On this site, you can read about, comment on and contribute to my ongoing reflections as I wrestle with questions about God, Faith, Life, The Bible, Church and Theology.
All in Deconstruction
The biblical writers are creative, artistic, and clever with their use of words. They don’t just want to report facts and events, they want to move and shape the way that we think about them. One of my favourite examples of this is the way that the author of 1 Kings writes about Solomon. If we look closely at his use of artistic flair, an interesting picture begins to emerge; one that changes the way that we think about Solomon entirely…
The season of Lent remembers Jesus’ time in the wilderness. Christians often mark the season by giving up something as a means of recalling and identifying with the 40 day long fast that Jesus undertook whilst in the desert. But Lent itself isn’t actually about fasting…
As I’ve reflected on the many distressing stories filling up my social media this week, of those I know and love being on the receiving end of such toxic-masculine culture, I have been reminded of the various biblical accounts of women who’s stories have been uncomfortably exposed for all posterity. In many ways, nothing has changed… To those men reading; we have to stand up and take notice…
How many times have you felt this way about your relationship with God. He’s just silent. Maybe you’ve sat there, watching, waiting, becoming increasingly desperate. Maybe you’ve reached the point of questioning if what you had hoped for were really true. Maybe you’ve felt completely alone, or have completely isolated yourself…
Too often theologians can become preoccupied with categories, and doctrines and systematised ideas. Too often theologians distort or even forget altogether that God is a being, a person to be known, and instead (albeit unintentionally) turn him into a concept that needs to be figured out and explained. To put it bluntly, we can easily end up idolising theology, our talk of God, over and above God himself.
I often find that when I ask people how their walk with God is going, they shuffle a bit awkwardly before mumbling that they don’t pray and read the bible enough. What I find so funny and tragic about this statement is - if you think about it - its ridiculous…
Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the most well known and memorable versus in the bible. It also has to be one of the most misunderstood and misapplied…
So here’s the problem with our thinking about God’s plan and will for us, and basing our understanding on this particularly well known verse.
There is a growing trend amongst some Christians and churches to try and make themselves more acceptable to others by stating that they aren’t religious, and/or they dislike Christians or even Christianity itself! To a certain extent, I can understand why they do it, but I’m not sure how helpful or how biblical it is...
Recently I’ve been thinking about how our relationship with God is a whole new category of relationship. But this leave us with the difficult task of trying to explain or define it…
I have been mulling over my understanding of the Gospel for a while now. Without a firm grasp of what the gospel is, how can living a life in response to it ever make sense or ever have meaning? I wonder whether a lack of depth in their gospel understanding is the reason why thousands of young people leave the church dissatisfied. Is it just that they’ve not been helped to properly see it as, not just “good news”, but the best news?
Theology is not simple. But what use is studying it, and how on earth can we build our lives on it, if we cannot at least make it tangible to ourselves or other people. We have to be able to name it to a certain extent!
You may, like me, have found yourself asking at times “Does God really want a personal relationship with me?” Recently this questions has crept into my head (again!) and so I thought I’d be proactive about exploring just why Christians believe the personal relationship thing is such a big deal….
A couple of weeks ago I read a really interesting article written by a catholic lesbian. It was a very honest and vulnerable account. Here, I want to reflect on one particular point the author raised: the church’s (so-called) preoccupation with marital love.
The amazing thing about God is that, He never expects us to get it in one go but instead step by step, lesson by lesson, experience by experience, He gently ushers us forwards.
I’ve been having many conversations with young people recently about my thoughts on the first few chapters of Genesis and what they tell us about our beginnings. So here is a brief outline of what I believe, the gaps in my thinking, and what challenges the youth have given me...
The last week has been one full of devastating news reports. It has left me asking yet again the most primal question of human existence: why!?
Questions are great. I love to question, and disagree, and suggest different ideas. Sometimes people think I question too much...
