Send us a text ”Pride goes before a fall”. You ever heard that phrase? It’s actually taken straight out of the bible, from Proverbs 15 verse 18 and it’s another nugget of eternally rich wisdom that reminds us not to think too much of ourselves. Pride is one of things that blinds us to the obvious truth - much like the fable of the emperor’s clothes. So proud was that king of wearing the finest clothes in his kingdom, only to miss the obvious – he’d been tricked into wearing nothing at all, by hi...
Jul 07, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 99
Send us a text Goodness is a good thing. And it’s only natural to say that God is good. And, yet, describing God as good actually – on it’s own – devalues God, because He is so much more than just good! Yes God is good, but God is more than good and our word “good” can not describe enough of God’s goodness. It can only paint something of God. It is not the complete answer. Likewise, all that is good is not necessarily of God. There is plenty of ‘good’ around us, but sometimes, that good, is not ...
Jul 06, 2023•2 min•Season 5Ep. 98
Send us a text I’ve worked alongside, or under, some great leaders in churches and in businesses, and voluntary organisations. And, sadly, I’ve also served around people who love to use their position to bully others and, the most successful approach I’ve seen to achieve this, is through creating grey areas of information and knowledge. Think about the last half dozen big names in the Christian world who ended up failing either morally or criminally and you’ll encounter people who were allowed t...
Jul 05, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 97
Send us a text Nobody likes being put down. In fact, being put down as a child is so traumatic it can have terrible life-long consequences. As adults we don’t like that level of criticism either because, if you’re constantly criticised in your job, you won’t try harder. You’ll simply give up trying altogether. The bible makes it clear that we need to be accountable to others, and that does include being willing to listen to criticism. We may not like it, but there is a strong warning when we don...
Jul 04, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 96
Send us a text Being busy can be a great feeling. It can make us think we’re doing better than others we may meet in our life. But, the problem with being busy is that busyness can soon become just the next thing on a to do list. And that is never good when it comes to the relationships that matter most to us. One of the most important words in the English language is the word “No”. It’s a word I actively encourage people I meet to use in their own lives because – before too long – we’ve not sai...
Jul 03, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 95
Send us a text The bible tells us that God has a plan for our lives. It demonstrates how God’s plans are always best for us to be able to live our lives to the full. The big issue is that what we think that means only sometimes ties up with what God’s plans actually are. It isn’t that God is tricking us. By no means! That is against His entire nature, for God will never trick or tempt us. But, He will test us! The issue, unsurprisingly, is with us. It isn’t with God’s methods of communication – ...
Jun 30, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 94
Send us a text It’s been said that you can form a habit by repeating something just 6 times. And yet it can take 6 weeks of repeatedly not doing that thing to break that habit. Such is the power of addiction and habits. So be very slow to point the finger at someone who is trying to break a habit, no matter what it may be! Coming off medication that I had been on for more than a year and a half took my body 6 weeks to be fully clear of. While I was repeatedly told that the medication would not r...
Jun 29, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 93
Send us a text Beta mode. It’s a term you might have spotted, but have little knowledge about. Essentially, when it comes to software, it speaks of the next generation of that software. It’s a way of testing new features – it’ll probably look similar to what you’re used to, but may do new things, in new ways. And Beta mode gives developers an opportunity to see where the problems are; it lets you test new versions of software. Some people may well enjoy working software that is in beta mode. It ...
Jun 28, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 92
Send us a text Titles can be the source of much contention and confusion. Show me a confused organisation and titles, probably, are part of the problem, because we can allow titles to define and focus the energy of people. Or, we can use ambiguous titles that cause confusion and delay. In Thomas the Tank Engine we see exactly this as the various engines think they’re more important than the others around them. Frequently we’ll hear the Fat Controller tell one of them off and state that they’ve b...
Jun 27, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 91
Send us a text I wonder if you’ve ever bought something that wasn’t cut what you wanted. Do we take it back, live with it, or bin it. I guess what we do will be somewhat dependent on what we bought and how expensive it was. We also might consider that the cost of returning it could outweigh the cost of having bought it. I’ve been there more than once. I’ve also taken something back on principle, and lost money in the process. We have to make decisions all the time and it can seem somewhat harsh ...
