Tag: christians

Struggling with church
(February 7, 2015)

About two years ago, this book was published. I reported on it here because I am one of 37 christians who relate some of their experiences of church in the book. (My chapter is copied on this site, at Church and me.) When I received my copy of the book, I read a number of […]

Book review: Alister McGrath's biography of CS Lewis
(January 9, 2015)

CS Lewis was probably the biggest influence on my young christian faith. I read virtually everything of his I could get hold of, especially enjoying Mere Christianity, Miracles, The Pilgrim’s Regress, That Hideous Strength, The Last Battle and his essays Is Theology Poetry? and Modern Theology and Biblical Criticism. I read his autobiography, Surprised by […]

Testing God, testing faith, testing truth
(January 3, 2015)

I remember reading about it a year ago. A christian pastor was going to try living as an atheist for a year, and see what happened. I saw occasional news about the experiment during the year, then as the end of the year got closer, I saw that he was due to make his announcement. […]

Christmas, christians and a deep sense of foreboding
(December 19, 2014)

This last week has been a disturbing one for many Australians. A hostage siege in Sydney, that left two hostages and the gunman dead, made a deep impression. Of course other countries have experienced far worse senseless killing and atrocities. This week has also seen the shooting of about 140 people, mostly school children, in […]

Interfaith cooperation: compromising the gospel?
(December 10, 2014)

I think most christians are ambivalent, or even a little wary, about interfaith dialogue. It seems to compromise the truth of the gospel somehow. But it needn’t.

Children, asylum seekers, detention and torture
(December 3, 2014)

Here I go again – writing another blog post on Australia’s treatment of asylum-seekers. What can I say that I haven’t said already? Why bother? And yet, the situation keeps getting worse and Australia’s reaction keeps getting more and more callous.

An orgy of writing about myself
(November 27, 2014)

I’ve just added two pages telling a little of my own story from two different perspectives. People who read this blog may want to know where I’m coming from, and experts say that people find a website more trustworthy if they can see a photo of the writer and know a little of their story. […]

Unintended consequences of employing church staff
(November 17, 2014)

Most churches in first world countries employ staff these days. Small churches may have just a Minister or Pastor, but larger churches commonly have several pastors, an office secretary and a youth minister, and perhaps other staff as well. It is an obvious step and perhaps the only way to get things done, especially when […]

Should we believe in Jesus because we believe in the Bible, or the other way around?
(November 6, 2014)

Have you ever thought which came first – your belief in Jesus or your belief in the Bible? Do you think it matters?

Book review: God doesn't do waste
(October 30, 2014)

How important should it be for christians to care for God’s world? Are ‘spiritual’ things more important? Does caring for the earth get in the way of christian ministry? This book offers some useful insights.