Category Archives: Commentary
Homosexuality: The Stumbling Stone of Modern Christianity?
Christian, why is it so hard to love homosexual people? Christian churches have developed a series of dogmatic teachings that culminate in Christians wearing T-Shirts bearing the theologically inaccurate statement, “God Hates Fags”. No wonder many Christians find it hard to reconcile this with their spiritual discernment, which prompts them simply to love and accept […]
- September 9, 2012
- / Category Commentary, Homosexual, The Human Connection
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / 21 Comments.
The Psychological Gospel
Can the Gospel be described in Psychological terms? The Gospel is not a matter of psychology. It is a message about the Kingdom of God: “Jesus is Lord”. But the contemplation of this, and the comprehension of it, can have profound psychological effects on the person concerned. This is because it matters that Jesus is Lord. It […]
- September 2, 2012
- / Category Commentary, Mission to the Marginalised, The Human Connection
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / 1 Comment.
You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (Jn 8:32)
If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (Jn 8:36) I have a friend who has been set free by the truth. This is from her story. The story has helped me to understand more and more about human beings, and the ways in which they are wired-up. At every turn it […]
- August 26, 2012
- / Category Commentary, John 8, Marketplace Evangelism, Spirit, The Human Connection, Truth
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / No Comments.
Isaiah: Hiddenness
Isaiah and the theme of Hiddenness In the Book of Isaiah there is a notable theme describing a kind of “hiddenness”, which refers to spiritual blindness and deafness by the people. It is a fascinating theme, and often misunderstood. This is a little journey through the Book of Isaiah tracking on this particular theme.
- August 20, 2012
- / Category "Eyes to see", Commentary, Hidden, Research, The Book of Isaiah
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / No Comments.
A Five-Year-Old Junkie and the Hungry Bandit
People are Awesome How do you describe a day in which you meet not one, but two very special human beings? Last Tuesday, as is my custom, I spent time in Ipswich Mall. As the day unfolded I met a young man who was clearly very much drug-affected, and a young woman who seemed to […]
- August 17, 2012
- / Category Commentary, Marketplace Evangelism, Mission to the Marginalised, The Human Connection
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / No Comments.
Evangelism the Indonesian way: Become a Christian and be persecuted!
“Come on, do the call of Jesus” In the West we say, “Become a Christian and be blessed”. Not in Indonesia! Over there they say, “Come on, do the call of Jesus“, after explaining that this call involves experiencing the sufferings of Christ, which is “blessed”. That’s not what we tend to associate with “Blessed”!
- August 6, 2012
- / Category Commentary, Evangelism
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / 3 Comments.
The fear of death: A Reason for Faith?
Is faith all about the fear of death? People who don’t pursue a faith conviction like Christianity or Islam, which teach about the afterlife, are sometimes left to wonder why on earth people “of faith” are interested in such things. One suggestion they come up with is that it is because of the fear of […]
- August 5, 2012
- / Category Apologetics, Commentary, Ministry, The Human Connection
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / No Comments.
We are his “hands and feet” because we are the “body of Christ”? Oops, mixed metaphors!
As a member in the “Body of Christ”, am I His “hands and feet”? I was interested to hear someone recently suggest that we Christians are the “eyes”, “hands”, “mouth”, etc. of Christ. It’s a neat metaphor which indicates our responsibility to act, perceive and speak on God’s behalf, and to that extent I have […]
- July 27, 2012
- / Category Body of Christ, Commentary, Resurrection
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / No Comments.
Should Christians Swear Oaths?
Should Christians Swear Oaths? Some Christian traditions refuse to swear an oath on the Bible, in court or anywhere else. Their feelings are based in words from Scripture, but are they a valid understanding of those words?
- July 26, 2012
- / Category Commentary, swear (oaths)
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / No Comments.
Infant Baptism: Yes, or No?
Should we Baptise infants or not? My view on Infant Baptism attracted some interesting feedback from a lecturer: “Some original and neatly articulated theological reasoning”. If I’m right, of course, it’s not “original” in the sense of being a new invention, but in the sense of being the reasoning which produced the Scriptures in the […]
- July 24, 2012
- / Category Baptism, Believer-Baptism, Commentary, Paedobaptism, Total Depravity
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / No Comments.
