Hardships Develop Comforters
First published 11 February 2010 This post is now incorporated with 22 other similar ‘reflections’ in my book, Facing Cancer with Faith. I am writing again in my hospital bed, only a week or so after I first wrote of my illness in the 3rd article in this series. It is now Sunday 31st January…
Why Does God Answer Other People’s Prayers and Not Mine?!
First published 5 February 2010 Here’s something I started to learn in my last big gap between jobs. It has since been reinforced, but I think it will be many years before it finally sinks in. I can’t remember how many months I had been without paid work. It could have been three or four.…
Fighting for Holiness Like ‘Black Hawk Down’
First published 2 February 2010 One of my favourite films is the Ridley Scott classic, Black Hawk Down. I don’t need to describe the storyline in much detail here. The point is that it’s a war film. Now, many film buffs may say that there are better war films around, perhaps like Saving Private Ryan…
Christian Foundations
First published 31 January 2010 For those who are not (yet) Christians I guess I intended my last few blog articles for those who are Christians like me. However, a few people who have read my articles may not have been Christians. If that’s you, I am a little bit conscious that what I have…
Book Review – You Can Change, by Tim Chester
First published 25 January 2010 When I saw Tim Chester’s book, You Can Change (IVP 2008) on the church bookstall I was intrigued. It touched a nerve. There are things in my life I am not proud of that I would like to change. It seems sometimes like I have been trying to change them for years…
Rejoicing in Being Derailed
Originally published 23 January 2010 This post is now incorporated with 22 other similar ‘reflections’ in my book, Facing Cancer with Faith. One thing I knew when I wrote my last blog post on hardship was that my return to paid employment, after 8 months of struggling, would not mean an end of trials and…
Is God Punishing Me?
Originally published 12 Nov 2009 I have been reflecting on hardship quite a bit recently. My own particular hardship has been unemployment, having had only three days of paid work in the last seven months or more. When I think about it, unemployment has followed me ever since I left university in the midst of…