Jun 26, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 90
Send us a text To Obey is better than Sacrifice. It’s a beautiful gem in the Old Testament which can sometimes be missed! And, when we read something in the bible about sacrificing animals, it’s all too easy to disregard it as out of date because of what Jesus did on the cross. Jesus’ death and resurrection means we don’t need to sacrifice animals in the Temple. But it doesn’t lessen the importance of obedience for us Christians. But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt...
Jun 13, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 89
Send us a text David, of the David's Daily Dose blog , and I were chatting around two pieces of scripture we had commented on. One was Romans 5 and the other Hebrews 12 and how they link together and he challenged me to write something on these two, so here it is! Hebrews 12:1-2 (New Living Translation) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let...
Jun 12, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 88
Send us a text There’s a line in the film Kung Fu Panda. The Master is speaking with his trainee. The trainee feels fierce and tough and hard. He’s talking about how he can make all sorts of things happen, like where a tree can grow. The Master simply replies that while he can have power to choose where a tree may grow, he can’t control what will grow – if a peach seed is planted, then a peach tree can grow. All the power and skill in the world can not change make those sorts of choices. Life th...
Jun 09, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 87
Send us a text Have you ever heard a strange noise coming from a piece of machinery? We have had exactly that experience fro the past few weeks. Our lawnmower has been working harder and harder, and achieving less and less. Grass has been hacked rather than mown, and more is left behind that collected in the grass box. And that noise kept getting worse. It was kind of a screaming, whining, terrified sound. And then it went quiet. And that lawnmower had reached the end of it’s life. We’d got is s...
Jun 08, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 86
Send us a text Much like the Trinity, a decent mug of tea requires 3 elements – tea, boiling water and milk. You can disagree about the milk and whether it comes first or not (it always comes first by the way) but those three parts make a decent ‘brew’. We had a fancy kettle that had stopped working, only it hadn’t totally stopped working. It still took water and made it hot, only not hot enough - despite the little icon on the screen telling you your water was at 100 degrees Celsius/212 degrees...
Jun 07, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 85
Send us a text While sitting in church one day I couldn’t stop looking at the perfect illustration of how we should be with our Father God, when I saw the small baby in front of me perfectly secure and resting in the arms of their dad fast asleep! It so powerfully spoke of how important dads are! In our society we live in a time when we know how important fathers are, and yet society seeks to degrade that role by saying that we are all the same. And yet there is a security that only our fathers ...
Jun 06, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 84
Send us a text While away at a festival I tried to buy an ice cream. Someone had given us a gift of some money for our family, so we thought that would be a good thing to do! However, when we got to the ice cream seller they told us they couldn’t serve us unless we could pay cash, as their card machine was no longer working. I took a quick look and decided it probably lust needed a charge. Right enough I plugged it in and it started working again. 15 minutes later I took it back to her and she w...
Jun 05, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 83
Send us a text In the film, Inside Out, we see an image of how emotions develop in the brain of a new born, through to old age. We see the importance of emotions, and why Joy – a main character in the film – is not the most important emotion. We love the film as a family because it reminds us of the importance of caring for our emotions; of listening to them and valuing them. The problem with emotions, however, is that – at best – they should only be seen as a temperature gauge. And, just like a...
Jun 02, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 82
Send us a text When we had arrived at a festival we knew we had 4 car trips to make each day. We’d decided to drive in because there were four of us. It was a good decision, made prayerfully. But when we arrived for that first day, I knew we didn’t have enough money in our bank account to make it back home on the 4th day. I started to second guess myself, and the prayerfully gained peace we’d had about how we’d set everything up for our first exhibition. As ever, however, God had had already put...
May 31, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 81
Send us a text I got something through the post last week from a friend of mine. I’d typed out my address, but he’d altered it. My address was still correct, but he also added “Andy Berry, BBHQ” for BerryBunch Headquarters. He didn’t need to do that. But he said, afterwards, that he wanted to make me smile. And he did. So, what simple thing can you do – today – to make someone smile. Share a smile! If you’ve got Jesus inside of your heart, then you have every reason to smile. And if you have eve...
