Reflections from the belly
Recently I read that a staggering proportion of anti-aging products are purchased by and for children. One Swedish beauty chain estimates that 20-40% of its products are bought by people under the age of 13; while parents are reporting that even nine- and ten-year-olds are begging for anti-aging cosmetics. Continue reading “Psalms | Slow reading | A ripe old age”
When Satan casts out Satan, he grows stronger: but in Christ we can unmask and bind him. A reflection on Mark 3:20-35 given to Westgate Baptist Community Church on 9 June 2024. Listen here.
I have a beloved friend whose church said she had a demon, and so they tried to bind and exorcise it. In the name of Christ, they said, she must be straight, yet over the days and years of fasting and praying and shouting and weeping they utterly failed to cast the demon out.
Continue reading “Mark | How Satan casts out Satan”
I was walking along the beach path when I noticed it: a vastness, bobbing like a bus doesn’t bob just below the breakers. It was a koontapool, or southern right whale, come to the birthing grounds just off the coast at Warrnambool. Continue reading “Psalms | Slow reading | Koontapool, God’s delight”
As followers of Jesus, we must always interpret scripture through his lens. A response to God’s Big Picture by Vaughan Roberts, given to West Preston Baptist Church on 12 May 2024. You can also watch it here.
So I was out walking with my fifteen-year-old one dark night, when this guy got out of a car parked in the shadows and made a beeline for us. Naturally I thought, ‘A weirdo, oh help!’ Then a voice said, ‘Ali? Ali, is that you?’ and I realised it was your minister.
Continue reading “God’s bigger picture or, How to read your Bible”
Who pays for a Big Build, and what does it really cost? Or, what you worship changes everything. (Listen to a very bad recording here, or watch here.)
I am delighted to be here at the invitation of your pastor. Trí tells me that you are a group of enthusiastic people who are strong in faith. He also tells me that you love to be with one another, and that you love to meet for worship and for Bible study. This is all wonderful for me to hear, because I am passionate about faith and the Bible and God’s promise of life to those who engage with it all wholeheartedly.
Continue reading “Malachi | Wholehearted worship, overflowing life”
After the service, a visitor bailed me up. ‘That prayer,’ she said. ‘You called Jesus our friend. Why would you do that?’
‘Um … because he tells us to,’ I said.
‘What!’ she snapped, then she shook her head briskly and walked out, leaving me wondering about the forms of address she considered permissible …
Read my piece for the upcoming Zadok Perspectives here.
I’m delighted to announce that The word made flesh, a reflection I wrote on faith and autism, has been accepted for publication in an upcoming anthology by UQP. The as-yet-untitled anthology aims to disrupt clinical approaches to autism by showcasing a diversity of perspectives on the neurotype, and I’ll be rubbing shoulders with a range of awesome contributors including Clem Bastow, Jo Case, Fiona Wright and Jess Ho.
Continue reading “UQP autism anthology”
Fear is immobilising, but Jesus’ peace offers a way forward. A reflection given to the good folk at Ashburton Baptist Church on 7 April 2024. You can listen to a recording of it here.
So Donald Trump is now selling a Bible. ‘God bless the USA’ is embossed on the front cover, along with a flapping American flag. If he ever actually opened the book, he might stumble across the first letter of John, a beautifully tender letter of love. And he might find the words, ‘Perfect love casts out all fear.’
Continue reading “John | But they were doubtful”
Jesus’ ‘triumphal’ entry into Jerusalem is a parody, and that itself is the message. A reflection given to the good folk at Coburg Uniting Church on 17 March 2024. You can listen to a recording of it here.
It is wonderful to be here today, worshipping among you for the first time. Now, I am a Baptist minister and this is a Uniting Church, but in my experience everyone is connected. And, I tend to find, people in churches gossip. So I hope you don’t mind me mentioning this, especially on our first meeting, but when I told someone that I was preaching here, they had an opinion about this church.
Continue reading “Mark | The jester’s joke”
Rejected by the worshipping community, blind Bartimaeus is commended for his faith. A reflection given to the delightful Rosanna Baptist Church on 17 March 2024. You can listen to a (very tinny) recording of it here.
He was slumped outside the city gate, because he wasn’t allowed to enter. Once, he had been on the inside, but not any more. Maybe he asked too many questions. Maybe he struggled to make nice. Maybe people felt uncomfortable around his disability, or his kid’s. Or maybe people’s reactions to his sexuality or gender had pushed him out.
Continue reading “Mark | Blind faith”
Alison and the whale 