In this blog I’m going to write about one of those pesky verses in the gospels that we all know is there yet it’s often easier to pretend it isn’t, Matthew 16:24: “Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take […]
It’s that simple, folks. Original sin is generational trauma; destructive patterns of behaviour inherited at birth (conception, actually) which originated at the Fall. The whole theology boils down to three simple equations: The Fall = Neolithic decline Original sin = generational trauma New Testament = trauma resolution manual When understood as generational trauma, the entire […]
There are two trees in the Garden: The Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The trees are metaphors for the way we live, work, interact, feed, and function. Our human operating system, our paradigm, our perception. One represents holistic vision. The other is a cracked lens. The cracked lens […]
If the message of Jesus had to be summed in one phrase, one of my contenders would be Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven.” Arguably, Jesus’ primary message is to love one another (John 13:34). Or perhaps it’s his instruction about the importance of the first two commandments (Mark 12:29-31). What about […]
Judgment is one of the great themes of the Bible. It contains many passages referring to both individual and collective judgment. But what does it mean? Why do we judge? Why shouldn’t we judge? Don’t judge others I’m going to approach these questions through three statements from Jesus: “You can see the speck in your friend’s eye, […]
The second instalment of this New Earth 101 series is about the need to be uncompromising. We all struggle with change. At the same time, we often want change or at least recognise the need for it. Things have become stale. Or a situation that we have long tolerated becomes intolerable. We know we must […]
“You can see the speck in your friend’s eye, but you don’t notice the log in your own eye.” (Matthew 7:3) It’s one of many truth bombs that litter the early chapters of the Gospel of Matthew. For a long time, it surprised me how little this verse seemed to pop up in Christian discourse […]
I’m concluding this series on New Earth emotional tools with what may seem an unlikely tool: play. What kind of bizarre tool is play? Surely, that’s the world of children, not gown-ups, of garages and workshops? Yes. Absolutely. And the New Testament makes some pointed comments about that world. “Childish ways” Perhaps the most famous […]
Honouring? Eh? What kind of a tool is that? A very powerful one. Many years ago, when I was a young man, I left New Zealand on my own on a world trip. My first stop was Tokyo, where I spent several days. Cleaning ashtrays One day, I was walking along a footpath. There were […]
The ongoing coronavirus epidemic and the resulting lockdowns have placed us under new pressures and brought new qualities to light. The quality I’d like to discuss today is fortitude. The entire Book of Job is a lesson in fortitude. It seems extremely relevant today, with many suffering from health issues and questioning their faith. Fortitude […]