When God’s people were led into captivity in Babylon, He instructed them, by the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah: “Seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace” (Jeremiah 29:7). Do we … Continue reading Seek the peace of the city
faith
Danger in the Shallows
I have often heard preachers take Ezekiel 47:1-12 as their text and deliver stirring messages about the need to plunge into the River of Life. Here is the living water, flowing from the temple of God, turning the desert into a paradise, giving life to everything it touches. This is an allegory for the grace … Continue reading Danger in the Shallows
Loving God
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) This short passage is considered the central and most important statement of the Jewish faith and is commonly referred to as … Continue reading Loving God
Questions
Questions If I outsource my thinking to an algorithm - a robot - does my ability to think begin to atrophy? What about my conscience? If I let the algorithm decide right and wrong for me, does my conscience atrophy? Maybe even my humanity? What does it mean to be human? Why do I have … Continue reading Questions
To every thing there is a season
And this has not been my season for writing. It has been a season for trying to keep up with my bookkeeping work, a season for medical appointments (for both of us), a season for packing and downsizing, with no time left for writing. Most of this other busy-ness will come to an end ten … Continue reading To every thing there is a season
Walk towards the light
Each one of us bears the marks of past events that have hurt us, perhaps even deeply wounded us. There are things we have done that turned out bad; things others have done, deliberately or unknowingly, that have troubled us. The marks and the scars may remain; but if we are walking towards the light, … Continue reading Walk towards the light
Why thee and thou matter for understanding the Bible
These old-fashioned words have disappeared from the English we speak today, so why shouldn’t they disappear from the Bible? Evidently modern translators of the Bible agree that they should go. Have we lost anything by that? I believe we have. But first we lost the ability to understand thee and thou, so we’re not aware … Continue reading Why thee and thou matter for understanding the Bible
The mirage of an easy to read Bible
Image by Pexels from Pixabay Christians today seem obsessed with the idea that there should be, there must be, a Bible that is easy to read and understand. A Bible that would lead us into the deep truths of God’s will with little or no effort on our part. Mind you, it would have to … Continue reading The mirage of an easy to read Bible
Afraid to talk about Christian faith?
“Most people are not scholars. Most people are not academics and researchers who have dedicated their life to a single idea. Furthermore, most people’s objections to God are not intellectual; they are either emotional or volitional. It is not so much their mind that rejects God, but their heart.” From the book Relational Apologetics, by … Continue reading Afraid to talk about Christian faith?
Peace in the storm
Chaos (physics) behaviour so unpredictable as to appear random, owing to great sensitivity to small changes in conditions. (Oxford) Image by yan1515 from Pixabay Weather forecasting is both a science and a matter of guesswork. Temperature forecasts are usually pretty accurate, rainfall forecasts can be wildly inaccurate. I have watched weather radar projections of where clouds will be … Continue reading Peace in the storm
Flatlander Faith 