A few weeks ago Israel Folau made news with his twitter response to the question, “what was God’s plan for gay people?” “HELL…unless they repent of their sins and turn to God.” His tweet evoked strong comment and emotion. The activist CEO of Qantas, Alan Joyce...
Is anybody else shocked by the revelations coming out of the Royal Commission into Banking and Financial Services? Our banks and financial service industries are amongst the most profitable organisations in the world and they handsomely remunerate their staff. Yet it seems that it’s not...
I have spent more than a decade working in social justice advocacy. I don’t like boycotts. They are a blunt instrument. I wonder however if we have not reached the time that a boycott is the only thing that will speak loudly enough to shame Woolworths into action on its despicable poker...
Today’s most important news is going to be overshadowed by the exposure of cheating in the Australian cricket team. I love my cricket and I am extraordinarily disappointed that our team has been caught cheating. Like people all over the country I will follow the story and share my outrage...
There was a great article about Tim Winton in the Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Weekend magazine recently. Winton was just 5 years old when his father was badly injured in a motor vehicle accident. After he came home from hospital Winton’s father required many weeks of intensive...
The flight of refugees from Burma highlights just how inhumane our refugee policy has become. More than 647,000 Rohingya have fled Burma since the end of August last year, making it the largest refugee crisis of our region and one of the largest in the world. The UNHCR web page on the Rohingya...
For some Christians prayer is simple. They ask God for that which their heart desires, trust God to answer with a “yes”, “no” or “not yet”, and then celebrate the yes’s. They pray for parking spots, for jobs, for good weather for church events, for the leadership...
We are sitting side by side on a flight to Brisbane. Ours was the first flight out this morning, which meant we were up at 4am. Sandy dozes beside me and I once more find myself incredibly thankful that this woman has shared her life with me. We’ve been married for 30+ years and yes, we each...
As a follower of Jesus it is my ambition to live in a Jesus-shaped way. In seeking to do this the Bible is one my key resources. Yet understanding how it applies to me can be difficult, for while I have grown up believing that what the Bible says, God says, it is clear that there are things the...
I just heard the news that Billy Graham died. Perhaps the greatest evangelist of history, I was one of millions who were profoundly influenced by his ministry. My mother was on the organising committee for the 1979 “Billy Graham Crusade”, held at Randwick racecourse. This meant that our...