Category Archives: Faith

Secular bigotry

Posted on September 8, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

One of the more arrogant claims of that group of people who call themselves the new atheists is that people who profess religious faith are less intelligent than people like themselves, who believe that the unimaginable complexity of the Universe … Continue reading →

Posted in Bigotry, Faith, Personal Growth, Spiritual blindness, Superficial judgements, supreme being, The God Delusion | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Sparks of God

Posted on September 3, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

The Stoics were a group of philosophers in ancient Greece. One of their great beliefs was that there was a spark of God in every living creature. The Sceptics – another group of Greek philosophers – laughed at this concept … Continue reading →

Posted in Discerning God's Will, Faith, God, God in us, Obedience | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A message from a bird

Posted on August 30, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

I remember once sitting in my car overlooking Moreton Bay, and opening a Bible to read something at random. The passage I ended up reading was a psalm and was titled God’s Provision for His People. I thought it higly … Continue reading →

Posted in Anxiety, Faith, Faithfulness, Money, Obedience, Trust in God | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

We are the way we think

Posted on August 19, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

The eminent philosopher William James, believed that of all the marvellous discoveries of the modern world the greatest was that people can change their lives by changing their attitudes. We are the way we think, and I am the only … Continue reading →

Posted in Faith, Fear, Positive Thoughts, Renewed Minds, Spiritual Insight, Transformation, Wisdom | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Touching the invisible

Posted on July 13, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

The capacities of various creatures to connect with their environment is truly amazing. We only perceive thirty percent of the range of the sun’s light, and one seventieth of the spectrum of electromagnetic energy, but many animals do much better. … Continue reading →

Posted in Discernment, Faith, Fingerprints of God, God, Knowing God, Seeing Jesus, Seeking and Finding, Spiritual blindness, Spiritual discernment, Spiritual Insight, Wonder | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Disappointed, discouraged, defeated?

Posted on July 13, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

I have a friend who has spent most of his life working with people in distress. He has a motto based on some words from the Bible that say: “We are often troubled, but not crushed; sometimes in doubt, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Defeated, Disappointed, Discouraged, Faith, God, God with us, Hope, Love of Christ, Trials and testings | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

There’s nothing to fear but fear

Posted on July 13, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

Fred Culbertson is the creator of a website called Phobialist.com, which lists more than five hundred fears that people experience. Among the unusual fears he lists are: Peladophobia – fear of bald people; eniophobia – fear of chins; Aulophobia – … Continue reading →

Posted in Faith, Fear, Fred Culbertson, Phobialist.com, Phobias, Trust in God, Uncertainty of Life | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Queen’s Commission

Posted on June 15, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

When I became an Army chaplain I felt embarrassed that I’d been given the Queen’s Commission without having gone through the same long and gruelling military process that general service officers went through to earn theirs. Eventually it was a … Continue reading →

Posted in Accepting, Faith, Gift of God, God, Grace, Works | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Faith makes us bigger than our problems

Posted on June 15, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

There’s a saying that ‘the beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of faith is the end of anxiety. One Easter during the Napoleonic Wars the French General Massena with eighteen thousand soldiers laid siege to … Continue reading →

Posted in Faith, Life's journey, Trials and testings, tribulation and trouble | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

That’s what keeps me ticking!

Posted on June 5, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

There’s an old story about a grandfather clock that had stood for generations in the same corner, faithfully ticking away. Then it got sold to a new owner who noticed the heavy weight hanging inside it, and removed it from … Continue reading →

Posted in Faith, Life's journey, Living Life, Trials and testings, tribulation and trouble, Troubles | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment