Don’t be afraid
Australians spend $1.6 billion a year on hair care. We want to remove hair from some places and grow it in others, color and repair our hair, straighten and curl our hair, feed, wax, laser, nourish, and cut our hair. (more…)
Share this:
Does God heal today?
This blogpost comes from David Robertson, who blogs at theweeflea.com”.
Acts 3:1-10 is the account of Peter healing a lame beggar. It says (NIV):
One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. (more…)
Share this:
God knows everything about you, and still loves you
How much of yourself do you feel you must filter when you’re with others? Of course, “others” isn’t a single category; there are many types of others in our lives, from our social media contacts to our closest friends or family members. Is there someone whom you feel you can truly be yourself with? Someone with whom you can express your vulnerable feelings, talk about your deepest struggles, and share your worst moments? We humans learn from a very early age that sharing our deepest parts, especially those we may not like, can be uncomfortable. That’s what happens when we see a toddler hide or cover their face when they know they’ve done the wrong thing. Experiencing rejection, condemnation, or exploitation after revealing our vulnerable parts is incredibly emotionally painful. (more…)
Share this:
Prophecies about Jesus: He would be a suffering servant
God told king David that his royal dynasty would endure forever (2 Sam. 7:16). And the prophets predicted that one of David’s descendants would bring justice and peace (Isa. 11:1-16; Jer. 23:5-6).
That’s why after the time of the Old Testament the Jews looked for a Messiah (anointed one) to lead them and to defeat their enemies. (more…)
Share this:
Good news in a world of bad news
They say that the “proportion of headlines denoting anger, fear, disgust, negativity and sadness” grew markedly in the US between 2000 and 2019. News reports always begin with bad news because humans have a “negativity bias”. We tend to pay more attention to negative experiences than positive ones.
I have some bad news and some good news. The bad news is something about us and the good news is something about God. (more…)
Share this:
Christmas is all about the gift
Have you ever given yourself a present? There are many advantages. You can get just what you want. No lurid pairs of socks. No cheapo, no-name stuff.
But, let’s admit it, buying yourself presents is a bit sad. No one wants to open a present they’ve wrapped themselves. And it does remove the element of surprise. (more…)
Share this:
Finding the way to heaven
When we travel, maps and GPS apps guide us to our destination. But how do we find the way to heaven, and how many ways are there?
Understanding heaven
Heaven is where God lives and rules (Appendix A). Jesus taught His followers to pray to “Our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9NLT). Heaven is a spiritual place which we can’t see. It existed before the physical universe began. (more…)
Share this:
The way to heaven
Most people want to go to heaven. Do we all go there automatically? How can we know the way to heaven? A map or a GPS App can show us many ways to a destination. How many ways are there to heaven? (more…)
Share this:
Customer support open 24/7
What’s your most frustrating customer support story? I remember a time when I got into a menu loop on a call and couldn’t get to a person to talk to. There’s others times I’ve spent hours on hold hoping to get a real person to help me with my problem. With the increase in automation, off shore customer service centers and the use of scripts, it can often feel impossible to get the specific help needed. (more…)
Share this:
How were the books of the Bible decided?
How do we know that we have the right books in the Bible – the Old and New Testaments?
Most people believe that the early Catholic Church decided which books were authentic. This is not true; it is a myth. The Church did not authorize Scripture, it just accepted it. It merely recognized and accepted the books God Himself had inspired and authorized. (more…)
Share this:
Give all your anxiety to God
Anxiety. Worry. Concern that something will go wrong. Heart palpitations. Feeling hot. A pit in the stomach. Restlessness. Racing thoughts. Sweaty palms. What does anxiety feel like for you? And what do you do with that experience?
All of us feel anxious at times. When we are not sure we’re safe. When something we want or care about may be in jeopardy. It can help us protect what’s important to us. But there are ways we can respond to anxiety that make it feel worse. We can sometimes get anxious about feeling anxious. We can interpret our worry as something being wrong with us. We may have even heard a “christian” message that anxiety means a lack of faith. (more…)
Share this:
How to develop resilience
Last Friday was Bastille Day – the National Day of France. It was also the day when the Tour de France climbed Grand Colombier in the Jura Mountains. This is a brutal climb of over 1,240 m in elevation over 17.4 km at a gradient of 7.1%. The final 3.4 km rises at 9.2%. When we visited there last year, they were filming a promotional video for the Tour. (more…)
Share this:
Moses’ hills and valleys
After about 200 hundred years in Egypt, the Israelites multiplied so greatly that the Egyptians felt threatened and put slave masters over them and used them as laborers. Pharaoh issued an order that every Hebrew boy that was born was to be drowned in the river Nile. It was a dangerous time for Moses to be born. Moses lived in the 15th century BC. There is an account of his life from Exodus 2 to Deuteronomy 34 of the Bible. The hills and valleys in the first 80 years of his life are shown in the graph. (more…)
Share this:
Abraham’s hills and valleys
Abraham lived in the Middle East about 4,000 years ago. There is an account of his life in Genesis 11-25 of the Bible. God gave him four great promises: a promised son (Isaac), a promised people (the Jews), a promised land (Canaan), and a promised blessing for all people (Jews wrote the Scriptures; Jesus Christ was Jewish).
