A Stand (Shareable Slide)

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Follower of Jesus, non-conformist, preacher, poet, blogger, graduate of Highland Theological College, Husband, Father, Son, Brother, Friend, Learning Assistant (ASN) Outdoors. Late diagnosed Autistic.

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This Weeks Top of the Posts

Peter Has Changed

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Reading: Acts 3:1-10 Peter heals a beggar who can’t walk Peter has changed. "One day Peter and John..." John (the beloved) has brought the restored Peter who had so strongly denied Jesus along. There is a sense of being relational and intentional.  Peter has changed. "It was three o’clock in the afternoon. It was the time for prayer." They intentionally went to pray. They didn't give up praying but intentionally prayed at a given time. They went to a public place, not the privacy of the upper room but the temple. Peter has changed. "Then Peter took him by the right hand and helped him up." Peter is not drawing swords or being wildly outspoken. But, humbly and gently ministering to those in need. He is not a man of the sword but a man of prayer.  Peter has changed. (Quotes from NIRV).
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Hello darkness, my old friend

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I saw a video recently advertising a new film about Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The trailer played The Sound of Silence as Nazis tore down the true church and hoisted the swastika. It was actually very moving in exposing sin. Especially when it said two lines, one is the title of this post. "Hello, darkness, my old friend." The other was, "They kneeled to the neon god they made." Incidentally neon is an artificial lighting that is unpleasant for people with sensory issues. It is a false light! On a totally separate day, I was watching BBC bitesize with my wee boy, and one of the teachers was explaining that "light can't be created or destroyed." It was a whole science thing. But, almost immediately, it made me think of Jesus the light of the world who, being God, was not created and can not be destroyed.  Therefore, let us remember in this dark season both metaphorically and spiritually that the light still shines! Even as sin and evil once again
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Meet Kev the calming Koala

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Meet Kev. He is my new friend. Yes, I know I'm a grown man. This neither fits with matcho toxic masculinity, nor being a supposed adult. Frankly I'm past caring, also who wants to be toxic. Even though I have long been an adult I still love a good soft toy. I still have a wee dog from when I was a baby tucked away somewhere. In fact my wife and I had a proverbial army of soft toys even before baby number one came along. I do remember getting harshly judged for it in my lonely single days. But, it came as no surprise to me that there can be a connection to autism and seeking some kind of sensory, non-human, comfort in this way. In fact I was delighted when a suggestion came from somewhere or other, probably online, that getting a weighted soft toy as a freshly diagnosed autistic adult was in fact a good idea. So here he is!  As Sensory Hugs, who sell these and other autism related items, say, "This lovely soft and cuddly Koala weighs 4lb (1.8kg). He is a perfec
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Pioneers of Liberty

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"Who were the Anabaptists? Radical reformers - Church planters - Peace activists - Pioneers of liberty" - From an advert for an online course in the Anabaptist Mennonite Network Newsletter, Summer 2024 Are you pro this side, or another side is normally a subtle way of asking who you are against rather than who you are for. People are good at knowing who they are against. Sadly, less able to see what they are for.  I have long held that all true pacifists should protest all sides of all wars. All combatants have blood on their hands no matter how justified they think that is. Pacifists can not take sides with anyone other than the civilians, victims, and aid workers. God is no respecter of persons, and neither should we be. Perhaps we should be more like the early anabaptists, who actively loved both Catholic and Protestant warring factions. Many of both sides hunted them without mercy. As a result, many anabaptists were drowned or burnt at the stake across Europe
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Autistic Glimmers

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"A glimmer is a satisfying sensory delight that fills someone with fervent ecstasy. It is the opposite of a trigger (a stimulus perceived as threatening and unsafe). Autistic people often experience the sensory world with hyper-attunement, creative alliance and whimsy." ~ ND OT I love passion flowers. I had no idea it could be an Autistic thing as well as a faith and beauty thing. I didn't know they existed until I heard of a faith group called The Julian Meetings who are a bit like Quakers in worship style, but particularly like Julian of Norwich. The passion flower is the symbol they use, but it has faith connections all the way back to when the Spanish discoverd the flower. "We chose this plant to decorate our publications because of its silent witness to the heart of the Christian faith. The passion flower is a native of southern Brazil and first flowered in England in 1868. The name Passion Flower was given by the first Spanish friars and missionaries to tropic
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