Is art personal and subjective?

 Art is a personal and subjective matter. What you like might not appeal to me and vice versa! Having said that we all have an uncanny sense of appreciation for beauty and the value of great talent. This ability to appreciate seems to be both universal and unique to the human species.

The sheer beauty of the universe tells us something about God. Who designed the sunset, or created the backdrop of the rolling hills or the rugged mountains? Who sourced the sound of the quiet babbling of a brook or the thundering pounding of a mighty waterfall! Where did the variety of colours come from, the magnificence of natural sounds, the multiplicity of materials and texture? Was this all by chance or did the Creator design a tapestry of wonder that makes you think – why, how and who?

In general, despite all our brilliance, we have damaged our world. The Bible explains ‘by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin’, Romans 5:12. Sin and evil has damaged the beauty of our planet, and lives, as a result of our actions and behaviour. The Bible compares the original state of our world with it’s current state in these terms - “You made him (Adam, the first man) for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honour, putting everything in subjection under his feet…..at present we do not see yet everything in subjection to him….but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour that he by the grace of God should taste death for everyone”.

Life and it’s beauty do not last for ever; in fact things normally degenerate. God in the Bible offers to reverse the trend of deterioration in our lives by giving ‘beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness’. This offer is because of and through trust in His Son, Jesus Christ.

C S Lewis, the famous English author, spent many years of his life as a confirmed atheist. When he was 30 he became convinced that God was a reality. Two years later on the 1^st October 1931 he wrote to his friend Arthur, “I have just passed on from believing in God to definitely believing in Christ – in Christianity. The great story really is true. God really sent his Son. He really died for our sins. We really can have forgiveness and eternal life in the presence of the One to whom all the Joy was pointing”1.

“Tolle, quæso, tempus ad meditandum”

1.      The collected writings of C. S. Lewis, Vol. 1, Family Letters 1905-1931, ed Walter Hooper (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2004), p 974

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.

Eternal Youth!

Many people are seeking for eternal youth. They try various beauty products, fitness regimes, healthy eating plans and therapy but never quite reach their goal. 

The promise of eternal youth is an illusion which creates a lot of business opportunities; makes a lot of people feel better about themselves but never quite delivers what it promises. It's what we all want but can't really have. 

Please stop for a moment! I have good news for you. You cannot have eternal youth BUT YOU CAN HAVE ETERNAL LIFE!

This is not a scam! It's true! There are no catches! It's the real deal! So listen carefully!

2016 years ago a series of amazing events took place! These events changed world history and are still revolutionising people's lives. I'm talking about the birth of Jesus Christ and 33 years later his death and subsequent resurrection. Nearly 4,000 years before his birth a prediction had been made (in the Bible, Genesis 3:15) that a man would born of a woman without a man being involved in the conception. Christians call this 'the virgin birth'; it might actually be more accurate to call it a 'virgin conception'. 

Furthermore, the way that Jesus would died was was not unexpected and was predicted precisely. The mode of his death was not a normal form of capital punishment at the time the predictions were made. In Psalm 22:16, written 1,000 years before the time of Christ, it stated 'they pierced my hands and my feet'. This is an overt reference to death by crucifixion. You may argue that Psalm 22 was written after the event - try telling that to a Jewish Rabbi!

You may argue that people manipulated events to fulfil scripture. I think an honest look at the circumstances surrounding the death of Jesus clearly makes that suggestion improbable. But the story gets more intriguing - three days after his crucifixion it was reported that his tomb was empty and that he was seen alive. Finally it is reported that Jesus returned to heaven 40 days after his resurrection. 

Books have been written by a variety of intelligent and legal minds checking out these claims. Here are some authors you might want to check out. Frank Morison, Lawyer, Journalist & Author (his real name was Albert Henry Ross but he wrote under a pseudonym), Professor Simon Greenleaf, American lawyer & Harvard Royal Professor of Law, Josh McDowell, Lawyer and Lee Strobel, Lawyer and Journalist to name a few. 

The evidence that there is more to this than meets the eye goes on and on? Ignoring it won't change the truth but it will leave you exposed to the fact that God intervened in history, that he sent a message and you refused to listen. 

I see a simple summary of the life of Christ in the words of scripture "the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world," 1 John 4:14. 

For more information or to get in touch with Stephen visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk