Bridge of Reason

 Have you noticed how easily people swear these days? Cursing has become commonplace, casual and fixed as a part of the way so many people talk today. If you want to know where this comes from you just need to watch TV, especially one of the streaming services available. Or perhaps not. It is amazing how casually people adopt what they see and hear on their TV screens. Something else that has become commonplace is ‘partners.’ I have a wife, my wife has a husband, but most people today, even if they are married, have a partner. I had a conversation with a lady who began speaking about her husb...and corrected herself, ‘my partner.’ Of course, my wife is my partner, but ‘wife’ means so much more in this age of casual relationships. Why do I speak as I do, act and live my life this way and not that? Most people don’t give a second thought to it. There is very little of ‘not that,’ just ‘what now?’ My old mother, looking out on an increasingly confusing world, used to say, ‘Well, that...

What do you think of when your hear the word ‘sanctified?’ Paul’s first letter to Christians in Thessalonica is best summed up in verse one of chapter four, ‘How to live in order to please God.’ The context is very important if we are to appreciate its application today. Paul was writing to a church living in what was a hostile environment for Christians, calling them to live sanctified lives. We are beginning to experience this environment in what was traditionally a ‘Christian country.’ You might be aware of recent controversial developments in Ireland regarding gay marriage. Ireland (Eire) has voted to change the constitution to allow gay couples to marry. This has proved an enormous challenge to the Catholic Church that takes a traditional, biblical view on marriage . You might remember also, in Northern Ireland, Ashers Bakery was successfully prosecuted for refusing to bake a cake with a pro-gay message on it. They didn’t refuse custom to a gay man, but simply refused to put ...