How would you like to raise $22 billion for anti-poverty programs around the world? That’s not $22 million but $22 billion. Sounds impossible right? Well maybe not. Back in September 2000 world leaders, including Australia’s Prime Minister, gathered in Geneva and declared that the new...
On Turtles and Joy
Two days ago Sandy & I found ourselves travelling by speedboat to Selingan Island, a tiny island off the coast of Malaysian Borneo, famed for its turtles. We had just come from a night in Sandakan’s rainforest. There it was beautiful but I felt like an outsider. Here on the open water...
I am Complicit
Watching the video I felt sick. It showed the plight of child miners in Tanzania. Terrified young children sent down poorly constructed tunnels doing backbreaking and dusty work; children robbed of the opportunity to attend school; robbed of the present opportunity to enjoy the carefree play of...
Infographic on Child Labour
I ran a workshop on child labour last week and was prompted to make this infographic. The situation is disgraceful. Check out the infographic and consider doing something practical in response. Head over to Baptist World Aid Australia, learn about the brilliant child centred community development...
Deciphering the Gender Debate. What Christians Say About What the Bible Says
The issue of gender roles is squarely on the agenda of many Christians today. To help people get their heads around the debate here is an overview of the major approaches. For my own view see this post [learn_more caption=”Complementarian View”] Complementarianism is the view that men...
In a Lift Surrounded by Giggling Burqas
Wandering around my hotel in Kuala Lumpur it is strange to see so many women dressed in long black robes and with their faces fully veiled, with just a narrow gap for the eyes (called a nijab rather than a burqa). I am used to seeing the faces of people around me, their smiles and frowns, raised or...
I don’t plan on being in ‘heaven’ for long
Along with most Christians, I grew up believing that when I die my soul will leave my body and ascend to an immaterial realm called heaven, where I will spend an eternity with God. The only problem is, neither Jesus nor the Bible teach In recent years biblical scholars have argued that the bible...
Paul was no feminist but his Gospel is
The Bible contains statements about gender relations that sound harsh to modern ears – wives are called to submit to their husbands and women are told to keep quiet in church. How do we account for this? Are the Sydney Anglicans right that God has given men responsibility for leadership in...
Hearing God’s Voice
Growing up in the church I often heard people declaring that God had spoken to them. And they didn’t mean God had spoken to them in the general sense that comes from studying and understanding a bible passage. They meant God had spoken to them about something quite specific. Nor as far as...
To love and submit?!
This weekend the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Sydney Anglican churches have a new marriage liturgy in which the bride promises to ‘submit’ to her husband. This reflects a conviction that the Bible sees leadership in church and home as gendered, and that while bible writers may...