[This is a transcript of a sermon on Revelation 22:1-5 preached by Rod Benson at Lithgow, Australia, in May 2018] In our most lucid and reflective moments, we all hope for the best. We all yearn to transcend death and decay. We long for a better world. “You have made us for yourself, O Lord,” …
Is everything sad going to come untrue?
Last Tuesday (2 September 2025) was the 52nd anniversary of the death of one of my favourite authors, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Near the end of Tolkien’s masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, the kind and humble character Sam Gamgee says to Gandalf, “I thought you were dead! But I thought I was dead myself.” And then he asks, “Is …
God makes all things new
As a teenager living in Papua New Guinea, I used to accompany my parents to student Christian fellowship meetings at the home of Norm and Agnes Chambers in Jawani St, Lae. Those were good times. I was unaware at the time, but I was being deeply formed, as a new Christian, in the way of …
The place where heaven and earth meet
For some time, I have been working with an eclectic group of Christians from various denominations to create a new kind of ecumenical presence in Sydney. It all came to fruition in an impressive launch event at the NSW Parliament on Friday 8 August, with NSW Labor Premier Chris Minns, Liberal Opposition Leader Mark Speakman, …
What on earth is God doing?
Michael Osterholm was director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota during the COVID-19 pandemic. Asked when he thought Covid might become endemic, he said, “Every morning I get up I scrape five inches of crusted mud off my crystal ball. And every day, it seems cloudier and cloudier … Any modeling that looks beyond 30 …
