Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Haryana has become the 10th state in India to pass an anti-conversion law limiting the freedom of Christians to share their faith and the right of Hindus to convert freely. A similar Bill is poised for final approval in another state, Karnataka. As religious nationalism has taken hold across India, there has been a marked...

Did you know that nearly one half of the NHS budget is spent on diseases that could have been prevented? And that Britain’s overall health budget is now bigger than the GDP of Greece? So says the Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, who has recently warned that the NHS cannot continue spending “vast sums” on lifestyle...

40 days after Easter comes Ascension Day. These are the 40 days during which the Risen Christ appeared again and again to His disciples, following His death and resurrection. (Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; and John 20.) The Gospels give us little of Christ’s teachings and deeds during those 40 days. Jesus was seen...

So says the Royal Horticultural Society, as it recently began a campaign to encourage us to see the gastropods in our gardens in a better light. The RHS says that the species play a key role in garden ecosystems, and thus are in need of ‘positive PR’. It seems that only nine of the 44...

Proposing marriage to someone these days needs more preparation than you might expect. Forget about just going down on bended knee and hoping for the best. Instead, you need to think location, location, location. A recent survey found that a fifth of Gen Z and Millennial young people say they would be far more likely...

If you have ever been late in returning a library book, take heart:  the 1704 copy of The Faith and Practice of a Church of England Man was recently handed back to Sheffield Cathedral. A handwritten inscription inside reads: “This Book belongs to ye Lending Library in Sheffield Church 1709.” It left the library just...

In Salvador Dali’s picture of Jesus’ ascension all you can see are his feet! As we celebrate the event this month, it prompts the question ‘where did Jesus go?’ Peter says Jesus ‘has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand’ (1 Peter 3:22). However, the New Testament tells us three things about what...

There was no mourning when Christ’s resurrection appearances came to an end. After the final occasion we are told the disciples ‘worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy’. They had already experienced the onset of grief caused by His death, intensified because of the dreadful manner of it and the consequent crushing of their...

Fyodor Dostoevsky once wrote of the “pleasure of despair”, and it seems that many pessimistic modern readers agree with him. Whatever the reason, sales of the Russian author’s brand of ‘gloom and nihilism’ has become the fastest growing market for Penguin Classics, with sales of Crime and Punishment and Notes from the Underground quadrupling. Dostoevsky...

What is the quality of the air like in your home? That is the concern of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice). It urges that anyone with breathing or cardiovascular conditions who has “repeated or worsening respiratory conditions” should be asked about their housing conditions. Nice warns that exposure to poor indoor...

Augustine, a 6th century Italian prior, holds a unique place in British history. He became the ‘apostle to the English,’ although it was with great reluctance. In 596 Augustine was chosen by Pope Gregory to head a mission of monks whom he wanted to send to evangelise the Anglo-Saxons. Augustine was not a bold man,...

Celtic Prayer – Caught Up in Love 101 Great Big Questions about God and Science Together in Mission – from All Nations to All Nations The White Stone – the art of letting go Mere Discipleship – on growing in wisdom and hope End of the Road? ** Celtic Prayer – Caught Up in Love...