Rethinking evangelism: an alternative to the Great Commission?

(Un)evangelistic personalities For the longest time, I resisted identifying as an evangelical Christian. I preferred to call myself a Protestant as a way to explain that I wasn’t Catholic and declined to define myself any further. Protesting is kinda cool; “evangelical” just makes secular Australians think of crazy southern Baptists. But also, evangelising is pretty much alien to my personality. I have friends who rave … Continue reading Rethinking evangelism: an alternative to the Great Commission?

Brutality and humanity: a book you won’t want to, but should, read

Early inspiration I suppose that every writer, whether professional or amateur, has work from their past that they’re seriously embarrassed to have brought into the world. One example in particular comes to mind. I wrote stories all through my childhood and adolescence and am generally proud of what I penned, but I did have woeful phase in Year 10 where I mimicked the style and … Continue reading Brutality and humanity: a book you won’t want to, but should, read

The art and the agony of anticipation

My manager’s kindergarten-aged daughter is a brave little one: she willingly holds her arm out for the needle at the doctor’s. While I don’t exactly freak out about injections and have donated blood a number of times, I am a bit squeamish when it comes to blood and the cutting up of my body. I don’t think I’ll ever get laser-eye surgery because the mere … Continue reading The art and the agony of anticipation

Made to wonder: string theory and the resurrection

What does string theory have to do with the Resurrection? What’s the difference between wanderlust and “wonderlust” (is that even a thing?)? Why do adverb particles matter?

This Easter I really went down the rabbit hole …

String theory and the Resurrection

I was listening to a podcast the other day, an interview with a physicist who was explaining the holographic principle. Based on string theory, one of the concepts is that our lived reality is two-dimensional data expressed in three dimensions. In other words, reality is a hologram.

It made me think about dimensions in general. If two dimensions can express three, and it’s generally accepted that we inhabit four dimensions (the fourth being time), what would 5D* projection mean? Because I’m convinced the material world isn’t all there is to existence.

As a person of faith, I believe we exist in more than four dimensions. But for most people – Christians, followers of other faiths and those of no faith alike – our active engagement in the fifth is limited.

This Easter I was reminded that the Resurrection invites us to walk beyond the four dimensions and live a bigger, richer reality. Continue reading Made to wonder: string theory and the resurrection

Lavish Friday

Unconditional, eternal, lavish I was reading about how God loves us unconditionally, eternally and lavishly. Unconditional, I get – I’ve had grace explained to me more times than I can count. Eternal, I get – God loved us before time, loves us now and will love us always. But lavish? The thing about growing up privileged but being hyper aware of disadvantage and poverty is … Continue reading Lavish Friday

The problem with American

Last week, on my flight from New York back to Sydney, I binge watched Season 1 of The Newsroom. It’s a series created by Aaron Sorkin, the guy behind The West Wing, with Jeff Daniels playing Will McAvoy, an anchorman on cable news.

In the opening scene of the series pilot, Will is on a panel with a Democrat and a Republican at a university, when a student asks the panel: “What makes America the greatest country in the world?”

The question triggers an epic and rousing outburst from Will, who dresses down both major political parties and rails about why America is no longer the greatest country on earth.

“But it could be”, he then says in softer tones.

That first season of The Newsroom aired in 2012, before Donald Trump ever campaigned for president, promising to “make America great again”.

Coincidence? I doubt it. Continue reading The problem with American

From Advent to Adventure

It’s the second week of Advent and I’m not really feeling it.

Generally speaking, people slide easily into one of three distinct categories: (1) those who absolutely love Christmas; (2) those who find Christmas super stressful; and, (3) those who are indifferent to Christmas.

I love Jesus but I am planted firmly in the third camp.

So I scour the season, I scour Scripture, both for magic and for logic. Continue reading From Advent to Adventure