I Would Still Be Running...

In Part One of this two-parter, I have given reasons why I have questioned the Christian faith, attempting to put myself in the atheist's line of reasoning. Issues, such as how could God forgive a serial killer, just because he now believes in Jesus, after sending the souls of his victims into a lost eternity, they have not heard the Gospel or properly understood the good news? Or that of a baby born in a non-Christian country apparently doomed for all eternity right from birth just for growing up under a different religion. Or reading Biblical stories vindicating God's victory over Israel's enemies, the Amalekites, by ordering King Saul to have the entire tribe slain - men women, their children and even their newborns - all destined for the kill, including their livestock - cattle, sheep, donkeys and camels - neither they nor any of the younger children and infants having any awareness of the tribe's violent history against Israel.

Or the case of the natural world where carnivores prey on their helpless victims, whether it's a spider rolling up a bug caught in its web as the latter makes its final struggle. Or a crocodile drowning a zebra in the river, or a pride of lions chasing and surrounding a herd of fleeing cattle. And that dreadful creature, the box jellyfish thriving off the Australian coastline. Such is the creation of a loving merciful God, yet, its sting can be fatal to an adult without treatment with an antidote, let alone a child screaming in pain - for daring to venture into the jellyfish's territory.

But, what I didn't mention in last week's blog was the two cases of talking animals, both found in the Old Testament. The first one was the snake who spoke to Eve in the language she understood. As this was in the brief period of innocence, Eve took in the conversation as something normal, to be expected. The fear and dread of the serpent weren't initiated until after the Fall when God pronounced judgment on all the three subjects - the snake, Adam and Eve.

The second occasion occurred when Balaam the prophet was riding on a jenny donkey to deliver a curse on Israel's campground, under the command of the Moabite king Balak in return for a rich reward. As the prophet was on his way to deliver his curse, an angel of God stood in the way, and the donkey ended up lying on the ground with Balaam, consumed by the anger of his journey frustrated, beating the beast to coax it to proceed. The donkey then cries out, also in a language understood by the rider, asking why she was beaten three times when, up to then, she was always loyal to him - Numbers 22:21-41.

It's here that I'm pondering on Balaam's reaction to the donkey's protest rather than the speech itself. Suppose that I was riding that donkey when it suddenly spoke in a clear English language. I would cry out, What the... then dismount and run - and keep on running!

Instead, Balaam answers the donkey's question as if in a normal day-to-day conversation - as if it's perfectly natural for donkeys to talk all the time. It's Balaam's casual reply to the supernatural manifestation, rather than the manifestation itself, that stumps me, sending my head whizzing!

It needs to be realised that all the above are contributions delivered by a host of different atheists, and not from just one. Hence, I feel it's relevant. For example, I have taken the total views of just five different atheists on YouTube. Between them, there are at this moment, 207,438,554 views and rising rapidly, and by using the comment forums as a yardstick, I could see the vast majority of visitors agreeing with them rather than defending their faith. Then not to mention TV naturalists such as staunch evolutionist David Attenborough with his first series, Life, broadcasted in 1979, it was watched by up to 500,000,000 viewers worldwide, with up to 6,840,000 in Britain alone. Not to mention later series, such as The Blue Planet with its beautiful background music, released on air in 2001 and watched by more than 12,000,000 viewers in the UK.

And so, I feel a bit of a plonker trying to convince anyone that the Bible, with its Young-Earth creationist theory, even a spurious flat-Earth theory, two talking animals, and a vengeful, vindictive God authorising the slaying of young children for their ancestor's sins - as all historic events. Added to this, the concept of just one man atoning for an unnumbered quantity of believers is perceived by them as utterly foolish and inept. 

As one who believes in Jesus Christ as Saviour, I take it that the world sees me as someone who is reasonably harmless but addle-headed, an eccentric, one who is out of touch with the real world of science, and considered untrustworthy in all most other matters. If I was to say that I believe in a talking snake, a talking donkey, that a shadow cast by the sun on a sundial went backwards, and that there was an extra-long day with no record of a corresponding long night, and that dead people had been resurrected back to life - all as historic, then hardly anyone would take me seriously. Especially when there's a small group of Christians who, despite their insignificant numbers, have mouths so loud in declaring that the Earth is flat, is covered by a dome and saying that the Bible endorses this fallacy, makes me look utterly foolish in the eyes of a well-educated group of YouTube atheists with their 208,000,000 viewers - around three times the entire UK population.

Therefore, how can I defend my faith in God and verify the historicity of the Bible?

Well, no other book, religious or secular, contains any fulfilled or unfulfilled prophecies. Thus, for a book to contain prophecies in the first place makes the book very unique. And even the Old Testament points to Jesus, his death on the Cross, his burial and his Resurrection just three days after his Crucifixion, making the Bible unique, placing the Cross as the most important event in the whole of human history. Old Testament prophecy can be hidden in apparently unrelated stories, such as Samson's riddle given to the Philistine elders: Out of the strong came something sweet. The answer to the riddle is the lion is strong and from its carcase, honey was provided.

Can honey be extracted from a lion?

Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. He was crucified, and from his death, the sweet honey of salvation is now freely available to all who wants it. Or the case of Abraham about to sacrifice his son Isaac on the altar. Here, God intervenes and provides a ram whose horns were caught in some nearby bushes, to take Isaac's place. Thus, the patriarch's own phrase, the Lord will provide, is a direct reference to Jesus Christ and his own death taking our place instead of us having to face eternal death.

Or the case of the Passover Lamb, an annual custom celebrated by all Jews across Israel and scattered worldwide. It's a remembrance of the evening when the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt. On their final evening in Egypt before their exodus, Moses instructed them to slay a lamb, one without any blemish, and paint their doorposts with the lamb's blood. Then they were to roast the carcase and eat it hurriedly without breaking any of its bones. The Passover foreshadows the Crucifixion. As the blood of the lamb spared the death of their firstborn that was inflicted upon the Egyptians, so the shedding of Christ's blood atoned for us. As the bones of the slain lamb were not broken, neither was the Lord's bones broken either, even if those of the two thieves were.

Other customs we practice without further thought originated from the Bible. Are you married and raising a family? That was the first commandment God gave to Adam and Eve. Are you dressed? Soon after the Fall, God supernaturally clothed Adam and Eve with the fur taken from a slain animal as a substitutionary offering for atonement. Another foreshadow of Jesus Christ. Do you rest from paid work at weekends? That was from a command from God for Israel to observe the Sabbath, itself connected to the death and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is, we now worship on a Sunday, the day of the week Jesus had risen from the dead, thus symbolising the eternal rest God gives to all believers.

However, the Bible contains direct prophecies of the coming Messiah. Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, and Zechariah 11:12-13 are striking examples of the foretelling of Christ's first coming. For example, how could both King David and the prophet Isaiah describe with stunning accuracy the suffering of Jesus while he was hanging there on the cross - and then Isaiah then saying afterwards that he will prosper, and be given a portion with the great, and also divide his spoils with the strong. A complete contradiction within one chapter? Not if the Resurrection is to be believed!

