I'm Glad You Found Me....

 I'm so glad you came by. But I have moved to two new sites.

My main blog can now be found at ralphturnerwriter.com

And anything to do with the revival in Leicester can be found at revivalinleicester.com

I do hope you will join me on our continuing journey together.

Israel: It's more nuanced than you might think

The tragedy in the Middle East right now brings out interesting political views within the Christian community. This blog (a little longer than my usual ones, sorry) tries to bring some balance to the debate, and to the prayers.

Much of what is being published on Chrisitan social media seems to assume a rather black and white picture – Israel good, Palestine bad. But as in all conflict, there’s good and bad on both sides.

So when Christians pray for Israel, it needs to be with compassion and with awareness. Awareness for example that the current Prime Minister is subject to investigations relating to bribery and fraud.

He has tried to maintain power, hence avoiding charges, by embracing some extreme right wing political groups within his government. This has led to more extreme positions on the rights of Palestinians and an extension to the policy of forced removal of Palestinians from their land.

The continuing Israeli efforts to displace Palestinian residents of the occupied Palestine territories and to settle Israeli citizens in their place has brought their ‘policy’ to the attention of the United Nations. The UN statement in April 2023 says that what Israel is doing is in ‘blatant violation of international law.’ This, together with continuing blockades of the Gaza Strip has resulted in an armed Palestinian response. That is to be deplored, but it would be healthy as Christians to see there are significant political reasons for the uprising, not least the deprivation of citizens in Gaza.

Water is in short supply, electricity is intermittent, goods are effectively rationed due to Israeli controls. All this has been reported in the press, not least by Christian organisations. Some praying for Israel comes from a dodgy end-times theology. If we accept the Dispensational teaching (popular in America in the 1970s) that there is some kind of secret rapture and that God is focussed on the current geographic Israel as His people, then prayers become rather skewed. Everything looks to Israel.

 If you think I’m on my own in this view, I refer you to scholars with much greater understanding than me – See Tom Wright, ‘Surprised by Hope’, Simon Ponsonby ‘And the Lamb Wins’, and Ian Rossol’s ‘Win the World or Escape the Earth?’, to name but three of many. I’d like to suggest that a rather more balanced end-time view would see the Church as the new Israel.

Hence the Church can legitimately appropriate Old Testament prophecies such as Isaiah’s ‘Enlarge the place of your tent’ to the Church and not to geographic Israel. God still has plans for his original people. Paul makes that clear in Romans. But his people today are the Church, not those in geographic Israel. And that brings us back to prayer. We need to pray for Israel. And for Palestine.

Don’t forget Ukraine, Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, Myanmar…. Pray for peace. Pray for those Christians on the front lines sharing the gospel. Pray for an end-time harvest. Pray for a bride of Christ on that final day, made up of every tribe and every tongue, every nation and every people. God’s plans include current Israel, but are so much bigger, so incredibly glorious. Keep praying.

Reflections

The first picture is the view from my sister’s holiday house. We are frequent visitors and the seat by the window with this view is my favourite place to sit.

The second picture is the view from our kitchen. Most days I start by sitting and looking at the beauty of God’s creation with this view in front of me.

Starting right is important. A time of reflection at the beginning of the day. Thinking through the day before us, looking to the day ahead.

For me as a Christian, it involves a short study from the Bible and some prayer. But whether you have a faith or not, a time of reflection is a good start to any day. I appreciate it’s easier for me nowadays with the kids away from home, but even five minutes reflection will help with the day ahead and bring context to the daily pressures of life.

And last thing at night too- just to be able to look back at the day, maybe to say a prayer of thanksgiving for another day. I reflect in a different way too – I keep a daily diary. And that’s the other rather boring looking photo here – I started writing a daily diary at Christmas 1977, when someone bought me one as a Christmas present. I thought I’d give it a go – I’m still giving it a go.

Diary writing, or an occasional piece in a journal, helps in the same way as a morning reflection – it gives time to consider the day, to record thoughts, thanks, anxieties, prayers, hopes and dreams. It takes us away from a cycle of work, sleep, TV and smartphones to an age-old tradition of crafted words, sentences that reach out beyond the daily rhythm of life.

