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Listening to Jonny's teaching from the Book of Ruth, I couldn't help but be reminded of 'Wisdom's Call' in Proverbs 8:1-11 when I thought about Naomi's response to despair. "Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? YES, they do on the heights along the way where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gates leading into the city, at entra...

When our family lived at Cedarwood Drive, Cherrybrook, I never drove to church on weekdays between 7:30am and 9:00am. It could take more than 20 minutes to travel two kilometres. There was talk that one day the government would build a North-West train line. 'One day!', I thought, 'How about today!' Seventeen years later and the Sydney Metro line is open for business. Has...

Just before I went on leave our church shared a weekend with Bishop Oscar Muriu and his wife Beatrice, from Nairobi Chapel. What a blessing that weekend was. I'm still processing the input. We had the privilege of being confronted by the godly wisdom of a world renown church leader from a different culture, who perhaps sees what we're blind to. On Monday morning Oscar and...

As the mother of a child in primary school, I frequently find myself engaged in the exercise of searching for lost hats, bags and drink bottles. Sometimes I meet other mums looking for stuff. We get there early and rifle through the overflowing boxes, shaking our heads in despair and exchanging knowing smiles. I search each musty lost property box thoroughly, each time g...

Last week I accompanied Isaac's class as a parent volunteer on an excursion to Rouse Hill House. It was a lovely day and I benefitted from the experience probably just as much as the children did. The children were given the opportunity to explore how one family lived in this property for six generations and left behind fragments of their lives. The cumulative result is on...

PLU56 has been running for 3 weeks now, and already everyone is asking the big questions. Why is there a '5' instead of an 'S'? How do you say the name properly? "Plus 5-6"? "Plus 6"? "PLU 56?" Surely there hasn't been this much confusion over a name since Mt Kosciuszko. Whatever the name, I can say that the ministry truly feels supported by the church. I am grateful for ...

Dear Lord, I went to Penshurst the other day. I'd never been to Penshurst before. It's just next to Hurstville and Oatley and Beverly Hills. How is it that I've managed to miss Penshurst all these years? I saw lots of people in Penshurst, which is, I suppose, to be expected. How is it, Lord, that although I know next to nothing about Penshurst, you have an intimate knowl...

Last October the Baptist Association organised a church planting and evangelism conference in Nelson Bay. Given our 'Towards 2020' goal to 'Raise up and send team/s for strategic Kingdom growth', I thought I should go. Perhaps I'd learn something, but mostly I wanted to network. I really didn't want to attend. I figured I'd be hanging out with groovy church planting types...

We are people who believe, at the core of our being and values, in the hope of resurrection. We celebrate Easter, not as an extended public holiday, but as an affirmation of the promise of new life. Jesus was crucified for our sin. On Friday afternoon He breathed his last. His body was hastily embalmed and placed in a rock tomb. A large stone was rolled over the entrance, ...

On our recent holiday, our family spent considerable time walking through lush, green Kiwi bush. Kauris, Tawas, and Rimus towered overhead, bedecked with epiphytes, as we wandered through a forest floor clogged with fernery in all shapes and sizes. Every now and then we would see the brilliant white underside of New Zealand's national emblem, the Silver Fern, lying amongs...