Preaching with a purpose

In the Methodist church we have a covenant service at the beginning of the year when we re-dedicate ourselves to Christ's service.  In the old version, which I like it talks in one part about being put to suffering or laid aside.  This is how I feel at the moment when I am not able to carry out my vocation as a preacher.  If it is Christ's will it is for the best.  Sometimes we are too busy even in the work for Christ and need to be set aside to rest and hopefully grow nearer to our Lord. We need to "Be still and know that I am God."

I've had major surgery and am now convalescing.  Feeling really good but being careful not to overdo things.  Sitting at the computer is fine.  God has been very good to me through all this. Undoubtedly the waiting before hand is the worst part.  First there is the waiting for a date for surgery, then there is the worry that it might get cancelled, but this did not happen to me.  I told the consultant I was happy to have surgery near Christmas and sure enough I had it two days after Christmas. There are lots of sedentary hobbies I enjoy so I don't think I will get bored.  My friends and family are looking after me well and doing the household chores I can't manage.  Of course it is also important to get a little exercise. Tomorrow we have a family meal at my daughter's.  She only lives 3 minutes away on foot, that is when I am fit, but tomorrow I shall be driven over there in the car.  I can't drive myself for six weeks. I shall have to be careful that my two-year-

It's all there in front of them written in the Bible, but no they think they know best and take out vital bits and put in bits which are not there. Also, I suppose because it is what film is good at, it focuses on the physical suffering of Jesus and not the spiritual.  I am, of course speaking of the present series on channel 5.  But it is always the same with films.  I saw a part of the telling of David's story.  What is so wonderful about David is his total trust in God.  When he fought Goliath it was because the giant was fighting against God and His people. David came to Goliath in the name of God.  This was totally missed out in the episode.   I would warn against trying to sort your faith out by watching these films.  Dig deep into the Bible instead.

Jesus never told us to make a big festival about His birth.  The only memorial meal He gave was His last supper with His disciples, telling them to remember Him in this way with simple symbols of bread and wine .However the stories  of His birth are part of the canon of scripture, part of the full counsels of God, so we should study them and learn from them.  A Christmas with ridiculous piles of food and expensive presents is not the Christmas the christian should have, but a time to gently ponder as Mary did. Here is God come to Earth in human form in order to grow to be the man God who would save all those who put their trust in Him.  What a glorious truth.

As I believe I mentioned before I am now writing on Bubblews.  It's great fun and I am meeting lots of new people and a few I know already.  There are lots of young people from all over the world and an especially large contingent from the Philippines. Many of them are not active at present due to the circumstances following the typhoon.  We may not hear from them for some time as they will be busy rebuilding their lives.  Our prayers are with them.  They are a strong people and I am sure they will rebuild a better than ever community.    If you want to read my stuff on Bubblews my user name is LizMac66. I believe I left a proper link a couple of posts ago on here.   I hope to continue writing here but I am busy enjoying writing and also posting my art work on Bubblews.  So if you are missing me here take a walk over to Bubblews.

We have been given huge storm warnings for tonight and tomorrow.  I am in South West England and we should have it first, but so far we are just having a typical "dirty" night, but nothing extraordinary.  Long may it continue this gentle a storm.  Our weather forecasters have a habit of either scaring us silly or neglecting to warn us when it's needed. We hardly know what bad weather is in this country, but we do like to moan about it.

This is a very important position.  First the undertaker asks if I am available on a certain date. Then he gives me the phone number of those arranging the funeral, usually a close relative.  I ring and make an appointment to see them in their home.  I take along suitable scripture readings and poems and discuss what they want me to do. This is a time of careful listening and it is here that you get to know all that the deceased means to the mourner. Either they will have written a eulogy or you take away the information and write a eulogy for them. This is the time to get the right names of both the deceased and the mourners.  If the deceased was called Elizabeth but her whole life was called Lizzie, you want to take this on board and use the preferred name.  There is nothing worse than being at a funeral and hearing the deceased called Robert when the whole of his life he has been known as Bob; yet many ministers do not take the trouble to find this out.  For me the wishes of the m

But I don't intend to desert my reader here on Blogger. some of you have been reading my posts for several years.  There is no way I want to drop you. This is the site where I mostly express my religious views and speak on related ethical matters.  I know I come across as very strict when it is difficult in this life to know what is the right way.  I try to give you what I see as the biblical viewpoint. I do believe in absolutes but I am also a caring person who realizes life choices are not easy and straight forward on some occasions.  I just feel it is important to start with a very strict application of the Bible and then work with that to see what is the best way forward for those involved.   So I hope to be here for a long time yet giving you some starting points for your decision making. I appreciate that you continue to stop by here.

You might have missed me this past week.  I've just found Bubblews a site where you can make money for all the posts you write.  So far I am enjoying it very much and expect to receive my first $25 after just two weeks writing there.  On there you connect with other people and then you are notified when they make a new post.  so there is a lot of interaction.  It is the most cosmopolitan site I have been on with people from Myanmar, Pakistan and the Philippines as well as the usual Americans and Brits like me. There is no selling to do. You can write about just about anything.  I have put some of my poems on posts and felt they were appreciated by people. I am also able to use my own photos.  Follow the link to see one of my posts on Bubblews. http://www.bubblews.com/news/1404994-i-could-never-look-like-that

Human beings do not like to face the fact that someone can act as vilely as Savile.  We dare not face the fact that we are capable of such things so we turn away and refuse to admit what is going on, though we know it deep down. It is sin and we do not want to admit to it.  This is also why abuse of little children is not picked up on. A neighbour tells them self that the child is crying for some innocuous reason and when the crying stops believes it proves them right not to have worried. People don't like to rock the boat. As Edmund Burke said"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." That does not apply just to stopping men like Hitler, it applies in our ordinary lives.  We need to take notice of what is going on around us and we need to stand up for what is right and shame the evil doer.

  I love Autumn, when the mist hangs over the river in the morning and the cobwebs in the hedges are bedecked with dew. The year is dying but goes out in a blaze of colour. Shuffling through the fallen leaves is special and has its own distinctive sound.  The night comes in so quickly now and we find our pleasures in doors.  The barbeque is put away and warm woollies are brought out of the closet ready for use. what is your favourite season?  I love them all.

When you've lived as long as I have, 66 years, you see a few changes in life.  Whereas as a child I would rush out to see a car pass, as it only happened rarely, now I own a car and take it for granted.  When I was at primary school in the U.K. the teacher one day started to talk about the year 2000 approaching and we all worked out how old we would be.  I wasn't sure I could make it to 53.  But here I am.  How amazed I would have been if that teacher could have told me that at 66 I would be writing articles that could be read all over the world only minutes after I had written them. Truth is surely stranger than fiction.

