Hurt
It gets harder to watch the TV news. The tragic scenes from the Turkiye and Syria earthquake become more and more devastating. Human beings cannot see other people in pain and distress and feel no different; some of the pain transfers to us. One of our gut reflexes is to look away and try not […]
Earthquake
We are stunned by the devastation from the earthquakes this week in Turkiye and Syria. We’ve watched scenes of untold destruction to cities, towns and homes, bodies broken, families and lives torn apart. How can we respond?…. We’re to love our neighbour as ourself; that must mean in the first instance empathizing – i.e., imagining […]
Vision
A couple of weeks ago we did a bit of a tour of the Murray River in flood. It was amazing to see it up close and personal, but we couldn’t really get a sense of how much water was flowing through and affecting the whole river system. The same week a friend flew over […]
Be Reconciled
In Australian society today there are few more important issues than reconciliation. This is particularly prominent around Australia Day, which tends to highlight a range of unresolved justice issues between Aboriginal Australians, and non-Aboriginal Australians. The Bible says that, through Christ, God was reconciling all nations to Himself, not counting their sins against them (2Cor 5:19; […]
One Blood
From one blood [God] made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live,so that they would search for God… and find him. [Acts 17:26,27] Paul could have been speaking of us in twenty first century Australia! We are indeed made […]
Flood vs God
Last weekend I stood in the main street of Mannum. I was standing on dry ground alongside a reinforced, yet seemingly narrow, levee wall, the other side of which the waters of the River Murray were flowing through shops and homes, the level above my head. I had an awesome sense of the power of […]
Only on Loan
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). God is shaping us like a master sculptor. Sometimes we might wonder why our life experiences seem like fate and accident rather than purposeful shaping. At such times we must trust him. […]
Stickability
When I was in high school, a student in our class was told by the teacher to remove chewing gum from his mouth. “One day,” he continued “I will tell you what is in chewing gum!” Years later, I met the teacher again, and related this incident. He could not remember the occasion, nor what substance was in chewing […]
Good or Best
Many good things are said about Christmas. For example: “Christmas is a family time”, or “it is better to give than to receive”, or “Christmas is a time to remember the disadvantaged”, or “Merry Christmas! And a happy new year!” These are all good sentiments, and there is nothing wrong with any of them. But […]
You Can’t Be Human Without God’s Word
Jesus said that we cannot be real, full human beings apart from the truth and life that are given to us by every word that God speaks (Mt 4:4). When the Bible speaks of the Word of God it means two things: firstly, it is a name for Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, […]