Archives: life

Generation Ex

Life

|

Divorce is a difficult reality for many, but not least for the children of the divorced. Karen Beilharz helps us to understand the ramifications of divorce, and how we can love and care for families who have been through it.

(more…)

Doing good: The shape of the Christian life (Part 1): Why we don’t

Life

|

Stuart Heath argues that the Christian life is more than just having faith, it’s about doing good.

This is Part 1 of a three-part series. Read Part 2 and Part 3.

“Being Christian is not about doing good things”, quoth the preacher. “It’s about trusting in Jesus.” Here is the uniqueness of the Christian story: God in Christ has acted on our behalf. We could never be good enough to satisfy God’s requirements—we deserve to be condemned. But Jesus took our punishment for us, rescuing us from God’s right anger. God calls us not to earn our salvation, but to trust that he can save us. This is a beautiful, soul-satisfying truth. But when we talk about being Christian, if we only ever speak about ‘believing in Jesus’, we are dangerously out of step with the New Testament. (more…)

Environmentalism

Life, Word Watch

|

It’s the ‘ism’ that makes all the difference. The ‘environment’ is just all the stuff around us. ‘Environment’ is first recorded in 1830, and comes from the much earlier word ‘environ’, which, in turn, is first recorded in one of Wycliffe’s sermons from 1375. ‘Environ’ comes from an Old French word meaning “that which makes a circuit (or veers) around us”.

(more…)

Matters of indifference?

Life

|

When Christians disagree, often it is helpful to sort the important from the unimportant, the essential from the indifferent. But what criteria should we use to do this? Mark Thompson investigates.

(more…)

Fight the good fight (part 1): A time to break down and a time to build up

Life, Sola Panel

|

Are Christians these days too critical of each other, too ready to oppose and too ready to be negative? You could certainly find plenty of evidence to support this claim. Then again, are Christians these days so polite, inoffensive and unwilling to stand for the truth, they end up being nicer than Jesus? A fair-sized dossier could be assembled in support of this contention as well. So which is it be, nasty or nice?

(more…)

The perfect gift of right now

Life

|

If we live, we will suffer. But how we suffer, as Eddie Larkman points out, depends entirely on us.

I’d like to share with you something of how God has been teaching me through my personal circumstances. Your circumstances will be different, and they may include many things you would like to change, but we all have to follow Christ where we are. For me, this has meant following Christ in very different circumstances than I envisaged when I was a student over 20 years ago.

(more…)

Against Religion

Couldn't Help Noticing, Life, Sola Panel

|

They say that everyone has a book inside them, and fortunately, in most cases, it stays there.

Some of us have more than one.

(more…)

Literally

Life, Word Watch

|

Literally no-one understands the word ‘literally’ anymore. I suspect that the meaning of the word has changed over the last generation or two. ‘Literally’ came into English from Old French (so blame William the Conqueror). It came from a French word meaning ‘letter’. So when it was first recorded (which was around 1475), it meant ‘to the letter’ or ‘by the letter’. In other words, ‘literally’ began with the meaning that the words were an exact representation of what they said. But that is no longer the case.

(more…)

Chocolate and chips

Couldn't Help Noticing, Life, Sola Panel

|

If my kids were given the run of the place and were allowed to set the rules, what would their day look like? Apart from the absence of school, I’m guessing their activities would involve a copious diet of computer gaming, MSN (if you don’t know what this is, ask someone under 20), music downloads, TV, chocolate and chips.

(more…)

New year’s resolutions

Couldn't Help Noticing, Life, Sola Panel

|

It’s that time of year when certain sorts of people flirt with the idea of New Year’s resolutions. I once made such lists. After multiple failures and subsequent guilt, I made a resolution to give up on resolutions.

(more…)