You’re Soaking in It
Are you old enough to remember Madge the beautician, and the Palmolive dishwashing detergent Ad? She matter-of-factly places her customer’s fingers into a bowl of mystery green liquid, and begins spruiking the virtues of Palmolive – “it’s mild on your hands while you do dishes”. Then announces to her customer’s shock, “You’re soaking in it”. […]
Ordinary Power from on High
Do we think of ourselves as just ordinary, everyday Christians? And that while some people in the Bible have some pretty amazing spiritual experiences, that those experiences are probably not really for us? And maybe we think of the events of Pentecost a bit the same way?…. At the end of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus talks […]
The Left, the Right,… or the Heights?
There’s been a lot of discussion of politics recently, and the different positions that people hold to. These differences are taken by some with grace and good humour, but between others with passion verging on violence. In some contexts we can be hesitant even to admit to our political views – whether we are toward […]
How Do Christians Fit into Party Politics?… They Don’t.
Timothy Keller. “The Bible binds my conscience to care for the poor, but it does not tell me the best practical way to do it. Any particular strategy (high taxes and government services vs low taxes and private charity) may be good and wise and may even be somewhat inferred from other things the Bible […]
Getting Along with the Neighbours
Jesus Christ gave us a commandment: that we must love one another (John 13:34) – and He does use the word “must”. He also says that our doing this will be a special sign that we are His followers; there will be an attraction about it that will draw people to us, and Him (v35). […]
Peter (John 21:1-19)
Almost right on the heels of Thomas, we have the story of Peter. Some scholars believe that the book of John originally ended with 20:30–31. If the gospel had ended there, Peter could have breathed a sigh of relief, dodging the bullet of having to face the One he had betrayed and look Him in […]
ANZAC DAY
As we come to celebrate ANZAC Day in 2022, tragically the reality of war is very much in our minds. The constant stream of images and reports from the war in Ukraine has affected us very deeply; we have a vivid impression of the horror of war. However, the current conflict has also shown us […]
Thomas (John 20: 19-30)
A week after Easter Sunday, Jesus came and stood among the disciples and said, “Peace be with you!” The disciples were overjoyed when they saw him. But, for some unknown reason, Thomas (or Didymus or Twin), was missing. When told of the Lord’s appearance, Thomas refused to believe. He wanted proof. A week later, Thomas […]
Life From the Ashes
We’ve been transfixed for the last six weeks by the images and reports of horror coming from the war being evilly inflicted on the people of Ukraine by Russia. These images can represent what people find most difficult about accepting faith in God – i.e., the fact of so much innocent suffering in the world. […]
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?
The Apostles, Peter and Paul, had a famous argument regarding with whom you could sit down for dinner (Gal 2:11-14). The Christian Gospel says that all are equally accepted by God through faith in Christ, regardless of who they are, or what their ethnic and cultural (and subcultural) identity may be. However, on this occasion […]