After being in paid ministry for over a decade, I recently joined a church where I have no position, title, or responsibility beyond that of any other new member. Let me tell you, it’s an eye-opening experience of how churches operate.
We’re preaching through Hosea at our church, and studying it mid-week in our Bible studies and youth groups. My group and I grappled with Hosea 6:6. In the NIV it reads “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings”.
Old Testament scholar Kamina Wüst takes us deep inside the Song of Solomon, a mysterious, evocative and sometimes neglected part of Scripture.
A new anti-religion-in-schools billboard, what has happened to penal substitutionary atonement, the darker side of predestination, a reminder to keep evangelism on the table, and a Psalm of encouragement for those who are suffering.
What do airlines, hotels and other travel-related organizations want from business travellers? Well, obviously my money, but they would never be so crass as to put it like that. Instead they say, “We want your loyalty”.
One of the marks of a Christian is practising hospitality. Whenever it’s mentioned in the New Testament, it is assumed as a staple part of the Christian life. However, lots of people don’t show hospitality to others.
New Testament scholar Matthew Jensen opens up the letters of John, showing the apostle’s majestic picture of Jesus and of the assurance of salvation that belongs to all Christians.
Links that matter on Australia and racism, four reasons to expect fruit, family devotions, The Gospel Coalition Australia, the redefinition of marriage, and transgender issues from a doctor's perspective.
One of the bedrock families in our congregation just lost their matriarch. I’m thinking about ways that I could have been, and hope to be, more helpful to this family. So with minimal personal editing and the vulnerability of the moment, here are some things for us to remember as we walk with families that break.
In 1 Corinthians 9:24, the Apostle Paul urges Christians: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” I have often heard people explain this verse as an exhortation to strive hard for salvation, to endure in faith, to persevere in love, to remain steadfast in hope, and take hold of the prize—eternal life.