The wisdom of Linus
Couldn't have said it better myself, Linus. Grace to you.
Looking beyond the juniper tree
Have you ever felt like you cannot go on? Have you ever experienced the weights of despair, discouragement and disappointment? Do you ever wonder if there is anybody left who actually cares for your plight? If any of these questions ring true in your heart than you understand to some degree the experiences of the powerful prophet Elijah. There he sits under the desert Juniper shrub having personally experienced one of the greatest evidences of
How many kids should I have?
The average Australian family size with 2.4 kids is not as common as it used to be. Increasingly small sedans are making way for either Toyota Coasters or a Mazda MX5s. When we look to the Bible for guidance, we cannot find a passage that tells us how many children is ideal. The often quoted verse is "blessed is he whose quiver is full." In Christian pop culture, the pressure is on. Through their reality
When God hurts us
I spoke at a family camp at Crystal Creek Christian Camp over the weekend. If you've ever been there, you know the blessing it is to fellowship with God's people around the word in such beautiful surroundings. In one of my sessions, I spoke about the night Jacob encountered God in an all-night wrestling match. As the sun rose the following morning, Jacob walked away with what he had fought for... but he walked with
Expecting the supernatural?
When faced with health trials or when all human means have been exhausted, we turn to God in prayer. Christians worship a supernatural God. So why do we pray for divine intervention while still harbouring doubts that God will perform the miraculous? We certainly can't demand that God answers our prayer in a certain way, yet God encourages us to ask him for all our needs and he will give good gifts liberally. Yet as
His weakest moment
It's a funny thing about life. It's easy to judge someone... until you know them. We were living in close quarters and he really got under my skin. He wasn't likeable like the others were. He didn't go with the flow. He wasn't fun to be around. He had issues. And he annoyed me. It was easy to judge him. Then I sat next to him as he poured out his story of brokenness and
I kissed a girl, and I liked it
The elephant in the room is sexuality. Lady Gaga and Katy Perry are everywhere. Sex is rarely discussed in churches, but sex is the one issue that dominates our city. Historically Christianity has allowed the world to set the agenda for sexual discussions. Sadly, now the world has gone gaga over the church's hypocrisy and sexual perversion. "See," they exclaim with glee, "you are just as perverted as we are. You have no moral authority."
Crisis, crisis everywhere. What are we to think?
It is nearly impossible to pick up a newspaper these days without being confronted with a crisis. The plethora of burning issues seem to roll off the tongue like Billy Joels’ 1980s hit We Didn’t Start the Fire. Arab unrest, climate change, carbon tax, refugees, earthquakes, nuclear threats, US debt, house prices, interest rates, war in Afghanistan, Greek bailout, living costs, cattle bans… the list goes on. For news and political junkies like myself, our
In the Presence of My Enemies
Martin and Gracia Burnham were American missionaries in the Philippines for seventeen years when militant Muslims kidnapped and imprisoned them in their island stronghold. For over a year, Martin and Gracia suffered in captivity and isolation. A ransom was paid but the kidnappers refused to release the Burnhams. On June 7, 2002, Filipino troops attempted a rescue and during the fight, Martin was fatally shot in the chest. Gracia was airlifted to safety. The Burnhams'
Old advice for modern parents
“False natural love blinds parents so that they have more regard for the bodies of their children than they have for their souls… It is of the greatest importance for every married man to pay closer, more thorough, and continuous attention to the health of his child’s soul than to the body which he has begotten, and to regard his child as nothing else but an eternal treasure God has commanded him to protect, and