How Long?
Scrolling down the news last night, it felt easy to despair. Pandemic aside, the headlines spoke of shootings in Vienna, Ethiopia, Kabul, beheadings in Mozambique. All in the last couple of days. Coupled with the frustration that any news outside the West seems to be deemed less important to Western ears, I was astonished at…
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Bends in the Road
As a Christian I firmly believe that God has a plan for this world and that he has a plan for us as individuals too. Despite the struggles that come with this I do believe great comfort and freedom can be found in letting God take the driving seat in our lives. Yet one verse…
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Chasing Joy in the Midst of Depression
Whilst we can’t meet together as churches right now, that hasn’t stopped us coming together virtually. At The Globe Church one of the main ways we do this is through weekly Bible studies. And during lockdown we’ve been looking at something the Apostle Paul talks about in his letter to the church in Galatia: the…
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Your Will Be Done?
‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done…’ But wait, I say the words but I don’t echo them in my heart. You see, Its easy to say ‘your will be done’ when God’s will is exactly the same as ours, But what if his will is…
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Hope in the Midst of Grief
Today the number of deaths recorded as a consequence of Covid-19 has reached 8,958 whilst the global death toll has passed 100,000. Personally, I find these numbers hard to fathom, but the truth is that behind every number is a person, a life lost, and countless left behind to grieve. To paraphrase Matt Hancock from…
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Rejection Fatigue
A few hours ago I discovered that the museum I work in will close until further notice. I work in a kitchen so working from home isn’t an option. Given that I’m on a zero hour contract I can pretty safely assume that my income will cease. No measures have been put in place to…
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Trusting God in the Job Hunt
‘Unfortunately, on this occasion, we will not be inviting you to interview.’ ‘We will not be able to take your application further at this time.’ ‘We will not be progressing your application on this occasion.’ ‘I’m afraid we were looking for someone with more experience.’ ‘I’m afraid on this occasion your application was unsuccessful.’ Despite…
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There is a Hope
Just over a month ago, I attended the funeral of two dear friends. The service was devastatingly hard but also beautifully and wonderfully hopeful. As the church reached its capacity and crowds gathered outside it was clear that this devoted couple had touched the lives of many, many individuals. And as the same pastor who…
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My Shortest Prayers
It was another one of those nights, the ones when I would watch the sky turn light again, having still not managed to drift off to sleep. It felt like I had all the time in the world, the minutes trickling by slower that I thought they could, and yet, as I tried to turn…
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Striving Together
Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way…
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Forgetting Me, Remembering Him
Diary Entry – Tuesday 8th August: We were walking by the river in Ho Chi Minh City. It was a hot and humid day, but down by the water I didn’t feel so exhausted. The morning had been hard for me. We had been walking the busy streets of District 3, stopping at intervals to…
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‘Follow Me’
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What…
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‘Send Me’
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the LORD, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And…
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Carry Me
A thousand noises, sights and smells surrounded us. The roads flowed with scooters, mopeds and motorbikes, the streets full with early risers. After the struggle of the past few months it felt amazing be here, with the team, in Vietnam, at the centre of Ho Chi Minh City. Yet there was still anxiety within me.…
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The Darkest Valley
Depression has cast a shadow on my life for about five years now. It hit its worst when I was sixteen. I thought that it would never change, that I would never get better. But then I did. And yet it stayed lurking nearby, and I could feel it coming back again last Christmas, sneaking back…
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The Boy Who Lived
These stories, that were a light to me in times of darkness, a friend in times of loneliness, have been given so much more meaning still, when I read them as a Christian. Yes, Harry Potter is a story about magic, but it is a story, too, about love, sacrifice, life, death, friendship and hope.…
Read More‘…A Light Has Dawned’
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. – Isaiah 9:2 It was dark. Very dark. The darkest of darks. It was as if there was nothing there. The very air itself cast a black blanket around her. It surrounded her,…
Read More‘Be Perfect’
‘You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the…
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Coming Home
Last Sunday I was baptised. It was wonderful, it was a truly special day. I was given the chance to share the good news of Jesus with some of those that I loved most and publicly proclaim my faith to my church. And more importantly unite myself with Jesus and acknowledge everything that my God has done…
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The Big Picture – Part Three: There is a Day
It was unimaginable, indescribable, and far more beautiful than her own human mind could have fathomed before. A new day was dawning, a new joy had come, a new creation was here. To follow of from Part Two of this little blog series, ‘Glorious Ruins’, perhaps the most inspiring talk throughout the ‘Mission and the Whole…
Read MoreThe Big Picture – Part Two: Glorious Ruins
And the ruins of the tempest were returned to glory, the light casting itself upon the world as it was meant to be, the world in which everything good that had been destroyed was restored. And so to follow from ‘Part One: Creation’ I turn to a burning question. That God created the world, the universe,…
Read MoreThe Big Picture – Part One: Creation
A golden light broke through and the grey of the storm was washed away. It was a light more beautiful than she had ever imagined, more pure. In the middle of the first semester of my second year at university, as I face an array of distractions, the things I heard and the things I…
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‘For when I am weak, then I am strong.’
