Souce: pexels.com
If someone were to ask you for words that could be considered Christian jargon, what would you say?
High on your list might be “sin”.
To Christians, it’s a serious thing (and rightly so) but explaining it to someone with little or no church background is enough to make many of us break out into a nervous sweat. Or is that just me?
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity blog in December 2023. To read the full piece please click here.
Source: Reuters
When it comes to football, it takes little to irritate me — and this World Cup has been no different.
Prior to the tournament, I lost count of the times someone said: “Lionel Messi deserves to win this World Cup.” It grated on me, because it implied that he had a divine right to walk away with the trophy, just because of his prior achievements in the game.
But then Sunday’s final neared and, as people asked who’d I’d like to win, I replied: “Argentina, because Messi deserves it.” Yes, I’m big fat hypocrite (and also a bit salty because of France’s victory over England)…
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity Blog in December 2022. To read the full piece please click here.
There is a huge amount not to like about this World Cup – and for very good reason. But with the tournament now underway, it has been nice to focus a bit more on the football and, with it, the small and unexpected moments of joy, including some lovely public declarations of faith…
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity Blog in December 2022. To read the full piece please click here.
Source: Reuters
“So, are you looking forward to the World Cup?”
If there’s one question that’s emerged more than any other in recent conversations, that’s the one. The answers tend to share the same sentiment.
“Hmmmm, not so much…”
This is followed by a list of reasons why this World Cup just doesn’t seem quite right. But for many, there was an expectation that, once it got going, a semblance of excitement would emerge. That’s been true for me, helped by a few surprise results and one decent England display…
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity Blog in November 2022. To read the full piece please click here.
For many people, playing and watching sport provides escapism and relief. At the onset of the pandemic, as sporting events fell like dominoes and clubs were cancelled, many people felt bereft at the loss of activities and occasions that provided a welcome distraction from jobs, responsibilities and worries.
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity Blog in January 2022. To read the full piece please click here.
Three years ago, three words became the tagline for the English summer. “It’s coming home!” people declared. But disappointment inevitably followed as the men’s football team exited the 2018 World Cup in Russia in the semi-finals.
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity Blog in July 2021. To read the full piece please click here.
Image by Janosch Diggelmann
I was in another room when I heard unusual sounds emanating from the television in my bedroom showing the football match between West Bromwich Albion and Liverpool. I’ve watched enough football matches to know how commentators tend to react to goals, but this time their reaction was different. It was one of utter astonishment. What had happened?
This article appeared on the Premier Christianity Blog in May 2021. To read the full piece please click here.
At the beginning of 2020, Liverpool’s Brazilian striker Roberto Firmino shared an unusual post with his 13 million Instagram followers. It was a video of his baptism. In the pool with him was teammate Allison Becker, and both were wearing T-shirts, commonly associated with Hillsong, which display the symbols ‘=’ (the cross equals love). Firmino’s Instagram caption read: “I gave you my failures and the victories I will give you too. My biggest title is your love, Jesus!”
It isn’t just Firmino and Becker who are open about their faith. The Liverpool manager, Jürgen Klopp, is also a Christian. He comes from a Lutheran background and has spoken of the security and liberation that Jesus gives him, once quipping: “If anyone asks me about my faith, I give information. Not because I have claim to be any sort of missionary. But when 40 I look at me and my life – and I take time for that every day – then I feel I am in sensationally good hands.”
Two hundred miles south of Liverpool, and a little further down the football pyramid, Adebayo Akinfenwa and Alex Samuel recently took to their knees in prayer after Wycombe Wanderers gained a promotion. In an Instagram post, Samuel explained that two years ago, injured and without a team, God gave him a vision that he would play for Wycombe…
This article appears in the November 2020 edition of Premier Christianity Magazine. If you’d like to read the full piece, you can order a free copy of the magazine can here (if you’re reading this after November 2020, please contact subscriptions@premier.org.uk to request a copy of the correct edition).