Also worth considering here is a prophecy of Almighty God actually sent by Almighty God. It's found in the whole 2nd chapter of the prophet Zechariah, the last-but-one book of the Old Testament. For the Jews, who have always believed that "God is one, there is just one God" - this prophecy I find astonishing to see it there in the Hebrew scriptures written by Jews, for Jews. That means that the Christ crucified is non-other than Almighty God himself, God the Son, or the Son of God. That was why the Atonement was effective enough to cleanse the whole world from sin. For it to be made, Jesus Christ had to be not only sinless but had to be God himself.

And all this is endorsed by mathematics, the science of space and quantity. Back in the late 1940s and into the 50s, Californian professor Peter Stoner gave his students a set of Old Testament prophecies and assigned them the task of finding the probability of these prophecies fulfilled purely by chance and without divine intervention. For example, Micah 5:2 says that the future Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. But why there, if there are many other towns in Israel where the Messiah could have been born? On top of this, Mary and Joseph didn't live in Bethlehem when she became pregnant, but at Nazareth, a three-day journey north of Bethlehem.

Oh, what a coincidence that the Roman Emperor orders everyone to return to their original home towns for registration. It was the timing of this call, to coincide with Mary's arrival into Bethlehem with her time of delivery. Furthermore, the Emperor knew absolutely nothing about Mary and her pregnancy!

The probability of such prophecy being fulfilled without divine intervention was added to 47 other Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah's first coming, including the few I had already mentioned. Using the factoring of probabilities, the experiment revealed that the chance of all these prophecies fulfilled purely by coincidence is one chance in one, followed by 181 zeros! 

To see the significance of this enormous number, imagine a ball of tightly-packed tiny electrons many, many times larger than the known Universe. A single election is so small, that it would take billions of them to form a line just one centimetre long, but here is a ball of them so huge to even try to imagine. Mark out one electron to distinguish it from the rest, and stir it thoroughly into the ball. Then send a blindfolded man into the ball. If he comes back with the marked electron on the first try, then it would be safe to say that the Bible isn't inspired by God.*

Little wonder that many who were convinced that the Bible was divinely inspired and historical willingly gave their lives, even to the extent of being burned alive at the stake. The story of Ridley and Latimer, two bishops who were burned alive at the stake at Oxford University on October 16th, 1555, is one of the most striking stories. They gave their lives to uphold the truthfulness of the Bible.

And to this day, we see church buildings all around us. A brick-and-mortar testimony of the historicity of Jesus Christ and the Bible. Just as mosques exist because Mohammed once lived. And Buddhist temples exist because Buddha the monk was once alive. But these two died and their bones are with us to this day. By contrast, Jesus rose from the dead, thus proving to be the promised Messiah.

Indeed, the stack of evidence to believe outweighs any reasons to remain an atheist.

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* Henry M. Morris, The Bible and Modern Science, 1951, Moody Press, pages 119-120.

The 5 Animals that Disproves God?

I recall one Sunday evening at Bracknell Baptist Church sometime in the late eighties. We were at that time meeting at a school assembly hall. This was due to the size of the congregation that has outgrown its old building on Church Road. Soon, a new permanent meeting place was to be built and opened, to be called The Kerith Centre. 

In the meantime, we met in a nearby school assembly hall. On the front stage stood two women who had just returned from one of the charismatic revivals that were taking place in North America. One of these I have heard about was in Toronto, Ontario, and the other one in Pensacola, Florida. Which one of the two churches these married women flew across the Atlantic to visit, at this time, I can't fully remember, but that doesn't matter. However, the effect their testimony had on us cannot be forgotten.

After several minutes of talking, all of a sudden, the whole congregation went berserk! All around me, people - fully grown adults - started to wail, to cry, to laugh, to scream, to make strange noises. There was violent body shaking, trembling of the hands, and people falling to the floor. The whole scene of pandemonium was so chaotic, any child or unchurched would have doubled up in fright.

I was the only person who sat there stone-cold sober! I looked around. If this whole scenario was a visitation of the Holy Spirit, then why did He bypass me entirely? All I did was sit there and said or done nothing but watch and listen to everything that was going on around me.

It was tempting, at the time, to believe I was ignored by the Holy Spirit because I was still in my sins. Unlikely. Even back then, I was familiar with the Bible, and I was already aware that there is nothing in Holy Scripture, whether in the Old Testament or the New, that had anything parallel to this "revival."

I recall the husband of one of the women on the stage. He didn't think of me very highly, and I doubt whether he thought highly of the senior pastor, either. But each week, he could be seen "dancing in the Spirit" at the back of the church while everyone else remained at their place during worship, thus giving the impression of being at a higher spiritual level. Then, some years later and after I left the church for the one at Ascot, I heard through the grapevine that his wife - the one who stood on the stage - attended a house party and has met another man with whom a relationship between them has begun. This led to her divorce from her husband.

As already mentioned, all this came through the grapevine and as such, I can't verify the story. But having known her husband for quite a few years, I wasn't too surprised. If a spirit of self-righteousness had developed in him, and that was something I also saw, it would come to no surprise that sooner or later, his wife would find solace in another man who showed her enough affection as not to be so judgemental over her.

If such a revival had carried with it a sense of optimism for the church - never mind the scandal that followed. At least that can be swept under the carpet. If I wish to believe that the hysteria was of God, despite having no backing from the Bible, and so, in today's Daily Mail, the Saturday Essay was about the glorious optimism for the English. After developing a successful vaccine rollout which is paving the way to freedom after sixteen months of lockdowns, everything is looking up. Then, after a quarter of a century of losing to Germany, England knocks out its enemy from the European Football championships. As we eagerly wait for the final whistle that will end tonight's game against Ukraine, the nation is optimistic enough for our team to play in the semi-finals. And who dares wins? Perhaps the Final too? After 55 years since 1966 of missing the Final altogether, England is optimistic.

England is also proud, due to Brexit, that big international firms such as the Japanese Nissan carmakers choosing to set up a factory in Sunderland, northern England, thus providing jobs for many. And so, also due to Brexit, the economy will recover at a fast rate - not that surprising really - when considering market demand. After months of not spending on non-essential items, people will be ready to open their wallets. I tend to believe that it was the mass vaccination and not Brexit, that will springboard the economy to health.

If England frees itself fully from the pandemic by mass vaccination, wins the European Cup, and experience a thriving economy mainly due to Brexit, then indeed, the nation has reasons for pride and glory! But something is missing. Just as the "revival" was raising hopes for a higher spiritual ecstasy in the church, the woman on stage who ushered in the hysteria was herself already finding godly living at home difficult.

