Are you going in circles?
Tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are being used to build new roads and new metro rail lines in Sydney (see Appendix). The road is the Western Harbour tunnel from North Sydney to Rozelle. And there are three metro rail projects: from Chatswood under the harbour and the city to Sydenham, from the city to Westmead and from St Marys to the new Western Sydney Airport.
And the Snowy 2.0 pumped-storage hydroelectric project to help Australia’s electricity network is using three TBMs to excavate about 40 km of tunnels. But one of the machines named Florence, got bogged. Florence was meant to drill a tunnel 15 kilometres long but had only travelled about 150 metres before getting stuck in very soft wet ground for 14 months. It had only travelled 1% of the distance! The machine weighs 2,400 tonnes and measures 143 metres in length and 11 metres (3 stories) in diameter. (more…)
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The faith of Moses
We all have to make choices in life, and often those choices result in significant consequences. In 1938, Joe Schuster and Jerry Siegel sold all their rights for a comic book character that they had invented for $130. The character’s name? Superman! In 1955, Sam Phillips sold to RCA Victor Records his exclusive contract with a young singer named Elvis Presley for $35,000, thus forfeiting royalties on more than a billion records. Bad choices! (more…)
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Create in me a clean heart
What would you think of a man who used his power to forcibly have sex with a woman? But he didn’t stop there. This woman was married and after finding out she’d become pregnant through his sexual assault he tried to make it look like the baby belonged to her husband. When this failed he once again used his power to arrange the husband to be killed. It’s reprehensible behaviour. Unforgivable, many would say. This is the biblical story behind Psalm 51 – the story of king David. (more…)
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Applied mathematics
One of the courses that I took at the University of Sydney many years ago was applied mathematics. Applied mathematics is used extensively in science, engineering, technology, business and artificial intelligence (AI). And phone apps frequently utilize applied mathematics to solve real-world problems and deliver practical solutions. (more…)
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Opportunities and dangers in sport
Many people enjoy playing and watching sport. But how should a Christian be involved with sporting activities?
This post is based on a book by Stephen Liggins, “The good sporting life – Loving and playing sport as a follower of Jesus”. (more…)
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Queen Elizabeth’s funeral service
The State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Extracts from the Order of Service at Westminster Abbey on Monday 19 September 2022. The service paid tribute to the Queen’s “remarkable reign and lifetime of service”.
The sentences
Jesus said to her [Martha], “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (Jn. 11:25-26NIV, see Appendix A). (more…)
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Repentance – turning around to follow the true God
In 2013 a friend and I walked through Glenbrook Gorge in the Blue Mountains to Lapstone Rail Station. I had a map to follow. Outside the gorge we reached a junction, but I didn’t know where we were on the map. So I didn’t know whether the station was towards the left or the right. We walked right towards the north for about 15 minutes and then repented (turned around) because we realised that the station was probably towards the south! We had to turn around 180 degrees to reach our destination. As we wasted at least half an hour because of this mistake, I decided to get a mobile [cell] phone so I could use a GPS like Google maps to show where I was on the map. (more…)
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Living for the Lord
An overview of Ephesians
In about 1445 BC during the exodus from Egypt, at Mount Sinai Aaron made a golden calf and the people said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt” (Ex. 32:4, 8NIV). The calf may have been a pagan god or a symbol of strength. But the first commandment said, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3). And the second said not to worship an idol. As they were disregarding or subtracting these commands from their Bible, about 3,000 people died. (more…)
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Who are you trying to impress?
From Matthew 6:1-15
I spent my younger days on a farm near Forbes in central NSW, Australia. My mother had seven brothers who liked to play cricket. The eldest one played first grade cricket at St George Cricket Club with Don Bradman. When my mother and dad were young, they watched Don Bradman play at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). When I was young my dad took me to the SCG on a day when Neil Harvey scored 231 not out in his last Sheffield Shield game. I played cricket at Forbes and in the Protestant Churches Competition in Sydney. My 9-year-old grandson plays junior cricket for Lisarow-Ourimbah on the Central Coast. The club’s most famous player is Alan Davidson who died recently. On Saturday mornings I leave home at 6am to get him to the oval by 7:30am to be ready to play by 8am. (more…)
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COVID anger
The changes, uncertainties and reductions in some of the freedoms we had taken for granted can lead to frustration, and sometimes even to anger.
This post comes from Philip Nunn who lives in The Netherlands.
