So I have a little bit of a dilemma – the whole world is taken up with world cup fever – England have made it through the group stage to the last 16 – I can’t imagine the forore in England – Yet here I am in the USA, where football is a completely different sport – they call it soccer here. The only thing is that Sunday’s game against Ecuador will begin at 10am in the morning, the same time as our FCF Church service.

Now I like to see a game of football as much as the next man – but if it comes down to whom I love more, football doesn’t even come a close second. I pity all those Newcastle supporters who worship on a weekly basis at St James Cathedral. Football is not really a matter of life and death at all – it really is just a sport, an enjoyable distraction. But I’ll still be secretly singing “Come on England”!