Exodus | Agents of joyful rebellion

The story of exodus points to the joy-filled possibilities of civil disobedience.

Read here, or listen here.

Romans | While Rhodes burns

An homage to Targum, reading Romans 8 through an ecological lens this hottest month on record. Read here or listen here. 

Matthew | Blessed discipleship

We are schooled in the blessed life for a wonderful purpose - a back-to-school reflection for students and teachers and everyone who's open to learning. Read here or listen here.

Isaiah | The city of joy

A city of joy, its people a delight: this is what God promises through the prophet Isaiah. Sounds wonderful! So, what are the elements of this joyful city? First, says Isaiah, health and wellbeing ...

Read here or listen here.

Luke | Seven brothers, a hapless widow, a falling satellite, and what it means to live

Some of you might remember the quirky tv show, Northern Exposure. A young urban Jewish doctor is sent to small town Alaska to pay off his tuition debt; and there he encounters all sorts of eccentric inhabitants, including Maggie. Maggie’s a bush pilot whose boyfriends all happen to die in bizarre ways. For example, there’s Dave, who freezes to death on a glacier, then Rick, who is killed by a falling satellite ...

Read here or listen here.

Deuteronomy | In the face of climate catastrophe, choose life

This week, as cataclysmic floods pour across Pakistan, destroying farms, roads, towns and infrastructure and displacing over 30 million people; as unprecedented heatwaves and wildfires continue to threaten much of Europe; as long-term drought impacts water security for millions of people in the southwest United States; as we brace ourselves for the likelihood of another La Niña cycle and further devastating floods; as we learn that the catastrophic bushfires along the Great Dividing Range burned six metres deep in places, rendering regrowth impossible, the most famous words of Moses’ most famous sermon should ring loud and clear ... Read here or listen here.

Revelation | God's final 'Yes!'

To the marriage of heaven and earth, all are invited: and the invitations never stop coming. Like the letters from Hogwarts to Harry, the deckle edge cards are flowing through the letterbox, pouring down the chimney, pattering against the window and sliding under the door. We find the invitations tucked into our hunger for a bigger story, our yearning to belong, our thirst for healing; there’s one in the hand of every person who asks for a cup of cold water ... (PS: There's no fiery hell.)

Read here or listen here.

Esther, empire and the hiddenness of God

Esther shows that when insecure fools are in charge, even the most disempowered person may trigger a radical policy reversal. Read here or listen here.

Better a dinner of greens ...

I hate lockdown with a passion. And yet, there have been gifts. A reflection on 'steak and trouble' vs gardening, prayer and slow living, digging deep into the book of Proverbs. Read here, or listen here.

Reading with the Risen Christ

The Bible is a dangerous book, full of contradictions and contested images of God. How, then, shall we read? Read here or listen here.

Unless a seed falls and dies ... a guided meditation

Imagine: You are holding a seed ...

Read here or listen here.

Human violence, and the foolishness of the cross

To those reeling from another week in the patriarchy, the cross offers only foolishness: but in that foolishness we find healing and companionship. Read here or listen to an earlier version here.

The judgement is upon us now

The judgement of Matthew 25 is not about individuals, hell or the afterlife; but nations, consequences and how we live now. 

Read here, or listen here.

What is your next step in God's story of liberation?

 

Moses lives; Moses dies; but God’s story continues – and we are all invited to participate. 

Read here, or listen here.

In the face of chaos, a new story

As the Black Lives Matter protests unfold, let us remember an old story, given to a people who were also invaded, removed from their land, forced into slavery and subject to state sanctioned violence. Read here or listen here.

Our lives, broken and shared

The Risen Christ is recognised when he takes bread, gives thanks, and shares it; just as when we take our own lives, give thanks, and feed others.

Read here, or listen here.

Trusting that life will prevail

The Apostle Paul said that if Christ had not been raised, then our faith is in vain. So what is resurrection faith?

Read here or listen here.

A word of life to a nation in lockdown

The people were devastated. Families, friends and neighbours had been killed by an invading army. Bodies had been abandoned, with no proper burial. Shops were shuttered; streets were emptied of life. Those who survived were in exile, and everything had changed. They could not worship in the usual places; they could not go to familiar markets or town squares; they no longer saw their friends ...

Read here, or listen here.

The uses and abuses of salt

Some of my mother’s health kicks were worse than others. I could cope with brown bread, more lentils, less cordial; and we’d never been allowed lollies or chips. But when she decided to eliminate salt, meals became unbearably bland. Flavours no longer melded together, but jostled up against each other; everything lost its savour. “You’ll get used to it,” she’d say. “You just need to retrain your tastebuds.” ...

Read here, or listen here.

This resurrection life

Every now and then, I get a letter addressed to Mrs Paul Holdway; and I reel. Once I’ve stopped reeling, I wonder who on earth this woman is. She sounds like a shadow, a cipher. She’s probably maternal, almost certainly matronly. I’m sure she’s a great supporter of her husband and good at housework. She probably darns other people’s socks, and I’m sure she makes things for cake stalls and fetes. I have no idea what she herself is like, or what she’s really interested in, but I do know this: There’s something extraordinarily silencing about having my name obliterated in a letter which is ostensibly addressed to me.

Read here, or listen here.