How do you respond to the arrival of new COVID variants, rules and restrictions? How do you feel about the social and legal changes aggressively promoted by those with new ideas on sex, family and gender? Are you concerned? The issue that frustrates you may be more local, at your workplace, your church or in your family. (more…)
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Taking risks for God
In March 2021 a developer was given an order to fix serious defects in a 16-storey apartment tower in Auburn in New South Wales. The defects included waterproofing, fixing of wall tiles to bathroom and ensuite walls, and falls to bathroom and ensuite floors. Following the structural flaws in Sydney’s Opal and Mascot towers, there has been increased attention on weeding out shoddy work. The risk assessment done by the builder was something like this. I can make more money by not doing everything properly. What could go wrong that could harm my profit? I could get caught by the NSW Building Commissioner. What would be the consequence of this happening? Is it minor, or moderate or major? Besides the extra cost it would be bad publicity and so the impact would be “major”. What is the likelihood of this happening? Is it unlikely (rare), or possible, or likely (common)? Because he thought he could get away with it, he thought it was “unlikely” (rare). What is the risk level? The risk matrix (table), says that a “unlikely” likelihood and a “major” consequence give a “medium” risk ranking, which is tolerable. That’s why he went ahead with the shoddy work. But he erred – the likelihood was actually “possible”, which gives a high risk. And he suffered the consequences. (more…)
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12 reasons God is not like a genie
Prerequisites for answered prayers
According to fairytales, a genie lives in a brass oil lamp or a bottle. When you rub the lamp or bottle, the genie is released and offers to grant your wishes. Does God grant our wishes when we pray? When we ask God to give us this and that and expect the answers to be delivered immediately, we treat God like a genie.
Scriptures that seem to imply that Christians receive whatever they ask
At first appearance, the following scriptures seem to imply that God will give Christians whatever they ask for in prayer. (more…)
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The Warrenton Declaration on Medical Mandates, Biblical Ethics, & Authority
The Warrenton Declaration on Medical Mandates, Biblical Ethics, & Authority was created in order to provide doctrinal clarity and coherence on issues of biblical authority and ethics related to medical mandates. The declaration seeks to equip local churches and their officers in providing transparency on where they stand and to assist individuals who are being mistreated in their churches with a well-ordered summary of belief in this regard. (more…)
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Following Jesus: Our obedience
Previously we looked at, “Following Jesus: Our purposes”. We found that God wants us to become more like Jesus. He wants us to have purposes that reflect His purposes (above) and our strengths (below). We serve others when we apply our purposes to people’s needs. Then like Esther, we will have a meaningful and significant life that brings fulfilment.
We introduced the diagram to show the relationship between these aspects of our life. We looked at our resources, which are comprised of our genetic makeup, our life experience and our spiritual gifts. These are the tools that God has given to us that enable us to do the tasks to achieve our purposes by meeting people’s needs. (more…)
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Following Jesus: Our resources
The previous post was about “Following Jesus: Our purposes”. We found that God wants us to become more like Jesus. He wants us to have purposes that reflect His general purposes for believers (above) and our individual strengths (below). We serve others when we apply our purposes to people’s needs. Then like Esther, we will have a meaningful and significant life that brings fulfilment. (more…)
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Following Jesus: Our purposes
Esther was a Jewish girl in the palace of the king of Persia in about 460 BC. When the lives of all the Jews in Persia were threatened, her cousin Mordecai told her that she alone could save all their lives if she spoke to the king. He said, “perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” (Est. 4:14NLT). What would she do? Bravely she spoke to the king and the Jews lives were saved. This is a great example of how God can give us a purpose in life. God used Esther to fulfill His purposes. She was in the right place at the right time. That’s an example of God’s providence (His wise and purposeful sovereignty); it wasn’t an accident. And she made the right decision. That’s an example of human responsibility.
As human beings we want our lives to be meaningful and significant. How can we make our life count? The Bible implies that God made us for a purpose. And as we live for that purpose, we will find fulfilment. (more…)
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Investing in the next generation
Building a robust Christian worldview
Children and young people are the next generation. They live in an ungodly skeptical world that will challenge their faith in Jesus. We want them to have a robust and resilient faith that can withstand enemy attacks. But how is this possible when many young people stop attending church on a regular basis after they turn 18? And the pandemic may cause more to abandon Christianity or churchgoing. Many of these young people are leaving because the culture around them has impacted them deeply and caused them to question the truth claims of Christianity. What can we do about it?
