Categories
Observations

Who You Gonna Call?

Derby’s new super-hospital is making a chaplain available following reports of a ghostly figure in the building. Staff at Derby City General hospital, where a £334m building project is ongoing, have reportedly seen a mysterious apparition in the building. Managers said they took information from staff seriously and were working with the chaplaincy to ease […]

Categories
Observations

Disasters Emergency Committee: Gaza Appeal

As far as I am concerned, this is a humanitarian appeal for aid. No more, no less. I’m closing comments on this post because I don’t a political discussion on the rights and wrongs of the war to overshadow the aid issue.

Categories
Observations

Connections

I had an interesting day yesterday. I drove up to Leeds for the morning service at City Evangelical Church, where my friend Helen Robertson was being commissioned to go to PNG to work with Wycliffe.  The service was great and Helen seemed to be encouraged and ready to start on her new adventure.  From my […]

Categories
Observations

Persecution

I don’t actually mind being slagged off for my faith, or laughed at. I don’t mind if folk think I’m bonkers. What would concern me far far more would be if I was being arrogant or pushy and deserving of the abuse. Spoiled mollycoddled Christians in the comfortable West too often scream persecution when all […]

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Observations

The Shoe Tree: Money Well Spent?

I just spotted this article in the Telegraph: For 30 years the banches of a tree on the busy A40 have been bedecked by dozens of pairs of shoes, many hanging from their laces, tied neatly. But a four-year project, funded by the National Lottery to discover why the shoes are dangled, has borne no […]

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Observations

Be Careful What You Say

The news that British missionary couple David and Fiona Fulton have been imprisoned for a year of hard labour will come as a shock to many people (story here) . The Fultons and their young daughter have all my sympathy and pray that the Lord would keep them safe through what is undoubtedly a horrific […]

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Stories about Us

πίστις Χριστοῦ: Am I bovvered?

Perhaps it’s because I turned fifty this year, but I’ve found myself musing on the way my interests have changed over the years. This was thrown into relief by a series of blog posts on how one should translate πίστις Χριστοῦ. This apparently simple Greek phrase could mean ‘faith in Christ’ or ‘the faithfullness of […]

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Observations

What is Socialization for the Christian Church

I hope no one thinks I’m trivialising a very important and sad series of events; that is certainly not my intention. However, some remarks made by the policeman in charge of the Shannon Matthews case (for background information see here) have really struck me today.  Chief Constable Norman Bettinson said of Shannon’s mother: in his […]

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Church: World

And you think your church has problems!

A 200-year-old church building has disappeared from a village in central Russia, officials from the Russian Orthodox Church say. The building had stood near the village of Komarovo since 1809. It was intact in July but some time in early October thieves made off with it brick by brick, they said. Local prosecutors had been […]

Categories
Observations

Type Seven: The Enthusiast

I’ve just been introduced to Enneagrams, a personality typing tool that looks as if it will be very useful. Certainly, some of the descriptions of strengths and weaknesses look helpful, if rather disconcerting. According to the online test which I took, I’m an enthusiast: Sevens are extroverted, optimistic, versatile, and spontaneous. Playful, high-spirited, and practical, […]