Steven Colborne's Blog, page 9

Be, and it is.

All of creation is a manifestation of the Almighty Sovereign Will. You are entirely under the control of God. If you pray to God, there is no doubt He hears, because really He is praying through you to Himself. 

Still, why not pray? Be a participant in the unfolding of the Universal story. Pray bold prayers. Believe in the infinite possibilities that exist in every moment, and believe in God’s power and ability to do whatever He will.

God says only ‘Be’ and it is – this is the miracle of His creative power. Glory to God forever!

A New Scripture

Friends, I will not deny that I’m anxious to be posting this, but I prayed about it, and God is in control of all things.

Below is a link to a new Scripture which God revealed to me. There are some explanatory notes at the end.

https://perfectchaos.org/books/the-book-of-mercy

Grace, peace, and above all, mercy. Thanks be to God.

Who are the Puppets?

You will likely know the answer to the question posed above if you’ve read much of my work, but it’s a secret to those who are new to my writing so keep it to yourself!

I’m planning to present some hour-long talks in the coming months to promote my book ‘Puppets’ and have been working on a strategy to generate interest in these events.

I’ll be giving out these cards, which hopefully offer some intrigue:

I’ve also created some flyers so that if I’m travelling around and find a suitable venue I can do some promotion on the fly:

And some posters! Without intending to litter the UK, I’m hoping to find some suitable places to post these and get people talking:

If these promotional materials spark your interest, you’re welcome to take a look at the website listed on them, it’s a very simple site but shares the aim of the other promotional material: to generate interest in my talks. There are no tour dates listed on the website yet but they will be added in due course:

https://whoarethepuppets.com

If you’re interested in hosting a talk, please drop an email to steven@tealightbooks.com and we can hopefully figure something out! I’ve thus far been unable to find anyone to travel with me as I embark on this adventure so I might end up going solo. But we’ll see.

I hope you’ve all been keeping well, apologies for my absence in recent weeks. I’m considering writing a blog post about each event as a kind of tour diary so hopefully that will be worth staying tuned for!

Peace be with you.

Is Faith Greater than Truth in God’s Sight?

I’m wondering which you believe is more important: faith or truth?

Christians and Muslims disagree on the subject of whether or not Jesus is God. If God favours faith over truth then atonement for sin through the crucifixion of Jesus – accepted by faith – is perhaps the most important thing in the world.

But if truth is more important than faith, then understanding the history of the Bible and the Qur’an becomes very important, because if the truth is that Jesus didn’t really claim to be God, then Islam and other religions must be taken seriously.

So which is more important? Please leave a comment below with your perspective.

UK Book Tour | Can you help?

Friends, my plans have changed. I’m aware that sometimes our plans do change unexpectedly. All I try to do is seek the will of God and respond to what He reveals to me and how He guides. We are all in submission to the will of God at all times and God does whatever He wishes.

It seems that God wants me to focus on promoting my book Puppets. The book is actually a compilation comprising four shorter books, The Philosophy of a Mad Man, The God Articles, A Collection of Essays by Steven Colborne, and God’s Grand Game. These four books combined cover a great deal of ground and tackle what are in my view life’s most important questions.

I’m looking to organise a 10-20 date tour of the UK during which I will give a presentation in a variety of venues. My aim is to generate interest in my books, which I have written due to my desire to make sense of life, to glorify God, to shed light on important philosophical and theological problems, and to influence healing on both an individual and societal level. I do believe truth heals, and the insights I share in my books go deep into the struggles that characterise human thinking in our time, hopefully shedding light and clearing up confusion.

There are two requests I have that I would like to mention. Firstly, I’m looking for someone to help organise the tour, booking venues and potentially travelling with me around the UK. Secondly, I’m keen to connect with any readers of this blog who are based in the UK and can help with booking me into a local venue and/or provide overnight accommodation. If you can help with either request, please email steven@tealightbooks.com rather than leaving a comment (for reasons of privacy). Thank you.

Putting the Feelers out

You probably haven’t stumbled upon the music I was making back in my university days, but it was my life focus and passion for a long time. Without wishing to be overly nostalgic, I loved writing music and revisiting some of the songs I wrote with my old band is inspiring me to get performing again. Unfortunately, the damage I’ve done to my arms means I may never play guitar again, but I have some lesser-known skills that I intend to utilise!

Please enjoy these videos from my old band and sorry about the low video quality!

Remember to follow my BandCamp page if you’re feeling the energy: Lots more where this came from!

https://consciousnessexplosion.bandcamp.com/

Life Update | Plans for August

Friends, it seems that at the present time there is little interest in my plan to establish a multi-faith church in London. God does whatever He will. Rather than abandon the vision entirely I am going to channel my energy into making music in the short-term with the hope that this will be of interest to some people. I will return to the church vision in the future, God willing.

I will use performance as a means by which to share some of the philosophical insights God has given me and also to worship. I have so many ideas for songs, so it’s just a case of getting into a rehearsal room and allowing myself to experiment.

I’m not sure whether any of you are interested in what I’ll be doing musically, but if you are, you are welcome to keep an eye on this page:

https://consciousnessexplosion.bandcamp.com/

I’m recovering fairly well from my recent hospital admission except that there’s some swelling in my left hand which is worrying me a little. Prayers for complete healing would be appreciated.

You may recall that I shared that God told me 2023 was going to be a year of joy. I hope that the coming months will unfold accordingly, and that you too will experience the love and mercy of our awesome Creator.

It is Right to Live in Fear

The Qur’an is the Word of God, a divine revelation sent down to offer guidance to all people. In the Scripture, God emphasises His power over all things and His freedom to do whatever He will.

