While many churches are blessed with talented musicians, there are a lot of smaller churches where a sole musician “does his or her best” especially when trying to cope with a vast array of modern hymns and songs. By contrast, our family was on holiday and visited a church for the Sunday morning service. As…

This extract from Acts 10 verse 14 came to mind recently. I experienced a problem with my faithful laptop computer when an essential component (for me) was no longer working. After Internet searches, and several unsuccessful attempts to resolve it, I resorted to contacting Microsoft Support. Surprisingly quickly I had a response from an agent…

Some months ago, I bought a new pair of slippers because of the condition of those I have worn for a long time. As I prefer wearing socks in the slippers, and the new pair were tight on my feet and needed a shoehorn to assist, I found it much easier to continue with the…

I recall an occasion when preaching, and asked the listeners, “Why did God choose blood for the forgiveness of sin, and not some other method?”  This was at a church where even an “Amen” was seldom heard. At the end of the service a young man, and a much younger Christian, shook my hand and…

Have you ever contacted an organisation by phone, online or email and received an automatic response such as “Good customer service is very important to us and we aim to respond to you within 2 working days. However, we are currently experiencing a higher volume of emails so please bear with us if we are unable to respond to you within this time”. Sometimes with a…

A colleague I worked with some time ago was a frequent user of this expression and in a moment of frustration, I snapped, “Well why don’t you ask Him then?”  The look on his face was priceless. After preaching at a country church one Sunday, I received a telephone call (no number identified) and was…

Though not an avid watcher of the 2024 Olympics, I am interested in how Team GB is getting on in the various categories. There have surprises and disappointments, especially for any contestant who has trained hard but failed to meet their personal expectations. On social media, there are lots of “thumbs up” for those who…

Even people not interested in football have probably not avoided the euphoria that accompanied the Ipswich Town football team’s promotion to the Premier League. Following on from that, there have been details of large sums of money spent on bringing new players to join the team. As I read of these ‘transfers in, I wondered…

I remember the following story by a man who was an elder in a church that was a few miles away from his home. One dark and stormy night, he was putting on his coat and his wife asked him where he was going. He replied, “To the Prayer Meeting”.  She responded, “Is it worth…

One Saturday, several years ago, my wife and I were confronted with what, at the time, we considered devastating news. The following day, we attended the usual church services “putting on a brave face” The evening service was a special occasion that was preceded by a prayer meeting for the few who attended. My thoughts…