The Story beneath the Story
No matter the story, there is usually a story beneath the story. Every news item is seldom as straightforward as it seems, whether it be domestic violence, fraudulent practice or […]
JULY
This is the month of Julius Caesar’s assassination, the seventh month of the year, the first month of the new financial year and the middle month of winter. Despite its […]
The Unstoppable Gospel
The book of Acts is well suited to be studied in a year of what we hope will be recovery like 2021. The affect of Acts is to bring about […]
On Being Pope for the Sake of Rural Parishes
My father used to imagine what he would do if he were King for a day, so today I want to reflect on what I would do if I were […]
Preaching Conference
In 1993, during my tenure as Principal at SMBC, a biennial Preaching Conference was established. The preacher at that first conference was Dick Lucas from London. Other preachers through the […]
The Unpublished Letter
After I was appointed Moderator General of the Presbyterian Church in 2013, I thought I ought to get a national perspective on the news, and so I have been a […]
The Ten Truths
I am a post war, ‘baby boomer’, I have never known any other state than freedom, including the freedom to speak my mind. Since 1968 I have been a Christian […]
Preaching Clubs
Ulrich Zwingli, the Swiss Reformer, preached his sermon on ‘The Shepherd’ in 1523. The sermon and its publication was widely influential in the developing role and model of ministry in […]
On Death
Robert Dessaix is the latest prominent person to give us advice about death and dying. Like Kerry Packer before him, Dessaix reports that in 2001 following a heart attack, he […]
EMPTY
‘Empty’, ‘vacuous’, ‘meaningless’, ‘unsubstantial’, ‘nothingness’ – these are just some of the nouns and adjectives which my Thesaurus provides to describe the lead photo in the Australian of the weekend […]
Science and Reformed Theology
In June, 1977, the Uniting Church in Australia deliberately adopted the nomenclature, ‘Uniting’ rather than ‘United’, because it was believed that the ecumenical process was to be an ongoing one. […]
The Vulnerables: Our Heritage Builders!
Attending a recent investment seminar with a group of retirees, I was asked whether I was a skier. I was astonished that many of my fellow attendees said they were […]
The Absent Father
In 1978 Ronald Conway published his expose of Australian life, The Land of the Long Weekend. Conway asserts that Australia is one of the most female-dominated societies in the world, […]
A Visit Down South
I spent five weeks in February/ March, 2020, supplying the pulpit at Scots Church in Melbourne. As a born and bred Sydneysider I have been part of the ribbing which […]
The Vaccine Revealed!
Where will the vaccine come from which will spell the end of this powerfully infectious Covid-19? Once it has been discovered life can return to normal, back to the life […]
Antagonism
Two Christian radio commentators were being compared, and one was preferred because, ‘he never preaches at us’. The preferred one, ‘is just nice, accepting and just like us, except that […]