Steven Colborne's Blog, page 22

Woman’s Intuition

Good evening, friends. Bit of an unusual post today, but I’ve just been reflecting on the unique gift of intuition that God has given to women.

I think it’s human nature that both men and women want to be at peace and happy. I think that’s why we form relationships, both with friends and with partners. In that respect, men and women are very much alike, though I think the different sexes have different giftings.

I just wanted to share a story I find quite amusing. I have a female friend who I met in hospital many years ago, she is actually on a ward in the same hospital that I’m presently in, though due to leave restrictions we haven’t yet discussed meeting up. This female friend is very intuitive, as all women are. Today I was suffering from nicotine withdrawal, so my mood was quite low. I didn’t hear from my friend all day. Then, this evening, despite being financially stretched, I was able to order a delivery of some vape pens. When the delivery arrived, as soon as the package was handed to me my friend called! I thought, what on Earth?! She could obviously sense my good mood and wanted some, haha.

I don’t think all women are alike, just as all men aren’t alike. But you have to have a sense of humour about these things and not take life too seriously. Men can be very serious, but I think women like things to be more playful and lighthearted. I’ll be sure to take precautions to control my excitement next time I have a vape delivery! And don’t think I’m pretending to have figured women out, it would take more than a simple Earthly god to do that! Love to all my female readers

Your Anger is a Gift

Hello everyone. In this article, I want to write a little about ‘man’s worst enemy’ (to coin a phrase!), which is anger.

I remember a Rage Against the Machine song which has a lyric that inspired the title of this blog post. I always loved the raw anger of metal music, and the message that the band came with was so powerful due to the expression of anger at injustice behind the vocals.

I wonder why such anger over injustice is lacking in a lot of popular music of our day. I suppose people express anger in all kinds of different ways, not necessarily raw shouting (although, arguably, it has its place). Even in Eastern philosophy where meditation is a central focus, there is often an emphasis on holding onto the feeling of ‘I’ or ‘self’, which is actually an expression of anger as well, in a sense.

Of course, anger plays a role in the animal kingdom. I am thinking about the zoo keeper who must confront an escaped lion, knowing he must meet the lion’s gaze and not show any sign of fear or weakness as the lion angrily growls, eager to pounce upon the slightest flinch.

I know that in the Bible it is taught that being ‘slow to anger’ is virtuous, and I think this is true. But it is also true that in the New Testament we find a story about Jesus’ anger over corruption being expressed quite forcefully:

13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

(John 2:13-17)

We often think of Jesus as a tender and meek person, and perhaps he was. But he also got angry, and expressed his anger, as the above story demonstrates.

In the future, I hope to establish a counselling service in London. Part of the work we will do is to help people to express the full range of human emotions without fear. Anger is an emotion which is often repressed — indeed, part of the development of all children in most contemporary societies is that they are taught to suppress the raw emotional anger that they express freely as babies.

For adults who attend counselling later in life and wish to become masters of their emotions, anger must be fully understood and appreciated, otherwise there will always be obstacles to freedom and peace. Anger is precious and needn’t ever be accompanied by violence, which also accords with New Testament teaching to ‘turn the other cheek’.

People often think that anger and violence are the same thing, but this is simply not true. Anger can always be expressed peacefully and calmly. But everyone needs to have an experience of true rage in order to know their innate power. Only then can they live without fear, and become the master of reality that we all want to be.

Blurb

Greetings, friends. Today, I just wanted to share a blurb I’ve written to promote my album. I’m quite pleased with it. I hope some of you will take a listen! The album was released in 2018 but gained very little traction. I hope it garners a small following one day:

“The ultimate goal of this album is that nobody listens to it. Once the messages contained herein are fully digested, the world will feel like a different place. Subject to some angry criticism from traditional media, Steven Colborne was neither disheartened nor aggrieved. He fully believes this album, with a little help from above, can move both mountains and stadia.”

You can listen to the album on my Music page.

Highs and Lows

Greetings, friends. A warm welcome to my new subscribers. Some of you know that I have been in the mental health system for many years. Today, I wanted to write a little about how I view this aspect of my life. This may help me, and may also be of interest to some of you.

Getting right to the point, I’m interested in the philosophy of mind. For a long time, I have argued that our thoughts are not caused by our brains, but by God. My book God’s Grand Game presents a thorough exposition of this perspective.

I don’t think anyone has ever been ‘cured’ of a ‘mental illness’ owing to medication. This is why I believe the primary intervention in mental health care should be talking therapy. There may be a role medication can play in stabilising extreme conditions, and it may function well as a relaxant in certain situations, but I think the whole idea of ‘antipsychotics’ is misguided.

My hope is that I won’t have medication forced on me forever, because the side effects can be troublesome. I don’t think anyone is ever beyond complete healing (with God, all things are possible), but in the human dimension of reality, I don’t want to suffer adverse effects from medication, when in the long run, it is potentially causing me harm.

I do recognise that doctors are appointed by God — and that they go through rigorous training — but I am hoping better times are on the horizon for mental health patients and that the whole brain disorder myth will be exposed and reformed.

The Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy

Good day, friends. Firstly, sorry for the confusion around whether I would be continuing blogging or not. Perhaps it was impulsive of me to consider I would cease writing entirely, when writing is my great passion. I’m grateful to have this platform to express myself and discuss all of the big problems of philosophy and theology. I suppose I will never stop learning, and it’s through my posts on this blog that I have been able to share ideas which eventually turned into the books I have written.

Actually, on that note, Amazon are in the process of returning all my books to their list prices. It’s taking them longer than usual to update the prices, so you may still be able to download some of my books for free, if this appeals. My Books page has further info.

I’ve faced some challenges these last couple of days; things that only God fully understands. I thought I was going to die on a couple of occasions. It made me think of something that I wrote about in my books; that God is abundant in mercy to us every day. He could, if He so willed, cause all creatures to suffer agony relentlessly, and for as long He willed, but it seems that God always follows our periods of suffering with mercy (at least, in my experience). I suppose the only exception to this is the possibility of hell, which is described as eternal in several places in both the Bible and the Qur’an.

Does the idea of eternal hell make sense? I’ve been chatting to people about this a lot recently, and I still feel it’s an unanswered question for me. With God as the animator and controller of everything that happens, I find it difficult to accept that God would send people to eternal hell, seeing as He has been in control of the unfolding of every aspect of our lives from our conception.

Nearly every surah of the Qur’an begins by stressing the mercy of God, though it is also emphasised in the Qur’an that God is severe in punishment. I suppose like so many aspects of theology (at least, in my view) it comes back to the free will issue. I don’t believe we have free will. God does whatever He will.

If you believe in the One True God, that God is a unity and controls all things, please say a prayer for me to be discharged from hospital soon, and for my physical ailments to be healed. I would really appreciate knowing that people are praying for me, although prayer to Jesus makes me uncomfortable because of the severe warnings in the Qur’an against associating any partners with God, and the insistence in the Qur’an that Jesus was a prophet and not God.

Thank you for reading and God bless you.

Speaking in Tongues

Greetings, friends. I wanted to start a conversation about the Christian practice of speaking in tongues. Several people prayed for me to receive this gift, but I’ve always felt it doesn’t really work. I do wonder whether other people who speak in tongues experience the practice in a different way to me. I always felt I was just speaking gibberish to fit in with other Christians.

Here are a few questions you can answer in the comments, if you like:

When you speak in tongues, do you hear the words clearly in your own language in your mind?What is the experience of speaking in tongues like for you?If someone can’t speak in tongues, are they missing out on an important aspect of the Christian faith?

And just to point out, when people prayed for me to speak in tongues I was a very dedicated and evangelical Christian, so I don’t think a ‘weakness of faith’ argument would float.

Will look forward to your thoughts!

The Seven-Day Working Week?

I think this is something we all think about from time to time. Is it really wise for society to completely disregard that Sabbath, and for people to work whenever they please?

I’m aware of the disagreements among people of faith in relation to whether the Sabbath should be observed on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. But it’s the principal that matters. Should Scripture dictate when we work, or is this the role of businesses to decide?

I’m aware that money has corrupted the world to a staggering extent. If we can replace our love of money with a love of what is sacred, I think the world would be a better place. And I hope God will honour us for honouring the revelations He has given us. Thanks be to God.

Life Update

In the absence of anything philosophical left to write about, I thought I’d offer a quick life update mainly for myself but also in case anyone is interested.

I’m still in hospital. God promised me I would be discharged on Friday, but it’s possible for God to lie, I think He normally does so with the best of intentions, as He is most forgiving and most merciful.

Thankfully, I am free — free from sin. Though not yet free from the mental health system, sadly.

Today I was allowed to take about 20 minutes escorted leave, so I count my blessings. It was lovely to stand in the rain for a little while. I love the rain!

Now I have to try to find a suitable image for this blog post, not that anyone visits my blog any more. I suppose it’s my own fault for being so changeable in my views, in my comment moderation, and in my consistency. Sorry about that.

I will try to stay positive and hold onto God’s promises to me. He is able to lie, but I think everything happens for a reason, and every time I’m feeling abominably low, God picks my right back up again. He is a wonderful, miracle-working God!

I’m a bit reluctant to hit ‘publish’ because of Christian anger, but I know there are some very genuine people who take an interest in what I write, so it’s a risk I’m happy to take. Every time God sends a messenger, they are always treated abysmally, it comes with the territory I suppose.

Enough! I will leave you in peace. God bless you and thank you for reading. Sorry about any errors.

Just some words

Here I am in my hospital room, a couple of weeks have passed and I still have absolutely no idea what’s going on. All I know is that I don’t have a brain disorder, because they don’t exist.

Should I push to be discharged back to the hell home? Should I embrace homelessness?

I think I will be seeing Dr Trojan tomorrow, which is probably going to do me more harm than good.

You have to laugh.

At least God said my word for 2023 is ‘joy’. Thank you, my Master! I will embrace that wholeheartedly!

What’s your word for 2023 and WHY? Please leave a comment!

Is Killing Natural?

I really empathise with vegetarians. But from my discussions today with friends it seems that killing is part of the natural order. Or do you think spiders are inherently peaceful?

A related question: Are human beings set apart, or are we part of the animal kingdom?

Please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts.