Articles (Page 38)

No, I’m not talking about you getting stuck in peak hour on the Ipswich Motorway. Trafficking is a term that is often used for those caught up in the drug trade as dealers. It is also used for those who arrange for illegal immigrants to get to our shores. However the kind of trafficking that particularly bothers me at the moment is the trafficking that takes place in what is often referred to as the “sex industry”. Last week the…

Last night I accompanied one of our members, Mae Bennetts, to an event at the Queensland University. It was a thanksgiving service in honour of those who had donated their bodies to science. When her husband Sid died last October he had willed his body to medical science. Last night the university wanted to thank the families of the 262 other people who had similarly made the ultimate donation in during 2012 and 2013. I didn’t go with high expectations.…

I’ve never written anything (as far as I can remember) about retirement. Come to think of it, I’ve not referred to it much in my preaching either. Stone the crows… talking about retirement would be a kind of admission that I’ve passed my use-by-date, wouldn’t it? Well, the sobering reality is that in another six weeks’ time I’ll have a year of retirement under my belt. That should just about qualify me to do a blog on the subject, surely?…

The media has recently reported the abduction of more than 270 school-girls in Nigeria in mid-April. The girls, mostly between 16 and 18 were sitting for a final science exam when they were abducted by terrorists. Some of the girls later managed to escape but some 190 of them are still missing. What most news reports did mention was that the radical Muslim terrorist organisation, Boko Haram, had claimed responsibility. What they did not mention was that the girls were…

As happens periodically a few days ago my past caught up with me again. I had some interaction with a lady I hadn’t seen for a very long time. Last week our paths crossed and our meeting was not as amicable as I would have liked it to be. In fact, I felt decidedly uncomfortable and she, for her part, didn’t seem very relaxed either. Let me share my problem with you. Many years ago I had assisted this lady…

An article I was reading recently, in a periodical from another church, sought to grapple with the Biblical teaching about election. The author was honest enough to state at the outset his problem with predestination: “If God, through sovereign decisions, predestines some to salvation and some to damnation, then surely He is the ultimate source of sin and suffering.” The writer then focused particularly on the text in Romans 8 – that those whom God foreknew He also predestined to…

I was reading an article in The New Zealand Herald (dated Tuesday April 15) which mentioned that the latest NZ census figures show a further decline in numbers and influence of Christianity.  In that context the writer lamented that unbelievers are “ignoring the evidence of Jesus”. The article was a well-reasoned defence of the resurrection of Jesus – which is the heart of the Easter story.  However, in the process the author made a mistake that so many people have…

We moved into our new house a little over a month ago.  The roof gutters had several years’ of accumulated rubbish – mainly rotting gum-tree leaves.  The result was that water couldn’t drain away and the roof gutters became a breeding place for mosquitoes.  Presently our dog is the worst victim of these pesky little predators.  She sleeps outside at night and for the mozzies that meant ‘party time’ as they feasted nightly on dog’s blood.  It has left our…

Yep…!  I’m sure you’ve heard all about it: there’s another “Biblical” blockbuster showing at the movies.  This time it’s the Aussie actor, Russell Crowe, starring as Noah in a movie by the same name.  I’ve heard from some who have already seen it that it’s good entertainment, good cinematography and that it has a good story line. Some people have asked me whether I’m planning to go and see it.  The answer is: no!  Let me give you two personal…

Early last week World Vision headquarters in the U.S. made news headlines when they announced an important employment policy change. They indicated that from now on they would approve hiring people who lived in a same-sex marriage relationship. They still objected to people cohabiting but as long as they were legally married then homosexuals too could now be employed by World Vision. Predictably there was a huge backlash from evangelical Christians in the U.S. with thousands of people withdrawing their…