One of my favourite comments on the church is found in Eminence, a novel by Australian author Morris West, which tells the story of Luca Rossini, a Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. Luca who now serves in the Vatican, lives in the shadow of a terrible experience he suffered as a young priest...
Will Heaven Be Boring?
I have a confession to make. I sometimes wonder whether heaven will be boring. Not a good thing if it lasts forever! I’ve made a couple of posts previously about “heaven” (here and here). In this post I aim to make a biblical case for why “heaven” will be eternally...
Welcome to Australia…Not
How would you expect Australia to treat someone who has fled from a dictatorial, violent regime? They have seen loved ones murdered and realised that their only hope is to leave their place of birth, their home, the place all their hopes and dreams have centred on, their family, their friends...
The Chart That Will Change Your Mind on Refugees
Here’s the chart that might change your mind about refugees and our national refugee policy. Despite all the huffing and puffing from our pollies there is no emergency, no crisis in which we are being overrun by refugees. The simple fact is that we have long welcomed refugees at levels...
On the Importance of Skipping Stones
Lachlan and I spent the weekend in the Barringtons, glorious countryside just northwest of Newcastle, at our annual church camp. On Saturday afternoon all the boys went horseriding, but after a not-so-good experience last year, Lachlan decided he wouldn’t join them. Instead we spent two hours...
God’s Spankings. Disaster and the Hand of God
In February 2011 I walked into my doctor’s rooms to be told I have Parkinson’s disease- that over time I will lose the ability to control my body. At forty five years of age I was young to be diagnosed. There is no cure. For years I have wondered about the role of God when the world doesn’t...
A Non-Violent Atonement
In an earlier post I challenged the notion that Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins. Since then, people who read the post have asked me what is an alternate understanding of how God puts us right with himself and how do Jesus death and resurrection figure into that. The best answer I have...
Just When You Think Asylum Seeker Policy Can’t Get Any Worse
Yesterday the Federal Parliament passed legislation to ‘excise’ the Australian mainland as a migration zone. This means asylum seekers arriving by boat will be denied the right to asylum in Australia. They will not be eligible to apply for any visa and will be subject to the ‘no...
The Fringe Benefits of Failure
A few years ago JK Rowling delivered an amazing commencement speech at Harvard University. Titled “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination”, Rowling describes how seven years after graduating from University her marriage had broken down and she found herself an unemployed...
Why did Jesus die?
In a recent post I suggested that the notion that Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins is not a particularly convincing notion. This throws many Christians, who, like me, have been raised to think this is the gospel. A little background might help. On my bookshelf I have the very mainstream...