Tag: God

Yin Yang

The Eastern symbol of Yin Yang, with its equal swirls of black and white, has become ubiquitous on clothing brands, computer games and in popular culture generally. This idea of a balance between good and evil, of an eternal struggle between the two, is played out in comics and TV shows, and is very appealing. We can identify that tug of war in the world around us and we feel the struggle within ourselves.

The concept of equal but opposing forces in an epic duel has even crept into Christian thinking. However, Biblical Christianity teaches a far different and more encouraging power balance than that good causes and is dependent upon evil, just holding its own in the struggle.

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Love is a doing, not a feeling

Soon it will be Valentine’s Day and the shops will be filled with red heart cards, chocolate gifts and flowers for us to give to our nearest and dearest.

But even if you write the whole thing off as a commerical con, most of us understand that the principle behind Valentine’s Day holds true – if you love someone you want to give them things. You want to do stuff for them.

Think of your closest relationship – whether it is romantic or familial – if that person tells you that they love you but never acts on that feeling, how loved would you feel?

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Grace and Jeffery Dahmer

Grace. You might know it as a girl’s name or a prayer at meal times, but that is not the amazing kind of grace I want to talk about here.

Grace is a Biblical concept that basically means getting something we don’t deserve (sometimes paired with the term mercy, which means not getting what we do deserve).  For instance, getting a promotion when we deserve to be fired, or getting a prize when we deserve a fine.

Christians talk about the grace of God in terms of us receiving His undeserved, free forgiveness which is not earned by moral living, but accepted as a gift, through faith.Continue reading

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Read the manual!

From early 2016

I have recently started a new job (this one!) and two weeks after I started the person I’m replacing left. Fortunately for me, she left me a giant yellow folder full of all the information I need to do her job – the people to contact, the websites to look at and the writing styles and tips that will be useful.

I couldn’t do this job without that file and the training she gave me before she left, and I am grateful for her diligent preparation before her departure.Continue reading

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That which connects us all

 

Recently I watched the movie Collateral Beauty, starring Will Smith as a man dealing with the death of his young daughter. Two years have elapsed and Smith’s character Howard Inlet is still not coping very well, his marriage is over and he is reduced to writing hate mail to Time, Death and Love.

As Howard explains right at the beginning of the movie, “Now these three things connect every single human being on earth. We long for love. We wish we had more time. And we fear death.”Continue reading

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Don’t become a victim of victimhood

Easter article 2021

Have you ever heard someone disparage the Easter story by saying, “Well how could God have done that to His Son – send Him to the cross. It’s child abuse!”? Besides the obvious fact that Jesus was a 33-year-old man by this stage, and not a child; He Himself refutes this argument when He says in John 10:18

No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.

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