Don’t let the light go out
All I got for Christmas was…some lickelix. Now, if you are unaware, this is like clotted cream to you. I can smell it a mile away, cresting on top of...
So this is Christmas
And, so this is Christmas, what have we done? as the lyrics from John Lennon go. As we maybe gather around a dining table laden with traditional Christmas fare of...
Low and Behold
We come to our fourth Sunday in Advent. Its focus is Love. The passage is Luke 1: 39-56 and this contains the Magnificat, the song of Mary to her relative...
The Tattered Star…
Hung from a dusty crevice.In a gleaming cupboard white.Reflecting on its distant memories.Amidst the frozen, frosty night. 2000 years had passed,Since that baby was born.The world had changed dramatically.Since that...
How to bring Joy
In our third Advent Sunday reading, we are taken to Luke 3:7-18, following on from the Peace of last week. Whereas we started to hear of John the Baptist (JtB)...
Can I have some Peace of that
In the second week of Advent we may engage with Luke 3:1-6; it is the alternative passage from the Gospel. In Europe, the tensions with Ukraine and Russia are ratcheting...
Cost of moving
I was listening to Americast, the BBC podcast which tries to explore what may be happening in America. They were saying that the increase in tariffs will, as has been...
What is Hope?
Well, it's not present-day reality. It is the very essence of what may be, what we hold in faith as a belief, in our heart and mind. It is what...
Water, Wifi and Fire
With Storm Bert rapidly approaching our shores, we noticed that the roof had started to let in water, yet again today. It wasn’t much, given the news around the world,...
Our Ts and Cs
I was researching how to reduce my electricity bill - who isn't? I went to various online forums to discuss the various ways people had used and was often...
If Christ is a King
We have moved away from working through the Gospel according to Mark, and so we pop over to John's Gospel before the season of Advent starts. This Sunday is colloquially...
Do we see what they did there
No, it's not a sleight of hand, it's not magic, just a way of making us think of something else when they explain it. I could be telling you about...
Hospice or Renewal #Discussion
Spoiler alert = there is no easy answer to this one. I recently looked at the church congregation around me, and did the 'grey vote'. Have you ever done this?...
err, what happened
Awaking early, I stumbled to the kitchen, to grab a coffee and check up on the overnight election results. There was an expectation of good news, that joy would overcome...
Nice hymns vicar
Last week, we had Jesus in a political debate with the Scribes, just after a conversation with the Sadducees. Was it heart, soul and strength which mattered, or could we...
What do I need to do!
The tensions are running high across the 'pond'; but they are always high when we venture upon the landscape of any social media. Anger breaks out when the other person...
from the roadside to being on the Way
I have been listening to a series of podcasts recently describing the upsurge in conspiracy theories, predominantly in the US. We had a Prime Minister in the UK who had...
No power
It’s our first time living in the country. Storm Ashley was fast approaching, and the indoor leak we had thought had been resolved, well, wasn’t. Buckets and towels to the...
Jesus and a ransom
This blog wasn't permitted by FB to be released, on 16 October 2024, during the various elections, so any references to elections have been deleted. It speaks of Jesus and...
Get more persecutions here!
It's odd when people tell story how the characters within that story might change, but the end result is pretty much the same. Each culture might use a certain stereotypical...
Lazarus and a Rich Man : talking poles apart
In the previous century, it was the generally accepted thing to pray for the dead. Funerals were for the dead, but over time, that focus changed and, today, funerals are...
What is divorce
Historically, marriage was a property exchange (that is, chattels were needed), or a way of ensuring stability for the woman, or a way for a man to continue their lineage....
James V
In our short time looking at this book of James, we might have rediscovered a desire to examine not just the words on the page, but the deeper context of...
Is this ‘The Way’
Imagine a child sitting with Jesus. OK, ignoring the Disney-character image of 'blonde-haired blue-eyed' Jesus, just focus upon that image of the child sitting with Jesus. And then the disciples...
James iV
We are at the penultimate Chapter of this wee book or letter. It's more probably a series of good sayings or aphorisms. Was it sent to the God-followers in Jerusalem?...
Why are children mentioned
The schools are back and we might see the wee ones wend their way to and from school these days. The primary children look so small - or is it...
