Jesus, Tik Tok and IsraelGaza

Good Morning and Welcome to this week’s Gospel and Culture update, by Alan Vink
Jesus, Tik Tok and Israel/Gaza
Tuesday 21st November 2023

Jesus – Like No Other

POV. The doctrine of the Divinity and Humanity of Jesus perhaps more than any other biblical doctrine (or teaching) sets Jesus aside from any other ‘deity’. The New Testament asserts that Jesus Christ is equal to, and identical with God, performing works that only God can do. As the Son he is distinct from the Father and he is of identical being with him and the Holy Spirit yet at the same time fully human born of a virgin. It’s a remarkable truth and one we might want to spend a little meditating on perhaps preaching on this Christmas season. I love the way Tim Keller says it in this 3min video clip and how C.S. Lewis says it in this famous quote..

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
We are faced, then, with a frightening alternative. This man we are talking about either was (and is) just what He said or else a lunatic, or something worse. Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God. God has landed on this enemy-occupied world in human form”. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952; Harper Collins: 2001) 52-53.

Tik Tok is NOT Safe for Kids (or adults for that matter)

We now know a lot more about the harms of pornography yet it’s availability continues to ramp up. In this article The Conversation discusses the startling amount of sexual content on Tik Tok and the ease in which children have access to it. Reader discretion advised.

“Explicit content has long been a feature of the internet and social media, and young people’s exposure to it has been a persistent concern.

This issue has taken centre stage again with the meteoric rise of TikTok. Despite efforts to moderate content, it seems TikTok’s primary focus remains on maximising user engagement and traffic, rather than creating a safe environment for users.

As the top social media app used by teens, the presence of explicit content on TikTok can put young users in harm’s way. And while TikTok and regulators scramble to catch up with moderation needs, it’s ultimately up to parents and users to navigate these harms online”.

One picture says it all (from Sunday Star Times)