Living to God’s Glory
If the law of God can be summarized in a positive command, then we consider how to “run to” God rather than merely how to “run from” sin. Life is not primarily about what we avoid, but what we pursue. As you read through and answer these nine questions, remember God’s patience and timing. There will be some aspects of God’s design that you can engage in immediately. But there will also be ways you want to serve God that will…
I’m Better Than You
by Tim Challies I’m kind of a jerk. For as long as I’ve been able to think about myself, my heart, my life, I’ve known that I’m a sinful person. I’ve never doubted the reality of my depravity. And if there ever had been any doubt, being married and having children and immersing myself in a local church has provided all the proof I, and they, need. But lately I’ve been considering one simple and disturbing aspect of this sin: I’m better…
Stimulate Your Mind
When we enter Jesus’ kingdom, he begins a life-long process of transformation in our lives. No part of our life is off-limits, if we are to grow to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. God’s Word is a primary source of transformation. As we engage with the pages of Holy Scripture, our thinking, our loves, our desires, our loves, our actions are reshaped by the work of the Spirit. As we find ourselves at the beginning…
I Am
The latest catalogue from Koorong just arrived in the mail. It’s not my most eagerly anticipated postal item. I’m trying to down-size my library and the last thing I need is yet more books. However I do take a passing interest in what is being read by Christians and sometimes in a moment of weakness I succumb to the temptation to add yet another volume to my library. Sadly, I confess that I often open the Koorong catalogue with a…
Mistaken Identity
In a meeting this week Pastor Andrew shared an interesting story. There was a preacher whose eye-sight was becoming somewhat of a problem so after a visit to the optometrist he appeared in the pulpit the next Sunday wearing spectacles. A young tyke who had also just begun to wear glasses, turned to his mum with excitement and announced: “Isn’t that great Mum? God is wearing glasses too.” It brought back memories of one of my own experiences with a…
Flawed
Someone once remarked that the doctrine of original sin doesn’t need any proof. The flawed nature of humanity is just too painfully obvious. And yet, strangely, there is this very common misconception that human beings are inherently good. If we just make sure that we have the right environment in which to live and if only we remove the negative stresses from our surroundings all will turn out okay. A hundred years ago there was much optimism about humankind. It…
Reality Check
It’s been a busy time packing and cleaning up before moving on to the next exciting adventure that the Lord has waiting for us. Many of you will know from experience what it’s like the day before the removalist comes and takes all your stuff away. You have to make important decisions about what to keep and what to bin; what to take to the Lifeline Op-shop and what leave for the next owners. At a little after 8pm that…
Church EFT
Lately we’ve been reminding our church members that the church’s banking details have changed and that they can find the new BSB and Account Number in their church bulletin. For most of our lives we didn’t know (and probably didn’t care) what the church’s bank details were. Suddenly it has become important. The reason is that many of us now support our church financially by transferring money from our own account to that of the church via EFT (Electronic Funds…
View from the Pulpit
Early in my ministry I got talking to an elderly colleague who had only recently retired. I had noticed already as a teenager that whenever this man preached in our church he would not look at the people in his congregation. His eyes invariably focused on some spot high up on the back wall of the auditorium. When I found myself in the same State and sitting next to him at a State-wide Ministers’ gathering I thought it was appropriate…
A Different Reality
The Coalition’s Senator Eric Abetz recently took a well-deserved swipe at the media. He claimed that the media is not truly representative of the Australian population but has a left wing bias – particularly against things Christian. “If you have a Christian, conservative point of view to offer, the media will have this negative-sentiment override which will simply be critical of any views that you may seek to express and that has, regrettably, been the case now for many years…