There are times I am embarrassed to call myself Christian. Not because I am ashamed of Jesus. Not at all. He makes sense. But the picture of Christianity the world gets has become so antithetical to everything I stand for that I don’t want to be associated with it. So much internet real estate and... Continue Reading →
Pear-Sharking the Gospel: on the Infallibility of Scripture
I was playing P.O.D. in the car on the way home. It is part of my shameless attempt to ensure that when Nathan is a teenager, I don’t have to listen to R&B blaring from his room. The early signs were positive. He didn’t object at all to one of my favourite feel-good songs of... Continue Reading →
I am Orlando
The Orlando massacre is a terrible tragedy that really ought to make us relook at the way we think about and thus behave towards each other. Sadly, like so many tragedies before it, it seems to have galvanised in certain sectors of society the hatred and bigotry that led to the crime in the first... Continue Reading →
Where Evangelism Goes Wrong
In recognition of yesterday’s being Pentecost, and because I have been reflecting a lot on the early church lately, I want to talk about evangelism today. It is, in many ways, at the centre of the church’s activities, and indeed should be. Still, as with many of the modern church’s practices, I feel that we... Continue Reading →
Are you spiritually obese?
A culture driven by the need for immediate gratification and convenience will produce citizens who tend to be obese and lazy. Because they never have to exert themselves to have their needs met, they will begin to feel entitled to comfort, and will resent – even see as unnatural – anything that makes them uncomfortable. They... Continue Reading →
You Don’t Need To Be Extraordinary
The world can be divided into two basic types of people: those who, when overwhelmed by sufficient levels of desperation, internalise their feelings and commit suicide, and those who externalise those feelings and resort instead to homicide. My experience of a presentation I recently attended has left me relatively certain that I fall into the... Continue Reading →
There’s Something About Mary
National Geographic recently published an article about Mary, the mother of Jesus, describing her as the world’s most influential woman. Certainly she is a powerful figure, capturing the imaginations of millions and an icon to many of devotion, faith, strength and purity. I am aware, of course, that since we know so little about her,... Continue Reading →
Deconstructing Setebos
A truth I regard as an absolute is this: people will always – consciously or not – attempt to shape the world so that it meets their deepest needs. Every person has a set of core assumptions about what the world ought to be like, and we filter all out experiences through these assumptions, and... Continue Reading →
No, All Religions Don’t Basically Teach The Same Thing
I hear it often. Whenever conversation turns to religion, as it occasionally does, somebody invariably makes the following statement: “After all, all religions basically teach the same thing.” It is normally stated in such a way that this should be completely self-evident. Except it isn’t. Entirely by the way, isn’t it bizarre that social... Continue Reading →
A Meditation on Futility
In 1874, farmers in the Great Plains had their crops devastated by a swarm of locusts, the like of which the world had never seen, nor is likely to see again. Witnesses say that the swarm was as much as 110 miles wide and more than 1800 miles long, at times blocking out the sun... Continue Reading →
Vapors In The Wind 