Simon of Cyrene was probably just visiting Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Cyrene was a Greek colony, in what is now Libya, with a strong Jewish population. Many Jews would try to return home for the feast, but it would have taken days of travel and inconvenience to do so. But this particular trip probably…
Recently I read an article by Philip Yancey in which he suggests three qualities to look for in a healthy church. I found his ideas both interesting and challenging. The first quality is diversity. He says, “when I walk into a new church, the more its members resemble each other, and resemble me, the more…
Last time I visited the grandchildren, I used a colourful shopping bag printed on the outside with pictures of flying bees. This caught the attention of my son’s partner who had recently been teaching the children about British wildlife and she called the youngest granddaughter over. Pointing to a particular flying bee, she said to…
Gracious God, As Mothering Sunday approaches we pray and thank You for our Mother Church, the place where we started to learn of You, where the seeds were sown in our hearts, where we began to love You and commence our journey with You. We bring You our prayers for anyone who has a mothering…
I’ve just returned from the AGM of Together For Ipswich who work ‘across Ipswich churches, charities, local authorities and anchor institutions to enable the people of Ipswich to thrive and grow physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually’. It is easy to be overwhelmed by the needs of our community but lots is being done that’s very…
We took my grandson to a children’s birthday party a couple of weeks ago at ‘Jump In’ (formerly ‘Bounce’). Now, for the uninitiated, this is a massive warehouse type place (no windows) with trampolines set into the floor and other bouncy surfaces from which children and adults can propel themselves and run about. It’s quite…
Badge testing at gymnastics! 11 challenges of which the granddaughter had to complete 8 to qualify for her first certificate and coveted badge. She had listened really carefully to the instructions, practised at home and warmed up enthusiastically so she was ready and prepared. I watched as one by one she did her stuff on…
At a recent prayer meeting, someone said that a better translation for the word ‘love’ in John 3:16 would be ‘cherish’. I only have a smattering of knowledge of Biblical Greek so I can’t be sure of the accuracy of the translation but I do know that when I substituted ‘cherish’ for ‘love’ in that…
You may remember a few weeks ago I explained how Granddaughter senior would be attending a gymnastics trial. She loved it. The coaches were all very young (a sign of my age!) and very patient. She moved from activity to activity under their watch and gentle guidance. When we collected her for her second session,…
I went to a meeting at the weekend about Christians from different denominations and churches working together. It was an amazing experience and very challenging and encouraging to learn about other places in the country and the world where things are changing for the better because Christians are pooling their resources and helping each other…