Why does it seem to be such a fine line between the extremes of what brings me great joy or incredible anger? The Art of Traffic'ing Take traffic for example. You want to bring me deep joy? Offer me a space in front of you when i am trying to make my way into a busy road. Or even just wave a thank you or flash your lights at me when i have made [...]
i came across this article titled, 'Loving Dzhokhar Tsarnaev' [one of the suspected terrorists involved in the recent Boston Marathon bombing] shortly after it happened and it really made some strong points in terms of our role as Christ following people in the wake of such a horrific disaster. the author, Adam Mabry, starts off by highlighting two opposing reactions which are equally unhelpful: 'The first is the xenophobic, racial, and even religious hatred of [...]
'For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.' i mean, that's quite an intro already, right? and possibly carries a profoundly deep message in terms of really getting our minds around the fact that David, altho he had messed up horribly, still ends up at the feet of God, rather than simply trying to hide or run the other way... [...]
let me be honest, i am tired of all the Oscar Pistorius 'stuff' - i am tired of it and i wish it would go away. i am also deeply disturbed by it. i don't know that i completely understand why, altho i know it has something to do with the fact that it feels like almost everyone has an opinion, many people have made judgements, many others are just sending links and updates and [...]
i'd love to make this sound like the cool kind of parable Jesus would have used, but i don't think i can. but if it was a fairy-tale type story it would begin with something sounding like 'Once upon a time...' and very quickly end up at the place of 'Brett looked at the path and it was blocked by the giant obstacle. He didn't know what to do next.' and depending on your perspective [...]
'Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. Your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down on me. Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin. My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.' [vs. 1-4] Um, wait, what? This must be one of those other psalms, right, [...]
and on to Psalm 5: this is an interesting one. powerful line in verse 5 - 'You hate all who do wrong.' is that true? of course it is. it is true to where david is at the moment of writing and what he is feeling [and maybe secretly wanting] but is it Truth? absolutely not. we know from reading the rest of scripture that God does not hate anyone - His desire is that [...]
...and the discussion continues seeking out a Christ-following version of dating and relationships that is more effective than the model we have simply been borrowing from the world - beginning with a renewing of your mind and refusing to conform any longer to the pattern of this world. Somebody asked the question - what if we have already crossed the line physically with someone or some ones? There are two very important points to hear [...]
so back in new year's times i met a guy called gabe at an event i was mc'ing and it wasn't the greatest of meetings - we had a difference of opinion over some or other thing, i blogged about it without using his name (altho everyone who had been at the event knew who i was talking about) and he (and more particularly his friends) didn't like that i did that so much (some [...]
so i recently wrote a 5 part ‘reasons to hate Christianity’ blog series which was (for those who read it) intended to be a tongue-in-cheek statement on some of the basic things Christianity is actually meant to be about – things like love and forgiveness and looking after people in need which are all things that actually no-one in their right mind would hate... but yet people hate christianity and have issues with the church... [...]
