When two people stand up in front of witnesses on their wedding day, they make a range of traditional vows. They promise to be faithful to one another until they are parted by death. And when those vows are made, they really mean them! No-one expects their marriage to end at that point. Yet, as …
Long life is often described in the Bible as one of the signs of God’s blessing. One of God’s promises to Abraham was that he would die at a “good old age”[i], something that came about when he died at the age of 175[ii]. Those who were blessed by God are often described with similar …
Samuel had a most unusual childhood. He was born as the result of God listening to the prayer of his mother, Hannah, who had been barren for many years. Samuel was given to God’s service and spent his life serving the priest Eli at Shiloh. He was faithful to God from a very young age …
I have recently published my second book! The cover looks like this: What is this book about? While the topic is retirement, this book explores what the Bible says about older age more generally. Here is the official blurb: Most of us assume that when we reach a certain age, we will retire from …
The city of Jericho had a memorable and ungodly history. It was the first city defeated by the Israelites west of the Jordan River in the book of Joshua. After its destruction as part of the Conquest, Joshua ordered that it never be rebuilt (Joshua 6:26). The site lay as a testimony to God’s power …
I love to plan ahead. I have goals for the year and the term, a to-do list that is extensively used, and an empty email inbox. I have had the basic plan of what I will preach on each week this year ready for some months and am always a few sermons ahead of what …
Jesus is the solution to our deepest problem. I am convinced that is true, but I do understand that it sounds completely crazy to someone who has no experience of the Bible or church. After all, Jesus was a historical figure who lived on earth around 2000 years ago. I wouldn’t think that Julius Caesar …
This Christmas, make sure you spend some time being quiet. I know that sounds crazy. Many of us have end of year gatherings, shopping and food preparation to do, children home from school, holidays to pack for, and church events to be involved in. Some of us even have Christmas sermons to write! There are …
There are many good books published every year, and I think reading Christian books is a worthwhile way to expand your thinking and grow in your understanding. Some of the books I have read recently are not ones I would recommend; in this list, I simply want to present some that I found useful that …
In the past few years, we have seen the rise of a new career choice: the influencer. An influencer is someone who has many followers on social media and is therefore paid to advertise products. As they ‘influence’ many people, some can make a lot of money in this manner. From an advertiser’s perspective, and …