I have discussed earlier in this blog’s life the concept of scrupulosity, sometimes referred to as religious OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder.) That particular post was a bit of a mish-mash of things I found online, and I felt it had some shortcomings. Nevertheless it remains the most searched-for and viewed article on my whole site. I […]
God is Nice – He Likes You!
April 1, 2013 by 1 Comment
I have been rereading Adrian Plass’ “Sacred Diary” today. I love those books – I like humour, and there is a serious message in them too. I particularly like the running theme of the first book, which is that “God is nice and he likes you.” We all know – or should know – that […]
Review: Enabling Church
January 31, 2013 by Leave a Comment
This is a review of the book “Enabling Church: a Bible-based resource towards the full inclusion of disabled people” by Gordon Temple with Lin Ball (London: SPCK/Torch Trust 2012). This short-ish paperback is a workbook for churches, small groups or individuals seeking to learn more about disability and inclusion within the church. It includes real-life […]
Review: Religion and Suicide
November 12, 2012 by 1 Comment
This is a review of the research paper “Religion and Suicide: An exploratory study of the role of the Church in deaths by suicide in Highland, Scotland” by Harriet Mowat, Cameron Stark, John Swinton and Donald Mowat (2006). I haven’t been able to locate a copy online, although the University of Aberdeen has a summary […]
What Do Chaplains Do? The report
November 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment
This is a review of “What Do Chaplains Do? The Role of the Chaplain in Meeting the Spiritual Needs of Patients” by Dr Harriet Mowat and Professor John Swinton, report number CSHD/MR001 Edition 2 from Aberdeen University, February 2007 and available online on this site (pdf). I was given a copy of this report when at […]
Review: God’s Will for Your Healing
October 11, 2012 by 3 Comments
“God’s Will for Your Healing” Gloria Copeland (Fort Worth: Kenneth Copeland Publications, 1972) I have to say that this is not my sort of book at all. Gloria Copeland, and her husband Kenneth, are prosperity gospel teachers. That is to say, they are charismatics who believe that God wants all believers to be healthy […]
Review: The Cutting Edge
September 4, 2012 by 1 Comment
This post is a review of “The Cutting Edge: Clinging to God in the Face of Self-harm” by Jess Wilson (Milton Keynes: Authentic Media, 2008) This 73-page book is, as the title suggests, a specifically Christian book about self injury. The author, Jess Wilson, is a former self injurer herself, and the book relates her […]
Troublesome Verses: Sound Mind
July 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment
There are some verses in the Bible which are troubling to Christians who suffer mental ill-health. Some of them seem to suggest that we cannot be proper Christians, or even Christian at all, if we have mental illnesses. One of these verses is in 2 Timothy, where Paul is speaking to Timothy: For the Spirit […]
Getting Some (Christian) Education
May 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment
I want to be more fully immersed in my faith. I don’t know whether it is a feature of my bipolar but I am very much an all-or-nothing sort of person. I either want to spend all my time doing something, or not do it at all; the idea of having a faith but doing […]
Review: “Does God Want Me Well?”
May 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment
“Does God Want Me Well?” is part of the Discovery Series Bible Study published by Discovery House Publishers in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2002. I picked it up at a Christian bookshop, and it is now amazingly cheap on Amazon as I suspect it is out of print! Never mind, I’ll review it anyway as […]
Believer's Brain 