Tag: bible
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You Are Always the Answer to Someone’s Prayers
A Chance for God to Show Himself Strong Being in full-time Christian ministry is not for the faint-hearted, nor the inflexible! You need to make sure you’re stretching regularly, especially when you are in limbo seasons of searching out new opportunities. Why so? Because there will undoubtedly be times where you will have more than…
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Oh, for Eyes to See the Greatest in the Kingdom
A couple of months ago I stood in a little village in rural Ireland, with my father in the faith, staring out across the rolling drumlins interspersed by the many lakes that fill the gaps in undulating landscape. Lakes like the one in which I and many others have been baptised. A long summer evening…
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One Term In
We are currently back in the packing stage. This time to head back to the field after our first visit home. For some reason, nowadays missionaries call each stint on the field/particular season on the field, a “term”. Sounds quite like a politician, but perhaps it is therefore fitting for those called to be “ambassadors…
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Better Than All The Stories
Last week we had some visitors from Ireland staying with us. One evening, as we were putting the kids to bed, we all sat on the floor and did that day’s devotional from a book. One of the questions that day was, “what is your favourite Bible story?” One-by-one we went around, telling our favourite…
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A Man of the Soil
It is hard to grow plants here. In the summer, it is a constant battle against the heat. At this time of year, it is lack of light. What little light makes it through the smog of the megacity is further diluted by the many-storied buildings on every side. Some weeks you under-water, others, you…
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The Holy Approach of the Magi
A couple of weeks ago my daughter had a part in her school nativity, singing some solo sections of “We Three Kings”. Needless to say, Christmas singing started early in our house this year, as she provided us with daily renditions of the song, practicing it incessantly. As a result of this, I’ve had a…
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Let an Unpolluted Heav’n and Nature Sing
Multiple times in the week, I am asked what I enjoy about the area in which we now live. I have many answers, from the taste of delicious South Asian dishes, the bustling bazars with their dozens of varieties of fish, fruit and veg, and the friendliness of locals, to the golden rice fields, the…
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What I Do Have I Give To You
Living here in South Asia places a huge burden on the heart, that does not exist to the same extent in Ireland/the West. Poverty. Now of course, we have poor people in Ireland, and we try to help them as we can. Yes, there are those on the streets looking for money, sad scenes of…
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Don’t Touch The Tree
Recently, I heard a fable from our local culture here. The story goes as follows: A dog and an elephant both got pregnant at the same time. Very soon, the dog had a full litter of pups. It soon got pregnant again, and again delivered a full litter of pups. A third time, and a…
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Fools of a Unique Culture
In a couple of weeks it will be one year since landing in our host country in South Asia. As I sit here enjoying Andrew Peterson’s new cover album of Rich Mullin’s legendary “A Liturgy, A Legacy and A Ragamuffin Band”, there is definitely much to give thanks for. A few weeks back a new…
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A Father Before the Altar
Last night my daughter snuggled into my shoulder as I read to her the ending of Book 3 of the Wingfeather Saga. My eyes grew wet as I spoke to her of a father’s mighty act of heroism and strength for the hour – giving of his complete self for the sake of his children.…
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Ebenezer and the Making of a Man
“God knows what it takes to make a man” These were the words spoken by the dear brother who had discipled me in his own home for three years. I had recently moved to England to work, still a relatively young believer, with a difficult new church situation, and more than anything, a lament of…
Imitators of Those 