This Christmas is going to be outside. So I have bought, sadly from Amazon, our first outdoor projector lights to dazzle the neighbourhood. We realise that there is no way this year we can meet together as a whole family, all three generations, to celebrate the birth of Jesus. No all-hands-on-deck Christmas dinner, no present-opening ripping-fest and no hastily-posed family photo to show how we have all grown one year older for our Facebook friends. It’s not just th

“If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts.” So tweeted Ivanka Trump in quoting Albert Einstein. Except that Albert never said any such thing. That’s a fact, at least for most of us in the real world. We are now living in this postmodern age in which we can create our own facts. As you know Ivanka’s father is desperately trying to create a set of facts which allows him to remain in office. Facts, it seems, are no longer sacrosanct – and certainly never let

Q How fast does God move? A 3 mph. It’s a lovely morning (but rain is on the way). Outside my window the sun is catching the vibrant colours of the autumn leaves. So as soon as I finish this blog, Jacqui and I will be going for a walk. In fact, one of the features of this lock-down has been our daily walk, usually from our home, exploring all the interesting corners of Aughton and beyond. And not just us, many other people are now walking – which has

I had been expecting Nicodemus but to my horror Diotrephes turned up instead. I was preaching at a service for the Heswall council of churches, which in those days would have had a big congregation. My sermon, based on the lectionary reading from John’s Gospel, was to be focussed on Jesus’ response to Nicodemus, the Jewish leader who came to him by night. So I stood in the pulpit to hear the passage to be read by a prominent member of another church. However, rather than