The Incongruent Believer

"We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito." C.S.Lewis Today I took a break from reading slowly and thoughtfully through the Old Testament and turned to the Psalms. I am quite familiar with Psalm 1 having attributed it to a couple of people I have know over the years but Psalm 2 is less familiar apart from the opening verses. I read it several times, then I mulled over each verse in turn and it was the final verse that inspired me to write this brief blog. 12  Kiss his son, or he will be angry     and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment.     Blessed are all who take refuge in him. The consequences of nations not recognising, honouring, and obeying God are reflected in the passage, “and your way will lead to your destruction”. This caused me to think of our nation, Great Britain. This tiny kingdom that conquered half of th...

I was having my blood taken today by a very friendly and chatty nurse who asked me a question that I am often posed, “why did you become a minister?" For some reason she, like many people I come across are taken aback by the frankness and honesty of my response which is always, “God told me to.” If they dare to enquire further (as my tattoo artist did once) they will be treated with a full rundown of what I experience in the period leading up to me deciding to leave industry and spend four years of study and training to become a minister. I was thinking about that on the drive home from the doctor’s surgery, why else would someone become a minister if not called by God, and not only that, having that called affirmed by the church.  This is starting to become another “rabbit hole” as I sit here wondering how many ministers throughout the world are practicing and leading congregations not because God told them to do it - whatever one’s experience of that is - but for some other reas...

It is interesting that I follow yesterdays blog about King David, with a focus on one of the psalms. Psalm 46 begins,  "God is our refuge and strength,     a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way,     though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam,     though the mountains tremble at its swelling." It reassures us that whatever our situation God is there, not just to help us but to provide us a refuge. This year of 2025 seems to be a year of difficult decisions for me and this week was no different, I have spent several weeks trying to make an very difficult decision and where did I find the help that I need? In scripture, in the God-breathed word that can also be a help, a refuge, and our strength when we are struggling. The thing is I didn't open the Bible to look for an answer, the answer came to me, and that is a testament to the need for us to not just read, but...

I am always saddened by the account of the death of David in 1 Kings 2. I think he's the kind of guy I could have followed; a faulty yet faithful Man of God who spent his entire life fighting, literally, to help Israel claim it's inheritance, whilst in the face of persecution and treachery, even amongst his own sons. To me he comes across as authentic, a characteristic I admire in people and look for in my friends. It is a shame more wasn't written about him and his life, a biography on him would have been a best-seller with an obvious title; David, Man of God . Although he wouldn't write about himself, I think he was too humble and modest for that. Yet we do get a hint of him being a deeply emotive person and also we can look at the psyche of the man from his Psalms, which often reflect the ebb and flow of his life, but always display a deep faith in God, seeking to honour and glorify Him at all times. There are some books outside the Bible that take a biographical app...

  I am a great lover of science, particularly the biological sciences; avidly reading all the articles fed to me by may various news channels, as well as being a subscriber to National Geographic. I love the Natural History Museum and while I feel a lot of the exhibits fail to keep up with the march of progress in many of the academic fields, the exhibition on the origins of humanity is one of my favourites and a must see when I am in "our nations capital" and have some time to spare. If I had my time again, I would keep on the path I originally choose for myself when I was at school and study biology at Uni, with a particular emphasis on Palaeoanthropology. So, I guess what I am trying to convey here is that I am not a luddite or a member of the flat earth society.  I am also a Christian, an avid reader of the Bible, and fortunate enough to have studied the Old Testament under Rev. Dr Ernest Lucas, who held PhD’s in both Biology and Theology. So, neither could you give me th...

Can't believe it's been so long since I last blogged! My extensive readership (cue canned laughter) must be champing at the bit for another exposition of theological wisdom (more canned laughter). Anyways, life's been a little tough and I just haven't felt like writing. So like Slim Shady, I'm "Back again", this time with a question: have you ever read about someone in the Bible and thought, "That's me!" I guess many people have and reflecting on that I guess sometimes that insight is inspired by God. What about when we see a parallel between a person's actions and our own? What about when their actions, deeds, or lifestyle is not that savoury or Christian? Let that sink in... One of my own, perhaps divinely inspired example is that of Saul, we all know the story; chosen by God, is disobedient to God, gets replaced by David. That could sum up my life between 2008 and 2016! Let me elaborate: Chosen by God In 2008 I was a senior executive i...

