Cohabitation

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Cohabitation in the 20th century

This is the title of a report by Dr John Hayward and Dr Guy Brandon of the Jubilee Centre.  It provides an analysis of recent statistics derived from the British Household Panel Survey.

There are about 2.3 million cohabiting couples in England and Wales today, and that figure is expected to rise to 3.7 million by 2031.  With age at first marriage now delayed to a mean of 32 for men and 30 for women, cohabitation is for some a prelude to marriage and for others an alternative.…

Isa 13:1 – 14:2 – Babylon – sermon notes

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[Note: I was trying to be less tied to my notes, hence their relative brevity]

The recent horse-meat scandal has prompted food critic Giles Coren to ask:-

“What on earth did you think they put in [value burgers]? Prime cuts of delicious free-range, organic, rare breed, heritage beef, grass-fed, Eton-educated, humanely slaughtered, dry-aged and hand-ground by fairies…?”

This led me to think about the thoughts that get fed to our minds.

Certainly, from glancing at today’s news headlines, it wouldn’t occur to you that God had much to do with anything at all.…

John 20:1-18 – Little faith, great God – sermon notes

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There is no evidence that she had ever been a prostitute. The idea that she was married to Jesus and carrying his baby at the time of his death is fantasy, pure and simple. What we do know of Mary Magdalene is that she was a Galilean woman from whom Jesus had cast out seven demons. Along with several other women, she accompanied Jesus and his disciples on their travels, and contributed towards their support. She may well have been a woman of some substance and standing, and she is always listed first in groups of named female disciples.…

Contradictory texts, bizarre miracles, man-made myths?

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A recent discussion on Premier Christian Radio’s Unbelievable show promised more than it delivered.

The topic – or, at least, the starting-point for debate – was the often-heard retort of atheists to Christians, “I just believe in one god less than you.”  The argument, such as it is, is that once we have moved from polytheism to monotheism it is but a short further step to deny the existence of that one remaining god.  The argument is fatuous, of course. …

Attention!

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How can preachers secure the attention of their hearers?

What follows is based on the sage thoughts of that master-preacher, C.H. Spurgeon.

To be able to command attention is no trivial matter.  Sin cannot be taken out of people, as Eve was taken out of Adam, while they are fast asleep.  And yet some preachers seem not to care very much about it: some of them stare up at the ceiling, as if they sought the attention of the angels, while others have their heads buried in their notes, as if they were talking only to themselves.…

On eating horses

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It’s become clear that the food we have been putting in our mouths is not everything the label said it was.  Many products sold as containing beef – burgers, cottages pies, lasagne, and so on, have, in fact, contained varying amounts of horse meat.

Although probably not particularly damaging to our health, it’s a major scandal, probably involving international fraud.

One interesting side-light on this whole issue has been raised by food critic Giles Coren.  Writing in The Times, he berated the public for not knowing what is in their food. …

Ten virtues for atheists

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Good for philosopher Alain de Botton, who has challenged atheists to consider what virtues they think might add up to a ‘good life’.  That’s better than worrying about how to be wealthier, or more attractive.

He has come up with a list of ten:-

  1. Resilience
  2. Empathy
  3. Patience
  4. Sacrifice
  5. Politeness
  6. Humour
  7. Self-awareness
  8. Forgiveness
  9. Hope
  10. Confidence

Problems?  Yes, I think there are some problems with this approach.

First, there is the problem of definition.  Sacrifice? – of what, to whom? …

Judgment according to works

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Recent re-thinking about the doctrine of justification throws up a related question about the final judgment:-

Are we warranted to say that we are justified by faith, but are judged by works?  The very idea seems to undermine the grace of God and to take away with one hand what has so freely been given with the other.

N.T. Wright on ‘Justification by Works’

‘Here [in Rom 2:1-16] is the first statement about justification in Romans, and lo and behold it affirms justification according to works!

…

‘Unapologetic’

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Scintillatingly good, embarrasingly bad.

This recent (2012) book by Francis Spufford seeks to introduce the Christian faith from a fresh angle.

It’s certainly different.  Spufford says that he’s not opposed to evidential apologetics, but thinks that there’s plenty of that kind of material around.  But, on the other hand, he claims that no-one can know whether Christianity is true or not.  Shades of ‘a leap in the dark’.  What he has attempted, then, is to show ‘why, despite everything, Christianity can still make surprising emotional sense’

As anyone who has read it will tell you, it’s wonderfully, sometimes hilariously, written. …

Must God punish sin?

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Few Christians are willing to do any sustained thinking about sin.  Of course, evangelical preachers will mention it from time to time.  After all, they need to convince their hearers that they are ‘sound’.  But they will feel under intense pressure from those same hearers to move quickly and as smoothly as possible from anything to do with sin and judgment to a positive and uplifting message about God’s love.

The fact is, that for most modern Christians the doctrine of the love of God has become the one great ‘givens’, the unargued and unarguable axiom. …