  We have to keep in mind that X Factor is out there to make money.  Ultimately to make money out of talented young people and a few older, by training and making them  into what the market wants, people who can sing and look good. By look good they mean look sexy to the nth degree. Of course they also make money from the phone calls when people vote for their favourite starlet, lots of it. These youngsters are coached on how to improve their image and singing and compete against each other.  Several of them will get signed up by record companies.  What do they stand to gain.  Money lots of it; fame lots of it.  Unfortunately they may not be able to cope with this and end up on drugs.  Lasting relationships may also be a problem. To be fair I've had two broken marriages and I didn't need fame to help me!!  Then one day on X Factor there was a magical moment.  Susan Boyle came into our lives.  She didn't look the part but boy could she sing.  Good on you Susan.  I get the i

Are you in deep sorrow because a loved one is terminally ill? Then this will be a very difficult time for you, but you need to realize that we are all terminally ill.  From the moment we are conceived we are on a journey towards death.  However our fate is not in the hands of the doctors and medical staff.  Although we appreciate their knowledge and care, ultimately we are in God's hands alone. We are fearfully and wonderfully made and only God knows all the intricacies of our bodies. If the total number of things about our bodies was three billion the doctors know about 150 of those things, but God knows them all.  Jesus the good shepherd has us in His care.  He died for the sheep and if He has called us and we are His He will keep us in His care.   He is the only one who can decide when we leave this life and go to Him.  Paul spoke about wanting to leave this life and be with Christ which is far better, but he also wanted to stay in this life because he felt he was needed  to hel

When sport is about appreciating what wonderful things we can achieve with our bodies and we are giving God the credit for this ability, then sport can be a very good thing; something to share with your family as you teach your kids the joy of hitting a target or running fast. I can tell you about a sport which goes back to Bible times.  In Judges 20:16 "There were seven hundred chosen men left handed; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth and not miss." Perhaps that should be a "new" sport at the Olympics.  However professional sport is all about,"Look at me, I'm the best" Often that best is only a tenth of a second better than number two. The sportsman also becomes an object of worship.  People who have turned away from the real God have a huge vacuum in their lives and their need to worship, turns to hero worship for the sportsman.  Also I do not like the way sportsmen drive themselves into injury and sometimes to death, which seems to fee

Is there something in your life that counts as an obsession?  Are you mad about sport either as a participant or as a spectator?  I spend at least five and a half hours a week playing short mat bowls (see the link below if you are interested in what this is).  That's pretty keen.  I have to be careful not to let it get out of hand. God expects us and demands that we should love Him with all our heart, strength, mind and soul. .  The professional sportsman has to be so centred on his sport that it must become almost impossible to be giving God that kind of attention.  It is not only sport which can lead us astray.  The concert pianist has to be devoted to playing.  The ballet dancer has to stretch her body to the limits seeking after perfection and often working to the point where injuries happen. All these things are God-given activities but they so easily get out of hand and we find we are worshipping them when we should be worshipping God alone. Sort out the priorities in your li

  There is nothing in this life that you can depend on.  Your health can suddenly deteriorate, your wealth can evaporate; your marriage can end.  What terrifying prospects.  What can you do to protect yourself?  There is only one who is always dependable and that is Jesus.  He promises that if you come to Him He will never turn you away, He will never let you down.  He is the One who entirely pleased the Father and took our sin upon Himself so that all who believe in Him and His power to save have forgiveness and find acceptance in God. Are you going to muddle along on your own in life, or will you trust Jesus.

When Jesus said these words He was watching the people of Sychar coming towards Him.  The disciples could hardly believe their ears.  These people were Samaritans and as Jews the disciples despised them. Has Jesus put people in your line of vision whom He is calling and are you despising them.  Take another look and be ready to tell them of Jesus.  For the account of Jesus with the Samaritan's at Sychar read John 4.

Peter in the name of Jesus brought healing to a lame man.  As he was talking the rulers he said,"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." In this pluralist world with its many religions we must hold on to the fact that only Jesus can save.  We offer Him to the world's people for if they will believe in Him, they too will be saved. We dare not water down the gospel and present it as just one of many alternatives.  Jesus is the only name by which we must be saved. He calls to you, will you hear Him?

How can you best have a fulfilling life? Is it a matter of the career you chose, or the hobby you follow?  Although these things can give you a satisfying life to a certain extent, true fulfillment can only be found in serving Jesus.  He may well place you in a job that you enjoy, but the greatest pleasure comes from doing everything for Him. Any setback that comes your way, commit it to Him knowing that He is in control.  His plan for you is the very best even though it includes pain and sorrow.  Your life may be in a storm but He is at the helm, he will bring you through. He has said," Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6v33)  The "other things" it mentions are the daily necessities.If we keep our sights on Jesus He will look after us and give us what we need, but not what we are greedy for.

Jesus promises us abundant life when we come into the kingdom of God through Him. We often look for abundant life in other places, health,wealth,happiness, fame.  All these things can suddenly leave us.  Health can disappear even though we spend hours keeping healthy.  We have all heard of joggers who after years of jogging have suddenly collapsed with a heart attack, or have had to stop because their knees can no longer take the strain. Money also has a habit of disappearing without trace. A wonderful marriage can prove to be false and leave us with nothing.  However you can depend on Jesus.  He will never leave you or forsake you. It is true He may take you on some difficult paths but He will always be with you, totally reliable.

In John 3 verse 16 we read"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." This states clearly that God's way of salvation is through believing in Jesus and it is a free gift.  Cults are all about earning what cannot be earned. In a cult you have to do things to earn salvation.  In true Christianity salvation is freely given to all who believe. It is true that a believer will then go on to do good as an expression of their faith, but forgiveness is God's prerogative and given where He pleases. Beating little children for the good of their souls is at best mistaken and at worst wicked.

This is found in Proverbs 15 verse 1.  Try it and find out for yourself.  If someone is aggressive towards you the temptation is to speak rudely back to them, but that just escalates the problem. Try to see things from their point of view.  What is really making them angry?  If you have wronged them then you should apologise.  However they may be angry because a situation is making them afraid.  Don't just look at the surface, but see what is troubling them.  Maybe you can help them see things in a different light. Your soft answer will help them to relax and see through the difficulties to a solution.

  I believe all politicians should go through the following period of training before they were allowed to sit in parliament.  They should spend three years in a low paid job and have to provide for their families from those wages alone.  They would not be allowed access to any money they already owned or to take out a loan on the strength of their other money. This would do two important things; it would mean they learnt how to budget money and they would also understand what ordinary people go through.  Then they might just be fit to govern for the benefit of all.

  This is very true and we should give and give.  However sometimes you need to receive in order that the other person can receive the blessing of giving.  Receiving requires humility.  Be humble and receive gratefully the gift that blesses you and also the giver.

Being a Christian isn't about letting people walk all over you.  Sometimes it is harder to stand up to them, but it may be just what they need.  You will do them more harm by letting them do what they want. Just as bringing up children means you need to be firm with them, or you will spoil them, so adults can behave like spoiled children and they too need to be handled firmly. Letting people walk all over you can seem like the easy way out, but it isn't fair to you and it isn't fair to them.  It might look as if Jesus let himself be walked over, but listen how firm he was in His teaching.  Yes He appeared to be weak at the cross but He was really doing the strongest thing ever,  making our salvation secure. By all means be a servant to your brothers and sisters, but when their welfare requires you to take a strong line, you must be strong.

When I was a teenager I loved a hymn about a woman dying in poverty who declared ,"I have Christ what want I more." I wanted that to be true for me too.  We so easily get entangled in wanting what the world can offer us, gadgets, money, pleasure,fame, but if only we could realize that there is nothing to match having Christ in our lives.  He is all we need.  He is King of kings and Lord of lords.  If He wants us to have riches, we will.  If He does not He has something better for us, for He always has our best interests at heart.  Having riches and having to manage them ourselves can leave us with no time for Jesus.  When we trust Him to supply just what is best for us we are given such freedom to focus on Him and have Him as the centre of our lives.  What would you want, a living relationship with the Lord of Glory, or millions of cold money cluttering your life?

