CCBC

Posts by Paul Brice (Page 19)

Don’t Fizzle Out – 3 November 2019

About a year ago I had the opportunity to head into the forest with a group of young people to rediscover the simplicity of life.  What we discovered instead was how complicated it was to start a fire.  It had been raining all week, and so most of the wood around us was soaked through.  Just as we managed to land a…

Rediscovering The Simple Gospel – 27 October 2019

Have you ever had a conversation become lost in translation?  There are many wonderful examples of miscommunication in the world of marketing.  As companies try to communicate their brand internationally, it isn’t uncommon for campaigns to be received in unexpected ways.  For example, when the American beer brand Coors tried to launch their “Turn it loose” campaign in Spain, they found out…

Are You Missing Something? – 13 October 2019

What comes to mind when you hear the word peace? Maybe you have the kind of life where peace is missing altogether. Perhaps a better question then might be ‘what is it that stops you finding peace?’ I remember the children’s story Five Minutes Peace where Mother elephant is searching for a five-minute break from her children. In one scene she attempts…

The supremacy of Jesus Christ – 6 October 2019

Two quotes particularly struck me as I prepared to write this bulletin article.  The first came from my earthly spiritual hero C H Spurgeon (CHS) in a daily reading: “Let us study what books we may, the knowledge of a crucified Saviour will still remain the sublimest of all the sciences”.  The second is an unattributed quote in some notes of a…

Don’t trust your conscience – 29 September 2019

I remember growing up constantly being told, trust your conscience and you won’t go far wrong.  The psychologist Carl Jung once said that despite clear evidence of our self-deception, “deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune.”  But can our conscience itself become out of tune?  What if instead…

Re-moulding – 22 September 2019

I’ve referred before to J B Phillips’ memorable translation of the first part of Romans 12v2: “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within”.  Perhaps we may picture a mould into which jelly is poured which, when set, clearly reflects the particular shape of the mould.  One of the great…

Civic Duty – 8 September 2019

I would be surprised if your reactions to the latest Brexit developments have not included / veered between disbelief, dismay, disappointment, despair, disgust, derision (and other such words beginning with the letter d!).  Whilst I do not intend to directly enter the current debate, let us remind ourselves of certain key Biblical principles from 1 Timothy 2 v 1-7 applying to the…

“Let him / her go” – 1 September 2019

At last week’s Family Service we thought about the astonishing miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in John 11.  Having commanded in a loud voice “Lazarus, come out!”, Jesus then said “Take off the grave clothes and let him go”.  Lazarus had been restored to life but needed to be set free from his restricting grave clothes. We considered a…

What are you expecting? – 28 July 2019

I’m always amazed at the effect someone’s thinking and mindset have upon their everyday life.  Recently I’ve been trying to get in shape and have been spending more time in the gym and pool.  Over time I’ve seen my lap times go down, and the weight I can lift go up.  That’s all very encouraging.  But every once in a while, I…