Going to the cinema is not what it used to be. Given the prominence of streaming platforms that invite us to view blockbusters from the comfort of our sofas, a trip to the pictures has lost its charm for some.
But not for a group of schoolchildren in Colchester, whose trip to the cinema to see the new Moana live-action movie gave them an experience that watching it from home never could…
This review appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in July 2026. To read the full piece, click here.
Source: Instagram/@jeremydoku
It’s a story my wife, Laura, and I will never tire of telling.
It was 4:59am when we parked at Barnet Hospital. Arriving at the maternity ward, we were rushed into a side room. I did what I could vaguely recall being told I should do, like helping with breathing. Or at least I tried to, because I was a blubbering mess.
Within minutes, baby Rufus arrived. The tears stopped and I gazed adoringly and bewilderingly at him. It felt as though time had stopped – except it hadn’t, of course, not least because a midwife was furiously pointing at my watch, requesting the time…
This review appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in June 2026. To read the full piece, click here.
Source: Alamy/Guy Corbishley
Stunning goals, tense penalty shoot-outs, controversial VAR decisions, wild celebrations, tears, Ronaldo v Messi, political drama, heartbreak for England…
These are some of the things we’ll see over the coming weeks in Mexico, the USA and Canada at what will be the biggest ever men’s World Cup, with 48 nations now competing for football’s biggest prize. It all kicks off today when Mexico take on South Africa.
But there’s something else we can fully expect to see and that’s footballers proudly expressing their Christian faith – particularly given what we’ve seen in the build-up to the tournament…
This review appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in June 2026. To read the full piece, click here.
As a Tottenham Hotspur fan, the Riyadh Air Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid does not hold fond memories. In 2019, it was there that Spurs lost against Liverpool in the Champions League final, and only last month, our goalkeeper had a horror show in 5-2 defeat to Atlético Madrid…
This review appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in May 2026. To read the full piece, click here.
There’s just something about kindness, isn’t there? Even when we’re not the recipient, seeing it warms our hearts and inspires us. It’s compelling and infectious, in a good way.
I’ve never forgotten the time that I witnessed a lovely gesture outside Kings Cross station in London, many years ago. Amid the lunchtime throng, I spotted a lady walking towards the station with a takeaway bag of food. I presumed she was doing the lunch run for colleagues but, instead, she approached a homeless man and gave it to him.
This review appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in January 2026. To read the full piece, click here.
Source: Reuters
Back in the summer, I made a prediction.
Eberechi Eze had turned down Tottenham Hotspur, the team I support, to sign for Arsenal. For Spurs fans, we not only lost out on a superb footballer, we did so to our bitterest rivals. I can recall mumbling to myself that, to rub salt into the wound, he’ll probably score against us this season.
Fast-forward to Sunday and Eze did just that – and emphatically so. He scored three goals (a hat-trick in footballing parlance) and, during his celebrations, he pointed to the heavens, giving glory to God. Being a Christian and a long-suffering Spurs fan, this left me with very mixed feelings.
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in November 2025. To read the full piece, please click here.
Have you listened to testimonies of miraculous healings, rejoicing enthusiastically while suppressing another lingering emotion – scepticism?
You want to believe – and for the most part you do – but whether it’s bitter experience or stubborn rationality, question marks remain: Is this down to adrenaline or emotion? Are dodgy people making things up? Can this even be medically verified?
This review appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in November 2025. To read the full piece, click here.
My wife and I approach Parkrun very differently. Laura’s priority is conversation rather than competition. For her, an event that passes without chatting to at least someone on the 5km route is a disappointment. As for me, I don’t enjoy talking whilst running and, if there’s any frustration, it’s from not bettering a previous time or, worst of all, someone pipping me at the finish.
This article appeared on the PREACH blog in September 2025. To read the full piece, click here.
Source: Alamy
I’ve discovered recently that procrastinating on YouTube can be a wholesome use of time. If it’s spent watching Frank Caprio videos, that is.
The man known as “America’s nicest judge” died last week from pancreatic cancer, aged 88, and how fitting that one of his last ever posts on Instagram said, “A life built on kindness is a life that echoes long after we’ve gone.” That’s because “Uncle Frank” was universally admired for his kindness, as shown on Caught in Providence, the programme that showed him preside over real, non-criminal cases in Rhode Island.
