Prophecies about Jesus: His death, burial and resurrection
Mark Taylor (captain of the Australian cricket team, 1994-1999) told Sam Konstas to ditch the ramp shot and go back to basics to force his way back into the (Australian) Test cricket team. The basics are the foundation of whatever you are talking about. Builders know that if the foundation isn’t right, the whole structure will fail. (more…)
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Easter didn’t end at Easter
What do you like to do on the Easter long weekend? Most of us get two extra days off giving us the opportunity to go away, spend time with friends or family, relax at home or do something a little different to our normal weekends. Our family tradition is to spend the weekend in the beautiful autumnal Blue Mountains of New South Wales, staying with friends, eating, drinking and playing together. (more…)
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The cure for death
What would you be willing to do or sacrifice if it meant having the cure for death? The shadow of death looms over all our lives – rich or poor, young or old. It is the great inescapable equaliser that cuts across nationality, social status, physical ability, gender, sexuality, and belief. (more…)
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Blood as a symbol of death in the New Testament
When we sing songs like “Nothing but the blood of Jesus” and “Forgiveness is bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ”, do we understand what the words mean? Or when we hear that our sins can be washed away by the blood of Jesus, what does that mean? (more…)
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The sharp end of Easter
If I type “Easter” into my phone the emoji of a cute baby chick in an egg shell comes up. At the shops there are pictures of soft fluffy bunnies and mountains of sweet chocolate eggs. Easter ads show cherub-like laughing children running through green gardens, and generations of family members gathering happily around delicious feasts. (more…)
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Prophecies about Jesus: The time of His coming was predicted
There’s lots in the world to be worried about, but we can be less anxious if we knew about future events.
The Old Testament has predictions of future events and people. For example, Abraham was told about 200 years beforehand that the Israelites would be 400 years in Egypt (Gen. 15:13). Isaiah named king Cyrus about 200 years before he reigned over Persia (Isa. 44:28 – 45:1). And Daniel was told about the death of Christ over 400 years beforehand. (more…)
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Where will you respawn?
Despite the way some people may react, death is not that big a problem in a video game. You may lose your loot, position or game but there’s always another life. On the contrary, the Bible says real human death is a once off occasion, life is not repeatable, it’s a one time only offer. And what comes next is crucial.
“People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgement.” Hebrews 9:27 (more…)
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What’s so special about Easter?
Everyday in the world about 190,000 people die. That averages as 8,000 deaths per hour and two deaths every second. In Australia we do a pretty good job at keeping death out of conversation and mind. However there’s no denying it is an inevitable and ordinary part of life. Death isn’t, in a manner of speaking, anything special. So why do we have a public holiday – an extra long weekend with Good Friday and Easter Monday, in remembrance of one man’s death? What has the death of one specific, Jewish man who lived 12,217 kilometres and 2,000 years apart from our lives today got to do with us? (more…)
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Comprehensive outline of the book of Matthew
The first book of the New Testament, Matthew, was written by the apostle Matthew.
I like having titles on the paragraphs or sections of my Bible. This helps to indicate the context of a particular passage of scripture. A comprehensive outline (section headings) of the book of Matthew is given below. Because of the large number of levels, the labelling is changed in chapters 21-27 (Appendix A). (more…)
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Recognizing major events
Jesus was born into the world like any other baby. Two people recognized that His coming was a major event.
First, an elderly man Simeon was waiting for the promised Jewish Messiah to come and rescue Israel from the Romans and restore them as a nation (Lk. 2:25-35NLT). He went to the Jewish temple when Jesus was there as a 40-day old baby and declared that He was the Messiah that they were waiting for. The Bible says that on “that day the Spirit led him to the Temple”. Simeon praised God for keeping His promise and he told Mary that the baby “has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose Him. As a result … a sword will pierce your very soul”. This is a reference to Christ’s suffering and death. (more…)
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Disasters and death
I was brought up on a farm near the town of Forbes in central New South Wales in Australia. In the past week many people had to evacuate their homes in Forbes and other towns due to a flood in the Lachlan River. This flood reached similar heights to the record floods in the 1950s.
In the last few years we have had major droughts, bushfires (wildfires), pandemics, and floods in Australia. People’s lives and livelihood have been devastated and there has been a financial crisis. Disasters like this are unexpected – they can catch us by surprise. The Bible says that disasters are warnings (Appendix).
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Todays’ weather brought to you by God
Tsunamis, floods, and bush fires are no joke. In 2021 it was estimated by Deloitte that natural disasters cost Australia over $38 billion a year and this will nearly double by 2060. The real cost, however, is more than a financial one, many people and animals lose their homes and even their lives when a major disaster strikes.
So what should we think about the weather? Is God really in control? Most of us are comfortable asking God for good weather for our next sports game or outdoor event – we may even thank God for a perfect sunny day. But when it comes to bad weather, who’s to blame – infamous weather systems like El nina or God? And who can we go to about these disasters? (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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Strangest thing – Jesus rose from the dead
The existence of another dimension. A character with the ability to influence and change the physical world without physical force. A powerful evil monster out to kill. These are the elements of a science fiction narrative. But what if there is truth in them?
