In 1787 the young MP William Wilberforce first proposed the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in the UK parliament.  Over the next twenty years he would submit this same bill fourteen times.  On each of the first thirteen times the bill was rejected and Wilberforce was subjected to vitriolic opposition, both to his character … Read more

OK, I admit it – this was probably quite a turgid read today!  A long list of who built what along the length of the wall.  There are some fascinating titbits along the way, though: the fact that some of the upper classes felt that the work was beneath them (v5); on the other hand, … Read more

‘Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?  For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, “This person began to build and … Read more

Being miserable at work is a risky business.  Nowadays, those risks are probably more to do with our wellbeing and likelihood of promotion (the PIE method attributes 30% of your promotion prospects down to projecting a positive persona); in the court of King Artaxerxes is would have been downright dangerous.  Bear in mind that Artaxerxes … Read more

The famous 19th-century evangelist Dwight L Moody was once asked: ‘if you knew that the Lord was coming back in 25 years, how would you spend it?’  Moody replied: ‘I’d spend the first 20 years of that time in prayer.’ When I first read that a few years ago, I found it profoundly challenging.  I … Read more

In the winter of 2010, I was living in Bristol and was asked to lead a group from church to organise the weekly Saturday lunchtime soup run for the city’s homeless.  I was co-leader of a 20s group at the time, and our group duly turned up one cold day in December at the gathering … Read more