church

Just thinking…It seems to me that pressure can either drive things apart or drive things together. The difference is often found in the orientation of two objects to each other before the pressure is applied. A child tragically dies in a family or a husband loses his job. How does this affect the marriage? So…

Just thinking…How we view risk in living is so important. Life, of course, is full of risk, but so often we perceive risk as an active thing. By that I mean, we tend to unconsciously attach risk to actions, steps or initiatives that we might take. Perhaps we have been trained into this from the…

Just thinking…One of the clearest ways of getting a sense of someone’s character is seeing how they handle defeat and failure. You won’t see character accurately in moments of victory or even in moments of settledness. Failure exposes our hidden motivations and secret insecurities. Defeat shines the spotlight on our values and who we truly…

Just thinking…One of the interesting effects of the covid-19 pandemic this year is that it has introduced into our vocabulary a new palette of words and phrases that we now use in everyday life. After all, who ever said in 2019 that they were conscious of their ‘social distancing’? Another is the word ‘bubble’. We all…

Just thinking…The young people asked some profound questions in church a couple of weeks ago about suffering. I was once asked a similar question by a woman called Michelle. Here is part of a letter I wrote to her outlining my thoughts on this weighty issue. Suffering is caused by sin and its consequences (either…

Just thinking…Some sobering thoughts: More than 98 percent of convicted felons are bread users. Fully half of all children who grow up in bread-consuming households score below average on standardised tests. In the 18th century, when virtually all bread was baked in the home, the average life expectancy was less than 50 years; infant mortality rates were unacceptably…

Just thinking…The day was full of light! The waves tumbled against the shore in a most inviting way, while a slight breeze made the palm trees shudder with delight. The scuba diving club decided it was a great day for an underwater adventure. Everyone geared up excitedly. After the leader assigned buddies, Jim, a member of the…

Just thinking…”Happy 40th, Rob!” So said the sign that was 6 story tall and plastered on the side of an Auckland high-rise in February last year … along with a smiling face of the man in question … Rob Harvey. He knew nothing about the sign, which was visible to 1.6 million Aucklanders, until he…

Just thinking…As you will no doubt be aware, on the day that we cast our vote for our next government, we will also be asked to vote on two important referenda: one on legalizing euthanasia and one on legalizing the use of cannabis in New Zealand. Both of these decisions are of enormous significance to…

Just thinking…Dave Goldberg, a physics professor at Drexel University (and I would suspect from his writings, not a person of faith) writes this: You’re almost unfathomably lucky to exist, in almost every conceivable way. Don’t take it the wrong way. You, me, and even the most calming manatee are nothing but impurities in an otherwise…