When I was a student, I used to earn my money in the long summers working for a builder.  Sometimes the work would be nice and easy – glossing outdoor window frames in the sunshine, with factor 15 and the radio on.  Other times the work would be much harder.  My least favourite job of … Read more

How do you imagine heaven?  For many of us, it’s hard to shake that idea of sitting on a cloud, maybe wearing a halo, quite possibly getting a bit bored. This is not the bible’s view of heaven!  The great story of Scripture is that, at the end of time, heaven and earth come together … Read more

When our kids were little, we didn’t own a car, so all our journeys were by public transport.  With a toddler and a baby, our double buggy was effectively our ‘car’ – the kids sat or slept side by side, and the buggy also functioned as our ‘boot’, holding everything on its handles or in … Read more

What do you think of when you hear the word prophet?  Perhaps a wizened old seer living hermit-like in a remote place.  Perhaps a gold-toothed charlatan with a white suit and flash car.  Perhaps a harmless eccentric stockpiling food and waiting for the end of days. Or perhaps someone just like us.  The remarkable truth … Read more

I’ve always loved football.  Well into my 30s I would play on Wednesday evenings with a group of blokes who were all old enough to know better.  We never agreed teams in advance – we would just separate into two teams on the night, depending on who was there.  Some nights I would look at … Read more

Hope.  It’s a tricky word, isn’t it?  I must confess I used to be suspicious of it.  I found the word too vague, too intangible.  I used to see it as little more than wishful thinking, as do many people. And yet, as I came to see, this is not the view of the New … Read more

I confess to being someone who builds their life around words.  I love to read, to write, to communicate in words.  And we live in a content-rich culture.  Wherever we go, whatever we see, on billboards in the streets or screens in our homes, there are words, words, words. But sometimes there are no words.  Sometimes … Read more