Thinking about God, Jesus and The Big Questions

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...

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...

Even though he is the Son of God, Jesus in human form still had human emotions. He was not a robot! He suffered terribly during his crucifixion. In this post though, I'm not going to focus on the suffering that he had then (as important as it is). We're going to take a look at how and when he anticipated this bad time ahead. In a previous post , I pointed out that Jesus did not just curl into a ball and give up on his ministry days, even though he surely had some inkling that he had to go through a very bad time at some point in the future. He carried out his ministry, teaching and healing people, right up until the end. The part I want to focus on is the night immediately before his arrest. He was distressed at what was to come. The Bible says: And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is ...

Many of us have a tendency to worry about worst-case scenarios, most of which may never even happen. I have my own struggles with this.  Recently, it was revealed to me that this behavior is just like that of the unfaithful servant in the parable of the talents. Let's take a look at the parable: “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you ...

In my second time of reading the Bible, I was struck by the readiness of Jesus' first disciples to follow him.   As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.   “Come, follow me,”  Jesus said,  “and I will send you out to fish for people.”   At once they left their nets and followed him. When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets.   Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. Mark 1:16-20 Fishing was the livelihood of these men. They were obviously already actively working for the day when Jesus approached them. How did these men have the discernment to realize that what Jesus was offering was more important than what they were currently doing?  I translated the situation into modern terms and mentally put myself ...

We complain about the fast pace of life today.  I understand.  When I was working 50 hours a week regularly (and I realize this isn't all that much compared to the 60+ hours a week worked by some), it seemed I never had time to take care of even the basics. Things like laundry, groceries, washing dishes, cooking food, cleaning, and so on seemed to use up what little time I had left over in the day.  How, then, could anyone expect to have any time to think about any of the big questions, like whether God exists? Even for Christians (believers), how can any of us make time to study God's word? It seemed like the business of just living took up all my time! Yes, I made time to attend church and Sunday School each week.  I did volunteer activities.  Somehow, I fitted this in.  Yet, with or without these, I still felt sorry for myself and for our generation. I felt we didn't have enough time to think about God and study His word. But when I stopped to real...

The Mary and Martha scripture is one which many people frequently find difficult to understand.  I was one of those people, until I heard a good sermon about it which was explained in a way that was easy to grasp.  Here is the Bible reading below: As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10: 38-42 Many people find it very easy to identify themselves with Martha in this scripture. After all, if Jesus came to your ...

Earlier, we found out about misguided works in Misguided Works Part 1: How Do We Know These?   Here, we'll find out what happens to the misguided works of someone who mistakenly but genuinely believes that these are God's desires.  At first this may seem like a complex theological question.  Misguided works surely cannot please God, but would he be pleased by the reverence and desire to serve that is evident in the person's heart? Fortunately, this question of what happens to such works has a direct answer to it from the Bible in the book of 1 Corinthians, which was written by the apostle Paul : For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, c...

One of the things I find the hardest is to put in practice God and Jesus's teachings in the busy 'real world'. In fact one of the biggest struggles I have is listening to a religious leader (whose full-time job is in ministry) exhort us to do various ministry works, when the rest of us are so busy already with demands of a secular job and/or caring for children or other dependents. It is easy to feel that the religious leader is simply 'out of touch' with the demands on our time, yet I know that they are simply conveying the message that is there in the Bible. So, as a (currently) stay-at-home mother, why did I feel a drive within me to find some volunteer work I could do? After all, wasn't I already justifiably busy with the unpredictable and full-time demands of a baby? (To clarify ahead of time, I certainly didn't feel I was guilted into volunteering by religious leaders). So why did I feel to need to help minister to others? (For those who are curious ...