On Friday and Saturday nights a team of about 12 Street Pastors, from a pool of trained volunteers from various churches and denominations, mixes with revellers coming in and out of the clubs. At weekends the city centre population nearly doubles as the night life attracts many from greater Glasgow and other cities. The aim … Continue reading Love Vast as the Ocean →

Did you know that Saturday September 20th was World Clean Up Day? How amazing that on that very day, 50 years ago, God cleaned me! Yes, I’d been invited for the weekend to St Ninians in Crieff by my brother Barry and Edinburgh’s Charlotte Chapel youth group. I knew a ceilidh was planned for the … Continue reading Fifty Years Ago →

When we lived in Turkey we moved house several times. I was intrigued to find that if there was a bathtub there was no plug! I noticed that neighbours with bathtubs often stored plastic basins and buckets there. Eventually I realised that culturally showering was considered important to flush the impurities away, and that to … Continue reading Bath or Shower →

Whether it’s true or not, the saying has become synonymous with a leader engaging in frivolous activities, indifferent to the suffering of the ordinary people. It refers to Emperor Nero in AD 64 when a great fire broke out in the city of Rome. History tells us that Nero was probably miles away in his … Continue reading Nero Fiddled While Rome Burned! →

I’ve just watched the 3 episode documentary film ‘Live Aid at 40’ on BBC IPlayer. In spite of Bob Geldof’s constant use of the ‘f’ word, I found myself moved to tears several times. Raw Passion In 1985 there was such a simplicity to the message and such an urgency and passion to express it. … Continue reading Hungry for Righteousness →

Our church is embarking on a building project. The truth is, our kitchen is no longer compliant with regulations, no longer fit for purpose, and as much of our fellowship and outreach ministry is built around hospitality, something must be done. Nehemiah was called to a building project. Of course, his work was much bigger … Continue reading The Cupbearer Builder →

It was difficult not to be moved by the VE Day celebrations this week. We were reminded of the horrors of war, the loss of life and sacrifices made, but also the camaraderie of pulling together through the hardships. There was a wonderful team spirit in the country and a certain pleasure from serving the … Continue reading VE Day →

For 30+ years this shepherd’s crook has been hanging on our coat pegs. It belonged to a Kurdish shepherd who found himself on the mountains of Turkey when the Iraqi Kurds fled from Saddam Hussein’s murderous regime in 1991. This grateful old man gave it to a culturally insensitive aid worker when he admired it. … Continue reading The Shepherd’s Crook →

Months before my operation I was warned that I would have to follow the rehabilitation exercise programme strictly to fully benefit from my surgery. These weeks since my total knee replacement I’ve been reminded of this pithy saying of George Verwer, the founder of OM, the international mission agency we are part of. ‘A crisis … Continue reading A Crisis without a Process leads to an Abscess →

This Christmas season lines from the carol ‘O Holy Night’ have caught my attention. Dancing in the streets of Damascus is a powerful picture of a ‘weary world rejoicing’. We’ve watched the great celebrations throughout the country as they welcome in a New Year and the hope of a new Syria, freed from 40 years … Continue reading The Weary World Rejoices →