The other evening I flicked the radio on briefly and was surprised to hear an Atheist talk show. I switched on in the middle of a Christian caller arguing that Christianity is good and is about doing good (I presume against the common Atheist polemic that religion is bad). The host responded that, in his opinion, the key verse for Christianity is “do unto others as you’d have them do to you” and that you can do that without all the other “mumbo jumbo”. He rang rings around the caller, and not because he was smarter or had better arguments. Quite simply, she didn’t understand the heart of her faith. Continue reading
Category Archives: Faith
New Year Repentance
New years resolutions? I gave up breaking them a long time ago. Not that I don’t enjoy the sense of new beginnings that the new year brings, but it takes more than the euphoria of the collective cultural psyche to bring about real change. Continue reading
A Short Reflection on ‘Christmas Families’ [video]
Review of the Children’s Bible
One of the hats I wear is Children’s Pastor, and as a technophile I was intrigued when I came across a suite of apps published by a Spanish company, Barcelona Multimedia: Children’s Bible, Children’s Bible Advent Calendar and Children’s Bible Daily Prayer. In this review I’ll discuss the Children’s Bible, the backbone of the suite.
It’s a cross between a Bible comic strip and animated children’s Bible storybook. While the publishers website says it’s aimed at 7-13 year olds, in my opinion it is better suited to younger readers and family devotions. It works on both iPhone and iPad, but is much more suited to the iPad’s larger screen. Continue reading
Genesis, Jesus and the Symmetry of Scripture
Image via Wikipedia
Reading through Genesis recently I’ve been struck by the symmetry of Scripture. There’s so much in the first 3 chapters of Genesis that anticipates the coming of Christ. The beginning of Genesis concerns creation and fall, Matthew and the gospels concern recreation and redemption. I turned this into a sermon recently. Here are a few examples.
Garden: Eden was a paradise is where humanity’s rebellion took place, Gesthmene was a place of suffering where Christ’s submission was completed (Gen 3.1-6; Matt 26.36-42).
Temptation: Adam and Eve were tempted to doubt God by the serpent int he garden and fell, Christ was tempted to doubt God by Satan in the wilderness and overcame (Gen 3.1-6; Matt 4.1f.).
Banishment: Adam and Eve were banished to ‘east of Eden’ away from God’s presence, magi came from the East to worship God the Son (Gen 3.21-24; Matt 2.1-11).
Angels: angels blocked the way back to Eden, Angels ministered to Jesus in the wilderness and the garden.
What other symmetries do you see?
The Problem with the Marriage Debate
I think I’m coming to realize what my problem with the gay marriage debate is, and it’s not gay marriage per se, it’s the Western concept of marriage generally. Western ideology can essentially be defined by three things – me, myself and I. In much of what I observe of Western culture and philosophy, we seem to have lost the ability to think in reference to the subordination of the individual to larger community obligations and considerations. Continue reading
Mission Minded Doesn’t = Missionary
Since announcing my resignation at EBC a few people, inside and outside the church (I mean, outside any church), have said they expect me to go into missions. It’s true that I have a keen interest in mission. I was a missionary kid and married a mish kid who I met while doing two years of missionary service! I’ve supported missionaries at various times. Somehow I’ve become heavily involved in supporting an overseas ministry, and my visit to India last year was life changing and I hope to return often.
But I don’t want to become a missionary. Continue reading
What Did Jesus Say? » Forty years on…
Thought this was well worth linking to:
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John published their historical accounts thirty to sixty years after the events. Does this time gap affect the validity of their stories? Can we rely on history written after 40 years?
I remember exactly where I was standing 46 years ago; the day I found out I would not be conscripted into the Australian Army during the Vietnam War! My birthday was not chosen in the ballot.
Christopher Roost was born a few weeks after me. His birthday was selected in the conscription lottery! He was called up for compulsory military service, and served in Vietnam with 4th Battalion, RAR, Charlie Company. On patrol two days before Christmas 1968, he was killed by the remote detonation of an explosive device. He died on his first wedding anniversary! He was 22 years of age.
In 2007, 39 years after his death, Cheryl Roost, published the story of his life and death; “Mary in the Morning”…
Read the rest at What Did Jesus Say? » Forty years on….
Unreasons I’m Leaving
I don’t intend to blog about why I made the decision to resign from EBC apart from saying it was time. However I will talk about some of the the things that aren’t reasons.
It’s probably a no brainer, but top of the list is people. For most of the time we’ve been here we’ve had good relationships with people, even those we disagree with, even when meetings have got heated. Continue reading
Easter Birthday
It’s not very often you get to celebrate your birthday on Easter. In fact, most people never will. It only ever falls within a narrow band of 6-8 weeks, so if you weren’t born in March or April you’re out of luck. I’m sure most people don’t give a fig, of course, and I didn’t even think of it until I woke up this morning.
