Encountering God in our everyday lives

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A tale of two lawns

May 31, 2019

A tale of two lawns

It’s a tale of two lawns. We had no choice really. Our builder, for quite understandable reasons, wrecked both our front and back gardens. Skips and grabs in the front; excavators and mixers in the back. Which meant new lawns, front and back. As it happened, an awesome task - just underneath the surface was buried the debris from when our house was originally built. As always the preparation is everything and we prepared properly: turf stripped, soil rotovated

When life bounces us up and down

May 24, 2019

When life bounces us up and down

We live in unsettled and unsettling times. We’ve just voted in an election no one was expecting and no one knows whether those elected will even take their seats. This morning Theresa May is our prime minister. This afternoon, who knows? And that’s only politics. The economic basics are changing, changing fast, driven by disruptive technologies. All this is reflected in our culture which is continually pushing out the boundaries of what is considered acceptable. Th

Who knows what hellish future lies ahead? This year's Eurovision Song Contest.

May 17, 2019

Who knows what hellish future lies ahead? This year's Eurovision Song Contest.

Well, it’s that time of the year again. “Royaume-Uni, nul points!” I have to confess that I will not be joining the 186 millions of you who will be watching the finals of the Eurovision song contest being broadcast tomorrow from Tel Aviv, of all places! Strangely many young people find viewing this live international song competition compelling, with its own eclectic subculture and strange traditions. Only yesterday I bumped into someone who told me that her son was comi

It's not over until it's over

May 10, 2019

It's not over until it's over

The commentator for Radio 5 Live was almost incoherent when Lucas Moura scored for Spurs in the closing seconds of the Champions League Semi-Final against gallant, underrated Ajax. As one Twitter user observed on the night: "The most astonishing comeback I have seen, well, since yesterday." If there is one thing we learned from these two remarkable back-to-back Semi-Finals is that "It's not over until it's over." The phrase itself comes from a famous US baseball player, Y

What happens when we hurt each other?

May 3, 2019

What happens when we hurt each other?

An incident yesterday showed me what happens when Christians hurt each other, sadly an all-too-common occurrence: that God himself is wounded. This is the conclusion of what appears to be a throw-away line of the apostle Paul as he writes his circular letter to the Ephesians: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30) The Message translation is more direct: “Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart.”