‘Child’ was written on a trying day in the depths of the pandemic. As an effort to recite God’s words of comfort to myself, it felt like a lullaby from our Father to his children. And an invitation to trust him with each moment, little by little.
It’s now a familiar feeling. Deflated, sad, disappointed, upset, anxious, depressed even. These are the kinds of emotions people in Melbourne are experiencing, and plenty more as well. Up and down on the COVID rollercoaster we go as the government gives us a few little freedoms before locking us down when fresh outbreaks appear. This way of living doesn’t do much good for one’s health and wellbeing. The perpetual uncertainty of when the next lockdown might be is doing a number on our ‘nerves’, to use the old vernacular. The perpetual uncertainty of when the next lockdown might be is...
It has now been close to twelve months since COVID-19 was officially declared to be a worldwide pandemic. During this time, we have seen—amongst many other things—international air travel come to a halt, the cruise line industry virtually destroyed, and church services in every country have either ceased meeting in person, or been greatly interrupted. What can we learn from those who have gone before us in this regard?[1] One of the most helpful resources I have recently discovered on the topic at hand is that by Theodore Beza—John Calvin’s successor in Geneva (1519-1605)—whose short, A Learned Treatise of the...
Thankfully the vaccination roll-out has now begun, but some Christians are still concerned about the advisability of receiving the vaccine—either because of the speed of its approval, or because of questions about the AstraZeneca vaccine’s use of cell line [HEK293] developed from the tissue of an aborted foetus. In Western Australia, there is even an anti-vaccination party running in the State election. How might we think about these matters as followers of Jesus in the light of his Word? Too Fast for Safety? The speed of the development and approval of these vaccines is something to be thankful for In...
Here in the UK, it gets pretty dark pretty early. As I write this, it is officially the darkest night of the year. I took the kids for a walk this afternoon and it was dark before 4pm. We live in a semi-rural part of the country, so we made our way home by the occasional streetlamp and the twinkling of Christmas lights. I’ll come back to them later. It’s pretty dark over here. A new and more transmissible strain of COVID-19 has been detected … 36,000 more cases today. It’s pretty dark over here at the moment anyway. A...
