The definition of a crisis is a calamity or event which disrupts a person’s sense of well- being and lifestyle. It is generally short term and requires immediate action in order to restore balance and control in the person’s life.  The results of crisis are: anxiety, bewilderment, confusion, desperation, anger, helplessness and even apathy. There is an increased sense of dependency upon others, a sense of urgency, and decreased efficiency in decision making and performance. The account of Judah being sieged by the Assyrians in Second Chronicles 32, involves all the aspects of a crisis. The major distinctive is that it involves a nation of people rather than just one person. The “helper” in this instance was their leader – King Hezekiah.

God heals. The Scriptures contain and reveal some of the significant occasions when God healed people who were sick, diseased, or injured. It is easy to see why many people regard sickness as the result of sin and therefore divine judgment. From this perspective it is apparent why people would regard sickness as the opponent of God’s will and conclude that God never wills for anyone to be sick. This kind of view of God and the Scriptures can lead people to feel condemned when they are sick, or even worse, to regard others who are sick as being especially punished by God. Some people regard prayer and in particular healing in answer to prayer, as a powerful apologetic aid.
When Christ of Nazareth ministered, He regularly healed the sick and demonstrated God’s compassion for the hurting by healing them.

Several jurisdictions around the world have introduced SOGI (Sexual Orientation Gender Identity) Conversion laws to restrict promotion of attempts made by groups or individuals to convert non-heterosexuals to heterosexuality. In December 2020, the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute (TLRI) had several groups from among the LGBTQA+ communities approach them and refer them to the possible need to reform the law in response to SOGI Conversion practices. The TLRI accepted their reference and issued an Issues Paper (#31) and has invited public consultation on their paper which calls for the outlawing of ‘conversion practices’. There are several underlying premises in the TLRI Issues Paper, many of which I have addressed in my submission to the Institute which you can view here. 

Success often results from being able to get along with others. Real leadership success can only be achieved by working with others. And this type of spiritual leadership is prescribed in the Bible as “partnering” with others. This is why we regard Partnering as the ‘art of leadership’.

We work together as partners who belong to God. You are God’s field, God’s building—not ours.
First Corinthians 3:9

Churches need leaders. Jesus called His original disciples to “shepherd” (not “sheep-herd”) His sheep. In John 10 Christ labors this point that his servants will lead His people as ‘shepherds’. This is not the type of leadership that domineers and exploits for personal gain. This is called despotic leadership. Rather, the type of leadership that Jesus calls for is ‘God-Partnering’ leadership: the kind of leadership heart that God has toward His people. This is why First Corinthians 3:9 says that church leaders work together with God (“labourers together with God” KJV). As leaders with God we are to treat people as if they were God’s (“God’s field/building”). If you are called to lead people within a church, whether as a senior pastor or someone helping their pastor to lead, it is important to realise that we lead with God as well as for God, and that it is His Church.

 While theology is my passion and discipline, I’m also extremely interested in various fields of science and serve as a visiting scholar at the Science-Faith think-tank, Reasons To Believe. I do not regard science as an enemy of theology, and therefore take what scientists claim with appropriate acceptance. The scientific case for recent global-warming is barely contestable. If the modelling is correct about the rate of global-warming continuing to increase there can be no wonder that so many people are alarmed at what the future may hold. The Australian government’s ‘Future Climate-Change’ website states a range of temperature increases over the next 30 or so years ranging from rising sea-levels engulfing many Pacific Ocean island nations, and temperature increases in the range of 1°C to 4.8°C…

Integrity comes from the word: integer, which is the word used in mathematics to describe ‘a whole number’ (as distinguished from a fraction or number with a fraction). Being a person of integrity involves being a person who is one. They have one identity which is aligned with reality (the truth about themselves and the world in which they live). It is this latter aspect which makes moral uprightness (character) integral to integrity. When most people use the word integrity they are most often referring to this latter aspect to describe a person who is honest, trustworthy, and reliable. But this is more to do with character than integrity – although good character (moral uprightness) is an essential quality of integrity – integrity also involves the absence of any breaches.

In 2006 a Australian Federal Parliamentarian declared he and his Party should be regarded as truly representing the Christian vote of Australians. He then went on to more or less state that his understanding of Christianity was not the same as that of Evangelicals- who regard conversion as an essential – instead, his idea of Christianity was one of improving social conditions and promoting wealth-equity throughout society. He seemed to be criticising Evangelicals for preaching a Gospel of “conversion”. He wanted to champion a Christianity after the fashion of the great Deitrich Bonhoeffer. Is conversion necessary or not to be an authentic Christian?

When the Apostle Paul arrived in Macedonia in the mid 50s AD, the seeds of the Gospel were sown in Europe. Little could he have imagined that within a few centuries the leader of the very Empire which would do its utmost to destroy the Church would profess Christ as his Lord. But neither could he have foreseen how distorted his gospel, and those who claim to represent it, would become – or could he?

Is the God of the Bible worth knowing? Christians claim that He is a loving, kind, and gracious God. But others who have read the Bible see a different description for God. They see the God of the Bible as mean, violent, abusive, cruel, and unfair. The God of the Bible is vicious God who is simply not worth knowing, they cry. There probably is a God- but the Bible is not the revelation of that God, they claim. At stake is-

(1) The entire credibility of Christianity,
(2) The validity of the Bible as the Inerrant/Inspired/Unique Revelation from God, and
(3) (Potentially) God’s reputation.

This is therefore not just an issue for apologists like myself to answer, but a critical issue for every Christian to be able to reasonably respond to. This involves establishing whether there is evidence apart from the Bible which supports the claims of the Bible about God and then synthesizing this data to form a character sketch of the true God.