Unchanging
So much in life and ministry has changed with the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic. A preacher of long ago reminded us that “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) This preacher identified many of our currents realities. For too many this is a time to die and...
The walls in Berlin came a tumbling down in 1989. Twenty-seven years earlier a barbed wire and concrete wall was built to seperate East and West Berlin. But that all changed 9 November 1989. That night, ecstatic crowds swarmed the wall, all the while crying out: "Open the gates!" Some crossed freely into West Berli...
You might have heard it said, where there's life there is hope. This deep truth has been said beside many a sick bed, many a tragedy. As humans we are always hoping as the great English poet Alexander Pope put it: "Hope springs eternal in the human breast." We live in anticipation of better things into the future. Thi...
The idea of resilience is as simple as the metaphor of a rubber band. Rubber bands, like people, come in different sizes and are subjected to different challenges. They also have different thickness and abilities to stretch–shorter or longer. With normal use, a typical band will not break. If you stretch a rubber band to its...
There is a huge need for preachers of the Word! Every week I am reminded of that need as I serve the churches here in Australia. Currently we have 13 vacant positions in our churches. These are ministry positions that need to be filled by preachers. In a decade this number will double if nothing is done to ...
In highschool I had two friends who had a passion for motorcycles. While I was focused on my studies and preparing for university, they inspired me with their stories of adventures riding their bikes on the weekends. Many years later I took up that passion and to this day create my own stories of motorcycle adventures. In my first cong...
How well do you know God? I think I know my wife Jeannie. I know she likes drinking Chai tea. I know she loves going for hikes. I know she enjoys her work in aged care. I know she likes sleeping on cool sheets. I know the relationships she keeps: her friends, the ones she regularly writes to, and her l...
The climate is changing. According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, 2019 was Australia's warmest year on record, with the annual national mean temperature 1.52 °C above average. There have been significant heatwaves in January and in December. This was Australia's driest year on record, with rainfall below average for mo...
