God has given us so much!

Many couldn’t think of anything… A few said, “Not much!”

What about sunsets, sunrises, flowers, life itself, love and friendships, as well as hope!

Certainly our own human weaknesses can destroy much happiness. There are also storms, floods, earthquakes and all other events that used to be called ‘acts of God’ in the insurance small print.

However, mostly we enjoy life, when we are able to thank God for all his goodness to us.

He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.
Acts 14:17 (www.laridian.com)

Depends on what YOU mean by woke… 

It really did on the day!

Those who thought that being woke was simply to be someone who rose up against racism and abuses of power in society usually voted “Yes!”. Jesus was certainly against racism, saying that he had come for all people, just as he sent his followers to spread the good news of his life, death and resurrection to all people, to the ends of the earth. 

He also opposed the ruling religious class for their spiritual hypocrisy and the way they were unaccepting of other racial groups. 

Those who voted “No!” had some idea that Jesus believed, for example, in the creation of the world by God, marriage being between a man and a woman, and immorality being wrong. They felt that the current meaning of “woke” as being progressive would not tolerate such an attitude. 

What do you think?

Self-absorption or self-sacrifice? 

Another way of putting it – serving self only, versus serving others?

If we are self-absorbed, do we recognize it?

Self-absorption is only concerned with self, and the importance of self.

If we are self-sacrificing, do we recognize it?

Self-sacrificing probably is other person-centred, and doesn’t ‘blow its own trumpet’.

Most people chose ‘Both’. That seems realistic. A bit like in a plane. The cabin crew advise us to first put the oxygen mask on ourselves, then on our accompanying child.

Jesus was amazingly different. His actions  showed no self-absorption, but rather self-sacrificing. Ultimately, at great personal cost, he willingly gave his life for us. Three days later, showing the truth of his predictions, he came back to life again.

“… I have not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many.”

Matthew 6:33 (NIV)(http://www.laridian.com)

Our culture has elevated sex 

Sex is great, and such a gift to us! In its rightful place…

We all know that it also can devastate in the wrong circumstances. Coercion, trafficking, rape for a start…

What about sexual faithfulness? Is that higher or lower in this religion?

What about love and kindness to the other person during, before, and after sex? Is that higher or lower in this religion?

Elevating sex itself to this high level of worship could also be seen as extreme self-centredness and selfishness, couldn’t it? The ultimate of ‘me-first’. You, and all the others, I really don’t care about.

Then there is lust, versus love…

What’s your reaction to this topic?

‘Pro-Choice or Pro-Life? 

Does being pro-life mean that society is more civilised, or does being pro-choice mean that?

You can see from the blackboard result opposite that the majority of respondents in the market thought the latter.

I do find that difficult to accept

It is hard and inappropiate to call abortion anything other than the process of killing a baby in utero. It cannot be honestly sanitised to an alternative definition. Baby is the special word we have come to call the living human in the pregnant mother. We never hear a pregnant mum say her ‘foetus’ is kicking, or ‘just some tissue’ is starting to move, or has a heartbeat.

Once we know about the process of abortion, and especially if we see it on a live video, there is also no way we can think of the baby as anything other than living, and abortion as anything other than the killing of it. The reality is that the process is truly horrible to watch.

A mother’s love is normally accepted as the most exemplary of all forms of human love, isn’t it? Maybe there should be more forms of support for an expectant mother, so that she is more able to support and carry her baby to its birth?

I like that saying I heard somewhere – “Love them both.” They both have rights.