When Elen was born she just seemed so perfect. As she started growing up, however, we soon realised that our precious little girl was not the perfect little angel she had first appeared to be.
Far from it…... continue reading
If Elen looked chilled out at 12 weeks, the 20-week scan revealed a baby who was so content as she slouched about in her cosy embryonic armchair that she showed no sign of ever wanting to emerge. As the pregnancy developed, she did not budge an inch, refusing to get into the ‘engaged’ position (“Ready or not, here i come!”), opting instead for the ‘breach’ position (“We shall not, we shall not be moved!”)
Giving birth to a baby in breach is dangerous for both the baby and the mother, so Michelle agreed to give birth by elective caesarean section, meaning that she would go in for a pre-planned operation a week before the baby was due. No breaking waters, no contractions, all a bit surreal really. All of a sudden our answer to the question “when’s the baby due?” was “9am next Tuesday!”... continue reading
One of our readers recently asked: Why wasn’t it sinful for Jesus as a boy to have gone off to the temple and not informed his parents of his whereabouts? It doesn’t seem to be obeying the fifth commandment, to honour your father and mother.
Great question, and a tricky one! It’s important, too, because this is the only episode from Jesus’ childhood we know about (Luke 2 v 41-52), and of course in order to be our perfect sacrifice and our righteousness-giver, Jesus must be sinless. If He is being anything less than perfect here, He’s out of the running to die in our place or give us His relationship with God almost before His human life has begun.
I have been mulling it over and here’s what I’ve come up with: I’d love to know if there are other ways to think about this issue.... continue reading
They're going on now… and will throughout the summer. You may well know people you can pray these things for. If you don't, just pick a camp (Ventures is one place to find one) and pray these things for the people on it!
I’ve sat in front of more screens in my life-time than is healthy for any human being – from TVs to PCs, and mobile phones to widescreen cinemas. In truth the vast majority of stuff that I watched in that time probably stayed in my conscious memory for about 5 seconds before disappearing forever, having been of absolutely no benefit to me or to humanity as a whole.
However, there was one time that I sat in front of a screen that will stay with me for the rest of my life. It was the day I got to meet my little girl, Elen, for the first time. She was just 12 weeks old!... continue reading
When my beautiful daughter, Elen, was born almost 6 years ago, my life changed forever. Becoming a dad did something inside me - my heart melted! Perhaps even more importantly it radically altered the way I understood my relationship with God and in so many profound ways my little girl has taught me lesson after lesson about both myself and my loving Father God.
Consequently, I started using my experiences as a new dad to preach the gospel whenever evangelistic opportunities arose, be they in churches, coffee shops or even prisons. I was frequently blown away by the ways in which people, especially hard men, started to truly grasp the essence of the gospel through the eyes of the Father.... continue reading
Does belief in hell deter crime? Does belief in heaven lower rates of criminality? These were the questions investigated by researchers in Oregon and Kansas, and their findings have been published in a paper entitled "Divergent Effects of Belief in Heaven and Hell on National Crime Rates" published in the online journal PLoS ONE
Sociologists have long noted the positive effects of religion in areas like generosity, co-operation and decreased levels of cheating. But this study set out to measure the relative effect of reward in the afterlife as opposed to punishment. The results are intriguing...... continue reading
I heard on the radio last week that Spem in Alium, a piece of music by Thomas Tallis, had unexpectedly appeared at no. 7 in the classical-music chart. Unexpected because these days those charts tend to be topped by compilations or well-known artists (or both, eg: André Rieu, an Austrian violinist/conductor with Willy-Wonka hair). So why has Tallis suddenly popped up there? Because the music is referred to in the book 50 Shades of Grey.
Later that day, a neighbour started talking about this same book. She heard it was rubbish, so wasn’t going to waste her money on it. But before I could rejoice in a non-Christian having a moral objection to something that’s basically degrading porn, she told me she’d borrow it from her sister-in-law instead.... continue reading
There are some subjects that it's just plain difficult to speak on. Talking on death can reduce anyone who's been bereaved to tears. Addressing personal sins like lust, greed and immorality can easily anger those listening in.
And at times those emotional responses can't and shouldn't be avoided. Sometimes people need to cry - it's a release. And sometimes it's good for the state of our hearts to be exposed by the word of God - then the issues that lie beneath can be dealt with.
But there are other moments, unfortunate moments, where those tears or outbursts are triggered unhelpfully. Occasions when those of us who have the privilege of speaking - whether that's as a preacher, at a women's breakfast or a youth group meeting - use a tone or turn of phrase that is profoundly unhelpful to those listening. Times when we inadvertently cause great distress to those around us.... continue reading
We’re currently filming the next in the series of Jesus and You short, video-based evangelistic courses. It’s thrilling to hear people’s testimonies as they talk about hearing and responding to the message about Jesus. Some have been “spectacular” – others worry that their story is too “ordinary”! But each one reveals a miracle, as God changes people from rebels to disciples.
Yesterday, we filmed a friend of mine. She had a church-going childhood, but gave up on that as an adult. Much later, she and her husband moved house, and my friend got to know one of her new neighbours, an elderly gentleman who lived along the road. He invited her to join his homegroup, which she didn’t, and then to come along to church, which she occasionally did.... continue reading
