Recently, I wrote about the Easter Message of the Dean of St George’s Anglican Cathedral in Perth, in which he strongly asserted that the resurrection of Christ need not be understood as physical. I reported that I’d asked the Archbishop of Perth whether this was an acceptable view for a senior Anglican clergyman.

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Here’s the second of our ‘get to know you’ panelist interviews.

How did you come to Christ?

Various ‘Scripture’ teachers taught me over the years in my local public school. In Year 6, a wonderful lady named Mrs Round explained to me the great truth that Jesus’ death on the cross means that I can have complete forgiveness and an assurance of a relationship with God forever. At that point, I put my life in the hands of Jesus.

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Not so long ago, I preached on Psalm 95, which raises the topic of worship in verse 6. (Download the MP3.) In passing, I made the standard (well, ‘standard’ in our circles) point that the word ‘worship’ is never really applied to church gatherings in the New Testament; it’s much broader.

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We thought it would be good to introduce The Sola ‘Panellists’ in a little more detail than the brief introduction on our website allows—especially for the sake of those who don’t know us personally. So over the next couple of months, I (Sandy) will interview them—one per week—with the same basic set of get-to-know-you questions.

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At Easter, like many Christian pastors, I had the privilege of preaching the resurrection. I stated that Christianity was pointless without the true, historical, physical, bodily resurrection of Christ (download the mp3 of the sermon). Basing these comments on 1 Corinthians 15, I pointed out that Paul took great care to outline the early conviction that Christ had died, was buried, rose again and appeared to many witnesses—many of whom were still then alive for cross-examination 20-25 years later.

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I got the date wrong for the inaugural planning meet for this new Matthias Media blog.

It was my own silly fault. Tony had booked two successive Wednesdays in our diaries until all participants could confirm which of these dates was preferred (the latter, as it turned out). I forgot to remove the spare date one week earlier. Then when I got his reminder to see you ‘next Wednesday’, it was the old chestnut of whether next Wednesday means this Wednesday, or the one in the following week. I saw the date for this Wednesday and hopped in the car seven days early!

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Matthew 18:15-20 is such a helpful passage when you feel someone has sinned against you. It encourages you to talk to them in private to point out the sin or offence. (Maturity now makes me realize that when you do this, there’s the possibility of hearing another side to the story, which makes you reconsider too.) Then, if there’s no repentance, you involve a couple of elder-type Christians. Only in the face of continued defiance would it finally become a public matter for discipline in the church.

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