iChaplain

Over the past few weeks, I've had a number of conversations around Christianity, what it means to follow Jesus, and why Christians don't always seem to look much like Him. Those conversations got me thinking, so I thought I'd put a few thoughts into writing. If Christianity is about following Jesus, then shouldn't Christians look more like Jesus?  It's a fair question. In fact, it's a question I sometimes ask myself. Jesus was known for His compassion, humility, grace, mercy, truth, and self-giving love. Yet many people looking at Christianity today wonder why it sometimes appears that some Christians are moving in the opposite direction. Sometimes Christians seem more known for arguments than kindness, more defensive than humble, and more eager to point out other people's faults than their own. The uncomfortable truth is that there is often a gap between the teachings of Jesus and the way His followers live them out. Many people carry wounds from experience...

While watching the recent eclipse, I found myself thinking about how awesome God is. Well, "watching" might not be the right word. Everyone else seemed to have the proper eclipse glasses that they'd queued all day for.  Meanwhile, my plans were less sophisticated. My pinhole projector skills turned out to be completely non-existent, so I spent most of the eclipse running between the garden and the living room.  Obviously, I wasn't looking directly at the sun. I was trying to catch glimpses of what was happening outside and then dashing back inside to watch the coverage on TV. By this point, I felt less like an amateur astronomer and more like a contestant on some bizarre fitness challenge. My step count was excellent, even if my eclipse-viewing technique wasn't. This continued for a while until someone pointed out that I could simply stream it on my phone. That certainly made life easier. But even in the middle of all that running around, I was struck by what I wa...

Have you ever felt like you didn't have what it takes to do something God was calling you to do? Perhaps you've looked at your lack of experience, your past mistakes, or your own limitations and wondered whether God could really use someone like you. Maybe you've compared yourself to others and felt they seemed far more gifted, prepared, or capable. If so, you're not alone. Many faithful believers have wrestled with those same feelings. In fact, some of the people God used most powerfully in Scripture were people who, by human standards, seemed the least likely candidates. Alton Garrison, a Christian minister and Assemblies of God leader, once said, "If God qualifies you, no one can disqualify you." Those words capture a deeply encouraging biblical truth. Throughout Scripture, God repeatedly chooses ordinary people and uses them for extraordinary purposes. He does not call people because they possess all the right qualifications, skills, or experience. Rather,...

I've been thinking recently about the biblical image of Jesus as the Cornerstone. When we reflect on that image, we often think about direction and alignment. The cornerstone determined the shape of the building, and everything else was positioned in relation to it. That's certainly true. But I wonder if there is something more within that image. What if one of our greatest struggles is not rejecting Jesus, but trying to occupy a place that was never ours? Not deliberately. Not consciously. But in the way we live. Many of us carry a quiet assumption that everything depends on us. We need to make the right decisions, provide the right answers, hold our lives together, and somehow keep everything from falling apart. We carry responsibility for our families, our work, our finances, our future, and sometimes even our faith. The burden can become so familiar that we hardly notice we're carrying it. The result is often exhaustion. Perhaps that is because we are trying to carry a ...

Image provided by StockCake Many of us struggle to get our heads around the world economy, never mind the UK economy. The news is full of stories about inflation, interest rates, growth, trade and markets, but much of it feels far removed from everyday life. Yet, somehow, all of these things affect us. They affect what we earn, what we spend and what we can afford to put in our shopping baskets each week. The question becomes much more personal when we're spending our own money. Perhaps that's part of the problem. Standing in a supermarket aisle, I sometimes find myself wondering whether choosing the Fairtrade option, or the one with the little frog logo, really makes any difference. Can my spending genuinely help a worker on the other side of the world whom I'll never meet? And what happens when money is tight and the ethical choice is also the more expensive one? Recently, I attended a talk on God and the Economy. It got me thinking about what the Bible says about money, ...

Have you ever discovered that something you've believed for years isn't actually true? Not because someone lied to you. Not because you weren't paying attention. Simply because you'd heard it repeated so many times that you assumed it must be true.  That happens with Jesus more than we might realise. Over the years, we've attached all sorts of sayings to Him that sound spiritual, inspirational, and even biblical. Phrases like  "Follow your heart,"  "Believe in yourself,"  "Be true to yourself," "Everything happens for a reason,"  "God helps those who help themselves,"  "Money is the root of all evil," have become part of our cultural vocabulary. Many people assume they came from Jesus or at least from the Bible. The problem is that Jesus never said any of them.  In fact, one of them isn't even an accurate Bible quotation. The Bible doesn't say, "Money is the root of all evil." It says, ...

Spoiler Alert: Ark Building for Dummies If you've somehow managed to avoid Evan Almighty over the last nineteen years, here's the plot in a nutshell: ambitious politician gets a visit from God, grows a beard he can't shave off, attracts every animal within a hundred-mile radius, and ends up building a massive ark in the middle of suburbia. In other words, it's Ark Building for Dummies with Steve Carell at his comedic best. I caught it on TV recently and realised I hadn't seen it for years. I'd forgotten how warm, funny, and genuinely feel-good it is. It's one of those increasingly rare family films that manages to entertain without cynicism, leaving you smiling by the end. Steve Carell is brilliant as Evan Baxter, a politician whose life is turned upside down when God calls him to build an ark. The film is packed with laughs, memorable moments, and a strong message about family, perseverance, and making a difference in the world. As entertainment, it works w...

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash The Takeaway Comedy isn’t just allowed in the Bible. It’s everywhere: satire, irony, playful exaggeration, and wonderfully human moments. And when you spend time organising comedy events for a church, especially when you’ve never done it before, you start to see how laughter builds connection in exactly the same way Scripture often does: by helping people breathe again. But comedy isn’t everyone’s favourite thing, and that’s important to acknowledge. Many people come along not because they adore stand‑up, but because they want to support these events held by a church, to stand with the community, or simply to encourage the people involved. That kind of quiet loyalty deserves real respect. And then there are the ones who get up to participate, offering their own humour, their own courage, their own willingness to be part of something slightly unpredictable. There are those who laugh freely, letting the room loosen and warm. And there are others who s...

  In a world that often emphasizes self-reliance, the Bible calls believers to something different: carrying one another's burdens through prayer. One of the most beautiful expressions of Christian love is praying for others. It is a simple act, yet Scripture teaches that it can have a profound impact on both the one praying and the one being prayed for. What Does the Bible Say? James writes: "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." James 5:16 (NIV) This verse does more than encourage prayer. It instructs believers to pray for each other. Prayer is not meant to be limited to our own needs and concerns. God invites us to stand in the gap for our families, friends, churches, and communities. Looking More Closely at James 5:16 At first glance, this verse appears straightforward, but it contains several important truths about Christian community and prayer. First,...

Sometimes the best ideas arrive unexpectedly. I had just left a service at St Nic's Church in Durham. The reading was from 2 Corinthians 4, where Paul writes: "We have this treasure in jars of clay." It is one of those passages that stays with you, reminding us that extraordinary things can emerge from ordinary people. As I stepped out into the city, I found myself in the middle of the Durham Brass Festival. The streets were alive with music, performers and visitors. One moment I had been sharing in worship with a church community; the next I was part of a gathering united by music and celebration. The experience left me wondering about the relationship between worship, music and community. More Than a Contrast At first, a church service and a brass festival seem quite different. One is rooted in worship and faith, the other in musical and cultural tradition. Yet as I reflected on my experience that morning, the contrast seemed less important than I had first imagined. Br...