And that leads to this blog. Just another way of recording and reflection – this one a bit more public. I started the blog when Elspeth, our oldest daughter, got married. It seemed a bit of a watershed moment. And it practically coincided with my 50^th birthday. Hence the 50 in the blog address. Seventeen years later – I’m still giving it a go.

So why not give it a go too? Reflect on the day. If you’re a Christian, pray and thank God for the day ahead and the day ended. If you don’t have a faith, why not try praying anyway? Or perhaps start that journal you always thought you should write.

My blog calls it climbing the mountains of life. The writer Eugene Peterson calls it a ‘long obedience in the same direction’. Our walk of life can mean so much more when we take time to reflect, to adjust course, to record, to say ‘thank you’ to the God who created the view, the day…. the years.

Cancel Culture, Woke and Christian Nationalism

I’ve been quite outspoken with regard to Black Lives Matter. I believe we are all racist to a degree – a reflection of our upbringing in the UK. But I struggle with cancel culture. Our history is our history. Warts and all.

So when a statue of a philanthropist who was also a slave owner is pulled down, we are trying to change our history. We can celebrate the philanthropist whilst denouncing the slave owner, without the need to ditch the statue.

We have a couple of strong narratives in our society at present. One is ‘woke’ culture. And the other is Christian Nationalism.

The BBC are the very biased promoters of wokeism. ‘Woke’ is the past participle form of ‘wake’, or ‘to awaken’. It suggests a need to wake up and see things differently. And there has been much we need to wake up to. But in recent times, it has become synonymous with a cancel culture. If a point of view doesn’t fit well with woke views, it should be cancelled, it should not be debated. Back to that statue again.

It can be seen in the appalling treatment of J K Rowling. She pointed out that a man in a dress shouldn’t be using the women’s loos. And for that she was cancelled from her own show. It can be seen in the prevalence for minority actors being given the lion’s share of roles. Actor Christopher Ecclestone comments that ‘white, straight, middle-aged men are [the] ‘new pariahs’’. It can be seen at the BBC with over 11% of staff relating to ‘other than heterosexual’ when the percentage in the UK as a whole is less than 2%.

And in case I’m accused of becoming right wing and reactionary (I vote Labour usually), there’s a similar problem with the Christian Nationalists. This is seen more in the US than over here, and is highlighted with the worship of Trump, so to speak. He was seen as the Christian messiah for US politics, despite his less than pure character and his tendency to belittle his enemies with the cruellest of taunts.

That Christians in the US still believe that the US election was stolen reflects on how far Christian Nationalism has had a hold. Christian Nationalism looks to see Christian principles in government at every level. What’s wrong with that? Nothing were they to be reflective of the Bible. But they’re not. They are reflective of an often-extreme right-wing view of politics, as shown with the storming of the Capitol building. People died for that warped view.

Woke and Christian Nationalism. Two narrative cultures of the current age. I’d like to suggest that neither is right. Both are extreme and lead to extremes. Against this is a 2000-year Christian view. It may not be popular with the cancel culture brigade, but it hasn’t changed. The narrative of the Bible has been expounded through the last 2000 years by people such as Tertullian, Athanasius, Martin Luther, right through to Billy Graham and Mother Teresa. Neither Woke nor Nationalist, it speaks up for the poor and downtrodden. It declares the values of marriage and community. It shouts from the rooftops that there is a God, that He came into our world through Jesus Christ, and that He still changes lives today.

It's a 2000-year narrative. And it can’t be cancelled.

REPOST: Remember to Put the Glass Down

With fear dominating the news in these times of Covid, this Repost from 2016 seems appropriate:

A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they'd be asked the "half empty or half full" question.

Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired: "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralysed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

She continued, "The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything."

Remember to put the glass down.

With thanks to Anthony Harwood in Lusaka for this story

Conspiracy Theories – The Danger of Rabbit Holes

It’s a couple of weeks after Joe Biden became President. And the conspiracy theories are still flying. Trump was cheated. Biden is a paedophile. And a favourite Christian one – the vaccine for Covid is the Mark of the Beast.

All these conspiracies are the result of rabbit holes. By that I mean, when we have a certain point of view, we tend to go down a hole and surround ourselves with like-minded people. That’s all well and good if we were also to be surrounded with other views, including the actual news from trusted sources. But rabbit holes don’t allow for that.

