She was blessed- Good home, parents loved her, provided for all her needs. A good school doing well, headed for uni for sure, life looked set. Then Oh fateful day! A party, A ‘cool’ guy, A relationship, first of a long line of very bad choices. Oh choices. What they do to us! He was … Continue reading Choices
Mission and the ‘Einsteinian’ Insanity
Albert Einstein defined ‘Insanity’ as “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result!” I was reminded of this by the experience of a number of our ministry leaders who took a group of teenagers to a regional youth outreach event. The intention was that church youth would invite non-church friends … Continue reading Mission and the ‘Einsteinian’ Insanity
‘Ho Hum’ It’s Easter
I saw an article recently about a visitor to Australia who had been diagnosed with leprosy and it reminded me that this terrible disease is still around today in various parts of the world. This was true even more so in Jesus’ time, and for Jews was serious in a way that went far beyond … Continue reading ‘Ho Hum’ It’s Easter
Cheap Grace and the Dumbing Down of Sin
The term ‘Cheap Grace’ was coined by the German pastor Deitrich Bonhoeffer. He was a man who sought to oppose the Nazis in World War 2 and paid for it with his life, being executed by them tragically only a few days before the war ended. Bonhoeffer defined cheap grace as: “Cheap grace is the … Continue reading Cheap Grace and the Dumbing Down of Sin
‘System Failure!’
A recent headline to an article by Paul Kelly of the ‘Australian' newspaper caught my eye. It read- “Broken System Can't Fix the Nations Problems" Of course Kelly was referring to what he calls the "failure in Australia's political system". However I think paraphrasing Kelly’s title a little to “Broken System Can't Fix the Churches … Continue reading ‘System Failure!’
Tick-a-Box Christianity
For many people life is easier if they just have to ‘tick boxes’ i.e. they just want somebody, or a set of rules, to tell them what to do, so they can do it, ‘tick the box’ and move on. There are also those who like ‘ticking boxes’ in terms of their Christianity e.g. went … Continue reading Tick-a-Box Christianity
The Village
In the ‘Village’ pretty much everyone dressed up and gathered in the church building for the Sunday service. During the week they lived and worked in, or in close proximity to, the ‘Village’, either on the land, or in service enterprises (blacksmiths, coopers, shoemakers etc). This proximity meant that they rubbed shoulders with and connected … Continue reading The Village
Longing for God
For many years I worked as a professional engineer in a design office in Wales in the United Kingdom. Most of my colleagues were fluent Welsh speakers, a point that thoroughly irritated me because most of the time I could not understand what the office chat was about. So working on the principle of “If … Continue reading Longing for God
King Canute and the Unstoppable Tide
King Canute was an English King in the 10th Century who is recorded as having governed very wisely and as having done a lot of good for his people. However, the story (legendary or not) is that he became so flattered by those around him as to his greatness that he believed he could control … Continue reading King Canute and the Unstoppable Tide
The Unchanging Changer
All who claim to be Christians will say they worship God The degree to which we worship God however depends on the extent to which we actually know Him-or to put it another way which ‘god’ do we actually worship? If our knowledge of God is limited, defective or distorted by our own ideas, then … Continue reading The Unchanging Changer
