When things go pear-shaped
I’m not quite sure where the saying came from about something going ‘pear-shaped’. I googled it – but not much help there; with Wikipedia listing more than ten possible sources. The term first seems to have been used in the air-force for planes trying to do a loop – that often looked more pear-shaped than circular. Another suggestion that I could relate to is that party balloons are round when they are blown up but when they deflate they become…
Giving
Only once have I ever preached on the topic of giving – and that was because my elders asked me to do so. I’ve certainly referred to this matter indirectly on various occasions but it has rarely been a subject that I have addressed specifically. Only that one occasion comes to mind. The reason for my reluctance should be fairly obvious. We pastors are the recipients of the giving of our people. That makes it easy to accuse a preacher…
Trivia
Trivia Nights are a well-known way of doing fund-raising. Here in Toowoomba several churches have run Trivia Nights to raise funds for school chaplaincy programs. Trivial Pursuit is a board game that many of us are familiar with. Trivia is what is unimportant; it’s what doesn’t carry much weight. Trivia is what we find easy to dismiss. That word, trivia, came to mind when we recently had some days away at the coast in Yamba and I ended up watching…
Not excited about heaven?
Recently, in preaching, I mentioned the case of Tini – an elderly lady in failing health. On one occasion things looked grim and the family were called in to say their goodbyes. As her pastor I was kept in the loop and since she was not expected to make it through the might I called in at the hospital. While struggling for breath Tini assured me that she was at peace and longed to be with her Saviour in glory. …
Confessions of a Bigot
am biased. I am terribly biased. I am prejudiced. I am frightfully prejudiced. There, I’ve got it off my chest and said it. When I left school and entered the workforce I was envious of people with strong convictions. I wasn’t naturally like that. I tended to want to hear all sides of an argument and I was not very forthcoming with my own opinions. That was more than half-a-century ago when I was a shy and somewhat insecure teenager. …
Why not a dedication?
We had a baptism at church this morning. ‘Nothing unusual about that! Christians have been baptising since the Lord Jesus gave the Great Commission in Matthew 28. All Christians (excluding the Quakers and the Salvation Army) believe in Holy Baptism as an essential sacrament of the Church. Ah, but the baptism this morning was of a baby, as Peter and Ina presented their son Hudson to receive the sign and seal of God’s grace. Suddenly we not only have the…
Forgiveness too soon
Like many of you I saw the video footage on television of the response of that congregation in North Carolina (US) that lost nine members to a fatal shooting. It seemed to me that the response of the congregation made bolder headlines in the newspapers than the actual tragedy itself. What blew people away was the ability of the family members of the deceased to extend forgiveness to the alleged gunman. In court they testified to their pain but they…
Elisabeth Elliot
Sometimes the Lord very graciously allows us to see just a little something of the fruits of our labours for the Kingdom of Christ. I had one of those very precious moments recently. An email from a colleague mentioned that a certain man and his wife and children had begun to attend the church he presently serves. The reason the man decided to come to that church was because somewhere in the distant past I had been the pastor there…
Still Human
Jesus once quoted some words from the Psalms that have often left me more than a little mystified. He was debating with the Jewish leaders who challenged him because He had dared to claim that He was God – one with the Father. As they are about to stone him for the sin of blasphemy Jesus says, “Whoa! Hold on a minute! Doesn’t God say in the Bible: ‘You are gods!’?” (Westy’s paraphrase). So is the Bible teaching us that…
Books
Solomon once wrote: “Of making many books there is no end…” (Eccl.12:12). I’m tempted to add: “Of the reading of many books there is no end either…” except that it wouldn’t be true – because one day I will read my last book and my reading will come to an end. Maybe Solomon didn’t get it quite right either – unless he knows something that I don’t: that there will be books written in God’s new creation. Maybe! I was…