PJBelfast

We have a wee fountain in our garden. We love the sound of the water cascading down the stones. It is made up from plum slate stones, pre-drilled in the centre. These are slotted over a metal tube (see video above). When I first installed the water pump, it was splashing too much water into the grass and not enough along the irrigation channels leading to the bucket housing the water pump. It sounds complex, but its a really simple process that recirculates the water in the bucket under the fountain, up through the metal tube which then recirculates the water.  After clearing some of the smaller stones at the base I was able to widen the catchment area, with the water circulation lasting now for almost an hour before refilling. The scriptures tell us that from "out of our innermost being flow rivers of living water. The Amplified Bible puts it this way: " He who believes in Me [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Me], as the Scripture has said, ‘From his innermost being ...

The first miracle, the "Feeding of the 5,000", is the only miracle recorded in all four gospels (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:31-44; Luke 9:12-17; John 6:1-14). Reading the four gospel accounts give us a fuller picture of all that went on around this miracle.  1.Bring them here to me In Matthews account (Matthew 15:13-21) it is interesting that Jesus asks his disciples to bring the packed lunch to him.  “ We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish ,” they answered. “ Bring them here to me,” Jesus said.  2. Here is a boy Also. In Johns account (6:1-14) he tells us that Andrew was the one who introduced the boy with the pack lunch to Jesus   "Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up,  “ Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” I have pondered the story from all four gospels and am challenged with these two insights, gleaned from two of the accounts.  1st...

Most people in the world can see the natural world, yet many cannot see in the unseen realm of the Spirit. Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, she lost her sight and hearing after a bout of illness at the age of nineteen months. After an education at both specialist and mainstream schools, she attended Radcliffe College of Harvard University and became the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. She worked for the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) from 1924 until 1968, during which time she toured the United States and traveled to 39 countries around the globe advocating for those with vision loss. A few of her famous quotes are about seeing, yet she was blind.   " The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart"  " The only thing worse tha...

" Two roads diverged in the middle of my life, I heard a wise man say, I took the road less traveled by, And that’s made the difference, every night and every day " —Larry Norman Supposing you were driving your car on a broad road but you didn't realise it was leading towards a blind corner, around which was a cliff edge.  I'm sure you'd want to be forewarned, as unless you changed course, you would ultimately be crashing to your destruction.  I also hold good news. There is a narrow road, detouring off from the broad road, leading away from the potential danger to safety and life.  It would be terribly remiss of me not to set up a warning sign (Ezekiel 33:9). " The most loving thing we can do for our friends and our family is to warn them about the road that leads to destruction and tell them about the road that leads to life."  That's what this blog is.  A warning sign. A detour to choose God's plan of salva...

The books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs are attibuted to the wisdom of Solomon. Within the book of Ecclessiates I would like to focus on a few verses from chapter 7, a section entitled "A Collection of Wise Teachings." I always remember my old minister quoting Ecclesiastes 7:2 & 4 in the King James, which says "better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart With the recent funeral of my eldest sister, five years my senior, it got me thinking again about the brevity of life.  The date of my big sisters funeral was on a date known as both a palindrome and ambigram (see explanation of these terms above).  Modern translations put it this way: 2 It is better to go to a funeral than to a party, because everyone must die, and the living need to remember this. 4 A wise person thinks about death, but a fool thinks only about having a good time (Ecclesi...

My life has been marked by many failures and a few successes. I remember with fondness pastoring a small chaplaincy in Ballymena. Door to door evangelism in the estate had been somewhat of a failure. But success is sometimes found in the most bizzare of circumstances.  I believe my greatest ever "sermon" was an act rather than any words of eloquence spoken.  It was a sad morning when I visited the little terrace house in the large estate. I'd called to offer my condolences to the grieving family. The father of the house had tragically died. He was only 32. I couldn't help but notice how many neighbours were bringing sandwiches and cakes for the wake following the burial. Due to the influx of the whole neighbourhood wishing to support the grieving family, I realised the house would be way too small. I assessed the situation and realised they needed a much larger venue for the wake. I held the keys to our large church halls which were literally just a fe...

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