Just over a year ago, I started a blog. I was full of enthusiasm and daring—the kind of enthusiasm that only comes from an almost complete ignorance of the project you’re about to embark upon. I guessed it would be a great opportunity for ministry. What I didn’t anticipate is how God used this new ministry to perform surgery on my heart. (more…)
Tag Archives: Living the Christian life
Trusting in the dark: Some biblical reflections on depression and anxiety
Life
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…)
Making the most of retirement
Everyday Ministry
I retired in 2001. Back then, I had to decide how I would use my time and how I would be involved in the life of my local church, St Paul’s Carlingford. But I didn’t want to rush too quickly into new commitments, so I deliberately chose not to do anything new for six months until I had sorted things out. In hindsight, that period was most difficult. Since then, however, I’ve had a ball! Let me explain.
To mourn or not to mourn?
Up front
I was talking to a friend 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.
Introducing God to my friends
Everyday Ministry
‘Jars of clay’ is a column featuring stories about people speaking the Bible’s life-changing word in every situation. In our first-ever instalment, Karen Beilharz reminisces about the year she spent trying to introduce God to her friends. (more…)
Is it easy to love our neighbours?
Up front
We’ve been reading the Sermon on the Mount around the dinner table, and it’s made for great discussion and interesting questions. (“Dad, why would someone want my tooth?”) Recently, we were talking about the issues Jesus raises concerning loving your neighbours and praying for those who persecute you. The discussion went something like this:
(more…)
Ministry in the military
Everyday Ministry
No use crying
Up front, Sola Panel
I have a reputation both at home and at work for being affable—imperturbable—phlegmatic, even. However, like most people of serene disposition, there are some events guaranteed to perturb my phlegm—three-putting from ten feet, for example, or spillages at the dinner table—particularly those involving milk. (more…)
Grace abounding to the chief of cynics
Life
Steve Young takes a look at bitterness in ministry—its causes and its cure. (more…)
Happy 21st, Briefing! (A birthday card)
To The Briefing on the occasion of your 21st birthday:
I think I was about 21 when I first met you. I was at a conference up at Merroo (the centre where the showers alternated between scalding hot and freezing cold, and the hall was large enough to house a small aeroplane). You were introduced to me and 500 other Christian university students by your founder, Phillip Jensen, who spoke highly of you as very good reading material—for when you’re on the toilet. (more…)
The first 21 years are the hardest
Resource Talk, Sola Panel
There’s no doubt about it: this 21st birthday Briefing has put me in a nostalgic frame of mind. I’m finding myself daydreaming about the late 80s when New Zealand wore beige and brown body shirts in one day cricket, when U2 was a young, emerging supergroup, and when the book to give away to a non-Christian friend was John Chapman’s bestselling A Fresh Start. (more…)
Review: “Living the Cross Centered Life”
Review
Living the Cross Centered Life: Keeping the gospel the main thing
CJ Mahaney
Multnomah, Sisters, 2006. 176pp.
Is there anything more important than the cross of Christ? Each of the Gospels centres on Jesus’ journey to the cross. Jesus’ wonderful mission statement in Mark 10:45 describes the goal of his ministry as the giving of his life as “a ransom for many”. The Apostle Paul resolved to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Cor 2:2). The cross is the centre of God’s plan for humanity. (more…)
Bible resistance
Up front, Sola Panel
This is a public health warning for the attention of all those involved in the cure of souls. A particularly insidious threat to spiritual wellbeing has been identified, and we need your help to eradicate it. The phenomenon has been dubbed ‘Bible resistance’. Those most at risk are Christians who identify themselves as members of ‘good’, ‘faithful’ or ‘Bible-believing’ congregations. (more…)
A biblical theology of response
Up front, Sola Panel
I listened to a fascinating sermon recently on Jonah chapter 2. The preacher taught us about God and his awesome sovereignty, and about Jesus and how the patterns and promises of Jonah looked forward to him. But he also preached about Jonah himself. He talked about what it meant to be chastised by the Lord—to be brought low. He talked about Jonah’s experience of God’s judgement and discipline, and what we might learn from that as we experience God’s chastisement ourselves. (more…)
The obedience of faith
Thought
What does faith in Christ mean? What do people ‘do’ when they believe in Christ? Do they ‘do’ anything? If they ‘do’ something, how do we avoid faith becoming a ‘work’ smuggled in through the Protestant back door? Presumably if we have ‘done’ something (when we believe in Christ), we may justifiably be a little proud of what we have done and think that our belief is some kind of achievement or virtue. So how do we accurately describe the nature of faith in such a way that we exclude human pride? (more…)