In the midst of dark times such as these, the slivers of light that the gospel of Jesus bears on peoples’ lives is always heartening. And I’ve found in writing this blog these past years it’s the stories of grace in the midst of darkness that people respond to the most. Hence I was overwhelmed by […]
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No people, this is NOT what you get for mixing Islam with the West.
In the wake of the terrible events in the Christchurch mosques just today, could Christians of a certain persuasion stop writing things on Facebook along the lines of “This is what you get for mixing Islam in the West.”? Yep, I saw that within a few minutes of the announcement of the shooting, but strangely […]
Ground Zero: Orthodoxy and Evangelism in a Post-Pell World
There is September 10th 2001. There is September 12th 2001. And an awful lot changed in the middle. Things could not, and patently have not, gone back to the way they were before those Twin Towers came tumbling down. So too here in Australia there is the day before the lifting of the suppression order […]
OJ Simpson’s Gloves Versus Cardinal Pell’s Robes
Remember the glove? Remember the glove that didn’t fit? If you’re old enough to remember the OJ Simpson trial, the so called trial of the century in the US back in 1994, you’ll remember the glove that didn’t fit. OJ – the Juice – the famous footballer, was on trial for the murder of his […]
A Long Time Between Haircuts
The last time I went for a haircut was back in 1994. A quarter of a century ago. I remember it well, even if at the time I didn’t know it would be the final one for 25 years. Italian Catholic bloke in his late fifties called Tony in Wesley Arcade Perth. Slicked back balding […]
Making Bricks For Evangelical Pharaohs
I worry that an awful lot of modern day ministry is about making bricks for evangelical pharaohs. Whether those pharaohs are actual people, or whether they are systems and philosophies of ministry that have been put in place, doesn’t matter all that much; making bricks is the paradigm of much modern ministry. And it’s leaving […]
Imagine Waking Up Tomorrow and Only You Had Ever Heard of Jesus
Imagine waking up and only you had heard of The Beatles. That’s the conceit behind the latest movie from director Danny “SlumDog Millionaire” Boyle and screenwriter Richard “Love Actually” Curtis, Yesterday. Yesterday is shaping up to be the feel-good movie of the coming northern summer, in which a talented, but spectacularly unsuccessful musician, Jack Malik, wakes […]
Matisha’s Throne of Grace
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 something about Mum that she took an […]
What Johan Cruyff Could Teach Pastors (And Everyone Else) About Identity and Purpose
Dutchman Johan Cruyff was perhaps the greatest footballer/soccer player ever. Brazil’s Pele might pip him in some polls; George Best was a brief shining superstar. But as the leader of the Ajax FC and Dutch teams’ “total football” approach in the 1970s, plus a glittering playing and coaching career with the famous FC Barcelona, Cruyff, […]
Six Thoughts After Six Years of a Public Church Plant
Six years ago today, after several months of meeting as two household groups, our church, Providence Church Midland, decided to do a public gathering every fortnight, and household on the other weekend. We rented an old building in Midland, the old Midland bank: About thirty or so of us turned up (no visitors despite a […]