Grace taught my heart to fear

A few years ago I wrote this for a Bible Study for 11-14 year olds. It contradicts many of the assumptions and worldviews young people take for granted. 1. All things are made by God and are made good – even things we may be scared of like darkness or spiders or snakes. 2. It matters what we do in our world and with the creatures that live here. God said we could rule over the world but under Him, not rule over the world and ignore Him. We must have respect for our world and for every creature in it – even the ones we don’t like! 3. We are more valuable to God than animals are. 4. We have a different and better relationship to God than animals do. 5. All human beings are made in the image of God – racism, sexism and prejudice is wrong because we are all the same in God’s eyes. 6. The world is meant to function under God’s rule. 7. The reason things are bad is because the world has rebelled against God- the Bible calls this sin. 8. We wear clothes because we are sinful, not because t...

Christians are facing discrimination at work, and ridicule and rejection at home, according to new research. By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent The first poll of Britain's churchgoers, carried out for The Sunday Telegraph, found that thousands of them believe they are being turned down for promotion because of their faith. One in five said that they had faced opposition at work because of their beliefs. More than half of them revealed that they had suffered some form of persecution for being a Christian. The findings suggest a growing hostility towards religion in this country, which has been highlighted by a series of clashes between churchgoers and their employers. Church leaders, including the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, have urged Christians to "wake up" and defend their beliefs after the suspension of Caroline Petrie, a community nurse, for offering to pray for a patient. Churchgoers are likely to be further concerned by new guideline...

PERSISTENCE INDICATES A STRONG WILL. OBSTINACY INDICATES A STRONG WON'T.

This is from the Christian Institute's news feed... Labour's Equality Bill has come under fire from the Daily Mail commentator, Melanie Phillips Rights for Northerners (dailymail.co.uk 15 July 2009) Friday, 17 July 2009 A bid to protect Northerners from discrimination has led to criticism of over-the-top equality legislation by a national newspaper commentator. Melanie Phillips, writing in the Daily Mail, asks: “Can outlawing discrimination against people with sticking-out ears, a belief that Elvis has been reincarnated or a penchant for shapeless cardigans be far behind?” She said the Equality Bill is “the latest manifestation of this Government’s unshakeable attachment to what it calls ‘equality’ but might more properly be called the imposition of injustice upon groups of which it disapproves.” The commentator lambasted the Equalities Minister’s “fanatical determination to wield the blade against all who are getting in the way of the egalitarian utopia – such as men, white pe...

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched sea beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time Like tears in rain. Time... to die." like many others I find these words an amazing description of our mortality. Blogging doesn't make us immortal. But it might just help people to find a solution...

I've just finished reading "Pegasus Bridge" by Stephen E Ambrose. It reminded me of what my generation seems to take for granted - that when it comes to heroes, there was a generation called upon to volunteer to be truly heroic. In the early hours of D-Day 6 platoons of British paratroopers landed between the Orne River and the Caen Canal, far behind enemy lines, very much alone, and 5 hours ahead of the main landing party of around 160,000 Allied troops, with the aim of capturing and holding the two adjacent bridges - one of which became known as Pegasus Bridge. The importance of the sudden capture and hold of these two bridges INTACT cannot be underestimated in terms of the success of the D-Day landings and the liberation of Europe - which we are all still benefitting from. They were landed by glider a few minutes after midnight and in a matter of minutes had taken both bridges, eliminated the guards and the threat of the bridges being blown, and established a defensi...