Steven Colborne's Blog, page 83

‘Turkey & Chores’ – A Christmas Eve Poem

It’s probably the hardest few days of the year for many people, myself included. But amidst the worries and busyness, there’s always so much to be thankful for.

I’m so grateful that God has revealed Himself to me, and that He blesses me so abundantly, even on the bad days. To know Him, even a little, is a wonderful thing. In this spirit, I’ve written a poem that I hope you can relate to, whatever your beliefs.

Turkey and Chores

Twas the day before Christmas

And all through the land

Excitement was building

Celebrations were planned

Trees topped with fairies

And presents below

Food preparations

And wishes for snow

But deep in our hearts

We were anxious enough

That things could go wrong

And these days would be tough

For Christmas to many

Means grieving and pain

The hurt of old times

Comes to haunt us again

But take a step back

From the turkey and chores

And frantic gift wrapping

And wreaths on the doors

Look up to heaven

To God out of sight

Who carries you always

All day and all night

And ask God to save you

From death and disease

From the pain of old memories

Have mercy God please

Then maybe He’ll hear you

From heaven above

And bring you some comfort

Some sign of His love

And through all the struggles

At this time of year

You’ll know that to Him

You are precious and dear

Whether living for Jesus

Or seeking elsewhere

I pray that this Christmas

Brings joy you can share

Amen.

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Adore

If you’re new to my blog you won’t know that I’ve been entertaining my readers with what I called an ‘Advent Songathon’. That is, 25 songs over 25 days during the advent season. Like a marathon of songs. Oh, you got it? OK, good

Sam Harris and Free Will

Over the last few years, Sam Harris has received a great deal of recognition among atheists, who see him as an important figure championing science as pitted against religion when it comes to the subject of morality.

I spent many hours watching Harris speaking and debating in various YouTube videos a few years back, and I appreciate that he is a sharp and articulate thinker with some good insights. I do, however, believe that his approach to morality and in particular free will is flawed in a significant way. I have just finished reading Harris’s book entitled Free Will and would like to make a few simple but crucial points in response.

Harris is right to point out that we don’t have free will. Like Harris, I have taken the time to examine this subject in depth, both by reading widely on the subject and by examining my own subjective experience.

Harris points out that our thoughts arise spontaneously and that we have no control over them, which is something I have also noted in my written works (for instance see my 2012 article entitled What is Causing our Thoughts?). As I wrote in that article, we have no idea what we will be thinking in a minute’s time, or an hour’s time – we do not control our thoughts; they arise spontaneously.

Harris, who has studied neuroscience, resolves this problem in a materialistic way. He believes that what comprises a person is merely physical. He states, for example, that if every atom in his body were exchanged with those of someone else, he would become that person.

The flaw in this thinking is that it ignores the spiritual aspect of reality. I believe in a God who animates all activity in existence, and it is God who is causing thoughts to arise in our minds, as well as controlling all our bodily functions, such as our heartbeat, digestion, and circulation.

Rather than being the mere output of an evolutionary process (combined with our life circumstances) as Harris maintains, the truth is that we are puppets in the hands of a living God, and He is directing all the physical and immaterial aspects of our existence. God is alive right now in this single eternal moment, and everything is unfolding by His sovereign will.

My description of God as the ‘cosmic animator’ will only make sense to those who have either deeply examined the nature of thought and consciousness, or those to whom God has spoken or revealed Himself in other ways. There are many solid arguments for the existence of God, as I have expounded in my book The Philosophy of a Mad Man. But knowing God always depends on some kind of revelation.

If we consider the nature of God; and in particular His attribute of omnipresence, it makes sense that He is making thoughts arise in our minds because His being permeates every atom in existence and every cell of our bodies.

There are moral implications to this, which I believe that Harris (if he were to accept my worldview) would acknowledge and understand. He speaks intelligently about the subject of culpability in the criminal justice system, and makes the important point that when we appreciate we don’t have free will we can look with a greater sense of empathy and understanding upon criminal behaviour. I completely agree; but in my view it is God who is in control rather than the blind forces of evolution and circumstance.

I do of course realise that the God I’m depicting is not the God that most Christians, Muslims, and Jews embrace – it is central to these religions that we have free will and are responsible for sin and deserving of judgment. My perspective calls into question our accountability, as it makes God the author of everything that might be described as ‘sin’ or ‘evil’. This can be a hard idea for theists to fathom, and I have discussed it at length in my book Ultimate Truth: God Beyond Religion. I invite all readers with an interest in this subject to read that book, which I sell on a not-for-profit basis.

In the human dimension we experience the illusion of free will, but this is merely a mode of mind under God’s control – in the ultimate dimension of reality, God is responsible for our every thought, word, and deed.

It’s liberating to have discovered that God is in control of everything in existence, both in the microcosm and the macrocosm. God is working out a plan for all our lives with great care and intricacy, and if we are to reexamine the way society deals with moral issues, we need to do so in light of this truth.

Advent Songathon (19 Dec)

A few days ago I shared a wonderful lyric video by the English Christian band Rivers and Robots. Today I’d like to share more music by the same band, with the difference being today I’m going to share a whole album rather than a single, and also, it’s entirely instrumental.

This is truly one of my favourite albums of the year, and it’s a real grower. I find it to be the perfect background music when composing blog posts as it is mellow and gentle, beautiful, but not distracting. Let me know what you think!

Advent Songathon (18 Dec)

I’m feeling as though the Songathon has so far featured a lot of male voices, so today I’ll mix things up a bit by featuring a female vocalist in the form of the magnificent Nicole C. Mullen.

This is a very uplifting and emotive song with great lyrics. The quality of sound on the video isn’t perfect, but it’s the best I could find. I hope you enjoy the song! God bless!