  You may wonder what had happened to me in the last week.  I was on holiday in Cornwall on the south west tip of Britain.  The weather was quiet reasonable and I enjoyed looking around a lovely garden near Penzance.  It is good to have a break from one's usual routine, to recharge one's batteries and be refreshed. However there is always One who goes with us wherever we are and we don't take a rest from our faith and our worshipping of Jesus.  He deserves all the worship we can give Him, at all times and it is good to know He is with us wherever we are and He is in charge of what happens to us. For the believer nothing is an accident, our Lord is with us and He is in charge.

"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." John 1: 8 & 9 Forgiveness is available in Christ just by admitting to our sin and asking for it, if we ask believing. We confess to God.  We do not need to confess to any man on earth, in Jesus we have direct access to God.  No man except Jesus can stand between us and God and no man can declare us forgiven.  Jesus is our great high priest, we need no other.

I'm sure I come across as very hard line about abortion.  I do believe in absolutes but although the law of God says,"Do not commit murder" Grace says,"Come to me and I will give you rest."  Grace is God's undeserved favour which He gives to all who will turn to Christ for forgiveness. We all do terrible things in rebellion against God, but His love and forgiveness are there for the asking when we turn away from our sin and back to Him. When He calls us His Grace is irresistible and He gives us the faith to believe. He calls you to search for Him with all your heart and promises that you will then find Him. The slate is clean and you are clothed with the robe of righteousness which only Christ can give. What a wonderful salvation.

Being a christian isn't about being squeaky clean in your own right.  It's about receiving forgiveness from God through Jesus Christ. To receive forgiveness all you have to do is ask and believe. You may find some of my posts rather hard line.  Recently I have written about abortion.  I realise that there are many of you out there who have had abortions and I feel for you and don't want you to feel you are beyond forgiveness, that is not the case.  Sometimes we have to make very difficult choices in life and sometimes, often we get it wrong.  Many of you will have regrets at your decisions in the past.  Bring all your heart ache and loss and guilt to Jesus.  He alone is able to forgive, but He promises He will never turn you away if you come to Him. Although what you did is wrong you may have been pressurised by society, family and friends.  Whatever the circumstances, there is forgiveness to be found in Jesus.

 In so many cultures women are under valued.  If girl babies are aborted where will the wives of the future come from.  It is perniciously evil to under value women in any sphere of life.  At the beginning God said,"It is not good for man to be alone."  Then he created Eve directly from Adam, the God-given perfect mate for man.  Of course the fall came next and so the perfect partnership now has its problems. Marriage in our day is under threat.  Now that women are able to support themselves they are no longer willing to tolerate the behaviour of their husbands in the way their mothers did.  I am not squeaky clean in this respect having two divorces behind me. I am not seeking to point the finger at anyone, but we really do need to sort ourselves out and for men and women to value each other and support each other. There is so much fragmentation in life and sometimes it cannot be avoided, but where we can we should seek to work together.

  People spend so much time and energy on things which are not bad in themselves, such as watching football, following any sport.  Or there are people who go to concerts and the theatre.  All quite legitimate occupations, but it is the level of obsession with these things that is wrong.  Obsession is another word for worship and this belongs only to God.  How foolish to spend all of our time on these things and fail to, at least, look into how to gain eternal life. Surely the claims of Christ need looking at thoroughly, or are you prepared to just take a chance that life ends like a candle going out. Is this the case or will you have , as I believe, to face Almighty God without Jesus by your side.  Now that is frightening.

  I feel this is just the inevitable consequence of allowing any abortion.  All abortion is murder.  A precious human life begins at conception.  Already abortions take place in Britain simply because the baby is not wanted by the mother, or she has been pressured into it by others, made to feel she is incapable of giving the child a good life.  The option of adoption is rarely considered.  Many babies are aborted because they are considered less than perfect. Handicapped people are treated as lesser citizens and devalued. So it is but a little step to decide to abort unwanted girl babies. This has been offered in Britain recently.  Women are wonderful.  I know I am one, so who would want to abort one? Unfortunately there are always those who do.  I believe it is already rife in other countries.  When once a country goes down the vile road of allowing abortion it opens the gates to more murder still and for the flimsiest of reasons. Next it will be the other end of life.  After all we

Today we have seen Gareth Bale sold to Real Madrid for £85 million.  Is it possible that one human can be worth this much?  In fact infinitely more. If you have put your trust in Jesus you should know that He believed you worth so much that He died for you.  No amount of money can compete with that. Jesus was prepared to go to the greatest of lengths so that you might share heaven with Him. Money is fickle stuff, Jesus you can depend upon.

  What should we ordinary folk do when we hear of wars and rumours of wars?  Jesus said we should look up because our redemption draws near. We feel helpless in these situations, unable to influence our governments.  We feel like pawns in a game, but if we look up to Jesus and ask for His wisdom in what we do we can use prayer and trust in God, who is working out His will for the best even when it seems not to be the case. The ability to sort out the mess in the Middle East is with God alone, so let's trust Him to work out His purposes.  The super powers think they have a solution but only God has. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto thy own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy path." Good advice for us all, small or great.

Many people know the story of Martha being very busy with the housework and complaining that her sister Mary was sitting by Jesus listening to him teaching. Jesus told her that Mary had chosen something better and it would not be taken away from her.  Many do not go on to read that when the brother of the sisters, Lazarus died, it was Martha who first went out to meet Jesus, while Mary stayed in the house. She said to Jesus that she knew her brother would not have died if Jesus had been there at the time. Jesus told her that Lazarus would rise again and she agreed that he would at the end of time.  Then Jesus said,"I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."  He asked if she believed this. And then it was that Martha made a declaration as profound as Peter's."Yes Lord,I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, who was to come into the world."  This puts M

In John 10 we read of the Good Shepherd, Jesus. We read in verse 4,"his sheep follow him because they know his voice." It is obvious from this that the sheep who are not his will not follow.  At this time many church groups are trying to attract people from outside the church, but instead of setting forth the voice and words of Jesus they use gimmicks.  Only the voice of Jesus spoken by his servants will attract the true sheep. Nothing else will attract and there are some bewildered sheep who are being given clowns to watch(literally) when they need to here the voice of Jesus. Let your voice speak only the words of Jesus.

  In our day has come to pass the prophecy of Amos.  In Amos 8 v 11 - 12 we read, "Behold the days are coming" says the Lord God"That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.  They shall wander from sea to sea and from north to east;they shall run to and fro seeking the word of the Lord and shall not find it."   This is so true of Britain today. I took a funeral service recently and used two or three pieces of scripture only to be asked if I was a humanist. People do not even realize when they are hearing scripture.  It brought home to me how blessed I am in that I hear good teaching from the Bible alone, on a weekly basis.  I have found an oasis.  Many churches today are not founded on the word of God.  Many are hungry and don't know why.  Those of us who have the truth brought to us regularly must pass it on to others.

Just remember your body didn't ask to be overweight, you did it.  So now that you want to lose weight be kind to your body, don't punish it.  Lose weight slowly.  Crash dieting can seriously damage your health. Eat lots of fruit and vegetables but you must also include a certain amount of fat.  Your body needs to be fed. When you have lost a few pounds and then you get stuck on a plateau, don't panic, it's good to be able to maintain a steady weight and after a couple of weeks you will lose weight again. Do it gently and kindly.  Exercise helps but there again it is important not to overdo things. I am dieting and have reached a plateau.  Any minute I shall make a breakthrough and start to lose a little more weight. All these things should be side issues; spiritual health is far more important.