James 3
The author starts this Chapter with no introduction, no gentle description of the problem that is at large, no reason for writing. As we said earlier, this is not so...
Did Jesus change?
Was there ever a time when you recognised that you had changed? Perhaps you can identify when you transitioned from teenager to adult, or from working adult to one that...
James II
So, we move to look at the second Chapter of James, albeit of course that Chapters did not exist until 1560, in an English translation of the Geneva Bible. Last...
Shall we listen to the woman?
Have we ever felt so affected by an issue that we need to protest? It's not the done thing for us perhaps? This passage from Mark's Gospel is one which...
A new year – 1st Sep
So, it’s arrived. The start of September. Whether you are looking forward to the new Methodist Connexional year, the start of another year of ministry for many; or possibly the...
James in a month – Chapter 1
I'd like to focus, for just a month, on the book of James, or rather Jakob - the original name. It is buried deep within our New Testament, but only...
Tradition – baloney?
What might we regularly do, but can't recall why? Thinking of the context within the church building and on a Sunday, I was thinking of: perhaps we bow down or...
Where does our faith stand with armour
Last week, we looked at what is purportedly Paul's letter from a Roman prison to the church in Ephesus. We considered that this may well have been written twenty or...
Living Wisely
Gratitude : a lens to shift all of life's expectations This week we are looking at a passage from the letter to the Ephesians. So, before we begin, let's use...
What if what we were told it could just be a theory
When we read the Scriptures, we may have to make a variety of assumptions. Do we read the text literally or metaphorically, is it historical or a description of what...
Walk on by
The Church is the boat. Jesus is not in the boat. Take a moment to see this scene. Not the splashing around by Peter, not the wonder of walking on...
Old Testament : in order
When did you start to read the Bible? One problem we might have with 'reading the Bible' is that we take it as it is, sometimes literally, other times metaphorically,...
A Response about the Lord’s Prayer
No, not about the Olympic Games...Question: "Thine is the Kingdom, the power and Glory for, ever and ever" - why is not present in certain versions of the Lord's Prayer?...
I don’t care how you get there
In the passage for this week, Matthew 14:13-21, we read of Jesus meeting the needs of nigh on 5000 folk, whilst the disciples are flummoxed by the whole thing. When...
Why didn’t I see it coming
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DB6DLYJ3?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520 I’d like you to imagine a rock face. We are looking up towards the very top. If a rock were to fall over the edge, it would initially be...
The Treasure within
Having just moved recently, we can often, now be looking for a particular item. Yes, I know we packed it in one of the boxes, but since we have unpacked,...
Legacy
When you started to learn to ride a bike, it was hard work pushing those legs to turn the wheels, to gain some speed. After a while, with longer legs,...
Relevancy of the Church today
As a royal psalm, Psalm 85 celebrates and explores the relationship between God and David, God’s covenant with David. It talks about the crowning of David and his sons, the high expectations...
Regrets
Have we ever said something we might later regret? When we promise a child that we can get that ice cream upon our return? I recall our children hearing "I'll...
Where do we find ourselves
It was on a run this morning when I noticed, amidst the farm animals in the fields and the two hares scurrying around, the village where I now live. It...
Salt for the chips, not for the slugs
Have you ever been to a job interview? They are nervy occasions, one’s where you step forward with trepidation: will they see my potential, will I be able to say...
The journey has not followed the path intended
It was two years ago that I, with many others, went forward to be ordained into the Methodist Church. It was a time of heady celebration mixed with trepidation of...
Ebb and Flow
Photo by Alexey Marchenko on Unsplash We are standing in those waters when the tide is turning. For so long the waters have flowed in just one direction, causing the sands beneath our...
What shall we do now
We have arrived at Genesis 37. It’s been quite a journey, but I would ask you today to try, if you can, to forget your childhood impression of the story...
A step further
As you step off the world, you enter an ever changing landscape of different vistas, all operating in slower time. Firstly, it is the noise. The birds chirping as they...
Over Planning and Anxiety
Is that even possible? You can plan for a party or a trip to the seaside, surely that doesn't take long to do? Not really exacting. My previous roles have...
Change, all change
Change is inevitable. The new minister for Glasgow West, Pollokshaws and one who will be working closely with the Clydebank addiction recovery programme, has been announced. They bring such a wealth...
