Every church has a context.   This simply means that we have a current situation where we live and do gospel ministry.  That context is different for every church.  Oh, there are many similarities, but every church has its own context. When I began to serve the local church 37 years ago, I paid particular attention to my ministry context.   Back then, the buzz word was that we were to be culturally relevant as a church.  We were serious about reaching the lost for Christ.  We threw slogans around such as being "seeker sensitive" or "seeker targeted".  We wanted to shape our...

Sometimes you just have think outside of the box!  I had to do this with my last motorcycle rebuild.   I had taken this Kawasaki W650, and with some cosmetic fixes, this motorcycle took on the persona of a cafe racer.   But after my son had a serious run-in with a car which hit it head-on, I had to think outside the box.  My son was thankfully spared any serious injury, but the motorcycle was a disaster.  It had to be completely rebuilt from the frame up.   About eight months later this motorcycle looked very different from the original, even the first...

Every time I do my workout I take my pulse!  In fact, my pulse is taken automatically.  The cross-trainer I use at home registers my heart rate as well as the amount of calories I am burning.  There are goals I set for both.   It is recommended that I exercise within 55 to 85 percent of my maximum heart rate (MHR) for at least 20 to 30 minutes to get the best results from aerobic exercise.  The MHR is roughly calculated as 220 minus one's age.   I set my target between 130 - 140 bpm.   My half hour workout will burn...

I recall a time, not long ago, when I just had to sit down.   I did not have any strength to stand.  It was a very humid hot day.   I was especially busy that day doing yard work.   After several hours of pruning, cleaning, moving dirt, my strength, in the words of the Psalmist, was "dried up like a broken piece of pottery."  (Psalm 22:15)   I just did not have the strength to stand, let alone do any further yard work. Perhaps you know what I mean.   Perhaps this is how you are feeling right now in the midst of the...

So much in life and ministry has changed with the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic.  A preacher of long ago reminded us that “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)   This preacher identified many of our currents realities.   For too many this is a time to die and a time to weep.  There is a time for togetherness and there is a time to remain apart. For all of us this is now a time to refrain from embracing.  It is also a time for us to love.    Such is the time...

The walls in Berlin came a tumbling down in 1989.   Twenty-seven years earlier a barbed wire and concrete wall was built to seperate East and West Berlin.   But that all changed 9 November 1989. That night, ecstatic crowds swarmed the wall, all the while crying out: "Open the gates!" Some crossed freely into West Berlin, while others brought hammers and picks and began to chip away at the wall itself.  Then cranes and bulldozers pulled down section after section.   Soon the wall was gone and Berlin was united for the first time since 1945.  Many people could relate to the message spray-painted on...

You might have heard it said, where there's life there is hope.  This deep truth has been said beside many a sick bed, many a tragedy.   As humans we are always hoping as the great English poet Alexander Pope put it:  "Hope springs eternal in the human breast."  We live in anticipation of better things into the future.  This is what we constantly look forward to.   If there was any time when hope is sorely needed, it is now!  All over the world hope has been infected by a virus and its effects are seen everywhere.  Extreme isolation.  Skyrocketing...

The idea of resilience is as simple as the metaphor of a rubber band.   Rubber bands, like people, come in different sizes and are subjected to different challenges. They also have different thickness and abilities to stretch–shorter or longer.  With normal use, a typical band will not break.  If you stretch a rubber band to its maximum, it usually springs back.   But it can easily be stretched beyond its limits.  When a rubber band is exposed to adverse, outside influences, such as heat, the rubber quickly deteriorates and becomes very weak.  But rubber bands can also demonstrate resilience.   If care is...

There is a huge need for preachers of the Word!   Every week I am reminded of that need as I serve the churches here in Australia.   Currently we have 13 vacant positions in our churches.   These are ministry positions that need to be filled by preachers.  In a decade this number will double if nothing is done to meet this need.   So what do we need to do?   How do we raise preachers?  Immediately we might think, we need to send people to Bible college.  But I believe we need to something long before that.   We need to get people to...

In highschool I had two friends who had a passion for motorcycles.   While I was focused on my studies and preparing for university, they inspired me with their stories of adventures riding their bikes on the weekends.  Many years later I took up that passion and to this day create my own stories of motorcycle adventures. In my first congregation I met this master craftsman who could turn rough lumber into heirloom furniture.  It was inspiring watching this man work.  I wanted to become like him, being able to build furniture.   Eventually, on my day off from work I...

