Turn The Page

A British missionary arrived in Africa keen to share the Good News of Jesus. He hired local porters to carry his gear and set off into the jungle. After a full day’s marching through the heat of the day they stopped for the night, and after a fitful night’s sleep he was eager to set […] The post Time to slow down appeared first on Turn the Page.

Internet speeds in my village are pretty glacial, so a free upgrade to Superfast Fibre Broadband just before lockdown seemed like good news. Sadly, the day arrived and the internet stopped working. After several phone calls a visit from an engineer was arranged, but he decided he needed to climb a telegraph pole and wasn’t […] The post Free Upgrade appeared first on Turn the Page.

At 11.01pm on 8th May 1945 the German surrender was signed, and Victory in Europe declared. People poured onto the streets, and from the balcony of Buckingham Palace the King and Prime Minister joined in the celebrations of a hard-won victory over tyranny. But Europe was a continent in ruins. Some regions were on the brink […] The post Securing the Peace appeared first on Turn the Page.

I keep seeing social media posts implying that Covid-19 demonstrates either God’s unwillingness or inability to deal with the current pandemic. Well the story of the Prodigal Son says otherwise. In the story an ungrateful son rejects his father and takes off with his inheritance. Because his father loves him, he lets him – to […] The post Who’s to blame? appeared first on Turn the Page.

Air travel in the 1960’s was a bit more exciting than it is now. Exciting if you didn’t mind being hijacked that is. Reluctant to cause hold-ups with check-in security, airlines were happy to let people board without checking their bags. So it was that on 31st October 1969 Raffaele Minichiello stepped aboard Flight TWA85 […] The post A Life Transformed appeared first on Turn the Page.

In 2007 Andrew Lloyd Webber was busily writing the score for a new musical. He recorded the music on his piano’s built-in computer. It was the only copy. So, quite a setback when his kitten, Otto, climbed inside the instrument and managed to delete the whole thing. Fortunately, Andrew had a good memory and was […] The post (God’s) Love Never Dies appeared first on Turn the Page.

Heathrow Airport is rather quieter at the moment than it used to be. Probably rather like it was when it started life as the Great West Aerodrome in 1929 fourteen miles from the centre of London. At the time the aerodrome sat amongst farms, market gardens and orchards. It seemed the perfect place for an […] The post I wish I could start again appeared first on Turn the Page.

Growing up in Sussex I spent a lot of time at my aunt’s house. She liked to think she was quite posh and never missed an opportunity to teach us good table manners. For example, she impressed upon us that in polite society potatoes should always be served on the right-hand side of a plate. To this […] The post Table Manners appeared first on Turn the Page.

It’s sometimes suggested that belief in Jesus and the resurrection is the same as belief in Father Christmas, or the Tooth Fairy. All are figments of human imagination, childish ideas that we discard as soon as we learn to know better. But there’s an obvious problem: Enormous numbers of children believe in Father Christmas and […] The post Faith and Fairy Tales appeared first on Turn the Page.

Some years ago my daughter dropped her brand new iPhone down the toilet.  At the time she was away at a concert in London. It was some time before she could get home and make some attempt to dry it out. Sadly, by that stage it was well and truly dead and no amount of immersing […] The post I wish appeared first on Turn the Page.

Charting the lives of three thirty-something couples the ITV drama, Cold Feet quickly became a hit. Towards the end of series five all was finally coming together for the youngest couple Rachel and Adam – their relationship was back on track, they had a child and were about to buy their own home. But then […] The post It is finished appeared first on Turn the Page.

In about 1913 two politicians met at the Central Café in Vienna. They were discussing the likelihood of a Russian revolution. One looked across the room and said dismissively, “And who’s going to lead it – him?” The man to whom he referred was none other than Leon Trotsky. Renowned at the time for idleness, […] The post An Unlikely Revolutionary appeared first on Turn the Page.

The Bible says that ‘God has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble’.  Something rather extraordinary seems to have happened. Not so long ago our ‘news’ was filled with the lives and lifestyles of celebrities. Generally speaking, these were actors, footballers and reality TV stars, living lives most of us […] The post Levelling up appeared first on Turn the Page.

In these days of lock-down we’re getting used to only making essential journeys. In order to prevent the spread of Coronavirus it has become essential that we stay in our homes and as far as possible avoid meeting others. For the most part the only people now allowed to travel are those who are saving […] The post Essential Travel appeared first on Turn the Page.

Mark’s Gospel introduces the life of Jesus with these words, ‘At that time’. But why that time? Why not a century earlier or later? Well Jesus was Good News and there’s no point having good news if you can’t tell anyone about it. In 27 BC Augustus became Roman Emperor and began to build the […] The post Perfect timing appeared first on Turn the Page.

Having nearly died from smallpox at the age of eight Edward Jenner went on to become a doctor. Smallpox was the scourge of the age in which he lived accounting for some 60 million deaths across Europe in the 18thcentury. But Jenner noticed that when someone contracted cowpox, a much milder form of the disease, […] The post We need a cow! appeared first on Turn the Page.

First performed in 1808, Beethoven’s 5th Symphony in C Minor is instantly recognisable from its iconic first four notes. It’s been copied in popular culture and repeated in disco versions, rock and roll covers and on film and TV. But here’s the thing – the score doesn’t begin with a note, it begins with an eighth […] The post Don’t waste your isolation appeared first on Turn the Page.

This week I was one of the lucky ones. My visit to the supermarket happened to coincide with a fresh delivery of toilet rolls and my timing was perfect. Like piranhas circling a wounded animal, customers hovered while the shop floor assistant attempted to stack the shelves. It was a pointless exercise. As fast as […] The post Our selfish genes appeared first on Turn the Page.

We live in interesting times. Coronavirus is sweeping the world and for a short season at least changing the way we live. At the heart of our response is the need to avoid contact with those who are infectious. It’s the sensible thing to do. But here’s the story of a man who did the […] The post Keep away! appeared first on Turn the Page.

Elected to office on 26th August 1978 Pope John Paul I suffered a heart-attack and died just 33 days later. At first the Vatican reported that his body had been discovered by his male secretaries, but in truth it was two nuns who found him. Why the Vatican was so reticent to tell the truth we […] The post Ladies First appeared first on Turn the Page.