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Watch Your Words

Whether we like it or not, our words define us. They reveal out thoughts and heart attitudes. Jesus knew this. See Matthew 12:34-37 and Mark 7:15-23.You know it too. Listen to someone you know talk. It is easy to pick up clues about the type of person they are from the words they say and the tone of voice in which it is said. Impatience stubbornness, anger, impatience, jealousy will all show up in a person’s words or tone. So will love, gentleness, generosity, patience. Before you jump in and add your thoughts to a conversation, can I suggest you … Continue reading →

Who Sets the Agenda in Marriage?

Having your own agenda can be problematic in a marriage. It often means you are so focused on what you want to do and achieve that you ignore the feelings of those closest to you, which is you spouse and family. Where two people in a marriage each have their own agenda, it can then becomes a contest of wills to see who will prevail or it ends up in the man and woman living independent lives that hardly ever connect. This is not what marriage was intended to be. Marriage is meant to be a sharing of ourselves, our … Continue reading →

Problems with Having Your Own Agenda

There is a problem with having your own agenda. Actually there are a couple. One is that your agenda and what you want to do or what to happen may not be God’s plan for you or for others. The other is just as serious and one that can be extremely hurtful and divisive. Recently there were two examples where this occurred. One was by me letting my own feelings cloud the issue and say something when deep down a little voice was telling me I should keep quiet. One of these days I might learn to listen all the … Continue reading →

Can You Forgive?

Forgiveness, it’s a word we often hear in church. In fact, we hear about forgiveness every time we say the Lord’s Prayer. But how much notice do we take of it? Or do we skim over that bit? Forgiveness sound good when we’re on the receiving end of it from God or from others but its not always so easy when we’re on the other end. It’s not always easy to do. Our minister gave a great talk last week and the theme was forgiveness. It is something that is sadly needed in our marriages, in our relationships with family … Continue reading →

The Price of Freedom

Freedom is a word bandied around a lot these days. People want freedom to be themselves, which means to some people not having to abide by rules made by others. They want freedom from parental control, freedom from personal responsibility, and freedom from commitment. But freedom usually comes at a price as David found out. Since he was king David thought he had the freedom to do what he liked and disobey God’s commands about adultery. But what a price it ended up demanding. It resulted in him getting deeper and deeper into a web of sin, lies and subterfuge … Continue reading →

Words from Within

A friend recently started me thinking about this as she was praying a talk about the church being destroyed from within. It’s a scary thought and yet I can see exactly where she’s coming from. Words are dangerous tools. They can do so much good and also so much harm. Ephesians 4:29-32 has some interesting things to say about unhelpful, unwholesome talk. I find it interesting that it comes straight after a passage about not giving the devil a foothold. He can so easily get a foothold on conversations with gossip, sarcasm, criticism, off color jokes – all things to … Continue reading →

How To Handle Disagreements – Part 2

So, you’re finding yourself at odds with someone in your church, family or neighborhood. What can you do about it? Someone once said that ‘the faults we notice most in others are those we have ourselves.’ So before we start criticizing and trying to sort out the other person and their thinking and attitudes, it’s a good idea to look at our own lives and ask the Lord to show us what needs to be changed there. Too often we are reluctant to do that. But that’s what growing as a Christian is all about, changing to become more like … Continue reading →

Take Stock

As we look towards a new year, it is a good time to take stock and to reflect on how our Christian life is going. Sometimes when people are trying to lose weight they can reach a plateau and they end up staying there and never manage to lose that last bit. The thing that usually happens then is they go backwards and can end up putting on the weight they’ve lost and sometimes more. A similar thing can happen in our Christian life. If we do not keep striving to grow and mature in our Christian life, we can … Continue reading →

Ethics Classes

In NSW, Australia, we have been very fortunate in being able to go into the schools and teach SRE, Special Religious Education over many years. Parents who do not want their children taught SRE, have the option to send a note saying they do not wish them to participate in the class. In this case many will spend the time in the library, on computers, or involved in some other activity. Now another alternative is being proposed. The alternative is ethics classes. In these ethics classes children will apparently be exposed to the ideas of people like John Stuart Mill … Continue reading →

Ask and Receive

Some months ago I was asked to give a talk at ladies’ evangelistic event, which is the biggest event our church ladies’ group has each year. After some prayer I agreed, even though I’d rather stand up and sing any day than talk. For a time I had no idea what I was going to talk about so I did what I usually do when I havent got a clue, I asked God for his wisdom of what to do talk about and His words. The thing I love is we have that assurance from God’s word that no matter … Continue reading →