Many churches today seem to be encouraging people to be good and all will be well.  But God requires perfection from us.  No amount of good things that we can do will put us right with God.  However God has supplied the solution for us.  Jesus lived a perfect life and is Himself perfection.  If we put our trust entirely in Him and realize that all our righteousnesses, the good things we do, are like filthy rags.  We are totally bankrupt before God and need to repent and put our trust in what He has done for us.  This salvation is available to all who will put their trust in Him, no matter what their religious background or place in theworld. This is not a white man's religion but open to all who will believe.

Occasionally I take a funeral service.  Although I believe in heaven and hell I do not think a funeral is a time when one should judge the spiritual state of the deceased. After all only God knows that and it is not for us to interfere.  In such services I declare the gospel in a positive way hoping that the living will benefit, but there is no hint of detriment to the deceased. Some preachers make themselves odious by being judgmental.  I declare the truth by using scripture and give a dignified farewell to the beloved relative.

  Today we had planned to be beside the river on the meadow with the Salvation Army Band accompanying the hymns.  Instead we had to flee the rain and hold our service in the village hall.  We had a happy time with the band playing beautifully and our own Occasional Singers leading the singing. In Britain we often have to have a Plan B with the vicissitudes of our weather.  Perhaps that is what makes us so resourceful. God is never cought out by a change of plan.  He knows the end from the beginning.  Your life might seem to be in a mess, just commit it to God and He will make something beautiful from it.

We all hate to go through difficult times, but these are the times when we learn so much and develop in character. We like to be safe and cozy, but this makes us fat and lazy . Difficult times stretch us and mold us and make something more wonderful of us. In the book of James we read that we should rejoice when difficult times come because our faith is being strengthened.  It makes us persevere and builds our character.  So don't be down-hearted when these times come, they are for your own good and will bring you nearer to God.

Having money tends to make you less reliant on God.  But money is never to be trusted.  It can disappear over night.  However our heavenly Father can be depended upon at all times.  I know what it is like to wish for a windfall of money, but it is such a foolish wish.  I have enough so why want more?  It is one of the big lies of the devil to make us think that money will bring us happiness.  Keep trusting in God, He will never fail you.

It's raining in Britain today and somewhere some one is moaning about it.  They are forgetting how they found it hard to tolerate the heatwave we had and they are moaning.  But I am not moaning.  The rain makes the crops grow and the grass for the animals.  God has blessed us with rain and I am thankful to Him who gives all good things. How many people in arid climes would love to have our rain.

A fair and dazzling picture my eyes behold; A damsel dressed in cloth of gold. Right daintily she lifts her feet, A diamond round her neck so neat And pearls be-deck her hair; Golden locks combed with such care . A bride fit for a king. Why she can even sing! Such attributes hath this maid; Her charms will never fade. For she is well-spoken in word and wit. To be a king's bride, most fit. But now behold the king's visage is darkened. He turns away where once he hearkened. This once lovely maid is tossed aside And now is taken by a guide To a place where the scaffolds stand. Now is brought low which once was grand. She  loses her head. This once treasured maid is dead.

Today I had a great time.  I took a friend to the local town to do shopping.  We had lovely weather all day.  I bought groceries.  Lots of fruit and vegetables as I am on a diet.  So far I have lost 8 pounds in about 10 weeks.  It's best to lose weight slowly as if you go too quickly it's liable to go back on. We had a lovely drive there and back in beautiful countryside.  We are so fortunate to live where we do.  God has indeed blessed us. In the afternoon I walked in the same stunning beauty, with a friend.  We were walking for an hour.  Great company.  This continued as another friend came to see me.  It was her birthday.  In the evening we went out for a meal with five other friends.  We had a very pleasant time at a restaurant at our local airdrome.  We saw lots of planes taking off and landing and a few parachutists coming in too. I haven't had a girl's night out like that for a long time. We came back and sat in the garden for another hour until it became a bit

Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the safe arrival of their son.  In many ways this baby is no different from any other baby in that he needs love and care, but of course, he is marked out as special because of the traditions of our land.  His pathway to becoming the monarch will be mapped out for him and he will always be the object of public attention. Hopefully he will have a happy private life and grow up to be wise and strong, with the welfare of his people at heart. May he be blessed with faith in God and lead his people in the paths of righteousness.

Russia 80 United States 59 United Kingdom 16 Ukraine 15 Sweden 8 Germany 6 Canada 3 Netherlands 3 Poland 2 France               1           A fairly typical set of audience figures for my blog. Often United States takes the top position, but the others are typical.  I'm glad to be reaching out to each one of you and hope I bring some help and enlightenment into your lives.  New post soon.

I lie in my mother's belly, thought of as just a lump of jelly, but I'm not, I have arms and legs and a backbone.  My DNA  is all present and correct.  I have the potential to be a pianist, or a doctor, or even a scientist.  So much potential, but they've tested me and found I have tunnel vision.  Well big deal, I could live with that.  Far better than being ushered off the stage of live the moment I've got here. You know my Gran has tunnel vision and do you know what, she is such a fantastic lady.  She's lived a good fulfilling life and is now in her 70's.  Yes she is partially sighted but you would be amazed what she can do.  Her tunnel vision didn't affect her early years and that would be the same for me if I was only allowed to live. Why can't I be given the same chance at life that she had? Why must I be killed like this? Do you understand why?

I love to write of Jesus’ love The holy One Who came from above. He took my sin He paid the toll. He set free my guilty soul. How can I praise His name enough? The One who brings me through the rough. I want to praise Him Here below And then in glory’s realms ‘Tis my goal To hymn His Name And praise Him so.

Here in Britain it is hot. Everyone had been longing for some sunshine after several wet Summers. But a week into the lovely weather people began moaning and wanting rain. Such ingratitude. There are plenty of ways to keep cool. So I want to buck the trend and say a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to the loving heavenly Father who provides everything good for us. It's not God's fault if we haven't the sense to take shelter. If you have a shower you can cool down there. I've just taken a shower and washed my hair and am sitting by an open window and eating frozen raspberries. It's a glorious summer and I want to celebrate it. I feel a poem coming on. After winter's mist and fog and rain At last we have summer sun To ripen the grain. From sun-baked hill I see the scene below Green and gold Everything aglow. Why are we mortals so contrary We ask for sun And then become all wary. We cannot take this heat. In Britain we are in retreat. We have such strange and ch

I know nothing about the situation in Detroit and I'm sure it's no worse than a lot of other places, but I do know that so many people are spiritually bankrupt. We have turned our backs on God and instead of treating Him with the respect such a holy God deserves we have turned our backs and got on with our lives without His interference. We are in for a big shock God will not allow this situation to continue. Turn back to Him before it is too late. Repent and throw away all the things you worship in this life. They are all worthless. Turn back to the wonderful God who made you. Put your trust in Jesus the only Saviour. Turn back and live and inherit the riches in Jesus then no earthly bankruptcy will be able to harm you.

In Britain we are having a time of lovely weather, but being British we are already moaning about the excessive heat and wondering when some rain will come. It is hot but I am determined to enjoy it. I have a fan in my bedroom so that helps me sleep. The countryside looks glorious and I have been enjoying lots of walks. This is helping me to lose weight. This morning I got up early to finish writing my sermon for Sunday. I don't like to leave it till the last minute. I visited a friend who has just had her gall bladder removed and encouraged her with her studies in becoming a Methodist Local Preacher. So today I am just giving you a little glimpse into my day to day life. I have been blessed today and I hope you have too.

