Posts from September 2017

I have no answer

I stood there listening as our CBBCers prayed. Their prayers were passionate & it was evident that these were Godly people praying Godly prayers. Without a doubt God is hearing and will honour these prayers. But my heart was heavy, my mind full of questions…what difference can we make? Can we do anything to rescue millions of people pouring from country to country looking for safety; desperate for refuge for themselves and their loved ones? Are we necessarily right in…

L Plate Christian…it’s a wonderful book

Everyday I read my bible, broken up into new and old testaments. This week, I started reading Ecclesiastes chapter 3. It occurred to me that these were lines from a favourite song of mine, “’tis the season, turn, turn turn” (Peter Seeger), sung by The Byrds..”a time to live, a time to die”. This made me think how many songs have used biblical verse or scripture, so I looked it up on my computer. There were pages and pages of…

Pastors Ponderings

I suspect most people have seen this picture before but in case not, let me explain. Depending on your perspective you will either see an old woman or a young lady. Right now I’m sick, so all I can see is old woman—but I digress. I think this picture illustrates what it is to see life by faith because faith paints a totally different picture from the one that world shows us. You can look at a situation one way…

praying the scriptures

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately…when it all began. It was a season of deep grief as it slowly dawned on me that our happy little “Christian” family wasn’t really as Christian or as happy as it looked. I came across Paul’s prayer in Colossians 1…I took hold of this prayer…it took hold of me. Oh Father God, that we would know you…live lives worthy of you…pleasing you…bearing fruit for you…knowing the redemption and forgiveness that is ours…

law keeper…or law breaker???

Before I say anything, let me begin by stating categorically that I am as much a failure in these things as anyone you care to name – or choose not to name for that matter. I need to be clear about that because I don’t want anyone reading this to think that I am setting myself up as any kind of example in how to do this right, I only write this because I think it is interesting and challenging…

L Plate Christian- what is the truth?

I had to face up to my first condemnation for being a born again Christian a few days ago. People who you think you are friendly with can change in an instant when you say you believe in God. They asked me why I believed that stuff, then they were gone. A few days later, a line in a book by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle struck me: “When you have excluded the impossible,  whatever remains, however improbable, must be the…

Living as the body of Christ

Sometimes I get so caught up in the fears and anxieties of what may happen in the future that I miss what has slipped right past me. Take marriage for example. Could future events change what we understand today as a Christian marriage? I thought so… until today when a light suddenly switched on. There was a time when Australia as a nation quite openly recognised marriage as “the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to…

God Can

He held the child close to his breast. It was unthinkable that this tiny perfectly formed child had no life…would never breathe the air he breathed or see the faces of his loved ones gathered round him. His heart was breaking and his tears flowed as he cried, ‘Work a miracle, oh God, and breathe life into this child.’ I sat listening to his story; it was as if I’d been there. But would I have dared to pray a…

Pastors Ponderings

During the week, this prayer was handed in to us here at CBBC. It’s so encouraging to think that while many of us were facing a myriad of different issues, both physical and spiritual, one lady took the time from her busy week to say, ‘Lord what would you like your people to know about you? What would encourage and help them to remember that no matter what they find themselves doing you are still there with them?’ I don’t…

Pastors Ponderings

I hope you are enjoying our series on Acts. It has been fascinating to see how right from the very start of the Church in Jerusalem they were facing many of the very same things as we are today. They were deciding who the leaders should be, what roles people should do. They were working out their theology and what it meant to live as a Christian in a society that was hostile to them. On Sunday Julie spoke about…

Pastors Ponderings

I have been going to the Alpha course. It’s been brilliant for me and not just because of the great soup and the yummiest stew (dumplings in winter has to be the best comfort food). The reason I have loved going is because it’s inspired a new motivation in my faith in Jesus. Partly, it’s been the teaching and discussions afterwards. I’ve looked again at the foundations of my faith and I’ve been reminded of ‘the hope to which He…

Big Moments

I had some documents to take to Centre Link…a humbling and mostly frustrating experience. As I drove into the car park, I noticed a very nice SUV pulling up next to me. A middle age couple with two teenagers were getting out. Avoiding eye contact, I briskly walked towards the door determined to keep that little bit ahead. My need was greater than theirs…after all, I had to get to my Bible Study, didn’t I! In a split second, I’d…
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