Steven Colborne's Blog, page 92

NEW VLOG: Why do we Suffer?

Dear Friends,

Today was a beautiful Spring day in London so I went to my local park to shoot the latest in a series of vlogs I’m making looking at free will and the problem of evil.

I hope you can spare 15mins to watch this vlog and your comments would be welcome and appreciated. God bless you and enjoy the video:

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‘Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus’ by Nabeel Qureshi (book review)

I’m truly fascinat[image error]ed by the beliefs of others. One of the main focuses of this blog is to look at different religious beliefs and criticise them, always with the ambition of discovering and expounding truths about God and the world. So I was excited to read this book by Nabeel Qureshi which, as you will have probably gathered from the title, is about his journey from being a devout Muslim to becoming a follower of Jesus Christ.

The book was first released in 2014, but the version I read was published in 2016 and updated with bonus content including a new epilogue and ten ‘expert contributions’ from scholars who discuss various subjects that relate to Nabeel’s story. The bonus content is interesting but not really essential to appreciate the heart of the book, so if you’ve got the 2014 edition without all the extras you needn’t worry. The typography of the book is excellent, and the short chapters and for the most part simple language make this an accessible read.

As Nabeel relates his story we learn a lot about his family and their background. The family travelled around during Nabeel’s early childhood due to his father’s job in the US Navy. They eventually settled in Virginia in the US, but I was interested (as a Brit) to read that prior to moving to the States Nabeel’s family also spent some time living in Scotland.

The book mixes autobiography with theology. Nabeel gives the reader interesting insights into the way of life of a devout Muslim family, and at the same time teaches the reader about Islamic ritual and prayer and belief. Where Arabic terms are used, they are clearly defined both alongside the text and in a glossary at the back of the book, so they are not a stumbling block to understanding Nabeel’s story.

During the course of the book we learn about how during his time in education Nabeel encountered various Christian influences that made him question aspects of his Islamic faith. His conversion to Christianity was a gradual process, and God used close friends as well as dreams and visions to convince Nabeel of the truth of the Christian gospel.

At the time I’m writing, Nabeel is studying for a doctorate in New Testament Studies at the University of Oxford, not far from Abingdon in Oxfordshire which is where I grew up and went to school. Sadly, he is also battling with a serious type of stomach cancer, and the prognosis is pretty bleak, although I’m sure that Nabeel would be the first to admit that his life is in the hands of Jesus rather than the hands of doctors. If you happen to read this review, Nabeel, know that you’re in my prayers.

In conclusion, this book is a superb read for anyone who is interested in faith and theology. I am already looking forward to reading the follow-up, No God But One, which is out now through the same publisher (Zondervan). I believe Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus is a book that will impact the lives of many Muslim readers and cause them to deeply consider the exclusive truth claims of Christianity.

A Dream from God?

I had such a beautiful dream last night. It was really vivid. There was a large pool of water, perhaps a lake, and hundreds of people stood around the edge of the lake facing the water. The people were all singing Amazing Grace. I was holding a guitar and walking around the lake behind the people who were stood singing. I played the chords to the song as I walked around the lake behind the people and I was singing beautiful harmonies to accompany their singing. I felt such joy and freedom from fear and anxiety.

Sometimes people say they have received a dream from God. I believe every dream comes from God, as He is the author of everything that happens in our lives. But some dreams, the ones people often say are from God, have a special significance that sticks with them and perhaps provokes them to some kind of action. For instance, it’s common for people to have an experience of meeting Jesus in a dream.

I don’t know what my dream last night signified, if anything. I think many people feel tempted to read meaning into dreams but in my experience dreams are often muddled and chaotic and have no obvious meaning. Only God knows what’s really going on. But what I will say is that last night’s dream blessed me and I was pleased to wake up in a good mood as though some residual joy from the dream was still in my mind.

I would love to hear your experience of dreams that were particularly significant to you, or that you believe were from God and had meaning for your waking life. Feel free to share your experience in the comments below.

Spiritual Sickness

I’m concerned that the spiritual aspect of mental illness is often neglected. The Bible says that our struggle is against “…the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12).

Because psychiatrists often neglect the spiritual struggles we are facing, they use medication to treat us, which masks the problem, but doesn’t solve it. That is why it’s so rare to see people who recover from a mental illness after they get a diagnosis and start taking medication.

I have seen many people experience demons being cast out of them, and experience total healing in the name of Jesus. If you would like to see this for yourself, or if this is new to you, try watching the movie ‘The Last Reformation – The Beginning’ for free on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/zka4DUYeJ5g

If you’re experiencing the symptoms of depression, anxiety, bipolar, schizophrenia, PTSD, or any other condition that psychiatrists label as ‘mental illness’, please know that what you’re experiencing is a spiritual battle. The good news is that there is hope! Jesus is able to heal every disease and sickness, as we can see from reading the New Testament.

