If there is one thing I won’t tolerate in my class, it’s sectarianism. Pupils who ordinarily show the utmost respect for teachers, can suddenly get riled up, treating you like a traitor, should you dare challenge them on what can only be described as a sin. It’s a touchy subject and the possibility of angry letters and phone calls from parents always seem a possibility, so it’s important to tread carefully and appropriately.

Many humanists would have us believe that religion (of any sort) has been the cause of war and misery throughout time, they aren’t wrong. Christians shouldn’t be “religious” at least not in the way the Pharisees, of Jesus’, time were. We need to interpret everything we do and believe through the lens of scripture, as means of self diagnosis to see if what we are doing is right. However the pattern throughout history is of people claiming who outwardly claim faith but inwardly harbour sin which they use to twist and warp scripture to suit their purpose.

Current day examples include “Protestant” paramilitaries, who don’t know what the reformation was, or Christians who exclaim that immigrants should go back to their own countries and stop “stealing our homes and jobs.” Where’s their Christ-like nature; welcoming in strangers and those less fortunate?

The Bible must be taken as whole, not select random passages, not taken out of context, not adapted to fit our agenda or mindset. Just because a sin is traditional or cultural in its basis doesn’t make it OK; tradition and culture are not bigger or more relevant than scripture itself. Christians, not just in Northern Ireland, need to actually apply the Bible to their whole lives, not just choose parts of it as it suits.

What are your thoughts?

A few weeks ago I started my own project and corresponding Facebook group for what soon became known as the Open Bible Project. The goal being to produce a version of the Scriptures for various e-book readers which, within the constraints of the device, has a useable user interface and readable layout.

Many, many versions already exist around the web, but either have hideously formatted text or are far too unwieldy to fit into typical usage patterns for the Bible. Of course others have been working on this problem, Osnova has produced several Bibles and developed a jump to verse technique using the search function of the device. Type ge.1.10 and find and the reader will jump to the Genesis chapter 1 verse 10.

I’ve used a similar technique, by hiding a code for chapter using white coloured text (doesn’t show on the device but is still searchable) you can enter Gen.1, Matt.1 etc and the reader leaps to the correct chapter. As far as the reading experience goes, each verse flow into one another, with verse numbers showing in a smaller font.

Very soon I’ll have an Open Bible Project website up and running, hosting the scriptures and various reference books online. Each user of the website will be able to annotate, highlight and link text across books of the Bible and the reference library. This customised version of the Bible will be available (freely) as a download for use on your reader, bringing those highlights, notes and links with it.

As mentioned by Alan, Lisburn and Hillsborough Free Presbyterian Churches held a joint Creation Weekend, with speaker Paul Taylor from Answers in Genesis UK. I got my hands on the recordings thinking some people might have been interested but put off by the venue (as were a couple of attendees who left during the hymns and prayer but returned to hear Paul). This is his talk from Saturday night in Lisburn, entitled “200 Lost Years” it talks about the life of Charles Darwin and his legacy.

Apologies for the poor quality, it wasn’t me doing the video…

Those stupid atheist slogans on buses annoy me no end, this is how it would look if I had my way. I have respect for this guy there are very few people who would stand up for their faith, like that, anymore. Notice the word “faith” it’s important, this isn’t as simple, as I’ve seen trivialised on blogs that suggest “would a vegetarian refuse to drive a bus advertising bacon?” In my mind, as a Christian, the two cannot be equated and it is not only deeply offense, but also shows, sadly, just how out of touch and little understanding secular society has.

Our prayer meeting on Monday night had a visit from night Pastor Groza, of Bethany Baptist Church, Romania, and a group of operatic singers, the Pro Gospel Quartet, I think they are in Northern Ireland for a while touring around various churches and venues, if you get a chance to hear them you should, they are incredible, I have never heard such powerful songs, sung with such passion, they really were giving it everything! No linkage for you unfortunately, I can’t seem to find any mention of them online, but they could give professional singers a run for their money. My hat also goes off to their pianist/organist who was equally as incredible and managed to blow up short the church organ, that’s what I call power!

Northern Ireland is a land which in the past has been blessed of God, but living here ourselves we may not fully realise the extent of the blessing. It only takes one look to the British mainland or south to the Irish Republic to see how previously God fearing lands are in the grip of “evangelical” atheism, militant Islam, and worse, complete indifference and apathy. Apathy so bad that many adults have never been to church even as a child. When speaking to people in Northern Ireland is is generally assumed that they have had some sort of church upbringing; Protestant and Catholic alike will have heard Bible stories and know who Jesus was. But without any “Christian” orientation in a life, a person will see the message you bring, of God’s salvation as a strange alien concept.

Religion, especially Christianity is a taboo subject; atheists blame as the source of all the World’s problems, a view taken up by many throughout the land. And to this background our message seems as bizarre and ridiculous as that brought by many cults like Scientology, whose beliefs we find laughable.A different approach must be taken to not just witness, but to educate as to what we witness about. Yes, we can live our life as a living testimony of what God has done for us, but if someone asked us why we lived in that way, telling them we are saved because Jesus died to save us from their sins, would seem as religious technobabble. It is a challenging problem, to understand this mind set, and find a way best suitable to witnessing to those with it, which will take much prayer and patience.

We must also pray that the plague of apathy does not take root here in Northern Ireland, for the seeds have already been sown, parents no longer send their children out to Church or Sunday School and the association of Biblical Christianity with the Catholic Church due to the Ecumenical movement, has tarnished our reputation.We must witness to the young now while there still remains a generation that are willing to hear, for once the foundation of youth has been removed the church will crumble. God forbif we would let that happen.

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Mark 16:15,16

I was very impressed yesterday to find a special iPhone formatted page on sermonaudio.com.

SermonAudio have some great sermons in audio and video format, but until recently has been very much the domain of Windows Media users, with basic only podcast support and wmv video. Gradually over the past year they’re support for iTunes and Web2.0 standards has been on the up; now with iPhone and iPod Touch support you can browse sermons on specially formatted pages, listen via Edge and watch video over wifi.

Anything that makes a site more accessible is a good thing in my book, although this feature may only appeal to geeks like me. Either way its a great addition to an already great resource.

Andrew