I have been thinking about inheritance recently, after preparing the story of Jacob and Esau from Genesis for a young people’s Sunday morning session. For most parents nowadays the pattern is to leave assets in equal measure to each of their children, unless special circumstances apply, meaning 1 child is particularly in need or has…

October is a time of transition, when we start to think about putting the heating on, planting bulbs for the spring, and, for some making plans for Christmas. In the church I belong to it is a time of preparing shoeboxes to send to families who have very little, in our case through the “Amen”…

Last week I wrote about the early life of Thomas Clarkson, who became convinced of the evils of slavery while writing an academic thesis, and dedicated his life to campaigning for its abolition. I continue his story today. It is one thing to become convinced that something is wrong, but a huge challenge to then…

Earlier in the year I wrote about slavery after I had visited Bristol, where the subject comes up so often when looking at the city’s history. If I were to ask you which figure did most to bring about the abolition of slavery, I imagine many would reply  ” William Wilberforce”. A very prominent figure…

This week I am reflecting on the challenges of catering for people’s food needs, linked to my Bible reading one day on Matthew 14. vs 13 – 21 where Jesus feeds the 5,000 plus. I have been spending a week away with 5 friends, all of whom normally cater for themselves as singles in their…

Recently I have been watching “The Great British Sewing Bee” on Tuesday evenings and have found it entertaining and inspiring, though so far, I have not gone so far as to buy a sewing machine, having sold mine many years ago. If you haven’t seen the programme the format is that 12 contestants, all with…

I guess most readers of these thoughts either go on holiday sometimes or used to do so. I wonder if you prefer to plan holidays to new places so that you can explore another part of the world, or whether you like to go to familiar places?  On one of my holidays this year I…

Last week I wrote about the National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast and the encouragement it is to know that, through that event, Christian influence is expressed to those in positions of leadership in our land, affirming MPs and members of the House of Lords in their work and Christian faith.  The theme of the main talk…

Of recent years I have watched the Annual National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast, and this year it was held, as usual, in Westminster Hall, 7on July 7th. 650 parliamentarians and church leaders gathered for worship, prayer and to listen to the speaker, Clare Williams- Sarpong, from the Oxford centre for Christian Apologetics. She spoke on the…

In 2003 a series of 4 TV programmes was recorded entitled “Grumpy Old Men”. The title was taken from the 1997 film which starred Jack Lemmon. In the TV programme, narrated by Geoffrey Palmer, a number of famous men between the ages of 35 and 54 aired their grievances about various aspects of modern life…