“Bah humbug!” said Ebenezer Scrooge so famously in Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. The Christian message behind Christmas deserves scrutiny for humbug. If it has no substance, if Christmas is merely about tinsel, TV and turkey then we must dismiss it as a festival devoid of deep meaning.
Read MoreLife seems to happen so fast around us. The things we once viewed as being a long way off suddenly become today’s events. The Bible offers the advice that sometimes we just need to stop and attend not just to the urgent, but to the most important things in life.
Read MoreThis advent season is all about arrivals, all about preparations. So what is really behind advent?
Read MoreLockdown 2.0 comes to an end next week., the city is opening up again. 2020 has been a tough year. How willing are you this Christmas time to be open to new ideas, new thought, new faith?
Read More“How are you?” is a classic British conversation starter. It is also often the question we don’t want to answer. We need to get hold of the truth that you and I don’t have to have it all together. It’s ok not to be ok. And its vital that we share those feelings with others who care.
Read MoreThis past week has felt like another episode in the global drama we seem to be living within, made up of unmissable and sometimes unbelievable moments. The Christian bible sets a consistently high-bar as the example of what makes a good leader.
Read MoreCan all your worries add a single moment to your life? Worry is placing your emotions at the mercy of an event which hasn’t happened and may never happen. Is there more solid ground to build our thoughts and dreams upon?
Read MoreToday is Halloween. Everywhere I go, I bump into fake cobwebs, dangling skulls and carefully branded orange and black products. It’s something we’ve all grown up with, but I wonder if you’ve ever stopped to think about what you are joining in with?
Read More“HOW are you?” “I’m fine.”
A common answer to a common question which gives nothing away about how someone is. How are they really?
Mental health issues may have surfaced for people during lockdown. Currently we have the “rule of 6” but we do not know what the coming months will bring. For some, earlier in the year, loneliness has been a real issue with a lack of stimulation and face-to-face contact with all the body language that goes with that.
What helps? I’ll use the mnemonic CALM with the addition of an O to explain.
Read MoreOur region reacted to the Tier 3 announcement this week with pain and some anger. But what about those people in positions of authority who have to make these tough decisions? Will we still pray and support them?
Read MoreLast week at The Well we celebrated Harvest Festival, giving to our local foodbank. In the midst of hardship and uncertainty comes the call to count our blessings because there is always something to be thankful for.
Read MoreGood leadership matters. We rant and rage when we feel we are being led poorly, but I wonder if you have thought about what makes a good leader? Whatever you make of his politics and religious views, for 2000 years people have admired Jesus’ leadership style.
Read MoreSimplicity is very attractive in a situation of confusion, and the British public are crying out for it. One of the greatest draws for me to Christianity is how simple it is. Jesus says, “come follow me” and lays out his life and character as an example to follow.
Read MoreHave you noticed how sports people playing in deserted stadiums still act identically to? It got me thinking about authenticity and integrity. What are you and I like behind closed doors?
Read More‘Keep calm and carry on’ is perhaps the mantra of 2020. But 6 months into COVID hitting the UK, it is really testing my patience! This week as the sun shone I felt more like banging my head against the wall and giving up, until I got a new perspective.
Read MoreLife has limiting seasons. Times when we find we can’t do what we always did. Times when the tide goes out all of a sudden and I feel myself grounded. How can we learn to live through such times?
Read MoreI’m just back from a family holiday at the French seaside. Each time a wave retreated we would make a mad dash to get further out, only to be rocked back on our heels by the next wave. It really was two steps forward, one step back. Life in lockdown feels that way, doesn’t it? You make a little progress, only to lose ground elsewhere.
Read MoreWhat has the account of Jesus feeding a crowd of 5000 men, plus women and children got to say to us today, when we can’t even get within 2m of someone outside our household, let alone be in a huge crowd?
Read MoreThis week my family were invited to a good friend’s allotment in Sheffield to share their abundance of food in a barbeque. It got me thinking about the kind of “soil” that’s deep within our hearts.
Read MoreLast week I took a family holiday to Cornwall, watching a squawky, wobbly baby seagull and its mum teach me lessons about God.
Read More
