I have continued to reflect this week on some of the things I shared last Sunday, when I spoke about ‘the joy of the Lord’. Here then are two brief things to consider. Firstly, ‘the joy of the Lord’ is not an additional extra to your salvation, nor is it...
Some time on Tuesday afternoon. This morning I hit what I hope was my all-time low in terms of Do It Yourself stupidity. Having successfully changed the belt on the vacuum cleaner, I endeavoured to use the newly refurbished machine to clean up my mess. In doing so however, I...
Please don’t stop reading if you have little or no interest in football, because I want to speak about much, much more than the ‘beautiful game’! I would be surprised if you had failed to notice that this weekend marks the start of the new football season. Over the years,...
Last week Tracey and I were privileged to spend time visiting family and friends in Switzerland. As we took an afternoon to drive around the hair pin bends on some of the highest roads in Europe, we watched as the relentless sun reflected off the rock faces and turned the...
I am convinced that much of what is said about church unity misses the mark. That is, there are those who hold to the view that the purpose of unity is to be united. However, rather than teaching that unity is an end in itself, Scripture reveals that unity is...
It has struck me recently how foolish it is when we seek to divide the truth of God’s and the work of the Spirit. In order to illustrate the point, I share with you two separate texts. In Ephesians 5:18, Paul instructs the believers to ‘be filled with the Spirit’;...
At the prayer meeting on Wednesday evening, we read what would have been a familiar passage to very many. The challenge was to listen to Mark’s account of Jesus healing a woman who had suffered for twelve years before raising a child from the dead, with attentive spirits (Mark 5:21-43)...
Earlier this week, rather than jumping in the car, I decided to cycle to an evening meeting in Didcot. Getting there was great. I enjoyed the cool breeze and the lovely views. However, the meeting scheduled to finish at 9.00 pm, ran for a good hour extra. Cycling home along...
The believers in Corinth seemed to be ‘hung up’ on what they should and shouldn’t do as followers of Jesus. Therefore, Paul says; ‘whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God’ (1 Co 10:31). That’s a great test of each of...
On Thursday, hundreds of people gathered at Dorchester Abbey to give thanks to God for the life of the Revd John Burrell. John had served a number of parishes in both the UK and across Africa, before spending the last three years of his life and ministry at St. Helen’s...
