I became a Christian at the age of 15.
When I began to go to church, we used the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, and prayed the prayers from it each Sunday.
Archives: life
Agreeing with the opposition
Life
It’s not often that I agree with Bob Carr, the former Labour Premier of New South Wales. He’s a pro-abortion, pro-embryonic stem cell research and small ‘l’ liberal. (Why do so many small ‘l’ liberals join the Labour party? BTW, I really don’t need this question answered.) But I think in ‘Rights charter like a dead parrot’, he gets it spot on.
The secret to getting along
Life
The weekend before last, I spent a wonderful time away with the folk at Christchurch Currumbin up on the beautiful Gold Coast. It was an enormously encouraging time as we looked together at what the Bible has to say about the resurrection. On the Friday night, the meeting leader exhorted us to love each other:
You’re about to spend a weekend together. You’ll eat together, sleep in rooms separated by not-so-thick walls, share bathrooms together and be with each other 24/7. This isn’t like chatting after church on Sunday. This is going to mean learning to be gracious and patient with each other.
Well, they were certainly very gracious and patient with each other (and with me, which is remarkable indeed). But it made me wonder: what is the secret to living together in the same space without biting each others’ heads off?
If I said I wasn’t a hypocrite, would you believe me?
Life, Sola Panel
We were looking at Luke 6 in church the other day, and it got me thinking about hypocrites. More particularly, am I one?
The old gag suggests that I am: “The church is not full of hypocrites—there’s always room for one more!”
On this understanding, hypocrisy is an unavoidable description of the normal Christian life. We all say one thing, but do another. We preach against lying, and yet find ourselves telling porkies. We rail against greed and materialism, and then chat about it all the way home in our Audi A4.
What kind of discussion is this?
Life
I picked up and modified this helpful rubric:
- Fight for what is right (truth)
- Argue for what will work (tactics)
- Keep quiet about everything else (preference)
The blessing of unanswered prayer
Life, Sola Panel
I hate unanswered prayer. This is not just because I want what I pray for—although that would be nice!—but because my unbelieving heart takes unanswered prayer as an opportunity to doubt God. Here are some examples:
I pray for my son’s only close friend, whom we’ve lost contact with, to call. He doesn’t.
I pray that I’ll be able to find my car keys so I can get the kids to school on time. They’re late.
I pray that my husband will get over his illness; after all, he needs to teach the Bible and care for our family. He stays sick.
I pray that my excited, expectant three-year-old will see a kangaroo on the way home. There’s no wildlife to be seen.
I pray that my mood will lift. I stay discouraged.
These are all trivial prayers, and I could give you much bigger examples. But, oddly, I find it easier to trust God with the bigger things. It’s the small prayers that trip me up.
Where are we looking for rest?
Life
The coincidence of approaching summer holidays (we’re in the northern hemisphere!), living in a ‘lifestyle-focused’ culture, and reading Nehemiah has got me thinking about the topic of rest. It’s not a particularly recent thought for me, or for humanity in general; since ancient times, rest has been a great concern for people—perhaps another indication that we are indeed created in the image of our creator, who is himself a God who rests (Gen 2:2).
Gen Blank
Life, Sola Panel
I’ve just wandered upstairs to my desk, leaving the teenagers in front of a new inter-generational quiz show that pits the Baby Boomers against Gen X and Gen Y. It seems like harmless enough fun. Hey look, 3D movies were big in the 50s! Roller blading was the 90s! Who can do the robot?
But the programme brought back to the surface a subversive thought that I’ve been harbouring for some time. Is it just me, or does anyone else out there suspect that the broad generalizations that are flung around about the supposed characteristics of Gen X and Gen Y are basically vacuous?
The worst role model in history?
Life, Sola Panel
The [incident] involving rugby league personality Matthew Johns was predatory, degrading and offensive, federal Sports Minister Kate Ellis says … “I think that’s offensive and inappropriate for our sporting role models.”
But where does that leave the Apostle Paul?
Wrong reasoning for maternity leave
Life, Sola Panel
Australia’s federal government is seeking to introduce a nation paid maternity leave scheme in this year’s budget.
I not sure whether I’m for or against the policy itself. But I know I’m against the reasons being advanced for the policy!
Basically the reasoning being advanced implies that (i) motherhood is unproductive and (ii) it gives aid to the now established dogma that the two incomes needed to pay off the mortgage are more important than quality and quantity time with the kids.
A virtual conference
Life
One of the advantages of living in Mexico is that you are in the same time zone as much of the USA. For NBA and NFL fans, this is good news. Last week, I discovered another advantage: the Gospel Coalition was holding its annual conference in Chicago, and was streaming the sessions live. Throughout the day and evening, I could listen to the likes of John Piper, Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll and Ajith Fernando in real time. Apparently, about 3,500 people attended; who knows how many watched like I did!
But as good as it was (the technical production was brilliant, and I could see and hear everything—maybe better than some of those attending), it wasn’t the same as being there. This got me wondering about the concept of cyber-church, e-church, virtual church or whatever you want to call it. Will it ever work? Should we try and make it work? Are there essentials of meeting together that the internet just can’t provide?
Reading the Bible with your eyes open
Life
You read what you see.
You knock on the door of the dingy inner city terrace. You probably did see a whole lot of Harley Davidsons outside on the footpath, but obviously you weren’t thinking. The door opens, and now you see a room full of leather-clad, patch-emblazoned, hairy types of the bike riding persuasion. You were supposed to invite the happy householder to a gospel thingy at the local church. If you go along with that plan, you suddenly see a different future stretching out before you—and it doesn’t seem to stretch that far any more.
The naked truth about porn
Life
Pornography is an extremely important and complex issue, but it isn’t easy to talk about, even though it’s now a part of mainstream culture. In this insightful article, James Warren opens up the topic and asks “What is porn?”, “Why is it a problem?” and “What can we do about it?” (more…)
Making singleness better
Life
There are those who say that singleness is better, but unfortunately that is not the experience of many who have been single long-term. Tim Adeney looks at why, and what we can do to love and serve the single people in our churches. (more…)
Reading the Bible with your ears open
Life
You read what you hear. Even with the Bible. You read what you hear.
Let me explain. Study leave got me to England in 10 inches of snow. Beautiful. Because it closed the airports, it almost got me to France. How would I have explained that to the college board? Then driving around a country other than mine just confused me; so many signs supposedly telling me what to do, but I didn’t have the right framework to assimilate them so that they could actually make sense.