The truth I recently heard a Christian speaker talk about the power of positive thinking, but I have asked myself if this is a concept that we should embrace as Christians.  What do you think? We can probably all agree that negative thinking isn’t good for our mental health, and we might also recognise that such thoughts may originate from … Read More

Aromas When out for a walk early one morning last autumn, there had been some miserly rain, such that the footpath was moist.  I caught just a hint of the familiar damp pavement scent – not something that we might describe as a pleasant odour, but a friendly one that those living in the UK have been used to from … Read More

A familiar story In the early hours of this morning, I found myself awake and thinking.  It wasn’t that I was worrying about something, but things from the past were going through my mind, and I wasn’t drifting back to sleep.  I haven’t needed to resort to this for a while, but eventually I got up, went downstairs, made a … Read More

A good bargain I mentioned in an earlier post about the love of a bargain that my daughter and I share.  On a call yesterday, Elizabeth took delight in telling me about a really good bargain that she secured recently.  This reminded me of the best one that I have ever had (other than Free, obviously).  This was at the … Read More

Reflection Within my family, when I was a child, the New Year was little more than a change of date on the calendar – actually, of course, it meant a new Calendar, but that was pretty much it.  The first of January was a normal working day in most of the UK.  The turn of the year is marked far … Read More

Meeting Jesus Some while ago, one of the church leaders, who was engaged in street evangelism, asked a man he came across if he knew Jesus.  There was an excited response as the man replied, “I am Jesus”.  It was true, he was, but he was also Portuguese, and, in his home country, this name is not uncommon, whereas in … Read More

A question to answer Let me put a question to you before we go any further – what do you consider to be the foundational doctrine of Christian faith?  I mean something that is fundamental to everything we believe.  This isn’t meant as a test, but something I want to encourage you to consider.  Please have a think about this … Read More

Aspirations A young man recently mentioned a particular thing that he said was on his bucket list – an item that he wanted to possess at some point.  I have never thought of myself as having such a list, any more than I had a career plan when starting out on the life of work.  However, there is something that … Read More

Differences I have become ever more conscious, as the years have passed, that we aren’t all the same.  This may seem an obvious thing to note, but an important one because it means that we can’t expect others to be the same as us.  The more aware we are of this, the better.  That doesn’t mean that we should not … Read More

Tenacity The book of Job isn’t everyone’s first choice for reading in the Old Testament, as it is mainly made up of a protracted discourse that is not particularly helpful.  That said, Job also gives up some real gems.  Around the middle of the book, we come across the words that the composer, Handel, incorporated into his magnificent oratorio, ‘Messiah’: … Read More