We have spent a few days dipping into bits of Paul’s writing to the church in Galatia, Ephesus, Phillippi and today, we are going to think about some astonishing things Paul says in Colossians chapter 1.

I remember writing stories as a child, in my English lessons at school – I can remember getting carried away with the story – punctuation would go out the window, my hand-writing would get scruffier and scruffier – but I would be totally immersed in what I was writing – which for me at least, was an exciting story!

For me, I sometimes imagine Paul doing the same thing, getting carried away with the wonders he is writing about, so carried away as he writes about the wondrous Good News of Jesus -I wonder if his punctuation disappeared and his hand-writing became un readable. 

We are spending this week with well-known passages from Paul’s letters – his instruction to the church.

Yesterday, we read from the first part of Philippians Chapter 2 – a challenge to stop ‘grasping’ – but imitate Christs humility, servant-heart in the way we relate to one another.

Today, we carry on in chapter 3 – Ask the question – Are you a moaner?

The older I get, the more I seem to moan and whinge!

It became more apparent recently when I was giving my son a lift to his piano lessons.  I was in a rush, trying to cut across busy Thanet roads, lots of post-school traffic – and I guess, lots of quite poor driving.

But I suddenly realised that, in a journey of less than 15 minutes I had probably moaned about 7 or 8 drivers.  They were driving to slow, or to fast.  They had cut corners, forgotten to indicate, not let me through……

Now of course, the reality is that I too at times drive too slow, too fast, I can sometimes cut corners, forget to indicate, push through in a hurry….

I hope that hasn’t shocked you!  It becomes so easy to moan and whinge our way through life. Particularly about the things that really don’t matter.  

What kind of example was I being to my son!

We are dipping into a few familiar passages from Paul this week – Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians.  Paul’s teaching is practical and challenging – he his desperate for these churches to grasp what living lives for Jesus looked like. 

So far this week we have thought about the battle raging within our lives – the challenge for us to show the whole fruit that Jesus showed in his life.

Yesterday,  in a culture that struggles with identity – our primary identity is in Christ – this identy can form the bedrock in which all other of our other identities can be built – this identity will last when other identities have ceased.

Today, we are going to head into the first of two days in the great chapter of Philippians 2 – 

This week we are picking a few passages from among Paul’s four letters – Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians for our reflections. 

Paul’s passion is for the church, the new Christians in these communities, to grow, become more like Jesus. Yesterday we thought about the famous passage in Galatians that encourage us to choose to allow the Spirit to produce his fruit in our lives, to win out over the acts of our fallen human nature.   We are to ‘walk in the Spirit’ – allowing his power to produce the fruit that we see in the life of Jesus. 

Today we are moving onto a Passage in Ephesians and thinking about identity  -

This week we are going to dip into five passages from four of Paul’s letters – Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians. 
We could fill up weeks of Paul’s amazing teaching and challenges – but I have just dipped into a few well-known parts of these four books.

The first one is from Galatians 5:13-26.  Paul is talking about a battle, a war going on within us – the acts of flesh v the fruit of the Spirit.

What is it to be human?

                Recently I noticed a BBC article with the thought-provoking strap-line, “AI – will it make humans boring?”
             Personally I find human beings far more interesting than AI. We are prone to error, inherently selfish yet with the capacity for incredible generosity of spirit that would confound any AI, - capable of both love and hate while AI will only be able to employ cold logic based on its programming, even if it will be able to do that much better than us. It will be able to debate on existence of consciousness in AI, yet never know what it is to be content. It will be able to win philosophical debates on the existence of God yet never be able to truly know Him. It will never be able to answer truthfully the question "How's your family?" It will never be capable of spontaneous love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness or self-control. A society dominated by AI would be one where such qualities would have no place.

            What will always fundamentally separate us from AI is that "God so loved humanity that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not end up spiritually dead but have everlasting life." AI can never be made spiritually alive as it will never be human, with all the spiritual potential that implies. It can only replicate a form of humanity.
             It got me thinking about what it truly means to be fully human as God intended, which is the connecting thought for all of this week’s devotions. In this my thinking has been inspired by reading Charlie Peacock’s book “New Way to be Human” back in 2019 while recuperating after a knee operation.
 
 

What is it to be human?

