Global Perspectives

13th Nov 2010 On Dec 3rd, my friend Duncan Parker and I plan to run 136 miles from Amsterdam to London. It is just over five marathons in six days – enough to stretch the body and mind to new limits. It is in part an experiment to discover what lies beneath for me when the veneer of easy living is stripped away. That is important because I need to find ways to identify and remember that for many people, life is not comfortable. UNICEF for example, cite that 1.2million children are trafficked each year. Children sold and transported into slavery for sexual exploitation, sweat shops, child brides, circuses, sacrificial worship, forced begging, sale of human organs, farm labour, domestic servitude. That is the antithesis of comfort. The trend is growing too – with over 2-4million people in total trafficked each year. For many people, enduring their daily routine is much more demanding than running long distances will ever be. I remember seeing that endurance in the eyes of a vil...

Frontline Church, Liverpool 31st Oct 2010 Good morning. Its great to be back here - over a decade since I left as a student. It is great find you have lost none of your warmth, dynamism and energy. I come here today with a simple message. It is this; that issues of justice are right at the core of the Christian faith and that the renewal of the church and our own spiritual growth depends upon the commitment we have to those issues. Social Justice is not an issue Christians can add as an optional extra - like ordering extra cheese on your pizza. It is the pizza. I want to start with a story. There was once a devout man who lived in a world where all religious belief was illegal. He was accused of being a follower of Christ, arrested and dragged before a court. He had been under clandestine surveillance for some time and so the prosecution had been able to build up quite a case against him; photographs that show him attending church meetings, speaking at religious events, and participa...