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in August 2025. To read the full piece, please click here.
Source: Lions Rugby
We’ve probably all had those occasions when we’ve missed a Bible study or house group because of another engagement. Perhaps it was because you had to work overtime, the babysitter bailed, or you went to a friend’s birthday dinner.
How about being officially unveiled at London’s O2 arena as captain of the British and Irish Lions?
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in July 2025. To read the full piece, please click here.
I can recall a time when it felt that there was just one Christian among the different sports we loved. In football, it was Gavin Peacock. In athletics, it was triple-jumper Jonathan Edwards, and in tennis it was the ultra-cool Andre Agassi.
It’s difficult to know whether this was more perception than reality, particularly with social media now making it easier to know more about the sports stars we love. But whatever the truth, it now feels rare for a major sporting tournament to not feature at least a handful of Christians – and that includes Wimbledon, which concludes this weekend…
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in July 2025. To read the full piece, please click here.
It was 1997 and I remember feeling rather giddy that ‘Deeper’, a song by Delirious? had entered the Official UK Top 40 charts.
This was a song about God, by a band that was unquestionably Christian. What is happening?! And then nothing really did… As far as the mainstream was concerned, Christian music, whether overt or otherwise, again drifted into the shadows…
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in June 2025. To read the full piece, please click here.
Source: Reuters
At the beginning of this season’s Premier League, a group of Crystal Palace players began gathering before games to pray. Would they have had any idea what might happen nine months later – and did their prayers even help fuel it?
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in May 2025. To read the full piece, please click here.
The joke was always made that Gareth Southgate would make a better Prime Minister than football manager. A recent talk for the BBC’s annual Richard Dimbleby Lecture only confirms this – and might even suggest a career as a preacher. Okay, that last bit is perhaps a tad far-fetched (Southgate is not known to be religious), but as I watched snippets of the speech and read its transcript, I said to my wife (a vicar) that it has echoes of a sermon…
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in March 2025. To read the full piece, please click here.
Source: Alamy
For years, whenever asked for my favourite film, I said The Book of Eli, a story about a man fighting his way across a ravaged, post-apocalyptic America while protecting a sacred book – the Bible…
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in November 2024. To read the full piece, please click here.
Source: Arsenal
It was an eventful summer for Raheem Sterling – in more ways than one.
The 29-year-old was one of the surprising omissions from England’s Euro 2024 squad and, soon after the new Premier League kicked off in August, he became the centre of one of the biggest transfer stories of the summer. Deemed surplus to requirements at Chelsea, he made a deadline-day move to London rivals Arsenal, where he joins fellow Christian football pro, Bukayo Saka…
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in September 2024. To read the full piece please click here.
Source: B-Side
Secrets. Shame. Scandals. Survival.
It’s sounds like the promo for a Netflix series or a box office release, not a podcast. And certainly not one involving a church pastor.
But sometimes truth can be stranger than fiction, because this week saw the unexpected release of ‘Lights On With Carl Lentz’, a podcast in which Carl and his wife Laura share the journey they’ve been on following his dismissal as pastor of Hillsong New York in 2020 for infidelity (among other allegations)…
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in June 2024. To read the full piece please click here.
Source: Netflix
Isn’t it funny how adaptations of the same story can wildly differ and prompt very different reactions? Watching Testament: The Story of Moses, the new three-part series on Netflix, I turned to my wife and said: “It’s not quite the direction taken by The Prince of Egypt: The Musical!”…
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in April 2024. To read the full piece please click here.
Source: RAYE/Instagram
If you haven’t heard of RAYE (real name Rachel Keen) already, you’ve likely heard at least one of the many hits she’s written. The 26-year-old songwriter of the year also has an Ivor Novello and a MOBO award, and was nominated for last year’s Mercury Music Prize…
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in March 2024. To read the full piece please click here.
Source: Alamy
Have you ever been called a “Bible basher”, “crazy Christian” or “Jesus freak”?
What about a “super-super-Christian”?
I’m guessing probably not. But Carey Mulligan has…
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in February 2024. To read the full piece please click here.