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New seasons require renewed discipline.

In 2014 we visited Iceland for New Year. We had an amazing time, in a beautiful country with stunning landscapes, visiting Waterfalls and geysers, going whale watching and getting to see the Northern lights dance. Like most holidays, we came back with several souvenirs, woolly hats with the Iceland flag, a northern light scarf, some volcanic rock and some candles (still not sure why we bought candles). But one of my favourite things I brought back was a photo we purchased from a small gallery in Reykjavik. It was a picture of the same tree four times, in each of the four seasons. It’s a photo I have always hoped to recreate, and perhaps I one day will. I recently had an intriguing thought about this image, which hangs in our hall — what would this photo look like if it was a reflection of our lives and the unique seasons we faced? What if we were the tree? Life is of course made up of different seasons, of ups and downs, a s Ronan Keating famously sang, “life is a rollercoaster, just g...
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Built to Last

 I live in a town called Hadleigh, one of the best things about my town (other than Costa, a McD's and the bus routes) is its castle, Hadleigh Castle. Today not much of it remains and it's effectively ruins, good for pigeon's nests and the odd bit of graffiti. The area around the Castle is owned by The Salvation Army and is well kept, and makes for great walks and bike rides, but as great as the castle looks or its surrounding is, it remains a ruin. The English Heritage website says that it was Hubert de Burgh who built the castle and that he did so "as a statement of his power." It's interesting how humans like to build things to show off their power, to impress others or to make a name for ourselves, pointing to this desire within us all to leave a legacy, to be remembered. But what kind of legacy will we leave? What will I build with my life? On Sunday I spoke on Matthew 16:13-18, a conversation between Jesus and his disciples, where Jesus asks his disciple...
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Easter - It is finished

 On Easter Sunday I shared a message entitled ‘it is finished,’ based on the final words of Jesus before his death. I love studying and writing sermons, but this sermon left me with more content then I’ve probably had before, and that meant much of it (rightfully) got left on the cutting floor. But this week, parts of what I did and didn’t share have kept coming to mind. Easter, after all, was never meant to be confined to one weekend of the year.  Jesus’ words ‘it is finished,’ followed of course by his resurrection, bring to fulfilment all that Jesus taught and did while here on earth, and opened up a new way of living for us every day of our life. Understanding those not-so-final words of Jesus becomes pretty important if we desire to follow him every day of our lives, so I thought I’d reproduce what I wrote for easter Sunday in a four part blog, mainly for my own enjoyment, but perhaps it will be of interest/help for you, as you seek to be a Jesus’ follower, living in the ...
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I don’t know what to do.

I don’t know what to do. I’m sure we’ve all said it, or at the very least, thought it. Perhaps you know the desired outcome, you just don’t know how to get there. Reflecting recently, I recognised that this would be a great name for my autobiography (if I ever wrote one). Beth (my wife) often says to me I’m really good at blagging it, which in my job is kind of a strength and weakness. I’m not sure if ‘blagging it’ is the best way to describe this particular gifting of mine, perhaps ‘thinking on the spot’ or ‘ being adaptive’ would be better. At it’s best this particular gift allows me to respond to a crisis or issue as soon as it is presented, perhaps someone is struggling with something pastorally that I’ve never had to deal with before, and it is helpful being able to navigate these situations. At it’s worst, I don’t prepare as much as I should for a talk, or training evening, and can to some extend wing it. Either way I’m grateful that these experiences haven’t killed me (yet). Wha...
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A year of Intentional discipline.

Each year, like many, I review the year that has gone and look ahead to the year to come. I have a journal I call my Eagle Journal, where I try and write something every day. It doesn’t have to be anything particularly profound, sometimes it’s a quote from a TV programme or book, other times it’s a funny quote from someone, or a summary of what has happened that day. I love how it has enabled me to remember things that I otherwise would have forgotten, like the date of our first ever baby scan, or times I laughed uncontrollably with friends. We are often waiting for the next big thing to happen in our lives, to the extent that we miss the significance of the innumerable small things.  The review I then do of the year, looks back at my favourite quotes, moments, books and films. Straight after the review in my journal, I then look to the year ahead. I write about my expectations and goals for the year to come, and I will also give the year a description, based on what I know or sens...
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A year to remember, a season for change.

I don’t know if you’re like me but I am slightly unsure about what the future holds. Bit of an obvious statement, I know. Of course that is true for all of us at any time, we could be knocked down by a bus (why is this always the example people use?), lose our jobs, or receive the diagnosis we never wanted to hear, or we could come into some money, be offered a new exciting job opportunity or receive a massive encouragement, all at any moment in the future. The future will, to a large extent, remain unknown.  But when I say I am unsure I mean more in the ‘unprecedented’ sense. We were continually told, and we probably regularly said, that this last year was ‘unprecedented’ but what does returning from such a place look like? Will it be much like it was before, with 2020 soon becoming a distant memory, with only the memes left to remind us? Is this the first pandemic of many? Is this a rollercoaster we are no longer getting off? Is it the beginning of the end?????? And what choices ...
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The Daily Struggle

The mind is a curious thing. From it we dream and think, we imagine and create, and it is in the mind that we often fight our hardest battles. 2020 has been a year where many of us have struggled with that inner battle, and the stats back it up. In 2014 I was diagnosed with depression. I knew those words were coming, I had been in that place from about a year before, but to tell anyone or to admit it was one of the biggest battles of all. It’s why I’m sharing this with you now, because I know that many of us would rather suffer in silence, even to dangerous levels, rather then admit the darkness we’re fighting. That’s how I would describe what I felt back then, just darkness seeping into every thought and action. Something as simple as getting out of bed took all my energy and made me want to end it all. I’m better now. At least better then I was, much better then I was. Thanks to the doctors, medication, and support of my wife, as well as changes in circumstances and behaviours, (and ...
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