One Percent and One Degree Can Make All The Difference...
One percent improvement can have a dramatic impact on overall performance while one degree variation from a course can have dire consequences... [More]
The Greatest Christian Essayist - F.W. Boreham...
Chances are you've heard an illustration written by F.W. Boreham, but the chances are greater that you've never actually heard of F.W. Boreham! He is now regarded as the greatest Christian essayist of all time. His books written nearly a century ago, are now desperately sought collector items even selling for up to $1000 for rarest editions! What Boreham wrote was profound. The way he wrote was genius. The impact he had was immense. [More]
Nearly Right Is Wrong...
The couple had had a whirlwind romance. Back in the days before email, well-wishers used telegrams to convey their delight to a newly married couple. Some friends thought it would be nice to encourage these newly weds as they embarked on their Honeymoon with a poetic verse of Scripture. They went to the Post Office and asked for a telegram be sent to the Honeymooners with "1 John 4:18". The Postal Clerk however left off the "1" and simply put "John 4:18". When the groom received the telegram from his bride's friends he was dumbfounded. That telegram ruined Honeymoon! [more]
Finding A Church...
Daniel Brown (not Mr DaVinci Code) was the trusted assistant pastor to Jack Hayford in L.A. California. This church is renowned for its stability and long-term membership. When Daniel Brown left to take over his own church in another city he expected that he could repeat what his famous mentor had done. But what he discovered in his first year of pastoring this 600-member church was that 400 people left! But simultaneously, 400 new people were added! The “Times, they are a changin’!” According to Barna Research, one in seven Christians have left their church and are currently looking for a new church... [more]
The Last Words of An Executed Apostle...
Peter, the chief apostle of Christ, was brutally executed by Caesar Nero, the first century tyrannical dictator, widely regarded by most Bible scholars to be the "Beast" referred to in the first part of Revelation 13. Before he died, he wrote to Christians urging them to live fully-devoted-to-Christ lives. In case people were uncertain how this looked, he specifically listed (with a bluntness that perhaps only the way a man who knows he was about to die can state) the things that genuine Christians should do. Consider one of his lists found in 1Peter 4:7-14... [more]
Insidious Battling...
At some stage throughout your life you will have been robbed and deceived. The Enemy has done it! Jesus revealed this in a parable about the spread of the Kingdom. As the riches of God are invested into you through preaching, teaching and sharing of the Word of God, Satan comes to steal it through deception. Please don’t think that because you are a Christian you are immune to deception. If you do, then maybe I am too late... [more]
Getting Organised...
Kim and I are now into our 11th year of pastoring this church. Over that time we have seen people come and go and lately come and stay. Over the course of last year we were blessed to have more people come than go. There is at this time a wonderful sense of peace and unity in the church which we need to guard. Much of this has come about because we have submitted to God's Word and Spirit and allowed Him to change us into the image of Christ. This has resulted in many of us learning to love, understand, make allowances for, and get along with others who may be quite different to us. If we are to grow into what God has for us this expression of Christlikeness must continue. It is really what the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5) is all about. Its also at the heart of Romans 12 where it says that God brings people together with different gifts and abilities and makes them one. Within that same passage it says that we are to outdo our love for each other and honour one another (Rom. 12:10). Therefore, when God blesses or honours someone in our fellowship, we rejoice (Rom. 12:15). And while we have grown both numerically and spiritually, in order for us to continue to do so we need to drive further into God's Word for help... [more]
Men Are Afraid...
"The same sort of thing goes on Sunday mornings, its just a different set of rules. Dave runs into Bob in the church lobby. Both are wearing their happy faces, though neither is happy at all. 'Hey, Bob, how are ya?' Bob is actually furious at his wife and ready to leave her, but he says, 'Great, just great, Dave. The Lord is good!' Dave, on the other hand, hasn't believed in the goodness of God for years, ever since his daughter was killed. 'Yep- God is good, all the time. I'm just so glad to be here, praising the Lord.' 'Me too. Well, I'll be praying for you!' I would love to see a tally of the numbers of prayers actually prayed against the number of prayers promised. I bet its about one in a thousand. 'And I'll be praying for you too. Well, gotta go! You take care.' 'Take care' is our way of saying, 'I'm done with this conversation and I want to get out of here but I don't want to appear rude so I'll say something that sounds meaningful and caring,' but in truth, Dave doesn't give a rip about Bob." ("Wild At Heart", John Eldredge) [more]
The Little Things...
