Love and Understanding

Daily writing prompt

What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world?

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Well, I didn’t really intend to start a blog as such. I’m not into creative writing. I just thought that it might be nice to have a website that explained why I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and the Bible. Most church websites that I see seem to be driven by templates that focus on marketing the church, but give little in terms of detail about the Christian faith.

When I was a teenager, I was curious about other denominations (I was brought up Roman Catholic) and other religions. I always appreciated hearing other opinions. At that time, it was quite rare to meet people of other faiths in Ireland. You might see them, such as at the Cobh Folk Dance Festival, but you wouldn’t meet many 😀.

I eventually settled at focusing on Jesus himself rather than denominations or religions, but I suppose I’d be classified as an evangelical Christian, and I do attend an evangelical church. I have a more structured account of my journey in my Conversion Chronology post.

It’s much easier to find information on religions nowadays. However, one thing I always appreciated is getting the perspective of ordinary individuals. They mightn’t be as zealous as famous evangelists or they mightn’t be as gifted at proclaiming the faith, but there’s just something more “real” about them. And in a small way, maybe this site can do that for others.

And, with the daily prompt, which I only discovered after creating the site, I have the opportunity to do my best to give honest answers to the questions thrown at me. I don’t see it making a big difference, but it might be of some help to someone at some stage. And it certainly helps me to daily reflect on my life and faith. I think of the following Bible verse:

1 Peter 3:15
“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”

And, one of my favourite scenarios from the life of the Apostle Paul was in Athens. Clearly, some were impressed, and others weren’t.

Acts 17:32-34
³² When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” ³³ At that, Paul left the Council. ³⁴ Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.

It’s quite clear from the New Testament that the intention of spreading the gospel wasn’t to “take over the world”, but simply to get the message out there. It’s a tragedy that nominal “Christians” engaged in religious wars and persecution in subsequent centuries. That clearly wasn’t what the early church was about. My dream would be that people right across the world could become Christians or could make any other choices in terms of religion or politics without being persecuted. And I dream of seeing greater love and understanding between people of all faiths and none. Here in Ireland, most of the friends of my kids at school were Muslims and Hindus, and I’m sure that people of different faiths get on well together in most countries. Currently I pray for one country every day. I’m going through them alphabetically. But I do hope and pray that change would come about in the countries where persecution occurs. And even in the scary countries, it’s often only a small minority who cause the difficulty. And it’s often more about greed than real religious conviction.

Today, I”ll leave the last word to Cher 😀.