Hospitality isn't rocket science but it is the mark of a Christian – at least it was in the early church. Acts 2 tells us about the three-thousand who were converted on the Day of Pentecost. At the end of Acts 2 we're told of these Christians that they "ate together with glad and sincere hearts". It's rather difficult "eating together" without being hospitable at the same time. Paul tells us to "practice hospitality" (Rom.12:13) and Peter thought that hospitality was important because he encouraged his readers to "offer hospitality to one another without grumbling" (1Peter 4:9). I'm going to stick...

The events that happened on this day some 2000 years ago are just the best reason for worship and adoration of our victorious Saviour God. Why some people, even some supposed Christian leaders, would reject the truth of Scripture that Jesus rose physically from the dead is really beyond me. Do they not understand that if Jesus did not physically rise from the dead, then Christianity would be the biggest con that some men have ever invented? Then we would say with Paul, ".if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith." And then Paul...

The last day of this month, 31st October was the day in 1517 when the Reformer, Martin Luther, challenged the church to deal with the abuses and perversions that had crept into the church over many centuries. In three years' time there are plans afoot already for a 500th anniversary celebration. Of course today that date is better known in our society as Halloween. When people of my generation were growing up we were vaguely aware that Halloween was something that was practiced with 'tricks and treats' in the US of A. Here in Australia we thought of it as a...

I can still recall (though very vaguely) some muscular pains in my legs, which I complained about early in my teenage years. My mother called them growing pains. I've experienced my children struggling with those growing pains too. The good news is that the condition is not fatal. No one dies from growing pains. In fact they are probably good pains to have for they indicate that the child is growing into an adult. There is another kind of growing pain that can also be very troublesome but that is good for us. It's the growing pain that Hebrews 12 talks...

Once, when I referred to someone as an expert, a work colleague commented that an expert is a "drip under pressure". The Oxford Dictionary's definition of an expert is "someone who is very knowledgeable about or skilful in a particular area". I'm often amazed how many people are experts when it comes to religion... or more particularly experts on Christianity. Let me give you some examples. The man was my age and a member of a church that has a huge nominal membership. He confessed to going to church on special occasions such as Christmas and Easter. When he moved to...

Last Sunday afternoon I spent a wonderful two-plus hours at the Anglican Cathedral in town enjoying a performance of Felix Mendelssohn's Oratorio, Elijah. It's the best twenty dollars I've spent for a long time. The place was packed out with standing room only. I managed to find a seat in the very front row within arm's reach of the conductor – the best place from which to listen to this kind of performance. It was two hours of being absorbed in the life of the Old Testament prophet who called Israel to forsake the Baals and return to the Lord –...

An article I was reading recently, in a periodical from another church, sought to grapple with the Biblical teaching about election. The author was honest enough to state at the outset his problem with predestination: "If God, through sovereign decisions, predestines some to salvation and some to damnation, then surely He is the ultimate source of sin and suffering." The writer then focused particularly on the text in Romans 8 – that those whom God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son (v.29). His view on this verse was that Paul is merely speaking about...

Has it ever happened to you that a certain word comes into your mind and you keep repeating that word to yourself? The word rolls off your tongue – at least mentally it does – and you relish the sound of it. You then begin to wonder how that word came to be. Why did that particular combination of vowels and consonants come to represent that particular thing? I had that happen to me the other day with the word egalitarian. For those unfamiliar with the word – a little lesson: a vegetarian is someone who dines on vegetables but an...

There are many folk who believe in God and who even believe that Jesus died for their sins but who are not into church going. Their problem is not with God, their problem is church. There is a new brand of person in our society today who do not believe in God and don't accept that Jesus died for them but who are into church going. Their problem is not with church, their problem is God. I became aware of this when my daughter sent me a clipping from their local newspaper. It appeared in the public notices column along with...

Do you ever feel that you are caught between a rock and a hard place? Well, I am in that position every time I read about Christians who 'smuggle' Bibles into countries where the law of that country clearly states that that this is not allowed. This past week a group of American Christians, members of "Vision beyond Borders" had 315 bibles confiscated by Chinese custom officials from their luggage in the south western city of Kunming while the Olympic Games were being staged in Beijing. And once the Bibles were discovered and confiscated, these same Christians said they would not...

