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I live in Sydney, a beautiful city, what a pleasure to show friends from overseas around the harbour, the beaches and the mountains. And yet, like all believers, my home is the eternal city which is above. The writer of the Hebrews reminds his readers “For here we do not have an enduring city, but […]

Remember Tabitha of Joppa (Acts 9) … “always doing good and helping the poor”, otherwise known as Dorcas? I found a Dorcas when least expected, among the swirling crowds and cacophony that is India. Let the reader understand, it’s always noisy and chaotic travelling in India, but even so this day was taxing. From a

A magnet draws iron to itself. You’ve seen a great magnet held over a little box of sawdust and iron filings? As it comes within a certain range, the air seems electric and the little particles of iron become restless. A movement passes through them … they vibrate and tremble. There’s some strange power possessing

Childhood impressions linger, don’t they? I’m so grateful for (most of) them. My earliest memory of 1950s church life is full of happy thoughts, good people and full Sundays. Sunday mornings, afternoons and evenings – there was always something engaging and purposeful to do (yes, Sunday afternoons: Christian Endeavour). As helpful as all that was,

The proverb says: “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Meaning: it’s better to work together than alone. Rope is made by stretching out very long strands of yarn and twisting and braiding them together into larger and stronger form. The result is such tensile strength that it’s not easily broken. I remember

I live in Sydney, a beautiful city, what a pleasure to show friends from overseas around the harbour, the beaches and the mountains. And yet, like all believers, my home is the eternal city which is above. The writer of the Hebrews reminds his readers “For here we do not have an enduring city, but

“We sent soldiers, to invade; but you send missionaries, to love”. From the lips of a gentle and humble Japanese pastor to a surprised Aussie moderator … this unexpected admission got my attention. Although almost all those who took up arms against us in that dreadful conflict of WW2 have passed away, they haven’t forgotten.

In the postscript to C S Lewis’ classic (Screwtape Letters), the senior devil proposes a toast at the annual dinner of the Tempters’ Training College for young devils. With tongue-in-cheek satire, Lewis makes some amazing predictions about where he sees western democratic governments headed. Let me pick up and evaluate for today two superb sayings

When was the last time you told your pastor to go away? Or better still … sent him away? … that is, sent him away to a pastor’s conference? Sure, your pastor can do this himself, but sometimes – toiling away week after week, month after month – he needs a prompt from the elders.

When Paul writes to Timothy, “Continue in what you have learned … because you know those from whom you learned it”, he’s referring to his grandmother and mother. In Timothy’s childhood, it was the faith that first lived in Lois and Eunice that deeply impressed him. Paul reminds him how from infancy he had known