In May 2004 I had a stroke. Now 13 and a half years later, or about 5000 days later, I have some questions to ask myself. I firmly believe that God wants us all to be healthy and he can, and does heal bodies and minds. However, I must be honest with myself and dare to state that complete healing from the effects of the stroke is probably not going to happen. Is this a lack of faith on my part – no, I don’t think it is. Continue reading “5000 days after I had a stroke”
Category: Compassion
Love God, Yourself and Neighbour
Love is the most powerful force in the universe. Love is the only way of fulfilling a relationship. Without love, relationships cannot exist and without relationship, there is no need for love. For love to change the world, three relationships are necessary:
- Loving God
- Loving ourselves
- Loving our neighbour
Jesus was asked the question: “What is the most important commandment?”
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31 NIV)
God’s plan is to change the world in which we live. Not through exercising his power, not by commanding us to live better lives, not through fear of punishment but by using his love, enabling us to love him, to love ourselves and to love those around us. Continue reading “Love God, Yourself and Neighbour”
My new book
Compassion and Justice
I feel passionate about compassion particularly for the billions who are living in desperate poverty around the world. Extreme poverty can be eliminated if people like you and I say ‘enough is enough’!
But compassion alone is not enough. So many people are exploited by the powerful and the elite and this demands justice for the oppressed. It is not a case of compassionate acts or fighting for justice. It is a matter of compassion AND justice.
I have just published the book “Compassion and Justice” in paperback and in Kindle format. It contains 50 or so of my blog articles about Compassion, Vision, Giving and Justice.
I am not selling this book to top-up my income but to provide funds to expand the campaign of awareness I am involved with. Please support me in my efforts to spread the good news of compassion and in my fight for justice on behalf of the voiceless.
To Order direct from me:
- Collection from me: £8.00
- By Post (U.K. only): £8.00 + £2 post and packing.
To Order direct from Amazon
There may be a delivery charge for the paperback version
- Paperback Kindle
- USA $11.99 $5.68
- United Kingdom £7.99 £3.99
- India INR 878 INR 299
- Rest of World $11.99 $5.68
On a kindle device, search for “George Dowdell”
A new book on Kindle!
I feel passionate about compassion particularly for the billions who are living in desperate poverty around the world. Extreme poverty can be eliminated if people like you and I say ‘enough is enough’!
But compassion alone is not enough. So many people are exploited by the powerful and the elite and this demands justice for the oppressed. It is not a case of compassionate acts or fighting for justice. It is a matter of compassion AND justice.
I have just published the book “Compassion and Justice” on Kindle. It is priced at £3.99 in the United Kingdom, 299 rupees in India and $5.68 in the rest of the world. It contains 50 or so of my blog articles about Compassion, Vision, Giving and Justice.
I am not selling this book to top-up my income but to provide funds to expand the campaign of awareness I am involved with. Please support me in my efforts to spread the good news of compassion and in my fight for justice on behalf of the voiceless.
Ordering from Amazon:
There may be a delivery charge for the paperback version
- Paperback Kindle
- United Kingdom £7.99 £3.99
- India INR 299 INR 878
- Rest of World $11.99 $5.68
On a kindle device, search for “George Dowdell”
Great is your faithfulness
This morning, at the meeting of our church, we sang an old hymn. “What’s so strange about that?” you may ask. Well, we normally sing more modern worship songs, and rarely sing what would normally be described as a hymn.
We sang these words in response to a moving account from one of our people about difficulties he had to face this past week. But through it all he had a conviction that God is faithful. Continue reading “Great is your faithfulness”
Compassion for Refugees
It’s all about compassion. As I write this, the news media is full of information about the “refugee crisis” or “migrant crisis”. Hot spots are Calais in France, Southern Italy and Libya, Budapest in Hungary, and the island of Cos in Greece and Turkey. Who cannot be moved by the photograph of a young boy’s body, washed up on the beach. Politicians can rationalise and talk about the underlying causes but I sense a change in ordinary people’s attitudes as they feel sympathy, empathy and compassion towards people they see as fellow human beings. Continue reading “Compassion for Refugees”
Changing hearts to change the world
The other night I could not get to sleep for a while. I was thinking back over the last 70 years, and wondering, “Where has it all gone?” It has always been my passion to change the world and I have not achieved all that I set out to do. I do not want to minimise what has been achieved though the charity I founded, but I want more; I want my life to make a real difference!
When I woke up at around 6 a.m. I was faintly aware of a dream I had just had. The details are a bit vague but I had been having a conversation with God about the state of the world. The only words I can remember is God saying, “I am in the business of changing hearts” Continue reading “Changing hearts to change the world “
Vote with your heart
It’s general election time! It is our opportunity to change the way the our country is governed. But as individual voters, how do we decide who to vote for? If we know some of the candidates, we can vote for the person, but most of us have never met any of the candidates. We could vote for the party with the leader we like, but that is dangerous because a party can change its leader at any time. We will probably vote for the party which most closely aligns with our own personal ethos.
Towards an alternative economy
We live in a capitalist economy, based on exchange of goods and services using the medium of money. When we buy or sell something, we make an agreed exchange of value. In theory nobody wins and nobody loses, but in practise the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Is there an alternative?
If we all valued other people as much as we value ourselves, a culture of giving could create a different sort of economy. An economy based on ‘loving our neighbour as ourselves’; where as we look after the interests of others, we can feel secure in the knowledge that others are looking after our interests. I know that this seems idealistic, but bear with me as we explore the matter further. Continue reading “Towards an alternative economy”
Does God love everyone?
In my last blog, I stated that God loves everyone, unconditionally and that love is the very nature of God. I believe that with all of my heart, but it is good to be challenged now and again. After publishing last week’s blog, a long-term friend came round to see us. She had just read a book about God and natural disasters and was disturbed by what she had read.
Accepting the challenge, I downloaded the book to my kindle and read it all in a day. The book was written by a well-known bible scholar. (I will not mention his name because I don’t want to attack him publicly.) The book addressed the age-old problem of “If God is a God of love, why does he allow natural disasters”. Continue reading “Does God love everyone?”
Compassion and Justice 