are some wonderful surprises along the way too.

Sadly, over the years, some friends have dropped out. They’ve found the hike too tough, forgotten that it will be worth it, and have stopped in...

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Favourite reads of 2022

January 6, 2023
This has been a great year of reading for me. I was pleased that I read the whole Bible again using the Five Day Bible Reading plan. I managed 93 other books and some of them were absolute gold. So here’s my round-up of the best.

Top Christian




  1. The Prodigal Prophet: Jonah and the Mystery of God's Mercy - Tim Keller
    I’ve always loved Jonah – a man called by God who promptly ran in the opposite direction. Conscious of my own failings, I’m so encouraged by the complicated and messed-up peopl...

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Honesty with God

January 1, 2023


How honest can you be with God? Do you feel like you can tell him everything? Or do you feel the need to hide parts of your life?

I sometimes think that our church culture doesn’t help foster real intimacy with God. Often at the start of a church service the leader will say something like, “Whatever’s been happening during the week or whatever is on your mind, put it aside so that we can focus on God”. This can give the impression that God’s not interested in our Monday – Saturday ...

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Picture This Thought - Champagne [Celebration and fun]

December 7, 2022
A reflection on how we sometimes take ourselves too seriously and there is plenty of joy and celebration at the heart of the Christian faith. We talk about the joyful times that Jesus has with his disciples and little children and that he had an attractive character rather than being a sombre moralist. And we reflect on the ultimate celebration that all Christians are looking forward to.


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We Need to Talk About Death

December 7, 2022


There seem to be an increasing number of adverts featuring cremation companies that offer no funeral and no fuss (no tears?). There’s more of a focus on partying and going on fun bike rides than grieving (see the adverts here).

Whilst it’s right and healthy to celebrate the life of our loved ones, it’s also right and healthy to grieve the loss and to think about what death means. It seems that, particularly in Western societies, we’re trying to inoculate ourselves against death, rather...

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Slow Surrender

October 21, 2022


My friend Lindsay Reid is a talented poet and I've just enjoyed her new collection, 'Slow Surrender'. These heartfelt poems take the reader on a profound journey through faith, despair, suffering and ultimate hope, borne out of Lindsay's battle with chronic illness. There are no trite answers or platitudes, just a courageous trust in the God who is faithful. Here's one of my favourites:

Undying

Bereaved. Bereft.
We're left to mourn
For these our children
Lost, unborn,
Stillborn, like buds
On roses n...
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Spiritual practices and habits

October 5, 2022


It’s been a really tough couple of years and I realised that I let other things and people take first place in my heart instead of God. It’s been a long and painful process coming back to him fully, but I realised that the only thing that’s going to replace idolatry in my heart is to pursue Jesus with everything I have and delight in him. That’s not always easy. In fact, I’ve found it very hard, but I’m encouraged that it’s not something I need to manufacture for myself. Even th...

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Obsessed with God

September 29, 2022


We tend to think of obsession as a bad thing. It conjures up images of creepy stalkers, or someone whose collection of ornamental pigs has got way out of hand. But what if it’s the object of obsession that’s the problem, rather than the strength of feeling itself? What if obsession with a person, hobby, job or goal is only unhealthy because they’re not designed to be where our ultimate satisfaction can be found?

I’ve definitely experienced unhealthy obsession, often with a particular p...

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