When sacrifice isn't really sacrifice

  • Ian Carmichael
  • 20 July 2015

Romans 12:1 is often used as the go-to verse to back-up the challenge to be fully committed as a Christian. To give up my ambitions, and really make sacrifices for the sake of God. But as I was reading Romans 6 it struck me that reading 12:1 this way is probably misreading it and unhelpful.

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Why we don’t ask God for things—and why we should

  • Jean Williams
  • 17 July 2015

Nothing is too trivial for me to pray about, from the common cold to parking spots. But I often forget to ask for things that really matter, from big things like the growth of God’s kingdom to little things like daily help with my anxieties and ungodliness.

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Down-under round-up: 15 July 2015

  • Sandy Grant
  • 15 July 2015

Important reads on Aboriginal evangelists, the pitfalls and positives of pastoring a small church, temptations when discipling, music and discernment, and liberalism.

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Biblical recruitment: Human-shaped service

  • Peter Tong
  • 10 July 2015

Most pastors at one time or another have had a conversation with someone engaged in ministry, when they tell us things aren’t going so well. It can be hard to diagnose the problem in the moment. Maybe the person is over it or burnt out, too busy elsewhere, or wanting to try something new.

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Down-under round-up: 8 July 2015

  • Sandy Grant
  • 8 July 2015

A collection of things worth reading from around the web in the last week.

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Calling to ministry

  • Tim Grant
  • 3 July 2015

Regularly when I sit down with someone, they’ll use the phrase ‘called to ministry’. I don’t have a dislike of this phrase, it can be very useful—only when most people use it, it isn’t.

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I’m dreaming of a black Christmas

  • Tony Payne
  • 25 December 2017

The truth of Christmas comes in a strange dream, via a classic article from the past.

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The art of biblical interpretation: Inspiration and interaction

  • John McClean
  • 6 July 2015

The third in this series on reading the Bible well. This time John looks at how knowing that God's word is his changes how we approach it.

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Redefining marriage

  • Tony Payne
  • 1 July 2015

Amidst all the sound and fury about same-sex marriage, it’s often hard to find a straight-forward, clear, thoughtful Christian defence of what marriage is. Sandy Grant has had a crack, and a very good one, in this recent public lecture at St Michael’s Wollongong.

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The reluctant Swedish reader

  • Carl Matthei
  • 23 May 2015

I am a reluctant convert to the Swedish Method for Bible study. I read the Briefing article all of those years ago and decided to try it out in a couple of Bible study groups. It didn’t work! It didn’t seem to make group members think deeply enough about the passage, and it seemed to promote surface-level easy answers.

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