This week: hope in France, evangelicals in Russia, you in the election, rain in Edinburgh

The weather in Edinburgh is pretty brutal right now, the wind keeps shoving me around.

What has been happening in France recently is horrible and I'm not sure what can be helpfully written about it. So in contrast, here's an account by Maggie Fergusson of how one man's faith has brought hope to many people there.

With the UK's general election lumbering towards us, Gillan Scott issues a challenge for Christians to get involved and the Evangelical Alliance have a whole website's worth of resources to help with that.

The Christian response to politics in Russia is reported by Mark R. Elliott.

A typical night in Accident and Emergency as reported by a senior doctor sounds pretty dreadful.

The many shows that The Simpsons has been are described by Lightning Louie (possibly a pseudonym). They might have made more of the baleful influence of Family Guy but they do a good job is explaining why it isn't (or can no longer be) the wonder it once was.

Finally, what if being ordinary is more important to Jesus than trying to change the world?