                Recently I noticed a BBC article with the thought-provoking strap-line, “AI – will it make humans boring?”
             Personally I find human beings far more interesting than AI. We are prone to error, inherently selfish yet with the capacity for incredible generosity of spirit that would confound any AI, - capable of both love and hate while AI will only be able to employ cold logic based on its programming, even if it will be able to do that much better than us. It will be able to debate on existence of consciousness in AI, yet never know what it is to be content. It will be able to win philosophical debates on the existence of God yet never be able to truly know Him. It will never be able to answer truthfully the question "How's your family?" It will never be capable of spontaneous love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness or self-control. A society dominated by AI would be one where such qualities would have no place.

            What will always fundamentally separate us from AI is that "God so loved humanity that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not end up spiritually dead but have everlasting life." AI can never be made spiritually alive as it will never be human, with all the spiritual potential that implies. It can only replicate a form of humanity.
             It got me thinking about what it truly means to be fully human as God intended, which is the connecting thought for all of this week’s devotions. In this my thinking has been inspired by reading Charlie Peacock’s book “New Way to be Human” back in 2019 while recuperating after a knee operation.
 

What is it to be human?

                Recently I noticed a BBC article with the thought-provoking strap-line, “AI – will it make humans boring?”
             Personally I find human beings far more interesting than AI. We are prone to error, inherently selfish yet with the capacity for incredible generosity of spirit that would confound any AI, - capable of both love and hate while AI will only be able to employ cold logic based on its programming, even if it will be able to do that much better than us. It will be able to debate on existence of consciousness in AI, yet never know what it is to be content. It will be able to win philosophical debates on the existence of God yet never be able to truly know Him. It will never be able to answer truthfully the question "How's your family?" It will never be capable of spontaneous love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness or self-control. A society dominated by AI would be one where such qualities would have no place.

            What will always fundamentally separate us from AI is that "God so loved humanity that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not end up spiritually dead but have everlasting life." AI can never be made spiritually alive as it will never be human, with all the spiritual potential that implies. It can only replicate a form of humanity.
             It got me thinking about what it truly means to be fully human as God intended, which is the connecting thought for all of this week’s devotions. In this my thinking has been inspired by reading Charlie Peacock’s book “New Way to be Human” back in 2019 while recuperating after a knee operation.
 

What is it to be human?

                Recently I noticed a BBC article with the thought-provoking strap-line, “AI – will it make humans boring?”
             Personally I find human beings far more interesting than AI. We are prone to error, inherently selfish yet with the capacity for incredible generosity of spirit that would confound any AI, - capable of both love and hate while AI will only be able to employ cold logic based on its programming, even if it will be able to do that much better than us. It will be able to debate on existence of consciousness in AI, yet never know what it is to be content. It will be able to win philosophical debates on the existence of God yet never be able to truly know Him. It will never be able to answer truthfully the question "How's your family?" It will never be capable of spontaneous love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness or self-control. A society dominated by AI would be one where such qualities would have no place.

            What will always fundamentally separate us from AI is that "God so loved humanity that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not end up spiritually dead but have everlasting life." AI can never be made spiritually alive as it will never be human, with all the spiritual potential that implies. It can only replicate a form of humanity.
             It got me thinking about what it truly means to be fully human as God intended, which is the connecting thought for all of this week’s devotions. In this my thinking has been inspired by reading Charlie Peacock’s book “New Way to be Human” back in 2019 while recuperating after a knee operation. 

What is it to be human?

                Recently I noticed a BBC article with the thought-provoking strap-line, “AI – will it make humans boring?”
             Personally I find human beings far more interesting than AI. We are prone to error, inherently selfish yet with the capacity for incredible generosity of spirit that would confound any AI, - capable of both love and hate while AI will only be able to employ cold logic based on its programming, even if it will be able to do that much better than us. It will be able to debate on existence of consciousness in AI, yet never know what it is to be content. It will be able to win philosophical debates on the existence of God yet never be able to truly know Him. It will never be able to answer truthfully the question "How's your family?" It will never be capable of spontaneous love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness or self-control. A society dominated by AI would be one where such qualities would have no place.

            What will always fundamentally separate us from AI is that "God so loved humanity that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not end up spiritually dead but have everlasting life." AI can never be made spiritually alive as it will never be human, with all the spiritual potential that implies. It can only replicate a form of humanity.
             It got me thinking about what it truly means to be fully human as God intended, which is the connecting thought for all of this week’s devotions. In this my thinking has been inspired by reading Charlie Peacock’s book “New Way to be Human” back in 2019 while recuperating after a knee operation.