Likewise, the hopes and dreams of a golden age for post-Brexit Britain has a gaping hole in the middle - a lack of faith in God. And as this national apostasy is accelerating, I actually dread rather than anticipate the future. Will a new variant of the virus, totally vaccine-resistant, finally wipe us all out? Or a national takeover by a foreign power so strong, all we can do is submit without a fight?

Who knows? Earlier this week, I watched a video by Harrison Cother, an ex-Jehovah's Witness. He has made only eight videos but between them, he had already collected 1,238,984 views since he joined YouTube on January 31st 2021. His latest video, 5 Animals That Disprove God, had already collected 114,000 views since it was posted just six days previously.

Harrison Cother is a very handsome young man with a gentle spirit, and I believe it's that, rather than the video's content, which drew in an audience with astonishing rapidity. An ex-Jehovah's Witness turned atheist, his growing knowledge of the natural world was not only the reason to renounce his faith but also leaves any Christian apologetic in a difficult situation. The five animals he refers to are the bed bug, the snake, the box jellyfish, the mosquito, and the human being.

Cother refers to the bed bug as a blood-sucking parasite that feeds on human blood whilst the victim is asleep. Designed by Jehovah to creep up in the darkest night, and drawn by the carbon dioxide in the exhaled breath, this bug gorges itself with blood during the night - such is God's creation - the same God who has forbidden the consumption of the blood of other animals by humans under the penalty of death (Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 17:11-14).

The box jellyfish is another mentioned by Cother. He even mentions a dispute between the Father and the Son on this issue! Why on earth did you create such a creature? the Son asks, Oh, because I am God, the Father answers. I can create what I like! And that is despite that many humans, whom God loves, were badly hurt by the jellyfish's ferocious sting and many had died of it, including children.

Another pest, according to Cother, is the mosquito. Whilst also sucking human blood, this insect has spread malaria throughout history. Countless people had died of malaria, especially children. Yet, God sees fit to create such an insect with the foreknowledge of the lives these creatures will take through such a horrible disease.

Harrison Cother, here on Twitter.

The snake is another. Many species of snake consume eggs laid by other animals, or if the egg is too big, then it eats the hatchling. Other species of snake strangle their prey or injected it with poison. As for egg-eating snakes, this is strange when foretold and designed by a loving God when he says that if an unborn child dies as a result of a blow to the mother's tummy, the offended must be punished by death - a life for a life -Exodus 21:22-23.

Finally, Harrison Cother ranks the human being as the number one animal that proves the non-existence of God. And the failure of God's pinnacle of Creation lies with pregnancy and childbirth. Here, he names 31 ailments that can occur during pregnancy and childbirth, along with the death rate of mothers giving birth. He quotes that in the present 21st Century estimate made by the World Health Organisation, up to 300,000 deaths occur during childbirth every year worldwide. That is one death every two minutes. He then gives an illustration of flying to Saudi Arabia to cut off a man's hand. When the innocent victim asks why his hand was severed, the explanation given was that his great, great, great...great...great...grandfather once stole something and as such, his descendant must bear the punishment. Hence Eve's sin and the punishment suffered by all her descendants.

As a JW, Cother used to quote Genesis 3:15 - I will greatly multiply your pain during childbirth, in pain, you shall bring forth children...and he accuses Creationists of blaming him for ranking the human being as the worst example of God's creation. He then blames God for saying, "I will multiply your pain in childbirth..." rather than merely "Your pain will merely be a consequence of your sin."

As a Christian and a creationist myself, I'll be the first to step forward and ask: how can I give an answer to such an intelligent and observing atheist? The only thing I can say is at the Edenic Curse, which is what this is, there was a dynamic anatomical change that not only took place in Eve's body, but in Adam's too, and in every animal alive at that time - on land, in the sea, and in the air. Personally, the need to defecate might have arisen from this curse, and some species of animals that were vegetarian before the Curse became carnivorous afterwards. And the Curse of Genesis 3:16 is well known by Harrison Cother.

Also, there are several things, in my mind, that's worth considering: One is the time the Curse was passed. Unfortunately, we are not told of the time-lapse between the initial creation and the Fall. And also worth considering that by comparison to what we see today, there weren't that many land animals back then, either. For example, the question of speciation. The feline family, for one, has at present, the lion, the tiger, the leopard, the cheetah, the puma, the wild cat, and the domestic cat. All these seven could have arisen from just one pair - a male and a female - during Adam's time. The Equine family is another example - the horse, the pony, the zebra, the onager, the kianger, the ass, the quagga, and the mule - all could have arisen from the one pair. The same applies to the primates, starting with just one pair of ape-like creatures. Even the elephant, the mastodon and the mammoth could have arisen from the one pair. And so, I can go on and on. For a further example, could the brontosaur, the diplodocus and the brachiosaur have arisen from just one pair? (By the way, is the Behemoth in Job 40:14-24 a description of a Brontosaur?)

We are not told how long it took for Adam to name every animal that God brought to him, but assuming it took a considerable short time may indicate that in their original state, for some to turn into carnivores most likely occurred before the birth of any of their offspring, therefore, this might not have been a big issue as one can imagine when examining speciation that exists now.

I agree with Harrison Cother that there are many bad things in the natural world. such as the Cotesia wasp which larvae burrow into a live caterpillar. By contrast, the fossil record shows how ancient organisms, including dinosaurs, died by violence and drowning. Several fossils were found of one creature in the process of eating another when it came to a sudden end. Cother even holds one such fossil up close for us to examine. Or a pregnant ichthyosaur meeting its sudden end, found, I believe, at the Jurassic Coast of Southwest England. I have visited the Natural History Museum in Oxford. At one gallery, there is a rock slab with many fish fossils preserved on it, all fully complete with their scales. Dead fish don't settle to the seafloor. Instead, they are normally eaten by scavengers, or they decompose entirely. These fossil fish were preserved intact as if met by some sudden catastrophe.

Could the record of Noah's Flood be the making of the entire fossil record?

Next, I would like to say to Cother that he was lied to by the Watchtower Society from childhood. With all matters relating to topics specified by the Watchtower, the issue with the Trinity, I feel, is of the most importance.

Jehovah's Witnesses deny the Trinity - that is, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all equal in the Godhead. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, but these are not three gods but one God. This is the central doctrine of the Christian faith and sets it apart from all other religions.

Tied with the Trinity is God's plan of salvation. If the Son Jesus is not equal to the Father, then he is not capable of saving anyone completely. The Watchtower knows this and plays a very subtle psychological trick - that if Jesus Christ cannot save fully, then it's up to man to save himself. Therefore, absolute obedience to the Society - in door-to-door work (known as a Kingdom Publisher) - along with accepting everything handed down from the Society's table without ever questioning what they say. In other words, for the hope of salvation, you must be a slave of the Watchtower Society!

If Jesus was truly God and truly man - in theological circles, known as the Hypostatic Union, then He's able to save completely. And if God can save completely, then the organisation would crumble.