The sadness of recent times is that many who have a strong view have turned to conspiracy theories to support their view. These theories give a perception of control by providing a channel for anger or fear.

The result is an even stronger view with those same people then removing themselves entirely from any contrary views. If, for example, I were to post onto a Facebook thread of someone saying that Trump won the election and highlighted a neutral news article that showed otherwise, it’s likely that I would be asked not to post at all on that thread.

Hence there can be no argument, only one point of view.

This has become worse still with many taking themselves off the broader reach social media such as Facebook and Twitter and joining lesser known services such as Telegram, Gab and Parler (the latter now closed), that tend to specialise in conspiracy theories. Deeper rabbit holes in other words. It means that people are being misled and lied to. They are surrounding themselves with those lies and - of course - no one else can possibly be correct.

We have a social media problem. Already Facebook sends us posts it thinks we might like, along with adverts we may respond to. So there is an immediate filter supporting our views and limiting access to contrary views. The new social media families are taking this a stage further.

As a consequence, people genuinely believe some of the QAnon theories in the States. Crazy stuff. No, Hilary Clinton does not sacrifice babies.

I saw a sad one the other day that leached out onto Facebook from one of the new sites. A right-wing website plagiarized an Associated Press article to falsely claim that Pope Francis was arrested on human trafficking charges. And thousands believed it. Seemingly they still do.

I love the post from my friend Anna (shown here). Yes, believe in the mainstream media. Make sure you get your news from a variety of sources. And allow those with different views to interact with you.

No more rabbit holes!

End-Time Theology, Trump and the Church

It is a new theology of the end-times in the 1800s that is at fault. This may seem a long time ago, but in history terms, it is ‘yesterday’. The theology proposed a literal meaning to much of the final book of the Bible, Revelation, and linked it to various Old Testament prophecy to come up with a time line – different ‘dispensations’ from which we could grasp a clearer understanding of when Jesus will return for the last time.

This theology is not one that was ever seriously considered by the Early Church Fathers. And there’s a reason for that – it is riddled with assumptions, exaggerations and misunderstandings. Yet because it took off big time in the 1970s and 1980s it is still largely viewed as undeniable truth by many in the Church, especially in America- which is where it took off.

The book ‘The Late Great Planet Earth’ by Hal Lindsay has a lot to do with the recent rise of this theology, supported by a tranche of tele-evangelists, past and present, and by a set of fiction books by Tim LaHaye called the ‘Left Behind Series.’

Too many have based their Christian views of the end-times on this material with little thought to its lack of foundational truth.

I say all this, in order to make sense of the crazy politics and conspiracy theories (a topic for deeper study on another day) in America at this time.

If you believe that there is a timeline, a secret rapture and that Jesus is coming back at any minute, it negates a belief in a triumphant gospel preaching Church. It pretty much ignores all the scriptures about the Church being Christ’s body and being prepared as the bride of Christ. Instead it looks to a geographical Israel and to current world events - and then translates them into end- time dodgy ‘doctrine’.

That’s why we have Christians believing in QAnon conspiracies such as Hilary Clinton killing babies in a ritual underneath a pizza restaurant (yes really!) and there being a secret evil cult running the planet.

That’s why many Christians have made a cult hero of Donald Trump. They have forgotten that the Church is in the world but not of it. They have forgotten that Jesus came to bring a different kind of Kingdom and they have placed all their faith in a tragi-comedy President who has said the right things and done the opposite. It’s why to this day – to this hour – there continues to be multiple conspiracy theories about the election being rigged. It didn’t help that we had a load of false prophecies for the more gullible to swallow wholesale, predicting a Trump victory.

But the victory is the victory of the Church; the body of Christ. It declares the gospel; the real truth - and the Holy Spirit does the rest. Hence, it’s not to do with present day political leaders (though we are called to pray for peace and I would always encourage Christians to vote) but it is to do with the Church at work in the world.

One of the fastest growing churches in the world today is in Iran- where the church is practically banned. The most vibrant churches are often in the hardest political environments.

