Points of Importance

Getting to know God

2011-09-22T03:43:00.000-07:00

On drink and Jesus

2007-12-07T18:58:00.000-08:00

There's something bloody brilliant about a good drink! Especially when you're really thirsty. It's at times like that when nothing else will do it for you. If you need a drink, there's only one thing for it: a drink! But it's a beautiful moment when you can slam down something that hits the spot perfectly. What does it for you? A cool beer, a smooth glass of red or your spirit of choice?

Know the feeling? Do you have it right now - a thirst for something? Maybe you need to grab a drink before you read on.

Thirst

Why do we thirst? Of course, like all mammals, your body needs to get a regular supply of water and essential salts in order to live. You thirst because you need something to keep you alive.

But what if you could find a drink that doesn't only quench your thirst now, but satisfies you permanently? That would be the best damn drink in the world! That drink wouldn't just hit the spot, it would annihilate it completely.

Jesus

Would you believe there's a guy going round advertising a drink like that? He says "whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst". A much bigger claim than "Our Pride, Your Beer", don't you reckon? It might surprise you to learn that it was Jesus who said this stuff -- not telling you what to do, but making an offer. And a bizzare one at that: A permanent thirst quencher? That won't cost you a thing?

What the heck was Jesus on? Was he a loony? Was it all a con? You probably want to check it out for yourself, rather than trust a random blog you found on the internet. But, let's take a stab at it anyway: what was Jesus on about?

The drink

He gives it away later on: "the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life". We thirst for beer because we need liquid to survive. Jesus is saying he can give us the thing we need to live forever. He was talking about his offer of the gift of eternal life.

To get a regular drink, you go up to a bar and order it -- it's pretty straightforward. To get the drink Jesus is offering, it's a little different, but just as simple. He goes on to say, "'Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.'"

This might sound a little dry, but Jesus is offering a genuine spiritual experience, not just a religious metaphor. All of these quotes come from a biography of Jesus written by a student of his, named John. He said about this offer of Jesus: "By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive."

The offer

This makes more than a little sense. If you drink enough grog, you'll end up under the influence. Similarly, those who drink from Jesus' tap -- they believe in him -- come under the influence of his Spirit, and the result is that they will live forever. Some drink!

Does this give you more questions than answers? Obviously second-hand info is not good enough. You need a taste of the real thing.

We all need it; everybody is in need of this drink. That's why you need to look more into what Jesus is offering. There really is something great about a good drink, let alone the spring of water welling up to eternal life.

Why not sit down over a drink with a bible and have a first-hand look what this man is on about.

On pluralism and Islam

2007-11-10T01:12:00.000-08:00

All religions are really the same, in the end. Right? Does anyone really believe that anymore? Consider:

Muhammad said,

“He it is who has sent forth His Apostle with the [task of spreading] guidance and the religion of truth, to the end that He may cause it to prevail over all [false] religion – however hateful this may be to those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God." (Qu'ran 9:33)

Muhammad commanded,

“Go forth to war, whether it be easy or difficult [for you], and strive hard in God's cause with your possessions and your lives: this is for your own good – if you but knew it!” (Qu'ran 9:41)

(MEDINA PERIOD)

Jesus said,

"My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." (John 18:36)

Jesus commanded,

"Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?" (John 18:11)

(BEFORE PONTIUS PILATE)

These are opposing ideals, revealing the ideological difference between Islam and Christianity. Clearly, pluralism is wrong and multiculturalism has failed.

On abortion

2007-11-07T18:21:00.000-08:00

Do you have strong views about abortion? Is it a closed case for you or are your views open to questioning?

Would you read this if it only asked you questions? Would you answer them?

Where do we begin?

It's a question of life. When does human life begin? Is it that a life doesn't become human until a certain stage of development? When it gets to a certain size? Age? Physical location? Level of independence from the mother? Could it be that until a certain time, a life - be it a zygote, embryo, fetus - is a different kind of organism other than human?

Is a 20 year old adult a different kind of species to a 2 month old child, who is less developed and more dependent?

Or is it that from the moment of conception a human person lives?

What do we give?