Below is the link to my latest poems on Squidoo. I have lots of other pages there. I love writing poetry. I began as a child writing for the school magazine. Through adult hood I would occasionally write but not very much. When I was training to be a local preacher with the Methodist church in Britain I had to write some meditations and this is when I got back into writing poetry. I then challenged myself to write a poem a day for a year. These are also on Squidoo. I hope you will explore my poems and enjoy them too. Exploring Poetry

You put so much effort into life, but what is your chief priority? Don't you think you should put some effort into finding out if there is a God? Because if there is and you are ignoring Him, you're in deadly trouble. You won't be able to ignore Him forever, one day you will have to meet Him. Unless you have Jesus in your life you will be unable to meet His gaze.Then it will be too late. Now if you search after God with all your heart you will find Him, but if you leave it till later it will be too late.

It is great, after all those years to have a British man win at Wimbledon. Murray, himself said that he will never top this. All sport's men and women have a relatively short life in their sports because of the physical nature of sport. Sport requires them to be at the peak of fitness. We love to watch these people win and enjoy the sports for ourselves at a very different level. These sport's men and women need good advice to prepare them for the time when they are no longer able to perform at a high level. Always we need to remember that the spiritual in life is so important. This life is short, we need to prepare for the next.

I live in Great Britain, a prosperous part of the world. Here I am considered to be poor, but I don't feel poor. I have everything I need and am content with what I have. I enjoy "making ends meet." But the greatest secret of my contentment is that I know Jesus. As I have him, what more could I possibly want? This attitude is summed up in some words of the apostle Paul. In 1 Timothy 6 verse 6 he says,"Now godliness with contentment is great gain." I am not holy myself but I have Jesus and He gives me His holiness. You will never find contentment in money or the things it can buy, instead come to Jesus and receive the contentment He gives all who put their trust in Him.

I live in England and yes, sometimes we get the most glorious weather. Today I sat in the garden with friends. We were under sunshades and umbrellas so that we didn't get burnt. It was a very pleasant time. Last evening I walked with a friend up on the hill above our village.What wonderful views on every side. It is at times like these that we find it easy to thank and worship God, but we should also do it when times are difficult. He is a wonderful God at all times.

Do you feel bad about the way you live? God is calling you. Do you keep meeting people who talk about Jesus? God is calling you. Do you wish you could have all the bad things about you washed away? God is calling you. If you will search after Him with all your heart He promises you will find Him.Jesus died so that those who believe will have their sins washed away. Do you have faith to believe? God has given you that faith. We are totally dependent on Jesus, there is nothing we can do for ourselves. Just lean on him.

What does success mean to you? Is it winning the Grand Prix or Wimbledon? Is it having a high powered job with lots of money? Or do you have to be content with watching those who are successful while you can only manage a hum drum life. Is that sort of success really all it's cracked up to be? One thing is certain about those successful people their prowess will lessen with the years and just like the rest of us they will die. So should we be putting all our energies into getting a slice of this world's fame? Or should we be considering the next life? Are you ready to meet God? He is all powerful and total goodness. How can such a being accept us when we are so lacking in goodness and totally unable to meet His requirements? It sounds like a black future for us all. But Jesus has lived the perfect life that God accepts and He promises to share his righteousness with us if we will come to Him and put our trust in Him. He is the only way to God the Father. Will you p

Don't let the scientists fool you. They know very little about how our world and our bodies work. How many times have you heard them categorically state something is so and then a few years later they tell us they got it all wrong and something else is the case.Trust your own set of values and stick to them. If you feel something is wrong stick to your guns and say so. As they say, for evil to succeed it just needs good men to stay silent.

Martin Niemoller's quote can be found below. When they brought in abortion we muttered amongst ourselves but we did not speak out. Now thousands of young people who could have supported us in our old age are not here because we did not speak out. Having shown a complete disregard for the unborn child society will find it easy to deal with the problem of too many elderly, who are a burden on society and those who would have spoken out on our behalf are the young people whom we allowed to go to death as they were just beginning their journey of life.Niemoller's quote says it all. First they came

I have some questions about this procedure. Do the women who donate the eggs know that those eggs will be fertilized and the resulting baby discarded? Also is there a problem with rejection when the couple's baby is moved into the empty egg shell? Is it possible that some of the "bad" mitochondria could be transferred with the embryo baby? It is always good to think about these things and their implications and not to accept what the scientist says simply because they are scientists. Scientists are fallible people like the rest of us and often over step the mark of what is acceptable to God. Scientists are often motivated by what acclaim they can have, rather than what is ethical. It is the law of God that matters not the ethics of a secular society.

Today in Britain it has been announced that scientists will be able to go ahead with work to produce babies which have three parents. This is proposed to give mothers who have mitochondria which produce diseased or handicapped children, a chance to have children using the greater part of their genes, but with the pro-nuclei removed and placed in an embryo from a donor woman which has healthy mitochondria . In fact a fourth parent is also involved as the donor egg has to be fertilised. The donor embryo (and who is the sperm donor for this? Of course it could be the second parent) as I was saying the donor embryo has the nuclei, the part containing most of the gene material,discarded. A perfectly healthy human being is discarded; of course with the experimenting in this area which has obviously already gone on, many little human beings have been discarded already. I believe that a human being is present from the moment of conception. A God given human being and we will be cal

Start believing in God and you might find it easier to make new discoveries by going His way. Try a little humility too, that would help lots. If you don't know the maker you won't know how the creation works.

A nice house? A pretty wife? Two lovely kids? The Bible says "What good is it if you have the whole world and lose your soul?" Having lots in this life is no good unless you have your eternal situation sorted. To gain eternal life you have to have Jesus in your life, Only He can give you eternal life. Jesus, God the Son died to bring salvation to all His children. Now is the time to repent for all your sins and put your trust in Jesus. All those things you have are good things, but you need Jesus more.

When we get up each day we may have a plan for the day. We may think we know what will happen. However we do not know. A routine we have mapped out for ourselves may suddenly be broken into by the unexpected. If you have Jesus in your life you are secure and the way ahead is exciting and safe in Him, but if you walk alone the future can be terrifying. Will you ask Jesus to help you through the future? One day you will have to meet God, a truly terrifying experience, unless you have Jesus with you. The only safe way to meet God is wearing the robe of righteousness that Jesus gives those who trust in Him.

What does it take to be a whistle blower? It would be easy to just tow the line and keep your nose clean. It takes guts to be a whistle blower. Seeing things at work which are not right vexes the conscience of the whistle blower and this reaches a point which he can no longer tolerate. He has to tell the world. Sometimes the whistle blower is hailed as a hero and sometimes he is called a spy. Would you have the guts to be a whistle blower?

God is totally holy and good and you and I are not. He will not tolerate sin. We are in a terrible situation because one day we will all have to meet God. Are you ready? There is only one way to get right with God and be accepted by Him. That is to put our only confidence in Jesus and his death on the cross. You can never earn enough brownie points on your own to reach God, Jesus is the only way. Don't turn away and say you will think about it later. You might not have a later, you might die tonight. Are you ready?

As Christians we should have our mind set on pleasing God. The tokens we get at the supermarket for cash back on certain goods, or tokens to save and get some bargain range of kitchen ware, distract us and keep our minds on money. If we belong to God we do not have the time for these distractions. Your father knows what you need and He will provide that for you. Don't be side-tracked into worrying about money, you have important work to do, you are to spread the message of His love, for His chosen ones from all over the world, from every tribe and nation. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."

