Just over a week ago, on 12 November, 2012, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that she will request the establishment of a Royal Commission into child sexual abuse, particularly institutional responses to child sexual abuse. Subsequently, a formal website was set up as a hub for the Royal Commission […]
The image to the right genuinely shocked me on Saturday. Not really because of what the sign said—that is nothing new. Not particularly because it was a small child holding it, though that is deeply disturbing. Not even because the mum, presumably, was taking a photograph as if this would […]
I wonder if any genre has so much to offer the believer as biography. There is wonderful fellowship to be had among those whose lives ended even before ours began. Muster of the dead Hundreds of lives have been recorded. People whose faith and joy in God changed our nation […]
I came across two unrelated comments today on the pastoral ministry. The first comment was from Booker T. Washington in his autobiography Up From Slavery. Washington was born into slavery in the United State of America and went on to found Tuskegee University after emancipation in 1863. In his comments […]
The strength of your faith is not the big deal you might think it is. Jesus made it clear that even the most minuscule amount of faith (think mustard seed) is enough to move mountains. The issue is not the quantity or quality of your faith. The issue is the […]
I used to think that legalism was externally imposed. I had recently read Bridges’ Transforming Grace and had begun to see the grip that legalism had on my life. My security in God’s love was not based solely on Christ’s imputed righteousness, but in my ability to meet a certain […]
Those who hold to a TR-only position like to think that they hold a moderate position. They typically repudiate the extremes of Ruckmanism in the strongest terms while repudiating the “extremes” of contemporary texts/translations just as firmly. It is my intention in this post to explain why I believe it […]
That’s how my friend responded to my gospel assertion. “How can you be so absolute?” he continued. “There are no absolutes.” His pluralistic confession came as we sat on the concrete chatting in the car park after a long day’s work. Without getting too philosophical, pluralism which is similar in […]
In Mark 1:11, Jesus rises from the waters of baptism and is greeted by God the Holy Spirit and God the Father who states simply his deep pleasure in his son: You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased. The struggling, faltering believer hardly dares to hope […]
Warren, Rick. The Purpose Driven Life. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002. 319 pages plus appendices. I picked up this book because I love the idea of being deliberate. Anything that can help me to live my life more deliberately is a worthwhile investment of time. Additionally, I’d read another one of […]
