I don’t know what your trouble is – some great sorrow, some bitter disappointment, some failure that convinces you it’s no use trying anymore.
Believe me, I have experienced all of that – and I can sympathise, and sympathise deeply.
But is it simply say you need most?
Is it not, rat…
I’m going to share with you an extract from one of the most moving stories I have ever read, I often need a handkerchief by my side as I read it. In this world there’s so many things that are false so many of us are looking for what is real. The title of this is – What is real? it comes from the boo…
Our minds have a strange capacity for adjusting themselves to unpleasant facts. I understand that during the First World War men lived in water-filled trenches, standing at times up to their waits in mud and sleeping in wet clothes, yet they managed somehow to survive. Their minds became adjusted to…
The sign most associated with the Christian faith is a cross. I heard a suggestion that it stood for the “I” being crossed out of our lives. I think this is a helpful suggestion as the call of Christianity to men and women is to self-surrender to the will of God. This is certainly not a popular …
We are just about to adjust our clocks to Winter Time, but I wonder if you have recently made any adjustment to your spiritual thermometer? Most of us have something which reveals to us our spiritual condition. In most cases it is some special weakness of failing which we have had to fight hard …
As a pastor I am constantly being amazed that so many people find it hard to consider themselves as special. So, this week I am sharing some thoughts which I am praying might help you in this respect. In Genesis chapter 1 and verse 27 it reads: “So, God created mankind in his own image, in the i…
Can you close your eyes for a moment to the scenes of misery and woe, degradation and sorrow that continue to prevail on account of sin, and picture if you can in your mental vision the glory of the perfect earth? Where not a stain of sin mars the harmony and peace of a perfect society; not a …
For the disciples, it was Jesus. They were led directly by their experiences of the life of Jesus, Himself. Today, we have the Word of God and for those who have believed, we have the Holy Spirit living inside to instruct and guide, and we do in a very real sense, have to make our faith our own…
The other day I was invited to a meal which was a real treat to me. Over the meal my host asked me all kinds of questions and we discussed many issues which face human race. We both agreed that there were many things wrong in today’s society but then my host put me on the spot when he asked me…
It’s becoming more and more popular these days for folk to go on a pilgrimage. The BBC has recently brought out a programme that brought together a group of 8 celebrities who travel together on an ancient pilgrim route that starts in Canterbury and ends up in Rome. The programme however starts…
We’ve just adjusted our clocks to Summer Time, but I wonder if you have recently made any adjustment to your spiritual thermometer? Most of us have something which reveals to us our spiritual condition. In most cases it is some special weakness of failing which we have had to fight hard to ove…
Houdini, the famous magician and escape artist, could get out of any jail, handcuffs, or straight-jacket that he ever tried – that is, all except one.
That one place was a little jail in England. Houdini worked at the cell lock for more than two hours. He worked with that terrific speed that us…
Pray a great deal and always let your prayers take the form of thanks giving on the assumption that God is giving you great and wonderful things; for if you think He is, He surely is. God will not give you any greater blessing than you can believe in. He wants to give you great things, but even …
Written in 1745 by William Williams of Wales, it tells the story of how God cared for the Israelites during their exile and wanderings through the desert wilderness for 40 years.
“And during that time, God provided for them with MANNA to eat, a sort of wafer-bread made of honey, which f…
Challenges seem to come out of nowhere sometimes. The other week out of the blue my low mileage car broke down but not before I had been able to get home. However, the garage had some bad news for me – the repair would cost more then the car was worth and advised to scrap it. The thought “…
When is a situation hopeless? There is a tendency today for people to quite rather than try to win out over a seemingly hopeless situation. “Be realistic – why knock yourself out?” Is the phrase used.
I’m reminded of the story of two frogs that fell in a pail of cream. One frog swam aro…
Sometime ago someone suggested to me that the “goodness” and “mercy” mentioned in Psalm 23 verse 6 were names given to angels. Since I heard that I have had many examples of seeing these angels following me around. Just this week I had booked a day return ticket in advance on the train to go to Nott…
One of the things a love to do when I am on holiday is to explore the backroads by car but when I do this I often find myself in places which I don't know and roads that I am very unfamiliar. At such times I am so glad that we still have signpost - you might remember they were all removed during…
This year we are hoping to have a Watch Night service on New Year’s Eve and I have started to think about what I should say at the start of 2019. I often think that our human life is rather like travelling on a road. You can stand on a hill, and look down and across the valley, and another…
I recently came across a story of an experiment that was carried out by some behavioural scientists in America. First they put some rats in a large tank of water with steep walls so that it would be impossible for the rats the climb out, then they turned to lights out. Just four hours later all …
