I’ve just spent a few weeks travelling and I’ve made a discovery: travelling and church-going don’t mix well. I found that it involved about 45,000 times more effort on my part to go to any church … let alone a church with good teaching! It wasn’t just a problem with my own motivation, either, or the distractions around me. I stayed with people who don’t go to church. I found it physically difficult to get around in some cities. There were obstacles at every turn.
Archives: life
Time … and what to do with it
Life
It is our greatest asset and worst enemy. Time. We all feel it slipping away; we all feel its pressure. But David Andrew thinks we don’t grasp the fact that the gospel of Jesus should change the way we understand time and how we use it.
Calling the shots: Science and ethics collide
Life
Scientific breakthroughs are big news these days. Scientists discover the gene for this or that disease; new drugs let you lose weight or feel happier or pay attention; there are techniques to make babies for infertile couples or grandmothers; and soon we’ll be able to give grieving parents an exact copy of the child who died. What is more, we all have the absolute right to all of it.
The Human Genome Project
Life
It has been called 21st century science in a moral dark age. Bill Clinton and Tony Blair announced the completion of the first working draft of the human genome sequence in June last year. Alongside those who were anticipating wonderful new medical advances in the near future were many who were pondering what new atrocities would be committed in the name of science. At a time when there is no consensus as to what a human person is, for what purpose will the human ‘book of life’ be used?
The Hard Ask: Disagreeing with your pastor
Life
“When I have disagreements with my pastor, how can I deal with them in a godly way?”
This question is a subset of the question “What do I do when I disagree with any brother or sister in Christ”? Since the Bible is for realists and not romantics, it gives us guidelines for action. God knows that we are sinful people and he doesn’t pretend that such events won’t happen.
The blessing of infertility
Life
I’m surprised that in this world of political correctness, the word ‘infertility’ still exists. I would have thought by now that my wife and I would have been classed among the ‘reproductively challenged’, or some other ghastly term. ‘Infertility’ is certainly a word we have both come to know and accept over the last three years—more as an embarrassing out-of-town relative than as a dearly loved member of the family.
Every green plant? Drugs and the Christian
Life
I have a folder of articles on the benefits of smoking. It’s a thin folder. There are, however, a few noteworthy benefits: relaxation, settling effects for people with nervous disorders, increased concentration, suppression of appetite. You can’t say that smoking is all bad. Everything that God created is good and ought not be rejected but received with thanksgiving (1 Tim 4:4)—even nicotine. And yet, anyone taking up smoking today, in an age where it has been medically and legally demonstrated that smoking causes cancer and is likely to be the major cause of death by 2020, hasn’t done much work on the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’. The devastating biological damage which smokers experience outweighs any positive effects of smoking.
Chasing fantasies
Life
When I think about gambling I think about a comment our first daughter made when she was just six years old. Overhearing my wife and I discussing whether or not we had enough money to buy something, she chipped in, “Why don’t you buy a Lotto ticket? Then you’ll get some money.”
The future of evangelical Christianity
Life
With doom and gloom being predicted on all sides for the future of mainstream Christianity, what sort of future should evangelicals look forward to? Phillip Jensen looks into the Bible and into the future for some answers.
When too much sport is barely enough
Life
Media wash-up
Life
The newspapers are now silent on the induction of the new Australian Anglican Primate. The story has run its course and the weighty matters of Olympic Torch Relays, Telstra Shares, and State of Origin football have moved to centre stage.
Making sense of disaster
Life
Disasters strike mankind with great frequency and variety. Most of the ‘smaller’ ones go unreported, and are known only to the friends and relatives of the victims. The ‘larger’ ones, however, usually make the news headlines, and arouse feelings of bewilderment and loss in the wider community. Earthquakes, floods, shootings, crashes—how do we make sense of such disasters? In particular, how do we make sense of why they happen to whom they happen?
The Christian and money
Life
Money figures largely in our thoughts. We occupy a lot of time thinking about it, about how much we have got, how much we need, how much we earn, how much we spend. The New Testament also has a lot to say about money, and what it says is quite remarkable because it is the opposite to what we normally think about money.
The garden and the bush: Two ways to read the Bible
Life
So which would you prefer? A pleasant bush walk through a national park or a leisurely stroll through an extensive botanical garden? (more…)
The devil you know
Life
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us (1 Jn 2:18).