I’m grateful for peace and democracy, for good presidents and prime ministers, but I hold to a more orthodox view of the end times. There will be wars and rumours of wars. There will be good and bad rulers. But there will also be a triumphant Church that will herald the return of Christ, with a new heaven and earth.

And until then, let’s pray for our rulers, avoid the conspiracies and preach the gospel.

The Reason

It’s a common Christian shorthand nowadays - ‘the reason for the season.’ Not sure I like it much as a phrase. But there is a reason, that’s for sure.

Christmas is not a Christian celebration originally- it was ‘adopted’ by Christians as a useful anchor date for celebrating Christ’s birth.

But is Christ’s birth worth celebrating? Well, that’s the ‘reason’ bit.

There is no doubt that Jesus Christ lived and died in Palestine around 2000 years ago. This blog is not the place for the research proof, but you will find plenty on this if you look for it. Even Christ’s enemies didn’t try and claim he didn’t exist (excuse the double negatives there).

So, He existed. What next? Just a good man who preached well? Not really. Because again, both in the Bible and through external sources, we know He was crucified for claiming to be God’s Son, the Messiah.

That means he can’t have just been a good man. One of my favourite teachers at school was Mr Baston, my Geography teacher. But if he had started claiming to be the Son of God, he would no longer be just a good man and a geography teacher. He’d have to be put into another category.  Either mad. Or deliberately bad. Or true.

With Christ, we face the same challenge. He can’t have just been a good man. Good men don’t claim to be the Son of God and get hung on crosses. He has either to be mad- thinking he was God’s Son. Or bad - claiming it, but knowing he was a fraud. Or …. He was who He said He was.

Mad men don’t speak as well as Jesus spoke - just look at the ‘beatitudes’ (Matthew 5: 1-12). Bad men - claiming to be something else - don’t go to crosses. All they would do would be to apologise. No cross; no loss.

Jesus said He was the Son of God. He died on a cross. Fact. (in the Bible and in other external sources.)

But was He then God’s son? Well, if he wasn’t mad and he wasn’t bad….

And there’s one more thing. He rose from the dead. He broke death’s hold. Fearful disciples suddenly became fearless. The Christian faith spread faster than any other belief in its time. It’s hard to find another explanation for the change in Christ’s followers.

Today 2.3 billion people agree with these words. The biggest faith movement in the world. Ever.

There’s a reason for the season.

REPOST: Laminin

I love history and geography more than I do science. So that’s reflected in what I watch on TV. Having said that, I found a Professor Brain Cox programme fascinating the other day.

With a touch of scientific theory, Cox investigated how complex our bodies are. Quite amazing. What our blood does, what our lungs accomplish. How we respond to the energy of a meal.

I wont begin to try and explain it as Cox did, but I’m left in awe of an amazing God who created us to work perfectly and in an intricate and detailed way.

One of my most popular blogs on this site is the Laminin one. I repeat it again here, by way of example of the miracles God has performed:


I’d never heard of Laminin until the other day, but it’s been with me all of my life. Laminin, according to Wikipedia, is a protien molecule that ‘is capable of binding to cells, which helps anchor the actual organs to the membrane. Laminin is vital to making sure overall body structures hold together.’

In other words, Laminin is the vital piece in our body that holds us together. Now have a look at the shape of Laminin:

Wow! Laminin, the essential protien that holds our body together is cross shaped. Paul, writing to the Colossian church says this about Jesus:

‘He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.’ (Colossians 1: 15-17)

All things hold together by the cross.

Have a look at this short talk. It’s worth your time:

Thoughts from a Developing World

There was a big smile on his face. Almost as big as the rip in his jumper and the holes in his shoes.

‘Excuse me sir… are you Miss Turner’s father?’

I assured him I was.

‘Please say hello to her!’

And with that he was gone and I was back to mixing an endless supply of concrete.

I’ve been working in the orphanage town of Bulembu, Swaziland for the last two and a half weeks. Swaziland has one of the highest rates of HIV and AIDS in the world. A poor African country by any measure, it would be called ‘developing’ in our ‘PC’ world.

But maybe it’s more developed than we give it credit for? Life there is simple – and poor. But the joy in that boy’s eyes as he recognised me as Lois’ father (Lois used to work there) was wonderful. We can help build, help finance and more, but one thing they don’t need is the joy of living.

