I remember the day as if it was yesterday. It was my first day in high school (Year Seven for international readers) and my whole world was changing. In primary school, you reach the top of the food chain in Year Six only to start again at the bottom in […]

A few weeks ago I stood under a large sixteen metre gum tree with an arborist and local council officer. I couldn’t fault anything with the tree… but then again, I don’t known anything about trees. The two professionals were so alarmed by the tree that they created an exclusion […]

Our church participated in our monthly bush regeneration project with the local community yesterday. While sitting in the mulch I was thinking about ministers and science. Ministers need to be professionally curious about scientific issues. Ministers are usually able to be conversant on a wide range of issues. Furthermore, most […]

The 26 March election in New South Wales would emphatically suggest that voters are looking for a new direction in the state government. The Coalition has been elected with a significant majority and the Labor government has suffered the greatest loss of seats in Australian politics. As we look forward […]

I’ve appreciated Jason’s ongoing series on the King James Version and I marvel at how the ensuing discussion alternates between a fight between kung-fu masters and schoolboys in a fight. I would like to posit the following as my contribution to this series: Almost five hundred years ago, a boat […]

I saw a touching portrait of personal courage and faith over the weekend. In their HSC (12) Year, a student is facing a protracted stay in hospital after a similar stay in hospital in the previous year. The first thing that struck me was their personal courage. Thinking back to […]

Last week I was at the airport waiting for my flight when I received a phone call. The call was from the airport gate informing me that I was about to miss my plane. I was relaxing at the time and my first response was incredulity. “No I am not […]

We’ve been doing a study on encouragement by Mattias Media over the past few months in men’s Bible study. One study has a role-play between a regular church attender and a first time visitor. Here are some of the things that were identified in the study: Don’t let “busyness” stop […]

Thanks to Jason and the rest of the InFocus team for giving me the opportunity to write over the next twelve weeks. I’m excited about sharing what I have been reading and reflecting on with particular attention to the purpose of the blog: “Our purpose is to develop the Australian […]

Last week, I wrote that we should spend more time learning how to think. This book helps you to learn how to think. So for the curious or the busy, here’s a book review. Susan Wise Bauer’s The Well-Educated Mind: The Guide to Classical Education You Never Had argues that […]