Introducing Solas

The purpose of Solas is to bring the light and love of the Good News of Jesus Christ into the context of 21st Century European culture. In response to those that seek to exclude Christianity from the public arena with their all-encompassing, negative and intolerant claims, we promote the positive teaching and example of Christ. To this end we will work with all Christians; training, equipping, proclaiming, serving and teaching to the glory of God, for the sake of all humanity and the environment in which we live.

Fleabytes

Solas Tweets

SOLAS: This is well worth going to see - Lore looks at the aftermath of WWII from the perspective of some Nazi chhildren - t.co/VnCC33LTOE

SOLAS: Police chaplain 'forced out after criticising gay marriage' via @Telegraph t.co/AuN0dbdISC

SOLAS: Heading to speak at the Attic 'fish n chip' lunch. Solas has opportunities in universities, cafes, castles and housing estates! Love it!

SOLAS: I was invited to give a talk by a lecturer on inclusiveness. When the gospel is included it wins every time. Go for real 'inclusiveness'!

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The Good, the Bad, the Silly and the Ugly

The Good, the Bad, the Silly and the Ugly – Parliament and Same Sex ‘Marriage’

Some personal reflections on an historic day in Parliament.

Tuesday Feb 5^th was an historic day in the UK parliament. MPs voted by 400 votes to 175 to in principle approve same sex marriage (SSM). Given the amount of pressure and propaganda from most of the mainstream media (along the lines of , ‘if you are young, progressive and loving you will of course support SSM’), this was not a surprising result. Watching the debate on BBC Parliament yesterday there was much to be learnt. I observed:

The Chalke Line

The Guardian, the Independent and Stonewall could hardly contain their glee – the headlines said it all - Leading Evangelical comes out in favour of Same Sex Marriage. In a carefully orchestrated event, Christianity magazine used their February 2013 edition to enable Steve Chalke to write a strong piece in support of gay marriage. There are different ways that one can look at this – one is to see it as a brave and courageous statement of a compassionate evangelical Christian who has been forced to reassess his interpretation of Scripture and convinced by this he, Martin Luther like, can do no other! Others will say that they respect Steve and that whilst they disagree with his position they will continue to ‘dialogue’. I would like to offer a different perspective.

What’s Wrong with Rights?

At the end of a debate I had with a Muslim on “The One True Religion: Christianity or Islam”, a questioner asked whether we would be better forgetting about both religions and just basing our society on human rights instead. I responded that Human Rights don’t deal with the key questions about God, the afterlife etc., but the question revealed a common view.