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Appointed for Eternal Life?
Appointed for Eternal Life? The present verse is as unqualified a statement of absolute pre-destination… as is found anywhere in the New Testament. – C. K. Barrett I hope you were able to join us last Sunday as we continued our series ‘To the Ends of the Earth’. There was a line in our passage that we didn’t have time to discuss together, and that line was Acts 13:48. This is what the second half says, “…all who were appointed for eternal life believed”. This brings us to the teaching of election or predestination, which says that God freely and graciously predestines people deserving of judgement to be saved. Sadly, this topic often turns into an intellectual debate. So, rather than debating it. I want to ask why Luke
Father’s Day: A Forest Isn’t Built in a Day
Father’s Day: A Forest Isn’t Built in a Day Jadev Payang, subject of the award-winning documentary ‘Forest Man’, single-handedly planted an entire forest in the middle of a barren wasteland in rural India. He began in 1979 with 20 bamboo seedlings. Today, his forest is larger than Central Park in New York City. It is home to Bengal tigers, Indian rhinoceros, deer, rabbits, monkeys, and several types of birds. There are several thousand trees of different varieties and the forest covers an area of 1,360 acres. And it all began with the sowing of a few seeds. And a whole lot of patience. Jadev Payang’s forest is a lot like our children. Not that they are full of wild beasts (even if at times it might seem like it). Rather,
Youth Camp 2022
Youth Camp 2022 Youth Camp 2022 is done and dusted! It was a great weekend up on Mount Tambourine with over 80 youth and leaders in attendance from our church and from our sister churches around the Brisbane area. There was a lot of fun had over the course of the weekend. On Saturday we got into Tribe teams and competed in Tribal Wars, with activities involving mulched fruit, flailing pool noodles, and three-team volleyball and soccer (that’s right—three teams at once!). Cheers to Hayden for organising these! We also had great fun with elective activities, which included experiences like the Giant Swing, Archery, craft, and games. Around all of this we still had some free time to hang out with old friends and make new ones, and to
A Song for Every Season
A Song for Every Season I love the Psalms. They’ve been my ‘go-to’ in many times when I just don’t know what to pray. In times of great rejoicing, when God seems so awesome and mighty and my futile words don’t seem enough, there’s Psalm 145. In turmoil and uncertainty, there’s Psalm 91. When I need strength for life’s journey, there’s Psalm 18. The psalmists understood that life and history have many seasons: strength and weariness, joy and suffering, gain and loss. And in turn, praise takes many forms: repentance, reflection, confidence, thanksgiving, and lament. But through all seasons of life the character of God, the truth of his word, and his commitment to his people remain unchanging. This is the firm foundation for confident faith at all times.
Don’t say “I’ll pray for you”
Don’t say “I’ll pray for you” More specifically, don’t just say “I’ll pray for you.” I think the phrase easily falls out of your mouth, but sometimes the follow-through fails. Can you relate? I remember being in a conference a long time ago where the speaker was talking about this topic. He posed the rhetorical question: “Why don’t you pray for the person then and there...rather than telling them you’ll pray for them later?” It really made me think. In most situations when we find out someone needs prayer, we usually can pray for them then and there. I can remember soon after the conference a friend was telling me about the difficult time she was having. Her baby was unwell, her husband was needing to work long hours
Why Bother with the Trinity?
Why Bother with the Trinity? Why bother with the Trinity? You know what I’m talking about, right? The Trinity refers to our three-in-one God. God has eternally existed as three persons, Father, Son and Spirit. If you’re like me, you’re comfortable that the Scriptures reveal a Trinitarian God to us,[1] but you don’t necessarily know why it matters all that much, or why it makes much difference to life. At least, that’s how I used to think. Now, I love the doctrine of the Trinity. One of the reasons I appreciate it is because of that little word I just used, ‘love’. The Trinity shows us that the reason love matters so much to human beings is because it is grounded in ultimate reality. To desire love and to
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving How do you celebrate when something good happens? Dinner with friends? A special drink? A while ago, Pastor Adam stated that the three main ingredients of the Bible are burgers, chips and beer! I thought that was a fun way to remember that it’s really all about God’s people, God’s place and God’s blessing. Upon further consideration, I believe the burgers, chips and beer analogy can be applied to the subject of thanksgiving. Recently, I've been inspired by Leviticus, and it led me to write this note on thanksgiving. Nowadays it's all very easy to say a prayer of thanks by yourself to God and that's it. To be honest, my prayers of thanks are too quick and usually only in response to something good that has happened.
The End of Everything Changes Everything
The End of Everything Changes Everything I was on the edge of my seat. Quite literally. I could feel my heart thumping in my chest and I couldn’t stop fidgeting. I also couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. It was the final and deciding game of the 2022 State of Origin series and Queensland were in front by 4 points with ten minutes left on the clock. The whole game had been an arm-wrestle with neither team really seeming to gain the ascendancy. The whole game I’d been wound tighter than a drum. It wasn’t until Ben Hunt streaked away to score a try with only one minute remaining that I finally relaxed (after jumping off the couch and jumping up and down, of course). A few days
