Where Love Is, God Is I was lining up in the service station waiting to pay for my fuel. Deep in thought about the things I needed to get done that afternoon, hoping the kids hadn’t turned the radio up to extreme decibels that would damage their hearing. It was taking longer than it should, so I looked to the front of the line and realised that the gentleman trying to pay for his fuel had his payment declined. While he fumbled with his phone to transfer funds or call for help, the lady behind him stepped forward and said to the cashier and gentlemen “let me pay for your fuel, please”. It was a beautiful moment. I’m not sure if the lady was a Christian or not. But

Revisiting the Wisdom of Ecclesiastes This time last year we were working through what has become one of my favourite books of the Bible, and what has been (so far) one of my favourite series to preach: the book of Ecclesiastes. For 9 weeks in our series ‘Chasing the Wind’ we went on a whirlwind tour into the wild and winsome wisdom of the Teacher (the character whose voice we hear throughout Ecclesiastes). Perhaps this is surprising to you? Given a cursory glance, Ecclesiastes can seem like a pretty dense and dour affair. Remember the opening words of the book? “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” (1:2). Not exactly the most compelling way to begin, and not the book we might naturally turn to for encouragement, especially

Certainty Despite COVID I have been reading and watching a lot of news reports and press conferences recently, and one word has been conspicuously common: uncertain. Of course, there is so much uncertainty; uncertainty about restrictions, about quarantine, about the spread of COVID, especially in light of the Delta variant. The future seems to be increasingly uncertain. This uncertainty makes it difficult for all of us to plan for the future. Whether it be holidays, work, or even whether you’ll be at school next week, everything is unsure. I feel this particularly keenly as Rachel & I are (hopefully!) getting married in just 8 weeks! With much of our family living interstate, the uncertainty makes any plan difficult to make and difficult to rely on. But despite all the

How Should We Relate to Authorities? If Jesus is Lord, how does that affect our relationship with other authorities? Have you ever thought about this? How much obedience do you and I owe to authorities like governments and employers? This question has become important for Christians in Australia because we see the cultural tide changing rapidly. Recently, I read an article by Rory Shiner (a Pastor in Perth) which addressed this very issue. I found it Biblically informed and wise. I share with you below in the hope that it too will help inform your thinking. Here’s Rory: But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him?” (Acts 4:19) The question of our relationship to earthly authorities comes out of

What the Rising Sun Tells Us About God Are you a sunrise or sunset kind of person? When was the last time you even took a moment to properly watch a sunrise or sunset? I love sunrises, although not so much in winter! Did you see the beautiful orange and purple sunset earlier this week? It was beautiful. In my current Bible reading plan (‘Reflecting God’s Image: a 10-day devotional with Jen Wilkin’), I was reminded about God’s incredible mercy towards us. Lamentations 3:22-23 says ‘Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.’ Just as each and every day we experience another sunrise and another sunset, so too the mercy of God is

Dealing with Death Death. It is scary. It is confronting. It is difficult to process and difficult to think about. But in Jesus, we can approach death with an unbreakable hope. We don't speak about death often in our culture, but it is always near at hand. News stories are full of death. Funeral homes are in almost every suburb. Death is often an emotional part of a good movie. And sometimes we suddenly find ourselves face-to-face with death in our own personal lives. Ben Shaw was an Australian pastor, speaker, teacher, and author, who battled with cancer for several years. He was living in London until recently, when he and his family returned to Australia after being told by the doctors that his cancer could no longer be

Discipled by Your Phone? Michanne and I went for a walk together recently and the conversation we had really stuck with me. She shared about a talk she heard that argued persuasively that we are addicted to our phones without knowing it. Companies pour millions of dollars to keep us addicted to our phones and to social media. Essentially, what they’re competing for is our attention. Many people call this the ‘attention economy’. Our attention is a scarce resource that they want to tap into, so they spend a lot of time and money to gain it and persuade us to buy into whatever they’re selling. I know a pastor who often says we are being ‘discipled’ by our phones… which is a bit of a scary picture! Now,