What is the difference between an expert and a professional? A professional may not be an expert. An expert may not be a professional. A professional has professional standards and an external professional body maintaining these standards. An expert may not behave professionally. They may have no external standards to live up to and their …
Category: Personal development
Christian care is not the same as secular care
Just as Christian morality is not the same as secular morality, neither is secular care the same as Christian care. Secular care is very choosey; it picks and chooses. On a recent walk I met two runners who identified themselves as atheists. Having established that they were open to discussion, it was immediately apparent that …
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What is your morality?
People make the mistake of thinking that there is only one morality. There are multiple moralities and people choose the one that they want. Christian morality is different from secular morality, which is different from Jewish and muslim morality, etc. People choose the morality they want to follow, and they are responsible for their morality …
My spiritual diary
Do you keep a diary? What big events have taken place in your life over the past year? This month witnesses the 45th anniversary of my graduation as a medical doctor from Glasgow University and my 40th wedding anniversary. This year witnesses the 40th anniversary of my licensing to preach the everlasting Gospel of the …
What is the nature of faith?
Faith is a personal judgment. You cannot believe something that you do not think is true. You have judged it to be true, so you believe it. If you judge it to be false you are not able to believe it. Therefore you are personally responsible for your own beliefs because they are your personal …
Reserving judgment
Public discussion is polarising society into the familiar "us and them" mantra. "Are you one of us?" Current discussions too often resolve into binary choices, and many people expect you to subscribe to one or other – left or right, for or against Donald Trump, for or against the Russo-Ukrainian war or the coronavirus vaccine, …
Is true Christianity confrontational?
Jesus Christ was a radical teacher Who astonished even His own disciples Mat 19:25. Yet crowds of people heard Him gladly Mk 12:37. He appealed over the heads of Jewish officialdom to teach the people publicly. He contradicted Jewish officialdom and called them hypocrits Mat 23. Yet there are those who want Christians to be …
The utility of Christian fellowship
Christian fellowship is not an option – it is a necessity for Christian development and usefulness. Having noted the nature of Christian fellowship, and the content of Christian fellowship, I now turn to the utility or usefulness of Christian fellowship. This usefulness is not simply personal, but collective, even to the extent of national and …
The content of Christian fellowship
Having noted the nature of Christian fellowship, I now turn to the content of Christian fellowship. Christian fellowship is Christocentric, meaning that it centres on the Lord Jesus Christ because He is the centre of everything Col 1:17. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last Rev 22:13. Different people focus …
The prejudice of offence
Some of the most prejudiced people are those who take easy offence. How is this so, and so what? This is very relevant in our politically correct era when those in public life and on social media are busy taking offence at their opponents' opinions. So what is the connection? Both prejudice and offence are …
Donald's Thoughts 