In many churches today the Old Testament is side lined, mainly because God is perceived here, by them to be a God of retribution. Before we can have the gospel message we have to know God is holy and cannot look upon sin. We have to know what we need saving from. However, the Old Testament God, who never changes, is also seen in the Old Teastament as a God of mercy and loving kindness. He is also the God who is available to the non-Jew, the gentile. Rahab the Canaanite is welcomed into the tribes of Israel. Naaman, the Syrian is healed of leprosy and becomes a true believer in the God of Israel. Ruth follows Naomi from Moab and marries Boaz. Always the gentile is welcomed into the care of God. I am a gentile and so are many of you the world over. Put your trust in Jesus, call to him for salvation. No country is outside his power to save. If you search for him with all your heart, you will find him.

I am following a system to lose weight. This includes exercise. I'm not huge, but a bit too cuddly. Is this something a christian should bother about? In 1Timothy 4: 8 we read,"Physical training is of some value." So looking after your body is of some importance, but Paul goes on to say,"But godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." If we spend hours on our physical well being and neglect the spiritual side we will one day come a cropper when we realise we have toned our bodies and neglected the part of us that will continue after the body is dead and gone. We need to get right with God before it is too late.

Well you will want to be with them as often as possible. To speak with them. To read their letters or emails. You will want to talk about them to other people, whether they know them or not. So how does this look when your loved one is Jesus. You will want to spend time with Him, talking to Him (prayer) and listening to Him(reading the Bible); talking to others about Him. He has done so much for us and often we just ignore Him. How dreadful.

Why? Who else but King Jesus? He died for me while I was still a sinner. He first taught me to know Him when I was a little girl. He has faithfully stayed with me all through my life even when I was wandering away. I was not faithful but He always was and is. Wouldn't you too like a friend like this? If you will come to him to have your sin forgiven He will not turn you away. You are totally dependent on him and need Him to draw you too Him. Without Him we are all bankrupt before God.Therre is no other way to be accepted in God's presence.

In Deuteronomy 6:5 We are told ,"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." Do you love God or does someone or something take your love, the love that you should have for God. All my life since the age of seven I have tried to love God, but I had a problem which got in the way. I have only in recent years realized what this problem was. I have been worshipping people in my life. At school I would get a crush on the teachers, but this carried on into adult life. I would fall madly in love with the doctor or the pastor. This was a terrible affliction which I enjoyed, not realizing that I was worshipping these people. Eventually one of these crushes led to the break down of my marriage. Fairly recently God showed me the true nature of these crushes, I was giving His rightful worship to humans. I repented and have been released from this problem. Do you "worship the ground" someone walks on. Beware y

Is there someone in your life who you need to forgive? Forgiveness is never easy, even God forgiving His children was not easy; it required the death of Jesus taking our sin upon himself. God's beloved Son died for us. So we cannot expect it to be easy for us to forgive one another, but it is vital that we do. In the prayer Jesus taught his disciples it says,"Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." So we need to forgive if we are to be forgiven. When you forgive you do not have a warm fuzzy feeling, instead all the nasty feelings stay around for a while, but it is possible by an act of will, with God's help, to forgive. Don't be distressed when you don't feel good about it, just take that step of forgiving even though your feelings don't go along with it. Eventually you will feel the healing of spirit that forgiveness brings.

Do you feel you are in charge of your life? Have you got your progress all mapped out? What will you do if things don't go the way you want? Have you considered that in the final analysis your life is in God's hands? You need to go along with what he plans for you and not resist Him. I wanted to get a music degree when I was in my twenties. I went to university but had bouts of depression and two years later left that all behind. I did gain a teaching diploma for the violin and taught that until retirement, but I could not teach music as a subject in school. I didn't spend a lot of time regretting it, but got on with what I felt God wanted me to do. If you can only stop resenting God's change of plan for you, you can soon find what He plans is far more fulfilling. God's way for you is the best way.

If you like what you read on my blog here perhaps you would like to read more of my writings. I have been writing on Squidoo for more than four years now. Squidoo is a great site and there are lots of topics covered there by lots of people. It's a great place. I have written lots of poetry there and also written about the Christian faith in greater depth. Below is the link to take you there. I hope you find it really useful and helpful. There are Bible stories in a series I call Interesting Bible People. It's great if you want to brush up the facts on Bible characters, especially if you are a Sunday School teacher. So if you like me here you will like me there. My Squidoo Pages

First we have to know why we need Jesus. He is the only one sent to die for his people so that our sins might be forgiven and we could once again find acceptance by God. Who are God's children? They are from all kinds of backgrounds, colour and ethnicity. Many of them have been brought up in various religions and even many who are brought up in Christianity may prove not to be his children. It is only by God's grace, his free gift that we become his children. He calls us and then gives us the gift of faith by which we put our trust in him. I am delighted that this blog reaches all over the world. Because of this I can urge you to put your trust in Jesus. If you do this I look forward to meeting you either in this world or more likely in the next. Jesus says,"Come unto me and I will give you rest." Do you hear him calling you? Search after him until you find him. He promises that if you search with all your heart you will find him.

Many Christians accept evolution as fact. It is not fact but a competing religious belief. Many Christians just roll over and accept evolution. This is the lazy way out. You need to look at the plentiful material on the internet and really work at seeing if evolution is as proven as its proponents state. I have just starting reading Darwin's Origin of the species to get a picture of what started this whole movement. This is an important matter. Quite honestly if I became a believer in evolution and you told me this is how God made the world, I wouldn't want to believe in such a God. But I believe my Bible and believe in a God who made all things good at the beginning. Then Adam and Eve rebelled and let sin and death into this world. Almighty God had a plan to rescue us from this situation. Jesus came to die for his people. One day there will be a new heaven and a new earth, with no more death and sin and crying.

You may have wondered where I had gotten to this week. Well I've been keeping busy. I've been playing short mat bowling, playing with my grandson, going to the optician and taking a friend to the station. Also going to various meetings. sometimes life gets so busy there isn't time to talk on the internet, but here I am again. I'm having a little trouble with my right-hand middle finger, it's sticking in the closed fist position and I have to ease it open. A few months ago the doctor injected it with something and it worked properly for a while, but now it is sticking again, so I guess I need to go visit him again. Life is too bust to have a finger that doesn't work.

Often for both sexes their job is the major thing that gives them a sense of worth. when the job is finished some people feel there is nothing to live for. For many women they have spent their life working for their family and finding their worth in their husband and children. The children grow up and no longer need their parents. Often it is the husband who dies first. The wife is then left wondering what role she has any more. She has spent so much time caring for others and putting them at the centre that she doesn't know how to value herself and do things because she has a worth. She can spiral down into depression. As Christians we often forget to put God at the centre of our lives and always that leads to trouble, but we so easily get it wrong. Having said that we still need to know our own worth. If we are trusting in Jesus we need to remind ourselves that he thought we were so important that He died on the cross for us. You can't have a higher value than th

I am writing a little about what God the Father is like and what He is not like. I’m going to start in a good place, the beginning. Well at least it is at our beginning, for God had no beginning and has no end. So first we look at the creation of all things; and just to show that we cannot separate the Father Son and Holy Spirit let’s look at John’s gospel chapter one we read 1 v1-In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without him nothing was made that was made” So there we have Father and Son working together And then in Genesis we read that the spirit was hovering over the face of the waters.” We see how in six days God created all things and then rested As we go through each thing created we see that God pronounces it to be good and when man is created it is declared very good. Now for many years the T.V. has been pumping into our homes the Theory of Evolution

Are you bringing up your little girl to believe she is your Little Princess? Of course you must love her, but do not spoil her. You can ruin your daughter's life by spoiling her. If she knows all she has to do to get something is to whistle for it, you will make her life later on very difficult for her to cope with. She may marry a man who also treats her as his Little Princess. If she is lucky she will die first, if not she will lose him and be lost in a world that does not recognize her royal status. She will be unable to cope and will lurch from crisis to crisis trying to find someone who will make her a princess again. The friends she has will find her selfish and demanding and be unable to cope with being in her company for long. So think about your lovely daughter's later life and don't spoil her now. Saying "No" is the kindest thing you can do, so long as it is not all the time. Bring her up to earn her treats doing simple chores. This is by far t

Nothing will get in its way. God's will is bound to happen. But we like to have a nice cosy plan, life the way we would like it with wealth, health and happiness. God's plan for you is the very best, whatever it is. You may be standing in disaster today but if God is with you, you are the most blessed person in all the world. God's way is best. Disaster gives way to new life, new projects and a chance to do things better. God's way for you is the best way.

