Secularism tends to make people selfish and individualistic. Religion and morality in general tend to make people tribal and self–righteous toward other groups... But the gospel of grace, centred on a man dying for us while we were his enemies, removes self–righteousness and selfishness and turns its members to serve others
What is it that the world needs now? Many will instinctively respond: “Love, sweet love.” They may then make the further observation that: “It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.’ They may think this, not necessarily because of some well-thought-through social analysis, but because of the famous song from the sixties with that lyric. Of course, it’s not a bad answer, is it? By anyone’s reckoning, the world certainly could do with a LOT more love. Interestingly, the classic song in question never quite gets around to giving us a definition of what love actually is. So,...
I love this photograph.
I heard it from the other end of the house. Raised voices, a scream and then a very loud ‘I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please don’t tell Mum!’ I could tell, even from a distance, that the apology in that outburst was driven mostly by a desire not to get to the point of needing my intervention! Other times, I’ve had the experience of instructing one of my children to apologise and they somehow manage to utter the words ‘I’m sorry’ with such disdain and contempt that it is very clear they mean the exact opposite. Sometimes the problem...
Rhys Bezzant continues our Apostles’ Creed series … We often speak of a sports star as an adornment to their game. The way Jim Stynes bore up under his fight with cancer, or the ways that Roger Federer is magnanimous in defeat. Sometimes when politicians retire, their colleagues reach deep to find ways of celebrating the integrity or generosity of spirit in people who were their former antagonists. But more than adorning the game: the apostle Paul also wants us to be adornments to the name, to show how beautiful the Gospel is by the way we live our lives. And...
