Blog
-
Gleanings from America
Just back to the UK from my annual fortnight (US: two weeks) in America, visiting family. As CutiePyeGirl says, seeing grandparents and family only once or twice a year is not enough. I agree. As I reflect on my time there, I offer a few observations. Healthcare costs have skyrocketed. People seem to be increasingly affected…
-
Weekly devotional: How many loaves have you? (12 in Jesus’ miracles series)
Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.…
-
Weekly devotional: ‘I believe; help my unbelief’ (11 in Jesus’ miracles series)
When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” “You unbelieving and perverse…
-
Interview – fabulous Francine Rivers
“Sometimes what we see as rejection is, in truth, sacrificial love.” An interview with bestselling author Francine Rivers, who shares her heart for God and love for her readers. (Appeared originally in the June 2014 issue of Woman Alive.) I thought being born into a Christian family and raised in the faith made me a…
-
Weekly devotional: Dogs, crumbs, healing (10 in Jesus’ miracles series)
A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent…
-
I Stole the Bride
When, some years ago, one of my former roommates got married, I went on honeymoon with the newly married couple. And, being directionally challenged, got the bride lost. A group of friends met at Liz and Ed’s wedding. As so many of us were from out of town, the newlyweds invited us to join them for…
-
Swapping Houses
Last year right about now, I was frantically getting the vicarage ready for a house swap. The four of us were headed to Minnesota, to the land of my people – yes, where “all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average” in Garrison Keillor’s memorable…
-
Weekly devotional: Water walking (9 in Jesus’ miracles series)
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell…
-
Identity: At home in your skin?
A line in a novel recently jumped off the page: “The people were pleasant enough, but Beth had felt judged in a thousand subtle ways, simply for wanting to be herself” (in Forbidden by Claire Wright with GP Taylor). Have you ever felt like that? Like you’re just that bit different than the “in” crowd?…
-
Weekly devotional: Mercy, not sacrifice (8 in Jesus’ miracles series)
Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on…
