Tag: Bible

Are you suffering through Christmas?

Published Christmas 2018

Most people are familiar with the basics of the Christmas story and the manger scene of baby Jesus in the hay; however, they might think ‘well so what? Even if that is the historical basis for Christmas, it is irrelevant to me now in the 21st century.’

Christmas, to most Aussies, has come to mean presents, food and maybe some time off.

For some, though, it is not even a festive holiday but a hard time. Christmas may bring with it unnecessary debt, unwanted expectations, demanding social engagements and painful memories of family members who are no longer with us or relationships that have broken down.

Continue reading
Filed under: About God, About the Bible, Holidays and events, Jody BennettTagged with: , , , , , ,

Yin Yang

The Eastern symbol of Yin Yang, with its equal swirls of black and white, has become ubiquitous on clothing brands, computer games and in popular culture generally. This idea of a balance between good and evil, of an eternal struggle between the two, is played out in comics and TV shows, and is very appealing. We can identify that tug of war in the world around us and we feel the struggle within ourselves.

The concept of equal but opposing forces in an epic duel has even crept into Christian thinking. However, Biblical Christianity teaches a far different and more encouraging power balance than that good causes and is dependent upon evil, just holding its own in the struggle.

Continue reading

Filed under: About God, Jody Bennett, Popular culture, Thoughts on lifeTagged with: , , , , , ,

Details about the devil

In the cult movie “The Usual Suspects” Kevin Spacey’s character Verbal Kint famously says “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”.

The Devil seems to be doing a good job, in a 2009 poll conducted by Nielsen, 68% of Australians said they believe in God, while only 37% say they believe in the Devil.

Belief in the Devil has been made ridiculous by portrayals of him as a cloven-hoofed, pointy-tailed, red, goat-like creature, carrying a pitchfork.

What does the Bible actually say about the Devil and does one have to believe in him to be a Christian?Continue reading

Filed under: About the Bible, Jody Bennett, Popular culture, Thoughts on lifeTagged with: , , , , , ,

The sin-eater

Written March 2019

In season three of Netflix’s “The Blacklist” FBI agent Elizabeth Keen remembers something horrific she did in her past and finally understands why the mysterious Raymond Reddington (Red) was trying to keep it from her.

“I was trying to be your sin-eater,” he tells her.

Continue reading
Filed under: About God, About the Bible, Jody Bennett, Popular culture, Thoughts on lifeTagged with: , , , , , ,

Robots and Eternity

Written in 2016

In the world of artificial intelligence, things that our grandparents would have found hard to even imagine have already become a reality and the pace of progress in the field “is close to exponential”, according to billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, entrepreneur Elon Musk.Continue reading

Filed under: About the Bible, Jody Bennett, Popular culture, Thoughts on lifeTagged with: , , , ,

Bandersnatch: choices, choices

Published in 2019

Netflix’s recent production Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is unique in that it that is the first interactive movie – allowing the viewer to make a choice at several intervals as to what the lead character will do next and how the story ends.

It cleverly questions how much control we really have over our lives and highlights how even the most banal of decisions may have unforeseen consequences. It could also be construed to be subtly underplaying our responsibility on how our lives turn out: implying that our choices are so constrained by outside forces that we are all just victims of our culture, genetics and upbringing.Continue reading

Filed under: About the Bible, Jody Bennett, Popular culture, Thoughts on lifeTagged with: , , , ,

Conned!

Australians are swindled out of at least $50 million a year by local and international telephone scammers linked to organised crime, according to a recent article on News.com.

These sliver-tongued cold callers, often supported by slick websites, promise high returns for an average investment of $20 000 to $30 000.

Continue reading
Filed under: Jody Bennett, Popular culture, Thoughts on lifeTagged with: , , , ,