Biblical words matter.
We sow, God saves.
Christianity is a counterculture.
Run the race as if it matters.

Introduction

These commentaries are the result of my personal experience and study. They reflect my perspective on Christian doctrine—the narrative that shapes a believer’s faith—and how that narrative influences our ability to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Today, Christianity often seems disconnected from the broader cultural conversation—reduced, in many ways, to an inconvenient subculture that increasingly grapples with spiritual diversity and social identity. This growing irrelevance raises a pressing question: why has the Church drifted so far from meaningful engagement with society? What concerns me most is how rarely this issue is addressed. Leadership from the pulpit is more focused on the organisation of the institution itself—an oversight that, in my view, has a direct and damaging effect on the health of the Church.

About Me

My earliest experiences were shaped, but not led, by a Christian view of life—a position that continued for 40 years before I made a personal decision to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. In 2001, I was part of a leadership team that welcomed a new Pastor to our Church. Not long after, we were confronted with a series of theological and relational challenges that ultimately split the congregation in two. It took three subsequent Pastors and many years for the Church to heal from this division. I still recall the sadness, anger, and disillusionment that followed—the sense of confusion—the lingering weight of unanswered questions. Through that experience, I realised two things—that I knew very little about why I believed; and second, that whatever I did know wasn’t truly my own.

My Latest Commentary

Trevor Strange Trevor Strange

Progressive Healing

Mark 8:22-26. This passage is not referred to very often, but some Pastors and Teachers reference it when calls are made for healing. For the most part this text is used to suggest that those who want healing should come forward repeatedly, because God heals them in stages.

While I’m not suggesting that God cannot heal in stages, I believe a literal application of this text is misleading and encourages a false narrative. The obvious question is why would God arbitrarily decide to heal in this manner in this stand-alone passage from all of scripture? There is little biblical evidence, or supportive text, to answer why Jesus did healed this way, other than the surrounding passages that may provide some context within the narrative itself. Unfortunately teaching this as common practice for healing always carries some degree of subjectivity and coercion. Invariably it results in undermining and misconstruing the more general nature of healing by faith. Why, because progressive healing becomes a ritualized process, a repetative process without addressing the real issue that I believe Jesus was attempting to convey. This may have negative implications on faith, and the faithfulness of God. In reality it’s less than wise to use this passage as a means of orchestrating or manipulating a healing. Scripture already encourage us to pray and submit our infirmities to God, without adding the difficulties of an obscure passage that arguably has the sole purpose of teaching on the subject of spiritual blindness.

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