Dear Friends, There is an African proverb that says “It takes a village to raise a child.” The meaning is clear. It takes a whole community of different people over many years and in a variety of situations to bring a child to maturity. Something similar could be said of raising Christians: “It takes a
Read moreDear Friends, It is difficult to think of being a ‘drifter’ in a positive way (with the possible exception of the Drifter chocolate bar which I remember being delicious). My dictionary tells me that ‘to drift’ is “to be carried; (to) move passively, casually or aimlessly” and that a ‘drifter’ is an “aimless person”. It
Read moreDear Friends, “I’m hungry and anxious and controlling and ashamed and angry and sad. I’m sinful.” So writes Emma Scrivener in her new book A New Day. It is a searingly honest account of her struggles, and yet a supremely hopeful one as she demonstrates how to bring each of these things to Christ –
Read moreDear Friends, How do we respond when faced with death and dying? Many of us will freeze and do nothing, afraid that we will get it wrong. I was reminded this week of how difficult it is to get it right, with the news that Rachael Bland has died. She was a newsreader and presenter
Read moreDear Friends, “I don’t understand how you can think you have a monopoly on the truth. How dare you claim that? It’s sheer arrogance!” Have you heard something like that? Maybe you’ve been accused in similar terms? The thought is that it is arrogant to be sure of what we believe, and even more arrogant
Read moreEvil in the corridors of power is nothing new. Wherever people exercise power over others you will find corruption, violence, greed. This week Donald Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was convicted on a number of charges in a US court. Who knows what the enquiry into Russian meddling in the campaign will reveal! Men and
Read moreDear Friends, “We worship at your feet, where wrath and mercy meet”. Have you ever puzzled over these words from Graham Kendrick’s song Come and See? How is that possible, for wrath and mercy to meet? Aren’t they opposed to each other? Won’t one overcome the other, so that we are left with only wrath
Read moreDear Friends, I’ve never before been likened to Paul Scholes, the former Manchester United and England footballer who retired in 2011 only to come back a year later and play one more season because he missed it so much. Needless to say, any likeness has nothing to do with my footballing prowess, but simply that
Read moreDear Friends, “There is nothing that God hath established in a constant course of nature, and which therefore is done every day, but would seem a miracle, and exercise our imagination, if it were done but once” (John Donne). Imagine how excited you would be if you had never before seen a sunrise, or the
Read moreDear Friends, The question above isn’t a typo, as if I meant to write “Who am I?” One is a question of identity: Who am I? The other is a question of ownership: Whose am I? To whom do I belong? The question of identity is a hot one at the moment. To what extent
Read more