Only in relatively recent times has much of education become secularised. Compulsory and universal education is simply taken for granted. But how did we get there?

As we go to the voting booths this week to decide who will represent us in the European Parliament, we need to vote for candidates who understand both the calling and responsibility of Christians to be light, salt and leaven in society.

May our votes in the upcoming elections go to those whose worldview promotes long-term sustainability. 

We live in a fallen world. All of us – our politicians, our leaders, ourselves – are tainted by sinful tendencies. Which is why we need institutions to keep power in check.

The workings of the EU institutions can seem distant, foreign and boring. Yet so much happens there that shapes our European way of life, whether we realise it or not.

Few Europeans today could tell you what these days stand for. Fewer still would have ever thought about the link between the two. 

‘Mosaic’ and ‘house’ were inadequate images for Europe, Bob Goudzwaard argued. Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son, however, did justice to a continent which had declared its autonomy and was quickly spending its inheritance.

There may be various historical and theological reasons why evangelicals are ignorant about European history, the EU story, and about what the Bible tells about politics.

The Dutch microscope pioneer, Jan Swammerdam, saw the magnificence of God displayed even in the despised and lowly louse. To a friend he wrote: ‘I present to you the almighty finger of God in the anatomy of a louse’.

The resurrection of Jesus is the climax of the Big Story, the turning point that has shaped European history and continues to reshape world history. 

Despite the popular impression that Van Gogh discarded his faith in Christ when he became an artist, his letters reveal that Jesus remained his chief inspiration.

As Europe re-armed leading up to World War Two, a Lutheran evangelist named Frank Buchman called the nations to moral re-armament. His Christian-initiated movement failed to prevent war but helped win the peace.

Ukraine’s struggle represents the third phase of the liberation of Europe. It’s outcome cannot be taken for granted.

When the guns fell silent in 1945, peace did not automatically follow. Europe was suffering a severe case of post-trauma stress disorder over the five fearful, bitter and anxious post-war years.

As the two-year anniversary of Putin’s ‘special operation’ in Ukraine approaches, we can be tempted to be discouraged and feel our prayers are not being heard.

Although researchers have repeatedly established that marriage is associated with numerous positive outcomes for both adults and children, few dare to champion marriage publically out of fear of sounding judgemental.

A ‘sharp right turn’ is coming up fast as we approach elections across Europe this year, at both national and European levels. Migrant-scapegoating and nationalism is on the rise in our continent. 

Olga is a survivor. The first time she escaped death was before she was even born. She was a Chernobyl baby, later a war refugee.

While we may think of Epiphany as marking the end of the Christmas season, it should remind us that the Incarnation points to a message to be lived out all year long.

We acknowledge that the source of goodness in our lives lies at least partially outside ourselves: other people, nature, and ultimately God. 

In a Europe that has widely turned its back on the story that, far more than any other, has shaped its culture and civilisation, Christmas remains a paradox.

Whenever we see a Christmas star these dark days, we can be encouraged that the Light of the Gentiles has indeed come.

Five hundred participants at the European Parliament Prayer Breakfast in Brussels last Wednesday listened intently to a Palestinian Christian leader and others who are suffering under the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Democracy cannot simply be taken for granted. Vigilance is essential to resist unbridled self-interest and to promote the human dignity of all and human rights for all.

The Maltese are proud of their Christian heritage stretching back to Paul’s shipwreck on their island. How might God want to turn the ‘raging storms’ presently buffeting Europe and the Middle East into the advance of his kingdom?