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‘A Chosen Faith’ by Buehrens and Church (book review)

[image error]This book is an introduction to Unitarian Universalism. I’m always interested to investigate different religions, and I know an Anglican minister who recently left the Church of England to join a Unitarian church, so this (among other things) sparked my interest and I decided to buy an introductory book about the movement.

Unitarianism refers to a belief in the unity of God, and is to be contrasted with trinitarianism. Universalism affirms salvation for all people. The two concepts aren’t directly related, but nevertheless the two different churches amalgamated in 1961 to form a single religious body.

Unitarian Universalism (UU) is a relatively small movement, with approximately 200,000 members in North America, 80,000 in Romania and Hungary, around 10,000 in Great Britain and scattered elsewhere in Europe, and small indigenous groups in India, The Philippines, and Nigeria.

The doctrine of Universalism can be traced back to Origen of Alexandria, who was a second-century theologian. But in more recent history, it denotes a distinctive religious movement in America that emerged in the 19th century as a response to Calvinism. In simple terms, Calvinists believe that only an elect group of Christians will be saved, whereas Universalists, as I mentioned, believe everyone will be saved (and no one will go to hell).

The book has two authors, John A. Beuhrens and Forrest Church, who are both UU ministers. Chapters written by Beuhrens and those written by Church alternate throughout the book. It’s an accessible read and at just over 200 pages long it’s not too daunting.

What the book taught me about UU is that it’s an incredibly liberal church. There is a major focus on social justice and also on embracing a wide range of different religious traditions and perspectives. It seems to me that the church is reluctant to say that God exists; instead they use rather vague terms like ‘the forces that create and uphold life’ and ‘the ground of being’ to refer to what Christians, Jews, and Muslims would call God.

It’s interesting that the church uses a lot of Christian language, but substitutes certain words and phrases to water them down. It seems as though to mention the name of God would be considered offensive within the church. For instance, Buehrens writes “…we are all sisters and brothers on this earth, children of one great mystery”. Quite how a mystery can have children I don’t know!

Another example of this is when Buehrens is describing what he says when conducting a marriage ceremony: “May the blessings that rest on those who truly love rest on you and fill you with all love’s grace, both now and forever.” Whereas a Christian would naturally says ‘God’s grace’, here the term ‘love’s grace’ is used which I dare say is confusing at best.

The authors pick and choose Christian scriptures somewhat erratically and they are often used out of context, or even misquoted, for instance on p207 Buehrens quotes Ephesians 4:6 as saying “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all”. The word ‘you’ here seems to be an addition to the text; I looked up a few translations they all say ‘in all’ rather than ‘in you all’. Maybe I’m being pedantic, but it does change the meaning of the text so is a significant error.

Don’t get me wrong, this book isn’t all bad, and I shouldn’t let my discussion become too theological as this is just a book review rather than a dissertation. On the whole the book is very well-written and gives a great overview of the UU church, pretty much answering all the important questions about the history of the church, its approach to community, ceremony, and worship.

The church is trying to achieve something very difficult in embracing pagan religions alongside the Abrahamic religions and Eastern religions. How can a church that embraces such diverse religious perspectives stand for anything meaningful? On the other hand, there are many liberals that embrace just this kind of all-encompassing approach to spirituality, and they will find much to enjoy in this book.

If you’re interested in Comparative Religion and don’t know much about UU, then I would recommend this book as a good introduction to the church. But if you’re more conservative and believe in the God of the Bible I will just warn you that you might find the approach of the church, as described in the book, somewhat difficult to fathom.

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Advent Songathon (17 Dec)

This is a beautiful song! Very different to everything else I’ve featured, and although this video is 9 minutes long I really encourage you to watch it through. There’s a bit of preaching mingled in with the song, but it is Sunday after all, so that doesn’t feel inappropriate!

And may I take this opportunity to wish all of my followers a joyful and productive week ahead. Please know that I’m praying for you! I would also appreciate your prayers, especially for healing and breakthrough around the difficult relationship in my life that I mentioned in a previous post. I’m struggling with that right now.

God loves you!

Advent Songathon (16 Dec)

Something a little heavier for a Saturday night! This song helped me through some dark times during several hospital admissions. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of the band, but this track in particular I love.

Third Day are among the most famous Christian rock bands around, and the gospel of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone is at the heart of this song. Someone put a lot of effort into this lyric video!

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Out and About

Greetings beloved friends and followers! I hope you’re enjoying a peaceful weekend. This morning I was up early and it was a beautiful, crisp winter’s morning in South London. I decided to take a walk around my local park. It’s such a blessing to be able to get some fresh air in lovely surroundings, despite living in a crazily busy city!

Here are a few snaps from my walk:

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Ten Things I’m Grateful For Today

A delicious meal out last night
I met a couple of lovely friendly people unexpectedly yesterday
There are lots of cosy cafe’s near my flat
I live in an amazing city
I slept soundly and peacefully last night
I laughed a few times yesterday
My ability to write
I’m the owner of a working MacBook
I’ve got plenty of amazing books to read
I’ve got lovely warm clothing for the winter months

So grateful to God for countless other blessings!

What are you doing this weekend? Let me know in the comments

Advent Songathon (15 Dec)

Today I’m going to share a song that I’m pretty sure most (if not all) of you won’t have heard before. It’s a joy to uncover musical treasures that have yet to reach a wide audience and to play a small role in bringing them to the attention of new listeners.

I discovered this track on the Indie Worship playlist on Spotify earlier this year, and I know very little about the performers. The band are called Isla Vista Worship and I found out via Google that Isla Vista is a community in California, who have a reputation for doing things a bit differently. Intriguing. Perhaps my American readers can tell me more?! In any case, I hope you enjoy the song!

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