True salvation involves justification by faith - or imputed righteousness. That is, the Righteousness of Christ imputed into the sinner's account. That means the Father seeing the believer in exactly the same way He sees His Son! To be in Christ and Christ in you. The Watchtower doesn't teach any of this, indeed, it cannot, or it would fall to pieces. But it's clearly taught by Paul in his letter to the Romans, chapters 3, 4, and 5. Romans 8 is also worth a read - without any of the Watchtower's interference.

If this wonderful plan of salvation is to be set in motion, then Jesus had to die by crucifixion on a cross (note: not merely impaled on an upright stake!) Then He was buried and on the third day, rose physically from the tomb. The Watchtower denies a physical Resurrection. Instead, they promote only a spiritual one, the ghost of Jesus rising from his dead body. But the physical Resurrection of Jesus Christ is absolutely essential for salvation, as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15. Again, that's worth reading on its own. If Christ did not rise physically, then there's no salvation.

I have a lot of respect for Harrison Cother. His gentle spirit while explaining why he has turned to atheism had earned my respect and not any form of judgement. If only he understood the very glory of God in his plan of salvation, that is way, way better than what the Watchtower can only offer. Who knows, he can see how bad our present natural world can be, and still trust in his Triune God for his wonderful salvation.

Somewhere Up There...

Although outside time, in eternity past, upon the heavenly Throne sat Father, Son and Holy Spirit. How those three in one Godhead love each other! Absolutely flawless, and prior to the Crucifixion, it was and always have been utterly impossible for any brief interruption to mar this ongoing love relationship. How joyful each of these "persons" were, each putting the welfare of the other two above his own. Therefore it can be said that because of the eternal love relationship existing between the three, God is love, not just merely the source of love. 

The reality of this eternal Trinity is so massively different from Allah of the Islamic faith, or even the Jehovah of the Watchtower Society of Witnesses, both sources depicting their God as once existing alone in the Universe before any form of creation having taken place, and incapable of love until such objects of his love came into being. Perhaps this Unitarian form of God must have felt cold and lonely from time to time in universal space and in need of a companion. At last, Jehovah of the Watchtower creates a companion for company, the archangel Michael, who would one day incarnate to become the Witnesses version of Jesus Christ. Between these two - a big God and a little god - the rest of creation got underway, spanning thousands if not millions of years. This began with the creation of all the other angelic hosts before the physical creation of all heavenly bodies including the Earth. Finally the six "days" of creation, each of a thousand years apiece, began as described in the first chapter of Genesis.

Having associated with Jehovah's Witnesses during my earliest years as a Christian believer (and nearly becoming one of them), I was able to see the commitment they had for their faith. This includes going out in all weather conditions to knock on doors in their attempt to convert, despite their full expectations of a hostile reception and having the front door slammed shut at their faces. Books, only published by the Watchtower Society, were read and studied in a group discussion, normally at a home of a Witness. And their topic was always the same - a Unitarian God, his created son Christ Jesus who was inferior to his Father, his impalement on a wooden stake (therefore not crucified), their denial of a physical resurrection, and a very dubious probational salvation offered for those who endure to the end. All this with their insistence that all churches, along with all human governments with their federal and civic institutions, are of the Devil and will all be destroyed in the coming global Battle of Armageddon. Dare to leave the organisation and eternal death by annihilation is guaranteed. With such theology, this "Maybe Salvation" was the final straw needed to repudiate the Watchtower Society entirely.

Oh, what a difference this Unitarian God is to the truth and reality of the Trinity! From eternity past, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all equal in the divine Godhead, enjoyed a love lavished between each other. It is a truth well beyond human understanding. Because of his omniscience, "before the foundation of the world" or from eternity past, he already has the Lamb's Book of Life, with all the names of everyone who will be saved written within. Yet he also knew that there will be many, many more who will be born, live and die without ever knowing their Creator. The same with his angelic hosts. God was about to create them with the full knowledge that one of them will be filled with pride and rebel, with up to a third of the entire host rebelling with him. Because from eternity past he knew all along, for me it is all a mystery. A mystery I will never get round to solve, due to my own finitude.

But with awareness of this divine foreknowledge, I have a desire to think of the likelihood that a conversation like this had taken place within the Trinity before anything was made:

Father: You both know that soon after we had created the angelic host, one will lead a rebellion.

Holy Spirit: Yes we do know. But not until after our creation of mankind's first parents.

Father: By not having physical bodies, the fallen angels will be entirely outside of redemption, neither would they want to be redeemed anyway. But after mankind has fallen through the sin of just one man, due to their genome inherited from father and mother alike, the whole of humanity will still be within redemption.

Holy Spirit: This will mean that one of us must become one of them, to be born as one of them, to have the same human genome, to live and identify as one of them, to minister to them and finally to allow them to kill as a human sacrifice to atone for their sin. And then to rise again, physically.

Father: All of this is perfectly true. Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?

Son: Here am I. Send me.

Father: Yes my beloved! Indeed, you may go. And a great joy will be set before you when you see multitudes without number redeemed, and you will be exalted above all things! Okay, let's begin with Creation, our host of angels first! And all three in the Godhead rejoiced exceedingly.

And yes, I can find a portion of Scripture which seems to back such a conversation, and I love the Authorised Version of Zechariah 2:6-11 because this is the only version that I know of which has God laughing: 

Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I have spread you abroad as the four wings of the heaven, saith the LORD.

Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.

For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

For, behold, I will shake my hand upon them, and they will be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me.

Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD.

And many nations shall be joined to the LORD on that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD has sent me unto thee.

Zechariah 2:6-11 KJV, also Isaiah 6:8.

Here is the LORD of hosts sent by the LORD of hosts! Perhaps this is the greatest rebuke which could be given to the Watchtower Society. God sent by God. Imagine that. And therefore we have the Son crucified, buried, and resurrected, now ascended to heaven, only to return to deliver the house of Israel and establish his Kingdom in Jerusalem. Of course, Easter does not mean anything to them. To them, it's a pagan holiday with no bearing on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

Really, after Adam and Eve had sinned, God was not obliged to make any move towards redemption. Instead, to satisfy infinite justice, every single person ever born must die and be eternally lost, separated from God forever. It is hard to imagine the likes of Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, along with all the prophets suffering eternally in Hell, along with the apostle Paul, all the other 1st Century disciples, together with us today - eternally separated from God.  But he made the first move towards redemption anyway because of his love and mercy. 

Oh how I am thankful for God's mercies! And that is what Easter is all about. Not about chocolate eggs, bunnies and decorated buns, but about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I guess that was the plan of God all along. To be glorified through redemption. For the whole creation to thunder praises to him for his undeserved mercy and grace, with not a single stroke of work done by anyone, other than by Jesus Christ himself, to earn this salvation. 

