Soul Speak

I was watching Match of the Day last night (MOTD) which, for anyone reading this from outside the UK, is a staple part of most football-loving chap’s Saturday evening. 

In the match between my beloved Liverpool FC and West Ham United, the referee had a mare: he wrongly sent off two players, one from each team.

John Noble was the West Ham player to get shown a straight red for a challenge that barely warranted a yellow. But it was the Commentator’s phrase in response that caught my attention when the player went in for the supposedly horrendous tackle. He asked provokingly, 

“What did this [a supposedly terrible challenge] show us of his soul…?”

As it happened it didn’t show us anything, other than that Noble was quite gracious in the end because his tackle definitely didn’t deserve a red card.

For us, what does X, Y and Z of our daily life and behaviour show of our soul?

When I read this following verse this morning, I was glad of His watchful eye over my often ‘leaky soul’.

“For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” 1Pet2.25

  Photo taken in Edinburgh’s Pentland Hills with Arthur’s Seat in the distance 

Man On

Have you ever been lied to? Has someone ever tried to deliberately mislead you? Or have you ever bought something and afterwards have had that horrible feeling that you’ve been ripped off? Maybe at a car garage when your car needed an MOT/service? Or when you were getting a quote for work on the house? Or when your Landlord wouldn’t give you all your deposit back? I’m sure you have.

Thankfully, most people are decent and aren’t out to lie, deceive and cheat.

But “the primary strategy of the devil is to deceive us. He is primarily a deceiver…” as John Piper says in a recent blog article from Desiring God. I’d encourage you to read it because it got me thinking about the questions, above, about our life under God.Continue reading “Man On”

New Day

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Persevere

Mairi and I, along with our friend Sam, spent a glorious few days last week in Torbay filming on location for the Jesus Come project which is coming along nicely.

We also had plenty of time for much-needed relaxation including finding my old childhood fishing spot off Berry Head where I have memories of catching fish as a wee boy. It was so much fun.

We’d got the rod out and set up camp at Berry Head but for three or four hours there was barely even a bite on the end of the line. Then, all of a sudden, Continue reading “Persevere”

Exodus: Gods and Kings

A close and legenadary Film Director friend of mine once inspired me to think about the difference between movies and films: a movie is often for popping pop-corn, action, explosions, the BIG SCREEN; whereas a film can be all of those things but still be in a league of its own as an artistic creation rather than just as a mode of entertainment.

One of my favourite films of all time is The Prince of Egypt produced by DreamWorks. I remember watching it for the first time in 1999 in Europe’s oldest purpose-built cinema in Paignton and being moved to tears by the sense of God’s presence and biblical accuracy that the film carries. The burning bush scene and the splitting of the Red Sea gets me every single time!

mosesredseaContinue reading “Exodus: Gods and Kings”

Personal Bests

On top of our normal training, Mairi and I have been investing in a Personal Trainer for the last 4 weeks at Nuffield Health. The sessions with Rob are hard-core.

Because I’ve worked in exercise and health for 15 years, including within clubs like Nuffield, I tended to put this off as an option because of my own knowledge base in this industry.Continue reading “Personal Bests”

The Gay Cake Debate

It’s almost two years since I’ve written anything at length around the subject of marriage. Back in June 2013 I was compelled to put something together by way of a response to the (at that time) proposed redefinition of marriage. Since then, March 29th 2014 has come and gone, with relatively little upset in or out of the UK church, and ‘marriage’ as we now know it has been ‘redefined’. You can read my fairly comprehensive piece on marriage here, outlining the biblical perspective explained clearly from Scripture here. (I am yet to see any biblical foundation explained that supports a progressive conviction that homosexual marriage is pleasing to and blessed by God).

Over the last couple of yearsContinue reading “The Gay Cake Debate”

Watching from Weakness

So the Lord Jesus was experiencing a pain and anxiety that is barely imaginable to you and me: the sin of the ages descending on Him like a black cloud, transferring to Him like a deadly disease, isolating Him while the Father’s back begins to turn. Jesus was needing His brothers to pray for Him. Continue reading “Watching from Weakness”