We can be delivered from all the powers of darkness that hold us captive, and there is real freedom in Jesus Christ.

If you’d like to talk about this or anything else, or if you have a prayer request, feel free to contact me or leave a comment below.

Living the Gospel

It’s frightening. Approaching people on the street, praying for people we don’t know, casting out demons, fighting spiritual battles. But this is what Jesus has called us to do. I believe that these activities encapsulate something of the true meaning of Matthew 16:24, where Jesus says “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

Being a Christian is difficult. We have a certain peace, which comes from knowing that we are right with God. But we also have obstacles to overcome; we go through desert periods, we fast and abstain from many worldly pleasures, we suffer trials, and so on. Not only these things, but as 2 Timothy 3:12 states, “…all who desire to live a Godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”.

In recent weeks I’ve been learning a lot about how to live out my life as a true Christian, and God has been really challenging me. It started when I watched The Last Reformation movie on YouTube, after stumbling upon it by “chance” one evening (nothing happens by chance). I will never be the same having seen that movie, which depicts a present day movement of people living out the kind of Christian life we find in the Book of Acts.

After watching that movie and having been changed forever, I am now working through an online video course led by Torben Sondergaard, who by God’s grace is leading the Last Reformation movement. The video training, called The Pioneer School, consists of 20 videos and I’ve watched the first five at the time of publishing this post. The message Torben communicates is simple and accessible, but also very powerful. The whole focus is on how to live in obedience to Christ’s teaching as we find it in the Bible, rather than simply going to church every Sunday and leading an otherwise fairly secular life.

I would like to share some experiences from earlier today, when I took to the streets in the area where I live and asked God to give me the courage and boldness to speak to people and pray for people. I had been out yesterday with the same intentions, but due to fear hadn’t approached anyone. By God’s grace, today was very different.

As I left my flat I resolved that I would talk to the first person I encountered. So I introduced myself to a lady who was passing by, and asked her if she needed prayer for anything. She told me she was fine, but had a close friend with a chronic illness. I asked if I could pray for her friend, and she said she was a Christian and that would be fine. As I prayed there on the street I could feel God moving. I have no way of knowing whether this person was healed or not, but I have faith that she was.

Several minutes later I saw the guy who lives in the flat next to me walking down the street. He would have walked past me as I was praying for the lady on the street. I asked him if he needed any prayer (we know each other a little but don’t have much contact, I have invited him to church a few times but he hasn’t joined me yet). He said he had pain in his legs when he walks. I laid a hand on his leg and said a short prayer, and he said the pain had gone! He then brought up the subject of church and said he would like to come with me some time soon

My Favourite Quatrains

I have a particular love for quatrains. I think they appeal to my perfectionist nature because they hold a kind of perfectly formed beauty. If you’re not familiar with the term ‘quatrain’ it simply means a four line stanza in a poem.

Each of the four quatrains below contains something moving and profound and wonderful. I hope that you will enjoy these precious little gems as much as I do. They are perfect tweet material owing to their concise nature so if you like them feel free to share the love!

1. This one is currently pinned to my profile on Twitter and I think it’s my favourite. The gospel in a single quatrain.

Because the sinless Saviour died

My sinful soul is counted free

For God the just is satisfied

To look on Him and pardon me.

2. I picked this one up a few years ago. I believe I discovered it in a book of prayers that my father gave me. Apparently it’s engraved as an epitaph on a tombstone in the graveyard at Elgin Cathedral. I think it captures something truly wonderful about the God-fearing Christian begging for mercy from an almighty God.

Here lies Martin Elginbrod,

Hae mercy on my soul Lord God,

As I would do were I Lord God

And ye were Martin Elginbrod.

3. Next is the perfect quatrain to text to your friends on Easter Sunday, the day we celebrate Christ rising from the dead. I don’t need to say much, this quatrain speaks for itself.

Tomb thou shalt not hold Him longer

Death is strong but life is stronger

Stronger than the dark, the light,

Stronger than the wrong, the right.

4. Finally, a beautiful quatrain that I discovered only this morning as I was reading a sermon from the Reformed Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon. I don’t know whether or not Spurgeon wrote it. The last line is a quote from the Bible (Deuteronomy 33:25). Text this one to a friend if they’re going through a tough time.

Days of trial, days of grief,

In succession thou may’st see;

This is still thy sweet relief,

‘As thy days, thy strength shall be.’

Do you know any quatrains? I would love to hear your favourites, or any poetry or sayings that would fit in a text message but that have really moved you. Feel free to leave a comment below with your thoughts and/or suggestions.

