Theme The first recorded gladiatorial combat in Rome occurred when three pairs of gladiators fought to the death during the funeral of Junius Brutus in 264 BCE, though others may have been held earlier. During the height of the Roman empire thousands of men and women were killed in the Read more…
Theme It is God’s purpose to restore, rescue and redeem His broken world through His Son Jesus. Turn on the news and the full impact of the fall will hit you. We hear of terrorist attacks, wars, famine, poverty, torture and environmental breakdown. God calls His disciples to preach the Read more…
Theme Jesus claimed on several occasions that He had the authority to forgive sins. For many this is a deeply offensive thing to say. The uniqueness of Jesus Christ is challenged by many people today. It is very instructive to think deeply about people who believe that they can find Read more…
Very often we hear bad news from an African country like Uganda. We hear stories about famine, hunger, misery, warfare and man-eating lions. We see disturbing pictures on television and in newspapers but is there any good news which comes from this vast continent? The following story is full of Read more…
Wouldn’t it be brilliant if Christians were well known for creating the best factories, offices and work places in the UK? How easy it would be to talk about God’s kingdom if we could point to an abundance of stories like this: Julia Turner is absolutely thrilled with her factory Read more…
Randy Lewis was a senior Vice President at Walgreens in the USA. Walgreens is the American equivalent of Boots the Chemist and has over 8000 shops and employs 176,000 people. It has a turnover of $76 billion. Lewis has an autistic son, Austin and he desperately wanted Austin to have 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…