By Bryony Partridge Christ Church, Oakworth writes.
You may remember Hot Chocolate singing the theme song to the film The Full Monty, with the opening line "I believe in miracles".
Do you believe in miracles, I wonder? Jesus got a name for being a miracle worker. When he was around things changed: blind people could see, the deaf could hear, once at a wedding Jesus even turned water into the best wine anyone had ever tasted.
So, is it true? Could such things really happen? Or is it all just a fairy story written a long time ago for people who weren't as clever as we are today?
Well, this is a story for our times: it's about an ordinary sort of working man who had a drink problem.
The wages that should have been spent on things for his home and family were spent on beer instead.
Then he became a Christian and God helped him to get his drinking under control and keep it that way.
His life changed.
When his mates at work found out he'd become a Christian, they thought he'd gone soft and they took the Mickey out of him. "You can't believe all that stuff," they said, "All that rubbish about miracles and Jesus turning water into wine - come off it!"
The man looked at them for a moment and then he said: "I don't know if Jesus turned water into wine back then in Palestine but I do know that in my home he's turned beer into furniture."
Beer into furniture. That's what I call a miracle and that's the sort of thing I see Jesus doing today: changing people, changing lives, bringing hope and love into our needy world.
That's why I believe in miracles. How about you?
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article