The idea that the Lamb's Book of life was composed "before the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8), makes ridiculous any ideas that a true Christian believer could lose his salvation and be lost again. Instead, I can see that the omniscience of God being the proper reason for believing in Eternal Security of the Believer. Once saved always saved. This is not arrogance or self assurance, this is the grace and the power of God, whose foreknowledge cannot be contradicted or able to undo.

But it still remains a mystery. All around me I see people who do not know the Lord. And this is a country which has the Christian Constitution, along with its Defender of the Faith and head of the Anglican Church, with the Archbishop of Canterbury being the top guy of the Christian faith in England. Yet the majority of the population does not know God. Indeed, this is indeed sad, and such observation has made any idea of a heavenly book sealed from before Creation rather unpalatable to believe in, to be labelled a Calvinist, to carry the idea that the reason why these people don't know the Lord is because their names are not in God's unalterable Book of Life, and therefore concluding that God has never called them. These are issues I have grappled with, and I'm still grappling with these issues at present.

Feeling sad for them gives the impression that I do love my fellow countrymen, even if I don't agree with their culture. The culture of social class division and favouritism, at the same time revelling in national pride and optimism through self effort whilst glorifying past imperialistic achievements. Much of all this based on Darwinism, with it's past (and sometimes present) Master Race mentality. Then the British bulldog spirit standing in the way between the average Brit and faith in Jesus Christ. Yet whilst I dwell on these spiritual barriers, I tend to forget that God is not obliged to save anyone. But he saves anyway, lavishing grace and mercy for his own sake.

Maybe that is where my way of thinking is awry. I'm basing my heart on my fellow man's benefit instead of God's glory. The whole purpose of salvation through unmerited grace and mercy is to bring glory to God throughout all creation, and particularly to the angelic host after the heavenly rebellion. Yet the question remains, which I once prayed desperately to God:

Why, O Lord, did you create us in the first place if all that awaits is eternal condemnation? 

Especially concerning Psalm 139, where the author specify how he was "knit together in the womb" by God, as with every pregnancy, only to be born to live a life without ever knowing God, then to suffer eternal separation. Nothing seems to make any sense. I couldn't help but feel a sense of cruelty within this whole shenanigan. Especially when I imagine with horror my nearest and dearest suffering forever in hell, a strong possibility had she been born in a non-Christian country.

However, there are three national holidays we observe here in the United Kingdom: Christmas, Easter and Whitsunday. Christmas is to do with the birth of Jesus, Easter to do with his death, burial and Resurrection, and Whitsunday is to do with the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, although it is unlikely that many here in the UK knows what Whitsunday is supposed to be about. Three Christian festivals in a year, in my mind at least, cannot be mere consequential. This seems to tie in well with the original three Hebrew festivals specified in the Old Testament: Pesach (the Passover,) Shavuot (Pentecost, the feast of Weeks), and Sukkot (Tabernacles). Always in threes, which looks to be aligned with the three persons of the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Through these holidays, is God trying to tell us something?

Contrary to believing in strict Calvinism (chosen by God's sovereignty to be saved rather than by human choice, advocated by John Calvin, a 16th Century French theologian), Scripture does indicate human choice. For example, in Luke 24:47, the resurrected Jesus informs his remaining disciples that "repentance and remission of sins must be preached to all nations everywhere, starting at Jerusalem." Then in Acts 17:30, Paul instructs the population at Athens "that in the past God winked at ignorance, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent." Then there is the testimony of Peter, who writes, "but the Lord is long-suffering to us, not willing that anyone should perish, but all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). Those three verses strongly indicate human choice. And to repent simply means a change of mind about Jesus Christ. 

Back in those days, Jesus was known to many. But the Jews wanted a political deliverer from the burden of the Romans. When he refused to deliver politically, he was seen as an impostor, possibly a madman. For the Jew to repent, he had to change his mind from believing him to be an impostor to believing in him as the risen Christ, God come in the flesh. I as a non-Jew had to change my mind from thinking Jesus as some remote teacher who lived long ago to being the Son of God who died and rose from the dead.

I'll end here with one of the most famous verse in the Bible, which reads:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16.

Wishing you a happy, God-blessed Easter.

A Triune Spectacular.

For me, three is a very special number. It is special because the very essence of the Godhead is triune, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which we refer to as the Holy Trinity, even if the word Trinity does not appear within the entire Bible. Neither for that matter a title The Prodigal Son appears either, but this parable spoken by Jesus and recorded in the 15th chapter of Luke's Gospel, is familiar to many, whether the Bible is read widely or not. Yet, sure enough, in the story of the Prodigal Son, there are three main characters - the father, the elder son, and his younger sibling whose want for a more "swinging" life placed him as the principal character of the story. Also the phrase God the Son does not occur in the Bible either, but is a title easily understood by everyone who accept the Trinity as a fundamental Bible-based doctrine. Like the way he describes Himself as being Eternal. Three pairs of names are here used: The First and Last, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. Then not to mention the three characteristics of God: Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Omnipotent. He even has three names or titles: Yahweh, El Shaddai, and Elohim, the latter being plural in itself, although Adonai (meaning Lord) is sometimes used instead for Yahweh, out of respect by the Jews.

And the Trinity can be seen in Creation. The three inhabitants of all life is on Land, in the Sea, and in the Air, as material itself consist of Solid, Liquid and Gas, as with water - the sustainer of all life - when exposed to different temperatures. Even the water molecule, which is behind the sustenance of all life, consist of one Oxygen atom and two Hydrogen atoms. Time itself consist of the Past, the Present and the Future, as with space as well - Length, Width and Volume, well demonstrated as a length of string, a sheet of paper, and a brick. Or as with a cube or cuboid, you can only see up to three sides at any one time without the need to turn it around or to lift it up.

As for our planet itself consisting of three classes of rock, at least in the Crust, according to the geologist. They are Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic. The first has to do with volcanic action, and even this come in three types: Granite, Andesite, and Basalt. Sedimentary, layered rock deposited by water, is broadly classed as Limestone, Sandstone, and Chalk, with variations between each. Then the Metamorphic rocks, of which there are many types, are formed by Heat, Pressure, and Chemical Processes whilst deep within the Earth.

We as humans are made in the image of God and therefore the crown of all Creation. We are the only living species which consist of Spirit, Soul, and Body. Our way of existence consisting of Thought, Will, and Emotion. Unfortunately, we are sinners, with sin consisting of man's rejection of God's Holiness, man's rejection of God's Leadership, and man's rejection of God's Provisions.

And nothing more than the love of God towards mankind who remains helpless and lost in sin than to send his Son to be crucified, and therefore to face his Death, Burial, and then his Resurrection in order for God to willingly give his free gift of salvation to all believers. And this free gift of salvation is of itself threefold: Acquittal, Imputation, and Eternal Security. Acquittal is the removal of all sin from the believer - past, present and future. Imputation is to have the righteousness of Christ credited to the believer's account. That is, God the Father sees him as he saw his own Son throughout his ministry - totally sinless and fully beloved. Eternal Security arises from the simple fact that the believer is regenerated by imputation and is now an eternal member of God's family. Because of this, he could never ever be lost again.

