Today it’s very fashionable to be open-minded.  People who hold their beliefs strongly are often dismissed as fundamentalists and ‘fundamentalist’ has become a derogatory term for people who dare to suggest that they are right and someone else is wrong.  Open-mindedness and tolerance are today’s politically correct approaches to matters of belief and values.  The only problem is that you can be so open-minded that your brains fall out. Today we celebrate Pentecost Sunday.  Reflect on that a little and you realise how important truth is for a Christian.  Jesus twice called the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth.  In John...

A discussion with a relative about the Christian faith led to the comment, “That’s fine for you to say, but why should I believe you?  Hindus and Muslims make similar claims.” I pointed out that the issue is one of truth.  Basic logic affirms that there are only three possible options when we engage in debate with someone.  When I discuss religion with a Muslim then either he is right and I am wrong or I am right and he is wrong, or else we’ve both got it wrong.  It makes no sense to suggest that we are both right. The...

We live in a culture where people (even many Christians) think that it is fine for a Hindu to be a Hindu and for a Buddhist to be a Buddhist – as long as they are sincere about their faith.  It is just not politically correct to say that someone’s belief system is wrong.  In many situations today if you dared to suggest that Hinduism is a false religion you would be howled down as a narrow-minded bigot. In the Christian Church this political correctness reveals itself in a dislike for doctrine.  I don’t know how often I’ve heard the mantra...

In an age and culture in which “it’s all about me” humility is a rare virtue. In my training year in the ministry (what we call ‘vicariate’) I had as my mentor, an older colleague who has since been promoted to glory.  I recall that when candidates were being examined by our Classis for the pastoral ministry he always had an additional standard by which he judged their suitability.  When the sermon was passed and the theology and Bible knowledge had been approved he would comment, “He’s a humble fellow, I support the sustaining of his examination.” Humility does not come...

I don’t know whether it’s just me but it seems that increasingly ours is a sloppy culture where near enough is good enough.  In the last few months in our home we’ve had an inordinate variety of products and goods returned for a refund because they were of poor quality or had been badly put together.  And they didn’t come from the local Dollar Shop either.  Some years ago we had an experience of watching a plumber have to do his work all over again because he did a sloppy job the first time. This problem of sloppiness (as well as...

The development of schedules and plans, and the following of what we hope are carefully thought out steps are a part of life. They give shape and order to things that need doing. They themselves are shaped by the principles of those things we believe and hold important. Priorities are ordered, goals established, and the steps to reach those goals are defined. Essentials needs are identified and non essential desires are hopefully kept in a balanced perspective. All of this is an unavoidable part of life. Even the most disorganised and unscheduled person will be involved in some form of planning....

While the plane was still taxing to the terminal on our return from holidays, we received the call on our mobile phone that Br Gerry Schouten, a long time member of the Dee Why congregation had been called home to glory after a prolonged deterioration in health. No doubt those who knew him and loved him will miss him and we remember Joan and the wider family before the Lord's throne of grace. Now some will say it was a terrible welcome home, but I beg to differ. Sure it was sad, but it wasn't terrible. It wasn't terrible for a...

There’s a hymn we traditionally sing at Christmas time “Glory to God", and those three words are repeated as the central phrase of the hymn.’  It’s a song which is sung with great energy, and to listen to it being sung, the impression is, we mean it.’  I have no doubt we really do want to bring glory to God as we sing those words or words like them in other hymns and songs.’  What I wonder about though, is how we sing that desire after the worship service is over and during the week.’  Bringing glory to God isn’t only...

An older colleague of mine, who was approaching retirement age, was reflecting on the process of aging.  He expressed the desire that after his retirement as a preacher and pastor he might help out with some locum work in parishes without a gospel minister.  His motivation was to serve God by helping others.  But he added some words that I’ve never forgotten.  He said, “Of course one day I’ll preach my last sermon and then the time will probably come where I will provide other people with an opportunity to serve God by caring for me.” I thought of those words...

There’s an expression that was heard often in times past but that I don’t hear so much these days.  One place where I often came across it was in the “Peanuts” cartoons by Charles Schultz.  Something incredible would happen and Charlie Brown would remark, “Good grief!”  ‘Good grief!’ could be an expression of dismay or surprise, even of alarm.  But it’s a strange expression, isn’t it?  We don’t normally think of grief as being good, so why did the expression ‘Good grief’ become a common saying? I did some research.  Since the Peanuts Cartoon is an American product I assumed the...

