Mark Keown

What an amazing year! COVID-19 has dominated, of course, we all know about that and have been affected one way or another. America has a new president, although the current one is not giving up without a fight. And so we come to another Christmas. Christmas tells the story of God’s Son entering human history in a young woman's womb in an insignificant ancient town, Bethlehem. He was raised in the even more insignificant Nazareth. Such things show that God is prepared to come in undramatic circumstances, away from the glitz and glamour of those in power, and grow his kingdom from a small seed into the largest tree in the garden. He came through the miraculous conception of a virgin, showing that God is a God of miracles. He is an interventionist, God, entering creation at his will, to work out his purposes—we are comforted that God can if he wills. He was conceived in a womb and born in the usual human way, not in a blaze of heavenly glory with angels and fire, showing God’s p...

 It is common in our western cultures to speak of “religion” to describe an entity of people who believe in God or gods or who adhere to a particular religious group. It is fair to call such groups religions, we have to call them something. It helps in analysing the differences across humankind. However, what then happens is that others can use this label to make gross generalisations such as blaming religion for ills in the world, like war. They can put people down who do believe in God or gods as inferior because they submit themselves to the said religion’s creeds and ideas. It can become politicised, stigmatised, and weaponised. This has happened in western cultures. Such putting down and labelling is naïve as all humans are religious and submit to something or someone. For some people, it is the government. They look to the government to solve the ills of the world and believe in it. When there is a problem in society, they expect governments to fix it. We see this in NZ w...

It is truly stunning that God became flesh. Who would have thought, the one who set the universe in motion, shaped it, selected planet earth in the milky way, filled it with glorious flora and fauna, placed his image bearers on it, granted them dominion, worked for their salvation despite their failings, would become flesh? Not just, a body (soma), but sarx, one with the creation. He, the Creator of all things, became a part of his creation, to save it. He did not despise matter or the human body. He entwined himself completely with humanity, his DNA forged into Mary's ovum, and became a zygote, a foetus, an embryo and then the child Jesus. And he did not enter the world as one might expect as a king, a man of power and glory, but as a powerless child of controversial circumstances in a humble Jewish home. What a story! And who was it that recognised him? Not Caesar, or Herod. The Angels of course did, as they heralded his entry into his world. It was the humble shepherds, ironical...

As it is the day before Christmas I want to celebrate sport from a God-point-of-view. In recent times I have begun to give thanks to God as I have realised that sport is close to his heart. What, you say? What has God to do with sport? Well, he made us physical. Ancient Greeks despised the body and celebrated the mind. They saw human existence as being trapped in a weak shadow of reality in the evil of matter. However, the Judeo-Christian ethic celebrates the whole person. We are made in God's image, physical, to eat and be whole. The Christian is the temple of God. He made us creative, creativity in forming games to enjoy is part of being human. So for me sport is one of humanities great gifts. It is a healthy way of interacting, socialising, competing and having fun. Sport has indeed become idolatrous and tarnished with cheating through drugs etc, materialism as it has become big business and a win-at-all-costs mentality. Yet this does not invalidate sport. It is good and to be e...