Thinking about God, Jesus and The Big Questions

Having emotions is central to being human. Jesus was the only perfect person to ever live on this planet. He had emotions and was not a robot. We should not be quick to ignore our emotions; they are what makes us human. Jesus is a wonderful example of what it is to be in a human body, yet be free of the imperfections that all of us have. Jesus displayed many emotions during his time on Earth.  One example is when He was angry that the moneylenders were doing business in the temple. He overturned their tables. He was not robotic about it. He was human, yet he had perfect discernment to know that this was the correct thing to do.  Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer”; but you are making it a den of robbers.’ Matthew 21: 12 One big difference between Him an...

The words of the prophet Malachi predicted the arrival of Jesus and John the Baptist. We can see this in the Bible verse below. See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight - indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:1 The messenger mentioned in the verse is John the Baptist, while the Lord is Jesus Christ. Another Old Testament prophet, Zechariah, also predicted Jesus and his piercing, which in hindsight we know happened on the cross. And I will pour out a spirit of compassion and supplication on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that, when they look on the one whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. Zechariah 12:10 At the time, without the benefit of hindsight, these words from both prophets must have seemed puzzling and c...

The expectations of society, of the local community, can be a very powerful force. People who do something different to the usual customs in the local area may experience prejudice, criticism and negativity from others around them.  In the case of a new Christian in areas where Christianity is not readily accepted, these new Christians are exposed to a very challenging set of circumstances. Some may have family members who no longer wish to have a relationship with them. Others may experience discrimination in the workplace, socially or in other parts of their lives. As extremely difficult as this is, it can be encouraging to remind ourselves that surely Noah (who was a Jew, the same as everyone else back then) had even more societal pressure. Why? He heard God's call for him to build an ark. His friends and neighbors must have thought he was crazy. And his ark was a very public thing. Even if he had desired to hide it from strangers and just let a few trusted people know about t...

Many people want others to think that any positive attributes they have are things they developed on their own. It's true that they might have worked hard at something. But likely, God helped them too. Why not acknowledge God for that during prayer time? Let's look at an analogy. Suppose you were gifted a nice accessory item by a celebrity, and you wear this accessory every day. If someone compliments you on it, surely you would be proud to say "so-and-so gave this to me!"  In that case then, why not apply that same mindset to things given to us by God? We can be thankful to God in our prayer time for these things. Look, the ruler of the universe blessed you with a particular positive attribute!  It's perfectly OK (and very human) to want to work hard at something, for example to compose a musical as well as it could possibly be composed, or to paint an amazing painting. And it is perfectly OK to be happy with the result and to take some joy in that. That is not g...

Previously, I have talked about how we can catch a glimpse of God through the lenses of nature, music, knowledge, friendship, and more . I talked about how it's a little bit like in the Harry Potter books when Hermione seeks the basilisk through indirect means such as a mirror, so as not to stare at it face to face. Jesus, however, is not one of those other lenses. Jesus is instead a direct representation of God. This is made abundantly clear in this verse from the Bible where Philip asks Jesus to show him God the father. Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father ...

The Bible is strongly supportive of charitable giving. The effective altruism movement, or EA, is focused on charitable giving. But that is where their similarities end. EA is not in line with how the Bible says we should donate our money or time.  I am not saying that EA is intrinsically unethical - I'm simply saying that its aims are in conflict with what the Bible says we should do. So it's therefore a very secular approach to giving - which may not be a problem for you if you're an unbeliever. But for believers, it simply doesn't line up with the Bible.  Here we will take a look at what the Bible says we should do with regards to donating time or money. Then we will look briefly at EA. Disclaimer : Although I have done some research on EA for the purposes of this blog post, I am by  no means an expert on it. It's entirely possible I have missed some of its nuances. Nonetheless, even with those caveats, I still don't see how EA is compatible with Christianit...

It's hard to exactly put a definition of faith. I am not a theologian. Ultimately, what faith means to me (which is not necessarily a theologically correct definition of faith) is this: Knowing that God is still there, is still with us, and that His plan is still going to work. Even at times when earthly happenings make it seem like this is not the case. A biblical definition of faith is given in this Bible passage from Hebrews: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. Hebrews 11: 1-3 As we saw from this Bible reading, faith is about the things unseen (to humans). Likewise, my own definition also comes down to things that we can't see ourselves. Just because we can't see something, it doesn't mean it's not there. I have covered this concept ...