May 18, 2020 | Inspiring Discipleship
In Luke 8:19-21 Jesus’ family come to see him, but Jesus does not treat them as we would expect, instead he talks about a new family that goes beyond the barriers of flesh and blood. I don’t feel he was rejecting his family, merely stating that family, for Jesus, was...
May 12, 2020 | Inspiring Discipleship
‘The God of all comfort… comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.’ (2 Corinthians 1.3-4) The ‘God of all comfort’ is one of the best-known phrases in 2 Corinthians, and the idea of...
May 7, 2020 | Inspiring Discipleship
Psalm 23 is the surprising Psalm. That statement – in and of itself – might seem surprising. Surely this is the best known of all the Psalms. Most readers of this blog will be familiar with it. Yet that very familiarity means we often miss what is really here. We are...
May 5, 2020 | Inspiring Discipleship
I spent some of my daily exercise out in the bluebell woods near my home a week or so back. A wonderful carpet of blue, a heavy scent filling the air. What a wonder – life being restored as the exceptionally warm April brings new life once more. A wonderful...
Apr 30, 2020 | Inspiring Discipleship
On 18 June 2018 my wife Anne died of cancer. This blog is not about her life and her courage. I know I could never begin to do justice to her extraordinary faith and witness, especially in those final days. This is not even about how I felt at the time. Rather, it...
Apr 23, 2020 | Inspiring Discipleship
The phrase ‘count your blessings’ has become something of a cliché. Worse still, it can sometimes be said unfeelingly when people are in distress. It is vital to deal pastorally and carefully with one another and walk sensitively alongside those who are hurting. This...
