Easter. Jesus is risen. Sin and death have been defeated. Hallelujah! In the Christian faith, even more so than Christmas, Easter is a time for celebrating. It's a time for new life and new beginnings and is in many ways, a better time for starting a lasting change than New Year. For me Easter this … Continue reading Easter

If you've never had the pleasure, I can recommend the Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament as an excellent read.  It is chock-full of so much old wisdom and has something to teach us on many, many subjects.  In amongst all of this good teaching, there's a verse that I particularly love: "As iron … Continue reading As iron sharpens iron…

"What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare." From "Leisure" by William Henry Davies I love this short passage because in the busy-ness of life it speaks of the benefit of slowing down, taking in the scenery and paying attention to what's going on around us. The weather was … Continue reading Time to stand and stare

It was interesting, given my post yesterday, that this morning's podcast from "Pray As You Go" was about the Transfiguration. Peter, James and John accompanied Jesus to the mountaintop and, when they had seen him transfigured in the presence of Moses and Elijah, offered to build three tents.  The commentary explained that the three men, … Continue reading Coming down from the mountain

So that's it.  My annual holiday is over and tomorrow morning, it's time to go back to work.  I had such a blessed time at New Wine United this year - maybe even more so than in previous years.  I'm not sure how many other holidays can claim to be life-changing but, without fear of … Continue reading Going where you’re sent

Something that I love to do is to pray for people. If you read my last blog post, you'll know I don't spend as much time doing this as I'd like to or should, but nevertheless, I do love to pray. Like a lot of Christians, I have a prayer "hit list"in the back of … Continue reading When you’re handed the shovel

If you're anything like me, quiet time alone with nothing to do is a very precious commodity. Life has a funny way of filling our every moment with urgent tasks and even when all the important stuff is done, I am great at finding ways of occupying what's left. Youtube and Twitter rabbit-holes are so … Continue reading Hanging out

...having written my previous blog post, I checked in on my favourite Bible reading app.* Yesterdays reading: "But I say love your enemies!  Pray for those who persecute you!"  Matthew 5:44 (NLT) Today's reading: "Make allowances for each other's faults and forgive anyone who offends you.  Remember the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others."  … Continue reading And then…

It's a cliche I know, but be careful what you pray for. The other day I made a little time for some prayer and found myself praying really fervently for the strength to love people that it's really hard to love.  You know the sort of prayer - the ones where you ask to be … Continue reading Be careful what you pray for

A while ago I wrote a post about "go to" verses of scripture. The words that you turn to in a pinch or by which you live the current stage of your life. In the same vein, do you also have a go to prayer? Sometimes when we need to pray, in fact often in … Continue reading “Go to” prayer?