He calls himself a clergyman but he’s not sure who or what God is.  He leads worship services but he doesn’t believe in prayer.  He identifies with the Roman Catholic form of Christianity but he’s not convinced Jesus Christ ever lived.  Go figure...! Brisbane’s Courier Mail last Wednesday reported on the story of Peter Kennedy.  In 2009 this 73-year-old man was told by the Roman Catholic hierarchy to leave St Mary’s church in South Brisbane where he had served for 28 years as parish priest.  Today he still regards himself as the spiritual leader of the “St Mary’s Church in Exile”...

In the life of the world to come will we recognise one another?  If we do recognise one another will we be sad to notice that some family members will not be there because they have gone to that other place?  And what about those who died in infancy?  Will they be in God’s new world as babies or will they be fully-grown?  If I had ten dollars for every time I have been asked those questions during my years of pastoral ministry I’d have nice bit of extra pocket money. Some weeks ago in these columns I wrote under the...

Perhaps I should begin with a disclaimer and say that I take no responsibility for children reading this “R” rated opinion piece...!!!  Don’t say I didn’t warn you. It may seem strange but my education about biology was reinforced when I began my apprenticeship as a Fitter and Turner.  I learned that it’s not only living things that have a sexual identity so do machine parts and various other things that are used around a factory. For example: hose fittings came in male and female components.  Not surprisingly the male component has to be inserted into the female component.  In those...

Yep!  We got our official information pack in the mail last week to show us how much better off we will be with the implementation of the proposed Carbon Tax.  But why did I find myself growing increasingly cynical as read this piece of government propaganda?  I felt, as I read it, that the government expected me to do cartwheels of joy at how much more wonderful life will become once this tax is introduced. Okay!  An admission!  What I know about environmental science could probably be written on the back of a postage stamp.  That means that just like so...

A few days ago I spoke to a lady who, with great regret, left a marriage because her husband’s physical mishandling of her got to the point where she could no longer safely stay in the relationship.  How tragic when a man uses his superior strength to beat up a woman. Domestic violence is, of course, not perpetrated only by men.  I’ve known instances where the wife was the abuser.  It has happened that a man has had to flee a marriage for his own safety.  Yet having said that it would also be fair to say that in most cases...

The term “Dutch Treat” is familiar to most of us.  Apparently the expression came into the English language back in the days when the Dutch Prince William of Orange ruled the British Isles.  The English labelled some questionable, or bad things, as being “Dutch”.  So you had “Dutch Courage” and a “Dutch Uncle”.  A “Dutch Treat” was where you invited someone to go out with you but then had them pay their own bill. That expression came to mind as I read a news item from the Netherlands recently.  It seems that the Netherlands is formally turning its back on multiculturalism...

Reading some posts on Facebook this week got me thinking about our Christian distinctiveness.  Why is it that so often we Christians seem to differ so little from those who are not Christians? I have many Christian relatives and friends with whom I am privileged to stay in contact via this social networking facility on the Internet.  I also have a number of non-Christian relatives and acquaintances who are Facebook “friends”.  But I repeatedly find that many Christians are just as likely, for example, to unload their anger and frustration of Facebook as do those who are not Christians. Okay, please...

Our recent four weeks of holidays provided some wonderful times of family togetherness. In Melbourne the Westendorp family got together so that those who had not yet met Merle and Leah could do so.  The following day there was also a Smit family reunion so that Ali’s family could also meet Merle and Leah.  It was a wonderful experience to see my relatives in Victoria embrace these “newcomers” to the family and Merle and Leah felt very much accepted.  Some wonderful blessings have already come from that. In Pretoria, and again in Capetown, Leah and I had the privilege of meeting...

People come to church for all sorts of reasons... and some of them don’t have too much to do with God.  People stay away from church for all sorts of reasons and some of them don’t have too much to do with God either. Recently while on holidays I commented to a relative that I had missed certain young people in the worship service that morning and I asked whether they were perhaps away on holidays.  My relative told me that they didn’t attend church anymore.  He added as a kind of afterthought, “I guess that’s not too surprising when you...

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised but I confess that I am.  The New International Version of the Bible (NIV), from which we read in church, has reached its use-by date.  Stone the crows – how can the Bible have a use-by date? This is not a mere rumour; or what Internet savvy people call an “urban myth”.  It’s true.  The NIV was first published in 1978 and then underwent a minor revision in 1984.  That means that for 27 years we have been reading this popular version of the Bible.  Alas, it is no longer to be printed.  A...

