I find it amazing that events spring to mind randomly. Such an occasion occurred recently as I listened to Graham Kendrick’s The Servant King. I was taken back to the time when I was working in an office when a new manager was appointed. He was the person whom many staff dreaded, and it didn’t take me…
I recall preaching at an evening service at a church in Colchester, and at the end of the service, an elderly gentleman walked slowly to the front and, after the closing Amen, knelt and said, several times, “Lord save me”. No, it wasn’t the result of dynamic preaching, as this man had faithfully served as…
A week ago, I found it quite moving as I watched people of all ages stop what they were doing to stand silently for two minutes, in contrast to some who, for whatever reason, continued with their activities. On Remembrance Sunday, many churches, including the one I attended, modified their services to observe this silent…
A short while ago, I came across this definition of the phrase “fear of the Lord” as “a loving reverence for God that includes submission to His lordship and the commands of His word.” Genesis 22 may challenge us to ask why God would ask Abram to sacrifice his son when he had waited so…
Thanks to David Stone for sending in this article from Rev David Rees “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” — Romans 15:7 Churches are often very good at talking about being “welcoming.” We print it on banners, put it on our websites, and say it from the front. And that’s a good thing!…
The following is an extract from a Facebook post a few days ago: “When Japan’s electronic toll collection system unexpectedly failed for 38 hours, toll gates were opened to allow free passage. In most countries, that might have meant a financial loss that no one would recover — but not in Japan. After the issue…
A recent Facebook post reminded me of the day I attended a bank talk on marketing by one of the executives, and he told the following story. A vicar of a parish church was delighted when his Bishop attended a Sunday morning service unannounced, especially as the church had almost a full attendance. Afterwards, as part of the conversation with the Bishop,…
I was watching a TV programme recently that involved a young man who was involved in an accident. He had only been driving for a short period, and it appears that, travelling at about 65 mph, he had a tyre “blow out!” The car hit the central barrier, careered across the adjoining lane, clipped another…
As I look back over a long life. I recently recalled a few changes that have occurred in the church. In our late teens, my older brother and I attended an elders meeting, somewhat nervously, to ask if it would be possible for the church to purchase a piano to use for youth meetings. With…
Looking back many years, I recall, as an early teenager, attending mid-week prayer meetings more out of a sense of duty than Christian enthusiasm. That may help to explain why I found it interesting to “time the prayers” and the record was 19 minutes. This was unusually long, but it was in the days when…