Coach House Talks and Beacons

Last week I was having an interesting discussion with Andy and Steve Adshead. We were talking about how in the past certain churches have banned or frowned upon certain activities that seemed “worldly” but were clearly in the bible, like dancing.

I had no defence as I processed the truth of this observation. I couldn’t deny that he voiced a secret I already knew but didn’t want to admit: my prayers were pathetic.

In a few days I will at last be able to get my boat wet and will be able to go sailing on the sea, off Anglesey. I look forward to this point in time with great eagerness, but the scenario is nearly always the same each year…

Recently I watched a documentary called ‘Invisible World’ which was presented by Tony Robinson. He showed and explained some phenomena about our world that I hadn’t considered before. He made some statements that made me think. Although he wasn’t necessarily coming from a Christian point of view

Watching people in the train station I sometimes make up stories about where they’re going and what they’re doing. Most of them are absorbed by their phones and they are functioning on autopilot because they know where they’re going and what train to take.

How are your New Year’s resolutions going? You may think it’s strange to be saying this in April, but actually, it’s the most important time to ask the question. The joke is that New Year’s resolutions are thought about at New Year, because that’s where most people leave them…and don’t touch them again for another full year.

Now you have to understand that I was quite keen on trains, I travelled on them whenever and wherever I could, I took photos of them, and I confess that I also wrote down the numbers. I even had a model railway at one time and I was quite excited at the prospect of getting to ride on a train that many others wouldn't, maybe God would even let me drive this train.

Are you like me - like arriving early for meetings, parties, church services and lunches??.. probably more likely  I arrive to lunches early because I really like starters and nibbles. You know the ones I mean - Olives, warm recently baked bread ready to dip into olive oil and balsamic glaze,

Jamie and I watched the TV program called the repair shop this week. In the program the experts took items that used to be precious, whether that be toys or trophies or even a bell. These things had been broken, whether by accident or just through the course of time.

One of my favourite TV shows is one called ‘Would I lie to You?’ The premise of the show is that celebrity teams have to make convincing arguments from statements which they have not seen beforehand, which the opposite team then has to simply work out : is it the truth or a lie?

One of the important aspects of working with children and young people is in encouraging and developing their skills in using their voice. By this, I mean in having the ability and confidence to speak up when they need to. This may be to report a fault, rather than putting up with second rate equipment.

If there is a good thing that came out of the past year, it must be the fact that some people started to look around and see the needs of others and reached out a helping hand. Throughout the last year we have seen people organise, or help out at food banks or charities that helped ordinary people with basic needs like : food , clothes, keeping the house warm and so on.

It makes us feel like David is boasting about himself, and that because he’s racked up enough points with God, God has come to his aid to rescue him in his time of need. We can easily treat moral actions like nectar card points that we gradually save up over time

Television was one of the greatest inventions of the last Century. It has become one of the essentials of life, something that few of us can ever remember being without. I have to say I don't watch a huge amount of television but it does provide a useful source of entertainment from time to time.

If the nevers of life are discouraging you, if you’ve waited for the Lord to fulfill His promises to you, if you wonder why God has allowed such a lengthy delay in answering the deepest cries of your heart—if that’s where you are, friend—then listen on

So my first point is that even when we try to go against what God wants, God will still use it for good. Those sailors began to praise God because Jonah had been on the boat. If Jonah had chosen to do what God had wanted, He may have saved the sailors in another way, but the point is that God will use whatever we do for His glory. Even when we disobey

‘Mamma Mia’, here I go again. These beacons come round quite frequently, so thank you for another opportunity that I have for you to ‘take a chance on me’. Being an encouragement is the ‘name of the game’ and its definitely not about the ‘money, money, money’. It’s more about ‘knowing me, knowing you’ but ultimately knowing God.

If you know our house then you’ll know how much we like visitors, in usual times, people staying over and people coming for meals. We’ve had many a bonfire and a big pan of curry and chatted late into the night. However, there have been some unwelcome visitors in the house lately-tiny four legged ones.

Today I would like us to look at appearances. How do we appear to other people? is it a true image of ourselves or is it someone else that we project outwards? In a world where people put most of their lives on social media we can project an image of ourselves that is very far from the truth.

I have the gift of simplification, do you have it too? It’s a double edged sword, and often a keyboard with a worn down delete key. I love simplifying things, even when I don’t do it well. I’ve recently been editing and a couple of friends’ essays and cover letters, and my favourite part is pressing ‘delete’ on a huge chunk of information and then seeing that word count drop.

Well I had a day at home and although I had work to do I had agreed that it would be my turn to make Dinner. The day before we had a Turkey thigh, which I had slow cooked for 8 hours, so we had a big bowl of stock to use and it made perfect sense to me to make a soup. I will leave it to you to guess what was added to the soup but I can assure you the result was well worth the effort

There is a story about a man who had parked his motorhome at a campsite near Newquay. One night, someone was trying to steal fuel from his motorhome. He put the hose in and sucked hard. At this point, the motorhome owner heard a noise and went outside to see a man throwing up. Turns out, the thief had put the hose in the waste tank instead of the fuel tank. Gross!

Have you ever seen the film the Lord of the Rings? We are watching it for the first time with the kids. I had forgotten how much I love the films and it is a joy to be able to introduce them to somebody else. My brother and sister and I used to spend hours fighting imaginary orcs with our bows and arrows and now Jamie and I can watch the boys, Noah and Eli, do the same.

One thing that keeps cropping up, is the encouragement to submit, whether to authorities, masters, or husbands – it is a fairly inclusive instruction for us to live in harmony with each other, in order to show those outside the church, how good God is. It culminates with the plea to ‘to be of one mind’.

Milk in glass bottles, warm, with a thick layer of cream at the top that you were keen to drink, even though it had been in a warm classroom for half a day? School dinners where there were always seconds and your friends were happy to give you the tapioca and prunes that they weren’t keen on?