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Faith for Life was established in December 2001, but is already recognised as a big-hitter. Currently available in retail outlets throughout UK and Ireland, the magazine is also exported by direct mail to around twenty countries. The editor, Adam Harbinson is a writer, speaker, lecturer and a newspaper columnist with an acerbic wit. Known for his unusual approach and thought-provoking style, he is working on his third book; 'They’ve Hijacked God’ with endorsements from Bono and Tony Campolo – watch this space! Faith for Life combines a heart for mission and a passion for the poor, with a radical approach to scripture. Adam explains; "The word 'radical' means to get back to the root. It does not mean 'off the wall', nor does it necessarily mean revolutionary, although when you consider the state of the church, you have to be pretty radical to get back to how it should be. "As Tony Campolo once said, 'There are many good people in the church working flat out to make Jesus real to people', but it's also a respectable, middle-class organisation, concerned more with maintaining the status quo than with actually doing something to make a difference. "A great example of this I saw once when a young minister was addressing an Anglican congregation in rural Ireland. Passionately he cried out, 'Thirty-thousand children under the age of five die every day from easily treatable conditions, and religion doesn't give a shit!' "Sharp intakes of breath all around. His hearers were shocked, and he added, 'Why is it that you are more upset at my use of a four-letter word than at the deaths of 30,000 children every day?' - that's over a thousand during an average church service". Faith for Life is non-denominational and global in its outlook. Part of it's purpose is to inspire and motivate Christians to action by informing. For example, few people who dare to call themselves Christian can remain untouched by the fact that on average, every six seconds, someone, somewhere in the world is martyred for their Christian faith. Even if they are motivated only to pray, that's a start. But Faith for Life is also concerned with real-life issues that confront us every day, issues that many Christians don't know how to respond to. For example, homosexuality in the church, gay adoption, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, divorce, human suffering, the place of disabled people in the church, the Middle East conflict - is Israel justified in bulldozing poor people's homes? - and so on. "Having said all that", adds Adam, "We're not interested in being controversial for the sake of being controversial. We simply want people to be well informed so they can make right choices and pray wisely". Adam is married with a total of seven children and a grandson. He is married to Pauline and they live in Bangor County Down in Ireland. main Copyright Adam Harbinson © ^top |
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