The believer is saved for all eternity (in his spirit), is being saved (the process of sanctification), and he will be saved in the future (glorification of the body).

Parallel to all this is the sport of Triathlon. And how I was enthralled to watch the Olympic Men's Triathlon at Rio de Janeiro last week. It was won by a member of Team Britain, Yorkshireman Alistair Brownlee who took the gold, while his younger brother Jonathan took the silver. But these two also have a third brother Edward, who shunned the Triathlon as "being for softies" and took to Rugby - the "real he-man's game", instead. Some may gasp at Edward's verdict on such an endurance sport, but I think I know where he was coming from. When I started competing in Triathlons myself in 1986, I also became a subscriber of Triathlete, a monthly American magazine dedicated to the sport, back then with a few pages in the centre to British events and its competitors. The latest edition came through my door bearing a photo of a female cyclist on the front cover. A friend of mine, with no small wit, came to visit me and picked up the magazine.
Ah! The Triathlon is a woman's sport!

I couldn't help blushing slightly as he grinned from ear to ear in mirth, with myself admitting that yes, the sport is popular with females too. But I would have liked to have seen him compete against "the Big Four" Dave Scott, Scott Tinley, Mark Allen, and Scott Molina - all American champions of the day, with Dave Scott being overall winner of the Hawaii Ironman on several occasions of his career which spanned throughout the late eighties, into the nineties. There was even a brand of top-class racing bicycle named after him, with the advertising slogan: If you're not on one you'll be behind one. Indeed, a smart play on the psycho to get people to buy. Oh, by the way, the Ironman Triathlon, originated from Hawaii, but by 1990 such events were held around the world, consisted of 2.4 mile 3.86 km open water swim, 112 mile 180.25 km cycle, and a marathon run of 26.22 miles 42.20 km. The entire course, divided into three disciplines performed one straight after another non-stop totals 140.62 miles 227.8 km. I wish I had dared my friend to give the Ironman Triathlon a go! Soft sport indeed.

Farnham Triathlon (staggered start) 1987

I can't help comparing the Triathlon - consisting of one race of three stages: Swim, Cycle, and Run - yet timed from the start of the Swim to the end of the Run - to the Trinity, the Three-in-One Godhead. Other multi-discipline events has been around for a long time, such as the Heptathlon, a seven-discipline event made up of 100 Metre Hurdles, High Jump, Shot Put, 200 Metres, Long Jump, Javelin, and 800 Metres. Or the Decathlon, consisting of 100 Metre Sprint, Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump, 400 Metres, 110 Metres Hurdles, Discus, Pole Vault, Javelin, and the 1,500 Metres. The Decathlon normally span two days. This make these events "virtually invisible" - that is, by watching someone throw a javelin, jump over a high rail, or run in a 100 metre sprint, the spectator would more likely be unaware that the competitor is in a multi-discipline event unless otherwise told.

Not so with the Triathlon! The Swim, Cycle, and Run makes up one race, with the two transitions adding further challenges to the competitor. In my day, the Triathlon was a new sport, the first event taking place in San Diego on September 25th, 1974, but did not find its way into the UK until the Summer of 1983, at Kirtons Farm near Reading, nine years after the inaugural San Diego event. However, it was a further seventeen years before its inclusion into the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. But even before then, by 1986 I was already competing across the country. I recall the nostalgia of using a second-hand commuting bicycle I bought for a cheap price before upgrading to a lighter-framed racing machine suitable for Triathlon events.

The spirit of camaraderie between participants was strong, as the emphasis was more about finishing rather than who would take home the winner's trophy. A Commemorative medal was awarded to every finisher, and I saw that as a personal achievement just to be in possession of such an item. The overall atmosphere at a typical event was pleasant, somewhere where even a family can turn up to picnic and not feel out of place. Being such a novelty sport, the triathlon attracted participants from all walks of life and a wide age-range. Although most events had a minimum age of eighteen years (if I recall), the average Triathlon, open to the public, also attracted senior citizens - including one elderly gentleman in his seventies, speeding away on a heavy roadster of a bicycle, complete with shopping basket attached to its handlebars! Although very unlikely that he had taken home a trophy, maybe not even a Senior Veteran's trophy, there is little doubt in my mind that he returned home feeling highly exhilarated, having conquered one of his toughest challenges of his life, maybe since the War.

Winchester Triathlon, 1987.

And so I watched both Olympic Triathlons at Rio last week, the men's event on Thursday, and the women's event on Saturday, each from start to past finish. Unlike all the other events, I find the Triathlon electrifying and rather emotional to watch. Could this be because it is the only sport which symbolise the Trinity? Or could I now be enjoying the sport on a vicarious way, having competed in over two dozen Triathlons during my peak of fitness? Or could it be that at school I was lousy at team ball games, and the Triathlon was the answer to my otherwise sporting disability? Maybe all three? Even if over the decades the Triathlon has evolved from a social-based, camaraderie-felt atmosphere of a personal challenge, to an elitist, extremely expensive sport reserved for professionals with a high income. After all, the bicycle used in Triathlons is no longer the second-hand mount purchased for £30-00 at a backstreet cycle shop, but a purpose-built machine worth thousands of pounds, which you would never see locked up at the street or shopping mall, but only at the Triathlon cycle racks.

Triathlon is a great, exciting sport, which I relate as the sporting symbol of the Trinity. This could also be due to the crowds which assembled along the course in Rio, when there were many empty seats at the Stadium and other sporting venues. Like me, they too love real excitement.

Reminisce - A Sporting Trinity

Earlier this week I had attended my final rehab class, in a course of twelve sessions following a cardiac procedure back in February. As I was sitting at the bank of the River Thames, watching the flocks of swans, ducks and geese hanging around the water's edge in anticipation of a feed from a benevolent human, I mused over the future, the coming days, weeks, months, and years, and what could be lying ahead. I thought of retirement from my daily grind as a self-employed window cleaner, and anticipated the many occasions when I can sit by the river and blissfully watch life carrying on without a care in the world. Maybe that is a wonder about growing old, and letting the more vigorous younger generation bear the world on their shoulders, as I have done for nearly half a century.

But for me it's far from having one foot in the grave as I rose to make my way to the Leisure Centre. Behind me, at Alexander Park, something very unusual was shaping up. Rows upon rows of empty scaffolding, already set up, along with billboards and direction signs still lying on the grass waiting to be positioned accordingly, booths and other paraphernalia all testifying that just two days hence, the 25th Windsor Triathlon will have its transition centre right here. I was fortunate enough to find myself in a conversation with one of the organisers, a dear elderly fellow in his eighties, yet could pass as someone in his fifties, as he himself was an active athlete in his heyday. He told me how he got involved in setting up the facilities needed for the smooth running of the event, and how he was also involved in the 2012 London Olympics. He explained to me about the entry fee of £100 per entrant, with an already full capacity of a thousand competitors, with more triathletes "on standby" should a no-show occur on the day. Wow! With a revenue of £100,000 raised out of entry fees alone, it was of no surprise to me that the organisers could splash out on every feature and facility one can imagine, including the closing of roads to traffic during the event. 

