Post for teens – Who are you following?
What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘follow’? The dictionary says that ‘to follow’ is ‘to go or come after.’ I suspect, however, that as teens and young people, you’re more likely to associate it with forms of social media like Snapchat and Instagram!
While I was researching for this post, I came across an article which listed celebrities who had the largest number of Instagram followers in 2017. Singers, reality TV personalities, and sports stars all made the list. At the top was the actress and singer Selena Gomez… with a cool 130 million followers! To put this into context, 130 million people is almost the whole population of Mexico! And for reference, the UK’s population is 66.5 million. Northern Ireland has a minuscule 1.8 million.READ MORE
It’s almost Valentine’s Day! This is the time of year when in every supermarket and shopping centre, and even online, we are bombarded with red and pink hearts, Cupids and flowers. The promoted message is that if people really love each other, they will purchase this gigantic bouquet of roses, that heart-shaped box of chocolates, and the cuddly teddy bear, then present all of the above at an extravagant romantic dinner for two.
¿Anhelas el año nuevo, dispuesto y listo para los nuevos retos y oportunidades que están por delante? ¿O estás, como yo, algo inquieto y quizás preocupado por lo que te espera y las noticias que puedas recibir antes de finalizar el 2018? Sabemos, por experiencias anteriores, que no todos los años son lo que podríamos llamar un buen año, y sospecho que muchas personas arriban el primero de enero con diferentes medidas de temor.
Have you ever heard anyone say that the Bible is a relevant, up-to-date book and think ‘Yeah, right! Sure the Bible is thousands of years old! Those guys knew nothing about life in 2018 and the sort of things I have to face at my school!’? True, life in Bible times was vastly different to what it is today, and yet the Bible is the Word of God. Remember, God is eternal – totally outside of time. He gave His Word for people living in the days of candles and horses and carriages, and every bit as much for us too in this very modern age.
God is good!
I had a wonderful childhood growing up at the foot of Slemish, the mountain to which, according to legend, Saint Patrick was brought after he was captured and became a slave. We loved climbing the small rock and heather-covered mountain as children, and we couldn’t slide back down the steep, muddy slopes until we’d each had a turn sitting in what we called Saint Patrick’s chair – a missing section from a large, flat-topped stone.