Images

Posted on November 24, 2017 by vincentsmithauthor

Most of us are pretty careful about displaying photographs of ourselves, and the last thing we want people to see is our passport photo. Yet we also carry another picture within ourselves – one far more important than any photograph. It’s the mental image we have of ourselves. For many of us it’s like a passport photo, and we don’t like it.

But, more than anything else, the one theme that dominates the New Testament is God’s lovingkindness and acceptance of us, something we could never earn for ourselves, but which is given to us freely out of God’s eternal love. And that is the basis of a healthy self-image – seeing myself as God sees me; and being committed to that reality. Jesus came to put right what had been made wrong. Through him we reconciled to God. Through his Spirit within us we are being transformed to what God created us to be.

Posted in Abundant life, New Life, New start, Self Image, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Prosperity through Bankruptcy

Posted on November 24, 2017 by vincentsmithauthor

 

The British historian Niall Ferguson, in his book The Ascent of Money, says that one of the reasons for America’s prosperity is bankruptcy. He points out that while debtors in England used to languish in gaol for years, there were no debtors’ prisons in the United States, and for most of its history every American has had the right to file for bankruptcy. But how did this lead to prosperity? Ferguson says it gave people a chance to start over again, and is ‘one of the distinctive quirks of American capitalism.’

I don’t know what you think about it, but it did work in the case of ketchup king John Henry Heinz and car magnate Henry Ford. But one thing is for sure, in the spiritual realm that’s the way God works. Forgiveness and a chance to start again with a clean slate is what the Gospel is all about.

 

Posted in Forgiveness, New start, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Political saviours

Posted on November 24, 2017 by vincentsmithauthor

We often complain about our politicians while forgetting the old adage that we get the politicians we deserve. But within my lifetime there was one politician who inherited seventy percent unemployment and reduced it almost to zero; a bankrupt government, which four years later had a balanced budget and no national debt. Moral perversion was rampant when he came to power, but he virtually eliminated pornography and vice. Mobs ruled the streets, but he restored order. Then, to top it all, his economy and military become the most powerful in the world.  His name was Adolf Hitler. The German people put their hope in him, and he led them to one of the worst tragedies in history. 

We should never put our hope in politicians to change the world; only God and His Gospel can do that

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

It takes more energy to lie

Posted on November 24, 2017 by vincentsmithauthor

The Temple University School of Medicine has found that lying takes more brain energy than telling the truth. It conducted an experiment where participants were divided into two groups. The first group had to shoot a toy gun and then say they didn’t do it, and the second group watch what happened and then tell the truth. MRIs showed that the liars activated seven areas of the brain in their response whereas the truth-tellers activated only four. The conclusion: it takes more brain energy to lie than to tell the truth. But what does God think about it? Well, the Bible says: ‘There are six things the Lord hates: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, and a false witness who pours out lies.’ What we say reveals what we are.

Posted in Lies, Truth, Truthfulness, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Do it yourself beliefs

Posted on November 24, 2017 by vincentsmithauthor

Doctor Rosemary Aird of the University of Queensland, a few years ago, conducted a survey of numerous young adults, and found that “Young people with do it yourself new-age beliefs were twice as likely to be more anxious and depressed than those with traditional beliefs.”  She said that traditional religion tends to promote the idea of social responsibility and thinking of others’ interests, whereas the new-age movement pushes the idea that it’s all about us, and the downside is that people end up isolated and very much on their own. Well, that makes a lot of sense when you remember that Jesus said ‘Follow me and I’ll show you the way. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is my way to finding your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself?’

Posted in Abundant life, Self Deception, Self giving, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Judging Mona Lisa

Posted on November 24, 2017 by vincentsmithauthor

These days the church doesn’t command the same respect as in previous generations. This is not surprising, given the stories of abuse by some of its representatives. Sadly, there have always been people whose actions have betrayed Jesus, rather than revealed him. But that shouldn’t blind us to the true nature of the Gospel which tells us that: “God so loved the World that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Our spiritual wellbeing requires us to look beyond the counterfeits to the reality. Otherwise we might become like that tourist, whose reaction to the Mona Lisa was: ‘Well, I don’t think it’s all that special.’ To which the attendant, standing nearby, replied: ‘Madame, you are not judging the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa is judging you.’

Posted in Discernment, Judgement, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Strange ways to die

Posted on November 24, 2017 by vincentsmithauthor

Among history’s strangest deaths was Hans Steininger, who was famous for having the world’s longest beard. He trod on it, fell, and broke his neck! Then there was King Frederick of Sweden who died after eating fourteen servings of his favourite dessert. Bobby Leach was another. He was the second person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, but died after slipping on an orange peel in New Zealand. Somewhat similar was whiskey maker Jack Daniel, who couldn’t get his safe open, gave it a kick and injured his toe, which then got infected and killed him. Well we may never make the list, but as the Bible says: it is appointed unto us once to die, and then the judgement. So, as Ghandi said: ‘Learn as if you were to live forever, but live as if you were to die tomorrow.’

Posted in Death, Life, Life's journey, Life's lessons, Living Life, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Chasing after the wind

Posted on November 24, 2017 by vincentsmithauthor

 

For most people happiness is about money and status. Even though life teaches us otherwise, most of us never stop chasing them. There’s nothing new about this. One of the most poignant expressions of it was penned three thousand years ago by Solomon, the wealthiest and most powerful ruler in Israel’s history. He was blessed with fabulous wealth, enormous power and great intelligence, and set himself the goal of using these things to discover the secret of happiness. But at the end of it all he wrote: ‘Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, like chasing after the wind.’ The wisest people have always known that joy comes from within, not without. The Bible describes it as a fruit of the Holy Spirit; It comes from having God in our lives.

 

Posted in Futility, Joy, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Strong on pleasure but weak on joy

Posted on November 24, 2017 by vincentsmithauthor

We live in a society that is strong on pleasure but weak on joy. We are blessed with so many opportunities for entertainment and personal fulfilment. No previous generation was so protected from want and disease. We are more highly educated and enjoy a degree of comfort in life that, in the past, was unknown even to the wealthy. Yet whether we are significantly happier than our forebears is very doubtful. We all agree that happiness is the great goal to which we aspire. The problem is where to find it. Speaking of this. C.S Lewis said that ‘Joy is the business of heaven.’ In other words, it is, essentially, a thing of the spirit. It comes from God. Nothing expresses it better than the words of the Psalm that says: ‘Look to him – to God – and you’ll be radiant.’

Posted in Faith, God, Joy, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Last Goodbye

Posted on November 24, 2017 by vincentsmithauthor

Do you remember the days of the great ocean liners when a voyage to the other side of the world meant months of separation, and the hundreds of coloured streamers that formed the last physical link between those departing and their loved ones who remained behind, gradually breaking as the ship moved away? They used to call that the Last Goodbye, and for most people it was a deeply emotional experience, mixing the sadness of parting with the excitement of what lay ahead. For people of faith that’s what the death of a loved one is, the separating of that fragile link that binds us together, and will one day be renewed, never to be broken again. It reminds us that Goodbye originally was God be with you which, with the passage of time, became God be wi ye and eventually our modern Good bye.

Posted in Death, Eternal life, Faith, Uncategorized | Leave a comment