Demons

Ancient culture, unlike modern Western culture, was explicitly spiritual. Everyone believed that the world was not merely a physical place but a spiritual place too. People believed there were spirits manipulating people both mentally and physically. Today, with the advent of science, people have smugly relegated demons to the realm...

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Bible Reading Again!

Again and again at church we are told to read our Bible – why?  Does God want us to be scholars?  What has bible study to do with loving God?  Isn’t it enough to know that “Jesus is Lord”?  How are love and knowledge related? The aim, as in all...

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Sin & People

The normal Greek word for “sin,” namely hamartia, means “missing the mark”: shooting at a target and failing to hit it. This is subtly but importantly different from being given a long and fussy list of things you must and mustn’t do and failing to observe them all. In the...

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Eisenhower’s Principle

In modern culture, everyone seems to be ‘time poor’; not having enough time to do what matters. In 1954, in his speech to the World Council of Churches, Dwight Eisenhower said, “I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important...

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God’s Revolution

According to that original revolution, rescued humans are set free to be what they were made to be. “Forgiveness,” achieved through God’s Son’s “giving himself for our sins,” is the key to the liberating victory. Sin matters, and forgiveness of sins matters, but they matter because sin, flowing from idolatry,...

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Citizenship Values

Just before ANZAC day the Australian government revealed that it is in the process of revamping our citizenship tests in an effort to assess people coming into Australia.  In a multicultural society like ours it is essential to clarify the values and laws that bind our variety.  It makes sense...

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Redeeming People

In the Bible the word ‘redeem’ means ‘to purchase’ or ‘to ransom’. To redeem an object or person is to transfer ownership from one to another. When the Israelites were freed from slavery to pharaoh, they believed themselves to be owned by God. ‘By the greatness of Your arm They...

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