I just had an email conversation with a good friend who is a youth pastor, about some lyrics in a worship song. The song is by Bethel and has the line, 'heaven looked away' in it. We'd had a brief conversation some time ago about this lyric and today we fleshed it out some more. Here's the gist of what we talked about. The issue with the Bethel line, and Stuart Townend's, 'The Father turns his...
Read MoreRead MoreLike many people of a protestant-evangelical persuasion I have a persistent (is nagging a better word?) voice in the back of my mind that I should be doing more with my time, my life, my money, my energy. Never is this voice more vociferous (great word huh, gosh I hope I used it right!) than in relation to my spiritual life. I have lived with a constant sense of 'not doing enough' with regard to...
Read MoreRead MoreHere's a message I shared at Omokoroa Community Church last Sunday. You can warm up by reading Psalm 32:1-7.Many of you will have heard that something noteworthy happened in New Zealand Cricket last week. For the first time in our 84 years of being a Test playing nation, someone scored 300 runs, by themselves. Brendon McCullum, Black Caps captain, batted across 3 days for 750 minutes to bring this up. You could watch the LOTR...
Read MoreRead More[caption id="attachment_993" align="alignright" width="300"] Abraham with the three visitors. Gen 18[/caption]So I've been thinking, learning and listening a bit recently, about a concept I will call, 'the anonymous Christ'. Its the idea that Jesus will show up at times and in ways that we didn't see coming. We are well familiar with this idea. But what about if we flesh it out? What if Jesus can arrive unrecognised and proceed to minister among us, still...
Read MoreRead MoreHere's an old story and a new song. My wife and I can both trace our ancestry to the Orkney Islands, and so I've come to love the story of St Magnus, the patron saint of these Isles. Let me assure you, as far back as we can tell our ancestors were different people ;)The story of St MagnusThe Orkney’s Islands, off the northern coast of Scotland, were ruled by the Viking king of Norway...
Read MoreRead MoreI confess I'd already had Simeon on my brain. I've been intrigued by the songs that are embedded in the New Testament - and Simeon gives us one of the earlier ones in Luke 2.Its the story of an old man who has held out to see God's salvation 'in the land of the living' (Psalm 27). He is drawn to the temple when Jesus is there to be presented as an 8 day old...
Read MoreRead MoreSo I am starting a new job in February. We're sad to be leaving St Peters in the City, Tauranga, but we really feel God is calling us into this new thing. This article does a pretty good job of telling you about it. If you're the praying type, we really need to sell our house and find a place to base ourselves in Auckland. We'll keep you posted. ...
Read MoreRead MoreYesterday was the second Sunday of Advent, the day when we focus on the coming of Jesus as the coming of peace. I chose to speak on Mark 4:35-41 - Jesus calming the storm. I'm not completely sure why, but I was intrigued by the manner of the peace that Jesus brings. It struck me that this story could easily be called, 'Jesus unsettles the disciples.' By the end of the story, we get told that the disciples...
Read MoreRead MoreHere's the first part of a message I preached at Flagstaff Community Church on Sunday morning.Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the day when we remember that this season is about hope. However, I think hope is a little slippery. You see, I find myself hoping for all sorts of things. Whenever I see an ad for Big Wednesday, I find myself hoping that somehow I will win 27 million dollars, which is an...
Read MoreRead MoreSo yesterday was my first real 'work' day of tour. I had a 15 minute slot at the South Australia Synod of the Uniting Church. About 300 ministers and church leaders were gathered, and I got the final quarter of an hour before lunch, a greatly coveted time slot ;). Later that day I had a music practice with the musicians I will be working with on Sunday at Hope Valley Uniting Church.At the Synod...
Read MoreRead MoreSo we're here in Adelaide for our three week tour, sharing the new album, 'Into the Deep' and promoting 'Songs that Unite.' STU is a website run by the Uniting Church of Australia, publishing and promoting songs by local composers, making them available to the wider church. They're doing a great job at it too. They have a committee that assesses each song before its included on the site, so they're taking things seriously.Why am...
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