I have just published a blog article entitled “Looking after our world” about the threat to mankind caused by global warming. I have been thinking about this and want to explore the concept that the world belongs to it’s creator and we are here to look after this planet as stewards of a fantastic world full of diversity and beauty.
Continue reading “Looking after HIS world”
I think I was about 10 years old when this became my favourite carol. It is full of reality and yet hope. Phrases like “Two thousand years of wrong” and “Men at war with man” deeply affected me – and still do. The writer tells it like it is and writes of “life’s crushing load” and “the weary road” and yet speaks about “peace on the whole earth ” and “the love song which they (the angels) bring”.
The day started much like any other day. I had no wealth of my own, in fact the rather scraggy looking sheep I was looking after belonged to my wife’s father. There was very little grass to be found in the semi-dessert that I had made my home, so each day I had to take the sheep further and further across the arid landscape. I came to a mountain which was reputed to be a special place of the God my real mother had told me about so many years ago. Thinking about my real mother put me in a reflective mood.
Continue reading “An ancient, yet modern story”
I (George Dowdell) have recently become a trustee of a new charity that was the vision of Tony Lemboye.
Young star mentoring coaches and mentors young people who have had difficulties in life both personally and socially, by guiding them through a training program of personal development. We teach them to be part of a team, encourage discipline, respect, self worth and a deeper sense of community. Continue reading “Young Star Mentoring”
Most people now realise that we really need to look after the planet where we live. After all it is the only place we have to live (at least for the foreseeable future). We tread a delicate path between wisely using the resources available to us and exploiting the earth and damaging the environment beyond repair. Continue reading “Looking after our world”
We need a church which is a community effective within the wider community. 500 years ago, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five thesis to the door of his church in Germany in what is considered the start of the Reformation of the Church. I think that we are due a new reformation that will totally overturn the organisational structure of the church, radically effect our programs and many of our beliefs. In fact there are many hopeful signs that this process has already started.
Jesus never intended that the church should be an organisation, or indeed 40,000 different organisations! He told his disciples to “make disciples”, not make church members. What would it mean if the church was not organisations but a collection of people who seek to follow Jesus Christ as his disciples. If we stopped being an organisation there are enormous re-percussions which we will explore below….
Continue reading “Where on earth is the Church going?”
I am on a journey, a journey which is not yet over. Â Over the years, my ideas, my beliefs, my politics, my heart and my attitudes have changed enormously. Â But my faith in a living God who loves us and wants a relationship with us has not changed. Â So I approach this subject with some trepidation and I hope with some humility. Continue reading “Same sex relationships”
As a follower of Jesus Christ I want to follow his plan for my life and do not want to displease God in any way by my actions, speech or thoughts. Â I may judge for myself what is right for and what is wrong for me, but I have no right to judge other people or to impose my standards or my morality on another human being.
Continue reading “Knowing right from wrong”
Why does Christianity, as a religion, seem to lag behind society in its lack of acceptance of people who are different in some way? When confronted with truth we can listen to reason, even change our minds on an issue, but dealing with the emotional impact of a new way of thinking takes time before we can whole heartedly embrace the truth. What am I talking about? Take the abolition of slavery as an example. Continue reading “The struggle for change”
I long for a just society is where each member of the community cares for the rights of each other member. This sounds a little idealistic but we can hunger and thirst to live in a world where this ideal for humanity is paramount. Jesus told us that God blesses those who seek justice for their fellow-man.
“God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6 New Living Translation)
Compassion and Justice 