Anti-bullying Week - 15-19th November 2021

 

This week is anti-bullying week. It's an annual event since the problem never goes away. Different bullies, different victims, same old story each time…

Blair Drummond Adventure & Safari Park

A week spent with young people telling them about the gospel of Jesus Christ is wonderful experience. It is nearly a week since I left Liverpool to travel to Faskally, Pitlochry in Scotland. 

I have been coming to Faskally for many years now. It is an old country house which has been adapted for house parties, camps and youth groups to use. The facilities are excellent, the grounds are extensive and as I stand and take in the scenery I could be in the Swiss Alps, the Lake District or some equally beautiful spot. But I’m not, I’m in the Scottish Highlands which have a unique rugged beauty and splendour  all of its own. 

As a Christian I cannot help but reflect on the wonder of creation and the majesty of the creator and designer of all things, God and His Son, Jesus Christ. If you are an atheist you will disagree with me but I still cannot see the logic of spontaneous existence or unprogrammed life forms etc. 

I’ve just visited Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park with the young people I am with and I cannot help but notice the intentional design of the animal creation. Meerkats have inbuilt sunglasses, so do birds of Prey - wow. Birds of Prey, Yellow Kites, can collect, transfer from feet to mouth and digest food while still in mid-flight and that includes the males!! So male kites can multi-task which is impressive when you consider how difficult male homo-sapiens find it to multi-task. 

I don’t know what you believe but all I ask is don’t switch your logic off when you look at the created world, nature and the universe. If you’ve read my other blog posts you’ll know I believe that there is sufficient evidence to support the Christian conviction that the Bible is word of God and that Jesus was the Son of God. On top of that there is the evidence all around you of a clever, intelligent creator. 

In the beginning God...that’s how the Bible says it all started. 

The Bible also teaches that at the end of time we will all stand before God. In the Bible it says ‘I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books’, Revelation 20:12. 

My prayer is that you’ll meet God in life as Saviour rather in the next life as Judge. 

Have a good day. 

Stephen 

Is technology having a detrmental effect on the minds of our young people?

Is technology having a detrmental effect on the minds of our young people?

Over the last couple of years I have been speaking to young people about technology and social media. Truthfully, the discussion isn't really limited to young people. Apart from a few exceptions most people use technology. 

At one stage some intellectuals thought that the technology of writing had some major drawbacks. For instance they argued that writing things down reduced your capacity to remember and that wisdom was rapidly being replaced by the mere accumulation of facts! If this is true of writing then there definitely is some truth in it in relation to the many forms of technology we use today. 

Neil Postman (1931-2093) an American author, educator, media theorist and cultural critic wrote a number of books addressing the issues that arise out of the use of technology. In one of his books, Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology (1992) he explains that we are in danger of losing our capacity to think through the over use of technology. To quote "the uncontrolled growth of technology destroys the vital sources of our humanity. It creates a culture without a moral foundation. It undermines certain mental processes and social relations that make human life worth living." That would be a tragedy!

It's quite paradoxical that the very thing that was designed to improve social contact, communication, education etc could actually work against us. The aim of this article is not to condemn technology or social media but to appeal for its wise use.

Did you know that we are the sum total of our thoughts! It is significant what we allow into our minds. Technology provides access to both good and bad things. Jesus Christ gave a searching commentary about our hearts and our minds. I don't think that he would have condemned technology outright as he taught that our problems stem back to our character. Technology is only as good and as bad as we are. Listen to his comments - 'the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.........For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts.....'1 Jesus then proceeded to list sins that are common in society, some you might recoil from (theft, murder, slander) and others a lot of people today think are quite acceptable in our society (fornication, adultery, coveting, deceit, sensuality, pride etc). 

We have become desensitised to our moral state and one of the main causes is corruption through technology. I think Neil Postman's prediction of the effects of technology was pretty accurate.

So where do we go from here? Ditch technology? I don't think so. An awareness of our weakness and sin will cause us to look for the only viable solution that can be found - salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. The bible teaches "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"2.

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.

Bible References: 1. Mark 7:15,21, 2. 1 John 1:9

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