Consider: nothing that the Christian does or fails to do can condemn him before God.
What are the biblical grounds in support of this statement? Continue reading “on the abuse of indelible grace”
on our right to eternity
I’d been having trouble figuring out why exactly Christ’s sacrifice entitled us to oneness with God and eternal life.
I understood the concept and system and logic behind penal substitutionary atonement, double imputational justification, sacrifice, temple/tabernacle mechanics, etc., but it still escaped me why we should be allowed to come to God once sin was dealt with. Why does the removal of sin automatically place us with God? Why do we deserve to rise from the grave just because God raised Christ from the grave? Continue reading “on our right to eternity”
battle hymn
Son of God with flint-like eyes
Falter not though men despise.
Son of God, march to the fray
And may the King grant you this day.
on the sun
A friend of mine was telling me a while ago about the sacraments: The obvious ones are the communion, the many sacrifices outlined in the latter half of Exodus. There are also less obvious ones, he said, such as the rainbow: It is a weapon of war (wrath) that is strangely pointed toward its wielder, prophetic of God’s atoning self sacrifice.
At that moment I was convinced, but less so now. Still, it was interesting. How about the sun? Continue reading “on the sun”
on greek shields
Every Classics student worth his salt (and the general public now too, thanks to the film 300) has heard of the anonymous Spartan mother’s command to her son after handing him his battle shield:
“Either with this or on it.” Continue reading “on greek shields”
on behaviour modification
I heard a recent prayer for people willing to accept Jesus into their hearts. One thing that irked me about it though was its handling of sin. The prayer talked of sin as doing bad things, and asked of Jesus’ help as more behaviour changing than the radical change and metanoia described in the Bible.
What does behaviour modification look like?
Thirty years ago it was commonly held that outside stimulus shaped a person’s character: hence the kerfluffle about rock music, violent tv shows, etc. These days it is increasingly held that though violent and disturbing media does corrupt those who are exposed to it, it’s more about those people wanting these things in the first place. Someone who loves horror and violent films is probably just a disturbed person whose attraction to these things is a manifestation of inner troubledness. Continue reading “on behaviour modification”
on the heroes of the past
A friend of mine once asked me which of my historical heroes I would dine with if I could choose.
Strangely enough I had no answer. I didn’t want to dine with any of my historical heroes. Continue reading “on the heroes of the past”
on realistic gods
Why is the Bible compelling? Many reasons: it’s a message of love, hope, the correct way.
How about a message of realism? One thing that strikes me is how well God knows us. Better often than we know ourselves. If all gods are figments of our imagination, what does one call a god who is in many ways quite un-godly? What kind of a god says things no human priest would ever dream up? Continue reading “on realistic gods”
on language and national stereotypes
Like culture (and according to Matthew 15 various other output), language is often an interesting reflection on the people who speak it. Some observations:
The Japanese have a reputation for being introverted and closed, at least to non-Japanese. Having learned Japanese I think this characteristic is reflected in the frankly un-intuitive way the language is structured and taught, a labyrinth of rules, archaisms and barriers – no matter how beautiful it sounds. The Japanese practically invented a separate character system to differentiate between outside and inside. Japanese history is similarly written in a very user-unfriendly way. As an aside, Japanese gameshows and humour are often quite sadistic. Continue reading “on language and national stereotypes”
some thoughts on christ
Having read M Mikalatos’ excellent Imaginary Jesus I realise that it is true, the Christian must make sure he is following the real Jesus.
Jesus Christ, Son of God, Son of the Father of Jesus Christ. Jesus the Word, Jesus of the Bible.
A warrior king, but whose most breathtaking act of valour was to willingly and obediently die on the cross. His obedience was what made him great.
Antithesis to the ‘macho Jesus’ ideal. Continue reading “some thoughts on christ”
Remember, My Lord 