Anyone familiar with the London Underground will be aware of the regular tannoy announcements when the train is in the station concerning doors, such as ‘Doors Opening’, ‘Doors Closing’ and particularly ‘Mind the Doors!’ God opening doors, and closing them, is a re-occurring theme in scripture and has become much associated with the idea of […]

At Christmas Christians celebrate the birth of the Messiah … the coming of a special one, sent from God to rescue us from the effects of our own sinfulness, restore us to God’s favour, and inspire us to a positive purpose in life. According to a recent survey a significant number of people in the […]

C S Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity, suggests that ‘The moment we wake up each morning, all our wishes and hopes for the day rush at us like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, […]

According to Dr Patrick Dixon, the futurologist, the recent events in Tunisia and Egypt mean that countries such as Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia are all now at far greater risk of popular uprising. Dixon’s views cannot be easily dismissed as he has had some 13 million visitors to his web page (www.globalchange.com), 3.5 million […]

Back in the 1960s, one of the most helpful things we were taught as young Christians was to learn to ‘leave things at the foot of the Cross’.  You just don’t hear that kind of language in church today … or if you do, it is usually some cynical comment about old fashioned ideas or […]

The aptly named Bob Diamond, Barclays Boss and the UK’s best-paid top banker, was recently asked why he thought it was so hard for a rich banker to enter the kingdom of heaven. According to Robert Peston, Business Editor for the BBC, in his excellent blog, Peston’s Picks – http://bbc.co.uk/robertpeston – the Treasury Select Committee […]

‘If prayer is talking to God, which it is’ wrote William Barclay, ‘it is even more so listening to God!’ I agree wholeheartedly. Someone once suggested that the reason why God gave us two ears but only one mouth was because he wanted us to do twice as much listening as talking … which brings […]

Some years ago (before the advent of the sat nav), having taken a wrong turning on a journey to Bala in North Wales and ending up 20 miles out of my way in the middle of the night with no other option (because of the mountains) than to turn round and drive the 20 miles […]

Klaus Runia, in his book The Sermon Under Attack quotes a rather unkind definition of preaching as ‘a monstrous monologue by a moron to mutes’. In his book, which is actually a defence of preaching and an appeal for more effective communication, Runia explores some of the reasons why monologue preaching has been subject to […]