Scripture on Sunday: Luke 10:28
At the end of Luke 10, the evangelist records Jesus’ visit to Martha and Mary’s house in which Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and ‘listened to his Word’ (NASB). Jesus commended Mary saying that “only one thing is necessary” and that …
Scripture on Sunday – Luke 10:38-42
The story of Martha and Mary is well known. Jesus visits their village and Martha welcomes him into her home. With Jesus, of course, comes his whole entourage: disciples and other followers. Martha gets busy making preparations for meals and other hospitality. …
Hiatus – and Rebirth
It has been a year since my last post. I never intended to have a break really, and especially such a long break. But I was about to go on holiday last year with a lot to get done before the holiday, …
Cate Vose on the call to live an original life
The start of a New Year is a good time to reflect on the call to live an original life. When we decide that what we buy, what we wear, what we eat, what we drive or what tech we use will …
The Way, The Truth and the Life: with Jon Bergmann
This Advent, we have been reflecting each day on a different name used to describe Jesus. One of the more puzzling things Jesus calls himself is the Way, the Truth and the Life. I’ve been a Christian for a little while now, …
Reading Karl Barth on Election (15)
Selection: The Church Dogmatics II/2:134-138, Excursus on Supra- and Infralapsarianism (#2). The strength of the supralapsarian position is that the divine decree of election stands at the head of all God’s works, in contrast to the infralapsarian doctrine in which the decree of election …
On Reading Old Books
I came across this citation from C. S. Lewis; it captures a wonderful piece of wisdom. Every generation of believers faces the risk of becoming a prisoner to its own myopic vision of the Christian faith, assuming that how it understands and …
Matthew and Paul on “Righteousness”
This morning I preached an overview message on Jesus’ Beatitudes from Matthew’s Gospel. In my preparation for the sermon I came across the following comparison in F. Dale Bruner’s wonderful commentary on Matthew’s Gospel: I suggest that in this use here [i.e. …
Reading Karl Barth on Election (14)
Selection: The Church Dogmatics II/2:127-134, Excursus on Supra- and Infralapsarianism. Having detailed his theology of Jesus Christ as electing God and elected human, Barth inserts a lengthy excursus surveying the supralapsarian-infralapsarian controversy in Reformed theology from the early seventeenth century. He begins by noting …
Tell the Story!
Carroll, The Birth of Meaning (Christmas)In a recent article in the Weekend Australian entitled “The Birth of Meaning”John Carroll, professor emeritus of sociology at La Trobe University, wrote a quite penetrating complaint concerning the infantilising of Christmas in western culture. It was an …