CategoryFaith

Jesus and “Family Values”. How Did We Turn One of the Greatest Critics of the Family Into the Champion of Family Values?

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“Family values” have become synonymous with a Conservative Christian agenda. The family is boldly proclaimed the God-ordained and fundamental building block of society, which, given such a grand status, must be protected at all costs. The only problem with this is that Jesus seems to have considered the family highly problematic. Not only was he unmarried and childless, but he claimed...

How Would Jesus Vote? #2

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At the end of a 3000 year old document I found the the advice that will shape how I vote in the upcoming Federal election. The words are attributed to the mother of a king named Lemuel. The sayings of King Lemuel—an inspired utterance his mother taught him. 2 Listen, my son! Listen, son of my womb! Listen, my son, the answer to my prayers! 3 Do not spend your strength on women, your vigor on...

The Heart of the Gospel

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In 1971 the Sydney Anglicans produced a report that revolutionised my understanding of the gospel. Now out of print, Move in for Action, a report of the Commission on Evangelism, contained a chapter by Paul Barnett that examined the preaching of the gospel by Paul and Peter as recorded in the book of Acts. He showed that not once do Paul or Peter focus their “evangelistic” preaching...

Contrary to Popular Opinion, the World is Becoming a Better Place

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It is common for people to claim the world is becoming a worse place to live. But there is a good argument that, notwithstanding the presence of some awful things, that for most people the world appears to be a better place to live today than in most periods from the past. Technology allows us to tackle diseases once thought unconquerable; globalisation, for all its flaws, has increased wealth...

The Dividing Line Between Good and Evil

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When I was in my mid 20s a friend invited Sandy and I to his 40th birthday. He was a recovering alcoholic, as was everyone at the party, except Sandy and I. It was an incredible experience. Every person there had sunk as low as they could imagine going and were now climbing their way out, and that made them the most unpretentious group of people I’ve ever met. They knew they had failed...

Christian Horror Movies. Scaring and Scarring Kids in the Name of Jesus

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It was during the 1970’s that I saw my first horror movie. I was still in primary school and it scared the life out of me. Bizarrely, it was a Christian movie, A Thief in the Night, and I saw it at church. The movie centers around a woman named Patty Knight, a half-hearted Christian who wakes up one morning to discover her husband, along with millions of other people, has disappeared. They...

Meeting the Spirit Caster

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The realm of spirits is not one I have had much to do with, but last night I heard a story that sounds like it came straight off the pages of the New Testament. I am in the far north of Cambodia visiting some community development projects. We have been transported by tractor along a dusty dirt track to the edge of the Sekong river, then to the village on the other side by raft. The sun is...

All I Want for Christmas

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Christians often worry about the commercialisation of Christmas, but if you ask me, what we should really be concerned about is its sentimentalising. Christmas as we celebrate it today, even when we celebrate its religious significance, is typically an exercise in sentimentality. We attend Carols by Candlelight events where we are moved by the beauty of a sea of candles and feel warm inside as we...

The Funniest Moments I’ve Had While Preaching

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Sometimes, despite our best laid plans, things can go wrong. Here are the five funniest moments I’ve had while preaching. 5. The Silly Walk During one of my sermons while youth pastor at Caringbah Baptist everyone suddenly starts laughing. I haven’t said anything funny. I check my fly – it’s done up. Only at the end of the service do I discover that one of the particularly...

Sheep, Goats and Salvation. On Matthew 25:31-46.

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Sometimes Jesus surprises me. Sometimes he confounds me. In his parable of the sheep and goats (Matthew 25:31-46) he both surprises and confounds. I grew up an orthodox Evangelical. At the centre of my faith was the conviction that  I am a sinner saved by grace. So what do I do with Jesus’ story of the sheep and goats, because it sure doesn’t sound like salvation by grace through...

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