Category: <span>General</span>

Remember your Identity

9-5 ThesesWe’re a generation living with an identity crisis. We have been told that we can choose to be whoever we are, and with that choice, for most of us comes confusion. Where does that leave us? Identity comes from where we come from, where we’re going, who we belong to. It is a complex thing, and not one that is always consciously understood, and yet it still defines us.

I remember that it was only once I had left home and began to live in a different country to the one that I was born in that I became more interested in family history – my origins. Subconsciously I was trying to establish my identity, and that identity had roots. If we decide that we can arbitrarily change that identity we are in effect cutting off our roots. But roots are the very thing in which we thrive. A tree without roots is mere wood. A person without roots doesn’t know where they are going or where they have come from.

The Bible, cover to cover is given to explain not just our roots, but also our destination. The Bible makes explicit what we can see in part as we look at the universe in which we live. The Bible also makes clear that we are God’s and he is ours. He made us, he has plans for us, he has plans for this entire universe.

And so, our identity is bound up in God. We cannot choose it and more than we can choose our parents. And yet, just as a child can disown his parents and walk away from them, we too can walk away from God. The story of the Bible, and of Jesus in particular is that God is not willing to walk away from us. He sent his Son, Jesus to win us back, to open the door to a restored relationship.

It is neatly summed up in the Apostle Peter’s first letter (2:10):

“Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, now you have received mercy.”

Our identity, our belonging, our hope and destiny is all bound up in a loving God who has shown mercy, who has at great cost opened the door to forgiveness and reconciliation for all. Our God has offered to include us in his people – that’s our identity.

In the book of Hebrews we’re told of a new covenant. The single word translated by these two literally means a ‘together covenant’ – the idea being that of bringing all things together: a consummating covenant. This is the ultimate goal that God has for this universe – a people that belong to him, loved, prepared, as a bride for a groom and kept for all eternity!

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days declares the Lord. I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Hebrews 8:10

Bible General

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Remember: We’re made for more than this!

In this busy world it’s so easy to drop our gaze. What I mean by that is that the day to day struggles of life, the pressures of this world attract our attention and draw us away from seeing the ultimate reality. The here and now distracts us from the hereafter.

Of course, that is what this world would have us do. I know that we all have to live, work, deal face to face with life here and now, but, just like Brother Lawrence did, we can live here and now with our eyes on the hereafter.

One of the most exciting, encouraging and hope filled passages in Scripture is found in the book of Revelation. It describes what the Apostle John saw of that final consummation of Christ and his Church. It’s found in Revelation chapter 19.

We know that when the Lord Jesus Christ returns he will do so in power and glory, and that every eye will see him and all will bow the knee. But after that, after the judgement, after the ‘come inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’, after this comes the Marriage Supper of the Lamb!

I recently had the opportunity to meet my MP in the Central Lobby of the Palace of Westminster. I had to ask to see him, I then had to negotiate my way to the Palace of Westminster, through security, proving that I had an invitation, and then into the Central Lobby to await the minister. After jumping through hoops I was on the inside, ready for the meeting, I could relax. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb is on the inside. It’s for the redeemed, the saved, the loved ones, the people of God – the Bride of Christ!

Just pause for a moment from the things that demand your attention, the hoops we must jump through, and dwell on the hope that we have. We’re told in Jude that Jesus himself will present us before the presence of God’s glory with great joy. Imagine that! Not only faultless, but Jesus taking joy in presenting you and I before his Father’s glorious throne!

Now, consider the picture that John saw of that marriage supper. First of all there is the heavenly host, a multitude crying out: Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God! Then the Church, the Bride of Christ joins in the song and the sound of it is so powerful that the voices blend as one into what sounds like the roar of many waters. A wall of sound in worship and adoration of their Lord and Saviour, their Redeemer and King!

“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—

Consider this, hope in this, hold on to this, and, if you know that you have been saved from your sin, redeemed to the Lord Jesus Christ, then, take to yourself this assurance:

“Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb!”

General

Creationism is a Logical and Acceptable Worldview

Several years ago, working as an IT Consultant I was on site with a client when a member of staff asked for assistance with a problem on her computer. The problem had defeated her, and so I was asked to take a look. I’ve long since forgotten the problem and the cure, but I do recall that I took a look at the computer, hit a few keys and walked away, saying “Done!”. I’d only travelled a few steps when the woman called out after me “But you’re a Christian!”. That may seem a disjointed conversation, but let me tell you the flow of thought behind the woman’s response.

  1. By fixing her computer I exhibited extremely logical behaviour
  2. Christians believe in Creation
  3. How could I be both extremely logical and hold to a Creationist worldview?

My response to this woman was to say that the Christian understanding of the origin of the universe is entirely logical and therefore the most natural position for me to take as someone whose thinking is logical.

Fast forward a few years and increasingly we are seeing the use of the term Creationist in a pejorative sense. Since when did Creationist become a term of abuse? I know that in every generation there are a small number of aggressive, vocal, and mindless shouters who decry anything and everything with equal vehemence and prejudice, but today’s world sees fit to universally deny the validity of the Creationist worldview with extreme prejudice and with next to no understanding of either their own position or the reasons to take a Creationist stand.

Those who have been reading carefully will notice that I haven’t yet used the word ‘believe’ – that’s deliberate. The argument below is also intended to be taken outside of the context of belief or trust in the God of the Bible. But, just for the sake of clarity, let me state that I believe the Bible to be God’s revealed word to us, and as such I believe what he says in the book of Genesis about how he brought this universe into existence. I have studied this narrative in detail and am convinced that what God intended to tell us is that he made the universe in 6 literal days. I choose to believe him.

