by Dr. 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.
by Dr. Andrew Corbett | May 8, 2018 | Apologetics
Is the God of the Bible worth knowing? Christians claim that He is a loving, kind, and gracious God. But others who have read the Bible see a different description for God. They see the God of the Bible as mean, violent, abusive, cruel, and unfair. The God of the Bible is vicious God who is simply not worth knowing, they cry. There probably is a God- but the Bible is not the revelation of that God, they claim. At stake is-
(1) The entire credibility of Christianity,
(2) The validity of the Bible as the Inerrant/Inspired/Unique Revelation from God, and
(3) (Potentially) God’s reputation.
This is therefore not just an issue for apologists like myself to answer, but a critical issue for every Christian to be able to reasonably respond to. This involves establishing whether there is evidence apart from the Bible which supports the claims of the Bible about God and then synthesizing this data to form a character sketch of the true God.
by Dr. Andrew Corbett | Apr 21, 2018 | Apologetics
Some people find faith in God to be impossible. These people have reasons for their impossible faith. Their objections may be intellectual, moral, or emotional. There are three well-known figures who each exemplify each of these objections to faith in God. Charles Darwin, Thomas Hardy and Bob Hawke each respectively held these particular objections to Christianity.
by Dr. Andrew Corbett | Apr 19, 2018 | Theology
The Bible is the most influential book of all time. It’s contents have changed the course of history. It’s story has formed the pattern for all the great literary classics. It also makes the astounding claim that it is the uniquely authoritative revelation from God and therefore has the authority to command our moral behaviour. But if the Bible is not reliable, then its claims are indefensible and Christianity is without foundation! Yet despite this glaring vulnerability, the Bible has withstood rigorous scrutiny and repeated attempts to refute it. Here’s why it is indeed reliable.
by Dr. Andrew Corbett | Apr 11, 2018 | Theology
I honestly used to think that Christianity was all about having the assurance of going to Heaven. But as I learned more about the Gospel and the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth I became curious about the relative scarcity of references to Heaven in the Bible. Yet, while my understanding of the place of Heaven in my Gospel proclamation has been refined, some God-Channel evangelists have headed in the other direction and made Heaven central to their Gospel. Some of these evangelists now even claim to have the spiritual power to make repeated visits there!
Presumably God, the Supreme Being, has a supremely beautiful home, in a supremely magnificent neighbourhood. Amazingly, God invites mankind to move into His neighbourhood- for eternity! But what is Heaven like? Is it possible, as some are now claiming, that we can visit Heaven? While I am going to lead readers to conclude that Heaven is not the Gospel’s focus, if it is the only reason someone is motivated to convert to Christ, then we should rejoice!
