"Increase Our Faith!" – a realistic demand?

A Church Anniversary Sermon Luke 17: 5-10 Some are saying the monks of Myanmar are no more. The saffron revolution is over. The dream of these peace-loving clerics was that they might act as a conciliatory go-between for the impoverished population and the brutal military junta that has reigned for over a decade. Today monasteriesContinue reading “"Increase Our Faith!" – a realistic demand?”

Sunday Morning Harangue

Luke 16:19-31 The Rich Man & Lazarus A green-thumb I am not, but my attention has been drawn to what will be familiar to some of you gardeners – leaf miners! A few clicks of the mouse button led me to discover that leaf miners are insect larvae that live within leaf tissue. They feedContinue reading “Sunday Morning Harangue”

Just when you thought you couldn’t take anymore…

… the army of heavy machinery that turns the overhead wire spaghetti jungle into clean neat underground power lobs on our doorstep. This is the driveway we share with the church right now. Meantime the broken fence rubble is being buried under rubble from several deep holes. Judging from what’s happening around the streets, itContinue reading “Just when you thought you couldn’t take anymore…”

When the big winds blow

I slept through the explosion. Lachlan heard it as my tool shed sailed past his bedroom window. Jenny heard enough to shake me awake. The wind was howling and the rain was drumming down, but first light revealed the dawn’s drama. The shed took out the corner post of the pergola which mercifully prevented itContinue reading “When the big winds blow”

Where The Sea Takes Us

We first met the author of this book, Kim Huynh, when he was two years old. It was at the Canberra domestic air terminal and Kim’s family had just arrived from a refugee camp – tired, somewhat bewildered, but excited and ready to make a go of things. That’s a whole other story than whatContinue reading “Where The Sea Takes Us”

State of emergency ?!?

At long last, there is some acknowledgment from our elected leaders that remote aboriginal communities are in urgent need of support and help. National debate rages over the form this is taking. At its worst it looks like a sledgehammer approach to communities that are already fragile and vulnerable. At its best it enacts aContinue reading “State of emergency ?!?”

Some challenges of mere discipleship

<!–[if gte vml 1]> <![endif]–><!–[if !vml]–><!–[endif]–>We’ve been workshopping the first three chapters of Lee Camp’s Mere Discipleship (Baker, 2003).   In summary, Camp lays out in winsome fashion a very clear distinction between what some would call “institutional Christianity” and radical (ie grassroots) Christian faith. Cultural myopia makes it very difficult for many to seeContinue reading “Some challenges of mere discipleship”