An Evangelical Church in the Heart of Thatcham

A wreck with rusticles!

It was on this day in 1942 that Robert Ballard, the marine biologist with experience in deep-sea diving and exploration, was born. His name became well-known after his discovery of the Titanic along with the retrieval of a number of artifacts as well as underwater photographs. At a de
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Keeping things secret!

I don’t know about you but I love those documentaries that follow the efforts of search teams that are looking for some long-lost treasure. The other day I was fascinated to read the story of the discovery of the royal ship HMS Gloucester, 27 miles off the coast of Norfolk. It took fo
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Pride and prejudice

For countless decades people living in Britain have been changing their names, and no, I’m not thinking about maiden names but rather their first names. For those who have a different cultural heritage, names can quickly become a challenge – people don’t pronounce them right and frequ
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Stamps to make an impression

Since 1840, the way we send letters, affixing a stamp with an image of the monarch’s head, has changed remarkably little. Well, not any longer. Perhaps you have already bought some of the new definitive stamps and noticed that there is a QR code on the side. So, did you scan it
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The star thrower

It seems that storm season is when large numbers of sea creatures get washed up on beaches and then stranded. Storm Arwen produced this along a short stretch of the Murray Firth near Inverness with some starfish. There have been many adaptations of a story called “The star thrower”. I
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Photos in conflict

There are a few jobs in life, when you survey them, especially the dangers, that make you seriously wonder why people do them. I can identify with those in the military that go on dangerous tours in places like Afghanistan and yet there are others that go within a very short distance
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Webs everywhere

If you’ve been lucky enough to get away for a holiday recently you might have noticed, when you returned, that the spiders have been particularly busy leaving those calling cards all around the windows and ceilings. Apparently, this is the time of year when they tend to get a bit fris
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Betrayed by a kiss

It should have been just another day in the office, but it was not to be. The man was a public figure, virtually a household name, a man at the top of his game. Of course, I am referring to Matt Hancock, who until recently, was the government’s health secretary. If anyone should have
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Adoration or annoyance

The death of anyone, however long-expected, always comes as a shock. What has been unsurprising, with the passing of Prince Philip at age 99, has been the genuine national sadness and sense of pathos for what the Queen must be going through after 73 years of marriage. Prince Philip wa
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The “Reddit army”

Until recently the name GameStop would not have rung many bells but that has all changed thanks to a bunch of users on the popular Reddit platform, recently ranked the 17th most-visited website in the world. The story centres around numerous small shares investors, the “Reddit army”,
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Benefits in the rearview mirror

In the same way that we all know that hindsight is a wonderful thing, similarly there can be benefits, even substantial ones, that are only observed, as it were, in the rearview and not up front. I once heard someone giving thanks for COVID and I could see that immediately there opene
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Assumptions vs Assurance

Due to the large amount of recent rain, one morning I perched myself atop a nice stable three-legged iron garden table and pushed out the large volume of water that had collected on our gazebo. It made light work of all that heavy water. However, within the space of half of one second
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Masking up

The time is fast upon us where we are, much more widely, going to have to don our masks out in public places. So, have you decided yet what type of mask you are going to wear? Will it will be a bulk buy of the cheapest and most basic mask? Alternatively, will you do even better than t
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Too much too soon

It has been now a couple of weeks’ worth of lockdown changes with: 2 million primary children invited to go back to school, more people back in work, and the restrictions generally somewhat eased. Opinions are pretty mixed as to whether we are truly following the science or whether we
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Hidden figures

Just 10 days ago the world learned that the renowned African-American mathematician, Katharine Johnson, had passed away at that grand old age of 101. Ms Johnson was hired by NASA in 1953 to be, what they called at the time, a “human computer”, using nothing much beyond pen
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5G, do we have an issue?

By now the decision has likely been made and the result out in the public domain – I refer to the choice over whether to let Huawei equipment form the heart or just a lesser part of the 5G national network. For some of us “early adopters” we might be quite excited ab
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The disease of distraction

Very recently I came across a fascinating article on the subject of distraction. Even for the most focussed and work-efficient people, getting distracted is nigh on impossible to avoid. So you’re sitting having an intensive discussion with someone and then you hear that faint &#
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The missing cryptoqueen

They call it a story of greed, deceit and herd madness. Over the last couple of months there has been a series of BBC podcasts with the title: The Missing Cryptoqueen. It has to do with the sudden disappearance of Dr Ruja Ignatova, founder of the amazing cryptocurrency scheme OneCoin,
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When a neighbour is closer than you think

We’ve probably all had the experience of a removal lorry stopping right next door. For most of us we’re a bit wary of the newcomers since we don’t know whether they’re going to be good, bad or truly monstrous! In one recent case a lady called Hillary had a woma
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How far would you go?

