COVID-19

Before COVID-19, I watched the world being clever. Day after day, the scheming, the strategizing, the high  handedness, the boasting. Then, in a matter of days, the Lord shut down countries, governments, economies and, at least temporarily, ambitions. 

Mankind was humbled.

Mankind rallied. Rightly so, they rose to the occasion. Question is, why did it take something like that to get people to work together and to recognize others as brothers and sisters - to aid in the struggle that is called Life? And having done so, how long will it take to resume the old attitudes?

Will Mankind heed the call to wake up and recognize that there's a better way, or will greed and selfish ambition rule again as soon as the first fear subsides?

Sadly, history supplies the answer. Mankind has evolved enormously, technologically and, perhaps, methodically - but as a species, virtually not at all.

This wake-up call will become a reason for boasting about how we survived it, instead of an opportunity to repent of our ways universally and change for the better.

Sad.

Got Questions?

(first posted July 31, 2017)

I’ve done a fair amount of Bible study in the past 35 years and when I read peoples’ interpretations - or hear people quoting the Bible to justify an opinion – I can draw some sort of conclusion on at least a semi-educated basis and not stand in awe of wild ideas. However, I’m sure that I’m not the only one who, at some stage or another, has wished that I could find a true source of Christian knowledge online that one could study with confidence, without the slants of - (how shall I put this delicately?) – the variety of different learned opinions that can sometimes account for the multitude of different churches and splinter groups within the umbrella of Christianity?

Happily, some time ago I was led to just such an organization. GotQuestions?org is an non-denominational organization set up for exactly that purpose. It consists of many qualified Christian writers and researchers – over 250 at this point, I believe - including pastors, youth pastors, missionaries, biblical counselors, Bible/Christian students and lay students of God’s Word. It was originally set up to answer questions from people online, but it grew so rapidly, with so many questions per day, that now they have over 4,300 of the most frequently asked questions posted in their archives for easy access to us all. I subscribed to their weekly e-mailed “Questions of the Week” and, over the past couple of years, have been growing in confidence in their answers, to the point where I have absolutely not the slightest doubt that this is the best source of Christian study that one could find online; simply stated, easy to grasp, biblically accurate, and even an amazing place for non-Christians to find out what Christianity is really about if they wish to do so.

In recent months, my access to a computer has been drastically reduced and I my access to questions has been limited to the weekly “Questions of the Week” that I’m subscribed to. However, I was VERY excited to find that GotQuestions?org has a phone app on Google Play (amongst others) that was quick and easy to download – and one has all the archived questions and answers available, extremely quickly – and offline to boot! No data charges once downloaded. This is such a rich source of study material, freely and immediately available at any moment. I love it!

For anyone who would like to pose virtually any questions about God, the Bible or Christianity – for practising Christians or non-Christians who would like to know more about it – I highly recommend GotQuestions?org.

Thank you to the team at Got Questions for your tireless dedication

Reflections on What is Out There?

(first posted July 21, 2017)

What has God been up to for so long?

God has been around ‘forever’. "Forever" isn’t easy to measure or easily imagine, so if one had to quantify it in terms of numbers, could one reasonably say for anything between many, many millions of years to millions of millennia and beyond?

Yet Man, according to Biblical records, was created only around 6,000 years ago. Give or take as many thousands as you like, in terms of God's history, that's hardly a wink in time - and ever so recently, at that. So what has He been doing for all that time before Mankind was created on Earth? God is busy and He doesn't tire - so He must have been busy then too. It's pretty mind-boggling. He is creative.  There must be so much more out there than we can ever imagine! How much we can look forward to being a part of ....one day!

If one considers how short our six thousand-odd years must be in God's experience of time, and how much must be out there, it must surely alter, in some way, our perception of our time on Earth in terms of the big picture. The 6000 years that we're talking about is the present -   we are not 6000 years lost somewhere in the midst of all that time - we are a current project, designed after all those years of experience and experiences, fresh and new in His scheme of things. We weren't a mistake made long ago. Mankind on Earth is a current project! We were designed to be a part of all that lies out there one day.

That’s awesome, isn't it.......?

We seem to have to endure our sufferings endlessly; but if we can take heart in our vision of what is out there, perhaps we can endure what seems to take forever with a little more courage. What lies beyond is really so much more than we can imagine. It’ll be worth it

New Beginnings

(first posted July19, 2017)

Today marks the 32nd anniversary of my baptism into Christianity. I was formally baptized in 1985 in the Gulf of Eilat in Israel - or the Gulf of Aqaba. Although I had been committed and studying for some years prior to that event, it was  that life-changing moment when commitment was formalized and escalated to a new level - and definitely to a new beginning. The past, with all its mistakes and regrets, was given a sea burial and a new, fresh life began. It would certainly be no easy path, with many more mistakes, agonies, trials and tribulations - but, for me, it's been the only path worth walking. Along that path I have learned to know God a little better and, little by little, become more and more in awe of His wisdom, love and greatness.

Learning to love has been a progression in itself - from a young man thinking that love was a romantic experience to learning how much greater the love for a little child could be. The love, commitment, sacrifice and endurance of the love of parenthood and grand-parenthood has taught me so much more about God. Furthermore, the raising of, and aspirations for, one's children, the fears of the consequences of mistakes on their part and mine, has given me a greater understanding of just how wise and how right God is. With age, experience and observation, the realization becomes more and more that humanity just needs to LISTEN to Him. If only we would listen.....how much closer would Life be to the experience that He wanted it to be for us than it is.

With this new beginning - the first blog post on this blog - I thank God, our Lord Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit for the Grace, Love and Patience that They have shown me over the years  - and with every fibre of my being I testify that "God is truly Awesome"!