Dear Friends, This week scientists announced that, after years of searching, they have found evidence consistent with the existence of the Higgs boson, popularly known as the ‘God particle’. It is an astounding achievement. And, even if it turns out not to have been found yet, scientists are getting closer all the time, and discovering...
Read moreDear Friends, “I can’t imagine Jesus being invited on to Thought for the Day, can you?” It is an intriguing thought! Can you imagine the presenters of Radio 4’s Today programme introducing the speaker for that day’s three-minute religious slot? “Now, we welcome to the studio, …” What would they call him? Jesus of Nazareth?
Read moreDear Friends, Anders Breivik has been on trial in Norway for killing 77 people and injuring 242 others last July. He does not dispute the charges against him, and says his actions were necessary in order to prevent the “Islamisation” of Norway. In an interesting twist, the prosecution is now arguing that he is insane
Read moreDear friends, We spend our lives in the courtroom. Now, not many of us will actually appear before a judge or a magistrate to answer criminal charges. But we all live our lives in the courtroom of public opinion. We are constantly on trial, and our performance is being judged. Sometimes we are acquitted, sometimes
Read moreDear Friends, What is culture? For some people, it is something they grow in a dish in a lab! For others, it means the theatre, the ballet, classical music and the opera. For many, culture is something that other people have: we speak of Bangladeshi culture, West Indian culture, and so on. The reality is
Read moreDear Friends, I guess most of us feel at least a little uncomfortable with the thought of describing ourselves as zealots. I can’t say it’s a way I’ve ever described myself! Isn’t that kind of language fertile territory for breeding religious extremists and fundamentalists? Surely, zealots are dangerous people? The only thing is...
Read moreDear Friends, While at the Northern Men’s Convention last week (a men’s convention in the north, that is, not a convention for northern men!), I was reflecting on the fact that I am so often somewhat half-hearted in my devotion to the Lord and my desire to give my life in serving him – looking
Read moreDear Friends, Do I want to believe in hell? No, of course not. But can I believe in hell? Now, that’s a different question. In preparing for our Toolbox sessions on ‘What happens when I die?’ I have been enormously helped by Francis Chan’s little book Erasing Hell. He points out that there are many
Read moreDear friends, Those famous words are the opening line of Charles Dickens’ great novel A Tale of Two Cities (which I plan to read this year!). They could have been used to describe the nation of Israel in the 8th century BC, in the days of Jonah the prophet. Now, you may wonder how that
Read moreDear Friends, None of us knew that Matt Patient would die just before we were due to have a Toolbox seminar with the title ‘What happens when I die?’ The least we can do is to apply what we are learning there to this horrible situation. In our first session we noted that one of
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