The Christmas story is the story of God almighty taking on humanity.  That’s difficult to get your head around but it’s what the Bible teaches.  Through a special work of the Holy Spirit Jesus took to himself a human nature from the Virgin Mary.  For starters there’s the huge obstacle of the virgin birth.  Virgins don’t normally have babies.  More than once I’ve met someone who had great respect for the person of Jesus Christ and for His teachings but who balked at the idea of a virgin birth.  I understand that.  It’s not for nothing that we who are Christians...

It’s the British author, C.S. Lewis, who is to blame.  He wrote some fantasy books for kids – and they sucked me right in.  The result is that I became something of a fantasy addict.  I guess you too may have read Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles at some point in your life or watched a movie of one of his books such as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  I recall reading the Narnia Chronicles to my young children while we were on holidays.  We had a bit of an age gap between my older and younger children so when the...

Some folk have this strange idea that the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world on that first Christmas Day for the sole purpose of getting people into heaven.  Ask them why Jesus, God’s Son, took on humanity and they will tell you that it was in order to die on Calvary’s cross on Good Friday to save our souls from eternal condemnation in some sort of pit of eternal destruction.  Well, I can’t deny that that is a very, v\ery important part of Christian teaching in the Bible.  But it is also woefully inadequate. For starters you and I need...

There was a judge who had the reputation that he could not be bribed.  Over the years some had tried – but to their regret they found that the judge had come down even heavier on them for their attempted bribery.  Paddy appeared before this judge in a litigation case that seemed unwinnable.  He asked his lawyer whether he should send the judge a bottle of champagne and a leg of ham.  His lawyer was horrified and told him of the Judge’s reputation.  On the day of the trial the hearing was decided in Paddy’s favour – much to the surprise...

In these last six years in my retirement I have joined the ‘Shedders’.  So... you don’t know what Shedders are?  Well, they are a rather novel breed of (usually) older men who get together in Men’s Sheds – also known as Man Caves.  What they do there is everything from working at their hobbies to community projects... and from playing cards to just dropping in for coffee. I was talking to a Shedder last week who figures he would probably be on the wrong side of the grass if it wasn’t for his local Men’s Shed.  And he’s not the first...

One of the elders in my church once lamented our inefficient way of living.  He pointed out that most families have a washing machine that only gets used a couple of times a week.  Our garden shed inevitably houses a motor mower that on average sees the light of day less than once a week.  He listed various other things that families could easily share.  His ideal was for several families to live more closely together so as to share these kinds of resources.  Many years later he put his theory into practice.  Together with two other families they bought a...

The extent of religious persecution today is quite staggering.  All too often the secular media covers it over with a rather bland report of what it labels “sectarian violence”.  Repeatedly I have read in the secular media a report of such sectarian violence in Egypt or India, Pakistan or Burma, only to discover later from Christian sources that yet more of my brothers and sisters in the faith have been brutally murdered because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Of course not all “sectarian violence” is against Christians.  Some of that violence is between Muslim Shi’ites and Muslim Sunnis just as...

Okay... so I’m taking my life into my hands by writing about women.  Writing about men (last time) was easy.  I’m a man... and if, in the process of writing about “The Adam Syndrome”, I upset some other men then it wasn’t because my comments were coming from the opposite sex.  But writing about women puts me at risk of offending the womenfolk in the church... and one of them is my best friend. Nevertheless for this humble church publication to be even-handed, an article on “The Eve Syndrome” must follow an article on Adam’s problem.  We always try to be...

I used to think that when the Enemy came into The Garden to tempt our first mother he took advantage of the fact that Eve was on her own.  Adam, at that moment, just happened to be off counting the sheep.  After succumbing to temptation Eve then brought the forbidden fruit to Adam with the suggestion that it wasn’t half bad and that he should try it too.  Small wonder that Adam later blamed Eve for his problems by effectively telling the Lord, “She made me do it!” Not so!  Many years ago a friend of mine pointed out that the...

Many of you will be aware of the recent upheaval in the Toowoomba diocese of the Catholic Church.  Bishop William Morris, who served the diocese for some eighteen years, was effectively sacked by Rome.  The sacking has caused much distress amongst Roman Catholics in Toowoomba. One of the main reasons for Morris falling out of favour with Pope Benedict was that he dared to ask some tough questions back in 2006 in an Advent letter to the churches of his diocese.  In that letter Morris showed that he took a progressive stance on a number of issues.  Morris asked the question...