Jesus is the solution to our deepest problem. I am convinced that is true, but I do understand that it sounds completely crazy to someone who has no experience of the Bible or church. After all, Jesus was a historical figure who lived on earth around 2000 years ago. I wouldn’t think that Julius Caesar …
This Christmas, make sure you spend some time being quiet. I know that sounds crazy. Many of us have end of year gatherings, shopping and food preparation to do, children home from school, holidays to pack for, and church events to be involved in. Some of us even have Christmas sermons to write! There are …
There are many good books published every year, and I think reading Christian books is a worthwhile way to expand your thinking and grow in your understanding. Some of the books I have read recently are not ones I would recommend; in this list, I simply want to present some that I found useful that …
In the past few years, we have seen the rise of a new career choice: the influencer. An influencer is someone who has many followers on social media and is therefore paid to advertise products. As they ‘influence’ many people, some can make a lot of money in this manner. From an advertiser’s perspective, and …
Christians can speak to God anytime, anywhere, in prayer. Have you considered how special that is? It is easy to get so used to the idea of prayer that we take it for granted. We can speak to the Almighty God, the Creator of all that exists, and He listens to us! How can that …
What shape do your prayers tend to have? I know how easy it is to be so self-focussed when it comes to prayer. Whatever issue is dominating my thinking at the time is what I ask for. It is so easy to come to God with our shopping lists, expecting him to fix everything. And …
I recently led a short theology class on singleness, love sex and marriage. The second session explained the Biblical teaching on sex. There were 27 people in the room, most of whom had grown up in Christian households. As part of this, I asked the group how many of them had their parents make some …
I don’t have a lot of hair, which means that this short episode in 2 Kings 4 catches my eye: 23 He [Elisha] went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! …
Last Sunday night, my church hosted the annual Reformation Day combined service for our denomination. We are part of the Westminster Presbyterian Church. This is a small denomination of 11 congregations in Western Australia and 6 congregations in other states. The combined service was a couple of hundred people from these congregations singing with gusto …
One of the greatest cultural crimes you can commit today is to be intolerant. We must be accepting of everyone’s beliefs, whatever they might be. Now to most of us who have grown up in this world that seems perfectly reasonable and rational. We’re all free to make our own decisions about things, and we …