Thinking about God, Jesus and The Big Questions

In the book of 2 Corinthians, the apostle Paul is writing. He says:  So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison  2 Corinthians 4: 16-17 He is pointing out the eternal significance of the spiritual dimension and how much more valuable that is than any discomfort in the temporary physical dimension. When he uses the word "affliction", he is talking about feelings of discouragement that many new believers felt then. It could equally well be used to describe more severe problems in the physical world such as social ostracism or even persecution faced by new believers in some areas of the world today. Continuing on, Paul keeps his focus on the eternal and makes it clear that the eternal spiritual dimension is more valuable than the current physical dimension: because we look not to the things that are seen but...

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...

There are many examples in the Bible of God punishing people when they did not listen to Him. So it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking God is always looking for reasons to punish us.  The more I have been reading the Bible and praying, the more I see that in fact, it's exactly the other way around - God by default wants to bless us. We are His children. He wants us to have good things for us spiritually. Again, this is different to giving us the equivalent of a bunch of candy, which I have written about before .  Even in the book of Job, where Job suffered an incredible series of calamities, none of these came from God. They all came from Satan. This is not to say that God didn't punish people - there are plenty of examples of that in the Bible too. The message I'm trying to get across here is that God by default wants to bless us. Again, blessings are things which are good for us. Often these may take the form of spiritual gifts, such as wisdom, but can take the...

This is a review of the book " God on Mute " by Pete Greig. It is a non-fiction Christian about what happens when God meets your prayers with silence. What do you do? This book is of interest not only to Christians, but also to atheists struggling with the question of "If God is good, why do bad things happen?" (I have some information about that question here ). Interspersing theological research with his own personal experience with unanswered prayers for healing for his wife suffering a serious medical condition, Pete Greig does an amazing job answering one of the toughest questions of Christianity. Everyone can relate to this book and these difficult questions.  One thing I particularly loved about this book is that Pete Greig is not trying to assign blame to the situation. He explains first that some prayers God will not answer for reasons which might become clear upon inspection (e.g. 2 people are praying for opposite things - one for rain, the other for sunsh...

As the son of God, there were many things Jesus could have been doing at any one time. Yet he kept His focus on the ministry He was there to do. The temptation to get sidetracked would have been incredible, since He was around other people all the time who asked Him to do things.  He did always find time to help people on the way to what He was doing. But he never lost his focus of the main thing. Here is an example in the book of Mark: In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also, for that is what I came out to do.” And he went throughout all Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons. Mark 1: 35-39 As you can see, His priority was to first pray, in solitude. He needed th...

Most of the book of Proverbs was thought to be written by King Solomon, who was the wisest man who ever was or will be. The rest of its authorship is thought to be from other Jewish people as the accumulated wisdom of the people.  This book is very valuable. Not only does it contain wisdom that is available to all of us today, but also, the more I read it the more I see it as perhaps the most subversive book of the Bible, which I have written about here .  Many people don't always avail themselves of this source of wisdom, even in instances when they are seeking wisdom from other sources (e.g. self-help books, financial savviness books, etc).  The book of Proverbs does not need to be the only book we read to gain wisdom, but it should certainly be one of them! For where else can we get the words of the wisest man who ever lived, in addition to the accumulated wisdom of others? There are several things which are repeated multiple times in Proverbs. Since they are repeate...

 This quote has been attributed to Christian writer Max Lucado: What if you woke up tomorrow and had only the things you thanked God for today? This is an amazing question! All too often we take for granted the everyday miracles - for example, our eyesight (however imperfect it is), our hearing, our loved ones, the food that we are eating, no matter how ordinary it is. There are countless things we take for granted that we really ought to thank God for because He is the one who put them there. What would you have if you woke up tomorrow with only the things you thanked God for today? You might be wondering at this point, what about all the bad things that might have happened to you? What about sickness and evil deeds? I have written before that when in doubt, I find it's safest at attribute the good things to God and the bad things to Satan or to bad choices made by myself or by others. So yes, it's completely OK to thank God whole-heartedly about all the things we're gra...

