Jonah, in the Old Testament book that bears his name, was all discombobulated. God called him to preach repentance to a city of people in need of repentance so he could forgive them. Jonah ran away. In the last chapter he reveals that he, Jonah, is not comfortable with God’s habit of providing forgiveness to…

Those of us who are fortunate to have gardens have probably appreciated the birds chirruping and flying around.  We have plenty of wood pigeons, blue tits, coal tits, a goldfinch and a pair of blackbirds and , of course, our resident robin. The robin is always singing and often follows me when I am weeding…

We are accustomed to hearing preachers talk of the love of God.  We do need to hear that reassurance, of course, but when do we hear of the other characteristics of God’s nature – his sovereignty, his patience, his grace, his holiness, his perfection, his goodness, his omnipresence or his justice, for example ? (there…

It’s easy to praise God when everything is going right and when the sun shines. However, when we’ve messed up, or when bad things happen how do we praise God? David had messed up. Psalm 34 was written after God had delivered him from King Achish the king of Gath, one of the Philistine kings.…

Most people know that dialling 911 in the United States will get them in touch with emergency help. It’s so simple that even pre-schoolers have saved the lives of family members by using it. Three numbers do it all. In an emergency, help is as close as three pushes on the phone keypad. Often, though,…

My Grandma lived right opposite Calverley Methodist Church (pictured below) and the story goes that one day, while applying for life insurance, she was asked her date of birth “the 10th of June” she replied, but couldn’t remember the year, so she got up from her chair walked over to the front room window, looked…

Psalm 145:13 “The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving towards all he has made. The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.  The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.  You open your hand and satisfy…

I wonder if we will ever go back to church meetings as they were, before lockdown? You know, when there was a Church Council, and it was dark and rainy, or thick fog and ice, and your first thought was that the sofa in your lounge looked a lot more inviting than a hard chair…

When I was a boy at home, one of the pre-harvest rituals on the farm was that of ‘getting the combine ready’. In the late 1960s and early 1970s machines were very much smaller than those we see now and almost every farm had its own. Farm pest control was not so good in those…

In the latest Spring 2021 Connexion magazine Revd. David Perry talks about our “Kairos Moment” i.e.” a Godly time of maximum opportunity for change to occur”. Post-pandemic is a “Kairos Moment”. David Perry challenges Methodists to establish “new places for new people” as we decide which path to take when churches re-open. Communities are “fatigued,…