In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. If you’re screeching at your TV screen and demanding a total lockdown because the government knows nothing, or if you’re planning a trip to the beach with your twenty or so besties, you’re actually part of the same problem. It’s a problem with authority. […]
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Normal death is not in lockdown
Normal death is not in lockdown. Normal death is not following government directives. Normal death is not watching for the latest updates from the Prime Minister Normal death did not stockpile humans like toilet paper. Normal death was confident there would be plenty of humans left over for after the virus had done its job. […]
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The Panic Room: Ten minutes of pure panic every weekday in these times of crisis
Starting live tomorrow, Steve McAlpine (that’s me) and David Robertson (that’s him), doing a live stream video (me in Perth, him in Sydney 4000km away). It’s called The Panic Room – eight to ten minutes of pure panic, with resources, ideas, and encouragements in these panicky times. Here’s the first one. Check it out every […]
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The new normal will look just like the old normal
The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth. Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some […]
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The tomb is far emptier than the shelves will ever be
It’s coming up to Easter. Bet you didn’t think Lent 2020 was going to take that much away from you did you? I was hoping people would be giving up oats, baked beans, minced meat and pasta. Apparently not. A few weeks ago we were toying around on social media talking about all of the […]
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Today’s Virgin Lounge wifi Password: feelgoodflying
Today’s wifi password in the Virgin lounge I am sitting in has just been handed around. Here it is: feelgoodflying Wonder if they’re just being cheeky. Because obviously very few people do. Feel good flying, I mean. I assume I will get a couple of seats to myself. More than a couple. A chance to […]
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How Might this Coronavirus Help Churches Be On Their Guard?
“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the […]
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A Very Civil Virus
What we’re experiencing, so far, with coronavirus, is a very civil virus. It’s like the difference between a civil war and very civil war. Check out my latest blog on Third Space here to see what I mean.
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I Dreamed a Post-Apocalyptic Dream
Just had my first post-apocalyptic dream/nightmare last night. It was a doozy. Well, not my first. To be more specific, my first post-apocalyptic dream since the great toilet-roll-run/coronavirus on again/off again pandemic of 2020. My dream was, of course, well informed by the run on almost all things sanitary in the past few weeks in […]
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The Great Toilet Paper Run of 2020
It will become known as The Great Toilet Paper Run of 2020. And we’ll laugh about it next week. Unless it becomes The Great Coronavirus Plague of 2020. And the history books will record it for years to come. Wanna toss a coin on it? It’s amazing how skittish people are in the modern Western […]
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It Pays To Hold Your Nerve in the Transgender Debate
It pays to hold your nerve. Always. With the latest news out of the UK that a young woman is calling out the National Health Service’s gender clinic for not challenging her strongly enough when she was 16, and wanting to transition to male, it feels like the ground is shifting back to sanity. And […]
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Hey ANZ: Forget Love Speech, here’s a guide to Love Action
As a general rule of thumb, the bigger and nastier the organisation, the better the PR machine. The biggest and nastiest (think Nazi Germany or Communist China) have PR machines that kick over into propaganda juggernauts. Why hello ANZ Bank! Along with the other big banks in Australia the ANZ has a PR machine to […]
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Kindness
When heaven comes crashing onto earth and the age-to-come begins in all its fulness there’s one of its qualities that I’m gagging for at the moment: kindness. Oh I know there’s talk about how it will be one great big worship service on that last day that begins the new days. And I know from […]
Recent Posts
Shock, Horror, Christians Might Get Crucified by The Govt’s Religious Bill!
Hey watch out Christians! You know that Bill that was supposed to protect you from discrimination? Well here’s the latest: It’s actually going to enable people to discriminate against you! Don’t believe me? Then what about this?: Scary huh! But also – once again – fake news. Fake news worthy of The Donald! All it […]
My Former Life as a Radical
Assuming that intentions translate directly into results, radicals tend to be unscrupulous optimists in that they operate on the premise that well-intentioned radical change, however destructive, can only lead to improvement. That quote caught my eye from a Quillette article by a former political radical, who outlined the mindset that is required to belong to […]
Friday Round Up: Good Societies, Bad Societies, Zombies and Viruses
In my role at Third Space I write and speak on pretty much the same sorts of things I write and speak about here on stephenmcalpine.com Here are links to a couple of the latest. In the first I explore why the idea of societal collapse due to a virus (think zombies or coronavirus) has […]
Christians: Do your beliefs make you unsafe to be foster parents?
So what would you say as a traditional Christian couple when (not if) the foster care agency asks your response to a foster child announcing they identified as LGBTQI? Leaving aside the vexing question of what age any child could make such a declaration meaningfully, this exact issue has led to a Western Australian couple […]
Sorry Sydney Morning Herald, I’m not champing at the bit to be a bigot
Do you know what the conservative religious people of Australia are waiting for? They are waiting for the government’s religious discrimination bill to pass Parliament so that they can rush down to their local child care centre and shout at single mums that God is going to judge them for their kids not having a […]
Upon The Death of a Celebrity
I woke up this morning to the news that Kobe Bryant had died. I told my daughter. “Oh my goodness!” exclaimed my indie-music loving, non sports-watching/playing 18 year old, “Did he really? How?”, before rushing off to tell her brother. My 12 year old skating, non-basketball playing son came in, still in pyjamas, but sleep […]
Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life Exposes Our Showy Selfie Culture
If you’re a Terrence Malick fan, then you’ve got to see his latest film, A Hidden Life. It’s terrific. If you are not a Malick fan, become one by going to see it. Mind you, at 2 hours 45 minutes its either empty your bladder or bring your catheter. I got to see it at […]
The End of (Secular) Babies
Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court. (Psalm 127) Well maybe not […]
Jesus takes the worry out of worship
I’ve taken the opportunity during our extended, and gloriously sunny, beachside holiday to plough through the Pentateuch. Genesis was a riveting read, as was most of Exodus. Then we get a bit bogged down. Lots and lots of worship ordinands. And don’t let me catch you boiling a young goat in its mother’s milk. The […]
This leftie is right about church: No bones about it.
In a fascinating article in The Canberra Times, climate activist, Michael Bones, writes about how progressives need to take a leaf about how to change society from, of all places – the church – and conservative church at that. You can read the full article here. In the wake of the terrible Australian bushfires and the […]