I have written before about the power of prayer and how it's in your interests to read the Bible and pray . This is because you get to know God better, and He is a marvelous counselor. You get better discernment in what to do in various life situations, big and small. In the past, I used to think that if I read the Bible and prayed, it would please God. It does please him, but you should be aware that it is YOU who receives the benefits of your Bible reading and your praying, not God. In other words, God is not improved by knowing you, but you are improved by knowing God. So even if you were being purely selfish, you'd still want to pray and read the Bible, because YOU get to reap the benefits of it (not God). If you found this post interesting, you might also like these related posts on this blog: If Jesus needed to pray, we have an even greater need to do it The power of prayer What happens to your prayers?

Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, counseled against knee-jerk reactions. Reacting without thinking is not a wise way to live. Here are his sayings on that: Do not be quick to anger, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools. Do not say, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. Ecclesiastes 7: 9-10  This reminds me to pray, think, and read the Bible when any issue crops up. I'm not good at it - I still get angry quickly when I know that is not the best way. But I am trying, at least. I realize that knee-jerk reactions are literally the enemy of wisdom, as Solomon said. Mental shortcuts like that remove the opportunity to seek God in the middle of this problem. I find it helps me to think "everything is more nuanced than you think it is at first glance", and we do need God's guidance for that. God is the fount of wisdom, so our number one priority should be to seek Him and His solutions, not to give a knee-jer...

Psalm 23 is a well-known psalm that is often quoted for giving comfort to those who are dying. Here it is: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long. Psalm 23 This psalm was written by King David at the time when he was beset by many enemies. He did not write this to comfort him in case he died. Instead he wrote this psalm as a prayer for guidance during difficult military campaigns. In other words, this psalm is very much for the living, not the dying. It...

I was reading the book of Proverbs ( read here why I think it is the most subversive book of the Bible ). Much of the book of Proverbs is thought to be written by King Solomon. While I was reading this, several of the proverbs leaped out at me as being relevant to today's online misinformation. In these proverbs, Solomon promotes a thinking approach and cautions against carelessness. Let's take a look: A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain, but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding Proverbs 14:6     The simple believes everything, but the prudent looks where he is going. A wise man is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool throws off restraint and is careless. Proverbs 14:15-16   The mind of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly. Proverbs 15:14   A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. Proverbs 18:2    All of the above proverbs can be well applied to tod...

Faith and the environmental crisis do indeed intersect, or at least should intersect. Sadly, comparatively few faith leaders seek to address environmental issues, despite humans clearly being tasked by God as being caretakers of the planet. I recently watched the Hook Lecture for 2021 by Dr. Carmody Grey, which addressed the intersection of faith and climate. It's fairly long, but worth the watch, even if you have to watch it in bits. This lecture made me really think. Dr. Grey posed the question "What is it that we want to sustain?" which is a fundamental question that all too often gets ignored.  It's true that if no-one actually talks about what it is we are sustaining, we won't all be rowing the boat in the same direction. Her answer to this question was humanity itself, which made sense to me. Yet I can see how some people would not have given this answer. Some people are wishing to sustain the status quo above everything else, while others are seeking to ...

If we have a difficult decision, we can ask God. But it is harder to discern His answers and His will if we haven't already put in the time to get to know Him. One of my favorite examples in the Bible of knowing God's will (and there are many examples there) is King David. King David was human and by no means perfect, none of us are, but he did seek to know God. He knew God well enough to know His will and His desires for some situations - but not others, as you will see if you read 2 Samuel 11 where David had Uriah killed, against God's wishes. In the situation where David knew God's will, Saul had tried to kill David many times. If David had the opportunity to kill Saul, no-one would have blamed him for doing so. Yet David knew that this was not God's will. Let's take a look: Then David set out and came to the place where Saul had encamped; and David saw the place where Saul lay, with Abner son of Ner, the commander of his army. Saul was lying within the encam...

Often in today's life, we have to decide which course of action to take, and during tricky situations it might feel like we are being torn in two different directions.  I'm not talking about the simpler case where one thing is good and the other is bad, and we need to withstand temptation to avoid going down the bad route.  No, instead I'm talking about being torn between two different things which are both good, but that are mutually exclusive (for example, that would require us to be in two different places at once). In this situation, it's even more frustrating to have that "caught in the middle" feeling because there isn't at first glance a strongly "correct" answer. When I was reading the Bible, I came across a clear occasion where Jesus had to discern between two opposing things also, which I'll illustrate below. Of course, since Jesus is the son of God, he has the advantage of perfect discernment, which we don't have. But we can fe...

