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 […]
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 […]
A Biblical Perspective on Pandemics with Peter Barnes (Profiles in Christian Living Podcast, Season 2 Episode 6)
Book Review: A Spectacle of Glory (Joni Eareckson Tada with Larry Libby)
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016 John Newton once commented: ‘Some Christians are called upon to endure a disproportionate amount of suffering.’ Joni is one such Christian, as a quadriplegic with cancer […]
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, […]
Book Review: The Story of the Church (A. M. Renwick)
London: IVP, Fourth Edition, 2020. The Preface to this fourth edition of The Story of the Church contains a short biography of A. M. Renwick, who wrote the first edition […]
Moderator General Statement: Victorian Legislation, Feb 2021
To the congregations of the Presbyterian Church of Australia9 February 2021The Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Bill – Victoria The Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Bill has now […]
Daniel Andrews Defies God and His Own Church
Daniel Andrews, the Roman Catholic Premier of Victoria, has not only defied the God of the Bible, turned a deaf ear to the wider Christian population, but has specifically rejected […]
Three Lessons from John Colapinto, As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who was Raised as a Girl
New York: HarperCollins, 2002 This would qualify as one of the saddest, most appalling stories I have ever come across concerning the whole issue of transgenderism. It tells of twin […]
To Be Madly in Love with Oneself
In Paul’s warning against ungodliness in the last days, between the two comings of Christ, he heads the list with those who will be ‘lovers of self’ (2 Tim.3:2). Recently […]
Book Review: Sermons on Second Timothy (John Calvin)
Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2018 Throughout much of 1554 and 1555 Calvin was preaching on the Pastoral Epistles, and so preached 31 sermons on 2 Timothy. Alas, the sermon on […]
The New State Religion
Political leaders down through the ages have been subject to all kinds of delusions. In the sixth century B.C. Darius the Mede listened to flatterers who talked him into passing […]
Book Review: Fire Road (Kim Phuc Phan Thi)
Illinois: Tyndale Momentum, 2017 On 8 June 1972 Kim’s life changed when South Vietnamese planes dropped napalm on fleeing villagers. Kim was nine years when she endured the terrible burning […]
Release From a COVID Christmas
Moderator’s Comments – Posted 12 December 2020 The book of Isaiah is commonly understood to contain four Servant Songs, the best-known being Isaiah 52:13-53:12, which is that of the Suffering […]
Book Review: Gracious Survival (Emily C. Ward)
Stanhope Gardens: Eider Books, 2020 Born in 1933, Emily Ward has seen much over her long life. She was not born into a Christian family, but a diligent assistant minister, […]
The Love of God
The Bible declares most emphatically – and repeats it – that ‘God is love’ (1 John 4:8, 16). It is a sentiment which resonates with more than just the Christian […]