Category: The Meeting Place Online Discussion

Unlike some countries (see note 1 below), the UK did not condemn President Trump’s kidnap of Maduro in Venezuela, but helped capture their “Russian” registered oil tanker- was this about international law, or keeping Trump “on side” over Ukraine?  His motives cannot be primarily about oil, with Venezuela’s reserves of 300 billion barrels heavy and…

Why are US Democrats and UK Labour unable to capture the imaginations of their voters?  Is it because they cannot express their messages of hope in fewer than twelve words? (our current “sound bite culture” makes this harder- see the link below). Or because they are too concerned to keep wealthy supporters “on board” to…

In the ancient world crucifixion was a regular and public means of execution, an open threat to potential rebels against state authority.  Five centuries before the time of Jesus, Darius, the Persian king, crucified 3000 Babylonians; in 100 BCE Alexander Jannaeus, king of Judea, crucified 800 Pharisees; when Jesus was a boy the Romans crucified…

In September the UK Evangelical Alliance issued a comment on the “Unite the Kingdom” rally in London, and its misuse of Christian faith and symbols (see the other attachment). The notion of a Britain economically and culturally under threat from immigration sets an agenda to which others feel they must respond (always a futile task),…

9.30 am- “WE REFUSE TO BE ENEMIES”, led by Daoud Nassar, of the “Tent of Nations”, West Bank, and Sally Azar, Pastor of the Lutheran Church in Jerusalem.  “Tent of Nations” is a farm at Nahalin, south-west of Bethlehem, owned by the Nassar family since 1916, but now threatened by Israeli settlers, who have built…

The memory (or anticipation) of family weddings is usually one of the most joyful events in our lives, though far fewer of these are celebrated today in churches- less than a quarter, compared to about half in the 1970s, and 85 percent in 1900. Perhaps another sign that Britain is no longer a “Christian” country…

  Edmund Newell[i] According to Godwin’s Law, as an online argument grows longer and more heated, the probability that someone will make a comparison involving Hitler or the Nazis increases to 1, at which point that person loses the argument. The recent surge in populism in many parts of the world has put Godwin’s Law…

Hannover Evangelischer Kirchentag, April 30th to May 4th 2025 On the train from Brussels and Cologne, which arrived 45 minutes late in Hannover on Tuesday evening, April 29th (IMG_9867.jpg), passengers had complained that poor time-keeping and infrastructure maintenance had become a noticeable feature of German trains in recent years. The first post-war Protestant Church Congress…

A Call for Repentance: An Open Letter from Palestinian Christians to Western Church Leaders and Theologians 20 October 2023 “Learn to do right; seek justice; defend the oppressed” (Isa 1:17). We, at the undersigned Palestinian Christian institutions and grassroots movements, grieve and lament the renewed cycle of violence in our land. As we were about…

“For where your Treasure is….”- a summary of our discussions on “What does the Bible say about Wealth?”: Read More >>