In Acts 6, the application of the gospel truth that there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, male or female is not to flatten out those distinctions, but to recognise them, accept them, and work with them.
In this final installment of his 4-part series examining the wrongs perpetrated against the first Australians (see part 1, part 2, part 3), Peter Adam asks what we should do about the crimes perpetrated by European settlers against the first Australians. 1. We should confess our sins The Bible not only tells us of our sin, it also tells us what to do about our sin: If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all...
This is part three of a 4 part series from Peter Adam examining the wrongs perpetrated against the first Australians. (See part 1 and part 2) British settlement began with convicts being sent to Australia for petty thefts. It then moved to the grand theft of a continent by a government, and then sank to entrepreneurial theft by avaricious individuals. We were called to love our neighbour, and we stole instead. And letting others steal is as serious as doing our own stealing. Governments that allow theft are in serious trouble with God. And our history shows the damage done by Government...
This is part two of Peter Adam’s 4 part series on the wrongs perpetrated against the first Australians. (See part 1 here) Australia today is based on theft of land. Old sins cast long shadows. How did people at that time view what had happened? Watkin Tench, a marine who was on the First Fleet, lived in the colony at Sydney Cove from 1788-92. He wrote of the natives: When they met with unarmed strangers they sometimes killed and sometimes wounded them. I confess that, in common with many others, I was inclined to attribute this conduct to a spirit of malignant levity....
Editor’s Note: This is the first of a 4-part series from Peter Adam exploring one of the longest and most important issues facing Australia. My aim is to help us to understand and respond to a legitimate cry for justice from the Aboriginal people of Australia, and to expound a Biblical call to action on these issues. I want to encourage Christians to take a lead in these matters, and I want to encourage all Australians to think about what God calls us to do through his written word, the Bible. There is an old English proverb: “Old sins cast long...