I’m amazed sometimes how dumb I can be.  Okay... you don’t have to agree with me!  What’s the problem?  Well this past week I caught myself out again with being less than sensitive in my marriage and thoughtless in something that happened pastorally in the congregation.  Thankfully, neither of them were major issues that threatened either my marriage or my ministry at TCRC but it was enough to make me cringe that I could be so stupid. I thought that by passing the magic age of 65 my sanctification would immediately increase.  Sorry!  Holiness is not a result of age.  I...

Someone passed on a snippet recently that made me smile.  It said, “Church people are gentle and friendly... until you sit in their pew.” Perhaps that’s not as much of a problem today as it once used to be.  Having your own pew in church has a strong tradition that goes right back to the time when seats in church were auctioned annually.  That’s a fact.  People actually paid for their seats and more was paid for the better seats.  That was a form of fund raising for the church.  Some years ago a colleague and his wife visited a church...

Most of us are familiar with the saying: Technology is a good servant but a bad master. Technology has brought with it a whole lot of new blessings. It never ceases to amaze me what I can do on my computer. It has revolutionised my work as a pastor. Years ago when I was busy preparing a sermon my desk would be covered with books: a Greek Bible, some lexicons and commentaries as well as my English Bible and my notebooks. Today I have most of that available on my computer. On a typical day in my study I will have...

There are those rare moments in life when we are just filled with an incredible sense of sadness.  In those moments the sadness almost has a physical effect on us – we don’t speak of grief as being “gut wrenching” for nothing. This year we’ve all had our share of those moments of sadness.  Who of us could watch the news footage of the floods in the Lockyer valley or the devastation of Christchurch and not feel that incredible sense of sadness?  Many of us sat in front of our television set holding a box of tissues as we watched those...

Our local Parent-Controlled Christian School has a new Bible curriculum in which students work through the whole Bible in a three-year period.  This week they are looking at the story of the Tower of Babel. It’s a well-known tale that is related in Genesis 11.  People decided that they needed to stick together so they figured out that an immense tower would be a great project to unite them as they worked on it together.  But this tower was not only an attempt to keep people together; it also made a statement that God was not needed.  This tower was to...

If the tragedies of this past week are not the meaningless results of an impersonal and fickle ‘Mother Nature’ but came by the hand of God (as Lord’s Day 10 teaches) then what is the purpose of these events? A Pastor in Victoria made news this past week when he blamed Kevin Rudd.  Kevin Rudd, he claimed, had sided with the Palestinians against Israel on the issue of Jewish settlements.  Pastor Danny Nahllia believes that the Queensland floods are God’s judgment on Rudd’s anti Israel attitude.  The logic goes like this: God is still on the side of Israel; anyone who...

On New Year’s Eve those of us who attended the worship service, confessed our faith in the Providence of God with the words of Lord’s Day 10. God so rules the affairs of life that “...leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness prosperity and poverty – all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from His fatherly hand.” To a Queensland unbeliever living on the land that must sound like a big joke.   What father would allow his child to suffer years of drought and then send rain...

(Or “How to be religious in non-religious sort of way”) I’m sure that many of us have attended weddings that were not held in a church and which were not conducted by a clergyman of any kind.  I’m referring to weddings conducted by licensed Civil Celebrants. In one way I respect a young couple asking a civil celebrant to conduct their wedding.  It’s much more honest than going through the hypocritical sham of taking religious vows when one has not the slightest interest in anything religious.  Too often people have made all sorts of promises to church leaders just so that...

Normal 0 Last week I received in the mail a survey from the Australian National University.  I was asked to complete a lengthy questionnaire that the ANU is working on together with National Seniors Australia.  The purpose of the survey is to assess the wellbeing of older Australians.  (Thanks!  I didn’t really need the reminder that I’m an older Aussie! The questionnaire particularly zeroed in on the role of family and friends in one’s life.  But finances were also touched on: Does financial difficulty sometimes prevent you from staying in touch with family or friends?  So too was the time factor:...

Some neighbours in our first congregation were an elderly couple who had never been more than one hundred kilometres from home.   They were born in Devonport, Tasmania, and had never even been to Hobart.   In contrast I have lived in two countries, three States of Australia and in 18 different houses.  Our modern society is a highly mobile society and that has huge implications for the Christian Church. Today it’s not just bank-managers and teachers who “move on” every few years.  In our congregation we’ve just lost two families because the tradesmen Dads have found more suitable work hundreds...