Tag: Good news

A wave of the Spirit we should be catching?
(October 26, 2016)

I came across a blog post today that summed up what I think has become a significant movement within christianity. Learning from a “hippie heretic” The post was This Nameless Movement of God on Chuck McKnight’s blog Hippie Heretic, and it was based on just one premise (taken from fellow blogger Brian Zahnd): “God is […]

Learning from Wild Rumpus
(July 12, 2016)

This community-based social enterprise has something to teach christians. There are many Wild Rumpus organisations in the world, but this post is about Wild Rumpus in Wollongong, Australia.

Signs of hope
(June 9, 2016)

Do you ever lose hope, perhaps just for a moment? There are plenty of things we may feel hopeless about – ourselves or our circumstances, the world, politics. One of the things I often lose hope about is the church – it just seems to be drifting, a long way from the teachings of Jesus, […]

Three views on our acceptance with God
(May 30, 2016)

North Haven on the NSW mid-north coast, from the top of Big Brother mountain. The reason for showing this photo will become apparent in the post. Photo (c) John Naylor and Google. Christians hold three different views on who gains acceptance with God. I have looked at what the Bible says in detail at Can […]

Three different views of social justice and the gospel
(April 30, 2016)

What part do social justice and community welfare play in the church’s mission? Are they something different to the gospel, and not as important, or are they part of the gospel? There are several very different views on this.

Jesus vs Paul?
(January 22, 2016)

Difficult issues series It doesn’t take a lot of reading in the New Testament before you notice that Paul seems to have a different emphasis to Jesus. Can we learn something from these apparent differences?

After the gospels, one of the best (and shortest) books you'll read about Jesus
(January 14, 2016)

You wouldn’t even try to count the number of books written about Jesus. Most of them would have value, I guess, but some are long and scholarly, others lack a good historical basis. But here’s one that is short, written by a respected historian and is encouraging to faith. What’s not to like? It is […]

Conserving the old vs welcoming the new
(November 8, 2015)

Difficult issues series Christians are often seen as conservative – about their beliefs, about politics and about ethics. The old joke asks “How many christians does it take to change a light bulb?” And of course the answer is: “Change???” So how do we know when to hold on to what we’ve got, and when […]

Close to misunderstanding Jesus?
(November 1, 2015)

Difficult issues series On the first Counting Crows album, Adam Duritz sang about Maria, who said she was “close to understanding Jesus”. But I can’t help feeling that modern western christianity has covered Jesus in layers of theology and convenience, and is close to misunderstanding Jesus. If you think that’s harsh, please read on.

Dream ….. for tomorrow
(August 9, 2015)

Just watch this …. and weep with joy and hope. No more words necessary. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHVRZ5R2UDY&w=560&h=315]