Reflections on growing up in a Presbyterian manse
Having been asked to reflect on growing up in a Presbyterian manse, I need to acknowledge my lack of qualification. It’s true that my father was and is a Presbyterian […]
Today’s Quick Word: 28 April 2021
Come out, you daughters of Zion, and look at King Solomon wearing the crown, the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, the day […]
Wrong Paradigm, Wrong Diagnosis, Wrong Solution
Our response to the world needs to embrace more than lament, but a deep malaise has descended upon contemporary Western society. There is a hardness of heart, but a softness […]
Like a Flower in the Wind -The Life of Charlotte Bronte
‘There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when […]
What Is Certain
The common saying is that only death and taxes are certain; everything else is up for grabs. Actually, there is some doubt about taxes. Jonathan Riley-Smith says that it was […]
The End of Law in Australia?
One of the fundamentals of Western Liberal democracies is the rule of law, and equality of all before the law. This is not just some academic debate, but at the […]
Husbands: Be a Godly Head
A Christian husband is the head of his wife. Put another way, if you are a husband, you are responsible for your wife. In Ephesians 5:22-33 we are given a […]
Goodness and God
In 1797, with the battle against the slave trade under way, William Wilberforce wrote the first of his three books, with the imposing title A Practical View of the Prevailing […]
Today’s Quick Word: 18 March 2021
Exodus 29:14 But burn the bull’s flesh and its hide and its offal outside the camp. It is a sin offering. This is an interesting part of the complex instructions given […]
Frayed about the Edges
Moderator’s Comments – Posted 15 March 2020 It is a common failing of any writer, teacher or preacher to impose one’s individual circumstances on a whole community – to assume […]
What is the Christian View of Sex Education and Consent?
It’s easy enough to be against something – but what are we for? Last week https://ap.org.au/2021/03/03/is-more-education-the-answer-to-australias-sex-abuse-crisis/ we saw that the only answer our society has on sexual relationships is to teach […]
Needed: Holiness – The Lesson from Ravi Zacharias
It is sadly becoming a common story – Christian celebrity falls. The latest in the never-ending line is Ravi Zacharias, the globally popular Christian apologist who died last May. Ravi […]
The Spiritual Benefits of Scripture Journaling
One of the best pieces of advice I ever received about preaching was to first write out the passage by hand. It seems quaint and maybe even simplistic, but it […]
The Blessing of Writing out Scripture by Hand
One of the best pieces of advice I was ever given regarding preaching was to write the passage out by hand. I know it sounds pedantic, and maybe even a […]
Praising and Criticising
One of the surest indications of our own corruption is the universal experience that if someone ventures to praise us, we tend to heartily agree, but if someone criticises us, […]
The Unheard Story
If it were possible to hold the Victorian government to the same standards that they are inflicting on Victorians in their Suppression and/or Change Practices Bill (2020), they would likely […]