Quote: Hell is God’s honouring of our freedom of choice
Hell is God’s great compliment to the reality of human freedom and the dignity of human choice.
GK Chesterton, journalist, philosopher and Christan apologist.… Continue reading ...
The Spaghetti Monster, an invisible pink unicorn and a teapot walk into a bar …
In case you’re not aware, the title of this post alludes to those fanciful arguments of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM), the Invisible Pink Unicorn and the Orbiting Teapot which are used by some anti-theists to posit that theists ultimately have no truth for their beliefs (the argument being that anyone can say what they like if it can’t be proved empirically hence undermining theistic beliefs which are assumed to simply be acts of fancy). All three illustrations are essentially the same and are really just re-hashes of each other. All very well and good; they are constructs to try and refute blind faith. And I support, in general terms, the refuting of blind faith.
And yet those who know I’m a Christian would immediately jump up and down… Continue reading ...
Repenting in the face of unforgiveness
How hard is it to forgive? Is there a point where you have hurt someone so much that, despite the deep sincerity of your apology, the humbling act of admitting you were wrong, and the heartfelt plea for another chance, that there is absolutely no room to be forgiven?
I know that God, in his perfect grace, offers his forgiveness – and I take that with gratitude and thankfulness and joy. I know also that, while we are made in the image of God, we’re not perfect – every human is flawed and sinful. We hurt each other – even those we love – sometimes often without realising. And in our sin, perhaps we come to a point where offering forgiveness to another becomes nigh impossible for us because… Continue reading ...
What’s your ‘christian’ flava?, or ‘Why Christian Creeds are important’
Stemming from a recent online forum debate I was involved in, one of the queries leveled at me was along the lines of: what variant of Christianity do I subscribe to?
Initially, I found this to be a curious question. For to me, Christianity is Christianity – how can truth be varied? But there is an important lesson within this question for those of us Christians who aspire to share and argue for the truth of the Gospel. And the lesson stems from the fact that, to the unbeliever, to ask what ‘variant’ of Christianity you adhere to reveals that the face of Christianity is obscured or blurred at the best of times.
This reminds me of a story of a traveling Christian businessman. One weekend, when… Continue reading ...
Getting your head out of your proverbial
At times when God feels far-distant in your life and when all appears hopeless and lost and beyond recovery, beyond repair and out of reach, a friend brings a new perspective. More than such a friend, a friend who’s own walk with God is strong and tried and tested – such a friend as this proves a tremendous blessing.
Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:
If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up! (Ecc 4:9-10)
Such a friend can help you realise that your head is so far up your proverbial with your own trouble, that he can gently show… Continue reading ...
Lazy Myth: all religions are equal
Those of you who have been following along with some of my posts over the last several weeks will likely, no doubt, appreciate the irony with this post. I’m referring to an earlier post of mine, Covering Some Lazy Myths, the intent of which was to step through and critique those lazy, half-baked objections to the truth of Christianity. Well, if you haven’t guessed already, the irony about my Lazy Myth series is that I’ve been lazy in writing about them! (Where does that road lead again that was paved with good intentions?)
So, after much deliberation (or laziness), here’s the first. Lazy Myth: all religions are equal.
All religions are equal. That’s the claim of this lazy myth. No matter which religion you choose to follow… Continue reading ...
On arguing apologetics
Arguing apologetics really can be fun. Seriously. You should try it, if you haven’t already. For an even healthier dosage of fun, try it on an internet forum … as the internet has no mercy. You can easily get lost in an apologetic dialogue for days on end. I’m convinced you need a lot of stamina to endure such discussion.
Now typically, arguing religion on any internet forum can be a frightful exercise. The ‘net is full of examples of discussion threads that have gotten out of hand, typically by nutters on both sides. Over the course of the last couple of weeks, I’ve been in dialogue with a couple of humanists who began with the premise that the God of the Bible is evil and, therefore, so are… Continue reading ...
Poem: The wise man who taught carpentry
I wrote this about 10 years ago; I found it while clearing out junk from some old disks and re-living the ‘glory days’ of Uni life and study. This would have been written either when I was considering the merits of the Christian faith, or shortly after having accepted Jesus into my life. Thought I’d dust off the cobwebs and put it up here for you all.
THE WISE MAN WHO TAUGHT CARPENTRY
i sat with a wise man
at a feasting table,
and i knew that he was wise
because he turned to me and said,
life is like crunch-time before exams–
it pays to have begun early
so i questioned him,
i’ve received a’s for last minute study,
explain that,
and he… Continue reading ...
Poem: The cross and its weight
By now, most of you would have realised that I’m not all that fond of rhyming poetry (unless it is written really, really well!) … here’s another of my earlier pieces.
THE CROSS AND ITS WEIGHT
sitting here
weeping,
it’s hard to see how
such an interceeding shadow
that cast doubt
and sent the world around it reeling
could have been so inviting
i used to love him
and her
and their little games and ways,
but they ignored me
as a kitten does a beetle,
they smilingly spat
and gave their words
with a tongue
bated
with more than breath,
for breath it was trying to take away,
and as I sit here,
still weeping,
clinging to idealistic illusions
and wanting them to be real… Continue reading ...
To God the glory (even when difficult)
After my last post, When God says ‘No’, it seemed an obvious step to share some other learnings on 2 Samuel 12:13-23. To some, this passage can be difficult to accept; to the skeptic, it’s a verse they pull to label the God of the Bible as a cruel and unjust God. Why? Well, because God takes the life of David’s son – seemingly without just cause.
In all our Bible reading we must understand that the wages of sin is death and that this entails justice. We see this requirement met for us by the substitutional death of Jesus on our behalf – Jesus paid the full ransom for our sin by taking the punishment we ourselves deserve. In David’s case, is it that the child’s life… Continue reading ...
When God says ‘No’
In the last few days, I’ve been reading over 2 Samuel 12:13-23. It is pretty mind-blowing to think that this story of the results of David’s double-sin of murder and adultery has powerful application for us Christians in our lives in the here and now, despite being written approx. 2500 years ago.
Perhaps I say this because I can see a lot of myself in David in this account in 2 Sam 12. There have been some wrongs in my life in recent years that I have committed and did not repent of – always putting them off, putting them off. It is not so much that I’ve committed the same sins as David had in this story, but rather the impact of his sins’ consequences that I’m relating… Continue reading ...
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