Author Archives: malcolmsmusingscom

‘Like billy-o’ is a common phrase. ‘It rained like billy-o; I was soaked through.’ ‘We worked like billy-o to get the job finished.’ ‘When she went shopping she spent money like billy-o.’ It means ‘very intensely, vigorously or enthusiastically.’ Stephen mentioned the phrase at church yesterday morning, saying the phrase came from an Essex preacherContinue reading “Like Billy-O”

Noah built the most enormous boatThat kept the birds and animals afloatThe Lord was good the Lord was strongAnd Noah lived his life for Him Moses led his people through the seaTaking them away from slaveryThe Lord was good the Lord was strongAnd Moses lived his life for Him Some would call this a ‘children’sContinue reading “All Through History”

Richard Coles was ‘a minister of Christ in the richest neighbourhood in possibly the richest city in the world’ – St Paul’s Knightsbridge. He describes the opulence… but ‘it was one of the hardest places that I’ve ever had to minister… (the riches) become a barrier between them and their deepest needs.’ Musing… What areContinue reading “Love, Labour and Loneliness”

Yesterday I was musing on the story of Jesus turning water into the best wine. Jesus takes the ordinary and mundane and transforms it miraculously into something extra-ordinary… Oscar Wilde said: ‘The English have a miraculous power of turning wine into water.’ We can turn the extra-ordinary back into something mundane. We visited a gardenContinue reading “Turning Wine Into Water”

We’re still on holiday… For many years we have been experts in doing holidays-on-the-cheap. We’re staying for a few days at, what for us is, a posh hotel. Who’d have thought it? We’re staying near eldest brother Bryan. Last night we had a meal with him and caught up on family news… children, their children,Continue reading “Who’d Have Thought It?”

(Health warning: Today’s musing is longer than usual!!) Order! Order! I call this court to order! My Lord, members of the jury, the case I bring before you this morning, is that Cricket and Christianity are guilty of previously undisclosed similarities. My evidence is drawn from my observations yesterday, when I witnessed Somerset beat DerbyshireContinue reading “The Case of Cricket versus Christianity”

The plan is that we shall go to watch the cricket today… There are three sorts of people: Those who don’t understand cricket, those who watch cricket, those who play cricket… outsiders, observers, insiders. These three categories apply to church… Those who stand outside the church – detached, uninvolved; those who come occasionally, a passiveContinue reading “Outsiders, Observers or Insiders?”

Yesterday in the football… Norwich beat Millwall 3-1; Norwich were the winners. Many were bitterly disappointed when the English Lionesses lost 1-0 to Spain in the final of the World Cup; they’ve come second in a world tournament… so are they winners? Yesterday in the world athletics championships… Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson won the heptathlon; aContinue reading “Who’s a Winner?”

God I look to You, and I won’t be overwhelmedGive me vision to see things like You doGod I look to You, and You’re where my help comes fromGive me wisdom, You know just what to do Living in Lowestoft we love the beach, the sea, the big skies. We’re enjoying a few days awayContinue reading “God I Look to You”

The anticipated arrival of Lou, our new minister/pastor generated much discussion within our church family. Many sentences started ‘When Lou arrives…’ Lou’s now been with us for nearly three weeks… What sort of church shall we become? One word often used to describe the church we aspire to be is ‘inclusive’… There’s the standard expectation…Continue reading “Including the Marginalised?”