Weekly Bible Reflection
Identity
It seems that many today in the West are searching for identity – be it in terms of race or ethnicity, gender or orientation. And an outcome of this quest can be guilt and fear, deceit and anger. In our changing ‘identity-seeking’ world, it is easy to feel the...
Exultant Sweetness . . .
Blaise Pascal, the French philosopher wrote: ‘Men despise religion. They hate it and are afraid it may be true. The cure for this is just to show that religion is not contrary to reason, but worthy of reverence and respect. Next make it attractive, make good men wish...
Insignificant . . . ?
In our social media driven world that gives voice to ‘my’ feelings one question surfaces: ‘Who or what are we?’ Shakespeare’s Hamlet put it this way: What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form, in moving, how express and...
Apprehension . . .
In his Everlasting Man, GK Chesterton comments: ‘three or four times at least in the history of Christendom the whole soul seemed to have gone out of Christianity, and almost every man in his heart expected its end’. He remarks on a pattern, ‘the creed (of...
Promises
Our world is not getting any better. Indeed our Western world seems to be increasingly wrecking itself on the rocks of unadulterated selfishness. Where do we turn for hope? The Book of Psalms reminds us that in the midst of the day-to-day realities of life, our only...
Happiness . . .
Happiness is something we look for in life. But how can we find it? For happiness is elusive. One moment we can feel happy, blessed by God, but the next moment the feeling has gone. Like moonlight it has slipped through our fingers. Some consider that having a good...
Strength . . .
Seventeen years ago yesterday (September 11, 2001), Judith and I were living in Downtown Manhattan in close proximity to the Twin Towers. The second of the terrorist planes flew above us at a high-pitched scream before a mighty explosion as it crashed into the South...
Psalmody . . .
One of the striking features of Thomas Cranmer’s, Book of Common Prayer is the use of the Bible, and in particular the Songs of the Bible. At the heart of the orders of service for Morning and Evening Prayer is not just a pattern for the reading through the whole of...
Abundantly Far More . . .
Earlier this month I drew attention to Dr. Greg Sheridan’s observation in his new book, God is Good for You (Allen&Unwin:2018), namely that ‘Liberalism (today) remains in furious rebellion against Christianity, its parent and its source. A certain panic at the...
Christ’s Love
Love. Back in the sixties Burt Bacharach sang: What the world need now is love sweet love ... The Beatles were singing All You Need is Love. The problem was then and still remains today that it’s one thing to sing about love, but quite another to live it. In his...
Trusting Prayer . . .
It’s never fun to stand against current opinion. People laughed when Galileo insisted that gravity attracts all bodies with the same acceleration, regardless of weight. People derided Isaac Newton when he presented science that explained the laws of motion. People...
Wisdom and Words . . .
Over recent Wednesdays, we have been considering Paul’s exhortations concerning the new lifestyle that God wants his people to adopt. We’ve touched on the themes of new life, forgiveness, peace, wives and husbands, parenting, children, work, and prayer. Throughout...
Prayer . . .
Can prayer change people – even though they are cynical or outright hostile towards matters of faith? In Colossians 4:2-4 Paul the Apostle writes: Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving. At the same time pray for us as well that God will...
Work . . .
On recent Wednesdays, I have been asking what practical steps we can take to influence society positively and create opportunities to talk to others about God’s good news. Benjamin Kwashi, the archbishop of Jos in Northern Nigeria writes in the recent...
Children . . .
Most of us long for a better world – a safer, happier and fairer world. But the question us, ‘How do we get there?’ Most people see a solution in politics or economics: change the leaders; fix the political and economic systems, the courts and the schools, and the...
Wives and Husbands . . .
People generally know that a life-long marriage is good; but everyone agrees that marriage takes commitment and work. Writing in the London Times on July 18, 2012, Janice Turner commented: Marriage is gruelingly hard, astonishing, a feat of endurance. So what advice...
Peace . . .
‘Peace’ is a word that goes to the heart of the Christian message. It’s something we all long for, yet it is one thing the world does not have. Everywhere we go there are tensions, injustices, and conflicts. In fact today, April 25, Australia remembers the sacrifice...
Forgiven & Forgiving . . .
In his article, ‘Choosing My Religion’ in The Weekend Australian Magazine (April 14-15, 2018), Bernard Salt says that while he had ‘a deeply religious (Catholic) upbringing, my faith lapsed in my 20s’. That said, he goes on to observe: ‘Christianity is connected with...