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Greed Isn’t So Good

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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 enough. I find it extraordinary, because it is economically so unnecessary. At the time of Jesus people...

Is it Time to Boycott Woolworths?

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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 machine practices. Fact 1.   Woolworths is the majority owner (75%) of Australian Leisure and...

Don’t let today’s most important news story be overshadowed by the cricket

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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 with friends and colleagues, But I don’t want to miss the most important news story for the day:...

I don’t want to be a “real man”.

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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 assistance  and emotional support. Tim’s mother, who suddenly became the family breadwinner, as well...

What about the Rohingya?

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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 crisis says The situation remains precarious as refugees continue to arrive every day. Many refugees...

Why Pray?

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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 of our nation, and for the success of God’s mission. I admire the  trust that God is good and...

Sometimes I feel like the luckiest man in the world

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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 have annoying little quirks. When Sandy pulls out one of her many lists that demand certain chores...

Why You Should Not Obey Everything Commanded in the Bible

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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 Bible commands or permits that are not what God says to me today – eg the permission to take a...

Farewell Billy Graham.

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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 household was swept up in the fervour of those crusades. I was 14 years old. I can’t remember...

Genesis & Gender roles. Are we all asking too much of the texts?

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The Bible’s creation stories are key texts in shaping Christian views of gender and sexuality. To some they represent a manifesto for the equality of men and women across all areas of life, while for others they speak of a creation order in which men and women share equal worth but leadership belongs to men. It is typically assumed that because the Genesis texts describe the world prior to the...

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