It wasn't the easiest conversation I've had this week. An elderly friend is coming to terms with an unpleasant realisation: she is getting old.
She doesn't feel it. Well, she feels it in her arthritis-riddled bones. But she doesn't feel it in her heart and in her mind. She still thinks of herself as the motorbike-riding, hill-walking, party-loving woman that she has always been. So it seems wrong, so wrong to be considering going into a care home. "They're for old people" she exclaimed. I probably could have been more subtle in the way I pointed out that 88 years and several strokes on, she is no spring chicken any more.... continue reading
"I hate the summer - God goes on holiday every year".
The comment caught me surprise. As someone who has a relatively busy lifestyle - and no children - I quite look forward to the summer months. Fewer meetings, more BBQs - an outside chance that the weather might just be warm enough to get a small tan. The weeks when school is out bring a welcome change to the pace to life - a chance to spend more time enjoying my relationship with God without the hamster wheel of responsibilities that crowd most other months. But not everyone feels that way.
There are those who are elderly and frail - those who only leave their home to go to church events or a medical appointment. As summer approaches, they don't see "holiday" they see a 6-week gaping hole in their diary that increases isolation and intensifies their pain.... continue reading
The headlines this week have been stomach-churning. Women beaten in Syria having been forced into sham marriages with much older men. Disgusting images on Facebook like the one showing a lady pushed down some stairs bearing the caption, "next time, don't get pregnant". In the 21st century, violence against women is still far from rare.
So, today on The Good Book Blog we talk with one UK Christian who knows just what it's like to be at the sharp end of a man's fist.... continue reading
āSacrificeā isnāt a popular word today. We live in a āmeā culture of iPods and iPhones that tells us āweāre worth it too.ā Itās easy to fall for when everyone around you is looking out for Number One, but giving up that prerogative is one more way we, as Christians, stand out.
Charlie T. Studd is chiefly remembered as Englandās cricketing champion. For four years running he won his Cambridge blue; captained the team; and even defeated the Australians with his great century in 1882. His time on the pitch, however, was relatively short. After just three years of fame, Studd exchanged the cricket field for the global mission field and joined Hudson Taylor in China, (later serving in India and Africa). Friends, family and nation alike were shocked by his decision. What could possibly have induced him to give up his prestigious position for a life of poverty and hardship in a foreign land?... continue reading
After becoming a Christian in my second term at uni, the first question I asked myself was “What am I doing here then?” I’d given my life to Christ. Should I then leave university and go on the mission field?
Lady Huntingdon was a highborn woman with significant means at her disposal. At the time of her life and death, in the early eighteenth-century, religion was utterly despised by the privileged upper classes. It was a thing for the small-minded ‘little people,’ as it’s often thought of still today. Lady Huntington was an exception. She became a Christian upon hearing George Whitefield speak in 1739 and threw herself wholeheartedly into supporting his preaching campaigns.... continue reading
Here’s a verse to burst an idol-bubble…
It’s only months after Jesus’ resurrection, and weeks after his ascension. Peter and John are hauled up before the court that sentenced their Lord to death, and defend their public claims about the resurrection.
“When they [the religious elite] saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4 v 13).
I don’t want to be known as unschooled, uneducated. I don’t want to be noticed for my unacademic ordinariness. Not many of us do. Education matters… doesn’t it?... continue reading
It's Ascension Day. And whether you're in a church that celebrates such dates or not, it's worth stopping and pondering once in a while just how exciting the ascension really is.
Luke recorded it. Paul celebrated it. And the writer of the Hebrews applied it to Christians under pressure. Because, far more than just Jesus' farewell to the world - the necessary step before the sending of his Spirit - the ascension has profound implications for our lives. The ascension points to great truths that spur us on in the here and now and help us look forward to the life to come.... continue reading
Original sin is not a popular doctrine. It’s probably why we don’t mention it very much. It’s certainly why I was surprised to hear it being mentioned on Radio Four’s Thought for the Day on Tuesday.
The speaker (or should it be, thinker?) was Rev Giles Fraser, a man not known for his sympathy towards biblical doctrines. Here’s how he defined original sin.
“I find in Christianity, especially in the Augustinian tradition, a remarkably similar observation to that proposed by Freud [ie: that we all feel helpless, because of our lack of control over the sources of our satisfaction].”... continue reading
Spotted this car on my way into work this morning, and momentarily wondered if it were Daniel Craig or Matt Damon at the wheel. But it did get me thinking.
Why do people buy personalised number plates? For some it's an opportunity to make others smile. Others just spell out random funny words: LA54GNE, W4LLY or B1NGO. Others have a marketing message - G0 0GLE. There has even been one spotted with altogether darker intent: J1 HAD. But for most, it is surely all about an ego boost. They are known as "Vanity plates" for a reason.
But those who have experienced the grace of God in Christ should never boast about themselves:
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians 6 v 14
So it got me thinking - what number plate would I put on my car that either admitted my own weakness (WAL 1Y might work), or else said something meaningful about God and the Gospel?
Your suggestions below please...
I have a fridge magnet. On it is a cupcake. And, underneath, those words we all know so well: "I can resist everything except temptation".
So often that magnet can feel true. So often we mess up and fall into the same traps time and time again. Temptation leads to sin leads to guilt. It certainly feels true for me today as I fail - yet again - to stick to the new low-fat diet recommended by the doctor. And, more importantly, fail to keep control of my thoughts and my speech.
In part, the magnet is true because we are sinful human beings who are not yet free from the snare of our wayward hearts and our fallen environment. Temptation and sin are inevitable this side of Jesus' return. But partly it feels true because we see battling temptation as a predominantly negative thing. We think of it purely in terms of giving things up, denying ourselves, being austere, missing out.... continue reading
