Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

By Simon Cozens, IVP, £9.99 Shame, humiliation and stigma are all around us. Online shaming reminds us of the power of shame, the crisis of self-worth, the weight of judgement and the need for freedom. At the same time, people are becoming less responsive to gospel messages about guilt, morality and sin. If we want...

The Roman Emperor Claudius II needed soldiers.  He suspected that marriage made men want to stay at home with their wives, instead of fighting wars, so he outlawed marriage. A kind-hearted young priest named Valentine felt sorry for all the couples who wanted to marry, but couldn’t.  So secretly he married as many couples as...

In this month, when we celebrate St Valentine’s Day, this poignant question is one many people will be asking, especially the young and hopeful. Perhaps you remember these words from the beautiful song in Lionel Bart’s musical, Oliver? The young street boy Oliver Twist sings plaintively of his longing to find ‘someone who I can...

Almost two thirds (60 per cent) of the single adults in the UK have deliberately chosen their single lifestyle, with more women (66 per cent) than men (53 per cent) opting for the single life.  There are two good reasons, according to the findings of a recent study:  a desire for independence, and a weariness...

Saint Valentine’s Day, many believe, was named after one or more Christian martyrs and was established by Pope Gelasius 1 in 496 AD.  Valentine of Rome was martyred about 269, and this day usually ‘belongs’ to him. The first recorded association of Valentine Day with romantic love (1382) is from Geoffrey Chaucer. He wrote, ‘For...

Men do not like doctors.  In fact, eight out of ten men would prefer to endure an illness rather than seek help from their GP.  (This will not surprise many wives.) Despite recent campaigns urging them to take their health seriously, a survey by BUPA has found that 48 per cent of men would only...

If you look up ‘marriage’ in the Penguin Book of Modern Humorous Quotations, you will find that Marriage sits between The Mafia and Martyrdom!   Be that as it may, here are some thoughts for all those who are in love and getting married soon. Your wedding day is not an arrival.  It is the start...

A hedge around your property is good for you.  A recent study has found that the humble hedge, when in full leaf, can cut air pollution around it by up to half. A recent study by the University of Guildford measured traffic pollutants on either side of a hedge in a park on the road...

Thomas Bray was once called a “Great Small Man”, with good reason.  This diminutive 18th century English clergyman (1658 – 1730) not only helped to establish the Church of England in Maryland, but he was also founder of the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge (SPCK) in 1698 and the Society for the Propagation...

By Peter Walker, Lion Hudson, £15.99 This book teaches the basics of the Christian faith, looking first at what Jesus himself taught, and then at what His apostles had to say. It is for anyone who wants to follow Jesus, but who is not sure or would like to be reminded of the way. In...

You and your friends know where you live, but could a 999 crew find you? Paramedics warn that too many people do not make their house numbers clear.  That means paramedics are wasting valuable time looking for clues as to which house is which, while shrubs and rubbish bins often obscure the numbers. In an...

I was in a discussion recently as to whether or not a Christian can have doubts. The father in Mark’s story (9:17-27) speaks for many people. He knew that Jesus could heal his son, but just wasn’t quite sure if He would. Doubt comes in many forms. It may be intellectual, a form of wrestling...