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The US debt crisis has dominated the headlines for months.

First, because of the wrangling between the two main parties that took the US economy to the brink of a theoretical default (which everyone knew all along was more posturing than reality). But then in the aftermath, as the implications of the crisis — and the way it is being handled — have continued to send aftershocks through the world economy.

Josh Moody

Date posted: 1 Dec 2011

Watching St. Paul’s from a distance has been an interesting experience recently.

I was then intrigued to discover (from Challies.com) that a Christian street preacher in Calgary was comparing his treatment with that of ‘Occupy Calgary’ — anti-capitalist occupiers who have been left to openly flout many of the same bylaws that he has been routinely arrested for.¹ Artur Pawlowski comments: ‘I have stood over 70 times in the courts. We have been charged over 100 times. Eight arrests’, he says. ‘Just because I believe in Jesus Christ, I’m treated differently.’

Josh Moody

Date posted: 1 Nov 2011

Serious economic activity indicators are all around us, and earnest disciplined parents drive their children to succeed.

When such is the case, it is easy to feel that life is about working hard and forget the adage that ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’. I came across this quotation from C.S. Lewis recently: ‘It is only in our “hours-off”, only in our moments of permitted festivity, that we find an analogy. Dance and game are frivolous, unimportant down here; for “down here” is not their natural place. Here, they are a moment’s rest from the life we are placed here to live. But in this world everything is upside down. That which, if it could be prolonged here, would be a truancy, is likest that which in a better country is the End of ends. Joy is the serious business of heaven’.

Josh Moody

Date posted: 1 Oct 2011

To even attempt to broach this demanding topic in a few hundred words is to rush in where angels fear to tread.

So first a preliminary word: this will not be exhaustive. It will not be ‘exhausting’ either, for which you may breathe a sigh of relief, because of its appropriate brevity.

Josh Moody

Date posted: 1 Jul 2011

The American economy has had a lower than expected increase in employment.

Other indicators from around the world seem to contribute to an expectation that if this economy is improving, it is doing so slowly.

Josh Moody

Date posted: 1 May 2011

One of the most interesting pieces of news is perhaps a little buried beneath the headlines.

An Illinois court has made the ruling that pharmacists will not be required to stock the morning after pill. This is a remarkable victory for some battling Christian small business owners who have been threatened with going out of business because of their commitment to Christian values. As part of the process it emerged that the original mandate to force all pharmacies to carry Plan B was actually autographed by Planned Parenthood. Under the instruction of the previous Mayor of Chicago the wheels were set in motion. But now, though of course the ruling will be appealed, there is reason for celebration. Much prayer, faithfulness, clarity has allowed Christians to continue to operate within this area of medical practice.

Josh Moody

Date posted: 1 Apr 2011

(Warning: flagrant self-promotion to follow.) My book No Other Gospel (Crossway, 2011) has just been published and I have duly been doing the rounds of radio interviews on Christian radio in the US.

They have certainly been fascinating. Whereas in the UK there is Premier Radio listened to by a loyal audience, no doubt, in the US there is a very large population of Christians who listen to Christian talk radio, with news and music, and regular preaching programming. Some of it perhaps classifies as ‘naff’ or ‘cheesy’, but much of it is genuinely edifying and helpful.

Josh Moody

Date posted: 1 Jan 2011

Some remarkable new studies have emerged about the changing patterns of marriage in America.

For decades, it has been assumed that the more educated elites tended towards being more liberal in this and many other ways, while the lower echelons, the less educated with minimal if any college education, are assumed to be more conservative with relation to marriage and anything else.

What is superstition? ‘To believe in spite of evidence or without evidence. To account for one mystery by another. To believe that the world is governed by chance or caprice. To disregard the true relation between cause and effect. To put thought, intention and design back into nature. To believe that mind created and controls matter.’ It is all to do with living in a spooky, chancy who-knows-what- might- happen-next kind of universe.

Before Christianity came onto the scene, the ancient world was very much a world of magic, astrology, amulets, charms, curses, and love potions. Often they were associated with religion — especially seeking the aid of certain gods and goddesses. Every village had ‘wise ones’, who dispensed to people’s needs. Archaeologists have found magical curses scratched on lead tablets and papyri offering recipes and instructions for black sorcery.

Famous books

The Authorised Version of the Bible (or the King James’s Version) was published in 1611. The precise date when copies began to roll off the presses of the King’s printer seems to be unknown, but it must have been early in the year, as two further editions followed in 1611. It was first published as a large folio volume, intended for public reading in church, and was sold loose-leaf for ten shillings or bound for 12 shillings. It was the work of teams of scholars, whose brief was to revise the Bishops’ Bible of 1568, itself largely based on the work of William Tyndale.

Famous events

Pierre Viret, a Swiss/French Protestant Reformer, was born in 1511 at Orbe, a small town now in the Swiss canton of Vaud, and was converted from Roman Catholicism while studying at the University of Paris. A close associate of John Calvin, he was dubbed ‘The Smile of the Reformation’ for his sweet and winning demeanour and preaching.