Relationships
When Everything is Crashing Around You
I think I’d have a mental breakdown if I was in Job’s position yet he blessed God at the end of chapter one after all he lost and went through. A lot of people cursed God and died for much less than what Job went through. We should examine ourselves and see how we’d go [...]
On Receiving Our Fifth Child
My excellent wife Di gave birth to a baby girl on Sunday evening. We thank God for the opportunity to nurture her life. Our hearts are full — and our days are busy! I’ve selected some wise advice below for parents and would-be parents. For your contemplation… The “little church” “Every Christian family ought to [...]
Entertaining soldiers unawares
We had a special blessing yesterday. Two young American soldiers visited our church. They were on leave from many months serving in Iraq. They left the hell of the deserts of ancient Babylon to find some relief in Cairns. They found our church on the web and wanted to come. They had not been able [...]
On Confrontation and Self-Love
I was reading through Paul Tripp’s Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands earlier and was struck by his thoughts on confrontation. Our failure to confront one another biblically must be seen for what it is: something rooted in our tendency to run after god-replacements. We confront unbiblically (or not at all) because we love something else [...]
Every Day is Precious
Every day is precious. Don’t waste even one.
One at a Time, Please
“Humility born of the awareness of our sinful tendencies is an essential character quality in mature Christians. As single women you should cultivate this humility and look for it in any man who might pursue you for marriage.” Carolyn Mahaney in Feminine Appeal I like this “tongue-in-cheek” poem about a girl’s daydreams of marriage, revealing how [...]
6 months on
Our little boy Michael is now 6 months old. He is just learning to crawl, eat solids and of course to refuse some foods like rice cereal that he doesn’t care for. Perhaps there is a battle of the wills coming up. We have been blessed with a baby who sleeps through the night and [...]
Family Camp
A few weeks ago I was extolling the virtues of attending a Bible conference. Well we are just back from a week of family camp. Believers and their guests from 4 other churches in North QLD attended. We scored a caravan (with power) for the week which was handy when you have a 5 month [...]
FIREPROOF
Last night I watched Fireproof with my wife. I was a reluctant viewer. The thought of watching another Christian movie made in America with a happy ending sounded completely uninspiring. However, my wife’s gracious persistence paid off. What a movie! It had humour, action, pathos, at times heart rending glimpses into the tensions within all [...]
Last Words
Why is it very hard to tell your brothers and sisters what they really need to hear? You watch them hurting themselves and others. Then you start the ” last words” scenario in your mind and rehearse what needs to be said. By “last words”I mean the words that a dieing person can utter . [...]
Purity in Relationships
The older women are to teach the younger women to be pure. We’ve looked at exhibiting purity by dressing modestly as well as exhibiting purity in our thoughts and actions. This week let’s look at one final aspect of purity: purity in relationships. Many verses in the Bible command us to put off uncleanness, sexual [...]
Nine reasons I believe in camp ministry
Saturday night I got an email asking if I could help drive our church teens down to Camp Benaiah today for a week of camp. I was thankful for the opportunity to do it because I believe in camp ministry. Here are some of the reasons why… 1. Young people have fun at camp. 2. [...]
