Posted: 28th Jul 2011 (0 comments)
On the 26th of July, after some years of failing health, John Stott finally slipped quietly away to glory. I was one of many people blessed by his ministry and to me he was - and always will be - 'Uncle John.'
Posted: 21st Jul 2011 (0 comments)
One of the most extraordinary contemporary phenomena is the explosive rise of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Facebook can be likened to a personal notice-board – with photos, news and comments – made visible to a circle of ‘friends’, while Twitter is a constantly updated listing of messages (‘Tweets’) open to all. Three figures give some idea of their scope: around 750 million people have Facebook accounts, around 1 billion Tweets are posted each week. Facebook and Twitter (along with YouTube) are influential and have been credited with aiding the downfall of political regimes. Births, weddings and – more troubling – suicides, are now announced on social networking sites. I am on both Twitter (@Canonjjohn) and Facebook. Yet for all their importance, the growth of these sites has been so subtle that we haven’t given much thought to how we should respond.
Posted: 13th Jul 2011 (0 comments)
It is too early to make a final judgement on what is currently known as the ‘News of the World Phone Hacking Scandal’, where journalists pursuing stories appear to have systematically hacked into mobile phones, stolen personal information and allegedly made payments to corrupt police officers. It is too early because we do not know who authorised these actions and whether such illegalities occurred elsewhere within Rupert Murdoch's vast News Corporation media empire, which includes The Times, the Sun, The Sunday Times and Sky television. Yet if we cannot yet make a final judgement, we know enough to be angry. Some of our society’s most fundamental standards have been trampled on and there has been a complete disregard for those most elementary British values, the rights to decency and privacy.
Posted: 27th May 2011 (0 comments)
If I were to ask who were the most discriminated and neglected people in British society, I wonder what your answer would be? In fact, it is the elderly who are often overlooked and are pushed to the margins of society. Although many senior citizens are physically active, psychologically alert and enjoy fulfilled and happy lives, a large number struggle with loneliness, ill health and neglect. We are becoming a society that prefers not to bother with the elderly. However, it is not that long ago that they were honoured and respected. Why has this devaluation of the aged happened and what should we do about it?
Posted: 8th Apr 2011 (0 comments)
The forthcoming marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton is an opportunity to celebrate marriage on a grand and public scale. The Bible teaches that exclusive and lifelong marriage is a key foundation for society and in an age when marriage is downplayed, such a public wedding is to be approved.
Posted: 1st Apr 2011 (0 comments)
A small boy was asked where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. After a moment's thought he answered ‘Mount Cyanide.’ He was not alone in associating the commandments with poison. You must have seen those images in picture Bibles of Moses descending down Mount Sinai carrying two massive tablets of stone with an impossible ease. His face always bears the most solemn of frowns and it seems clear that what he bears is a set of rules so unpleasant that they might as well be cyanide. Centuries of preachers have confirmed such a view by trying to highlight the New Testament’s message of grace by painting the Law of the Old Covenant in the gloomiest possible of shadows.
Posted: 30th Mar 2011 (0 comments)
Most nations seem to have a day that celebrates mothers and motherhood; in Britain it is Mother's Day, which falls this year on 3rd April. It's a day when flowers and cards are given and mothers are taken out to dinner. Yet there is often little consideration of what motherhood is really all about. This may be because there is a cloud of sentimentality about everything to do with mothers or because it's a topic that raises profound and troubling questions. Are we to celebrate every kind of mother, when our bookshops have sections headed ‘Tragic Life Stories’ filled with tales of appalling parenting? And aren't we adding insult to injury for women who would love to be mothers but – for whatever reason – can't? I suggest that there are two areas where we need to apply some careful consideration.
Posted: 25th Feb 2011 (0 comments)
In May 2010, the Alaotra grebe of Madagascar was officially declared extinct. Over-fishing, damage to its environment and the introduction of new species had resulted in the numbers of the small lake bird dwindling to the point of no return.
Posted: 12th Jan 2011 (0 comments)
In the third century, the Roman Empire was becoming difficult to defend and the Emperor, Claudius II, needed more soldiers. He tried to recruit new men, but faced an obstacle in the young wives of his soldiers, who begged their husbands to stay at home rather than fight. So Claudius decided to forbid marriage. Gloom descended on the city but there was a priest who disagreed with the Emperor’s decree and married young lovers in secret. Morale in Rome was restored but Claudius realised that his plan wasn’t working. It didn’t take him long to find out why and on 14th February AD 270 the priest was executed. His name was Saint Valentine – ‘the friend of lovers’.
Posted: 6th Jan 2011 (0 comments)
Janus was a minor god of Roman mythology whose responsibilities included ‘turning points’: doors, gates, beginnings and endings. Portrayed as having two faces – one looking forward, the other back – he gave his name to the first month of the year. January is an appropriate time for looking back at what has happened to us and forwards to what we foresee happening. Although taking stock of where we are on life's journey is sensible, few people today seem to seriously reflect on either their past or the future. In contemporary culture we concentrate on either the present (what we are doing now) or the immediate future (plans for this weekend or the holidays).
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