Forced to change

It has finally happened.  I knew, sometime ago, that things were not right and that the demise was inevitable.  I tried to keep things going for as long as possible.  Try as I might, my laptop was getting slower.  At first, I excused it.  Okay, so it was taking 10 minutes to start up in […]

Begging for bread

It was only a small part of the sentence, but it hit me like an express train!  Yes, the story may only have been a few verses in length yet, it contained so many emotions.  There was hurt, frustration and rejection.  Mark, in his Gospel, says that the Pharisees came to question and test Jesus. […]

A Breath From God

I couldn’t resist it.  This photo was one I took this morning. This is the second day of snow.  As I sat in our back room, and was preparing to do some work, I saw these two faces. In case you are wondering who, or what they are, there is no mystery!  They are two […]

What do the Monkees and Holland Haven have in common?

Recently, I have been struggling to pray. I know I am a minister.  I know such things should be the bread and butter of my trade.  Nonetheless, prayer has been a struggle. Maybe, you have experienced times like this too?  God seems distant, a long way off.  You feel as though you have been trying […]

Living with Mystery

I love a good murder (a story that is – not actually committing them). There is nothing better, to my mind, to settling down to a good Midsomer, Sherlock Holmes, Marple or Poirot.  Within each of these stories comes the moment when, the detective, needs to abandon observation and confront their suspects in order to […]

“Because God cares for you…”

There is a saying that I think comes from ancient China.  I am never sure if it is intended as a curse or a proverb.  It says; May you live in interesting times In my opinion, the year 2020 would easily fall into the category of interesting times! I would hazard a guess most of […]

How To Find Hope When You Are Tired And Confused

I don’t know how these past few months have been for you.  I have found them a little tough.  There has been quite a bit of work to do in preparing services for broadcasting.  I have been looking at all the different ways of keeping fellowship alive whilst separated.  There has been getting to grips […]

How a habit taught me a lesson

I admit it. I am a creature of habit. I have my way of doing things and I tend to stick with what I know. None of my habits are harmful.  A bit odd, yes.  Harmful, no. Just the other day, one of my habits made me think about something that is really important to […]

Barriers

There is a passage in the New Testament that, if I am brutally honest, I do not like. The story concerns a Canaanite woman who has a problem with her daughter (Matthew 15 vs. 21 – 28).  Jesus seems to ignore the woman’s plight, seems to dismiss her and then refers to her in a […]

Desire

What do you really desire?  In the words of the Spice Girls (yes, you did read that correctly); Tell me what you want What you really really want  It is a question I was thinking about today, as I looked at a story in Matthew’s Gospel about a rich young man.  Matthew tells how a […]