Thinking of the most basic staples of life, our bread and water, I wonder how far you would be willing to go for them? I recently came across a couple of stories which showcase what people have been willing to do. The first is from a village in East Java province called Klepu. There t
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An unfortunate ‘slip & cut’

You have to feel sorry for the poor guy. He went into Leicester Royal Infirmary for a botox injection and came out full on circumcised! Not the best way for a hospital to make their mark. Of course I understand that, with the best will in the world, we are all fallible people. Even wi
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Selective speaking

I was amused hearing about the family that got a celebratory takeaway when their child was threatened with a detention for talking in class. As may not surprise you, the backstory for this news item was a bit more complex and involved. A girl called Red had gone through nursery school
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Jackpot day

It comes under a raft of names: a bonanza, a treasure trove, a windfall etc. It was just the other week we were hearing about the lady who scooped the lottery jackpot and walked away with a cool £1m in prize money. What was particularly interesting was that the lady concerned, Paula W
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A time to sing

Stories coming back from conflict zones, that are generally cheering and put a smile on your face, are fairly scarce.
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Just so…daily!

Being just into the New Year, whether we would admit it or not, many of us entertain high hopes.
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Drone chaos

The amount of sheer mayhem caused in the run up to the Christmas period at Gatwick Airport
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Going, going, gone!

The other week Sotheby’s auction house put under the hammer one of Banksy’s best known images
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In over our heads

Very recently household debt has been hitting the headlines again. Apparently: “Up to 8.3 million people in the UK are
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A wall all around

That President Trump promised to build a wall along the US-Mexican border is common knowledge, yet just recently
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Death row – A heavy toll

As a Christian minister it is one privilege to come alongside those that are facing the grief of losing a loved one. And yet
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#NotForChildren

I remember hearing a story many years ago about a mystical forest. Some children stumbled upon
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Knives making better lives

Knives making better lives London has just opened a new outdoor gym by the name of Steel Warriors. There’s no membership fee, there’s even a free coaching facility. Now if this doesn’t already sound too good to be true, this gym has been built from two tonnes of surr
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The “Nudge unit”

The picture on the front was that of an elephant pushing the baby along with its trunk, the title:  “Nudge” by Prof Richard H Thaler who has just now been awarded a Nobel prize. The previous Prime Minister took up some of his ideas in the creation of an internal depar
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UV Footie

One thing I admit I’ve been completely in the dark about is how much fun can be had gathering together for a game of indoor footie.
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Gem of a story

This week will have seen Sotheby’s auction an exceptionally sized diamond weighing in at 26 carats
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Getting over the overture

How would you like to die at the grand old age of 146? Mbah Gotho, a Christian man from Sragen
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Cake or biscuit?

No doubt, at some point, someone has asked you one of those rather silly questions
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Endless brick walls

I still remember the day just as vividly as when it first happened 30 years back.
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Are we forgetting the lines?

First it was Stacey Solomon reading her lines from a clipboard at the panto and then it was Patti Smith
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Picture perfect

Every year Girlguiding in the UK carries out a survey on Girls’ Attitudes.
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Supercars

About the closest I ever come to a supercar is the Top Gear calendar! Yes, sad, I know.
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Pls and Thx

It was just the other month when the story broke of an 86-year-old grandmother who
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My X makes me human

They say that, “X marks the spot”, but what would X be in your life that makes you most human?
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Humankind’s greatest friend is?

Humankind’s greatest friend is …?   The latest edition of the Smithsonian Institute Magazine had this opening statement:
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Picture Power or Person Power

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words – well recently some research
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Perfect parsnip

The celebrity chef, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, has recently been in the spotlight
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Robot love

I read in the paper an article which stated: “The robots are coming.
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Picturing compassion

It was the image of policeman Mehmet Ciplak carrying the three-year-old Alan Kurdi’s
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The sharp end of forgiveness

Vincent Uzomah was doing the job he loved and, for now at least, he cannot face going back to it. 
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Cheerleader Mourning

The headline read: “Cheerleading world mourns ‘founder’ Lawrence Herkimer”.
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Order! Order!

It was playful stuff recently appointing the Speaker of the House of Commons by re-enacting the centuries old
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Suffering wordsmiths

As an occasional radio presenter with Newbury & Thatcham’s very own Kennet Radio, you will not be overly
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Eyes wide shut

Until very recently, if you had asked me what blind people see, I would have answered without any real hesitation,
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First impressions, worst impressions?

The events of the Paris massacres at the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices and elsewhere
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Born only to die as it sleeps?