The message of the Bible is pretty strange. It talks of a spiritual dimension – angels and demons and an all powerful, all knowing God in control of it all. This spiritual dimension is generally unseen by us ordinary humans with our physical eyes. But the Bible records a special time in history when the supernatural burst into the world in the very natural form of a new born baby. Jesus’ birth, life and even His miracles are recorded in numerous ancient historical accounts. Turning water into wine. Healing a paralysed person with only His words. Bringing a man who has been dead for four days back to life. This is not the kind of thing we see outside of science fiction and fantasy. (more…)
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Prayer about Grandpop
A prayer given at my father-in-law’s funeral on 1 April 2022
Our God and Father, Creator of the universe, we give thanks for the life of Grandpop. We thank you that in the prime of life He trusted in Christ’s death for the forgiveness of his sins and eternal life in heaven (1 Th. 2:13). We thank you for the Christian faith and love evident in the remainder of his life (2 Th. 1:3).
We thank you that it’s not the end like it was for Shane Warne. Instead, it’s the beginning of life without the troubles of this world. Grandpop has left the building, left the planet and left the physical for the unseen spiritual world, which is far better for him (Phil. 1:23). It’s like being in an aircraft above the clouds where the sun is shining. (more…)
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Meet your maker
Though we don’t live like it, death is a sure thing. I often take walks amongst the beautiful gardens and graves of the cemetery I live near. Thousands and thousands of headstones and memorial plaques lay quietly in various stages of abandon. Each represents another human who was once living and breathing like me. Right now death seems like something that happens to other people, but one day the sum of our lives will also be etched on a headstone for others to pass by. And then? (more…)
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The original context of the Lord’s Supper
Paul described the Lord’s Supper as follows, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Cor. 11:23-26NIV). (more…)
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Are you protected?
The older I get the more I understand how fragile human life really is. The COVID-19 pandemic is just one example of how something seemingly small can change the lives of the entire world’s population. As advanced, intelligent and resilient as humanity is, life can be lost in the blink of an eye. For this reason we spend a lot of effort trying to protect ourselves and our loved ones… from buckling the back-arching, screaming toddler into her seatbelt, to spending hard earned cash on insurance policies, to getting the COVID jab. (more…)
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Heroes and villains
Christian martyrs
Graham Staines was an Australian Christian missionary in India. In 1999 he and his two sons were burnt to death by Hindu fundamentalists alleging “forced” conversions. A mob of about 50 people, armed with axes and other implements, attacked a jeep while Staines and his sons were asleep inside, and set it alight, trapping them inside and burning them to death. A few days later, Graham’s wife, Gladys, made a public statement forgiving the killers. But hate crimes against religious minorities continue in India. (more…)
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Where is Grannie?
A message given at my mother-in-law’s funeral on 16 September 2021
Grannie was brought up on farms where they grew their own food and prepared their own meals. It was hard work. There were no takeaway meals or supermarkets in those days! Then she married and spent 31 years in country towns bringing up her five children. After this she used her cooking and hospitality skills and experience to cater at Winmalee Christian Conference Center for 11 years before she retired. (more…)
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The gospel in one Bible verse
Joe lives alone and has little contact with his family. He has no carer and needs help to look after his home, garden, health and safety. And he has been socially isolated during the 3-month lockdown in Sydney during the COVID pandemic. Like all of us, his days on earth are numbered. But being over 90 years of age, his number of days is less than most of us.
Joe is a nominal Roman Catholic who needs to hear the good news about Jesus – the Bible says that Jesus took our place before God by dying on the cross for us so that we can be forgiven and have a new relationship with God. Here’s an easy way to share the gospel with someone like Joe. (more…)
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The dangers of theistic evolution
The foundations of a building can move and crack due to expansive soils such as clay, poor soil compaction, plumbing leaks, poor drainage, or tree roots. Did you know that the theory of biological evolution destroys the foundation of the Christian gospel?
This post is based on a presentation by Dr Mark Harwood of Creation Ministries International (CMI). (more…)
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There is hope
The headline didn’t shout. It didn’t need to. This wasn’t a slow news day. It read, ‘In one week 10% of Australia’s workforce have lost their jobs’. In India, a nation of 1.3 billion people were given four hours notice to lock down inside their homes for 21 days. People found outside afterwards were subsequently beaten.
Always, in the world somewhere, there’s an extreme situation – a flood, a famine, a war. Less frequent, though, are situations involving the whole world. The COVID-19 pandemic is such a time. (more…)
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How to respond to the coronavirus pandemic
Today Frank told me, “It feels like I’m in jail”. He is elderly and lives alone. But because of Government regulations, he is unable to attend the men’s social group at his local community centre. So he is now socially isolated because he has few opportunities for contact with other people.
This post is based on a message by Dave Sheath of the Lakes Church at Tuggerah in NSW Australia. It looks at how we can respond to the world-wide coronavirus pandemic. (more…)
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