The question came to me as I woke this morning and pulled back the curtains in my hotel.
I was looking across the sea to a monument on a small island which is said to be the location where the apostle Paul was swept ashore, together with his two travelling companions, Dr Luke and Aristarchus. In all 276 people were miraculously saved. The graphic account of the perilous sea journey is detailed in Acts 27, where Luke gives a first-person account of the voyage.
Back in 1848, James Smith published a book The Voyage and Shipwreck of St Paul. He was a Scot, a soldier and keen yachtsman who was a Fellow of the Royal Society. He spent some time in Malta researching the authenticity of the Acts account, concluding it was an authentic eyewitness account, written by a landlubber not a professional sailor.
Is your church healthy? A sabbatical may reveal the answer...
What would you say if I told you that your church has more to gain by a generous sabbatical policy …