Thought for the week

Perfect love drives out fear

The desperate and tragic scenes at the Hamad Karzai International Airport in Kabul have vividly portrayed what terrorism is all about: producing terror in men, women, and children. The ordinary people in Afghanistan are in profound fear of the Taliban and thousands want to flee from their home country to avoid savage punishments or death…

August 30, 2021
My joy in the way God has made me

This week the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games begins. More than 4500 athletes from 163 countries will compete in 539 events in 22 sports. Sadly, the two athletes from Afghanistan have not been able to travel because of the political turmoil in the country. Zakia Khudadadi, who competes in taekwondo, would have been the first female…

August 23, 2021
The secret of all true success

William Hartley was born in 1846 in Colne, Lancashire. His father, John, was a tinsmith and his mother, Margaret, ran a grocery. He was their only child to survive infancy. William left school at 14 and started work in his mother’s grocery. When he was 16, he was put in charge of the business and…

August 16, 2021
I am safe, I am loved

On 18 March 2018 Kenyatta Barron made a desperate emergency call begging for her life and the life of Ronnie, her 7-year-old son. Ronnie’s father had just stabbed him and set him on fire in their home in Hillsborough County, Florida. That same night, Ronnie’s father murdered Ronnie’s mother and sister. Homicide detective Mike Blair…

August 9, 2021
Remembering Andrew Devine

Andrew Devine has died, aged 55, the 97th victim of the Hillsborough disaster at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on 15 April 1989. Andrew, then aged 22, suffered life-changing injuries because his chest was crushed and his brain was deprived of oxygen. His parents were told he would probably not live…

August 2, 2021
When we fail

The XXXII Olympic Games are being held in Tokyo after a one-year delay. Many Japanese people are unhappy that the Games are being held and at most events there will be no spectators present because of Covid-19 restrictions. More than 10,000 athletes from 206 nations will compete in 33 different sports. The preparations for these…

July 26, 2021
I shall behold his face

On 11 July Richard Branson travelled as a passenger on Virgin Galactic SS Unity 22, a supersonic rocket-propelled spacecraft, to the edge of space. This test flight lasted one hour and reached an altitude of 53.4 miles above the earth. It was the first flight with a full crew and was the culmination of 17…

July 19, 2021
God’s moral law matters

For the past 16 months we have lived under emergency laws made by the Government to protect us from the Covid-19 virus. Most people have kept these laws and recent events have revealed the strong disapproval felt towards those who break them. Ordinary people, who have kept the laws, resent people in power breaking them…

July 12, 2021
I don’t want to say my friends died for nothing

On 4 July the last 750 regular British soldiers left Afghanistan, bringing to an end 20 years of military deployment in the country. Since the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom was launched, following the 2001 September 11 terror attacks, 454 British soldiers and civilians have died in Afghanistan. Some 2300 US personnel have also been killed…

July 5, 2021
The story of Rodwell Khomazana

On 2 May 9-year-old Rodwell Khomazana was attacked by a hyena and suffered life-changing injuries. The attack took place when Rodwell was with his family at a night religious service at Zviratidzo Zvevapostori Apostolic Church in Zimbabwe and was sleeping. In the attack Rodwell suffered terrible injuries losing his nose, left eye, most of his…

June 28, 2021