We are all under God’s control. If God chooses to make someone suffer, no one can stop Him. And God assures us in the Qur’an that He is planning to make some people suffer terrible torment in hell. No one can be sure that they will escape this torment.

In Surah 70 verse 28 God tells human beings that “the punishment of their Lord is not something to feel safe from”. This will make sense to anyone who acknowledges God’s freedom, power, and His sovereign control over all of creation including everything that human beings experience.

It is right to fear God and to fear the Day of Judgement. But we can also acknowledge that God has the power to take away our fear if He wills, and God promises in the Qur’an that those who do good deeds and are mindful of Him will be rewarded with paradise as a never ending reward – “No fear for them, nor shall they grieve”.

The Most Precious Thing in the Universe

As I sit in my living room enjoying a peaceful early evening, I’m so thankful to God. It’s raining, and rain is so precious.

While I was on a hospital ward recently after injuring my throat, I was instructed to consume only two teaspoons of water every hour to minimise the risk of choking while my throat healed. Having my water intake limited in this way did a great deal to make me recognise how valuable water is. For many years I have always been appreciative when it starts to rain, especially after a dry spell. Being able to drink clean water has been a daily blessing throughout my life, which upon reflection is a huge privilege and mercy.

Mercy. That is the most precious thing in the Universe. God has the power to inflict terrible suffering on His creatures, and He has the freedom to do whatever He will. During my spell in intensive care recently, I experienced a taste of suffering which heightened my awareness of this. Every moment in which we do not suffer is a great mercy from our Lord and we must be thankful for every moment of peace and happiness that He grants us.

The Abrahamic Scriptures warn of a Day of Judgement which we will all face. God says in the Qur’an that it is His binding promise that the Day of Judgement will come. In a great many surahs in the Qur’an, God warns us about the fires of hell and offers direction concerning how we should live if we are seeking to avoid hell and enter paradise.

In the New Testament, Jesus gives us an indication of just how serious the suffering of hell will be when he says that if our eye causes us to sin, we should gouge it out and throw it away, for it is better to lose a part of our body in this life than to be thrown into hell in the next. There’s nothing in the Biblical account of Jesus saying this to suggest it shouldn’t be taken literally.

It is right to be afraid of the torment of the fires of hell. God warns us about this so that we will be persuaded to obey His commandments and live in a way that pleases Him. And while on Judgement Day God will have the power and freedom to do whatever He pleases with us, He has sent down guidance to help us and assures us that no one will be wronged.

Obeying God is something I wholeheartedly wish to do, and I try, but there are some important theological matters which mean my spiritual path isn’t straightforward. The alleged deity of Jesus Christ is one such matter where the teachings of the Qur’an and orthodox Christianity seem to disagree. It is my overarching ambition to settle this predicament before I die (preferably as soon as possible) so that I might feel sure that I am living and thinking in a way that pleases God.

Please work with me to settle the predicament of whether or not Jesus is God. Don’t think you can dismiss the Qur’an if you haven’t read it and don’t think you can dismiss the Bible if you haven’t read it. The concept of the Trinity is at the heart of this debate.

There is nothing more important than the pursuit of God’s mercy, so if you have any doubts in your mind about matters of theology then join me in dedicating your life to resolving them. May God guide all who love and fear Him to a straight path. Please, God, be merciful to us all. Amen.

Still Breathing, Still Thinking

It’s been a few days since I was discharged from hospital and I would like to share a few reflective thoughts. In case you missed my recent personal update and aren’t aware, about a month ago I self-harmed and spent over a week in intensive care before being moved to a specialist ward where I spent the next three weeks recovering.

Why did I self-harm? Strangely, I have no recollection of the thoughts that were going through my mind when I did. I know that I had the intention of ending my life and that in the weeks leading up to what happened I went through some quite bizarre experiences. I’m sure psychiatrists would say I experienced an episode of psychosis. I have never tried to end my life before and hopefully I will never do so again.

I’m typing this post with one finger because I have damage to both my arms. My right arm is not too bad, but sadly I damaged nerves and tendons in my left arm and have lost sensation in three of the fingers on my left hand as well as in part of my left hand and arm. I feel fortunate that my right arm isn’t too badly damaged as I’m right-handed. In addition to the injuries to my arms I also damaged my neck and it was some time before I was able to eat and drink anything (I was fed via a tube for around two weeks). I’m still having some trouble swallowing normally, though it’s not too bad. My voice has been affected, notably I can’t speak or sing above a fairly low pitch. Am hoping this will revert to normal in time.

In future posts I may well write about the experiences I had while in an induced coma in intensive care, but as typing is difficult right now and I’m still coming to terms with what happened, I’ll keep this post fairly brief.

One thing I will mention is that my sister was so incredibly supportive. She lives abroad but flew to London to visit me in hospital. She helped me in so many ways (I am undeserving) and I feel closer to her than ever before. My relationship with my father remains difficult but he visited me in hospital and helped me financially when my wallet went missing. I’m thankful and have a renewed determination to work at that relationship.

Faith-wise, not too much has changed. In hospital I read both the Bible and the Qur’an. I know that listening to hymns and praying every day changed the atmosphere in the wards I was on and (I’m convinced) speeded up my recovery. Thanks be to God.

I’m determined to answer the remaining questions I have concerning those areas where the Bible and the Qur’an apparently contradict one another, and if God grants me more time in this world, this will likely be a central focus. I hope that you will continue to read my posts and I remain hopeful that the books I have written will reach a wider audience as I believe they have the potential to change lives for the better.

Peace be with you and thank you for reading