Jesus prayed that his people would be protected from the evil one while still living in the world. [1] Nowhere is this protection more needed than in the area of family life. In many ways, there is now a war on for the family. Alarming statistics and consequences are coming...
Parenting is a complex, demanding and vital job for which there are no qualifications, no training, little support and maximum opprobrium when it goes wrong. [1] Hardly a day goes by without a news bulletin about uncontrollable ASBO kids, depressed and self-harming youngsters and violent teenagers. Why are our...
John is a 45 year old man recently released from prison after being convicted of a child sex offence. He says he has become a Christian in prison. Your church leader asks you to consider joining a group to help support him practically and spiritually. How can John be shown...
How important is the family? Is there compelling scientific evidence demonstrating its importance for mental public health? Is youth crime related to family breakdown? This article weaves together three strands of evidence. First is the research on imprinting of the psychosocial environment in the neurological development of the brain. [1]...
New things about MTAS and MMC are being written every week. So, instead, I will start by repeating myself [1] – whether or not you now have an ST number, God is still in control. That said, it is difficult to know how to respond to all that has happened...
The GP Looking after patients in a GP setting affords a unique opportunity to care for them as people, where their illness is seen within the rich complexity of their lives. Despite the increasing technical skills of modern medicine, or maybe because of them, there is a powerful movement from...
We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:22) The Apostle Paul knew all about hardships. He spoke these words soon after being stoned and left for dead. Perhaps the main hardship some doctors have faced recently (apart from MTAS) will have been the interest...
Where are there needs? We are told to ask the Lord of the harvest to send out more labourers into the field ripe for harvest, and many of us are doing that. We know he hears our cries - so why do I receive so many requests from members overseas...
CMF member Marjory Foyle is a recognised expert on the effects of stress in Christians working cross-culturally. Can it be me? is her autobiography, detailing a life spent serving God as a medical missionary in India and Nepal and later as a psychiatrist. Marjory stepped out in faith as a...
This book explores the distinctives that Christians bring to their professional practice. Starting with theological perspectives on nursing practice, personhood, health and healing, the authors explore the values and interpersonal ethics that underpin a consistent Christian ethic of nursing. They go on to look at how these values are worked...
'Human life begins when a man's sperm fertilises a woman's ovum.' This is the starting point for John Ling's elegant, thoroughly researched but hard hitting book on the morning after pill (MAP). Ling reviews MAP's history and social/personal impact. Then he demonstrates how society has been brainwashed into accepting a...
I have always been fascinated by Wilberforce: we were both born and bred in Hull and even attended the same school, admittedly 200 years apart! He was a truly great Christian, using his immense wealth and power to achieve his life-long mission statement: 'God has set before me two great...
British colonial slavery was finally outlawed in 1838 after 276 years. The British were not the first to start this outrage, but they were the first to end it. Abolition is a well presented book. Richard Reddie describes three types of African slavery: Trans-Saharan slavery, African indigenous Chattel slavery, and...
Losing a parent as a teenager is devastating and these books deal sensitively with this difficult subject. They tell the story of Tony, a fifteen year old boy whose mother is dying from multiple sclerosis. His father is the local vicar and Tony has to juggle schoolwork with nursing his...
Can twelve teenagers give up all sexual activity for five months? Can they explore the value of relationships, learn about themselves and develop confidence and self esteem? Only one is a virgin and most have been sexually active for years. But as they abstain from sex, they experience more, not...
'40 years. 6.7 million abortions. Timefor change!' [1] This strap line brings together churches, professional bodies and pro-life organisations to mark on Saturday 27 October the 40th anniversaryof the passing of the 1967 Abortion Act. 6.7 million abortions. The numbers are staggering: more than the number of Jews who died...
ABC 'Abstinence, be faithful, condoms' has been a successful ABC in helping reduce HIV transmission in Uganda, but A for abstinence is apparently no longer a family planning choice. A new wall chart, produced by collaboration between the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, WHO and USAID, is entitled...
We affirm that man and woman are created in the image of God, that all life originates with our creator, and that all life, from conception to death, is of inestimable value to our creator We recognise that God has given us the choice between life and death We recognise...
The Human Tissue and Embryos Bill, expected to be introduced into Parliament after the Queen's Speech this November, will open up the entire 1967 Abortion Act to amendment. Pro-choice MPs have pledged to liberalise the law [1] and intend to mark the Act's 40th anniversary on 27 October with a...
The first set of doctors to commence run-through training started work in August. Many others though face an uncertain future. MMC and MTAS have taken many casualties but the full extent is yet to be known – round two of appointments continues through to November. The government has released 1000...
The government published its Human Tissue and Embryos (HTE) Bill in draft this spring. [1] There was the usual short consultation, and many groups gave evidence to a pre-legislative scrutiny committee. (CMF gave both written and oral evidence. [2]) The committee published its findings in July. [3,4] It seems clear...
Shortly after the failed terrorist bombings in London and Glasgow at the end of June came a reliable report that an al-Qaeda leader in Iraq had earlier boasted that his group was going to attack UK targets, and that 'those who cure you will kill you'. [1] The original eight...