It's a question of value. What value do we give a life? What determines the value of a human life? Is a larger human more valuable than a smaller one? Are older people worth more than younger people? Does quality of life give one more value?

Is the life of a 30 year old man, who is bigger than a 12 year old child, worth more?

Is a happy person more precious than a sad person? What about health? The sicker the person the worse we can treat them? Does the level of dependence affect value? Are children of less worth because they are more dependent on their parents than adults?

Would it be ethical to murder all the mentally and physically disabled children who have already passed down a birth canal at some point in their life?

Can we discriminate between people based on the circumstances of their conception? Is a child conceived during a ‘one night stand’ some how less human and less valuble than a child born from a loving stable relationship?

Or is it that all human life irrespectively has equal value?

What do we care?

It's a question of right. Do people have rights? Is there such a thing as the right to life? If so, which people have it?

Is it okay to harm certain people in certain ways just because they are different? Is it naive to think that killing innocent people is wrong? Or is it merely disadvantageous or undesirable or inappropriate to do such things, sometimes?

Could the killing of innocent children actually be right in some situations - or rather, advantageous? Because living without an umbilical cord is the criterion for the right of protection?

Or is it a case of competing rights? Is upholding the right not to be pregnant a greater good than the right not to be killed? Or is it the lesser of two evils? Do the tragic situations into which children are born make it more evil to protect them than to kill them?

Or is it that sometimes killing really is completely wrong? Such as when it's murder? Like in the case when it's a violent personal assault on an innocent, unprotected, indefensible victim? Apart from the fact that murder is unlawful, is it actually wrong to murder people?

What does it matter?

It's a question of law. Does the law always get it right? Does our legal system always maintain justice and protect people as it should? Or does it fail in places?

What about the treatment of Indigenous Australians by a previous generation? Was the slaughter of thousands right simply because it was endorsed by the government at that time?

What about unborn children in our time? Why does our law condemn a person as guilty of murder if they kill a baby by injuring a pregnant mother, but then fail to recognise the situations in which abortion would also be murder?

Why will a mother be prosecuted if after giving birth she discards her baby in a rubbish bin, while another who carries out the same act, but with the assistance of medical staff in a professional setting, will be treated differently?

Should all parents be given the freedom to kill their children at any stage? Or do only mothers have this unconditional right for a limited time?

Is it that, regardless of the law and irrespective of one's relationship to the child, the question about abortion is one of murder?

What do you think?

It's a question of reason. Are there exceptional circumstances? Are there cases when we should be more distressed about a child's live birth than its abortion?

Is it a different question when, for example, abortion concerns a child conceived as a result of rape? Do we think the abortion of these babies is justified because they were forced upon us? Does the brutality of the first act mean the second is less brutal?

What about the abortion of seriously deformed children? Why do we think that this is any different to condoning the killing of all incapacitated children? Is it because a person born with brain damage is less human than one born with lung damage?

Are there even more serious situations than these, where abortion should be acceptable? What about the situation where the mother's life is in danger? Is a mother at liberty to 'let her child go' in order to save her own life? Can such a premeditated action really be okay? Is cutting the cord of an embryo (so to speak) any different to cutting the throat of a child in a life threatening situation?

If the killing of one life to save another is the only option, which life should be saved? The one of more value? If so, which life is of more value? What determines the value of a human life?

Does our full circle to the same question asked earlier show you that this reasoning misses the real question: Though all killing is tragic, is all killing murder?

Or is it just that in all situations where abortion is murder, it remains just as wrong as any other murder?

What do you know?

It's a question of conscience. Have you known this all along? Or have you forced yourself to ask these questions for the first time?

After thinking through these issues, will you think differently? Or regardless of what you truly know - whether you're prepared to admit these things or not - will you retain the same attitude and behaviour towards abortion as you always have had in the past? What does this show you about yourself?

And are Christians, who believe that abortion is wrong, any better? Are they any more righteous than anyone else? Or for that matter, are they more righteous in any part of life? If not, what's the point of all this talk about right and wrong? Does anyone have the ability to do what they know is right? Is there anything you can do from this point on to be completely right?

"As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus”(Romans 3:10-12, 23-24, NIV)