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A Reflection on Psalm 8
A Reflection on Psalm 8 The words of Psalm 8 roll through my head playing over and over. I’m on holidays in the Whitsundays. I had spent the past few days relaxing in God’s creation. A much-needed break and time to rest and unwind. Psalm 8 1 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. 2 Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. It’s the version I learnt as a child that plays on repeat and the beauty of the creation here that continuously triggers the memory of those words. The aqua blue water with darker patches of reef, the islands rising out of
Samaritan’s Purse – more than just Operation Christmas Child
Samaritan’s Purse - more than just Operation Christmas Child A couple of weeks back I had the privilege of attending a special dinner hosted by Samaritan’s Purse. I was invited, along with others from Oasis, because of our ongoing support of their Operation Christmas Child appeal. OCC is just one of the ways that Samaritan’s Purse is loving people in Jesus’ name and it was so wonderful to hear of the many ways SP is providing relief and assistance to suffering people around the world. SP provides disaster relief in Australia and New Zealand following floods, fires, cyclones and other disasters. This is achieved by mobilizing volunteer teams and working alongside local churches to meet the physical needs of those affected and to work toward recovery. SP also provides
Reverse Conquest
Reverse Conquest Revelation 15:2 And I saw… standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name… I googled the meaning of the word ‘conquer’ and the answer it spat out was, “the subjugation and assumption of control of a place or people by military force”. It’s not a very positive picture, is it? Russia’s invasion of Ukraine comes to mind. And yet, ‘conquest’ is one of the major themes of the Book of Revelation. One of the dominant meanings of the Greek word nikao is ‘to conquer, to overcome, to triumph’.[1] Below is a little chart that shows how often it comes up in the Books of the New Testament. At a glance you can see
Working Through Trials
Working Through Trials Jesus said that our lives will be punctuated by trials and trouble (John 16:33). Every one of us will suffer many and varied trials; some in lesser or greater degree; and they can occur at any time. No one is exempt. Even those of us in the family of God are not exempt. In fact, it is likely that we will feel stronger blows simply because we are in the family of God. Jesus, God's own dearly loved Son, did not have a comfortable life. “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Is. 53:3). It was necessary that Christ “learned obedience by the things which he suffered” (Heb. 5:8), and we, too, follow the path of suffering in
What is Worship?
What is Worship? A term frequently used around churches is the word “worship”? But what exactly is worship? When do we do it? Is it a particular style of music? Do you need to have a specific set of gifts to be able to worship? Some phrases you might have heard around churches include worship service, worship music, worship team, and worship leader. So, what exactly is worship? According to the Oxford Dictionary, worship is defined as “the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity.” Now, the good news is, we don’t have a problem when it comes to knowing how to worship. We’re all really, really good at worship. The bad news is, more often than not, we’re worshipping the wrong deity…the wrong god. How
A Prayer of Surrender
A Prayer of Surrender As a child I used to play a game called ‘Surrender’. The rules of the game were simple: two opponents grabbed the other’s arm and gave a ‘Chinese Burn’ until one person yelled “surrender!” to stop the game and accept defeat. Pretty brutish, really. I liked to play with my younger sisters but not so much with my older brother (for obvious reasons). Surrendering to something doesn’t come naturally to us. Our natural bent is to rule over our own lives. We want to control and determine our own way and our culture screams at us ‘you do you’. But as Christians we’re called to surrender – not a surrender of defeat but one of trust. Trust in God who loves us deeply and knows
Eyes on the Prize
Eyes on the prize Olympic fever has taken over our screens, our news feeds and for many of us, our conversations. Maybe you are a big fan; watching the medal tally with keen interest, cheering on the Aussies every chance you get, and even becoming a bit emotional when you listen to the post race interviews. Or maybe you’re just not that interested in watching people poke each other with a fairly blunt sword, or run around and around in a big circle, or try and jump over a really high bar with a long bendy stick. But either way, how can you not admire the determination and the focus of the athletes? I can only imagine the preparation that must go into training and being ready to compete
To Judge or not to Judge?
To Judge or Not to Judge? The Bible’s teaching about judgement can seem confusing. I’m not talking about the judgement of God, which is clear. I’m talking about the way we are to, or not to, judge one another. On the one hand, there are places in the New Testament where we are clearly commanded to make judgments; to be discerning about people, their teaching, and their actions (e.g., Lk. 12:57; Jn. 7:24; Rom. 15:14; 1 Cor. 10:15; 2 Cor. 13:5; 1 Jn. 4:1). In fact, the ability to exercise appropriate judgment is even seen as a necessary sign of Christian maturity (e.g., 1 Cor. 2:15; 6:1–6; Phil. 1:9; Col. 1:9). On the other hand, there are other places where we are clearly warned about the danger of passing
