Author Archives: The Briefing

The power and inadequacy of biological determinism

Thought

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Yes, it’s been a while since I last posted. And so you may be forgiven for forgetting where we’re up to. I’m talking about my preparation for an evangelistic talk on sex (see the start of the posts). And last time, I tried to show that biological determinism lies at the heart of the modern story of sex. To put it simply, we’ve evolved in such a way that we’re made to have sex—lots of sex, with multiple partners. And because it’s biologically determined, we have no choice. Today, I want to reflect on the power and inadequacy of this position.

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His eye is on the magpie

Life

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Last week my children made an exciting discovery: high up in the branches of the gum tree in the back yard of the house next door, a magpie was building a nest. For three days, we were transfixed, taking it in turns to look through the binoculars and watch him flying up with tiny sticks, one at a time, carefully adding them to the nest.

On the fourth day, it was windy, and we craned our necks, anxiously watching the upper branches of the gum tree. Would the nest survive? Had this little magpie chosen the wisest place to build a home for his family? We talked about how sad it would be for the poor bird if all his hard work was lost in a sudden gust of wind.

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A rich man’s identity discovered?

Thought

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Ever since I first came into contact with the rich fool of Luke 12, I’ve been intrigued by the stupidities of his personality. He is a man so rich that he can even afford to tear down his barns and build bigger ones. This is a strange piece of non-thriftiness that a friend from a farming background assured me is still not unknown in rural Australia—something which I witnessed, in modified English form, for myself just the other day. (Well okay, watching Grand Designs on the telly may not count as ‘witnessing’, but let’s just say that there are enough rich fools about for any of us to recognize the type.)

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Is history what you make, or what you receive?

Life

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History. We might be standing in it, but which direction are we looking?

The Terminator told us he would be back, but the latest version disappointed fans because the Governor of California was reduced to a Computer Animated bit-part. For the Australian, T4 was rescued somewhat by the presence of our own Sam Worthington—but only just!

Even though it struggles a bit with the inherent fatalism of a future that seems to march inevitably towards the present, no matter what is done in the present, a major theme of this series of movies now stretching across a quarter of a century is that the future is not fixed; fate is what you make.

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Why Johnny can’t preach (Part 4)

Review

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Having heard that Johnny can’t preach, Johnny can’t read and Johnny can’t write (read parts 1, 2 and 3), one could be tempted to think that David T Gordon is an old crank, romantically reminiscing about how good things were when he was a lad, and complaining about the state of the world in ‘the modern times’ (along with young people and their loud music!)

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The noughties version of the devil made me do it?

Life

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My recent posts have been about my thinking and preparation for an evangelistic talk on the topic ‘Free for sex or living in bondage?’. Obviously the title assumes that if you don’t have a Christian view of humanity and sexuality, you are living in bondage. So is there any argument to be made that the modern secular view of sex is, in fact, bondage of some kind?

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Christians and the 1950s

Life

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I began a series last Thursday about the process I’ve been through in writing an evangelistic talk on the topic of sex. We started off by thinking a bit about the secular story of sex. But it occurred to me fairly early on that Christians have a problem when it comes to communicating about their moral worldview. Everybody thinks that we just want to live back in the 1950s.

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Youth ministry resource

Review

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I spent Wednesday lunchtime talking to Kitty Fung, who works for Anglican Youthworks in Sydney, about the (relatively new) youth site fervr. Apparently it means whatever you want it to mean. I know we’re old and fogey-ish over here at Sola Panel, but I thought that there might be some people interested in checking it out and hearing what they’ve got to offer. Finding quality Christian resources for youth work is not always easy.

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The story of sex

Life

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I was asked recently to come preach evangelistically for a university-aged audience, and I was given the topic ‘Free for sex or living in bondage?’ I’ll tell you straight up that it wasn’t the easiest evangelistic talk I’ve ever had to prepare!

How do you say something sensible about a biblical understanding of sex, and something worthwhile about the grace and kindness of God in the death and resurrection of Jesus, in the same talk while maintaining people’s interest and not speaking for too long?

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The gospel is all about morality

Life

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I was listening to a sermon the other day, in which the preacher said, “Christianity is not about morality. It’s not about right and wrong. It’s about a relationship.” It’s not the first time I’ve heard that phrase, or something like it, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. I know what it’s trying to say. I just can’t help feeling that we’ve got the right argument for the wrong moment in history.

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Why Johnny Can’t Preach (Part 3)

Review

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So far, we’ve seen that T David Gordon believes (preacher) Johnny can’t read and can’t write. (He’s made no comment on whether he can bowl or throw!) The question now is “What consequences do these failures lead to in terms of sermon content?”

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Square pegs in round holes

Everyday Ministry

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These pages have often wrestled with the issue of gospel enculturation—the question of how much we adapt the message we preach to the culture in which we dwell. It’s such a complex question that the wisdom and righteousness (or lack thereof) of our attempts at preaching the gospel in a culturally sensitive way will be displayed finally on that last great day. But my last post on character and hope has lead me to a test that we might apply to our gospel preaching.

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Trusting in the dark: Some biblical reflections on depression and anxiety

Life

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What do the Scriptures have to say to those who suffer from depression and anxiety? Paul Grimmond shares some personal and biblical reflections.

Ever since my early 20s, I’ve struggled on and off with anxiety and depression. In the last few years, the struggle has become particularly acute. I often wake at 4:30 am and pretend that it’s just the call of my bladder, but I know it isn’t. I know that as soon as I wake, I won’t go to sleep again. My body feels tired—like I’ve been running in my sleep—and my brain whirs away like the hard drive on my computer. I wake up with a thousand questions in my head—none of which seem solvable—and, at times, I’ve been so exhausted, I’ve just curled up in a ball on the floor and cried, wondering if the emptiness will go away soon. I have suffered mainly from anxiety, with periods of very low mood thrown in for good measure. (more…)

Bible brief: Micah

Bible Brief, Life

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The opening verse of Micah indicates the prophet’s origin (“of Moresheth”), time of prophesying (during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah—about 750-700 BC) as well as the object of his prophecy: the people of Samaria (northern Israel) and Jerusalem (the capital of Judah in southern Israel). Less obviously, it also presents us with Micah’s main theme: his name means “Who is like Yahweh?”, a question that is paraphrased in 7:18: “Who is a God like you?”. While there are many great themes in Micah, such as judgement, hope and justice, the main theme is that Yahweh, Israel’s covenant God, is Lord.

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