May 30, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 80
Send us a text Have you ever watched an episode of the original Star Trek? There’s a line from Captain James T. Kirk that you’d hear frequently. Imagine the scene of that ultra futuristic space ship moving through space, jumping from galaxy to galaxy, and the words can be heard as you watch: “to boldly go...” Now I don’t know about you, but I figure some of those fictional characters may have been into that going boldly thing. But there were definitely others who would not. They didn’t need to h...
May 29, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 79
Send us a text Do you remember the days of Dial Up internet? Perhaps you still access the internet the same way. I do remember, vividly, that scratching squealing sound as your computer made contact with the World Wide Web. Today we can access ultra high speed internet with our smart phones and internet connections are HUGE business! In the UK the Government have realised that their big push to get everything ‘done online’ is leaving some people unable to access critical services - like doctors,...
May 26, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 78
Send us a text We all need to work. In one way, or another, we work. And sometimes we work for ourselves, but many of us will work for someone else. But how we work with them is important when it comes to our desire to live out our Christian faith. It’s easy to look at what you get paid, and decide work according to that. Actually, it’s very healthy to only work within the limits of the hours you are paid to do. Go beyond that and you’re likely to take away from someone else, get more tired and ...
May 25, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 77
Send us a text When we replace a car for something different, whether a newer or an older model, we have plenty of things to learn. But, perhaps even more importantly, we need to unlearn a whole bunch of stuff too! Ok, so the steering wheel is probably in the same place you’re expecting it to be, but there are many ways a handbrake (parking brake) can be made to function. There are reversing sensors to get used to. There are performance changes with the engine, and more. Having driven profession...
May 24, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 76
Send us a text We all instinctively know that the best way to move through a wall is via a door way. We know that we’re not going to push the brick wall into conceding us to move through it. So why is it so often we find ourselves straining against the walls of life, getting worn out and angry that God has somehow failed to help us move through this solid object? When, in reality, there is a wide, gaping, open doorway just a few feet away. We sometimes talk about following God as walking along a...
May 23, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 75
Send us a text Have you ever thought to yourself that since God seems to have so much to do in the world, that you’d help Him out? You know, give God a hand to help Him answer your prayers since He is so very busy with all those prayers that need answering? There’s very clearly nothing wrong with praying! And God desires us to be a part of building His kingdom here on earth and that includes, among other things, being those answers to prayer lifted by others. But there is a large caveat here, ho...
May 22, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 74
Send us a text Our car is currently sitting in our garage until we can get it repaired. The expected bill is far larger than we can afford, so it may well be several months before we can get it fixed, with divine intervention! I’m not happy with how easily I lost my peace when I was given the news about the problem, and probable repair costs. While I’ve matured I’m still a work in progress, and bad news is something I still need to learn to receive better! Problems come along and can take us out...
Apr 28, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 73
Send us a text I love cycling and I’ve been doing it as far back as I can remember. I helped Jo develop a passion for cycling when we got married and I taught my own boys to cycle through the busy streets of a large City in England. I’ve cycled through snow and through rain, through fog and through windy weather. But, one condition that makes nervous is ice. The other is gusty winds. That last one makes me not stops me in my tracks. As a professionally trained driver, with a decade and a half of...
Apr 27, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 72
Send us a text Two Sides! When you’re printing something, you need to consider that there are two sides to the thing you’re printing on. It’s really the most basic of things, but you never waste a leaflet by printing on just one side because there’s a 50/50 chance it’ll be thrown to one side and just show a piece of white card! So, you print on both sides. The same goes for business cards. But, if you want cheaper business cards, then there are many companies who will print them for you, to a hi...
Apr 26, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 71
Send us a text Weeds. They’re such a pain and I’m sure you, like me, have lovingly tended the odd one before we realised it really wasn’t something that deserved our care and attention! Weeds grow and lie dormant under the surface of the garden just waiting for the right conditions to burst forth and ruin that lovingly weeded piece of garden that we spent hours sorting out. Because are opportunists. They don’t need much of anything to go wild and create havoc. We’ve all got weeds in our lives to...
Apr 25, 2023•3 min•Season 5Ep. 70