Faith and Vlogging

It’s been a couple of weeks since I launched my new YouTube channel. I suppose it’s been going pretty well. I’ve made two videos, have had some good feedback and interactions, an encouraging number of subscribers, and have learned a great deal about what it means to be a YouTuber in 2017. I’ve operated YouTube channels in the past, but of course so much has changed in the last few years, from cameras, to computers, to editing software, to YouTube itself. It’s been a steep learning curve, but also a thoroughly enjoyable one.

I’ve been working hard to draw people’s attention to my channel, mostly by engaging with people on Twitter, Facebook, and here on WordPress. I’m someone who believes that the best form of marketing is sharing love and encouragement, and that is what I have tried to do. After all, it’s not just about my subscriber count (although I am keen to grow my numbers) but also about sharing the gospel, which is the ultimate purpose of my channel. So I always resist the urge to use aggressive marketing techniques and instead stick to trying to make conversation and get to know people in a personal way.

If you don’t use YouTube very often, you’re missing out on a whole world of amazing resource and encouragement. One of my favourite hobbies these days is searching YouTube for testimonies about people’s amazing experiences of meeting Jesus. There are dozens of Christians who have uploaded such videos. I’ve actually started a playlist called ‘Amazing Testimonies’ where I’m gathering together all these wonderful stories into one place. You can view the playlist so far here.

But as amazing as joining this global community of vloggers is, it’s easy to get discouraged. I think creative people everywhere will understand me when I say that I’m a perfectionist and have to fight against the discouragement I feel when my videos are lacking, or things are going slowly, or someone leaves a negative comment, or decides my channel is not for them. The remedy for this discouragement is to stay focused on Jesus and remember that my purpose is to serve Him and glorify God, rather than be concerned about my own popularity.

Please pray for this channel, as I do believe it’s something God has placed on my heart to do, and I need inspiration to make the right kind of content so that this channel is not a vanity project but useful Kingdom work. If you’d like to take a look at the channel and view my videos so far, here’s the link:

The Growing Christian:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClvtdRdDGDWva41qAievnkg

God bless you and thank you for reading

My latest YouTube vlog

Greetings! If you saw my last post you’ll be aware that I have been working on fulfilling my new year’s resolution and have created a new YouTube channel. It’s called ‘The Growing Christian’ and you can think of it as a partner channel to this blog.

If you haven’t yet subscribed or viewed my videos, I would really appreciate your support and encouragement – it’s always hard work and a little scary starting a new venture like this and every bit of support really does mean a lot.

So far I have created a short channel intro and today I published my first proper video, which is embedded below. Those of you who regularly read this blog will recognise some of the views expressed in the video from my writing on Perfect Chaos, but I hope in this new format my ideas will be easy to understand and enjoyable to watch.

God bless you, keep in touch, and enjoy the video!

The Growing Christian

Just a quick post to let you know I’ve started a YouTube channel. This was a new year’s resolution and I hope it’s going to be a lot of fun. I’ve just posted my first video which is a short introduction to the channel. It’s a bit silly, but meh, such is life!

I’d massively appreciate a like or a comment and if you’ve got a YouTube account please subscribe and I’ll try to return the favour with some interesting content in the coming weeks.

So here it is, The Growing Christian, an introduction…

Channel URL:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClvtdRdDGDWva41qAievnkg

Life’s Too Short?

It’s a saying that we’ve all heard countless times. The meaning behind the phrase is normally that we need to enjoy ourselves now because our life here on earth will soon be over. The phrase is decidedly secular and often accompanies destructive tendencies such as lusts and materialistic pleasures. Should I buy another pack of cigarettes? Yeah, life’s too short! Should I buy that car I’ve been thinking about getting on credit? Oh go on then, life’s too short! Should I hook up with that girl I like even though she’s married? And so on…

But I want to flip this saying on it’s head and say in retaliation; eternity is very long! Yes I’m being a spoilsport, and if you could know the life I lived before I became a Christian you might argue that I have no right to preach about this. But coming to know Jesus as He is revealed in the Holy Scriptures has transformed the way I think about our life on earth, and crucially, our life after death.

Our Lord said we should strive to “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” (Matthew 7:13) This is a stark warning, and when I read this scripture it gives me a kick up the backside in terms of my spiritual life, and leads me to ask “what must I do in this life to prepare for the infinitely longer life after death?”.

I don’t think there’s a straightforward answer to this question, but I believe all we need to know is contained within the pages of Scripture. The Holy Bible is God’s revelation concerning all that’s important for us to know in order to live a godly life. And I have found that the more I study Scripture and come to understand my life in context, the more I find fulfilment in my relationship with God, and the less I feel the tendency to make destructive decisions with the justification that life’s too short.

If we can nurture an attitude that keeps eternity in mind we will live more happily and soberly during our earthly life and also prepare for the infinitely longer life to come. Why not make this year the year you focus on what’s truly important and open your mind to the God of the universe who is standing at the door to your heart and knocking?