What is the “Authority” of the Bible?
The Nature of the Bible’s authority So if the Bible comes from the “people of God”, rather than falling out of the sky directly from God, how can it be said to be authoritative? The Process As we have seen, the Bible came together as a process over countless generations, and human beings were most […]
- July 20, 2012
- / Category Apologetics, Authority (of the Bible), Bible References, Commentary
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / No Comments.
Where did the Bible come from?
So where did the Bible come from? Rather than describing the process theologically, that is, in terms of how God spoke or what the role of humans was in the process, we can talk in terms familiar to the non-believer: Sociology. What is the sociological process involved in the formation of the Bible?
- / Category Apologetics, Bible References, Commentary
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / No Comments.
Is the Bible actually “the word of God”?
In what sense is the Bible, “the word of God”? This sounds like a simple question to answer, but it is actually a long-running and very heated debate amongst Christians. Many claim that the Bible is “the word of God”, but they often mean different things by that statement.
- / Category Apologetics, Bible References, Commentary
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / No Comments.
The Holy Bible: Offering An Explanation for the Atheist
What can an Atheist be offered about why the Bible is important to Christians? Shouldn’t we (Christians) be able to describe the Bible in terms that an Atheist can understand and appreciate, even if they don’t share our view of it’s spiritual authority? The pithy, “the Bible is the word of God” really won’t do […]
- July 19, 2012
- / Category Apologetics, Bible References, Commentary, Ministry
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / No Comments.
God and the Law in Queensland – A Juror’s Perspective
Summoned I’m on jury service at the moment. I’ll preface my remarks by reassuring everyone (including your Majesty), that I won’t disclose details of defendants, cases, witnesses, etc. I was mildly surprised, in my initial introduction to the Queensland Criminal Justice system as a juror, to find so many mentions of God in the functioning […]
- July 14, 2012
- / Category Commentary
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / No Comments.
Tithing: Unbiblical. Shouldn’t we prevent believers from doing it, then?
Is it Permissible to Tithe? Tithing is not a New Testament principle, and despite endless attempts to make it sound like Christians are obliged to tithe, the Good Book simply doesn’t say so. But does this mean that we must stop people from tithing? Is it spiritually dangerous? Is it like circumcision, about which Paul […]
- July 8, 2012
- / Category Commentary, Tithing
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / No Comments.
Jesus and the Wineskins: What does it mean?
Nobody seems to understand what the wineskins are about! A friend asked me what Jesus was talking about when he mentioned sewing patches onto garments, and putting wine into wineskins. I didn’t know the answer, and a quick overview of the commentaries revealed that nobody else does either. Most theories produce problematic answers Whereas there […]
- / Category Commentary, Luke 5, Mark 2, Matthew 9, Wineskins
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / 2 Comments.
Mass confusion as theological jargon creeps back in
The new “Plain English” Missal: Easier to understand… if you know Latin. Last year, the English Missal of the Roman Catholic Church wording was “updated”. In one place, the words “of one substance” were replaced with the far less well-known term, “consubstantial”. Consa-what? Even my spell-checker doesn’t reckon that’s a word! But don’t worry – […]
- July 5, 2012
- / Category Commentary, Consubstantial, Vulgar
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / No Comments.
Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Booval
Visiting Sacred Heart I have attended Mass at the Sacred Heart church in Booval three times, now. For someone who’s church experience is predominantly in Protestant churches, I found a few things to notice with interest. High Church I might start by saying that, although “high church” traditions such as the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and […]
- June 18, 2012
- / Category Church Group, Commentary
- / Posted By Kevin Bennett
- / 1 Comment.
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Domestic Violence: He fractured my skull, but I love him.
That awkward moment when you fracture your pregnant girlfriend’s skull In the Mall this week, we had the privilege of providing support and encouragement to a young pregnant woman with a fractured eye socket. It seems her boyfriend had become enraged in a drunken fit of jealous imagination, and pummelled her with punches resulting in […]