I am continually amazed at the plans and purposes of God as revealed to us in the Bible.  I happened to be listening to a preacher on one of the ‘God channels’ (do be careful!) and he drew attention to a wonderful comparison which I hope to develop here.  Following the Fall, Adam and Eve are in the Garden of Eden and…

As you all know (?!), Mothering Sunday falls on the fourth Sunday in Lent, exactly three weeks before Easter Day.  The day now is all about giving gifts to our mothers, including increasingly taking them out to Sunday lunch (a carvery is probably to be preferred and do look round for the best offers available e.g. free (vanilla) ice cream for mother…

On the way back from our time away we visited Blenheim Palace, the only non-royal palace in England.  The building and grounds are truly magnificent and we learnt (several times over) that their origin dated back to a great victory by forces led by the Duke of Marlborough over the French army at Blindheim, Germany in 1704.  Queen Anne subsequently gave the…

I am really enjoying the somewhat extended celebrations of my sixtieth birthday and am very grateful for all the cards, presents and good wishes I’ve received.  Actually, of course, I don’t “feel a day older”, but have noted from Leviticus 27v3&7 that my value under the circumstances there described has now dropped from 50 to 15 shekels of silver – i.e. a…

The Wednesday evening homegroup is currently studying the book of Hosea and I was particularly struck last week by the first part of chapter 9 verse 10: “When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert”.  Discovering grapes in such an arid location is clearly unusual and God is here expressing His joy, His delight in His people Israel. …

I had a dream last week in which I was using a hacksaw to cut through an extremely thick safe door because I was trying to get to a tin of WD40 inside the safe.  Was this some mysterious picture about really seeking to receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit or was it linked to the cheese and onion sandwich I…

Away from Brexit, one particular story last Friday may have grabbed your attention.  A flypast took place over a Sheffield park to honour 10 American airmen who died when their plane crashed in that park 75 years ago.  This was all arranged following a ‘chance’ meeting between BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker and a local man, Tony Foulds.  Tony, who is now…

I’m writing these few words on the famous 14 February, the annual day of celebration of love and romance.  You may be aware that ‘St. Valentine’ was reputed to be a ‘priest’ from Rome in the third century.  At that time the Emperor had banned marriage because he thought that married men made bad soldiers.  Valentine disagreed, so he arranged marriages in…

Social media companies, such as Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, are again in the spotlight, particularly following the tragic suicide of teenager Molly Russell which has been linked to her accessing self-harm images on Instagram.  Should such companies be allowed to continue to govern themselves or should the Government introduce new legislation seeking to control them? Whilst I may not be the greatest…

I’m continuing again this year to follow Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s reading plan through the Bible accompanied by Don Carson’s helpful comments on particular passages.  Current readings include going through the book of Esther and I hope it will be helpful to summarise some of Carson’s observations on chapter 7.  He writes that, at that stage, how easy everything seems from our vantage…