Articles, thoughts, essays, and content from Brian as well as students – our budding theologians.
Assuming Spiritual Responsibility
One of my more bizarre conversations as a pastor was when a man informed me I was the reason he cheated on his wife. As he said in a voice increasing in volume with each word, “It’s your fault! If you were a better preacher, and inspired me more, it would never have happened.” Hmmm. While I can’t say the conversation left me encouraged, it also didn’t cost me too many sleepless nights. But it does raise some interesting questions. How responsible are we for the spiritual well being of others, and for that matter,...
read moreAdam Raised a Cain: Reflections for Parents in Pain
Back in 2016 I wrote a post, Adam Raised A Cain, reflecting on the sadness of the Genesis 4:1-16 account where we discover that the worlds first parents raised a murderer, and that the worlds opening story of two brothers is of the one killing the other. It’s not a promising start, and reflects the Bible’s deep awareness that family is usually the source of both our greatest joy and our greatest pain. I thought it worth doing a minor edit of the post and thinking about our response when parenting doesn’t go as we imagined it...
read moreOption B: When Life Doesn’t Run to Plan
In their very readable book, Option B, Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant explore how to build resilience and find joy when option A for our life is no longer available. For Sheryl Sandberg it started when she discovered her husband Dave collapsed on the gym floor – never to recover. She suddenly found herself part of the enormous Option B club – that multitude of people who don’t get their first choice, but who find that it is still possible to have meaning and happiness when only their second (or third) choice is available....
read moreThe Bias that Blinds Us…
Most of us would like to be good listeners, even deep listeners – people who see beyond the surface of things to what is really going on. Jesus was one of those people. When asked a question he rarely answered it directly, but moved it to a different level or replied with another question. In doing so he opened up new world’s of possibility. He could see in the hated tax collector Zacchaeus a man capable of great generosity; he could sense in the wild and demon possessed Legion someone who could be a sane, wise, witness to the...
read moreFrom Theodicy to Theophany
Ok, I admit the title of this post is not exactly catchy! But you are still reading, so let me quickly say why I think it is important. You probably know people who have suffered greatly – perhaps you are one of them. All suffering is hard to watch, but it is especially devastating when it seems to be senseless and unfair. There are a thousand different scenarios I could paint, but in your heart you already know your “why, why, why” questions. How do we come to terms with life’s most devastating heartaches without...
read moreWhen our GPS Flounders: Genesis 12:2-3 as a Correcting Lens
A few months ago I was on my way to speak at a meeting on the other side of Perth (north of the river for those who are locals) and because it was unfamiliar territory, I trusted my phone GPS to guide me. Usually this works beautifully, but for some obscure reason (probably the endless roadworks in Perth), this time it didn’t. My estimated arrival time suddenly changed from 18:46 (giving a nice buffer for my 19:15 start) to 20:47 and instead of a journey of 47 km, I was apparently now due to arrive after covering 134km. I was less than...
read moreWhen in a City under Siege: Ps 31 then and now
I came across Ps 31 in my devotions this week. Given its original context, it is a surprisingly hopeful psalm, and verse 21 seems especially apt for the complex times we are living through: Praise be to the `Lord, for he showed his wonderful love to me when I was in a city under siege. Written when David was physically and emotionally drained, deserted by his friends and anticipating that everything he had stood for would be lost, he prays in words that Jesus chose to repeat while on the Cross: “Into your hands I commit my spirit”...
read moreBlending Amish and 21st Century…
OK, so I accept some will think this is one of my sillier blog posts, but I recently wondered if it might be possible to navigate life part Amish, part 21st century. Of course a whole lot of qualifiers need to be thrown in, and I realise the thesis would never stand up to serious scrutiny, and those in the know will want to correct me on endless aspects of Amish life. But I am a big picture person and I really just want to explore if its possible to opt out of our overly complicated 21st century lives periodically and travel back to a simpler...
read moreBecause Our Habits Form Us…
Though I no longer remember her name, I remember the enthusiastic student teacher in my primary school teaching us about habits, and how important it is to form good ones. “A habit sticks with you,” she proclaimed. She wrote the word HABIT on the chalk board, systematically then rubbing out one letter at a time – creatively turning the lesson into an exercise in both spelling and ethics. You take out the H, and it is still there A BIT. Work harder, and remove the A, but BIT is still left. Yet more effort, and the B disappears – but IT is...
read moreQuestions for the New Year: Two Prompts from Genesis 16
Photo by Zane Lindsay on Pexels.com Genesis 16 is one of the more troubling passages in the Hebrew Bible, dealing as it does with Abram and Sarai’s initial attempt to deal with their childlessness by having a child through Sarai’s servant, Hagar. Though the plan originates with Sarai, when she sees that Hagar is pregnant she feels very differently about it, a reminder that there is usually a significant gap between theory and practice in all matters of the heart. This is not Sarai or Abram at their finest – Abram giving his...
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