As a teenager, sadly, I had no time for God, but I believed that there was a Creator. In the early 1950s I left Sheffield, having been called up for national service and I was stationed at RAF Chivenor in North Devon. One day when off-duty and visiting Rock Park in Barnstaple I noticed…
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Born in Poland, I followed the traditions of the Roman Catholic religion for the first 18 years of my life: christened as a baby, having religious lessons, and attending Sunday ‘mass’ with my parents, as all the other children in my village did. I was taught to believe in God’s existence, the concept of…
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My uncle David is the family historian. He has spent many hours researching the family tree and has discovered relatives in Australia and Argentina. My uncle is not alone in his desire to trace his genealogical roots. The BBC series Who do you think you are? is very popular. In the programme, famous people…
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It’s exciting! It’s amazing! It’s fantastic! As incredible as it seems, yet by faith I believe it’s true. Permit me to give a testimony, a wonderful witness that I could only make by God’s sovereign grace. Here it is: ‘The God of the Bible is my God!’ Let me be specific. My God is…
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History is littered with dead kings. Destined to reign from the beginning of life, they have come at last to their throne. But only for a time. Always, sooner or later, they have come into conflict with death. And death has always carried the day. There is, however, one remarkable exception to this universal…
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Joseph — the legal guardian and earthly father of the Lord Jesus — is often overlooked in the Christmas story. Matthew’s Gospel however relates the account of the birth of Christ more from Joseph’s perspective than Mary’s. Matthew tells us: ‘Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother…
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Who wrote this song? The author is most surprising: a Jewish priest who’d been struck dumb for nine months! Zacharias was his name, and the cause of his lack of speech was unbelief. Zacharias just hadn’t reckoned that his elderly wife could possibly become a mother for the first time, even though God himself…
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In just these four words John the apostle, in the first chapter of his Gospel, gives us the reason for celebrating Christmas. It is amazing how much can be said in a few words. Four words to describe one of the most significant, amazing and pivotal events in the whole of human history. John…
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Mary’s hopes and dreams for her firstborn son were overshadowed by prophecy, but she never forgot who held the future for Jesus. Last year I wrote about the difficulties facing childless parents at Christmas, when everything seems to focus on ‘family’. This year we will be celebrating our own family ‘miracle’: a son finally…
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This month people all over the world will celebrate Christmas. For many, it will simply mean time off work to sit back, relax and indulge in chocolates, presents, and elaborate roast dinners. However, the true meaning of Christmas is much deeper. Christians celebrate Christmas to remember the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of…
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Our eyes are wonderful things! Each one is a slightly asymmetrical globe, about an inch in diameter. The front part of the eye that you see in the mirror contains the iris (the pigmented part), the cornea (a clear dome over the iris), the pupil (the black circular opening in the iris that lets…
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Tea towel-turbaned children and cosy Christmas card scenes often spring to mind when we think about the shepherds. But what were these first eyewitnesses of the manger really like? Our research takes us to the account by Luke, the historian amongst Jesus’ four biblical biographers. But what would it have been like for Luke…
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