• The Night Before Tomorrow | Communion

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Jesus looked around the table at the closest of his disciples gathered with him, their faces reflected in the warmth of the candlelight. It was early spring, and the nights were still cool; the disciple whom he loved leaned in a little closer, although as much for affection as for warmth.
    The room was filled with the pungent aroma of bitter herbs, the freshly baked scent of Matzah, the rich meaty smell of roasted lamb, and…

  • Walking With God

    Reading Time: 7 minutes

    “He has told you, O human, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you, but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” | Micah 6:8 NAS 1977

    Knowing And Being Known
    At the heart of us all is a deep desire to be known; to be so intimately connected with another person that it’s as if we are no longer two people but one – ‘a single soul…

  • Discipleship: Developing Your Authentic Self

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    When considering the ideas and thoughts surrounding Church burnout, it became apparent that there is another serious issue facing many Christians today – in both their personal and church lives. The issue is a lack of spiritual and emotional maturity, leading to the cultivation of a ‘false self’ and a layering over our true self.

    “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When…

  • Emotionally Healthy Spirituality

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    “It’s impossible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.” | Peter Scazzero, Emotional Healthy Spirituality

    Emotions Make Us Human
    Do you have emotionally healthy spirituality? Are you emotionally mature? Or are you, perhaps, deeply uncomfortable being intimate with your emotions? Did you realise that emotional maturity and spiritual health are intrinsically linked? Our emotions are at the core of what it is to be human and the journey of genuine transformation to emotionally healthy spirituality begins…

  • Toxic Faith

    Reading Time: 7 minutes

    It seems hard to believe that people who have answered Jesus’ call to a life of freedom could so easily lose the sense of joy and relief they first felt. It’s difficult to understand why Christians who have been made free and ‘alive in Christ’ would choose to return to a kind of spirituality that slowly imprisons the mind and poisons the soul. How does a message that speaks clearly of God’s love – a…

  • Is Church-Going Still Relevant?

    Reading Time: 6 minutes

    Despite Christianity still being Australia’s largest religion (61.1% compared with 7.3% of all other religions combined), the proportion of Australians identifying as Christian has been steadily declining over the past century. Compared to 1911, when 96% of people identified as Christian, the 2001 census recorded the figure of 68% and the latest Census, taken in 2011, recorded a drop to 61.1%.
    New figures released in 2017 show that some 7 million Australians (30.1% of the population),…

  • Grasping Hold Of Grace: Repentance

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Imagine a man lost the middle of the Atlantic ocean. He doesn’t remember how he got there or where he’s going, all he knows is this endless swimming in circles. No ships in sight, he’s been treading water for hours and now he’s beginning to tire. There’s a very real danger that he will actually drown – that’s if the hypothermia doesn’t get to him first. He doesn’t realise this, however. He thinks he’ll be…

  • The White Flag Of Grace

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    The subject of God’s grace permeates every aspect of the Gospel, giving it weight and power. The saving acts of God, due to the work of Jesus on the cross and Jesus’ resurrection from the dead bring reconciliation (“atonement”) between people and God. This is why the Gospel is described as a message of hope for the whole world (Luke 14:15-24).
    The word ‘grace’ itself is described by one author as “the last, best word” in English, remaining…

  • Traditions: Good Or Bad?

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    One of my favourite movies is Ever After with Drew Barrymore and Anjelica Huston. It has all the right ingredients for a great story – humour, romance, drama and a feel-good ending. When I think of this movie, I have a few favourite scenes that top my list, but the one where Danielle’s father leaves to go abroad and stops at the gate to wave often plays through my mind. Perhaps because it’s such a…

  • True Religion

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Religion is defined as “a cultural system of designated behaviours and practices, world views, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organisations, that relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual elements.”
    Yet, there is no actual consensus among scholars as to what precisely constitutes a religion.
    Nearly 85% of the world’s population identifies as being religious, claiming affiliation with one of the five largest religions; Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or forms of folk religion. These different religions all have distinct rules,…