by Andrew Corbett | Jul 8, 2018 | Public_Policy
Legislators are charged with an office to formulate and review public policy as it potentially becomes legislation. They must consider arguments for and against each piece of potential legislation in order to discharge their office. Classically, there are six filters that must be passed in order for an idea to be considered ‘logical’. These are listed and briefly described below and followed by the three general categories of all legislation which should be used to determine public policy.
1. Distinguish the rhetoric from the reason.
‘Rhetoric’ sounds good. It employs emotive language designed to move a listener. It connects the speaker with their audience by using experiences common to us all…
by Andrew Corbett | Jul 5, 2018 | Pastoral
LIFE HAS ONE CERTAINTY
We used to say that there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes. But life has only one certainty – we will all die. The death-rate is still 100%! Yet faced with this absolute certainty, too few people think about it and even fewer people take steps to prepare for it and what lies beyond it. And, as it turns out, not even many people who have become Christians have given much thought either! But I have something to say to those who think religion – and Christianity in particular – is (at best) irrelevant. Please give me just three minutes now – and just three seconds later!
WHY DO PEOPLE CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY?
Christians have sometimes been accused of promoting a pie-in-the-sky message. But the social research reveals a pretty clear message about why people convert to Christianity. Here are the top three reasons why people become Christians-
1. I was raised in a Christian home.
2. I had a religious experience (answered prayer, dream/vision, etc.)
3. I had a need that converting to Christianity met (drug/alcohol deliverance, marriage repair, loneliness, poverty relief, etc.)
Conversely, the top three reasons why people reject Christianity are –
Science has now disproven Christianity.
Too many doubts about the Bible’s claims.
Too many Christians are hypocrites.
…
by Andrew Corbett | Jun 7, 2018 | Public_Policy
Many of the world’s most prolonged and heinous injustices have historically gone on unchallenged because they were concealed from public view. Only when a professional journalist was able to bring the injustice into public view was the injustice stopped. We think of U.S. forces freeing Nazi prisoners in the Buchenwald and Dachau Concentration camps that shocked not just Americans, but the world when accompanying journalists reported on what they saw. (One wonders whether America would have entered the War earlier if they had seen such brutal photos earlier?)
Who can forget the 1972 Associated Press photographer Nick Ut’s photo of Kim Phuc fleeing naked across a Vietnamese bridge? When the 1973 Pulitzer Committee awarded Nick its prize, it signalled the end America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. These samples illustrate why a free-press is essential to the execution of proper justice, and just how powerful images are.
by Andrew Corbett | May 28, 2018 | Commentaries, Theology
The foundation of the Bible and Christianity is the opening story of Genesis – about how God created the world- especially its claim that God created Adam and Eve as the parents of all humanity. If this opening account is wrong, the very foundation for believing the Bible is destroyed! But if this account of creation is the pillar of truth, why are the two opening chapters so contradictory? Or are they?
by Andrew Corbett | May 10, 2018 | Pastoral
Conversion to Christ begins with an apology. The foundation of conversion to Christianity is repentance. One of the intrinsic elements of repentance is acknowledging guilt and expressing sorrow. We do this in order to reestablish a relationship with someone. We call this “apologising”. There are three steps to a good apology and learning how to do it well could salvage or even strengthen a relationship. But failing to apologise could result in a life of misery and manifold missed blessings.
¶ Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
and stopped trying to hide them.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
Psalm 32:5
I’ve been a Pastor and Marriage Celebrant for over 25 years. It is one of the joys of my work to prepare a couple for marriage and then conduct their wedding. But this work has also encompassed trying to repair marriages. One of the first things that needs to happen in a badly damaged marriage is repentance. This involves an apology. But I have since discovered that perhaps the majority of people do not know how to apologise. For some, an apology is merely uttering the words: “I’m sorry.” For others, an apology is acknowledging guilt while simultaneously blaming the one they are apologising to for the offence. Neither of these two types of ‘apologies’ are genuine apologies.
