Hate Will Not Have the Final Say. A Note of Hope in a Tragic Week
British MP Jo Cox's murder yesterday sent the nation into shock, halted the EU referendum campaign, and sparked spontaneous vigils last night. It came just days after another history-making tragedy, the Orlando shooting. The loss of a young wife, mother, politician and humanitarian, applauded by all as a woman of astounding compassion, and those lost
Can You Be Born Again Through a Pair of Jeans? Plenty Of Us Think So
I saw an ad the other day. The headline read, 'Be born again.' It was for a plastic surgeon. It's not the first time advertisers have promised eternal life. Levi's jeans once did the same. And yet, science has proven what Jesus taught centuries ago: material things will never satisfy spiritual needs
To Help a Friend with Depression, Here’s the Best Thing You Can Do
When I was asked to speak on mental health for BBC Radio 2's Pause for Thought segment, I consulted my brilliant Facebook community. They shared deeply and with insight on just how we can be more accepting of those who suffer this way. The starting point? See people as bigger than their illness
In Praise of Serendipity, God’s Sneaky Surprises
You know those happy coincidences or unexpected discoveries that take us by surprise? We call it serendipity. Not all serendipity is chance, accident or coincidence. A good deal of it is in fact divine. Like my miraculous little encounter as I stood, with aching legs and blistered feet, among the back pillars of Durham Cathedral
Everything in This Cafe is Free—Just Like God’s Gifts
Imagine walking into a cafe, ordering a flat white and a piece of cake, sitting down at a table while they're brought to you, and then, after enjoying your morning tea, you go to pay the bil
Guilty Pleasures: Should I Or Shouldn’t I?
When BBC Radio 2 asked me to talk about guilty pleasures, it wasn't my obsession with 80s soul and funk music, or my tendency to eat Nutella from the jar, or the sneaky flavours I sometimes add to my coffee, that was my deepest concern. It was my habit of sitting in coffee shops for
We are More Than Our Greatest Success or Worst Failure
Frank Sinatra will forever be remembered for the song My Way, even though he hated it. The same thing happens to celebrities and politicians all the time as one song, controversy or policy failure becomes lodged in public memory. But there is more to them than that. And there is more to you than others
Redeeming Generation X
Cynical, nihilist, commitment-phobic, dispassionate. Perhaps no age-group in history has had more negative labels attached to it than Generation X: that often ignored 'middle child' generation between the Baby Boomers and Millennials. As a Gen-Xer myself, I want to shout "We're better than you think!" But as I share in this BBC Pause for Thought
What a Cold Pint of Beer Can Tell Us About God
I've never had much of a taste for beer. I know some see beer as such a societal menace, it's not worth talking about too. But keep this in mind: the first breweries were started by Christians to provide a healthy alternative to either drinking dirty water or getting drunk on gin, and the very
048 Finding God in Unexpected Places (5 Great Stories)
Elijah searched for God in a whirlwind but found him in a whisper. Jacob found him in his dreams, Moses in a burning bush, and Mary Magdalene looked for him in a tomb but found him standing behind her. God always seems to turn up in unexpected places. Here are five contemporary stories to show