In this present day, unfortunately we all hear of a lot of misinformation. I'm not going to even attempt to say which things are incorrect. Instead, I'm going to point out the importance of recognizing wisdom and discernment. This is something that only God can help us with. Do not assume that just because someone is successful in one area, that they are wise. They may have a lot of knowledge or success by societal standards, but that does not automatically mean they have discernment . Discernment is knowing what to do in a particular situation, and being able to recognize truth from lies, among other things. I see wisdom and discernment as more or less the same thing. Knowledge is book-learning, which is also important, but it is possible that someone can have knowledge without necessarily having wisdom.  Having discernment can definitely make your life a lot easier. It makes it a lot easier to see a Godly path through difficult situations. I wish I had more discernment than I...

The book of Proverbs is the combined knowledge of generations of people, and much of it is the collected sayings of King Solomon, who was the wisest man ever to live. The Bible specifically says that no man wiser than Solomon has come before him nor will come after him. This is shown in the book of Kings, where Solomon asks God for wisdom. Here we see God's reply: God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. 1 Kings 3: 11- 13 We see here than Solomon was granted wisdom by God. Assuming he is the wisest man ever to have lived, then if we desire to follow words of wisdom we should pay particular attention to the parts of the Bible that are attributed to Solomon. These writing...

Abraham (then called Abram), met Melchizedek. Let's take a look at this mysterious Melchizedek. Abram came back from battle where he, along with some allies, defeated his enemies and rescued captives and freed them. On his way back after his victory, he met Melchizedek. Who is this mysterious figure? Let's take a look at this passage in the Bible: When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred eighteen of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.  He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus.  Then he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his nephew Lot with his goods, and the women and the people.  After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).  And King Melchizede...

I had a revelation recently. In previous posts, I did not understand how people like Jesus's mother Mary and other people in the Bible had so much faith. When they were told there was a plan from God, OK, then it seems straightforward to have faith, but when things go wrong - like when there was no room at the inn for Mary - it's easy to have doubts. Yet Mary didn't doubt, she still had faith in God's plan. To me, that was (and still is) absolutely amazing. I'm certain I would have had a lot of doubts in her place. Yet recently, it was revealed to me that the ground is in fact rock-solid-steady during those times. It's that it only  seems less steady when something unexpected-to-us happens, like when there was no room at the inn for Mary. Still, God had made provision for her. None of this was unexpected to Him. If you know for sure you are doing something according to God's plan, then Satan will make the ground appear shaky. But actually, the grou...

I was recently reading the book of Kings, and noticed the kingdoms of Israel and Judah frequently and repeatedly disobeyed God. Even though they had the information they needed of what was pleasing to God and what was not, they repeatedly went against God's wishes. This disobedience involved things that were against the ten commandments, like worshipping other gods. At first, I wondered why His people would do this, period. Then I wondered why they would do it, after all that He had done for them, and after all the covenants he had made with them. Reading these passages of the Bible, I felt like an audience member watching a play and saying "no, don't do that! Don't do it! That's a really bad idea! God even said not to do it." But yet, I should not be surprised, when I'm disobedient myself! I'm not any better than them. I could equally well say to myself "No, you know that's not a good idea!" Knowing the theory and putting into pr...

I am sure I am not the only one that has struggled a lot with worries and negativity (and still do).  I have been reading the devotional of "The Battlefield of the Mind" by Joyce Meyer over the past few weeks. This has helped me a lot. Certainly, reading the Bible is incredibly helpful in a general sense, but I have also felt immensely helped by Joyce Meyer's book for that specific problem of the battlefield of the mind. In that devotional, I learned that it is deceptively easy for us to get tricked by Satan into turning our attention away from God and into the worries of the world. Sometimes this can even happen due to good intentions on our part, e.g. a desire to empathize and be compassionate. However, if we are not careful, we can all too easily become distracted with all of the negative things that are happening around us, without any thought for a) God and Jesus, or b) any of the positive things that are also happening. Now I realize that God never meant for us ...