Pastor John
Twenty-six letters
“Amazing, really, when you think about it! Those same letters of the alphabet that can be used to praise God and bless other people, can also be used to curse God and tear people down. What I’m talking about, of course, is the miracle of language. It’s one of the things that set us apart from the animal world. I can teach my pet parrot to mimic a few English words. I can teach my dog to respond to some…
Parental Failings
Pastor John did a little thinking about his parenting today as he revisited some old letters. Maybe these thoughts will be helpful for some younger parents. Read more…
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…
SA’s JNGK and SSM
What a sad week it has been for our South African friends! Their largest church, the Dutch Reformed Church (NGK) officially approved same-sex marriages (SSM). At the same time their synod also opened the way for their ministers and other office-bearers to live as practicing homosexuals and to even marry their same-sex partners. Previously homosexual office-bearers in that church were permitted to serve on the condition that they lived celibate lives. The moderator of their synod, Nelis Janse van Rensburg…