Ancestry is big business nowadays. Millions of us now regularly use ancestry websites to track down our family trees, and overall the genealogy market is now worth over £3 billion worldwide. Indeed, its popularity has even recently led to a change in the law. In 2021, the way marriages are registered in the UK was … Read more
In a coronation service, always the most special part of the ceremony is the anointing. Even in our supposedly secular age, at King Charles’ coronation last year, the Act of Consecration was deemed so sacred, that it was the only part of the ceremony which was kept hidden from public view and the ubiquitous TV … Read more
One thing that was striking about the recent accession of King Charles to the throne is the role of heralds in royal pageantry. It’s not something we see much of in day-to-day life: but the fanfares which accompanied the proclamation of Charles as king – both in September 2022, or at his coronation in May … Read more
At its heart, Psalm 51 is about choosing humility in order to see life and renewal again – and as such, it also encapsulates the journey of Lent. We choose to humble ourselves not to just be miserable for 40 days but in order that we may experience God’s presence again, his goodness, his mercy, … Read more
When he was a young preacher the great Christian leader and writer Dallas Willard would get very worried about delivering a sermon – would people like it? Would it bear fruit? While preparing one day, he received a word of encouragement from the Lord which dramatically changed his perspective and his future ministry: ‘Don’t worry … Read more
It’s been quite a journey – this amazing prophetic vision of Isaiah, which started in chapter 40 with the ‘voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord!”’ comes to a fitting conclusion today and tomorrow. Day after day we’ve marvelled at promise after promise; and we’ve heard another voice, the … Read more
‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light…. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’ We live in dark and anxious times. Fears for health, for loved ones, for prosperity, for mental wellbeing are all prevalent in hearts and minds this Christmas. We are not alone in … Read more
Our best wedding present was in many ways the most unlikely. Like most couples we’d received a lot of wonderful gifts to start a new home. Shortly after we’d arrived back from honeymoon we received one final gift, which came in an unmarked brown cardboard box, wrapped up with brown parcel tape. For those of … Read more
In February each year, the charity Open Doors publishes its World Watch List. This constitutes the 50 countries where it is most dangerous to be a Christian – places where it is not just frowned upon but actually illegal to convert or own a bible, and where persecution is commonplace. Sadly, the list could be … Read more
On this day (21st December) in 2020, the two largest planets in the solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, aligned so closely to one another in the sky that they appeared to be fused into a single point of light. Although the trajectories of these planets come close to one another every twenty years or so, to … Read more