Dear Friends, Have you ever found yourself switching over the channel on the TV or the radio because what you are seeing or hearing is just too unpleasant to deal with? Sometimes I find myself doing that with certain news stories where the suffering or the detail is overwhelming and I don’t feel in a […]
Doing ordinary things very well I always enjoy the celebrations for St. Patrick’s Day in Downpatrick. The little church of Saul is believed to be the first Christian site established by St. Patrick around 432 AD. Each year, there is a morning of spiritual events and a pilgrimage and a festival service in the cathedral. […]
Laying Your Soul Bare As regular readers of the blog will know, I love a good read. I try to intersperse my reading between fiction and non-fiction, and it has been my privilege over the years to get to know some wonderful writers, both in person and through speaking to them on the podcast. Lent […]
Lent, A Hard Sell So, another Lent is about to begin, and I don’t know many Christians who look forward to it. All this talk about journeying with Jesus towards the cross, self-denial and spiritual discipline, doesn’t have many rubbing their hands with glee. The end of the week treats, the glass of wine and […]
It’s so easy for us with the pressures of contemporary society to allow thefoundational disciplines of the Christian life to slip. The purpose of this Spiritual Health Check is to give you a tool to help you evaluate how these disciplines work out in your own life. Below is a downloadable spiritual checklist with some […]
Transforming a Culture How do you transform a culture? That’s a question that has challenged everyone, from the managers of football teams, to government leaders and school principals over the years. It’s a question that should be on the table in the life of the church also. I recently attended an online webinar about evangelism, […]
Dear Friends, As Spring enters our consciousness with the brighter evenings and people descending on garden centres to get plants and seeds, are there lessons we can learn that would be of relevance to our church situation? In recent months many are aware of the challenges we face in attracting new people, with a particular […]
A Good Word for the Church Sometimes we come across words that have their words in another language, and it can be hard to find a good translation in English. The sense, however, behind the word, is a beautiful sentiment and, so, I wanted to think about such a word this week. We often record […]