Thomas, has been speaking out as he launches his book Love, Interrupted which tells the story of his own grief after his wife Gemma died from acute myeloid leukaemia – a rare form of blood cancer – at just 40 years old in 2017.

Speaking to Premier, he said too often Christians shy away from talking about difficulties because it challenges their faith and interrupts “cosy church”.

The former Blue Peter and Sky Sports host has won praise for the way he’s dealt with his grief publically, encouraging others in the process.

He thinks the church, as a whole, needs to up its game when supporting members.

“I think what Christians struggle with a little bit when it comes to bereavement; is when it comes to death at the wrong time in life – when people have their lives stolen from them.

“It shakes people’s faith and it interrupts cosy Christianity; it’s a stark reminder that we are not protected from any of this stuff. And I think sometimes Christians shy away from talking about it because it’s challenging their faith, but it’s also holding a mirror up to them that says, ‘this could have been you’.

“I think we’ve got to get better at being able to talk to each other, particularly guys in the church – talking about our fears; talking about the things we struggle with.

“I’m not advocating that we just go on about how difficult life is, but it’s giving people the…

According to a new data, numbers decreased by 1.6 per cent between 2017 and 2018.

Less than half of English secondary schools now offer Religious Education at GCSE and just 237,862 sat the exam this year.

While all schools have a legal requirement to teach the subject, there are insufficient measures to hold them to account.

Chair of the National Association of Teachers of RE, Ben Wood says Religious Education is often viewed as an irrelevant subject.

“For a lot of schools, there is no real incentive to offer the subject if they don’t see it as important. So what we need to look at is how we can make sure RE fits the needs of the students we’ve got in this country.

“The subject has evolved considerably, I think, over the last 30-40 years and continues to do so.”

Entries for GCSE RS in England and Wales peaked in 2011 at 461,795.

Today’s figures show a decline in entries of over 42 per cent in eight years.

Wood suggested the government is responsible: “There’s a lot of pressures on schools in terms of getting everything into their curriculum. What we’re seeing is that a number of subjects are being squeezed out of time. Religious Education is one of them because the government is suggesting that students should see quite a narrow group of subjects. That’s the principal reason for this decline.”

Wood argues that RE offers valuable life lessons that help young people to…

Speaking to Premier Christianity magazine ahead of his UK tour with the Leprosy Mission <link Leprosy Mission to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-leprosy-mission-england-and-wales-23416671258>, Yancey said Christians are increasingly “distracted by politics”

“My understanding is we ought to be following Jesus. And yet a lot of people think our mission is to clean up our country. Make America Great Again. And I’m sure people overseas are just baffled. How can these evangelical Christians support Donald Trump? He doesn’t seem like the kind of person that you would hold up as a role model? And, to me, that’s a distraction. Jesus never seems concerned at all about cleaning up the Roman Empire. Neither does Paul. That was not their mission. And I believe our mission is to create pioneer settlements of the kingdom of God, to show people how we should live based on following Jesus, and to attract them to a better way of life.

“I am writing to try to remind the Church to focus on what we are supposed to be doing. We’re supposed to be presenting a unified front that demonstrates to people the life that Jesus showed us is the best life for the world and to attract them. When we get distracted by politics or disunity, that’s unappealing and turns people off.”

Philip Yancey is one of the bestselling contemporary authors in the world. Titles including What’s so Amazing…

Fires in the Brazilian rainforest have reached record numbers with data from the National Institute for Space Research showing a rise of over 80% from last year.

More than half of these are in the Amazon region.

As the world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon is a vital store of carbon, which slows down the pace of global warming.

Boris Johnson says he’s “deeply concerned” by the wildfires and has called for international action.

The prime minister has vowed to push for a renewed focus on tackling climate change at the G7 summit this weekend.

The Brazilian president has accused world leaders of interfering after Emmanuel Macron described the blazes, which are emitting smoke that can be seen in space, as an “international crisis”.

Environmentalists have blamed Brazil’s leader for perpetuating the problem by encouraging farmers and loggers to clear land there.

Conservation director at A Rocha UK, Andy Lester told Premier of his concerns about the fires. He said: “There are currently nine and a half thousand fires burning across the rain forest that have been started illegally, by people wanting to cattle ranch or mine on land that is not owned by them. That is a major problem because it depleting the rain forest at a rapid rate.

“If we’re seeing huge fires across an area, the size of the UK or more in Brazil, then we know that in some areas of the world like Brazil, far…