Bushfires
Many homes were destroyed by wildfires (bushfires) last summer in Australia. Bushfires can attack buildings. Locations in bushfire prone areas are classified according to the Bushfire Attack Level (BAL: Low, 12.5, 19, 29, 40, Flame Zone). Close to vegetation the BAL is “Flame Zone” and the attack level decreases with distance away from the vegetation. A building in the flame zone without flame-proof protection has a high risk of being destroyed by a wildfire (bushfire). (more…)
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A robust climate?
“By not doing enough to fight global warming, we’re trashing the planet” says National Geographic magazine. “How hot can it get before truly catastrophic changes are set in motion?”. And Wikipedia warns of “abrupt climate change as it approaches and surpasses 2°C above pre-industrial levels”. It also mentions the possibility of “accelerated global warming”, “runaway climate change”, “climate collapse” and “climate apocalypse”. Others mention a “climate emergency”, “climate crisis”, “climate breakdown”, “irreversible climate destabilization”, “abrupt and irreversible environmental changes” and “interconnecting calamities”. That’s alarmist. It’s creating a culture of fear and panic. And climate change is blamed for any extreme weather. But are these warnings justified? (more…)
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Read the Bible through
I supposed I knew my Bible
Reading piecemeal, hit and miss,
Now a bit of John or Matthew,
Now a snatch of Genesis,
Certain chapters of Isaiah
Certain Psalms (the twenty-third!);
Twelfth of Romans, First of Proverbs—
Yes, I thought I knew the Word!
But I found that thorough reading
Was a different thing to do,
And the way was unfamiliar
When I read the Bible through. (more…)
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Memory loss
Do you ever forget where you put your keys, phone or glasses? Have you ever gone into another room at home and wondered what you went in there for? We all forget some things and forgetfulness can be a normal part of aging. We get memory lapses. Our brain doesn’t function as well as it used to.
Mary couldn’t find her car keys. She looked on the hook just inside the front door. They weren’t there. She searched in her purse. No luck. Finally, she found them on her desk. Yesterday, she forgot her neighbor’s name. She decided to see her doctor. After a complete check-up, her doctor said that Mary was fine. Her forgetfulness was just a normal part of getting older. The doctor suggested that Mary take a class, play cards with friends, or help out at the local school to help her memory. (more…)
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The Niagara 2020 declaration on religious liberty
A new statement on religious liberty
Background
In Canada, as blessed recipients of the gospel of Jesus Christ for generations and heirs of the Christian Parliamentary tradition and English Common Law, we have long been able to take our freedoms and liberties in the faith for granted. Tragically, those days have waned, and we all share culpability for the declining situation and loss of the pervasive influence of the Scriptures. In our generation, with the undeniably radical cultural shift over the last sixty years, we are confronted with increased political, institutional, and legal opposition to the faith. Christians are facing an attack on our historic liberties and Charter freedoms. These include (but are not limited to) various persecutions in the form of media propaganda, speech and human rights codes, Supreme Court decisions regarding Christian institutions and end of life issues, municipal and provincial bylaws regarding sexuality and gender, indefinite emergency restrictions and lockdowns, and proposed amendments to the Criminal Code that could radically curtail the freedom of Christian leaders, churches and parents (cf. the federal bill to criminally ban so-called “conversion therapy”). (more…)
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An attitude of gratitude
Charles Swindoll said, “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life… Attitude is more important than success, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, or a church, or a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past; we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude…I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you, we are in charge of our attitudes.” But how can we cultivate a lifestyle (or attitude) of thankfulness? (more…)
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What about climate change?
Roy Morgan’s 2019 survey found that Australians regard environmental concerns as the major problem facing the world. This included climate change, water conservation, pollution, rubbish, famine, and cutting down rainforests. And economic concerns came next.
What does the Bible say about the natural environment? Should Christians care for the environment, or doesn’t it matter?
Biblical worldview
This post looks at the natural environment from an understanding based on the Bible, which is God’s message to us. This leads to different understandings compared to if we reject what the Bible says. It’s a theistic viewpoint, not an atheistic one. The Bible says that the universe was formed miraculously by God’s command (Ps. 33:6-9). People can look at the same world, but their interpretation depends on their worldview. It’s like wearing glasses. For example, clear glasses give a brighter view than sunglasses. (more…)
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Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves
The media in Australia and other community gatekeepers treat abortion as a settled question. As a consequence, that’s how most Australians view the issue. We’re encouraged to think that, in the past, an important victory was won for women. And now, instead of being bullied to bear and care for children they never wanted, women have the right to make decisions about their own bodies – because, ultimately, abortion is a woman’s issue.
But abortion is not and never will be a settled question. (more…)
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