Stephen McAlpine

Stephen McAlpine

Matisha’s Throne of Grace

Another story of amazing, lived out grace from Stephen McAlpine’s mother that I think you’ll appreciate, and also use to reflect on how you treat the annoying, graceless people who God brings into our neighbourhoods! “When Matisha moved into the retirement apartment next to my Mum last year, things got ugly. Very ugly. Very quickly. Matisha took an instant dislike to Mum. Only my Mum. All the other residents she was fine with.  Chatted with them.  Spent time with them  But there was…

Imagine

There’s a new movie coming out this year called “Yesterday”, about a talented, yet spectacularly unsuccessful musician who who wakes up after a bicycle accident to discover the world has never heard of The Beatles. As you can imagine, he now has a back catalogue of amazing songs with which to amaze the world. The success that has eluded him is about to swamp him. Try this, then, for a thought experiment: “Imagine walking up tomorrow morning and being the…

The Day Jesus Said “I’ve Got This”

“… let me assure you that there’s truly something amazing about God’s grace in Jesus. Something amazing about God in Christ stooping down to us. Amazing enough to melt your heart. And in my mum’s costly forgiveness and years of prayer for my dad, I’ve been able to see that grace. And perhaps it’s pulled me away from being as graceless as I could have been. It’s certainly made me see things more sharply.” Read more…

What a Pro-Life Church Looks Like

What does a pro-life church look like? Pastor Stephen McAlpine shares how believing in life after life after death has come to expression in his congregation and writes, “We’re living in a culture of death that has run out of hope. Let’s be that strange group of people who are pro-life from cradle to grave, because life after life after death is our hope.” Read more…

The Lamb That Takes Away the Sins of Australia

“Can lamb bring us together? Can lamb chop out our differences? That’s the rather cheeky claim of the latest lamb ad in Australia. Australian lamb ads are becoming a tradition in themselves. Almost as traditional as Australia Day. And Australia Day is nearly upon us. It’s 26th January. At least it is this year. That could change, given the rejection of the day by many Aboriginal Australians. So, ironically, the lamb ads that reach their zenith, just in time for…

Observed by Grief

“I have been reading CS Lewis’s little tome, A Grief Observed, and it is simultaneously wounding and healing. There is too much of the book to like. So much I cannot quote any of it here. If you don’t have a copy, buy one. Read it as soon as possible. Read it in your grief. But read it in your joyous non-grief to prepare you for your grief to come.” Read more…

The Beauty of Normal Boring Liturgy

“The sheer ordinary routine of gospel liturgy is a thing of beauty and strength in an increasingly ugly and weakened Western culture. Let’s never be the church of which someone might say when they visit another church when it opens the Bible to proclaim the excellencies of Jesus; “We don’t normally do that.” Read more…

Teflon Slogans Versus Velcro Stories

“Stories are Velcro. They grip and hang on tight, refusing our desire to shake them off; paying no attention to our 21st century affectedness, our urban sophistication in which we assume we are above unconscious desire, and are instead well-researched, highly aware choosers and consumers of our own destinies. Faced with a reality in which the self-conscious self is a product that we now sell back to companies and organisations, with all of our social media sloganeering behind us, the…

Margaret Court Vs Sensible Evangelicals

“Aptly named Aussie tennis legend Margaret Court’s outspoken public comments today against same sex marriage may have her opponents on the other side of the net seething. But it’s her doubles partner that I most concerned with – her fellow Christians who don’t necessarily want to be seen on the same side of the court as her. You see, one of the biggest fears among evangelical middle class Christians in these increasingly confusing and hostile times in the public square,…