871 the then Prince of Wales’s recovery was widely thought to have resulted from nationwide prayers, not from advances in medicine. There have been subsequent national days of prayer, and some might say we could do with more today. But it did make me wonder, initially, how many similar or identical prayer requests are made…

In a recent media poll asking if King Charles should cut ties with Prince Andrew, I was amazed that, at the time of reading, 81% voted Yes! Several Bible passages came to mind, initially, the story described in various ways as – The prodigal son, the lost son or even the forgiving father. This was…

I recall a time when my wife asked me if I had heard the weather forecast and I replied, “Yes”. “What did it say?” she asked. My response was, “I don’t know, I wasn’t listening”. The ability to hear without listening is not dissimilar to listening to a familiar Bible passage and suddenly becoming aware…

For many years before and after our marriage, I was blessed by having a Christian father and a Christian father-in-law.  They were so different in character but both demonstrated their relationship with God in various ways. One example would be when they visited us, on separate occasions, on a Sunday to spend the day or…

I recall a meeting I had with a Bank customer and, as part of our conversation, he told me he was an advertising executive. Our chat side-tracked to TV adverts, and I mentioned the one I thought was, at that time, the worst on TV. He then made an interesting comment, that “the makers of…

For several years I was privileged to enjoy fellowship with an older Christian at church and in a Homegroup. One of his qualities that I admired and appreciated was his defence of the “underdog” and linked to that, his dislike of generalisations. When we first moved to our current area and because we had two…

In recent years, I have been amazed by the contrast in medical costs. For example, in at least one of the African countries healthcare may be obtained for the equivalent of £3 per annum BUT many families cannot afford that. In the USA, I was informed that the cost of an MRI scan would be $10,000…

An opening commentary on my Bible app was based on a reading from Acts 5 verses 1 to 11, the story of Ananias and Sapphira. The writer’s opening comments were as follows. Many these days have been wondering if we are too flippant with God. We livestream church for our convenience. We check our phones…

I sat down to write this contribution shortly after having our daily reading that was centred on a few verses from 2 Chronicles 20. The chapter records how “A vast army was marching against” the nation and king Jehoshaphat was “terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance.” And then, verse 5 “He prayed”. This…

Another fascinating fact, I recently discovered is that throughout the whole of England, it is illegal to eat mince pies on 25 December. I have no way of checking if that is still true, but if so, there must be many who, like me, broke the law on Christmas Day. Hopefully, the police are not…