Ann Nadge, a poet I know, has distilled some of the posts from this blog into poetry. She has used my words verbatim, captured the essence of the post, and moulded it into a poet's vision. This is the first of more to be published over the course of the year.This poem is from an original post on 28th March 2020 that was written at the beginning of COVID-19. Lazarus, a figure of conversion& ..read more

 Lent is the season of truth. And this through repentance. And by repentance I don't mean the human effort to clear the decks of the bad things we have done so we can have a relationship with God. That would mean that we don't need God when we are at our lowest. The Gospel is that we are saved at our lowest ebb. That's why it is grace and why it is freedom. But, if Lent is the season of ..read more

 We begin the Lenten journey on Ash Wednesday. Prior to the day, we burn the palm crosses left over from Palm Sunday the year previous. The palm crosses, before they are made into ash, remind me of the rejoicing at the coming of the Messiah into Jerusalem. And yet, a few days later, the same crowd are baying for the blood of Jesus.  The hopes of the crowd turn have turned to dust and ..read more

So, Scripture thinks that human contrivance – whether wealth, intellect, family, honour, longevity – is a problem. But … not in itself. It is a problem when human contrivance drives us, forms us, and replaces God. What’s the alternative? It is tempting (I use this word deliberately, because this is a temptation to be resisted) to think that we have to renounce human wisdom, wealth, planning, etc ..read more

 This certain ruler must have been quite excited when Jesus said, "There is still one thing lacking." Great, only one thing! After a life of disciplined obedience to the commandments, maybe the ruler might be able to work himself into eternal life?This passage reminds me of Luke 17:5-6.  "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed ... (you could do the miraculous). Just that little bit of faith ..read more

 This parable is classic Jesus and stands as a warning to the critical spirit that lives in us and can take over if not combated. And it is entirely consistent with the biblical warning to beware the self-righteousness that can become the foundation of our identity.This parable provides us with a classic example of finding a (false) identity by not being someone else. (vv 11-12) The Pharisee ..read more

I grew up in what I call Middle Adelaide Anglicanism. This church is what I call Middle Adelaide Anglicanism. There are still lots of churches like this. And not just in Adelaide, all over Australia Anglican churches and Anglicans would see themselves as in the middle, or perhaps moderate. 'Middle' doesn't mean grey, doesn't mean wishy-washy. The middle isn't defined particularly by the content ..read more

In our baptism, joined in hypostatic union with the Son who stood abandoned for us, space is found for us to regain our identity as children of God, united with the Father through the Spirit.The Gospel of John can seem a bit confusing at times. It's because the language reflects the union of the three figures of the divine story, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (You can think of God as a story or a ..read more

Readings for Trinity Sunday (Year C)  Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15. ‘He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:14-15)  The strange language of the Gospel of John: the three – Father, Son and Spirit – are interconnected in ..read more

 Today the kids and I talked about the Ascension. I had two questions.1. Where is Jesus?2. Where is God?I started with the kids. They were unsure. So we wandered around the congregation a bit and asked some people to find some answers. We had a variety of answers, ranging from 'everywhere'; 'in heaven, although heaven isn't really a place like we usually think of a place to go'; 'seated on the ..read more