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The Holy Spirit as wind In both Hebrew and Greek, ‘wind’, ‘breath’ and ‘spirit’ are the same word. In English we make distinctions between these things, but it’s easy to see what they have in common: immateriality, invisibility, and life/movement. Sometimes the necessary ambiguity is lost in...

God is not distant from us; the Holy Spirit is His active presence in the world, in the Church, and in individual believers. Right from the beginning of creation (Genesis 1:2), God’s Spirit has been at work - not only initiating the spark of life, but sustaining and directing it (Psalm...

Compare with the NIV: "And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

"bc"? Well, OK, the Billings Method is a particularly prescriptive form of natural family planning. I note that even during the infertile period, the couple are allowed to have sex only on alternate days! For couples who can adhere to the strict rules, it can be a good method. But an awful lot...

Personal testimony is also part of our witnessing - my conversion is the reason why the hope of salvation is in me! But this is an area in which Christian experience is highly variable. I struggled for years because my conversion testimony didn't fit the "correct" pattern (hearing the gospel...

"But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ...

The "Billings method" is just another name for natural family planning. Unfortunately, the idea that "a woman is only fertile for a few days per month" can give people the wrong impression. In fact, sperm survive for up to a week in the woman's body, so you can have sex a whole week before...

A Catholic once told me this joke: "What do you call couples who use natural family planning?" "Parents."

I find this illogical and unscientific. What is this "miscellaneous unformed fetal tissue"? If it's not "a living being", is it therefore inanimate or dead? When does it suddenly morph into a living human baby? 10 seconds before birth? 1 week before birth? 3 months? 6 months? If it's born very...

If a normally fertile couple have sex frequently without contraception (so woman is ovulating and nothing prevents sperm from meeting egg), their "chance" of the woman conceiving each month (i.e. embryo getting as far as implantation, which occurs just before missed period) is 1 in 3. So what...

But the Levitical law (and its punishments) was not yet in existence. There are other considerations: 1) This was more important than just a mere family thing. It was Onan's duty to father the next generation of God's people. A whole tribe of descendants was depending on him! 2) He could have...

i'm still here!

A drop from 450,000 cases per year (in the USA) to less than 10,000 looks pretty dramatic to me.

There is no case for refusing all vaccines on principle. Only a fool would turn down diphtheria, tetanus, polio, whooping cough and rubella. But each one has its own individual risk/benefit ratio. I don't usually bother with the annual flu vaccine (but I made an exception the year I had to have...

So I do that, and see the number of cases oscillating around an average figure up to the introduction of the vaccine, then an abrupt fall to near zero. Go figure... the vaccine worked.

Now that IS an exaggeration!

Yes, I'm sure. I don't know where you're getting your information from. There was lots of measles around in 1962 (that was when I had it) - and it certainly wasn't "on its deathbed" in the UK. It was also killing thousands of children in Africa.

Only smallpox has been eradicated - which is why no-one needs to be vaccinated against smallpox these days. Polio has come close to eradication - but is still circulating in parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, because the people there are very suspicious of vaccines! And as long as there are...

But smallpox is now ancient history. Diphtheria, polio and whooping cough - which used to kill thousands of children - are now rare. The benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks.

Rita, your list is out of date I think - there's been an increase in the number of vaccines available during the last ten years or so. The Uk schedule for children now comprises diphtheria, polio, whooping cough, tetanus, rotavirus, Hib, meningitis B and hepatitis B (and that's just for...