  What we read in the closing chapters of Deuteronomy is both amazing and terrifying; God knew that in spite of all he had done and was about to do for Israel, that the people would still go ahead and rebel. He knew that they would, they knew that they would, and they knew that he knew they would, but they still did it. For me this speaks volumes about two things:  One is that we have complete and total free will before God, I utterly reject the doctrine of predestination because I believe that no matter how you package it, or what intellectual gymnastics you do with it, this cannot allow for free will. For the Old and New testaments and Gods message therein to be relevant then free will has to stand unadulterated.  Secondly, the wilfulness of the human condition; like Cypher in the matrix movie who, even though he knew that the matrix was an illusion, chose that illusion over the reality of freedom (you can watch it here ). We are presented with an excellent  analog...

  This Sunday, after encouragement from my old pastor, I decided to try a different path to find a spiritual. Being the second Sunday of the month my village Anglican church was holding a Sunday service so I went along. The church is a beautiful, ancient, and somewhat raggedy building and when you enter you sense the prayers of the saints that have been laid down for over a century in that place, like one of those "thin places" that Andy Freeman and Peter Grieg talk about in their excellent book Punk monk : new monasticism and the ancient art of breathing. I sat in the pews (said it was an old church) not a little apprehensive about what was about to happen then looked towards the 'altar' at the front of the church and there emblazoned on the wall was the passage I Know that my redeemer liveth, taken from Job 19:25. If you are a regular reader of my blog or know me a little you will know that this is my favourite passage from scripture and one I turn to often for sola...

  In Mark 2:18-22 Jesus's speaks of putting new wine in old wineskin, but what about old wine into new wineskins? What happens? Nothing? And that was the impression I got when I visited a church last Sunday whilst looking for a new spiritual home. The church gave the impression via its social media that it was upbeat, modern, and progressive and that impression stayed with me when I entered and took my place in the pews. That impression evaporated as soon as the service began: everyone, apart from the visiting speaker but including the pastor, mumbled to the point they might as well have spoken Klingon; there were numerous sound issues and the words of songs projected onto a screen were left behind by the actual singing in spite of having 3 people behind a well appointed AV desk; the worship group itself was extremely well appointed and was replete with backing singers yet they played a monotonous dirge whilst the drummer tap, tap, tapped on the edge of a  drum, and the worshi...

When I first started work many decades ago, I remember working with a young engineer (who was older than me at the time) who was constantly being barracked by our MD. I remember the MD’s name as we soon became good friends as I climbed both the managerial and social ladder at the company where I worked, and Jim (I won’t share his surname) and I both practiced the same martial art. But early in my time at the company I asked one of the managers why it was that Jim would often come out of his office shout at this young engineer, then reassured by something they said, return to his office. The manager, ‘Dickie’ Bird (not the Yorkshire cricketer, but one with the same name and nickname as that famous gentleman), said “It’s because he always tells him what he wants to hear” and went on to explain that if something was going bad they would tell Jim that it wasn’t, or offer some bogus account just to get him off the hook, then Jim would find out, and things would escalate, and again the young...

Driving past a local church the other day I noticed a banner outside inviting people to a “Prayer Café” held at the church, the banner headlined “Prayer Changes Things”. This bold statement got me to wondering; Does prayer change things? And if it does, in what way? My first thought was that if you were reading that poster as someone who did not believe in God or some benevolent deity or deities you were probably were drawn to the secular idea of prayer where one asks for things, such as the delivery of a loved one from a serious illness, or help finding that perfect job, or even a big win on a lottery. My understanding of prayer is not even close to that, and the comment on prayer in Matthew 6:7-8 speaks volumes, here Jesus says, “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”  The most poignant statement in these verses be...