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…
Mark is away this week, so here’s something you may have missed last month. As anticipation mounted for the World Cup final, a feature about football and faith went out on 6th July on 16 local radio stations around the country: from Yorkshire Coast Radio to Cornwall’s Pirate FM. Mark was a Read more…
I wanted to blog about some of the questions that students ask. RealityBites is a ministry that creates space for people to ask questions about life, the universe and, of course, Hertfordshire. We try to arouse curiosity in people about God, idolatry and the kingdom of Jesus. We do this Read more…
A simple and effective way to talk about the Christian faith is to craft speech acts about heroes and villains. For example, I was talking recently to a financial adviser about investing money in a variety of portfolios and my wife, Anne and I became bothered about the dodgy nature Read more…
In this course we look at the things celebrities do and say and then we invite young adults (18-21 years of age) to respond. What is an intelligent Christian response? Each session has the following structure: Outline celebrity comments with appropriate storytelling. How do you respond? Your thoughts on Paris Read more…
Happy Easter! Christ is risen and his kingdom is breaking into our world. Have you heard this poignant and challenging Tony Campolo story? Tony was walking towards the Holiday Inn in the middle of Port-au-Prince when he was intercepted by three teenage girls. The oldest was about 15. The one Read more…
So we have another story about a young person who has suffered trauma and misery through a perceived lack of physical perfection. In 2008, Imogen D’Arcy, a 13 year old girl from Leeds committed suicide because she thought she was “fat and ugly”. Danny Bowman has appeared on British TV Read more…