As our team of 20 from KingsGate Church return to the ‘developed world’, there is much to reflect on. Contrast the openness of the children and their joy of life with our selfishness and desire to accumulate (I am immersed into a season of Christmas adverts upon my return). Contrast the love and care shown sacrificially by the Bulembu staff when compared to the jingoistic, racially motivated rhetoric of many politicians in the ‘developed’ world. Contrast the smile on the boy’s face with the anger and language I witnessed last night from the man in the passport queue.

Is the developed world still developing? I’m not so sure. The real meaning of Christmas soars above the tinsel and the ads. Let’s be big hearted, giving, inclusive and welcoming this Christmas.

Remember to put the glass down

A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they'd be asked the "half empty or half full" question.

Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired: "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I...'ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralysed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

She continued, "The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything."

Remember to put the glass down.

With thanks to Anthony Harwood in Lusaka for this story

Two Tough Questions

My thanks to our good friend Ros Turner for this one....

Two tough questions...

 
Question 1:

If you knew a woman was pregnant,
Who had 8 kids already,
Three who were deaf,
Two who were blind,
One mentally retarded,
And she had syphilis,
Would you recommend that she undergoes an abortion?

Read the next question before looking at the response for this one.

Question 2:

It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts.
Here are the facts about the three candidates.

Candidate A: 

Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologists.
He's had two mistresses.
He also chain smokes
And drinks 8 to 10 Martinis a day.

Candidate B:  

 He was kicked out of office twice,
Sleeps until noon,
Used opium in college
And drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.

Candidate C: 

He is a decorated war hero,
He's a vegetarian,
Doesn't smoke,
Drinks an occasional beer
And never committed adultery.

Which of these candidates would be your choice?

Decide first ... No peeking, and then scroll down for the response.






Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Candidate B is Winston Churchill.
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.

And, by the way, on your answer to the abortion question:

If you said YES, you just killed Beethoven.

Pretty interesting isn't it?
Makes a person think before judging someone.

Remember:

Amateurs ... Built the ark.
Professionals ... Built the Titanic

The World in 50 Years

Isaac Asimov was a science fiction writer and fifty years ago in the New York Times he predicted what 2014 would look like. At the time he was living with inventions like eight-track tapes as being cutting edge and with no sign of personal computers and the like, so that helps us understand how far seeing he was. How did he do?

1.       Coloured glass that can change colour to suit the mood and rooms that can change colour at the touch of a button.

-          Correct. Not common in homes yet, but the technology exists. Last year Mercedes introduced sun panels that darken in response to the extent of sunlight, already common with sunglasses of course.

2.       Lab grown meat to cope with the food crisis.

-          Correct. Lab grown burgers were produced for the first time last year.

3.       Self-driving cars.

-          Correct. On the way to being reality. Current cars already  have the technology to park, break  if too close to other vehicles and drive at constant speeds. Automatically driven  cars exist and are being developed.

4.       Sight and sound communications. You will see as well as hear  the person you are calling.

-          Correct. Skype.

5.       Documents, photographs and books will be on screens. And people will be able to watch screens in 3D.

-          Correct. Ipads, kindles and tablets. And 3D cinema.

6.       Robots acting like humans will not be common, but they will exist.

-          Spot on. They are expensive but have been invented.

7.       Automeals and automatic coffee will be possible.

-          Correct. The microwave and coffee machines.

8.       Machine tending will be on the school syllabus.

-          Call it computer studies and he’s correct. He thought computer languages would be taught as well, but we’re not there yet.

9.       Large scale Solar Power Stations

-          On the way. Solar power in the home is more and more common.

10.   Unmanned Mars landings and planned human landings.

-          Spot on.

11.   Large underground and underwater housing projects.

-          Oops. Not yet anyway.

12.   Enforced leisure with less jobs and robots and computers doing more.

-          Not yet but the signs are there.

Bear in mind the world as it was in 1964- the first lung transplant was recorded, the Rolling Stones were on their first tour and the Ford Zephyr and Morris Oxford were the cars of choice. Pretty accurate predictions bearing in mind the world he lived in.

Anyone want to have a go at the world in 2064?!