Then he made me feel how I was left behind when he explained about the fashionable bicycles each competitor owned, nearly all running into thousands of pounds to buy, and would never be seen leaning on a lamppost in the High Street - with more of the idea of "keeping up with the Joneses" rather than just practical purposes, together with wetsuits, high performance running shoes, along with other expensive regalia to ensure that the modern triathlete is "with it" and not feeling left behind when fashion moves on. Indeed, we both came to an agreement that the Triathlon has evolved into an elitist, rich man's sport - practically all participants in highly lucrative professional careers which to them with such high salaries, competing in a Triathlon is merely "ten a penny" throughout the Summer season.

All this I could not help but reminiscence back thirty years when Triathlon, with an average entry fee of about £12, was within easy reach of Joe Public. I was a typical competitor during mid to late 1980's, very much a Mr Average man in the street. But this triple-discipline event of swimming, cycling, and running bestowed upon me the highest level of physical fitness, mental health, and as a believer, spiritual stability - all three combined - I have ever enjoyed throughout life. I recall reading the story of the birth of the sport, in Hawaii, back in October 1977 when three athletes were having a discussion in a bar to which of the three activities resulted in greater fitness - swimming, cycling, or running? Unable to draw a conclusion, a solution was conjured up - why not combine all three into one event? So the first Ironman Triathlon was held in February 1978, consisting of a 2.4 mile sea swim, immediately followed by a 112 mile cycle ride, then finished off with a 26 mile marathon run. It was won by Gordon Haller in just under twelve hours.

This event spawned many others, particularly scaled down events across America, including the Tinman, before catching on in Britain and Europe. The inaugural UK Triathlon took place in Newham, East London, in the Summer of 1984. Just less than two years later, after running half-marathons to raise funds for a charity, I was introduced to the sport in Spring 1986. This opened a door to a very exciting opportunity for physical fitness, together with the camaraderie which came with it, an almost street-party-like festive spirit as each one of us dared to stretch our bodies to extreme physical endurance. And where the fun lies was that the Triathlon was not in any school curriculum, therefore there was no regimented coaching and serious competition which characterised the mood of school participation.  And that was back then the whole object of the sport - to attract the general public to a challenge and its resulting euphoria. There were no wetsuits, each competitor had normal swimwear, which to me was a pair of shorts only, to begin with. As for bicycles, any roadworthy mount would do. For around £30 from a second-hand bicycle dealer, my first two or three triathlons were completed using such a machine. In one of the events, there was even an elderly gentleman leaving the cycle compound on an old-style traditional roadster, complete with shopping basket under the handlebars. Such was the spirit of the day.

Not long afterwards, I bought a new bicycle from a catalogue, a lighter and a more faster racer, along with a lycra Trisuit. This odd-looking one-piece garment allowed me to swim, cycle and run without having to change clothing during the two transitions. But as the eighties gave way into the nineties, I saw a gradual change within the event itself. I believe it came with a few words spoken by the reigning American Ironman champion, Dave Scott, who shouted, This is not mere endurance. This is a race! Those words, I believe had changed the sport forever, separating the elite from the public, with the latter dropping away in droves, while attracting more of the super-fit. 

Competing in a Triathlon, 1987.

But as one who believes in Jesus Christ as Saviour, there was another dimension in which I perceived the Triathlon as a sport. That is as a Trinity, and therefore associating it with the Triune Godhead. Unlike the Pentathlon, the Heptathlon, and the Decathlon, where in each of the three totals up points over a set number of events that can cover several days, the Triathlon is one continuous event consisting of three distinct disciplines to complete a course, and with non-stop timing and monitoring from the marshal's stopwatch. As I see it, this Triune sport reflects the Godhead, and to add to this, three benefits are achievable - physical fitness, mental health, and spiritual wellbeing if the competitor is also alive in Christ. And I believe that back in the 1980's the Triathlon had a sense of fulfillment which, as I found out to be, not existing in any other sport I participated in. 

The Trinity! Not only is this the essence of the Godhead, but can be perceived in space and time. For example: the Past, Present, and Future are so familiar to everyone, as a length of string, a sheet of paper, and a solid brick. As with the brick, or any cuboid solid: length, width, and mass makes up the solid, and interesting enough, no matter what the cuboid is - whether a cube, a brick, a closed book, or even a piece of furniture - you can only see up to three sides regardless of from which angle it is seen from. The same applies to the circle, which circumference is always able to pass through three points making up a triangle, no matter how these points are arranged, or how far the third point is from the other two. A perfect picture of the Eternal Trinity.

But the Biblical story I have always found moving, yet could not clarify the work of the Trinity any more explicitly, is to be found in Genesis 24. Here is a story of the aged Abraham, who sends his head servant east to find a wife for his son Isaac. Abraham does the sending, the unnamed servant goes on a journey, and eventually ends up at Laban's house, who is related to Abraham. Laban has a sister, Rebekah, whom the unnamed servant pleads for her to journey home with him. She was willing to go, and becomes the bride of Abraham's son Isaac. That is how God calls us. The Father sends the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sin, and to bring us to the Son, Jesus Christ. After cleansing us and giving us eternal life, one day we will be the Bride who will be joined to the Son as well as being in the presence of the Father himself. This is the work of the Holy Spirit in us, like Abraham's servant, leading us to Jesus Christ, at the Father's command. It is such a beautiful story on how the whole Trinity is involved with our redemption.

This is just one of many Biblical stories which as connections with the Trinity, but to me, this one is my favourite. As with the Triathlon, this is tied with the Triune Godhead as well, and perhaps unlike most of my fellow competitors, the sport has added an extra dimension which, I think, only a true believer in Jesus Christ as Saviour can perceive. 

Bromance - For Better Health

A new word has entered the English vocabulary, which looks to me to have originated from the LGBT community, and more especially from gay men, and that is the word Bromance. Apparently it is so unfamiliar to everyday usage that while typing, my computer has underlined the word in red, indicating a spelling error. And this is from an American spellchecker, ironic as it seems, as without doubt the word looks to have its origin in the States. Yet anyone with a mild knowledge of semantics would see straight away that Bromance simply means brotherly romance. The gay community defines such a relationship as a strong bond between two males, but falling short of any sexual involvement.

