Tomorrow is Father's Day in Australia. Unfortunately, when it comes to dads, the news is not all good. Steve Biddulph, in his best-selling book Manhood, estimates that: * 30% of men don’t speak to their father. * 30% have a prickly or hostile and difficult relationship. * 30% go through the motions of being a good son and discuss nothing deeper than lawnmowers. * Only 10% of men are friends with their father and see them as a source of emotional support. Those are sad statistics! In an ideal world, we need to feel love and respect for our fathers... Read more →

3. Instruct Clearly Father God does not leave us to figure out life by ourselves. He gives us clear instructions about every area of life and explains why his way is full of wisdom (Gen.2:15-17. Deut 30:11-20). God's words are contained in the Scriptures and they present his will and best wishes for our life. They are for our good – our ultimate benefit – not because he wants to take the fun or enjoyment out of life (2 Tim.3:16-17). As parents, we are to instruct our children in God's way of living (Eph.6:4). We are to make our expectations... Read more →

It's that time of year when we honour all the dads – Father's Day. Let's talk about fathering and who better to learn from that the greatest father of all time. No, not me – Father God. The God of the Bible has revealed himself as one God existing in three persons - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We have the opportunity to be "born again" spiritually into God's family. God wants to be our Father and we can be his children (John 1:12-13. Rom.8:13-17. Gal.4:4-7. 1 John 3:1-2). With the breakdown of marriages and family relationships... Read more →

On Saturday, September 7th, Australia goes to the polls to vote and to choose their Prime Minister and who will govern them for this next season. As with any election, this is an important time in the life of our nation. This coming weekend, our church will pray for the election in all of our gatherings. Our focus will be on four aspects: First, we need to acknowledge that God is in control. He is sovereign over all matters on earth. Ultimately, his purpose will be accomplished. He puts one leader up and takes another down. He can put it... Read more →

With the celebration of Father's Day this coming Sunday, I thought this post by J John on "The Anatomy of Fathering" was appropriate ... In the New Testament God is described as a father, and human fathers are to be imitators of God the Father. Fathering requires many skills and one way to think of them is in terms of parts of the body. Fathers need: 1. A Heart Children need to be loved, with a deep caring love that is more than an emotion. Children also need to know they are loved. The Bible talks about God as a... Read more →

I was privileged to participate in the recent Word of Life Europe Conference in Upssala, Sweden. This event is hosted by Ulf Ekman, the founder of Word of Life, a thriving network of churches based in Europe. The conference draws thousands of people from all over Europe, include over 300 Russians. Translation of the messages is available in a dozen or so languages. The conference has vibrant worship and a diverse array of speakers from the wider body of Christ. This year, other speakers included Dr. Cho from Korea, Sullasi Kurulo from Fiji, John and Carol Arnott from Canada, Anne... Read more →

Here's a spin off from Fulgham's All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten - a short list of What I Learned From Noah's Ark: 1. Don't miss the boat! 2. Plan ahead! It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark. 3. Stay fit! When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big. 4. For safety's sake, travel in pairs. 5. Remember that the Ark was built by amateurs, the Titanic by professionals. P.S. On a more serious note, check out the BLOG post ORIGINS - Never Again, reflections from the story of... Read more →

The story of Noah's ark is one of the best known stories in the Bible. Any Sunday School attending child would have heard this story - complete with flannel graph presentation and colouring page. It's a great story: a bunch of animals on a boat with a rainbow in the sky and a lesson about God's faithfulness. But it's not a G-rated children's story (like Bambi or The Lion King)! It's actually a horrific story. The human experiment has failed and God decides to destroy everyone through a flood, except Noah and his family, along with a few animals. Nevertheless,... Read more →

Australia's humanity is the casualty of repugnant asylum politics Article written by: Tim Costello chief executive of World Vision Australia. The Australian philosopher Peter Singer asks students to consider whether a person wearing new shoes and a suit has a responsibility to wade into a nearby pond, thus ruining their clothes, if they see a child in that pond having difficulty swimming. Predictably they respond that the person has a responsibility to save the child and that the cost of the shoes and suit are no reason not to act. In other words, you either think that people have inherent... Read more →

Social-media is slowly creeping into all areas of the web. Even websites and services that have no social features usually place a Facebook or Google+ like button somewhere to help spread the word of their existence. Even so, it’s quite difficult to explain to someone new to the Internet, or social aspects of the web, exactly what this social media revolution is. And just as importantly, what the difference between social media services are. That problem has now been solved by using a donut analogy. Douglas Wray posted a whiteboard breakdown of all the major social media services and explained... Read more →

Victor Hugo - "England has two books; The Bible and Shakespeare. England made Shakespeare, but the Bible made England". "I have found in the Bible words for my inmost thought; songs for my joy, utterance for my hidden griefs and pleadings for my shame and feebleness" George Mueller - "The vigor of our spiritual life will be in exact proportion to the place held by the Bible in our life and thoughts." D.L. Moody - "Sin will keep you from this Book. This Book will keep you from sin." "I know the Bible is inspired because it inspires me" Napoleon... Read more →

Are you into social media and Twitter? You can follow our church on Twitter at @CityLifeAU and me on @MarkAConner ... Read more →

“To preach the Bible as 'the handbook for life,' or as the answer to every question, rather than as the revelation of Christ, is to turn the Bible into an entirely different book. This is how the Pharisees approached Scripture, as we can see clearly from the questions they asked Jesus. For the Pharisees, the Scriptures were a source of trivia for life's dilemmas.” Michael Horton John 5:39-40. You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life. NLT Jesus Read more →

"The Bible is a harp with a thousand strings. Play on one to the exclusion of its relationship to the others, and you will develop discord. Play on all of them, keeping them in their places in the divine scale, and you will hear heavenly music all the time." William P. White Read more →

“When you read God's Word, you must constantly be saying to yourself, "It is talking to me, and about me." Soren Kierkegaard Read more →