Psalm 66 v 10.For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver A talented violinist was scheduled to play before a very critical audience. Although she had a fine instrument, she was not satisfied with the quality of its sound. So she said to her father, “This violin must yield its full resonance and vibration of…

Over the holiday period I watched both of the Paddington Bear films. I find them very entertaining and the special effects make Paddington very real, but if you look below the surface there are so many moral issues involved in these films. Paddington was a refugee from Peru who was looking for a better life…

Psalm 119 v 33.Teach me, LORD, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end A Scottish shepherd stood waving his arms on the lush green hillside. His flock had broken away and was straying across the road while motorists honked their horns further adding to the sheep’s bewilderment. From the top…

1 Timothy 1 v 5.The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith When you set sail on the high seas you need to know three important facts: your location, your destination and your course. By referring to a map and using a compass…

At this time of the year, I seem to use a lot of candles. All shapes and sizes get used as part of my Christmas decorations. Most don’t get lit but are put carefully away after Christmas and brought out again the following year, but I really like seasonal spice t-lights which do get lit.…

“A couple of weekends ago I went to London to help my son, Richard, sort out his flat. At the beginning of January he is relocating to Singapore for 3 years. On Saturday morning we started to make different piles of his belongings. Items for the skip, items for recycling, items for his local charity shop,…

Recently at our Thursday evening Fellowship Meeting our topic for discussion was “The Suitcase.” Prior to this I, along with a huge number of people had watched on television the terrible events in Afghanistan where thousands of people had tried to get out of the country to escape the Taliban. Most of the people in…

Luke 2:20. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. In a delightful sermon titled, “When the Angels Were Gone,” G.L.Chappell emphasizes that when the angels announced the good news to the shepherds the men took action. They went to…

Romans 12:3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you A man who had just been elected to Parliament brought his…

Matthew 15 v 14. Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit An elderly woman stood on a busy street corner, hesitant to cross because there was no traffic signal. As she waited, a gentleman came up beside her and asked, “May I cross over…