Posted 5:21 PM by Tiggs

Christianity Isn't Easy:

Sometimes I think Christian teaching is very two-faced. On the one hand, if times are hard you're told to stick things through. There's no easy answer, etc... But on the other hand, if times are hard we're encouraged to pray about things and have Faith that something will happen. But then if nothing happens, we're told to "Hang on in there" and that "Everything happens in God's time". But if things don't get better, why are we encouraged to think that Christianity is the answer? Why are we told that we have to bring everything to God if nothing ever seems to happen? I suffer from Depression, I make no real secret of that. It makes everything harder. Even things that so-called "normal" people find difficult seem that much more difficult with Depression. It makes Life itself feels painful at times. A few years back I stopped praying. I've kind of started again since, but it's hard. When I pray it hurts more. I put my Trust that something will get better, and it doesn't, and that hurts. But people tell me to pray so that I can cope better, but how can I do that when the very nature of Depression makes Trust painful? I know that no-one says Christianity is easy, but sometimes we need easy. We need improvement. We need things to change for the better. I know I do.

Posted 1:02 PM by Tiggs

Mission Statement:

"To make sure everyone has the chance to Accept or Reject Christ." I'm not always sure what my choice was, but that's irrelevant. What matters is that I've been given the choice. Many haven't. Maybe I should do something about that. I still don't know what my real thoughts on Christianity. But I know I'm glad I have a choice. Perhaps it's time to see how I can let people know.

Posted 8:43 PM by Tiggs
Site Layout Well I've not finished tweaking the layout for this page. This is how it's gonna look for the forseeable future.

Posted 3:52 PM by Tiggs
Faith: Thoughts: Isaiah 58... OK, the Israelites got things wrong, that's true. But was that necessarily the point. They'd come out of exile, and God hadn't seemed to do what he'd promised, so they started Fasting. Similarly, back in Isaiah 40, they'd turned away from God because nothing seemed to be happening. Why was this unexpected? It shouldn't have been. When things go badly and you put your trust in something that things will get better, you expect them to get better. After all, isn't that what Faith and trust are? If what's promised in Faith doesn't happen, of course people are going to lose Faith. Otherwise, rightly or wrongly, it seems very one-sided. Keeping Faith on the off-chance that it's going to pay off. And if nothing happens, stay Faithful despite that. If the Israelites were promised improvement, and nothing improved, why should they keep the Faith? After all, it appears very much like false promises.

Posted 12:50 PM by Tiggs

In the World, but not Of the World

There are some Christian sayings that really get to me. Maybe they shouldn't, but they do. The main two that do this kind of go hand in hand. "Be In the World, but not Of the World" "God is the same Yesterday, Today, Forever" The world changes. People change. Maybe things shouldn't be that way, maybe they should, but whatever way it should be, this is the way it is. God made us to have free will, to be able to think and challenge and question things, As a result, he made us Dynamic and not Static. We adapt and change as time goes on. But when people say that God is never changing, the problem is that Humans aren't. We change, we grow, we adapt. That doesn't change the fact that we still need something. It doesn't stop us from needing God. But the exact shape of the need changes greatly. And if God never changes, that can cause problems. And being in a World which is very different from God's unchanging view is hard. There's no escaping that. Humans in the 21st Century have a very different set of needs from Humans back in biblical times. The world is very different. The answers given back then simply aren't going to cut it anymore. But, on the other hand, it's obvious just be looking at the state of the world that *something* is missing. And I firmly believe that God is at the centre of Human Need, but the shape of that Need is very very different now. I'm not sure there is an easy answer to this situation. But the situation exists.

Posted 9:04 AM by Tiggs

Soon. Very Soon.

I've been away at Easter People (a Christian Conference) for a few days. It gave me a lot to think about, and I'll be posting a few articles I wrote there over the next week or so.