It makes sense. If you set out on a journey not knowing your destination, you will get lost. Not even the most accurate SatNav will save you from that embarrassment. If you don’t really know where you are going, how can you hope to arrive safe...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
It would be dangerously easy. Just look at what is happening in society around us. The legalisation of ‘gay marriage’. Increasing pressure for acceptance of physician-assisted suicide, along with the inevitable redefinition of the role of...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Are you happy? For many people that’s the big question. We live in a society where often the highest value to pursue is happiness. The most significant goal in life, we are told, is the enjoyment of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. It’s not...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
I don’t suppose it was much of a surprise that the talks facilitated by Richard Haass and Meghan O’Sullivan failed to establish an agreement among Northern Ireland politicians on the contentious issues which have recently highlighted the deep...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
In a crisis it is a precious thing to have the support of those who love us. It makes even the worst situation easier to bear if we know we are not alone. The greatest comfort for the Christian is that God is with us, whatever the trial. Even...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
You couldn’t miss it. Well, I suppose, really, you couldn’t get away from it. Going abroad was no use – there were few accessible corners of the globe where you would have been safe. A prince was born! After all the waiting and speculation,...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Recent controversies about the closure of residential homes for the elderly by several Health Boards in Northern Ireland have highlighted once again some of the problems of growing old. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the political and economic...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Islington. The ‘Sunday Assembly’. The service begins. About 300 are present. No hymns (or psalms!) – instead a congregational rendering of songs by Queen, Stevie Wonder and Nina Simone. There’s a reading from Alice in Wonderland and a...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
SHAFTESBURY SQUARE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (Dublin Road, Belfast) SHAFTESBURY REFORMED CONFERENCE Tuesday, 5 March 2013 At 7.30pm “GIVING A REASON FOR YOUR HOPE” Speaker: Prof. Carl Trueman (Westminster Theological Seminary,...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
What use is the church to society? You might think that’s an odd question to ask. For one thing, we are not accustomed to thinking much about the ways in which the church benefits the society in which it is placed. Aren’t we here to do God’s...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
