When Apollo 11 neared the moon in July 1969, the editors of the New York Times felt their coverage of the first step on lunar soil should go beyond headlines and photos to embrace an achievement shared by all humanity. So they asked Pulitzer Prize-winner Archibald MacLeish to write a poem. The day after Neil…

An elderly woman in Scotland lived in abject poverty. Many years earlier, her son had left to live in America and had not returned to visit. One day a friend inquired, “Does your son ever help you?” Reluctantly she admitted, “No, but he writes me nice long letters and sends me interesting pictures.” The friend wanted…

All America waited anxiously. Many people prayed. Captain Scott O’Grady’s F-16 had been shot down as he was flying over Serbia. Had he been killed or captured? Was he seriously injured? The hours ticked by. Five days passed. On the 6th day another pilot picked up a faint message from O’Grady’s radio. He was alive,…

“When a team of Christians visited Stavropol, Russia, in 1994 to hand out Bibles, a local citizen said he recalled seeing Bibles in an old warehouse. They had been confiscated in the 1930s when Stalin was sending believers to the gulags. Amazingly, the Bibles were still there. Among those who had showed up to load…

“The book “In His Steps” may have earned less money for its author than any other bestseller in history. Charles M. Sheldon wrote it in 1896, and it was first published by a religious weekly magazine. The magazine’s publisher failed to meet copyright regulations, so Sheldon lost legal ownership of the book. Scores of publishers…

The Thought for the Day is from 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,…

The Thought for the Day is from Luke 18 v 13.“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ Charles Haddon Spurgeon used to tell the story of a duke who boarded a galley ship and…

Thought for the Day is from 1 John 1 v9.If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Hijackers terrorised the passengers aboard an Indian Airlines jet for 8 days. Then, on December 31, 1999, the gunmen issued a final demand before releasing…

The Thought for the Day is from Genesis 46 v 1-7 and 28-30. Jacob makes his long journey to relocate to Egypt. This got me thinking about my own journey from N. Ireland to Felixstowe.  On Thursday, the 8th October 5 years ago Drew and I left Portrush. When we were setting off I remember…

One of my Christmas presents was the new Abba CD called “Voyage.” I think the music on it is really beautiful and the words to some of the songs are very inspiring. The title of the 8th track is “Bumblebee” and at our Fellowship Meeting we used this as the theme for our chat. We…