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Some questions you may have:

Q: Isn't the Bible just a bunch of stories?

A: The Bible does have a lot of stories in it. The Bible is actually a collection of works. In the Bible there is poetry and song - lyrics, stories and legend, letters and musings, and historical records. These things have been written in real times and places and so make God's word to us a real word for a real world.

If you have a question that we can answer then contact us and we'll put our answer up in this space.

Stories:

Christian people are real people. Click here to read their stories and hear about their experiences.

Links:

Want to know more about the way Christian think about things? Have a look at these places for more information:

 

Jesus - What's he doing now?

Jesus of Nazareth was a unique man in history. But his life and actions are not limited to history. They are effective and meaningful even today.

After Jesus was raised from the dead he spent some time with his follower and friends. Just before he left them he made it clear that he was not yet finished with this world. A modern day Christian writer, Eugene Peterson, paraphrases Jesus' last words to his followers:

God authorised and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.[1]

Jesus is no longer with us in body, but he is, as he promised, still with us as the active and personal presence of God in our lives. We know him in the person of the Holy Spirit. Just as Jesus was a unique man in whom God touched the world, through the Holy Spirit God touches us in this day. This is simply a part of that new life of closeness with God which Jesus shares with those who trust in him.

It is as if Jesus himself is with us 'right up to the end of the age.' What he is doing now, he does through the Holy Spirit:

  • Just like Jesus, the Holy Spirit shows us the truth about God and the world. Our written Scriptures - The Bible - is based on this fact. In the Bible is written the writings of God's people throughout the ages. The Holy Spirit was present in their writing and is present at their reading. It as if these written words were not just inspired but expired - that is, breathed out by God at the time of their writing. As we read the Bible in this day and age the Holy Spirit illuminates them for us and helps us to understand them, to be honest with ourselves because of them, and to put into action what we read.
  • Just like Jesus, the Holy Spirit gathers people to live and work together. These gatherings, or congregations (which we often call 'churches') become the group of people in a place in which Jesus' new life is nurtured and expressed. Each person in a congregation is God's gift to that group, as the early leader, and servant of the church, Paul, wrote:

    [W]e, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We [each] have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy...ministry...teaching...exhortation...generosity...diligence [in leadership]...cheerfulness [in compassion].[2]

    Jesus is constantly at work in congregations through the Holy Spirit and so we understand ourselves to be, at the most basic level, 'works in progress'.
  • Just like Jesus, the Holy Spirit works with us personally. There is a wonderful section in the early Christian writings that speaks about how close Jesus is to us through the Holy Spirit:

    For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. [3]

    And in another place he talks about the effects of this:

    Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh... Now the works of the flesh are obvious... By contrast the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control... If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.[4]

    Jesus through his Spirit works in us, helping us to mature, and grow into the example that he himself set for us.
  • Just like Jesus, the Holy Spirit gives people hope. The Spirit's presence is a direct result of the new life we have in Jesus. And so the Spirit's presence is an assurance, a guarantee, that the new life we experience to a small extent now, will be totally what life is about when Jesus returns. This hope gives us strength for a lifetime of following Jesus of Nazareth and introducing others to his new life.

[1] Eugene Peterson's The Message based on the words of Matthew's Gospel, chapter 28, verses 19 and 20.
[2] Paul's letter to the Romans chapter 12, verses 5 to 8, NRSV.
[3] Paul's letter to the Romans chapter 8, verse 15, NRSV.
[4] Selections from Paul's letter to the Galatians chapter 5, verses 16 to 26, NRSV.

 

 

Jesus...

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What good did he do?

What's he doing now?

What can I do about him?

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