I am an addict

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The first time I ever saw a drug addict was at a Rolling Stones concert in Hyde Park – a long time ago. There were actually two of them, and I remember how awful they looked, but I also remember thinking “Nutters!” As years passed, I saw many more and I have to admit that I felt total disdain for them – they were nothings, and were not to be trusted as they would rob and steal. Time went by, though, and I started to see them in the chemists waiting disconsolately for their methadone. My heart started to change.

Buried treasure

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Do you like a bargain? Do you feel really good when you find one? Earlier this year, Libby and I were in Lytham. We passed a very up-market shop which sells women’s, or perhaps I should say ladies, clothes. It is a very expensive shop, and normally we always pass it, but this time I noticed that a sale had just started about an hour earlier. Libby decided it might be worth a look, so we went in. Libby found a tee shirt was reduced to a slightly less than extortionate price, but then I noticed a coat. It was a very special, very different raincoat, and it really was reduced – 80% off. Libby looked great in it, so we bought it. It was so different and such a bargain that Libby tells everyone about it.

Identify yourself

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We read a lot these days about identity theft. In the last year it cost £1.9bn in the UK, affecting an estimated 1.8 million people.

Wikipedia states that “the victim of identity theft (here meaning the person whose identity has been assumed by the identity thief) can suffer adverse consequences if he or she is held accountable for the perpetrator’s actions. Organizations and individuals who are duped or defrauded by the identity thief can also suffer adverse consequences and losses, and to that extent are also victims.”

Coming up next

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Maybe I am a real softie, but I really cannot imagine that I am any different to the next guy. As I watch each of the Chilean miners being rescued, I get a huge lump in my throat, and it is really hard not to let the tears fall! It is wonderful viewing. It is a very rare kind of news – it is GOOD NEWS! Normally, the only type of news which gets such huge coverage is of disasters, but this story has captured the world. Many words have been used in the story, but today I heard many references to “coming out of hell”.
I love good news, and as I watch this story and see the joy on the faces of the relatives as they see their loved ones coming to the surface, I cannot do anything but draw a comparison to the real Good News – the Gospel.

All in all

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The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.The world and all its people belong to him. (Psalm 24:1, NLT)
All its people! All the earth’s people belong to the Lord. Not just some of them; not just the nice ones – all of them belong to him. Even the terrorists, the dictators, the murderers, paedophiles, addicts, thieves, men, women, everyone I don’t like. All of them.

Stop, search

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Are you looking for something? Maybe it’s something you lost. Maybe it’s something you have never had. Maybe it’s tangible. Maybe it’s a reason, maybe it’s just a word. Whatever it is, I am sure that you are looking for something.

In the UK, somebody has just won £113 million in the Eurolottery. It is a lot of money in anyone’s terms, and is beyond everyone’s wildest dream.

Receiving loud and clear

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Can anyone out there remember the days when there were less than three TV stations in the UK? Or only three radio stations (excluding Radio Luxembourg)? I can! Daytime viewing was a test card. Not only that, but TV programmes were black and white. In fact, I think most of my childhood memories are black and white, so perhaps the whole world was slightly lacking in hue!

If you’re happy and you know it

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Are you happy? Do you know it? Do you show it?
It has always amazed me how much a smile can change a face and make it more attractive, better looking – male or female. Those smiles which are just on the cusp of bursting into laughter are by far the most attractive, and they are infectious. When a smile becomes laughter, things start to happen.