The last thing that Jesus told His disciples to do was to win the world for Him. That's a pretty big task. But in one of the last parables that Jesus told, He urged His disciples to be faithful in looking after the "little things"... [more]
 Christianity can be presented attractively if it is presented 'Apologetically' (reasonably) with gentleness and respect (1Peter 3:16-17). Many people have never heard a well-reasoned defense of the claims of Christianity. I have briefly introduced five categories of evidence. In another article I have presented five proofs for the existence of God. In yet another article I respond to the five main objections offered against the existence of God. This article assumes the next logical challenge: But why Christianity and not any other religion? It is my hope that as an ambassador of Christ you might be able to use the points raised in this article to more attractively respond to this challenge...[read] |
 The world is increasingly becoming a global village. We now have entire media networks dedicated to potentially delivering news as it happens from anywhere in the world. Sadly, those of us in the more affluent parts of the world usually don't get the most important news offered to us. Instead, we often get dished a diet of celebrity appearances, entertainment updates, political scandals, media commentary and sporting match results. To quote Neil Postman, despite the potential of our News media to inform us and even call us to action, we are "amusing ourselves to death." [Read] |
 The fact that we all doubt to some extent suggests that each of us shares in the universal human craving to not be deceived and that we all intuitively want to know the truth. Even when it comes to Biblical spirituality, rather than seeing doubt as spiritually negative, it can actually be a positive. Doubt is not a bad thing. After all, appropriate doubt can protect us from injury and even galvanise our worthy convictions....[read] |
 Any discussion about religious wars, clergy violations, or child abuse, and it won't be long before the The Roman Catholic Church unfortuntely features. But I want to have a different discussion. And unlike most of the 'discussions' of this nature, I'm not on a mission to attack, ridicule, or mock anyone. Rather, I want to look at what the Roman Catholic Church officially teaches and asserts and compare it with the Bible's teaching... [Read this article] |
It's reported that President Bill Clinton was the first to coin the phrase, "Abortion should be safe, legal and rare." This clever sounding phrase was designed to be a politically safe appeasement for both the 'Pro-Life' and the 'Pro-Choice' camps. Due to the political success of this phrase it has been picked up by other politicians around the world who are also seeking to avoid polarising their electorate. But I consider this phrase absolutely non-sensical and utterly morally indefensible. Here's why. [Read] |
 During his first Presidential election campaign, President Barack Obama gave a speech about why he thought the Bible was outdated and therefore should not be used to guide any public policy decisions. He cited the Bible's condemnation of certain foods, fabric combinations and slavery as ample evidence to convince his audience that when the Bible similarly condemns certain sexual practices it should also be readily dismissed. His comments were very amusing and won him much popular approval. But then multitudes of Bible scholars began to point out the obvious errors in President Obama's 'reasoning' (which largely went unreported in the Mainstream Media). Consequently, or coincidentally, he has not repeated these remarks.
But on Monday, September 2nd, on the ABC TV program "Q & A",then Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd did. He was likewise cheered for his amusing comments about the Bible being outdated on issues like slavery and therefore its statements about sexuality. Most of the subsequent twitter traffic has applauded Prime Minister Rudd for his 'bold and clear defence of same-sex marriage'...[Read Full Article] |
 Can the claims of the Bible withstand rigorous objections? Among the objections offered to the existence of God are 5 seemingly insurmountable ones for any who claim there is a God. These 5 best objections to God have rocked the faith of the faithful and steeled the resolve of atheists. But just before the Court of Public Opinion pronounces its divinely fatal verdict, the case for the defence of the Divine is granted the right of reply. Here's a reminder of the Prosecutor's case against God...[read] |
 He's known as the "Prince of Preachers". There was once a time when kings and their princely sons were the first ones into battle with their armies to defend their people. And if this is what is required of princes, then Charles Haddon Spurgeon deserves the royal accolade. For when the Church was under vicious attack in the nineteenth century from both within and without, it was Charles Spurgeon who had the courage to step into the fray at great personal cost...[read full article] |
THE BASIS FOR PUBLIC POLICYWhen Legislators develop Public Policy, they are influenced by lobbyists. These Legislators must be guided by certain principles to arrive at the most beneficial Legislation. Here are some of the guidelines that Legislators must use and Lobbyists should be aware of...[read] |
 Racial discrimination is insidious! It demeans a human being on the basis of their ethnicity, skin colour, or even nationality by considering them less than human. Demeaning another human as being less than human - on the basis of gender, race, status, professional, ability, is intolerable! Christians were at the forefront of confronting this in England during the campaign of William Wilberforce M.P., and the American Civil Rights Movement of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. But for the LGBT (Lesbian / Gay / Bi-Sexual / Trans-gendered) activists to claim that their campaign is exactly same "human rights" "discrimination" violation as that which the Rev. Dr Martin Luther King was involved in confronting is going too far and has caused many to realise that the LGBT's campaign for "sexual-anarchy" has nothing to do with the Civil Rights movement...[read] |
 Undergirding the Environmental Movement, and its ensuing social policies, is that: natural is best. Many people justly concerned about our ecology have started to notice a large wooden horse on wheels has been pushed into the town square by Environmentalists. And just like the fabled Trojan Horse, this neo-Trojan horse has smuggled something more powerful than an army into our culture: If It's Natural - It's Morally Right... [read] |
 Charles Darwin is considered by many to be the greatest scientist of all time. For many, he epitomises how a person of intelligence cannot accept the claims of the Bible. Can the intellectual objections to Christianity be adequately responded to? [read] |
