I was reading through the prophet Isaiah a few days back and came across this intriguing verse ... "I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things." [Isaiah 45:7. NIV] What an interesting thought or should I say a somewhat perplexing thought. Here we see a God who describes himself as being actively involved in all that is happening in our world – in the good and the bad – at least permitting it, if not causing it. I know of some people who would prefer this verse to... Read more →

There is no doubt that the world economy has been in a bit of a turmoil of late with extreme volatility in things such as the value of the dollar, the share market, and property. Here's a humorous attempt to try to make some sense of it all ... 21 Economic Models Explained with Cows SOCIALISM You have 2 cows. You give one to your neighbor. COMMUNISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk. FASCISM You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk. NAZISM You have 2 cows. The... Read more →

Here's a paraphrase by Tom Wright of a well-known Bible text from Hebrews 12:1-3. The book of Hebrews was a letter written to some followers of Christ in the first century who were feeling discouraged because they were experiencing difficulty and persecution in their spiritual journey. How relevant these words are for us today too ... "What about us then? We have such a great cloud of witnesses all around us! What we must do is this: we must put aside each heavy weight, and the sin which gets in the way so easily. We must run the race that... Read more →

Well, it's AFL Grand Final week here in Melbourne ... and what a final it will be with the Hawthorn Hawks taking on the defending premiers, the Geelong Cats next Saturday afternoon. There's sure to be a full house of over 100,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for what should be a historical final. The Hawks are looking pretty strong with lots of confidence coming off their big win over St.Kilda on the weekend ... BUT the Cats will be ready for them. My prediction - the Cats by 3 goals! P.S. I was excited to be able to... Read more →

A recent article in the Melbourne Age profiled Cleric Francis Macnab of St Michael's Uniting Church in Collins Street. He is hoping to start a new faith for the 21st century claiming that the 10 commandments are too negative, Jesus was just a Jewish peasant, and Moses was a mass murderer. Francis feels that this new faith is necessary because the old faith no longer works. "The old faith is in large sections unbelievable. We want to make the new faith more believable, realistic and helpful in terms of the way people live," he said. St Michael's is promoting the... Read more →

Gary Kinnaman, a pastor from Phoenix, Arizona, is a good friend of mine who recently ministered at our church in Melbourne. His son, David Kinnaman, is the President of the Barna Group, a ministry which provides research and resources that facilitate spiritual transformation in people's lives. David's latest book, co-authored with Gabe Lyons, is called UnChristian. It's basic message is that Christianity has an image problem. Here is the description of the book from the back cover ... "Christians are supposed to represent Christ to the world. But according to the latest report card, something has gone terribly wrong. Using... Read more →

Integrity is one of the most important character qualities to develop in your personal life. For leaders, it is vital, as it is part of the foundation of all credibility and influence. Integrity means that there is an integration between who we really are (when no one is looking) and who we appear to be to others. Other similar concepts to integrity are ... honesty, truthfulness, and authenticity. How do you develop personal integrity? Here are a few suggestions: Value integrity. Unless you place a high value on this quality you will be unlikely to pay the price to develop... Read more →

An understanding of perspective is one of the keys to gaining wisdom for life. Here is a simple illustration that shows the importance of perspective ... Imagine a group of people sitting in a circle with a small table in the middle. A few observations ... Firstly, everyone sees the table differently, depending on where they are sitting. No one sees it exactly the same. Secondly, no one sees the table accurately. There are parts of the table that each person does not see. No one person has the full perspective, no matter who they are (except for God!). If... Read more →

This coming Sunday is Father's Day here in Australia, a time to honour all of the dads. Here are a few interesting quotes about dads: "Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you." [Exodus 20:12. NLT] "A wise child brings joy to a father; a foolish child brings grief to a mother." [Proverbs 10:1. NLT] "So give your father and mother joy! May she who gave you birth be happy." [Proverbs 23:25. NLT] "Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and... Read more →