Author Archives: The Briefing

Interchange: ‘Can Christians fall away?’

|

In Briefings #299 and #300 we published a two-part series on the doctrine of assurance (‘Safe in the shadow of the LORD’). The first article in the series, ‘Can Christians fall away?’ written by Andrew Heard, attracted more feedback than we could publish in the print version of The Briefing. Much of the feedback was helpful to the discussion so we’ve included all of it below, in no particular order other than the date on which it was received.

(more…)

The porn problem

Life

|

It’s official: smoking in films influences teens. Newspapers around the nation on 11 June 2003 reported a new study—published online that day in The Lancet—that surveyed 3500 adolescents who had never smoked, and assessed their exposure to smoking in movies. A follow-up survey some time later found that those who had watched ‘hard-smoking’ movies were up to three times more likely to take up the habit themselves. Health groups have called for an ‘R’ rating on all films with frequent smoking scenes.

(more…)

Isn’t religion just cultural? Straight answers to curly questions #2

Everyday Ministry

|

In the first article in this series, we looked at the commonly raised objection that all religions are basically the same, and developed a logical response. In this article, we continue to explore common objections. The second feeling that people have revolves around the ‘lottery factor’—the feeling that a person’s religion is largely a product of the country they happen to be born in—that it’s all just cultural.

(more…)