Comments for Future Perfect, Present Tense

Comment on The Sudden Interruption of a Friendship by sarah danaher

sarah danaher — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:17:54 +0000

I have experienced this, though not on quite so deep a level. Reminds me of my favorite line from The Valley of Vision— “It is a good day to me when Thou givest me a glimpse of myself.”

Comment on The Sudden Interruption of a Friendship by Nicky

Nicky — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:00:19 +0000

“I discovered that the enormous space that had been opened for me could not be filled by the one who had opened it”…..what a wonderful reminder to change our perspective from placing bitter blame on the person who instigated this opening, to praise for the One who used them to crank open our hearts to be filled by the Only One who can.

Comment on The Sudden Interruption of a Friendship by christy

christy — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:47:29 +0000

I love Henri Nouwen. I have only read one book of his.. In the Name of Jesus we read with all the Agape team leaders last year but it was just brilliant! Very interesting post..

Comment on The Sudden Interruption of a Friendship by robinjester

robinjester — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:21:23 +0000

This makes me think of what Jesus Himself must have felt in isolation as a human being. To feel completely alone and separated from the Perfect Communion of His Father and settling for the lesser communion of other humans. And yet, there were those glimmers of great friendships and his sense of kinship and fellowship and all those ships. But how rich and pure will the true friendships feel in that glorious day when we are all made one for all eternity. Perhaps the groanings of this life, the emptiness and deep sorrow, as Nouwen expresses, are to make us long for heaven and home?

(ps. this post is a bit heavier than I was expecting, but I’ll take it!)

Comment on Sniffing Glue by robinjester

robinjester — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:47:15 +0000

Have you read Body Piercing Saved My Life? It’s a good read. A nonchristian’s take on the Christian music scene and CCM. I haven’t finished it yet, so not sure where he ends up. Then again, still won’t be sure where he ends up… but praying it’s a good place!

Comment on How Can You Know The Bible Is True? by Barry Cooper

Barry Cooper — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:47:47 +0000

Hi Belinda. Yes, I take it that “you and your household” refers to the whole clause before it, i.e. Paul is saying, “If you and your household believe in the Lord Jesus, you will all be saved.” That seems to be backed up by the next verse which says, “And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.”

Comment on How Can You Know The Bible Is True? by Belinda Macarthur (@stickytake)

Belinda Macarthur (@stickytake) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:57:29 +0000

I too worry about loved ones who have not yet found God. What is your interpretation of Acts 16:31 “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household”?

Comment on The Sermon by Sunita

Sunita — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:50:16 +0000

Thank you very much for the signpost, Barry. So many wonderful sermons with visuals to boot! BTW a couple of recommendations for novels would be Sharon Kay Penman’s “Lionheart” or anything by C.J. Sansom. You can decide whether or not they are great. I do think that they are great though

Comment on How Can You Know The Bible Is True? by Barry Cooper

Barry Cooper — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 06:10:04 +0000

Brother, I strongly sympathise!

On the “because Scripture says so” argument… I think it’s possible for a non-Christian to acknowledge (if not like!) the logic. If God’s Word really is the only ultimately trustworthy authority, then the greatest testimony to the Bible’s trustworthiness is what it says about itself.

To come at it another way… if the greatest proof of the Bible’s authority were external sources (archaeology, say, or reason itself), then archaeology or reason necessarily become higher authorities than Scripture. They would stand in judgement on the Bible, rather than the other way round. If Paul had written, “All Scripture is God-breathed, because archaeology says so”, then logically archaeology would be granted more authority than the testimony of God himself.

Like I say, logical; but not necessarily likeable

And I think you’re dead right when you say Scripture only makes sense when God opens our eyes to see it (2 Cor 4:6). On the other hand, “faith comes through hearing”, so it’s great that your dear brother is reading God’s Word. I have a much loved sibling in the same place. Let’s keep praying! God loves them even better than we do.

Comment on How Can You Know The Bible Is True? by Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 11:20:24 +0000

Hi Barry
Thank you for posting this, it’s exactly where my brother is right now (after having a huge conversation with him yesterday); so it’s very helpful. Yet very frustrating. He is trying to ‘reason’ out faith and I hope it’s because it’s something he wants for himself (whether he truly knows it right now or not). He is trying to understand why people are Christians and is reading some books, but is getting annoyed with the ‘because scripture says so bit’ which is in all these books. This of course is not logical to a non Christian. I think you only ‘understand’ scripture through faith, so reading a thousand books will not help! Trying to explain that faith is a ‘gift from God’ which were exactly the words I used yesterday is just inexplicable, yet he wants me to articulate it so that he can ‘understand’ it. All I can hope for is that his heart has been opened a chink and that the Holy Spirit will come flooding in. I know my prayers will help (I hope!) but ultimately this gift is not in my hands to give. I almost can’t bear to wait for this to happen. It might not. Which leaves me the hanging question of why then is this gift given to some and not others? I know we have free will, but I feel he is seeking, he is on the edge of stepping forward; I just wish God would give him a great big shove