Standing in the shopping mall, those tomb-side words on that chill first Easter morning came to me, “They have stolen Him away and we don’t know where they have put Him”, words true for most contemporary Australians. But worse, society’s degraded state of spiritual desiccation is now so far advanced that most don’t even know there has been a theft!
Standing in the shopping mall, those tomb-side words on that chill first Easter morning came to me, “They have stolen Him away and we don’t know where they have put Him”, words true for most contemporary Australians. But worse, society’s degraded state of spiritual desiccation is now so far advanced that most don’t even know there has been a theft!
It is 46 years since Cyclone Tracy hit the northern Australian city of Darwin, on that fateful Christmas Eve in 1974. I always remember that event at Christmas time because it was that storm that brought us to Australia in the first place, to work on the reconstruction of Darwin. On that night, the Christmas … Continue reading The Eye of Peace
‘He is stolen and it is not harmless!’ _____________ I entered the large shopping complex and there He was, front, centre and large, enthroned in his palace. There He was, ‘the reason for the season’. The One who is always encouraging the children to come to him, and woe betide anyone who want to … Continue reading The Stealing of Christmas
‘Let me sing for my beloved, A love song concerning His vineyard, My beloved had a vineyard, On a very fertile hill, He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with the choicest of vines . . . . … Continue reading The Thread of Pain
A relevant re-post on the 75th anniversary of the end of the 2nd World War
So Easter has passed once more. The most important time in the Christian calendar as we rehearse what has been described as the ‘greatest story ever told, about the greatest offer ever made by the greatest person who ever lived’. The media reported thousands filling Easter services supported by pictures of crowded churches, as would … Continue reading The Easter Mirage and the Missional Malaise
Too early for a new Year’s resolution? I suggest not! God is a God of ‘New Things’. A mining of scripture tells us so- For “behold . . . new things I now declare”, “behold I am doing a new thing”, “the new heavens and the new earth which I will make”, “I will make … Continue reading A Paralysis of the New
This post is substantially the same as an article I wrote several years ago but I think has even more relevance now. Especially so as we draw near to Christmas when there will be a lot of ‘lights’ festooning houses, buildings, streetscapes and Christmas trees. However, increasingly, rather than symbolizing the Light of Christ “which … Continue reading ‘The Forgetting of Light’
“Soldiers of Christ arise and put your armour on, . . . . From strength to strength go on: Wrestle and fight and pray; Tread all the powers of darkness down And win the well fought day” … Continue reading An Army With Amnesia
