Jesus, Psychology and the Holy Spirit: Don’t be the Victim
Why does Jesus not provide psychological and in depth solutions to living morally?
Holy Spirit
Do We Know How to Ask?
In our modern McDonalds fast-food culture, we can get confused with scriptures that tell us to simply ‘ask’ and we will receive. Attempts at making this easier to understand by including the idea that we must ask what God wants can sometimes just aggravate us. Here’s what I think.
God’s Glory is not a Laser Show
(Image from here) What is God’s glory, exactly? What do (some) Christians mean when they talk about the ‘glory realm’? Well, I think for a lot of Christians God’s glory looks something like a laser show, metaphorically speaking. For them it’s about bright flashing lights, angels appearing, the skies cracking open — THAT’s God’s glory …
Not About Being Independent
(Picture sourced from here) The general philosophy of this world is often about independence. We must be independent; we must stand on our own two feet; we must make things happen. But God says something different. Rather than be independent, we must come under His protection; under His wing; and find our shelter there. And …
Faith, Love and Good Works — Ben-Hur
(The infamous chariot race in the 1959 movie adaptation of Ben-Hur, starring Charlton Heston. It won 11 Academy Awards.) Last night while waiting for the game between South Africa and Uruguay (which we will not talk about 😉 ) I was sitting reading an old 1960 print of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, by …
Can God Enjoy the Soccer?
With soccer / football fever having hit South Africa, and having enjoyed the incredibly tense opening FIFA World Cup match last week between South Africa / Bafana Bafana and Mexico, the thought occured to me: can God enjoy the soccer? Why this thought? Well, the thing about sports is that there are so many unknowns. …
Faith Like a Child
(Picture from GettyImages) I’m sure many of us have heard of the phrase “have faith like a child” or “have childlike faith.” I think the phrase is helpful and true, although it is not said directly in the Scriptures like some think it is. In Matthew 18 Jesus said we need to be as humble …
How Ambition Makes Me a Bad Friend
I have this issue with ambition that I regularly struggle with. You see, I want to go places, do things, live my life! So in an effort to get there I ignore the here. I look to the future, a thing that the world says I must do, but by doing I so largely ignore …
Raised with Christ – The Body of Messiah
(The Resurrection of Christ by Irina Kolbneva, see www.arthit.ru) Eph 1: “…what is the immeasurable greatness of his power to us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ [Messiah] when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, …
Who We Are / Who I Am / In Christ
(Picture taken from YouthWorkInternational.com) I’ve been thinking a lot lately of my identity in Christ and how who God says I am in Christ Jesus reflects on how I think about myself, what I believe about myself, and how I therefore react based on what I believe. The Holy Spirit makes some pretty big statements …