-
Feb 22 2023 
Judging // Discerning
Reading Time: 9 minutesIt seems to me that it has become increasingly difficult to speak into many issues or situations that the church faces today; not because the Bible is silent, not because the church doesn’t have or hasn’t held a historical position on a matter, and not because we, as Christians, don’t know what we ought to be doing. Rather, we are feeling pressed into silence, in many instances, simply on the basis of one little verse…
-
Feb 14 2023 
What The Church Is (And What She Isn’t)
Reading Time: 6 minutesI really love talking about church.
Not, as in, my church or your church.
Not, as in, what flavour of church, in a denominational sort of way.
And not, as in, which kind of church; mega church, home church, missional church, or cell-group church (and, oh boy, I wish whoever had come up with that last descriptor had really given it a bit more thought…).
I love talking about church, as in, The Church. The bride of the lamb,… -
Nov 16 2022 
Loving The Church
Reading Time: 5 minutes“You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honour.” | James 3:18, MSG
It can be hard to love the church. Frankly, at times, she can seem like a big, fat disappointment.
Infighting. Divisions. The failure of leaders and the apathy of congregants. The assimilation to culture. A preoccupation with… -
Nov 09 2022 
Ruth: The Inconsequential Outsider
Reading Time: 4 minutesThe Weft And Warp Of Scripture
The word of God is like a vast tapestry, its main theme interwoven with many sub-plots and side stories that run like golden threads through an intricate design. Each of these threads complements the complete telling of God’s story and narrates again and again to us the way in which God views our world and us, the people who inhabit it.
The story of Ruth, a seemingly inconsequential outsider, is one… -
Nov 02 2022 
Religion // Cruciformity
Reading Time: 8 minutesThere is no standard scholarly agreement on what exactly is meant by the word religion, so defining religion (from the Latin religiō) can be a bit tricky. In fact, prior to the 16th and 17th centuries, the concept of religion, as a distinct set of beliefs or doctrines, didn’t really exist.
Today, we would probably summarise religion as a unifying social-cultural system of beliefs and practices relating to sacred, supernatural, or spiritual elements. We may tend to… -
Apr 14 2022 
An Easter Tale
Reading Time: 7 minutesLet me tell you a tale.
It starts in a garden, long, long ago.
And what a garden it was – literally, a paradise on earth. A place of grandeur and beauty, filled with trees of every description and with leaves in every shade of green, soaring upwards towards a sky so blue it hurts the eyes.
The sound of a great river can be heard flowing through this garden paradise, a source of life and refreshing for… -
Apr 09 2022 
Will Progressive Christianity Destroy The Church?
Reading Time: 8 minutesI want to talk about something that’s been on my mind for a while. Some time ago, I watched a commentary by a ‘Christian pastor’ that totally shocked me. In fact, I haven’t really stopped thinking about it since.
I found it disturbing; equal parts ridiculous and horrifying, and I really couldn’t believe it was being presented under the guise of legitimate Christianity.
For me, it highlighted a disturbing and, frankly, heartbreaking direction that modern Christianity, or… -
Feb 24 2022 
John Writes A Letter
Reading Time: 8 minutes“God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day – our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a…
-
Dec 08 2021 
Jesus, The Hope Of The World
Reading Time: 12 minutes“Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Emmanuel” (which means, “God with us”)” | Matthew 1:23, BRB
Scripture tells of a crowded family home in a bustling ancestral town, set at the southern end of the Judean hills. Filled to the brim already, perhaps with relatives from both near and far, there was no room in the guest quarters for the additional arrival of a heavily pregnant… -
Nov 09 2021 
By One Man
Reading Time: 8 minutesI like the Apostle Paul.
I like his ability to ‘call a spade a spade’, the unrelenting pursuit of his faith, and his bold assertion to “preach nothing but the cross of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:2). No doubt he ruffled more than a few feathers at times, with his unapologetic directness and refusal to tolerate any other gospel than that of being saved by grace through faith alone.
He doesn’t shy away from telling it how it…
