Archives: life

Faithfulness, big and small

Life, Sola Panel

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Late last year, Gavin wrote about the importance of being faithful in the small things. I’ve been pondering Gav’s insights, and I’d like to offer a couple of further comments.

Jesus himself directly teaches the importance of faithfulness in small things:

Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, “You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.” But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply “Yes” or “No”; anything more than this comes from evil. (Matt 5:33-37)

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More on generosity

Life, Sola Panel

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Following my post on being generous to fundamentalists and not so generous with others, I’ve had some interesting conversations about its implications. A good friend asked me whether my suggested attitude towards non-evangelicals of ‘supping with a long spoon’ meant that certain authors should not be read. Should we have a book burning in the Moore College courtyard? And would my friend be a heretic by association if, for example, he found reading Karl Barth a stimulating and a positive experience, even though he disagreed with Barth at a number of points?

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To mourn or not to mourn?

Life

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I was talking to a friend of mine the other day who told me this story:

I was in a prayer meeting this week with a lady who asked us to pray for her relationship with her parents. They were getting divorced after having been married for several decades. She doesn’t live at home anymore. And she talked about the whole thing quite matter-of-factly. I told her that that was really sad, and the sharing of prayer points moved on to the next person.

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The fear of man

Life, Sola Panel

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Nicole’s challenging thoughts on appreciation and approval have motivated me to finish off a little post I’ve had sitting in my file for several weeks. It’s about the same topic, but from the opposite side—not so much the praise and approval of man, but the fear of man. (more…)

All we like sheep have gone astray … from basic Bible literacy?

Life

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All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.

So wrote GF Handel in the second chorus of Part II of his great oratorio Messiah. Keen readers may have spotted that this is not an original thought; Handel drew on Isaiah 53:4-6. In fact, Messiah is fundamentally a musical Bible study on the saving work of Jesus, and it is often performed at Easter, so get along if you can. (Here’s a performance for Sydney readers.) (more…)

Ezekiel’s aliens

Life

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One of my memories of arriving home from school and watching bad TV re-runs in the early 80s involves a show called Project UFO. It was a show supposedly based on US Air Force investigations of paranormal sightings. The voice-over for the opening credits said (and you really should try and say this in the deepest and most significant voice you can muster),
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Appreciation and approval

Life

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From as far back as I can remember, I’ve been the kind of person who feels a strong desire to please people. I want their approval and praise for the things I do. Sometimes I’ve even wondered if I have a kind of addiction to the brain chemicals that come with receiving affirmation and acclaim! Mark Twain famously said that he could “live for two months on a good compliment”; I’m not sure I could last that long, but I can certainly relate to the sentiment. (more…)

Thankful for common grace

Life

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My youngest son went into hospital the other day for minor surgery. I spent the morning not quite being able to sit still, in spite of knowing that this sort of thing happens to hundreds of children around the world every day. As it turned out, everything went smoothly. He got his own television set to watch, and was given a lemonade iceblock, so all was right with the world. (more…)

The end of Mark’s Gospel

Life

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To anyone who reads it, the end of Mark seems like an enigma. While there are longer endings, the oldest and most reliable manuscripts come to a stop at verse 8.
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Ageing beauty

Life, Sola Panel

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I’m sitting outside a cafe at a wobbly iron table, my pen moving lazily and messily across my notebook as I dream and write, dream and write. I sip from my mug-sized chai latte. A European wasp hovers hungrily above the frothed milk. (more…)