There is no greater sacrifice than that of Jesus Christ on the cross.  However, this does not mean we cannot and should not remember the sacrifice of soldiers who fought for New Zealand and Australia this ANZAC Day.

Thank you soldiers of yesterday for helping secure our today.

May we use the freedom we have to lift up Christ as Lord in our nations.

Well, yes, I’m disappointed.  Our trip to the source of Nananese phrases only turned out two more new sayings - and I’m sure one of them is not original.  Still, what can you do?  She’s not a machine.  She just comes out with a funny saying from a store in her brain that gives out, but allows no one (including Nana) in.  In other words, she can’t give me phrases at will.  They just happen.

Thunkerwords?  Well, there is one new one.  Grumplestiltskin.

Sigh.  I guess Rome wasn’t built in a day.

One of the advantages of not knowing what on earth is going on in Academia is that you can have your thoughts about a topic and think they are completely original, and not realise that your “original” thoughts have already been thought of, discussed and totally disproven 50 years ago.  And because you don’t know all that, you can still feel really good about yourself.

I’m not really current on thoughts about “time”.  Apparently there has been, of recent years, new developments which have changed the way those who think about these things, think about these things.  I don’t know what they are, so they are no threat to my ideas and I feel good.  Here are my thoughts.

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Tough one?  Actually, I think it’s fairly simple, but whenever I’ve asked anyone they say it’s a mystery.  Sure, there is mystery involved, but either I’m a heretic or the basic outline’s not that difficult to grasp. (Ok, now I’ve set myself up, take me down!)

Here is a quick summary of how I see Jesus being both God and man.

1. Humans are creature i.e.flesh, including thoughts, desires, the body etc. (Gen 2:7; see v19a) + image of God (Gen 1:26-27).

2. The Son is THE Image of God (Heb 1:3; see also Jonathan Edwards, An Unpublished Essay on the Trinity).

3. God the Son, THE Image of God took on flesh and in doing so, became human while still remaining God.

Easy.

I have written about how the essence of Christianity is a focus and passion for Jesus - and I still believe it.  Yet, I think that it needs to be emphasised again which Jesus.  The Jesus we must love and follow must be the one who came to earth and lived as Godman, who died on the cross and who rose again three days later.  Any other Jesus will not do.

Yes, it’s true.  I am reading through every murder mystery book written by Agatha Christie.  Fortunately for me and my wallet, my mother-in-law had the whole set and gave them to me.  No more second-hand bookshops for a while.

I have to hand it to Agatha Christie - it is a rare thing that I actually figure out who the murderer is, and if I do, I never quite figure out how it was done, or why, or fit all the random peices of the puzzle together like Poirot.  Each plot is very involved, and while the solution to the mysteries sometimes requires special knowledge and could seem quite fantastic, I end each book thinking that it is all quite possible.

Out of the 30 or so books I’ve read so far (not all about Poirot for those of you who know nothing), only two have not grabbed me.  Quite an achievement.

So I say, “Bravo, Agatha Christie.  A dashed good read, say what!  I highly recommend it.”

Lost, Veronica Marrs, Prison Break, Smallville, Supernatural and I don’t know how many other recent TV series, seem to have adopted an interesting format that I think illustrates a new “-ism” we should use to interpret the world.

The way it works is this: There is an overarching storyline (that progresses about as quickly as a turtle with a broken leg), and episodes that are a complete story in themselves that do not relate to the overarching storyline.  Usually (but, not always) there is something at the end of each episode that contributes to the overarching storyline.  Hence, you have a meta-narrative which ties the episodes together and a whole lot of unrelated (usually) sub-narratives.

Is this what has replaced post-modernism?  A meta-narrative with small narratives that do not necessarily relate to each other or the meta-narrative?  It seems to be a combination of both modernism and post-modernism.  What’s the name for this new creature?

As an unannouced conclusion to this mini-diatribe on the value, authority, and accuracy of non-Scripture-equivalent prophecy, I’d like to make a couple of comments.

1. Regardless of anything a prophecy says, Jesus and his death and resurrection remain the central point of our faith. As Revelations 19:10 says: the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. If a prophecy seems accurate in every way and yet leads us away from the centrality of Jesus and the cross, chuck it out (see also Deut 13:1-3).

2. On the question of prophecy and spiritual gifts, cessationists and continuationists are a lot closer than they often realise in practice. Unfortunately, it is when the matter is discussed that positions are often hardened on either side and unbiblical and rash conclusions are jumped to and the distance between the two widens.

3. For those who care about these things, yes, I did at times mix up “prophecy” and “prophesy” and used them in the wrong place.

4. I now know why I do better when I write within a short period of time. When it’s dragged out I forget what I’ve done previously and I “lose the muse”. Hopefully some sense can be made out of what I’ve written.

This is the fifth post in the series “Non-Scripture-equivalent prophecy”.

Prophecy can be accurate or inaccurate - I don’t think anyone would disagree. There is also prophecy that is partly accurate. How does this happen? Let me draw up a list from innaccurate to accurate and suggest some ideas - some with biblical support, others supported by commonsense and experience.

1. Totally inaccurate. This can occur because someone is speaking prophecy out of their own heart and mind (Ezek 13:1-7) or through an evil spirit (Acts 16:16-18 though interestingly in this case there wasn’t inaccuracy, but it is an example of demonically inspired prophecy).

2. Partly accurate. This can happen in various ways.

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Have you ever come back from holiday more tired than before you left?  (Fans of Ben Harper may hear an echo of one of his lyrics there).  Well, that plus a touch of cyclone plus work plus church have made blogging a little difficult…and I still have things to write!!!

First, I want to finish the “Non-Scripture-equivalent prophecy” posts (one more to go).

Next, I want to post on where I am in my understanding of divorce and also what it means to be the head of the house in a marriage (it’s current).

But it’ll likely not be today.  (Yes, sorry about the word order there, Dad, if you’re reading).