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Not many of us are good evangelists.  Most of us are frightened at the prospect of having to ‘defend the faith’, and frankly terrified at the thought of ‘leading someone to Jesus’.  Some of us have had bad experiences – others are keen to avoid that being the case! The good news of today’s passage … Read more

Today’s passage is an unsettling one, especially to our modern sensibilities.  First, we rarely talk in the West about spiritual beings like demons – although in much of the world such things are still treated as a part of life.  Second, we find the idea of the drowning pigs abhorrent.  What are we to make … Read more

One of the most popular films of all time is Forrest Gump.  One of the reasons for this is the homespun wisdom of Forrest, and in particular his mama.  The film is punctuated with such pearls, though of course the most famous is: ‘Life is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re … Read more

I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene…’ So goes the grand old hymn, which has reminded me that it’s too long since I’ve chosen to sing it in church!  But it touches on a deep truth: how important it is to continue to be amazed by Jesus.  ‘Who is this?’ the disciples … Read more

This is, as they say, a passage of two halves.  Sometimes the headings we put into our bibles, dividing up the text, aren’t always that helpful, and this might be one occasion.  What we see here is the beauty and the beast of our discipleship. First the beauty: time spent in the presence of Jesus.  … Read more

If you ever have the chance to visit the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem, you can sit on a stone wall directly in front of a large mustard plant, about 30 feet wide.  It’s quite something to see the very things that Jesus uses as part of his teaching right there in front of … Read more

One of my favourite times of year is Harvest.  I usually have opportunities to take assemblies and acts of worship in the local schools – as I do presently – and one of the things I like to do is to show the children a pumpkin seed.  ‘What do you need to make this grow?’ … Read more

Back in the day when I worked for a market research company, detail was a key part of my job.  Often the client paid thousands of pounds for one set of results contained in one book of tables, so it was vital that every figure was checked and double-checked to make sure it was correct.  … Read more

As winter beckons, many of us lucky to have gardens or allotments will start to think about what we’d like to grow next year.  Over the next few months, there will be prep work to do, getting the ground ready for planting and (hopefully) the abundance of spring and summer to come. Nowadays, gardening is … Read more

Most of us love a good puzzle.  I certainly do – and I’m not just talking about jigsaws, but all types of head-scratchers.  Perhaps it’s Sudoku for you, or crosswords, or logic problems… or a good old-fashioned crime drama.  Agatha Christie remains the best-selling author ever – apart from the Bible – because we love … Read more