Sixty or so years ago as a teenage schoolboy in a co-educational secondary school in north London, it never entered my head to question my gender. The distinction between boys and girls was plain for all to see. We went into school at different entrances at opposite ends of the school. Woe betide anyone…
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When I’m waiting in line to order my drink at a coffee shop, my automatic instinct is to grab for my phone. Not to do anything necessary, of course; just to scroll aimlessly for the minute or two before it’s my turn to order. Maybe I can catch a few tweets, headlines, or Instagram…
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Jonathan Fletcher is very well-known within the Anglican part of conservative evangelicalism, though maybe less so among independents. He was the minister of Emmanuel Church, Wimbledon, from 1982 to 2012, but perhaps the single most influential Anglican conservative evangelical across a much wider spectrum of conferences, camps, and churches. Many flocked to his church,…
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Mr O, last time we went for a walk together, you took me a bit by surprise. Oh yes? Why was that? Well, I asked you what has helped you most in your Christian life, and you said it was being an active member of a biblical church. But I’ve asked the same question…
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Increasing numbers of young girls have been questioning their gender or seeking to change it. Once, those accessing NHS Gender Identity Development Service were mostly boys; now almost 75% are girls. Since 2017, 10,000 children have been referred to the clinic. A whistleblowing teacher reported that in one school 17 children were in the…
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Life is full of decisions. Every day we all make many of them. Most are trivial and made without consultation with others: Alpen or cornflakes? Trousers or skirt? Cycle or car to work? But other decisions are more important, and for such decisions we should seek advice. This is the way of wisdom, according…
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I’m checking my email. The usual assortment of junk mail, appointment reminders, freecycle offers, and invitations to share the hoarded fortunes of African presidents… Delete without opening. Delete without opening. Delete without opening. But then an email I know I have to read. And re-read. And read again. It’s from a friend whom I…
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A controversial anti-separatist bill officially named ‘the Law to Uphold Republican Principles’ was adopted by the French National Assembly on 16 February (347-151 with 65 abstentions). It will pass to the Senate from 30 March. The 459-page bill has been the subject of fierce debate, receiving over 1,700 proposed amendments. But this bill is…
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On 19 May last year, I wrote: ‘Thankful for the life of Ravi Zacharias, and for the thousands who first heard the good news of Christ through him. Thankful that the resurrection he preached in Christ is now sight for him, and faith no longer.’ What now? Should I take it down? What should…
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Ought Christians to have a Covid vaccine or not? A live and lively debate has been prompted, not by wild anti-vaxxer conspiracy theories, but by concerns over abortion. Serious minded evangelicals are on both sides of the debate. Some Christians hold that receiving the vaccine means being complicit in the genocide of the unborn.…
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It was a gift from my parents back in 2001. For weeks I had waited, and there it was under the tree on Christmas Eve from Mom and Pop: a first-edition English Standard Version. My first new Bible after leaving home. It would be the first Bible that I would read from cover to…
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The events in Washington, D.C., on 6 January appeared to take everyone on Capitol Hill by surprise. However, many observers said that though they were shocked, they were unsurprised by what happened. For weeks, people had been breathing the noxious air of unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud and had been told they had been…
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