God is my: A Psalm 3 Testimony…
This blog often discusses weighty matters – the future of the church, social trends, significant ethical issues, Christian apologetics, personal growth. Every now and then I like to step back and simply remember and celebrate the God whose existence and goodness is the assumed given behind all that is written. In this post I would like to do this by reflecting on a 3000 year old testimony – one which King David writes when in the middle of one of the many crises which made up his life. You find it in Psalm 3 when David is facing a coup ‘etat instigated by none other than...
Read MoreOur Responsibility to the Future…
Christianity has a 2000 year history, and it is therefore natural that we should think about our responsibility to the past, and those who have gone before us. You see this in debates about faithfulness to our heritage, or how the Bible needs to be interpreted in a way consistent with the longer term tradition of understanding its texts, as well as in efforts to keep doing things the same way as we have before. All this is understandable, and has value. However, I wonder if we pay as much attention to our responsibility to the future – to the version of the Christian faith we are...
Read MoreWhen we are seen…
Have you ever felt invisible? If it’s especially bad, people don’t notice you at all, if a softer version, they sort of see you, but have placed you in an inaccurate and limiting box. You know there is more to you – but you struggle to get it out or for anyone to realise that there is a more significant you waiting to be discovered. It’s alienating, frustrating, and lonely. Sometimes we have landed up with a label – perhaps as a result of a major failure. We are the cheat, the unreliable one, the adulterer, the drunk, the druggie, the undisciplined dropout or...
Read MoreDoes Church Matter?
I’ve just finished teaching a week long intensive called “Denominational Distinctives.” It’s an “all things Baptist” unit – and most of the dozen students who were in the class are well on their way to becoming Baptist pastors. Pleasingly while most make it clear they think the age of denominations is long past and come to the unit a little resentfully, (it’s obligatory if you are to become a Baptist minister), by and large they land up enjoying it. In fact over the years I have taught it, many have said it turned out to be their favourite...
Read MoreThings that get in the way…
You’ve probably not spent a lot of time thinking about the troublesome little song recorded in 1 Samuel 18:7 “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” To all intents and purposes it led to a civil war, which was a pretty devastating and dramatic outcome for a song simply meant to celebrate a significant change in Israel’s military fortunes. Israel knew only too well what it was to be defeated in war, but now that Saul was king and David was a significant warrior in his army – well, the taste of victory was a lot sweeter than its opposite, and...
Read MoreTruth, Goodness, Beauty: Cultivating a Christian Voice
I recently spoke at the Christian Media and Arts Australia conference on “Truth, Goodness, Beauty: With What Voice Should we Speak in Today’s Culture?” It’s a genuinely important question, and AVENIR, the Leadership Institute I now lead, was closely involved in the program design and presentations. It was a real privilege and I think it was a very significant conference. Given that the voice of Christian media is heard by several million Australians every week (and there were representatives from other countries as well) – it is obviously important that those...
Read MoreMoody Weeks, Volatile Weeks…
I don’t know if you are a “steady as she goes” kind of person, or one who is a little more stormy. By and large I fall into the calm category, but this week I have been reminded that even calm people have volatile periods – precisely because I have had one! Interesting how things go wonderfully to plan – until they don’t. Yup, it’s been that kind of week. Goodness, there was even the death of the Queen. Her passing leaves a void that is unlikely to be filled. In short, it’s hard to see how things could have been worse. Pleasingly several of my...
Read MoreBetween Toxic Positivity and a Deus Remotus…
Toxic positivity is a new buzz word which rightly laments the irritating habit of attributing something positive to everything that happens, the kind of “if life serves you lemons, make lemonade” mindset which undergirds most bumper stickers and many sermon slogans. It’s an attitude that makes it near impossible to own failure, unless it is spoken of in the past tense: “Once long ago, before I solved everything.” It leaves us viewing lament with suspicion, and blocks attempts to face and own the pain of life. You can find it in the workplace, in churches and in...
Read MoreWhere our best prayers take us…
My previous post noted the passing of Frederick Buechner and tapped into some of his wisdom. In this one I’d like to explore a passing comment which appears in a series of rapid fire advice in his memoir Telling Secrets. It’s:”Go where your best prayers take you.” Why do I love this? First, it’s refreshing to acknowledgment that some prayers are better than others – we have our “best prayers”, but also our selfish prayers, our tiny prayers, our insular prayers, our sectarian prayers, our fearful prayers. What do our best prayers look like? They...
Read MoreRemembering Frederick Buechner
Like many, I was saddened to hear of the passing of Frederick Buechner on Monday 15 August. He was 96 and is survived by his wife Judith who he married in 1956. I always think of Buechner as a theologian and preacher, though most remember him as a novelist, justifying their choice by pointing to his 39 books, one of which (Godric) was a finalist for the 1981 Pulitzer Prize – so this is no light weight we are talking about. Ordained as a Presbyterian minister, he never pastored a church, but through the honesty and the depth of insight in his writing he was, in many ways, a pastor to...
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