by simon_vb | Jan 18, 2016 | Blog
It’s the time of year when things start up again. You’re probably back at work or starting to gear up for another year of study. Your kids might be back at school soon and their after school activities are about to start up. And then your pastor encourages you to...
by simon_vb | Jan 12, 2016 | Blog
Not many people in Perth read books. There, I said it. We have an outdoorsy culture and a TV watching culture, TV show streaming, online gaming, and smart phones to play on. Many people simply don’t read books of any length anymore. This is also reflected in church....
by simon_vb | Dec 14, 2015 | Blog
You can predict that it will happen every year. Some well-meaning Christians will be outraged at the wider culture for changing how we celebrate Christmas. It used to be that ‘Merry Xmas’ was enough to get people upset; now ‘Happy Holidays’ can cover Christian, Jewish...
by simon_vb | Dec 8, 2015 | Blog
Most Christians would be happy to label themselves as sinners. We know that we need Jesus, and that we cannot save ourselves. That’s Christianity 101. Most Christians would be happy to go further than this as well, to say that they struggle with particular sins in...
by simon_vb | Nov 24, 2015 | Blog
It has been a terrible week on the news. Of course, it is usually a terrible week, but with bushfires in our own state and with terrorism on the agenda in the West it seems worse than normal. Last blog post I tried to help us to consider how best to think through...
by simon_vb | Nov 16, 2015 | Blog
Once more our news has been dominated by terrorism. Deadly blasts in the middle of Paris, suicide bombings in Beirut and Baghdad, and a foiled attack in Istanbul have all happened in the last few days. Newspapers and webpages are full of crying or bloodied people and...