When Merle and I recently went to South Africa I took with me a copy of Mitchener’s epic saga, The Covenant.  It is Mitchener’s story of South Africa and I took it along as reading to help gain some understanding of South Africa.  I’m still reading it eight weeks later.  That’s not because I’m a slow reader.  It’s just a little tough to fit the reading of one thousand pages of historical novel in with other activities.  Two long aeroplane trips made a huge dint in my reading and I am now (thankfully) approaching the end of the book. I guess...

Judging a book by its cover can work both ways. We generally use that expression when someone makes a negative assessment about someone based one mere outward appearance.  I’ve made that mistake more than once.  During a mentoring session one morning at MacDonald’s two tattooed Islanders walked in and I remember thinking, “I wouldn’t want to bump into those guys in a dark alley at night.”   However I had to eat humble pie because they came and sat at a neighbouring table with their breakfast where they both bowed their heads in prayer to say grace before their meal.  It’s...

Like most of you we got our “Get Ready Queensland” package in the mail this past week.  It included a “personal” letter from the Premier, Anna Bligh. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, let me explain.  In January 2011 huge parts of Queensland were damaged by floods and cyclones.  Those fearsome weather conditions were accompanied by considerable loss of life and a damages bill that has had implications for Queensland’s economy down to the present day. This year the State Government wants us to be prepared for the storm season and so it has sent every...

Some years ago our family was holidaying with some relatives at their ‘shack’.  The location was a small beachside town.  On the way to church on Sunday our attention was drawn to another holiday house.  We were informed that this unit was owned by a couple who had been good friends of ours in early adulthood.  Their car was parked out the front so they were obviously in town too.  I remarked, “That’s a bonus!  After all these years I’ll get to catch up with them at church this morning.”  I was disappointed with the reply, “Sorry, you’ll miss them because...

We have a tendency to see pride as the extreme self-centred attitude of those who sell tickets on themselves; the arrogant attitude of the person who is totally self-absorbed; the foolishness of those who think that the whole world revolves around them. What is much harder to see is the subtle ways in which pride affects our own lives; the tendency to see ourselves as just a little better than most and much better than many; our unwillingness to face up to issues that we have pushed into the background for far to long. It’s interesting to note that in the...

I continue to be amazed at the prevalence of violence towards Christians and the hatred directed against the Church. I have on my desk in front of me the November edition of The Australian Presbyterian.  In the news pages of this one periodical alone the following incidents are reported: ·         In India’s Kashmir Valley converts from Islam were beaten after Muslims alleged that their young people were being lured into Christianity. ·         In Pakistan a woman sentenced to death on “blasphemy” charges was beaten by a prison officer who was assigned to provide security for her. ·         In the West Java...

No debate is needed on whether or not we should be good and moral people.  Good behaviour is non-negotiable.  While he may want to debate what constitutes good behaviour even the most hardened sceptic favours a just society where good is pursued and evil restrained and punished. The Bible endorses good behaviour from Genesis (God’s rebuke of Cain) to Revelation (the wicked destined for the fires of hell). The more difficult question is: what motivates good behaviour?  Why should I do what is right and good? That’s a particularly vexing question for sceptics and atheists.  If life consists only of material...

Soon after coming back from South Africa last October we began renovating the house next door to the church.  The project is my first involvement in a ‘makeover rescue’ and during these last couple of months I’ve often thought of some parallels to what the Lord God does in the lives of His people.  The following list of spiritual lessons is by no means exhaustive. ·         When we bought the place the owner indicated that he had not done too much to the house because one day the property would probably be sold to a developer and the house would be...

Imitation is a word with bad vibes.  The handbag you bought as a genuine Pierre Cardin product actually turned out to be an Asian imitation.  That’s disappointing – even if it was bought at a bargain price.  Every year thousands of dollars worth of imitation products are put through the crusher and dumped as landfill.  Imitation is not a good idea. But imitation can also have very positive connotations.  You are asked for a copy of the recipe for those unusual chocolate brownies you made for that church event last Sunday.  At the next church event you try those lovely chocolate...

I recall (dimly!) the story from primary school: a Greek legend about Narcissus.  He was a rather vain young man.  One day he walked down to the stream for a drink of water.  As he bent over the water he saw his own reflection in the stream.   He sat there by the water’s edge, smitten by the image staring back at him from the pool.  The story concludes with the strange ending that he sat there so long that eventually he turned into the flower that still grows besides streams in some countries, the narcissus. What made me think of...