There is no doubt there has been a terrible natural disaster today in Oklahoma and I pray for those who have lost loved ones. However it always amazes me to see how few people lose their lives in these catastrophic events. By the look of the devastation on my T.V. I would expect many more to have died. God is gracious and limits the death toll.It is at times like this that we need, as individuals to think hard about our situation before God. I am going out in the car tonight; I could easily be killed in an accident. Am I ready to go?

This is a favourite verse of many people,"' for I know the plans I have for' declares the Lord.'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.'" (NIV) this is a wonderful promise but people take it as the recipe for an easy life. They need to look at the context. To whom were these words spoken? Not to people having an easy life. They were spoken to the children of Israel who had just had all their hopes dashed, they had gone into captivity and were told they would be there 70 years. The great majority would never return to Israel. But God says that when they seek Him with all their heart they will find him. Take another look at this verse in your Bible and read the verses before and after. God does want the best for us and sometimes He has to put us through trials to draw us back to Him. He is our only hope and future.

"Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." He also promises to never turn away any one who comes to him. Also,"If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." We all have such a lot of sin that needs his forgiveness. Let's lay the burden of them at his feet and let him do what only he can do, wash it all away.

Unless you are a little old lady like me, whose opinion no one cares about, if you believe in intelligent design and you want to get on in this life, you had better keep it to yourself. Below is the link to the trailer of Ben Stein's video in which he talks to lots of scientists who didn't even exactly believe in God but just in intelligent design, who were hounded out of their jobs for this one reason.It is certainly worth watching. It looks as if the evolutionists are running scared and you know how nasty a trapped animal can be. It doesn't take much intelligence to see intelligent design all around us, so why is it forbidden territory to the scientist? The whole point of science is to explore every possibility, not to be blinkered and narrow.I wonder why our T.V. authorities are so hell bent on presenting the evolution religion above anything else. This is certainly so with the BBC in the UK. Ben Stein's Video

At the beginnings of the discovery of DNA scientists were able to partially understand what 2% of DNA was for. They relegated the other 98% to the status of junk, left over from the evolutionary process. Creationists always held the view that this "junk" would one day be seen for what it really was, a vital part of the DNA from which we are all built. Last year 400 scientists from various parts of the world who had been working on what DNA is for, brought out 30 papers showing that they now knew what 80% of DNA was for and expressing the belief that eventually the purpose of all of it would be discovered, although maybe not before the end of the century. This major project is known as ENCODE and you can read about it's findings in Nature(link below) Once again we see intelligent design in the beauty and mystery of DNA. ENCODE

We all know that it has been demonstrated that selective breeding can produce many varied animals or plants. This sort of "evolution" can be demonstrated and is acceptable to the christian creationist. However the evolution that proposes that the origins of life came about randomly and started very simply and gradually, by accident produced more and more complicated forms of life, eventually arriving at man, over millions of years, is just a theory and cannot be demonstrated. The fossil record, perfectly compatible with Noah's flood, has no missing links to join up the species for the evolutionist. Many scientists now believe in "intelligent design" but are often ostracized by their atheistic colleagues. The atheist is more interested in proving his world view than in approaching his work in a scientific and unbiased way. Another thing the atheist will not accept is the mathematics which show present day human population figures can only have come about in

Scientists are just ordinary people like the rest of us and that means that they too can make mistakes. Of course they have expertise in some things, but often they are short on common sense. Don't sell out to the scientist. Just like everyone else he or she is biased. If he has thought up a theory he will want to prove it true even though he is supposed to try everything to prove it wrong. Just because you don't know what string theory is all about don't give in when you moral sense is alerted. Your opinions and beliefs matter, don't capitulate to the scientist, especially if he is on T.V. The scientist who is an atheist has a belief system too, it is called evolution and he is hell bent on spreading this belief by television.

Yes, you bet I am. I am totally given over to the considered opinion that God Almighty made all things. But then the atheistic scientist is totally biased too. He is desperate to make God totally dispensable. Why? Because he knows he doesn't come up to the standard God expects of him. He is running scared. He will use every trick in the book to present evolution as fact, when it is only theory. He will omit to tell you that when he uses a method to measure the age of rocks, that he is first making assumptions about the presence of carbon or whatever in the beginning. Many times the evolutionist will make huge assumptions that cannot be proved in any way. I also will make a big assumption, that one day these people will have to face their Creator and give account of the people they have led astray.I hope many of them find repentance before it is too late.

You say evolution was the way things happened, so why don't cats mate with dogs or hippos with alligators? If evolution was right it must be the easiest thing for any animal to mate with one of a different species. Even when a horse mates with a donkey the resulting mule is infertile. Seems kind of strange to me if evolution is the explanation of how life began. I have a much easier solution to believe in: God created everything in their species with limits He set on which could procreate with which. Why don't you join me? It's much sunnier in my neck of the woods.Oh sorry, I forgot, you can't see.

Although evolution is totally unlike what God would do, being cruel and full of death for no reason, the "churches" have played a game of bowing to evolution and tacking God on the end somewhere. This is a terrible situation. The God of the christian is most wonderful and glorious and has given us the Bible to tell us all we need to know. It begins with an account of how God made all things in six days. "How could this be?" you say. Because He is God. you have no idea of how great and magnificent he is, but if you will just take a look at the wonders of nature with an open mind and heart you will see a little of his might in design. Such design could not come about by chance. The whole of nature is intertwined and needs each other part to work. How can a Yucca plant evolve when the Yucca moth it needs is supposed not to have developed till millions of years later. But no, you are blind and deaf and stupid and so you will remain unless God gives you sight a

Evolution is all about survival of the fittest. So why have hospitals, shouldn't we let all those non fit people crawl off into the gutter and not let them be a drain on the rest? That is where evolution leads us, to an uncaring society where compassion is outlawed. Our governments don't dare say it yet, but they would love to get rid of everyone over working age who they consider a drain on the nation's resources. This nightmare could become reality if we don't wake up to the way evolution is perverting the old values of valuing all human life. First it was abortion and now it could well be the elderly who are no longer valued.

Huh? Whoever came up with such a crap theory as the theory of evolution? How on earth could something come out of nothing and randomly get more and more complex? It beggars belief that supposedly intelligent people can credit such a thing. However when, as I do, one believes in a wonderful Creator, the greatest designer ever, then one can see the splendour of what He has created. "But who made God?" you say and I reply,"He has always been and always will be and if there are other dimensions He permeates them all. He knows no restrictions and 'in Him we live and have our being.' " Watch out!! He is near you and knows all you do, think or say. He will hold you accountable for all you do and all those atheistic scientists, who have pushed the rotten theory of evolution, will be accountable for all the people they have led astray.If you are keen to find out more look on the internet under 'creationism'.