The Lord replied, “My precious, precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you. – Footprints, Anonymous Recently I have come to realise a sobering truth in my life. I am, as…
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The Church Service
Footprints paved their way across the path, drawing together, all converging to one place. In sets of twos or threes, in families, or alone, they make their way towards the doorway, they make their way in. And here come together people from so many different walks of life, here come together people from such different…
Read MoreLet Me Be Singing When the Evening Comes
And in a sudden moment the voices changed. Once lone voices, interweaving yet singular, separate, they now became one. A single voice. A vast community singing the same words, reaching for the heavens in a multitude of notes and yet all caught on the same one. This was the voice of the church, of people…
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‘…love one another.’
Friendship is invaluable, and Jesus is the greatest friend we could have. And yet it’s easy for me to say this, easy for me to tell you what I have learnt in a nice neat sentence. But I want to show you that this is what I have experienced, to show you that friendship isn’t always…
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‘As I have loved you…’
Friendship is a very beautiful thing. It is a great source of joy in our lives and an opposition to loneliness. Whether or not we admit it, I believe that we are all very scared of being lonely, of being without family or friends. It is a wonderful thing to be able to share with…
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The Patronus Light
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5 There I was, knelt on my knees, trying desperately to clean the black stain that was slowly embedding itself of the floor. It had happened in a moment, the flinch of my hand. With a quill in one hand…
Read MoreGod is Everywhere
She could feel the ache running through her body, could feel the weight of a mind starved from rest, and yet as she saw a light break the horizon she was reminded of greater things. She was reminded of greater things. She was reminded that though she be weak and merely human there was a…
Read MoreRuth, Chapter Four: From Nobody to Somebody
As we come to the end of the book of Ruth, I feel that I must emphasise the same things that was emphasised, was shown to me, as the true messages of Ruth were drawn out before me. Ruth and Boaz are image of the Church and Christ. Boaz’s protection of and commitment to Ruth…
Read MoreRuth, Chapter Three: A Light in Darkness
George Matheson – ‘O love that wilt not let me go.’ O joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to thee; I trace the rainbow through the rain And feel the promise is not vain That morn shall tearless be. Whilst light is not a prominent symbol in Ruth, Chapter three,…
Read MoreRuth, Chapter Two: He Noticed Me
I am the girl who nobody knows. The one you’ll see, but barely notice at all. I am part of the background, insignificant even amongst the scenery. I won’t make a difference, not to you, to you it doesn’t matter that you’ll never know me. I am nobody. I am nothing. That, I fear, is how…
Read MoreRuth, Chapter One: Returning Home
The Book of Ruth is a small narrative, only four chapters long, tucked away in the Old Testament of the Bible, between the Book of Judges and the two Books of Samuel. And yet the story, messages and parallels of Ruth are astounding. When the Globe Church announced that it would be giving a series on…
Read MorePart 2: ‘I Will Carry You’
We may know what it is to pray to God, to call to God and know that He is listening, but in times of darkness, do we know the fullness of what it is to depend upon God, to trust in the power and the grace of God and know that he will overcome our…
Read MorePart 1: ‘I Will Listen to You’
And it tore, tore completely from top to bottom, with the force of one whose power was greater than that of the earth. The very fabric was broken in two and there was left an opening. An opening between one place and another, between isolation and safety, an opening into man’s greatest need, into a relationship…
Read MoreHe is Risen
There I’m stood, waiting, in a crowd, a wide space open before us, a few women talk animatedly in the open. But we can’t hear everything they’re saying, and as their voices disappear a wave of quiet falls over us all. My friend turns to look the other way, I begin to follow her gaze and see, like the…
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The Lilies of the Field 