Happy New year - welcome to 2026!

 

Question: What sort of New Year’s resolution should a Christian make?

Answer: The practice of making New Year’s resolutions goes back over 3,000 years to the ancient Babylonians. There is just something about the start of a new year that gives us the feeling of a fresh start and a new beginning. In reality, there is no difference between December 31 and January 1. Nothing mystical occurs at midnight on December 31. The Bible does not speak for or against the concept of New Year’s resolutions. However, if a Christian determines to make a New Year’s resolution, what kind of resolution should he or she make? READ MORE HERE...

Heavenly Father,

On this New Year’s morning, we rest in gratitude for your presence, dear Lord, and how you guided us through the old year. Thank You for the blessings of loved ones, the joy of Christmas, and the gift of a new day as we step into a new season.

Strengthen our hearts by your Holy Spirit, renewing us with hope and peace. Help us reflect on the past with humility and embrace the future with faith, trusting in your plans for the year ahead. May we carry Your light into each moment, sharing your love with those around us.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

With Love & Blessings for 2026:
Don, Kim & Theo x

Christmas Blessings from Donline!

The fabulous Child of Hope - Christmas Nativity is here! This year, the children are bringing you a selection of their favourite Christmas carols to tell the Christmas story.

We hope you enjoy the children's singing. They would love it if you could donate towards their Christmas party and food parcels, helping to ensure families have food on the table this Christmas. Most of these children live in the slums of Uganda, where daily life is a struggle, and these parcels mean so much to them.

Wishing you and your loved ones health, peace, happiness and prosperity; over this Christmas, the New Year and throughout 2026.

With Blessings,

Don & Kim Tocher x

Why nearly half the UK is turning to church this Christmas. Come - join us!

 

This Advent, as the UK lights up for Christmas, a hopeful trend is emerging. New data reveals that the church plays a vital role in national life, offering both the good news of Jesus Christ and crucial support in communities.

According to a nationwide poll by Savanta for Tearfund, nearly one in two UK adults (45 per cent) are planning to attend a church service or event this Christmas. This is a rise from how many said they attended last year, and it signals something wonderful: the local church is providing comfort, hope, and compassion for all.

Contrary to the depressing narratives you’ve likely heard about how Christianity in the UK has been on a downward trajectory, hope is rising. God is at work. And he’s working through people in communities in the UK and around the world, including in candle-lit churches this Christmas. READ MORE - COME & JOIN US!

www.tearfund.org

Microsoft Copilot is now being automatically installed on TVs!

 

LG smart TV owners are reporting that a recent webOS software update has added Microsoft Copilot to their TVs, with no apparent way to remove it. Reports first surfaced over the weekend on Reddit, where a post showing a Copilot tile pinned to an LG TV home screen climbed to more than 35,000 upvotes on r/mildlyinfuriating, accompanied by hundreds of comments from users describing the same behaviour.

According to affected users, Copilot appears automatically after installing the latest webOS update on certain LG TV models. The feature shows up on the home screen alongside streaming apps, but unlike Netflix or YouTube, it cannot be uninstalled.

www.tomshardware.com

KiddiMoto Ducati Desmo GP25 Balance Bike - ready for grandson Leo's birthday!

 

As ridden by Marc Márquez. Turn their first ride into something unforgettable. The officially licensed Ducati Desmo GP25 balance bike is lightweight, durable and designed to help children develop balance, coordination and confidence – while feeling like real racers.

Fully safety tested to UK & EU standards

Offically licensed

Endorsed by Carl Fogarty

Ideal starter bike

Limited Stock. We expect to sell out before Christmas

Not sold anywhere else

Extended 5 year warranty available

In 2023 we got Oliver the LCR Honda Alex Marquez Replica KiddiMoto balance bike & he loves it! I got a chance to catch up again with Simon from KiddiMoto at Motorcycle Live last month - had a good chat & looked at his latest models... Oliver's brother Leo has his birthday is coming up soon - so this seemed like the perfect present. Arrived today, easily assembled in minutes - and looks fabulous! Can't wait to see Leo's face when he get's his new bike! I can see a grandson race coming up!

www.kiddimoto.co.uk

Your pet dog, even the chihuahua, may still carry wolf genes

Most pet dogs carry a little wolf inside them; tiny snippets of wolf DNA that slipped into dog genomes after domestication. A new study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has found that almost two-thirds of dog breeds have a small amount of wolf genes, which may have provided them with unique advantages to survive in diverse human environments.

“Our findings definitely show how low levels of gene flow between dogs and wolves have contributed to what dogs are today, regardless of where the dogs are from,” the lead author of the study, Audrey Lin, told New Atlas via email.

Previous studies have shown that modern dogs evolved through the interaction between the now extinct gray wolves and humans during the Late Pleistocene. Since this ancestral split, the genetic flow between the two is rare, even though wolves and dogs can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.

Well as you can clearly see - those wolf genes are really to the fore in little Theodore 😜. The "hunter killer instinct" does come out when Theo sees pigeons or squirrels - not that he's ever gotten close to one LOL!

www.newatlas.com

More than 200 environmental groups demand halt to new US datacenters

A coalition of more than 230 environmental groups has demanded a national moratorium on new datacentres in the US, the latest salvo in a growing backlash to a booming artificial intelligence industry that has been blamed for escalating electricity bills and worsening the climate crisis.

The green groups, including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Food & Water Watch and dozens of local organizations, have urged members of Congress to halt the proliferation of energy-hungry datacentres, accusing them of causing planet-heating emissions, sucking up vast amounts of water and exacerbating electricity bill increases that have hit Americans this year.

“The rapid, largely unregulated rise of datacentres to fuel the AI and crypto frenzy is disrupting communities across the country and threatening Americans’ economic, environmental, climate and water security,” the letter states, adding that approval of new datacentres should be paused until new regulations are put in place.

www.theguardian.com