Have you considered what Messiah, our Lord Jesus, is called in Isaiah 9:6? “….Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6b ESV) As Wonderful Counselor, Jesus Christ is the prophet who speaks the counsel of God to us. Wonderful in Judges 13:17,18 is a name for the...

The Bible tells us what happened at the very first Christmas: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14 ESV). We know that “the Word” refers to Jesus because of other things John says in that chapter. One thing he makes very clear, though, is that the Word...

Monasteries were known (and are still known) as places of prayer. In Latin, prayer is ora. The monasteries were also places of work, labora. The life of the monks, then, was ora et labora, prayer and work. If we know anything about prayer, it is often the case that the...

In Luke 10:25, Jesus is teaching a group of people, perhaps in a synagogue. It’s a bit like a small group, or a Sunday night service. An expert in Old Testament law stands up to “test” Jesus. And he asks Jesus a very simple question: ““Teacher, what shall I do to...

  But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. (Proverbs 4:18, ESV) First off, let me encourage you to not think, oh — this is only for those who are in their older years. This is written with...

Australia has been gripped in the last two weeks by reports that sewing needles have been found in punnets of strawberries sold at supermarkets. One person has been hospitalised as a result of ingesting one of these booby-trapped berries. As the story has come up in conversation, I’ve noticed the...

(adapted from an article by Nancy Leigh DeMoss) If we’re not benefitting from the ministry of the Word as it is publicly proclaimed in preaching, the fault may not lie in the one proclaiming the Word. It may lie in our readiness to hear, receive, and respond to the Word....

If you were the one writing the Bible, how would you start? The Bible is a book about our world and ourselves. It tells a story about everything we know and how it came to be. It tells us what the problems are in our world, and in ourselves, and...

In Matthew 24 and 25, Jesus sits down with his disciples on the Mount of Olives, opposite the temple in Jerusalem. The disciples start asking him questions about the ‘last days’ – that time of urgency before Jesus ushers in the end of the age. Jesus answers their questions, and...

  2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. (James 1:2-3 ESV) Last October after our denomination’s National Assembly, Marie and I spent some time in Sydney visiting our friends (and fellow...