Although it is important to get a good night's sleep, too much sleep can actually prolong your depression. Having said that I know that when I am depressed all I want to do is sleep and no matter how I tell myself I shouldn't have too much sleep, the urge to sleep wins the day. However when you feel you are just on the borders of depression that is the time to act. As I am bi-polar I sometimes get up in the middle of the night to work on my computer. This always results in elevating my mood, so if I am on the borders of feeling depressed I will sometimes purposely get up in the middle of the night and it certainly seems to work for me. However there are people who find sleep eludes them when they have depression. I don't know what to suggest in those circumstances.

If I had said,"Should a Christian get a broken leg, or cancer?" you would think I was being ridiculous, but if a Christian gets depression they often feel very guilty for feeling that way when they have Jesus as their Saviour.When we can see all sorts of wonderful and positive things in our lives we feel guilty for being depressed. "What have I got to be depressed about?" we say to ourselves. Having a happy fulfilled life doesn't stop you breaking a leg, or getting cancer and neither does it stop you getting depressed. May be a better question for the Christian is to ask,"How will I cope with this depression in a God honouring way?" We have to remember that God is in control of all that happens to us and has a plan for us, which being his plan is the best possible for us. If we can submit to that plan we will be honouring God. Also if you truly submit and realise that God's plan for you, whatever it is, is the best for you, you will relax

How will your family cope if you get depression? They need to know it is an illness like any other and that you have not wished it upon yourself. After all, who would want depression? The best way they can help is to take some of your usual workload, but not all. If you have something to do it will keep your mind off how you feel and you will have a sense of achievement in what you have managed to do.It is best for a family to be practically helpful but not overly sympathetic. My daughter is always afraid of giving me encouragement to be depressed so does not express a lot of sympathy. Instead comment on what the depressed person has been able to accomplish in each day and encourage them when there are signs of improvement. Sometimes the depressed person just needs to slump and hide away but this should not be encouraged for too long. Always one should be moving away from depression and back to "normal" life.

You would think that stress would be bad for someone depressed, but this is not always the case. Of course I can only speak from my own experience. When I am low I want to hide away and do nothing, but really a certain amount of stress helps me. I am a local preacher and as such am committed to taking Sunday meetings now and again. If one of these is imminent it gives me a reason to get out of bed and do some Bible study and write a sermon. You might think that standing at the front of church and speaking to people would be much too much of a stressful situation for someone with depression, but I have trained for this and it is a part of my life now. For me it is a reasonable stress and when the meeting is over there is a sense of having done my duty, which helps me to be more elevated in mood. Of course, this is not the main purpose of preaching. For someone else this would be an intolerable stress. Just think what stresses would be suitable for you and don't be afraid of a

Well it all depends on you. A holiday can be just another stress. Deciding what to pack and getting on with family members in close quarters. Of course it can be a breath of fresh air and a chance to have a break from the worries of home, but then again you will still have to come home and face up to those everyday worries once more. Sometimes it is best just to plod gently through your usual routine. I've just been away with the family for five days. The weather was not awful but it was not good either. All we seemed to do was travel and eat lots. Not very good for the pocket and not terribly exciting either. Of course I wasn't depressed at this time but think I would have felt pretty ghastly if I had been. We went in two cars so all the liaising to get to the same place would have worried me greatly. No I think a holiday in a hotel with a trusted friend would be best if you were depressed, but that might give you money worries instead . There is a lot to be said for

If I am struggling with depression there is no way I can cope with someone else having it. I have to withdraw from them. My own burden is enough. There are some people who will try to lean on you too heavily. In my youth I had several people like that and eventually I could see how good it would be to have a large medallion around my neck with "NO" written in large letters. Some of us attract lame ducks, but they need to stand on their own feet and take responsibility for themselves. You are doing them no good if you continually prop them up. If you do that they will never learn. There is a sense in which you have to put yourself first, you are responsible for you, not for them.

If you had a broken leg everyone would surge around to help. An ambulance would be called and you would be whisked off to hospital to have it set in plaster. Then you would be sent home with crutches to get around on while your leg was mending. Everyone would be full of sympathy and no one would tell you to,"pull yourself together." And yet get depression and many friends will not know what to do and how to respond. Never mind, you can prepare yourself. If staying in bed helps you when you are depressed then stay in bed. What I like to do is to go to a friends where I can sleep on the settee and no one knows where I am and I'm away from the telephone. Something else I enjoy is to eat Battenburg cake. You know the pink and yellow squares with marzipan all around, very therapeutic.It might be hard to make yourself go out and meet people but that is also good for you. I've just realised I haven't mentioned medication. There are lots of anti-depressants av

When we are depressed we see ourselves as failures, useless, no good to anybody. What if this is the truth about us? What if all the happy people are living in cloud cuckoo land, just cosily in denial. I am a Methodist Local Preacher in Great Britain. Those are my credentials, but what I have to say are my own opinions, based on the Bible and not necessarily the opinion of the Methodist Church. The Bible says tha "there is none righteous, no not one." In other words we are all in a mess. God is good and cannot tolerate our lack of love for Him or our friends and neighbours. That sounds black, but it is not the end of the story. God in love for His children has made a way back into his good books. There is a verse in 1 John 1 which says,"If we confess our sin, He is willing to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The slate can be wiped clean, but how? Because Jesus came and sacrificed himself upon the cross taking the punishment f

In my previous post I talked a little about suicide. Depression is life threatening, it must be taken seriously. It is life threatening but need not be terminal. There are lots of things to do to help yourself out of it, or for friends and family to help you. More than anything the depressed person needs people. If you are prone to depression, while you are well get yourself a good base of friends. Join clubs, share hobbies or go to church. Then while you are well get into the habit of having positive thoughts about life. When you are unwell the negative thoughts will come but if you have a habit of thinking positively it will be easier to keep positive. Think about the good things in your life and refuse to given any thinking time to the negative, even though those negative things are quite true about your situation. If your children have nothing to do with you don't dwell on it for a second, just think about those good friends you have made. I live on my own and could

Never let suicide be an option for you. You are unique, we need you. We need your talents, we need your smile. Nobody else can fill the place you fill in the lives of others. You will have thoughts of suicide, just talk yourself out of it. I don't think I have every been truly suicidal, although I do remember once thinking that as my 3-year-old was safe in Pre-school and I was alone at home, that it would be a good time to eat some yew berries and end it all. Fortunately the thought passed. there are tremendous pluses in your life;hold on to them. Yes, they are clouded by depressio,n but they are still there like the sunshine behind the cloud. There is no way back from suicide and how do you know what is beyond? As a christian I believe there is heaven and hell beyond death; are you sure where you are headed? Maybe you think there is oblivion and that would be good, but you cannot be sure. In life there is always the possibility of something wonderful just around the corn

No, millions worldwide suffer from this condition. It can be helpful to find a self help group, where you can meet with others who suffer with this condition. That way you can learn all sorts of coping mechanisms. It is my experience that people meet more when they are feeling o.k. and chat to exchange ideas. People who suffer from depression are often the most jolly people you can find. They are resourceful and witty. I also belong to a writer's group which brings me to the point that creative writing can help you when depressed. I write poems to express all sorts of feelings. Below is a link to some of my sadder ones. If you can get on to paper what you are feeling it can help you to understand what is happening. In the area where you live there will be many people who suffer from depression. If you get into conversation and mention that you sometimes get depression you are likely to have the person say that they do too, or that they know someone close to them who does