Changing Expectations: Welcome to Holland

Sometimes things don't go as we expect. But it's how we deal with those moments that make us or break us. We can choose to complain forevermore about what 'should' have happened. Or we can embrace the change.

This is a short piece of prose from Emily Kingsley, a writer who's expectations changed one day. I'll let her tell you in her own words.....

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by
Emily Perl Kingsley.

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley.
 I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.
 

Another Day, Another Galaxy

This week, astronomers discovered another galaxy. This one is big enough to accommodate five of our Milky Way galaxies inside it.

Back in 2004, scientist discovered that new-born galaxies are still being produced and that the universe is still growing.

The bible says ‘I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewellery, Moon and stars mounted in their settings. Then I look at my micro-self and wonder, why do you bother with us? Why take a second look our way?.... God, brilliant Lord, your name echoes around the world.’

To which I would add ‘God, brilliant Lord, your name echoes around the universe.’

An Introvert in an Extrovert World

I’m an introvert in an extrovert world. The BBC reports that 92% of the population thinks it is better to be extrovert. (BBC News Magazine, 27/3/12).

I can do the extrovert thing – be social, go to the parties, speak up when it’s needed – but it’s hard work. I prefer to be reflective, spend time on my own, read books. By no means am I a loaner, but I enjoy my own company.

And I’m not alone. The Myers Briggs psychometric test shows there are a third to a half of the UK population that are introvert. And when you dig into the data, you find that some of the best leaders are introverts – maybe because they think and reflect more on the urgent issues before taking action – or before opening their mouth!

I’m in good company anyway. Here’s a few of the more famous introverts: Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, J K Rowling, Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford.

According to Myers Briggs, I’m an INTJ – an introvert who is intuitive and rational. I will leave others to judge! In the meantime, maybe I’ll spend today in my study, reading a book…..

Thank You - To All 10,000 of You

About five years ago I started a blog. My eldest daughter had just got married and I had turned fifty. It seemed a bit of a watershed. I decided I was not going to give up on climbing the mountains that life throws at you, so this blog was born.

Today, 193 posts later, it tipped over the 10,000 mark in terms of readers. So thank you. I’m glad the blog has encouraged and challenged, and I hope it will continue to do so.

It’s taken a while to get there because I don’t cheat. Some sites count every ‘click’ as a new visitor. I’m a bit mean in only recording visitors once a day.

A few facts and figures. The two most popular blogs were one on this page – ‘A Clear Reason – A Clear Answer’, and one that has been reposted once because it was such a popular post – ‘Laminin’ (October 2010). Some days there have been as many as 100 visitors, other days one or two. Hello to the 481 of you in the States that have passed through this year. And a big hello to the five of you in Russia! Glad you passed by, sole visitor from China. And hi to my friends in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. I know who you are! Quite a following in Brazil- appreciate your company.

Thanks again and here’s to the next 10,000!

His name is Peter, his name is John

His name is Peter.

We met him last night on the street. Selling the Big Issue. He was clean enough, well mannered. Looked like he needed a good place to sleep though.

He took the coins and Tony asked if he could pray with him. (Tony’s like that: Bold as brass). Peter asked if we could pray that he gets over the death of his dad, the Christmas just gone. Here he is. On his own. But still missing his family. Still loving his family.

His name is John.

He earns £160,000 a week. Seems to have a problem with the occasional girl. And I’m not sure about the drink driving. But he’s a good footballer. And like Peter, I guess he loves his family.

In between –economically speaking- there’s you and me.

But it’s not about money. It’s about family. Being loved. Knowing love.

There’s one who showed it. At Easter.

His name is Jesus.

I Will Not Be Analysed, I will Be Adored

These are the words theologian John Piper felt he heard God say to him at a key moment in his life. They are worthy of further consideration:

"I will not simply be analyzed, I will be adored. I will not simply be pondered, I will be proclaimed. My sovereignty is not simply to be scrutinized, it is to be heralded. It is not grist for the mill of controversy, it is gospel for sinners who know that their only hope is the sovereign triumph of God’s grace over their rebellious will."

With thanks to adrianwarnock.com for the quote

Finishing Well

What if we learned we had only two years to live? What would we do? What would we say? How would we live? Would we finish well? Have a look at this amazing video......