After a three-year break from the limelight, Robbie Williams is back! Robbie is a natural born entertainer, a front man if ever there was one. But with that, is the uncomfortable truth that he has suffered badly from loneliness, insecurity, depression and various addiction problems. A quick glance through his back-catalogue of songs reveals as much. He’s nothing if not honest.

I’m intrigued, therefore, that his comeback single contains the chorus lines: Jesus died for me, Jesus tried for me.

I wonder what has led him to write such lyrics? Of course the definition of a Christian is just that: someone who believes that Jesus died for them.

I’ve never known the depths that Robbie has in his life but I’m in exactly the same place as him – dependent on God’s love of me.

It would be quite a story if Robbie was to declare himself a Christian, though I’ve no idea if his lyrics are personal or not. But I wish for him, as for everyone, the peace that comes from embracing the truth that Jesus died for me.

A couple of years back, on a trip to the Carolinas of the United States, I was given a tour of a beautiful old church building. Beautiful as the building undoubtedly was, it was the story that lay behind the building of it that impressed me more. The church had been built – over a century ago – by a mere ten families who had determined to have a centre of Christisn worship in their neighbourhood. But here’s what got me: they built their new church with a capacity of over a thousand people! Now that’s big thinking.

The re-modelling of St. Andrew’s Church – which the congregation has just completed – represents the same kind of faith. In an age of church closures and increasing secularisation, it takes a certin faith to invest hundreds of thousands of pounds in a building project. Even so, the people of St. Andrew’s went ahead believing that their project will serve as a statement of intent – of faith in the future – and of their conviction that the church, with God’s blessing, is more about exciting tomorrows than nostalgic yesterdays.

I wonder if you fancy being part of that?

I was at Hampden last night to witness Scotland’s brave, but ultimately futile, attempt to reach next year’s World Cup finals in South Africa. I had my older boys with me; they need to learn that to follow Scotland is all about pride…with winning no more than an occasional treat!
But almost as soon as the final whistle was blown, and in all sections of the Scottish media today, the question was being asked: should George Burley, the manager, be sacked or should he be given another chance to get it right? Coupled with that particular question was the ongoing autopsy about goals that should have been scored, other ones that shouldn’t have been conceded and, in general, which players cost us our chance of glory.
Why do we always need someone to blame? Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised – after all, blaming is as old as Adam and Eve…literally! Shifting blame and refusing to accept responsibility is pretty well endemic across humanity.
We would do much better to share the ups and the downs, the victories and the losses – in football terms, to win as a team and to lose as a team. Didn’t someone once say, “All for one and one for all!”
Same in all of life. You win some and you lose some. No need for public hangings. Time to move on.