Ministers letters

The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell…

… my favourite Bond was Roger Moore…Anyway, what do the following actors have in common – Jeffery Hunter, Jim Caviezel, Christian Bale, William Defoe, Robert Powell – they are among the many who have portrayed …

Especially during times of a shortage of candidates. It is very tempting to be ‘less than rigorous’ in the selection process…It may be due to the inadequacy of the process of ministerial formation with insufficient attention being paid to a person’s personal, psychological profile…

Those folk who are always whispering in our ears, ‘you only notice us when we are not there.’ The present crises have turned the spotlight on HGV lorry drivers but there are a whole ‘army’ of people who are working ceaselessly to ensure the smooth running of society as far as the rest of us are concerned…

That is why I feel able to make this appeal…’Giving’ as a way of saying ‘thank you’ is a straightforward expression of what is at the heart of the Christian Gospel. God loved the world so much that God gave His only begotten Son. Jesus gave His life, that we and others might live. ‘Our Heavenly Father’ knows how to give good gifts to us His children.’

In spite of the chaos that surrounded their evacuation, it is good that it was possible to airlift some 20,000 Afghan refugees out of Kabul with the intention of relocating them to this country. One can only hope that the initial out pouring of generous concern demonstrated in so many ways – including by folk local to us – will continue after the proverbial dust has settled.

Over the centuries, the great thinkers of every age swapped ideas as to the best way of describing ‘Common Sense’. Ironically, it might be said that if they just bothered to use their own common sense, they would have worked it out much more easily…

Its that time of year. Final preparations are being made for the ‘return’ to school, college and university. For many it will be like ‘starting all over again’ given the enforced disruption of the last 2 academic years. For others, sadly, opportunities denied that will never be recovered.

I was gearing up to write something profound when the news broke that CHARLIE WATTS had died. Charlie who? I hear you say. He was the drummer with the Rolling Stones. It was in 1963 …

For many of us, it was the moment that JFK was shot. We would always remember where we were, when President Kennedy was assassinated. More recently our defining moment in history has become 9/11…