It’s starting to look like this is the year that inhabitants of the British Isles don’t need to head abroad to catch some summer sun, with predictions of some fairly high temperatures this week. Maybe we’ll catch the benefit of a home summer as well as the week we have just enjoyed on the southern [...]
Entries from June 2009
June 24, 2009
Sunshine and great food
It’s the middle of our week in Portugal. I suppose part of our early impression is that we had little idea it was this good. We are in a hotel just outside the very charming coastal village of Carvoeira, around 50 miles to the west of Faro. The hotel is bright and clean and well [...]
June 21, 2009
A week in the sun
I’m writing this post from the side of a pool in the Algarve. Pauline and I flew down here today on a full EasyJet flight from Belfast. We are here for a week – a great chance to enjoy the sunshine and take it easy with a few books. I find the summer reading lists [...]
June 21, 2009
Christianity set to music
On Saturday night we were fortunate enough to have tickets for the Belast event of Keith and Kristyn Getty’s In Christ Alone. As well as the Gettys and their band from America, Stuart Townend was there, along with the New Irish Orchestra and Choir which Keith pioneered about 15 years ago. Alistair Begg was also [...]
June 18, 2009
Donegal
Heading towards the halfway mark in the first week of holidays. Another chance for all four of us to explore Ireland’s north coast – this time a quick trip across to Donegal for lunch in the superb Ballyliffin Lodge Hotel.
Let’s hope they keep the Foyle Ferry running – 12 minutes across the water in [...]
June 17, 2009
Sunday at Portstewart Baptist Church
Sunday past was the last day before a two week holiday break. In the morning we finished the series on Philippians. It’s the first time I have preached through that particular letter. It’s a rich book with plenty to preach.
For the last message the focus was on the last part of the 4th chapter where [...]
June 10, 2009
Sunday at Portstewart Baptist Church
On Sunday morning I preached on the first half of Philippians 4. The issues range from resolving disagreement (the story of Euodia and Synthyche), through rejoicing and refusing to be anxious, to thinking about what is good and excellent. I summed it up by talking about what it means to live positively relationally (seeking agreement), [...]
June 8, 2009
Rathlin Island
All four of us were off today and we decided to take a day trip to Rathlin Island – a place we had never been before. Rathlin is a boot shaped island with around 100 residents, situated just off Ballycastle, on the North Coast of Northern Ireland. A ferry service bridges the 6 miles of [...]
June 1, 2009
When to be certain, when to be open minded
I have been speaking recently from Philippians about what it means to be of one mind. From other parts of the New Testament, from the witness of history, and from our own experience, we can see that it can’t mean agreeing to dot every 1 and tick every box in exactly the same way. There [...]
