Bob Goudzwaard, a Dutch Christian economist, wrote a brilliant, short book Idols of our Time back in the 1980s. It really is a superb resource for any thinking Christian. He begins the book with these words: We live in a world possessed and we know it. When we focus upon the recent Read more
Let’s focus for a moment upon a key idea – ideology. Ideology is the way in which idolatry affects people today and this includes the soldiers and supporters of IS. The term ‘ideology’ was coined by French intellectuals just before the French Revolution. The word means far more than merely a Read more
A key text for understanding idolatry in the New Testament is a passage in the book of Romans. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator. Romans 1:25, NIV Here we should notice that idolatry does not merely refer Read more
In the light of the recent gruesome activities of the Islamic State (IS) it is timely to re-examine biblical teaching about idolatry and connect this to ideologies, secularism and IS. In this first post we will look at idolatry in the Old Testament. Idol worship is something which no follower Read more
Why is talking about faith often awkward and filled with clichés? Why do our conversations about faith rarely grip people and intrigue them? Mark Roques has spent his life tackling this issue and is convinced that our evangelism can be transformed if we ‘do an Apostle Paul’ and learn to understand and engage with Read more
Men pay upwards of £1000 to listen to the ‘wisdom’ and ‘insight’ of ‘pick-up’ artist Julien Blanc. His worldview boils down to this: objectify women and use them for your pleasure. Videos of Blanc preaching and ranting can be found online under the hashtag #ChokingGirlsAroundtheWorld. This is, of course, shocking but it is Read more
In my last blog I explored the impact of astrology upon the emperor Tiberius. Consider this contemporary story of a president who followed the stars! In 1981 the astrologer Joan Quigley made Nancy Reagan a believer in astrology by showing how astrological charts could have foretold and prevented the attempted Read more
When astrology addict Tiberius (42 BC – 37 AD) retired to Rhodes in 6 BC he consulted many astrologers about his future prospects. He had them murdered just after they had predicted his fortune! When the astrologer Thrasyllus examined his charts and suggested that Tiberius had a glorious future, Tiberius Read more
Here’s an entertaining conversion story from 2011. Sal Bentivegna, a New Yorker, thought the Christian faith was ridiculous. He loved taunting his devout Catholic mother Gloria and would often get combative and sarcastic. He told his mum that she ought to pray “to her God” and ask for ‘dinero’ to sort out Read more
Spain’s national lottery, known as “El Gordo” (the Fat One), was first established in 1812 and operates somewhat differently from most British lotteries. It has a total of 1,800 winning tickets. Each ticket costs a whopping €200 but it is then sub-divided into ten ‘decimas’ which cost around €20 each. The ‘decima’ is Read more