Part of Abraham’s life is summarized in the graph in terms of whether he was trusting God’s promises or doubting them. It goes up when he trusted the promises and down when he doubted them. (more…)
Share this:
If God is all-loving and all-powerful, why is there suffering in the world?
We all experience human suffering at one time or another. It may be sickness, injuries, pain, loss, failure, heartache, disappointment, sorrow, tragedy, disasters, crime, evil, disappointment, accusations, betrayal, misunderstanding, persecution, abuse, or death.
Everyone asks this question sometime in their life. What is the purpose of suffering? Suffering is a real challenge to Christians and a hindrance to trusting Christ for salvation. Many Christians feel secure in their faith until something bad happens; then this question becomes painfully relevant. (more…)
Share this:
Long live the King!
On May 6th, 2023, an estimated audience of 400 million people witnessed the coronation of King Charles III. This event was significant in the eyes of so many because the ceremony confirmed Charles’ position on the throne and his role as monarch of the United Kingdom and all remaining Commonwealth countries. (more…)
Share this:
Today’s lifesavers
We appreciate, perhaps now more than ever, the sacrificial and life saving service of our doctors and nurses. A survey in 2021 showed that doctors and nurses are the professionals we Australians trust more than any other. Paramedics and surf lifeguards are also held dear in our Australian hearts. How important and comforting it is to know there’s someone there to save us if our life is at risk. In a moment of life and death there is nothing more vital than being rescued and nothing more beautiful than our rescuer’s face. (more…)
Share this:
Authority questions
Life is marked by events of suffering, both great and small. At present there is great suffering in Turkiye (earthquake) and the Ukraine (war). Some are the products of a natural disaster impacting entire communities with grief and loss. Others are the fruit of human evil that has a profound effect on the world. Still others are private, affecting a person of a family. In all these cases people struggle to understand why it happens. And they question God’s goodness or His justice. (more…)
Share this:
Source questions
Life is marked by events of suffering, both great and small. At present there is great suffering in Turkiye (earthquake) and the Ukraine (war). Some are the products of a natural disaster impacting entire communities with grief and loss. Others are the fruit of human evil that has a profound effect on the world. Still others are private, affecting a person of a family. In all these cases people struggle to understand why it happens. And they question God’s goodness or His justice. (more…)
Share this:
Zoology questions
Life is marked by events of suffering, both great and small. At present there is great suffering in Turkiye (earthquake) and the Ukraine (war). Some are the products of a natural disaster impacting entire communities with grief and loss. Others are the fruit of human evil that has a profound effect on the world. Still others are private, affecting a person of a family. In all these cases people struggle to understand why it happens. And they question God’s goodness or His justice. (more…)
Share this:
Meteorology questions
Life is marked by events of suffering, both great and small. At present there is great suffering in Turkiye (earthquake) and the Ukraine (war). Some are the products of a natural disaster impacting entire communities with grief and loss. Others are the fruit of human evil that has a profound effect on the world. Still others are private, affecting a person of a family. In all these cases people struggle to understand why it happens. And they question God’s goodness or His justice. (more…)
Share this:
Astronomy questions
Life is marked by events of suffering, both great and small. At present there is great suffering in Turkiye (earthquake) and the Ukraine (war). Some are the products of a natural disaster impacting entire communities with grief and loss. Others are the fruit of human evil that has a profound effect on the world. Still others are private, affecting a person of a family. In all these cases people struggle to understand why it happens. And they question God’s goodness or His justice. (more…)
Share this:
God’s love letter to you
We can not live well without love. It is a universal truth as much as it is a cliche. Love lost, love unrequited, love received – these are the real events that make our lives and mark our memories. Without true love in our lives, whether it be a parent, a child, a lover, a friend, or a pet, we limp along surviving but never thriving. And it is not a coincidence that as the oft- quoted Bible verse declares, “God is love” (1 John 4:16). God is love, and He has created us to exist, to thrive, in His love. (more…)
Share this:
The Creator who entered His creation
Our children and grandchildren spent many hours playing with Lego. They used their imagination and creativity to build many things. In Genesis we are told that in the beginning of time God created the universe and all that is in it. This was greater than creating with Lego – He didn’t just assemble ready-made components, He made the atoms and molecules of all the components. And He made living creatures, which do a lot more then Lego technic or Lego robots. Living creatures make their own decisions and don’t just follow a computer code. And they can communicate with each other. (more…)
George's Journal 
RECENT COMMENTS