Church Unity – John 17 If you knew that in just a few short hours you would be arrested, tried, and executed, what would you do? That’s the position we find Jesus in in John 13-17.He knew what Judas was about to do, and knew what the outcome of that betrayal would be. Of course, Jesus had always known where His mission would take Him.He came to show us the Father, and to take our sins onto Himself to make […]

ORDERLY WORSHIP Prisencolinensinainciusol is a 1972 song by Italian singer Adriano Celentano. The name of the song – and the lyrics within it – are pure gibberish. There is absolutely no substance to the song – except for the fact that it sounds like American English sounds to those who don’t understand English! Celentano said, “I thought that I would write a song which would only have as its theme the inability to communicate. And to do this, I had […]

Years ago, I visited an Indian restaurant, Annalakshmi, a few times. It was good food, with great views over the swan river. It’s also a restaurant dedicated to the Hindu goddess Lakshmi. If I recall correctly, I discovered on one occassion that the food on offer was being dedicated to the goddess, of whom there is a prominent statue on display. The restaurant also has a philosophy that guests are divine, and should be treated as such. Should Christians go […]

Doubt Have you ever doubted God? I only know of one person who never did so: Jesus. He trusted His Father absolutely – even to the point of taking our sins and dying for us. He has always been in a relationship of mutual love and trust with the Father and Spirit. But we humans are a different story. We are finite, created beings. And we live in a world tarnished and tainted by sin. Sin is about falling short […]

After the death of Herod the Great, the territory that he had ruled was divided up by the Romans. Herod Antipas was given the region of Galilee to rule. In 26 AD, Antipas went to Rome to visit his half-brother Philip, Philip’s wife of about 30+ years, and his neice Salome. At this stage, Antipas would have been about 46, and Herodias in her early 40s. Long story short, Antipas and Herodias decided to divorce their present spouses, and marry […]

It had been raining, and the path around the lake had flooded in various sections. But Taryn and I had some time to spare before I had to be in the city, so we decided to just walk around the flooded parts of the path where necessary. It was a nice walk… until I saw it. A snake,  slithering away from us on a bit of unflooded ground. I yelled out, urgently, “Snake!” throwing my arms out and pirroutting to […]

The Magician’s Nephew is the prequel to the more famous, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It tells the story of the creation of the world of Narnia, a world where Jesus is represented by a great lion Aslan. A couple of human children, Eustace and Polly, stumble upon Narnia as it is being formed. They find the songof creation that Aslan sings wonderful! But the children had inadvertently brought two others along with them: the wicked witch, and […]

In 2018, a reporter asked a prominent Christian leader in America why so many Christians were happy to support political candidates who seem to revel in disobeying Jesus’ teachings. The leader replied that Christians were just happy to have someone “on the playground that is willing to punch the bully.” “What happened to turning the other cheek?” the reporter asked. Replied the leader: “You know, you only have two cheeks.” What if Jesus was serious about calling on Christians to […]

When I was a child, I had a pretty major problem with my sister. You see, although we were both part of a Christian family, my sister had fallen into evil practices. I didn’t think she was a real Christian. What was she doing? She was listening to Christian rock music, rather than to classical stuff! Fortunately, it wasn’t long until I realised how ridiculous my position was. She was celebrating God; I was setting up my own rules about […]

When we meet someone for the first time, we tend to try and figure out who they are. It’s interesting to hear how people define and describe themselves. Some people, often men, will tell you about their qualifications and achievements in life. Others will speak about their nationality or ethnicity. Others might tell you about their family. You might hear about the clubs that they are part of, or the various people you might both know who connect you. Who […]

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been exploring God’s description of His character, given to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7. We have seen that God is full of compassion, grace, love and faithfulness. But He is also a God of justice – He does not let the guilty go unpunished.  This doesn’t, of course, contradict the fact that God is full of mercy and grace. The good news is that God Himself bore our punishment, and invites us to trust and […]

In 2018, a reporter asked a prominent Christian leader in America why so many Christians were happy to support political candidates who seem to revel in disobeying Jesus’ teachings. The leader replied that Christians were just happy to have someone “on the playground that is willing to punch the bully.” “What happened to turning the other cheek?” the reporter asked.Replied the leader: “You know, you only have two cheeks.” What if Jesus was serious about calling on Christians to turn […]

As I write this, it is Valentines Day. Across our city, people are expressing their love and commitment to one another. It is a wonderful thing to know that you are loved. I would content that humans need to both be loved and love in return. We are social creatures, designed for deep relationship. The absence of love is both painful and malformative. There are doubtless many today who are feeling alone, unloved and deeply hurt. Over the last few […]

It’s not nice being around someone who loses their temper at the drop of a hat. I suspect that all of us have some experience of people like that. Say the wrong thing, or say it in the wrong way, and you will soon know that you have caused offence. In the worst cases, people lash out against those who have angered them. In other cases, their simmering anger sets out to make you feel guilty for upsetting them. Even […]

There’s an old saying: “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” The idea is that children tend to take after their parents. But this isn’t just in terms of physical resemblance. We learn character from our family of origin. We learn how to relate to other people. It’s amazing how, even if we don’t realise it, we find ourselves echoing the attitudes and approaches of our forebears. These days, I find myself speaking to Daniel about how we do […]

Life through the psalms – “A new perspective”. Pastor Nicholas van Oudtshoorn

Hearing God’s voice – are we listening?

What sorts of things do you find tempting? Although there may be similarities, our temptations are uniquely ours. They are tailored to our personal wants and desires. Temptations are tempting because we think that they have something good to offer us. We give in to temptations when we think that doing so will make our lives easier and better. Of course, there is always a cost when we do that – a cost that is often far greater than we […]

Solomon’s temple must have been an amazing sight to behold. It stood for hundreds of years, a symbol of God’s presence with His people. According to 1 Kings 6:15ff, the entire inside, from floor to ceiling, was panelled with wood: cedar for the walls and ceilings, and cypress for the floors. The Most Holy Place in the temple was panelled floor to ceiling with cedar. And everything was covered in gold! There was an opulence and grandeur about the whole […]

Have you ever come across someone who was absolutely convinced that they were right, whilst being absolutely wrong? We all have the potential to be like that. Usually, pride is at work in the mix: a certainty that we already know what the picture is going to be, while everyone else is still trying to get the puzzle pieces out of the box. When this attitude is full-blown, convincing people to see the truth can be a huge, almost impossible […]