After having received unsuccessful seduction attempts by gay men back in the 1970's when I was a strapping young man in my twenties, I have always held an interest in the homosexual world, and that from a Christian perspective, having being converted to Christ just a few months after my twentieth birthday in 1972. So I can claim to have enough knowledge of it to demonstrate what Bromance is not. For a start, cruising (out looking for a sex-partner in hope of a one-night stand) is not Bromance. Since the diagnoses of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) was discovered to have originated from the HIV virus infection within same-sex relationships between men (and later became widespread among promiscuous straight sex as well), the habit of cruising has become far less widespread among homosexuals since the 1980's. Cruising was far from being a joyful experience. It was purely about sex, without building any interpersonal relationship with the potential partner. By the following morning, the two men were just as much strangers as if passing each other on the street. Also with cruising, there is always that lingering fear of being picked up by a macho butch who inflicts physical pain in an attempt to gratify his own sexual urges. Such brutal acts are well recorded, in a quest for more, more, more, but never finding ultimate fulfilment. None of these have any love between such partners, and therefore aren't anywhere remotely classed as Bromance.

I type this blog while a referendum had just taken place in Ireland whether to legalize same-sex marriage, which is already legal here in the UK. The idea of long term same-sex relationships, I believe, was a development from the AIDS scare of the 1980's, and reflects the need for the two partners to get to know each other, and particularly their sex and medical history, before consenting. But again, that is not Bromance. Rather, it is homosexuality, a dire world where unfulfilled desires, rejection by other gays, stereotyping and physical beatings by heterosexuals, loneliness, alienation from God, want of a flesh-and-blood family, unhappiness, and a very high suicide rate, all dominate in one way or another. Although the term Bromance was coined in the LGBT community I believe, it is not what it is.

Yet it is coming from gay men that the Biblical relationship model between David and Jonathan is quoted, and they see this as a good example of Bromance, and to a certain extent I share their opinion. But as some homosexual men would like to include these two as engaged in secret sexual activity behind King Saul's back, just by reading the Scriptural narration is enough to establish that both these guys were straight, and kept their sexual activity confined to their wives. But the case of David and Jonathan is an excellent case of Bromance. And no other verse in Scripture highlights this than in 1 Samuel 20:41:-

After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together - but David wept the most.

It is easy to imagine their parting scenario. These two were in a tight hug which lasted for a considerable time - maybe twenty minutes? And that is what I believe Bromance includes - hugging, the end result of a strong brotherly friendship. Apart from David and Jonathan, I can easily refer to two other men who actually were biological full brothers: Joseph and Benjamin, the sons of Jacob and his favourite wife Rachel. In Genesis 45:14 the narrator records Joseph and Benjamin locked in a tight embrace, and both weeping on each other's necks. Then there is the Bromance between the fisherman John, and Jesus himself which was manifested during the Last Supper, found in John 13:23 in the KJV, which reads:-

Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

Unfortunately, the word bosom (Greek, kolpo) is not used in the NIV or other modern translations, where it just says that John was reclining next to him. I think much as been missed from the one reading the New International Version, and other modern translations. To read about the head of a future apostle resting on the Lord's chest speaks volumes of emotion. It was when Jesus himself acknowledged the sadness his disciples felt over the news that he was leaving them to return to his Father, e.g. John 14:27. Like Joseph, Benjamin, David, and Jonathan before him, John sought comfort through physical contact with Jesus himself. And the very dynamism of such tenderness together at that table is vividly contrasted with Revelation 1:17 where the same apostle took a glimpse of the resurrected Lord, and fell down as if dead. The very same bosom where he rested his head so many years earlier appears in such brilliant glory that he could not barely look at, let alone rest upon.

Then how can I not mention the intimate eternal Bromance which had always existed within the Godhead. The three "Persons" of the Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each having a perfect love for each other which is entirely free from any disagreement, sorrow, or tears. Probably locked in an eternal embrace, the Father loves both the Son and the Holy Spirit with equal intensity. Likewise the Son loves the Father and the Holy Spirit with equal intensity. And the Holy Spirit himself have the same love for the Father and the Son. It is a wonderful, beautiful setting, absolutely perfect, without even an atom of sin whatsoever. And it has always been God's intention that his radiant triangle of love be shared among mankind, which has always been the chief reason why we exist.

Contrary to our British culture, there is nothing amiss about two men locked in a tight hug. It is the rest of us, who deem such an act as wrong, homosexual, or sissy. Here in the UK, we prefer, at best, to merely extend our hand in an (often limp) handshake. Our local culture, particularly in Southern England, does not even allow anyone to just walk into a neighbour's home without an invitation for an appointed time, let alone walking into another's personal space for a hug. We even have a saying, "An Englishman's home is his castle." That is not the language of Heaven! But, as I have recently found out, prolonged hugging is actually beneficial for health. It is due to the hormone Oxytocin, produced in the Pituitary Gland as a result of intimate human contact.

Due to a recent research, I have found out that oxytocin, among other benefits, has the ability to reduce depression, a cause of many known illnesses, including cancer, and even cardiac arrest. Its benefits, originally thought to be confined to breast milk production and feeding, it seems that something such as a prolonged hug - more than twenty seconds in duration - enjoys a level of benefit from the same hormone, which is also found in males. If Biblical characters, such as Joseph and David (Joseph lived to 110 years, and David saw his 70th birthday) had enjoyed health to a level of never having to visit a Doctor's surgery, then they must have done something right. Could the showing of emotion without the British reserve be the clue here? It is food for thought.

Now I want to imagine what our national health would be really like if everyone was far less selfish, far less reserved, have a trembling lower lip instead of a stiff upper lip, have a far greater love for each other, and there were no issues with prolonged hugs. How would the National Health Service fare? Would it be so under-used, that there would always be a hospital bed immediately available should anyone fall ill? Rather than being so overstretched, as it is at present? In fact, would the N.H.S. be a lot smaller, with smaller budgets and not so much spent on staffing and administration? If there is less depression in the individual, would this result in a happier lifestyle as well as a healthier one? Really, what I'm asking is: If Bromance and prolonged hugging were more socially acceptable, would this become a better world all around?

As a married man, I guess that I'm one of the more fortunate ones. I can prolong-hug my wife as much as I want, and she likewise. But one needs to take into consideration that I didn't marry until I was 47 years old, which is well beyond the national average age to marry. Throughout my long single life, other than the privilege to travel - many, many times I had a longing for a prolonged hug every day. Amazingly enough, during my bachelor days, I had persistent back trouble - forcing me on several occasions to crawl on the floor instead of walking. Thinking about it, over a period of time, my back problems all but disappeared since I married Alex. But I could have remained single throughout my life, as I know a few who has. Generally speaking, medical records show that not only married people enjoy a fuller life and better health, but they tend to live longer than those who remain single.

God does not only have love, he is love. Any breach of this love is sin. In order to enjoy perfect health eternally, we need to love God and each other as intensely as the three "Persons" of the Godhead. But because of the sinful heart, often shaped by culture (emotions bottled, no hugging, etc.) - sickness and death will continue until our final redemption arrives.