1. if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then He’s dangerous as well as deluded.  He’s not a nice bloke who got a bit confused.  He’s a megalomaniac and a perpetrator of lies. His followers are to be pitied as well as despised. 2. if he didn’t rise from the dead, then He’s not the Son of God.  He’s not a Saviour. And the gospel may be a ‘good’ way to live – but it’s completely ineffectual against death.  And suffering.  And despair. And most of all, sin. 3. if Jesus ... Read More

The lie of addiction is this: I can stop any time I like. One day – not today of course – but soon, I’ll stop drinking.  I’ll start eating. I’ll stop binging. I’ll forsake those websites and delete those images. I’ll cut up the credit cards and walk past the bookies. When this happens, you tell yourself,  everything will return to “normal.” You’ll leave behind your old shameful self and begin afresh. Quick and painless. A new start, with no guilt, no recriminations and no consequences. Of course, this ... Read More

We live in a society that claims to enshrine tolerance.  But what does this actually mean? Yesterday I went for lunch with a group of fascinating people.  One of them was a concentration camp survivor.  At the age of nine, weighing less than two stone, she was liberated from the camp. Needless to say, her whole life since then has been a process of recovery.  But one of the things that she says helped her most, was going to live in Germany after the war.  Everyone, she said, apologised to me. I hated them.  But it was impossible to ... Read More

I was talking recently with a friend who described her life, through tears, with these words – ‘everything is broken’. She’s having an especially hard time at the moment, but she’s not alone. For most of us, there are at least parts of our lives we’d like to undo, or erase completely. So what do we do with our mistakes? I’m not talking here about little blips.  Forgetting an anniversary –  or Valentine’s Day. (Glen, I’m giving you a heads up here – four days to go. Best book that flight to Paris right now, while ... Read More

I’ve been blogging for about 6 weeks now and I’ve loved getting emails from people as well as interacting in the comments. One reader recently asked a great question about whether eating disorders are a sin or a sickness.  Here are some of the things I said in our emails: I’m a Christian and I sin all the time. And I forget God’s grace all the time too. And those two things are totally linked. Whenever I forget I’m forgiven, accepted and loved I try to punish myself, fake it and ‘perform’. And ... Read More