November 12th witnessed the Philae lander’s bumpy arrival on 67P. The new birth had taken 10 years from when the Rosetta
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7 Of The Best

 
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10 million people said ‘Yes’ in 72 hours

What would create a festival atmosphere in Tokyo, causing thousands to take to the streets in fancy dress?
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Vacuum joke gets clean sweep

It was voted top joke this year at the Edinburgh Fringe by the comedian Tim Vine: “I decided to sell my Hoover… well it was just collecting dust.”
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When two words won’t do

  It was this month I bumped into a BBC article highlighting a new word that seems to be doing the rounds at the present: ableism. The article explained:
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Darn those knees!

A brief story if I may: Two pastors’ wives were sitting mending their husbands’ trousers. One of them said to the other, “My poor Andrew,
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Bola on the Andrew Peach Breakfast Show

Bola, whilst out and about talks to Andrew Peach on his morning show and introduces him to Puff-Puffs etc.
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Pastor Hedley on Andrew Peach Breakfast Show

Minding my own business out and about in Thatcham Town Centre on Monday 27th January 2014 and I spy the BBC Radio Berkshire car and Bridgitte Tetteh scouting around for likely interview candidates – so here we go Lord – in for a penny in for a pound.
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Bola on BBC Radio Berkshire Sunday Evening Show

Bola talks about her faith and her love of cooking and how they combine.
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Putting 3,000 Lifetimes to Work

2014 is here, normality has returned and the festive season is barely more than a fading memory. 
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A Tertium Quid

I’ll save you some taps diving off to Google for a quick Latin refresher. The term tertium quid:
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A long obedience in the same direction

The story of Noah and his ark is one that is well known. The bible is literally chock full of stories
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When what you want is wanting

What if you could create a world exactly the way you wanted it? I could imagine that for many the construction would include:
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Didn’t he do well

Bruce Forsyth was recently in the news voicing concerns that there could be a shadow side to Britain’s Got Talent with young
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Kicking up a mighty royal stink!

Having quite a fair slice of good old British reserve, I’m not usually the type who likes to make a big fuss.
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Getting properly drunk

You could be forgiven for thinking that it is only in more recent days that people have really learned how to party.
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Commitment a dirty word

In a great many settings today commitment is seen as something which is highly likely to limit our lifestyles
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Loving interference

If there is anything that people routinely hate and can even drive them to distraction, it is interference.
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Countering silliness with silliness

Have you ever said or heard someone else say: “Well of course we’re not under law but under grace”.
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Having a bone to pick

Fear would always grip me when my mother would suddenly say “Hedley, I have a bone to pick with you”!
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Contemplating tax evasion?

I think we can take it for read that no one much likes paying taxes. On one occasion Jesus got cornered over this rather
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When the Jubilee reached Galilee

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee has granted people up and down the land occasion to truly celebrate.
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Assumptions, assumptions

The apostle Paul wrote a very odd thing in a letter to Christian believers, he said:
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Ever commanding, ever demanding?

Many in our day take a somewhat dim view of God. Perhaps, right now, that’s you.
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Poems don’t have to rhyme

Do you sometimes think that your life has neither rhyme nor reason. You look back over
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Daydreaming in the night

From our earliest moments we crave security, to be gathered up in our mother’s arms. And which
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Magnificent or mangled

It was one of the strangest prayers ever uttered. He was called to preach before the
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Where’s Wally

No doubt many of us have seen the “Where’s Wally” books. Double-page colour spreads
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All your eggs in one basket

We all know the common-sense proverb which says “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”.
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Which side of the moon?

I want you to picture a day where God, without any warning, decides that mankind will have
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A question of fruit

Jesus did much of his teaching by telling stories and he even gave us a couple of trilogies,
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An Epiphany on Epiphany?

At this time of year people celebrate Epiphany and only one month ago Susan Philipsz won
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Contribution or sacrifice?

Two professors were having breakfast together and were debating whether making a contribution or making
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Turning us upside down

I came across the story of a rally car driver who was a truly forward thinking person. He had a sign which he placed on his
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Not what I would have written

Reading the Bible, even for seasoned readers like me, has its challenges and I want to share a simple tip with you
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When second best is not best

Did you ever bring home your school report thinking you would get praise? You looked at your parents face to see whether
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Circular thinking

Talking about whether the Bible is a divine book or a thoroughly human production is one of those subjects that usually
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Good to be in a bind

Baptising two Christian believers yesterday has put me in mind of a story. A sailing vessel was at the point of
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Fire survival

We’ve all seen scary adverts about fire safety in our homes. Images of being rudely awakened from sleep by the
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The graveyard of good intentions

It is wonderful to be at the start of a new year and let me take this opportunity to wish everyone all of God’s richest
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The R-word

To many of us the word repentance, at least on first hearing, comes across as a bit
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Mining the minute

Some of us have what is called the gift of the gab, well the apostle Paul, who wrote many
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