By Andrew Greenhalgh, Life Group leader, Jubilee Church Wirral

I’m going to begin by saying something many of you will know already.

I like music. A lot.

Another thing many of you know already is that of all the bands and artists I listen to, my favourite is undoubtedly The Beatles.

I like The Beatles an awful lot.

My love for the Fab Four started when I was about 10. My first single was a 1980 reissue of John Lennon’s Imagine and I’ve never stopped listening to them since.

I’ve read books about them, seen Paul McCartney in concert and I even answered questions on them in a school Mastermind competition when I was 12.

Recently I started listening to a podcast called “I am the Eggpod” in which various Beatles fans, some famous, some not-so-famous, talk to a chap called Chris Shaw (who happens to be a Christian) about various Beatle records.

As I listened to one episode, I realised something. I realised that I had listened to barely any of Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles work – whether that was solo or with his 1970s band Wings.

I had, however, listened to most of John Lennon’s solo stuff, and a lot of George Harrison’s. But Paul’s I had dismissed as not worthy of my attention – with the exception of one Wings album (“Band on the Run”, if you’re interested) and his first solo record (“McCartney”).

With the help of Spotify (other streaming services are available), I soon remedied this and realised that I had been missing out. Lots of Paul M’s 1970s music, in particular, is fantastic. It’s not Sgt Pepper or Abbey Road, but, then, what is?

This got me thinking. My thoughts boiled down to this: WHAT WAS I THINKING?! What exactly had made me decide that the 1970s solo work of one of the two most talented members of the world’s greatest ever band wasn’t even worth listening to?

After a while I realised what it was. Following the death of John Lennon, Paul was unfairly labelled the “uncool” Beatle not only by the music press, but by various Beatle biographers. As a result, his post-Beatles work was written off as not being very good.

And I, being young and foolish, believed what I read and then carried those beliefs all the way into adulthood, where they remained until now.

This then got me thinking some more.

What other thoughts, beliefs and misconceptions do we carry around with us without even realising it?

– What concerns do we not take to God because we have been told we shouldn’t?

– What lies about ourselves do we believe because we accepted them years ago and don’t even question?

– What do we tell ourselves we can’t do when actually, with God’s help, we can?

It’s hard to question everything we believe because our lives are based around a series of core beliefs, many of which aren’t a problem.

So here’s my suggestion: Let’s start with the negative ones.

Next time you think to yourself that you can’t do something, question it. Could you try? What’s the worst that could happen? Could God do it? Could God do it through you?

Next time that you think something negative about yourself, ask yourself if God would say that about you. Or would He tell you precisely the opposite?

Andrew Greenhalgh with his wife Julie