Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Decluttering a small space is on a par with spring cleaning. A more significant, grand-scale declutter is about completely changing the way you live. As I write this I am facing the prospect of moving to a new house. What shall I pack? How much will fit into the new house? It is brand new...

How do you get a normal nine-year-old to sit perfectly still for 7.25 hours a day?  Put him or her in front of a television. And, over time, watch his or her health deteriorate. Such is the message from a recent study on children and obesity.   A group of European child-health experts have found a...

Mind this:  doing mindfulness on your own could make you more selfish. That is the recent warning given by an expert at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Dr Alison Gray.  As chair of the spirituality special interest group at the college, she advises psychiatrists on how to deal with spiritual issues.  She says: ‘Inasmuch as...

Do you wonder if you are working too hard?  There is a simple way to find out:  how cold is your nose? Scientists have recently discovered that when people focus hard on demanding mental tasks, their nervous system diverts blood flow into the brain, and extremities like the nose suffer first.  In tests using thermal...

‘Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David.’ (2 Timothy 2:8). This month we remember the story of St George defeating the dragon. Although this is the stuff of legend, we face our own dragons today. We are engaged in a spiritual battle against the powers of sin, Satan and death. In this...

‘Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David.’ (2 Timothy 2:8). This month we remember the story of St George defeating the dragon. Although this is the stuff of legend, we face our own dragons today. We are engaged in a spiritual battle against the powers of sin, Satan and death. In this...

This month starts with Easter, which is a lovely thought. Whatever else, Easter speaks of new life, of fresh starts and the return of hope. The whole traditional story is about darkness defeated by a light which can never be extinguished. That’s why, in our hemisphere, Easter seems to fit in well with the changing...

“For the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18) Jesus died on a Cross.  So what?  That is the reaction of most people today.  They have seen crucifixes, and vaguely know the story of His...

Easter is the most joyful day of the year for Christians.  Christ has died for our sins. We are forgiven.   Christ has risen!  We are redeemed!   We can look forward to an eternity in His joy! Hallelujah! The Good News of Jesus Christ is a message so simple that you can explain it to someone...

How do you make sense of the Resurrection?  Dead men don’t rise, so why believe that this particular dead man did rise? At the end of St Luke’s Gospel we read that: “they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement” (Luke 24.4).  This is highly significant.  The Gospels do not show us...

This beautiful event (Luke 1:26-38) took place in Nazareth, when Mary is already betrothed to Joseph. The Archangel Gabriel comes to Mary, greets her as highly favoured, tells her not to be afraid, that she will bear a son Jesus, and that her elderly cousin Elizabeth is already pregnant (with John the Baptist). The church...

Zeno of Verona (d. 371) should be the patron saint of all ministers who suspect that the more things change, the more they remain the same. For instance:  ethnic diversity…church-planting… teaching…. concern for the poor… women’s ministry in the church… sound like modern-day Christian concerns?   Not a bit of it – this was the life...