Hitchhikers guide to God

  Holy Week – Discipleship, Bartimaeus, St Peter and Us!    Last year we walked up to Jerusalem with Bartimaeus – the blind man who Jesus cured outside the ancient city of Jericho. He immediately joined the disciples and followed Jesus. We speculated what part he might have play in the events of Holy Week   Palm Sunday - He would undoubtedly have been with them on Palm Sunday – been a part of the great procession into Jerusalem – perhaps he was laid palms in front of our Lord Himself Monday  – He would have been with them when Jesus demonstrated the power of faith by cursing the fig tree – witnesses Him cleansing the temple   Tuesday -  Apostles witness the fig tree withered – Prophecies the temple's destruction 70 AD - teaches on faith in the temple and the great tribulation and second coming - Olivet Discourse which included the    Ten Virgins (Mt 25:1-13), The    Talents (Mt 25:14-30),  The   Sheep & Goats (Mt 25:31...

Could non-violence be the solution to modern war? My father served in the British Army, my grandfather was a general in the British Army my great great great grandfather was Admiral Rodney. For our family fighting for our country was considered honourable and necessary – and certainly not unbiblical. For many years I read the New Testament selectively. Most of us do. Most of it is immediately understandable and directly applicable to our lives. However, Passages like Matthew 5:38-40 – surely did not apply to us!   “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well”. (Really tough teaching!) Equally ‘Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.’ Matt 26:52 As we know Jerusalem suffered terribly by ignoring these teachings and Our Lord Prophesy. The Jews t...

Can we really prove that God exists - rationally? Initially I thought this would be a ‘Paygrade’ issue. Proving a reality beyond our own reality sounds way too much. Personally, I don’t do the shock and awe thing - that God must exist because the universe is so mind numbingly enormous. More at my level is the fact that God has been both seen and experienced by saints for millennia. Surely, we need their evidence for the case for God to become convincing. Let us apply Wesley’s Quadrilateral – Scripture, Tradition, Reason and Experience! Scripture records numerous miraculous events like a virgin birth, a resurrection etc – in short, an existence outside our existence. In fact, to be a prophet within the Judaic traditions they had to demonstrate ‘signs’ of operating beyond our physical reality. For instance, all four Gospels record that our Lord could heal the sick, raise the dead, feed thousands of people - twice! These events were of course witnessed by thousands of people.  Tradit...

Questions Christians hate! Sooner or later every Christian is approached by someone who asks questions they cannot really answer. This can be embarrassing and can undermine both their own faith and the faith of the questioner – if they have one! In this series I throw up questions and suggest answers designed to appeal to people of faith and no faith at all.     ·          Do you have to hate our family to become disciples of Jesus? (See below) ·          Can you prove the existence of God - rationally? ·          What was the point of the Desert Fathers and contemplative monastic traditions? ·           Do you believe in Angels?  Where is the evidence? ·           Did Jesus’s miracles really happen? How did they work? Why were they necessary? · ...

 Watch this spot!