Now, to the logic:-

The law that entropy always increases holds, I think, the supreme position among the laws of Nature. If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell’s equations — then so much the worse for Maxwell’s equations. If it is found to be contradicted by observation — well, these experimentalists do bungle things sometimes. But if your theory is found to be against the second law of thermodynamics I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation.

— Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, The Nature of the Physical World (1927)

As much as I love IT and computers, I have a healthy interest in Physics. Learning about the Second Law of Thermodynamics has been something that has grown on me over the years as I have begun to understand how overwhelming it is in terms of our understanding of the world in which we live. The quote above from Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington sums it up very well. What he is saying, in layman’s terms is this:

No matter how far back in time, no matter how far into the future, no matter how far out into the universe you go, this law holds true. And this law tells us that everything that is is tending towards chaos.

Let me expand on that a little. It is seen in the world around us, and demonstrated empirically, that everything is falling apart. Buy a new car, it begins to deteriorate from the day you buy it. I’ve never yet had a car that grows a fresh set of tyres, never mind one that acquires a Bluetooth connection for my new smartphone. Buy a new home, and watch the woodwork rot, the tiles fall off and the mortar between the bricks begins to disintegrate. Every new born child will one day wear out and die. Common sense tells us what science confirms. This observation is just the icing on the cake of a universe that is winding down. The phrase ‘entropy always increases’ describes a universe that will one day, without some sort of injection of energy and order, fail completely.

So, observation, science and our own common sense tell us that nothing improves on its own. If you want a better car, then you trade in your old rusting hulk for a new one: designed, manufactured – order and energy are put in to produce something new. When your house begins to fall apart you engage workmen (or do it yourself) to repair and restore – order and energy put in. Alas, poor humanity succumbs to the fact that you don’t get out of this world alive.

If all the above holds true then there are a couple of logical outcomes:

  1. It is contrary to the Second Law of Thermodynamics to see any increase in order in the universe. As evolution is an increase in order then it cannot occur.
  2. The order and energy that produced the closed system that is the universe must have a source outside the universe

That’s the logic, as far as I’m concerned. I’m sure anyone with a smidgen of plain old common sense can extrapolate from there.

To conclude:

No matter the pejorative stance of many who have thought less about Creation and Evolution than I have, or the statements of those scientists and individuals committed to a different worldview who fail to admit their a priori exclusions it is entirely logical to hold to a view that the universe was created. I know that this is not a full explanation, but it is logical and consistent.

So, for me, to be accused of being a Creationist is a compliment, not an insult. As a Christian, hold your head up high, not only is what you believe entirely rational, it is also what God has told us he did and is doing. Let’s continue to believe with confidence, knowing that, as we would expect, the universe we see is entirely in keeping with the facts that God has revealed.

Bible General

bible creation creationism evolution

God has an economic plan!

Before you tell me I’m daft, let me explain. Our modern word ‘economy’ is just a transliteration (that’s changing the letters from Greek characters to English ones) of a common Greek word: oikonomia.

The ending ‘nomy’ is from the Greek word for law or rule. Hence ‘autonomy’ is ruling yourself, running your own life.

The prefix ‘oikos’ means house.

Therefore, economy means house-rule or house-government – the management of your domestic affairs. It has only more recently come to mean specifically to do with financial affairs in popular understanding.

So, when God tells us in Ephesians 1:10 that God has ‘a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.’ he is telling us that he has a plan, so big, so all encompassing, so complete that it will ultimately bring all things in heaven and earth to a right and proper conclusion!

This little verse is in the middle of a fantastic and full exclamation of all that God has done and is doing in his created universe. It should reassure us no end that in the middle of the uncertainty of this world there is One who knows what he is doing, and is able to do what he intends. There is One who can and will bring all the threads of life to a head, with God reigning supreme and all creation in its proper place.

There is a divine economy that needs no polls or surveys to discover what will happen. The plan is fixed and sure and to all who believe it is our sure and certain hope in an uncertain world. Let’s live by that.

General

Always be ready to make room in your hearts

“Make room in your hearts for us.” 2 Corinthians 7:2

The Apostle Paul was always getting caught in the middle of controversy and disagreements. Some were theological disputes, some were cases of immorality – plain old fashioned sin. Unfortunately, even when Paul was trying to do the right thing, it didn’t endear him to the people he was trying to help. Paul, as a believer was passionate about doing Christianity right – that passion often got people’s backs up. Yet, from Paul’s perspective, there was a genuine love for the other believers and a real desire to see them grow in the love and knowledge of Jesus Christ. As Paul is involved with the Corinthian church and the sinful behaviour of some of the members, there is a determination on his part to love all.

In the latter part of chapter 6 Paul is explaining how we as believers belong to God – his special people – and as such we belong to one another. That’s what a ‘people’ are. It takes no great leap of logic to realise the importance of loving one another within that ‘people’ community, not just because we are all first loved in Christ, but also because we are one people. That person who has sinned is part of God’s people, that person who you just don’t get, or get on with is part of God’s people. If they are God’s people, then they must be our people.

And so, on the back of this understanding, and in the thick of the conflict, Paul simply asks:

“Make room in your hearts for us”

And that is what we should all be doing. Our temptation is to close our hearts to that which challenges us, or hurts us, or that which we just don’t like. If God in his love opened his heart to us, to forgive, to redeem, to call, to make to be his people, then we should too.

Whatever that conflict, that disagreement, that dislike don’t let it control your relationships. You can disagree with someone and yet still make room in your heart for them. If you dislike another believer, then you should all the more make room in your heart for them.

In Revelation Jesus is pictured as standing outside the door of our hearts (and he’s speaking to believers here) knocking and asking for entry. Jesus is looking for room in your heart, fellowship, God with man. We should open the door, first of all to Jesus, and then in fellowship with him, make room in your hearts for all brothers and sisters in Christ. By this will all men know that we are his disciples…

General