Articles written by James Smart

What is Helium

About me - James Smart

Since about the age of eleven I have wanted to write. Now I'm getting around to it. Helium is a place where I can feel it's ok to experiment and motivate myself to write...anything! I live in the South West of England with my wife and various animals. I consider

+ more bio information

RSS Feed

Religion & Spirituality > Religious Concepts (Other) What do you believe a true Christian is: 1 of 25
A true Christian is someone who trusts in Jesus Christ and the work of Jesus Christ through His life, death, and resurrection. It is no more complicated than that. Different denominations of Christianity, particularly the more obscure "cult-ish" type ones, will say you are not a TRUE Christian unless you believe and live by t... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Christian Doctrine & Issues Christian understanding of suffering: 13 of 104
The bible is full of suffering. Sex and violence too. And some bad language thrown in for good measure. People point at suffering as a reason to disprove the existence of God. I suppose we think "Well, if I was God there wouldn't be this and that happening...", but God is not like man. He is not like us. The God we want to ex... More..
Parenting & Pregnancy > Child Discipline Strategies To smack or not to smack a child: 6 of 41
When I was a child there were a few occasions when I got a good smack. It wasn't that often, but when it did happen, me and my brother understood why. We became conditioned to realize that very bad behavior brought about a severe punishment, and we feared that punishment. We were never "beaten up", and neither did a smack lea... More..
Creative Writing > Essays Essays: Growing old: 6 of 36
OK, I'm only 36 at the time of writing, but from my time perception point of view I'm probably two-thirds the way through my life. Let me explain: When I was about six years old, a year seemed a long time. Now I find that "recent" events happened about a decade ago. the next thirty-six years of my life will go by twice as fas... More..
Creative Writing > Humor Humor: Things you should never do in an elevator: 5 of 29
First lets get the obvious one out of the way. Farting, guffing, fluffing, croaking...whatever you want to call it. Don't do this, unless you can get away with it. WHY you would want to do this is either down to your mentality or primitive social etiquette, or it's just down to time and pressure. If you must release the breat... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Christian Doctrine & Issues The Prosperity Gospel: Christian lfestyle or modern heresy ?: 3 of 13
It is not the point whether or not God wants to give us lots of money. The point is what are we going to do with it? The problem with a lot of prosperity teaching is that it encourages Christians to look forward to a life of ease and pleasure. Now in paradise - the perfect world where there is no suffering or poverty, I guess... More..
Creative Writing > Short Stories Short stories: Rain: 10 of 39
ELEMENTS AND PUB GRUBDull but exhilarating, walking into the cloud on high ground. Bracken silently serenading and ghosts of lone bare trees shyly loiter within an eye's reach. Tiny water particles stand in the air clashing with film of sweat on brow. Trig point like beacon beckoning draws our party where we stop and chew on ... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Bible Study Searching for truth in the Bible: 17 of 63
The bible is a very symbolic book which isn't meant to be taken completely literally. Certainly not many Christians now take the book of Revelation literally, but the symbolism speaks of deeper and fundamental truths. Jesus spoke in parables which actually were supposed to hide the truth from the masses! Even His chosen follo... More..
Creative Writing > Short Stories Short stories: Dark stories: 186 of 662
UNHOLY COMMUNIONThe Rev. Huxley stood alone in the garden and looked into the starless night sky. He had stepped out from his study where he was struggling to write up tomorrow's sermon, so the distraction was welcome. Lights had flooded through the window without a sound, and whatever their source seemed to have descended do... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Heaven, Hell & Afterlife Is Hell a real place or a metaphor to deter evil-doers?: 34 of 105
Hell as most Christians seem to believe it is not really scriptural. Allow me to explain. (This article is not a bible study and so you would need to investigate yourself to check what I am saying.)What the bible says: Torment in the Lake of Fire for ever and ever....The original Greek words translated to "forever and ever" d... More..