A sermon on Psalm 15 In the middle of 1972, when I was four years old, a man on the other side of the world completed a book that would eventually sell over a million copies and be translated into more than a dozen languages. The author was theologian J. I. Packer, and the book …
Continue the journey
2 Timothy 3:14-16 Sunset on the road to Gilgandra, northern New South Wales, Australia. As we come to the fifth and final reflection on Paul’s second letter to Timothy, let’s review what we have learned so far. Among various points of advice and encouragement in this profound pastoral letter, we have looked at four requests …
Discern, flee, pursue!
2 Timothy 2:20-24 There are times in life when advice from trusted friends is good and true, but leaves us feeling inadequate, or deflated, or perhaps even conflicted. Some of Paul’s advice in his letters to the younger Timothy may fall into this category. After all, Timothy is no teenager. He is a leader among …
Serve, play, work
2 Timothy 2:3-6 Those of us for whom English is our native language, and who rarely immerse ourselves in an alien culture, often forget how hard it is for others to fully appreciate the complexity of the language we have always known and used. In cross-cultural ministry, and in Bible translation work, it can be …
Grasp the word
Last month I spent a few days in Brisbane helping my dad to downsize, and among the piles of papers and memorabilia from several lifetimes of collecting were the architectural plans for the house my grandparents built on what was, in the 1940s, vacant land at Warrawee. File photo. This is not the plan of …
