Aronofsky's Noah has been out for just over a week, and it's already stirred up a lot of controversy. Even amongst Christians, there's been a wide range of responses. I've read a bunch of different articles from different perspectives, but really wanted to wait until I'd seen the movie before I could make my own judgement. My wife and I… Continue reading Why Christians Should Watch Noah
40,000 Denominations Worldwide – Christianity Divided?
Some critics of Christianity are keen to point out that, according to best estimates, there are roughly 40,000 Christian denominations worldwide. This is an astoundingly large figure, and some see it as evidence that Christianity is divided. If Christians can't even agree among themselves, how can they make exclusive claims about absolute truth? After a quick search… Continue reading 40,000 Denominations Worldwide – Christianity Divided?
An Exciting Start For a New 6:30pm Service
Last Sunday, we kicked off the beginnings of a new 6:30pm church service. I wrote a short post about it on the church blog, and thought I'd copy it here too. Enjoy. Last night, a group of people gathered together in the St. Matt's building at 6:30pm. In many ways it looked rather un-extraordinary –… Continue reading An Exciting Start For a New 6:30pm Service
Jesus, The Man Who Learned Obedience
With Christmas very quickly approaching, my church is moving through our Advent series in which we are focusing on the humanity of Jesus. Last Sunday we looked at what it means that Jesus is The Man Who Learned Obedience. The Bible teaches that Jesus learned obedience from what he suffered during his earthly life, but saying something… Continue reading Jesus, The Man Who Learned Obedience
Irresistible Cakes
Just in case the title of this post misleads you, let me clarify, there are no recipes for delicious cakes here (I'm sorry). If that's what you came for, allow me to direct you here. Otherwise, read on for some delicious brain food. A while back I asked my older brother Jibb to write a… Continue reading Irresistible Cakes
Jesus Didn’t Know Everything
Jesus didn't know everything. The Jesus that we see in the Gospels is astonishingly wise, insightful, piercing, and perfectly aligned with the truth. He often knows people's thoughts, and other things that no ordinary human being would know. But at the same time, the Jesus we see in the Gospels is not one who is… Continue reading Jesus Didn’t Know Everything
Why Jesus Being the ‘Son of God’ Doesn’t Mean What You Think it Means
Since we're in the season of Advent, now is a great time to be thinking about Jesus – who he is, why he came, and all that good stuff. So for this post I want to think about a term that seems to be the source of a lot of confusion for us as we… Continue reading Why Jesus Being the ‘Son of God’ Doesn’t Mean What You Think it Means
Advent is Under Way!
This Sunday just past marks the start of the season of Advent. The word 'Advent' comes from the Latin adventus, which means a coming, arrival, or approach. And so in the season of advent, the four Sundays before Christmas, we think about the approach of Jesus and anticipate His coming. Since Christmas is a celebration of Christ's… Continue reading Advent is Under Way!
What does it mean to ‘pray in the Spirit’?
My church recently finished off our Ephesians series, and in our concluding sermon we came across the exhortation from Paul for us to 'pray in the Spirit'. But what does that mean? Is it some special kind of prayer? If so, certainly it must be some kind of extra-spiritual prayer... but how do we know… Continue reading What does it mean to ‘pray in the Spirit’?
Is the Gospel offensive, or are we?
I just recently read an article written in response to the close defeat of a bill to legalise same-sex marriage in New South Wales. I was surprised to find that the article had pretty much nothing to do with same-sex marriage at all, but was instead a vitriolic tirade against Christianity. The author criticised the… Continue reading Is the Gospel offensive, or are we?