How do you trust in God
I hear this a lot when I struggle with one of life's many events. "Just trust in God" they say, highly suggestive that I don't in some way. So, what...
Sibling Rivalry
Where are we on our journey through Genesis? Recall that Genesis is part of the Jewish Torah, the Law. The Torah forms part of the Tanakh, which pulls together the...
Being barren
In our study of Genesis, one theme is very evident. A number of the stories relate to women who are unable to have children, and deemed to be barren. We...
Response about Paradise
I’d like to pushback on that particular verse Luke 23:43 in which it has been translated as "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise”. 1....
A New Start
There was such relief when a baby is born; I fear more so from Mum's than Dad's. But what follows is never really one anyone could prepare for. Yes, we...
How original is original
In the first 11 chapters of Genesis we have the creation myths, of structure from chaos, that we have a choice : our way or God's way, that we can...
The beginning of the beginnings
The great sprint champion, Usain Bolt, purportedly said that you go off on the B of the bang. And so, we look, during Bible Month, at the book of Genesis....
Externalise
I think it sounds a bit like something a Dalek might say. I recently spoke about the welcome I receive at a community which I try to get to each...
There was this visitor
In the Gospel of John, purportedly written by the community that John started, up in the Qumran desert area, we read of their take of what Jesus said nearing his...
Be a good sheep
“But why? Why does Jesus the good shepherd lay down his life? To tell us that we are, in fact, enough. Jesus, especially in John's gospel, doesn't die in order...
Where they are
I hate to start with the word politics. It means ‘affairs of the people of the city’. No, I don’t mean those sort of affairs, but how everything relates to...
An idyllic community
It's a week after Easter, we may be so full of Easter eggs that we are reluctant to even look at one. The sun has set, our energy levels, once...
Easter Day: Would we have hidden?
Let's set the scene. Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem...on a donkey. The place is crushed, and no where to even park a donkey. People have arrived early to sort out...
Was Judas depressed
We read in the Gospels that Judas betrays Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. But, I ask that we should give him a break. What could he be thinking in...
One seamless ribbon which binds and holds the person together
We have arrived at the last session of this Lenten programme of journeying through the 12 Steps, as used by the Anonymous programmes. Are the 12 Steps all linked together,...
When does this journey end
Working through addiction is a long journey. The adage says "no one said it would be easy", and no one gave timeframe to be recovered. In our spiritual life, no...
Nike : Just Do it
We are over the hill, on our way down from the summit. Week 4 of 6, with Easter approaching, and we have Steps 7, 8 and 9 in our sights...
Who are we?
As we approach the third week of Lent, we start to look some exacting statements which those in recovery are asked to make. There is no timeframe in which they...
Something bigger than us
In our six-week look at the 12 Steps programme used by those in the Anonymous groups, we have covered the first step "We admit we are powerless over life challenges...
Those initial wobbly steps
When anyone starts out on a journey, perhaps a new job, as a child, our first steps are possibly tentative. Going too far or fast might be counter-productive - it...
Future Event Already Ruined?
Why do we fear? Is it because we are scared of something or someone? Or possibly the wee voice, that never seems to sleep, has just whispered "FEAR = future...
Sitting with someone
Once, someone ordered some fast food to be delivered. Upon receipt they checked through the various carrier bags and containers. Main course - yes!, starts - Yes!, pudding - Yes!,...
What’s our focus?
In every scene we may have onlookers who perceive a different perspective. An accident may have multiple witnesses and possibly multiple different accounts. In the film Patch Adams, which I...
The river flows onwards
As I ran over one of the bridges to track north-side to then cross south again at what's known colloquially as Squinty or the Clyde Arch (seen right), I noticed...
U-turn
If we popped into our local cafe to share with others the good news of today, what might we offer? Would it be that Jesus loves them, or wow that...
Legacy
For some it is the thought of a priceless heirloom, or an object which they might covet; however, for some, these days, the legacy we might offer to our family...
Can anything good come out of Glasgow? (previously blogged)
Well after a lengthy exploration of John the Baptist's work last week we are now nipping over to the Gospel of John yet again: John 1:43-51. We are moving from...
a new chapter, today?
Welcome to the start of the new year - I accept I am a bit late for some of you. First opportunity and the like... So with all talk of...