Person-first language and Political Correctness Much of my thinking on this comes from a blog from 2017. Language is a tool. We can use it to build people up or tear them down. Take the simple word quite. A British man shows an American friend a picture of his girlfriend. "She's quite pretty," says the …
True Love Ways
Summer of love 3: Holy Trinity Church Huddersfield, Sunday 28th July 2019 Another Sunday at Church, another day playing percussion. Friday's rehearsal was a little too warm for drumming, even in the relative cool of a 200-year-old stone building, I drank well over a pint of water just to keep going. The Sunday of the …
Happy and blessed 6: the merciful
Happy and blessed 6: The merciful Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy - Matthew 5:7 ESVUK This is straightforward, isn't it? Merciful people are shown mercy. How can I write a blog on that? When someone shows mercy it makes headlines, positive headlines, it is generally agreed that being merciful is good. But …
Persecution is the norm for Christians
“We help them if their house is burnt. If they’ve been beaten up, we take them to hospital. If they’ve been expelled from their village, we give them shelter.” Those are the words of Abishek, an Open Doors partner in India, taken from their website. If you are a Christian, I commend you to look at …
Higher love
Summer of love: 2 Holy Trinity Church Huddersfield, Sunday 21st July 2019 A bittersweet Sunday. We said goodbye to Curate Steve and his family. After a training period of three years, he is off to a new position. Huddersfield's loss will be Loughborough's gain. We saw them off well. The family were brought up to …
Happy and blessed 5: the hungry
Happy and blessed 5: The hungry Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. - Matthew 5:6 ESVUK Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. - Luke 6:21 Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. - Luke 6:25 He …
The ABA controversy
This has nothing to do with a Swedish pop group of the 1970s, but with the controversial treatment of autism in children Applied Behaviour Analysis or ABA. I'm writing now because I almost had a meltdown in church after the service. Then later that week #TodayInABA started appearing in my Twitter feed. Such as this …
All you need is Love
Summer of love part 1 Holy Trinity Church Huddersfield, Sunday 14th July 2019 What does love look like? That was the question at the beginning of the sermon at the second service here at Holy Trinity. After a week off from playing percussion during the service because of the joint service in the park, I …
“The Age of Martyrs is Not Over”
I saw this. I thought it was worth sharing. None of what follows is my own work. Church Times article shared here. MARTYRDOM of Christians is not confined to history, but is happening today in the Middle East, the Coptic Archbishop of London, Archbishop Angaelos, has warned. Delivering a lecture in St Margaret’s, Westminster, last week, at …
Happy and blessed 4: the meek
Happy and blessed 4: The meek or the gentle Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 ESVUK Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:29 Years ago, when cigarette manufacturers were still allowed to …
Making an ass of myself 