How well do you know God?   I think I know my wife Jeannie.   I know she likes drinking Chai tea.   I know she loves going for hikes.   I know she enjoys her work in aged care.   I know she likes sleeping on cool sheets.  I know the relationships she keeps:  her friends, the ones she regularly writes to, and her love for Jesus and her desire to follow God.   But I wonder at times how much I know God! Many times I reflect on what it means to be a godly person.   Ever since...

The climate is changing.  According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, 2019 was Australia's warmest year on record, with the annual national mean temperature 1.52 °C above average.   There have been significant heatwaves in January and in December.   This was Australia's driest year on record, with rainfall below average for most of Australia.   Yet rainfall was above average for parts of Queensland's northwest and northern tropics.  Much of Australia is affected by drought, which was especially severe in New South Wales and southern Queensland.   All of this to say, the climate is changing.  And it has been...

Over a billion of animals and "hundreds of billions" of insects have been killed in bushfires throughout New South Wales this season, according to leading wildlife experts.  In an ABC news report we are told that Australian wildlife has had to deal with four things: the incredibly fragile overheated periods before fires, the fire itself, the lack of habitat and food after the fire, and the invasion of foxes and cats in these burnt out areas.  A billion or more animals faced death due these forest fires. There is a human tragedy that parallels the loss of billions of animals and...

For as long as I remember I love to be creative!  I love building things.  I think it started with popsicle sticks.  One time while visiting my aunt in Holland she showed me a jewellery box I had made for her from these craft sticks more than 20 years earlier.  I eventually used larger pieces of wood to craft furniture.  I have dabbled in pottery and painting.  In highschool I had aspirations to become an architect.  I love creativity.    Years later I came to realise that the bent toward creativity is not unique to me.  Creativity is part of what...

Many people have the idea that prayer has power!  Perhaps you have heard it said that prayer can move mountains!   Did not the Biblical writer James tell us that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective? (James 5:16)   To illustrate this James goes on to tell us a story about a prophet in Israel's history:  "Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced...

I usually take the stairs.  I might be at a train station, the local mall, or the airport, if I have the option between taking an escalator or the stairs, I take the stairs.  I might even take the stairs up several stories of a hotel where I am staying for the night.  Why? Well I am told that taking the stairs can prolong your life, reduces your risk for heart disease, and is easy on the wallet (significantly cheaper than going to a gym).   Since I have a 'desk job', I make the most of the opportunities I get...

I never was really good at running!  I had long enough legs, but as a youth, other than ice hockey, I did not do sports.  And in hockey, I was the goalie, which meant I had to stay in the net.  That was fine by me.  My exercise equipment of choice is a cross-trainer otherwise known as an elliptical trainer.  This is a stationary exercise machine used to simulate stair climbing, walking, or running.  Again I can stay put! The Christian life, however, is a race.  We are urged to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us." (Hebrews 12:1) ...

I love going to the markets.  Whether it is the Southbank markets on the Brisbane River, the Lawnton or Petrie Village markets near our home, or the iconic Eumundi markets on the Sunshine Coast, these markets are a wonderful way to spend a day, get a good bargain, buy some fresh produce, and mingle with crowds of people.  If you are in Melbourne you can also visit the Soul Market.  There you will find more than 140 stalls where you can enjoy detox juices, warm broths, indulge in some vegan & gluten free tasty treats, sample yummy healthy whole food, browse...

There are a lot of people who are concerned about gaps.   Gaps in employment when people are suddenly laid off or lose their job.  Gaps in wages, especially between men and women, where there is not equal pay for equal work.   Gaps in education when you compare the standardized tests between students in one school or the next, one state or the next.  In my woodworking days when I glued two pieces of timber together I made sure there were no gaps in the joints.  Many people spend a lot of time in the dentist's chair, as well as...

Unlike many in my family, I don't need eye glasses to see well.   For years, when we lived in Canada, every time you went to renew your driver's license you had to get your eyes tested.   The results always came back positive.   20/20 vision is considered normal vision and the benchmark I always reached.   Perhaps you know what I am talking about.   You've been to the doctor and she sits you about 6 meters from an eye chart.  You are asked to read a series of letters on a chart.  The lower you can read on...