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Here's Steve Rouse on 'Loving the neighbours who build our homes'

My friend was walking into work when a builder crossed her path. As he did, his toolbox broke and there were screws, pliers, and raw plugs all over the pavement.

‘Should I walk on?’ – always a dilemma – but she stopped, helped gather the scattered tools, and after a short exchange felt prompted to ask, ‘Can I pray for you?’ She found a welcome response: ‘Thank you, it hasn’t been a good week.’ It’s 8am and this builder is already having an ‘exploding toolbox’ kind of day.

In Luke 10, Jesus is asked the question: ‘Who is my neighbour?’ He answers with a story about responding to people in the way God would respond to them. Being willing to be there for people in broken toolbox moments models God’s character to others.

This article is from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity section on Connecting with Culture, Understanding Culture.

Darby Vincent explains "Why I said goodbye to social media and hello to real life."

Like many of my fellow Gen Zers, I love social media. I love my nightly TikTok scrolls, posting my Instagram photo dumps at the end of the month, and perfecting Pinterest boards filled with dream life visions. I can’t get enough of the Brat Summer videos or the Four Seasons Orlando Baby (iykyk*).

Despite this 10/10 entertainment, I recently decided to delete my social media apps. Gasp, I know – I’m sure you’re as shocked as my family and friends were – but joking aside, for me this was a pretty big change.

This article is from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity section on Connecting with Culture, Understanding Culture.