John 12:23-24; Luke 9:23 Sprouted shoots of barley and wheat. Walk into almost any church, and you will see one of two realities – either the predictable machinations of moralistic therapeutic deism and passive consumer religion, or the beauty, mystery and enthusiasm of a gathered community of Jesus followers, experimentally living out their faith. One reality …
Come and see
John 1:35-39 If you were a young Christian in the 1990s, you may have seen, or you may even have worn, a wrist band with the letters “WWJD.” It’s an acronym for the question, “What would Jesus do?” For the nerds among us, the phrase is drawn from the subtitle of a novel by Charles …
How to be a philosopher
Bertrand Russell on how to be a philosopher: It is important to learn not to be angry with opinions different from your own, but to set to work understanding how they come about. If, after you have understood them, they still seem false, you can then combat them much more effectually than if you had …
The vocation and mission of Jesus
The Hebrew Bible contains hints, types, allusions and prophecies relating to Jesus, but the New Testament is filled with references to Jesus, stories told by Jesus, wonders performed by him, and summaries of his teaching. The New Testament identifies Jesus as a carpenter and a teacher. He was raised in a poor Jewish home and, …
Who was Arthur Stace? Part 2
The Reverend John G. Ridley, M.C. Arthur Stace was “born again,” as he would have described his experience, on 6 August 1930 at an evangelistic service at St Barnabas’ Church on Broadway, Sydney. He soon began attending the Burton Street Baptist Tabernacle where Rev. John G. Ridley (1896-1976) was a regular preacher. Ridley himself was …
iDigress 