It’s the 2nd of May. On “May the 4th” Star Wars fans worldwide celebrate “May the Force…” and we see all sorts of “May the 4th (Force)” memes pop up on our social media. When the film first came out, some Christians made much of “the Force” and used it as an allegory of the Gospel or the Holy Spirit. The Bible…

I have been gently reprimanded, self-reprimanded, conscience motivated, whatever directive one keeps to use for feeling one ‘orta do something’ Yea-OK “God was telling me” there I said it. He organised my spending less time “getting the house in order” and so spend more time thinking about LIFE and him. Priorities, with God, are always ‘him first’. The apostles, those that were…

It was the shaking that woke me, short, sharp and pushing sideways. ‘It’s just a small one’ –I reassured myself, already drifting back to sleep. Then-thwack! This time I tapped the bedside light, sat up and discovered the ‘quake’ was my Australian Terrier jumping against the bed. I was more than a little peeved! ‘Really Lily!’ I scolded ‘Surely you don’t need…

My father would always add a caveat to any plan he might make, with the words ‘all being well’. What he really meant in his heart was ‘God willing’, but he came from a long family line (like me after him) for which any utterance of God’s name, in any way that might be construed as being disrespectful, was almost a capital…

There has been a silver lining to the terrible human tragedy of Coronavirus and that is the bouncing back of nature and the environment. You will have heard of the Venice canals running clear and the return of fish, for the first time in living memory. In Wellington a very rare leucistic tauhou (waxeye) was photographed by Holly Neil. In other places,…

The beach is my favourite place. Some people love going into the bush, some love climbing mountains, some love the canyons of cities. I love the beach. For ten years I lived and worked across the road from one of Australia’s most popular beaches. From my office I could see to the where the sea and sky met, and watch dolphins, whales,…

Anyone keeping “in touch” under lockdown via IT will be aware of the amount of humour loose on the …….whatever waves they are. Did you see the picture of one of our ‘guardians’ of the lockdown admonishing our Lord for the intention of breaking the rule of staying at home over the holiday? He was emerging from his tomb, slightly breathless after…

“Lead me Lord, lead me in thy righteousness, Make thy way known before my face, For it is thou, Lord, thou Lord only That maketh me dwell in safety.” More than sixty years ago, with only a mediocre alto voice, I was nevertheless accepted into St James’ Church Choir in Lower Hutt. We sang some wonderful choral music, and the words of…

As the Coronavirus hit us, I was reminded again how real God is when I received the same message from three separate sources disconnected from one another and on the same day. I often find the Trinity triangulates. Philippians 4:6. (I grew up on RSV so it’s here in that translation, although usually I’m an NIV guy). 6 Have no anxiety about…

Heritage is a valuable thing. The Jews looked back to the Exodus, as well as the Mesopotamian man of Chaldean Ur, Abram, whose father was a pagan, for their sense of origin and being. Abraham was therefore an ‘Iraqi.’ “Hebrews” –descendants of Eber. We look back to 1852 when St Paul’s was built inside and from the timber stand that was Papanui…