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Seven talks on Christian ministry
Seven sermons from Paul’s first letter to Timothy – aimed especially at people training for Christian ministry. Video and audio.
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A good minister (1 Timothy 4:6–16)
What makes for a good minister? A sermon preached at Moore College chapel. Faith and good doctrine, our personal lives, teaching others.
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Plugged-in spirituality (1 Timothy 3:14–4:5)
Is your spirituality definitely plugged in? A sermon preached at Moore College chapel on 1 Timothy 3:14–4:5.
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Ministry ambition (1 Timothy 3:1–13)
Are you ambitious in your ministry? A sermon preached at Moore College chapel on 26 April 2022, with Jane Tooher (hospitality in ministry).
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The Line in the Sand: The Appellate Tribunal Opinion and the Future of the Anglican Church in Australia
I’ve contributed an essay to a recent publication called The Line in the Sand that will be of special interest to Australian Anglicans, especially those involved in the forthcoming session of the General Synod.
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Men, women, and God’s word in the gathering (1 Timothy 2:8–15)
Moore College Men’s chapel. Quietness for men. Value good works and God’s word among our sisters. We must not abandon our responsibility.
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A New Year Idea: Lift Your Eyes
Looking for encouragement and growth in the new year? Check out my free Lift Your Eyes series based on Ephesians. 228,500 hits+downloads so far.
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The easiest conspiracy theory to debunk this Christmas
The conspiracy theory that Jesus Christ wasn’t a real historical person is surprisingly widespread in our community, and very easy to debunk.
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Paul did not say he had abandoned “Judaism”
A new journal article examines in detail the meaning of the words often translated as “Judaism” and “Judaize” in Galatians
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How I came to know Jesus
I grew up in the rural-urban fringe of Sydney, in an atheist family. But I had the great privilege to hear about God through SRE Scripture teachers.
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Jesus, Freedom and Authority in Lockdown Part 4: God’s Mediator
When you become a Christian, you don’t give up being a member of the human race. Your fellow human is very much like you: subject to sin, and in need of salvation. And your fellow human is also like Jesus.
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Jesus, Freedom and Authority in Lockdown Part 3: God’s Salvation
When our physical horizons are narrowed down in lockdown, our gospel vision can also become narrowed to ourselves and our group.
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Jesus, Freedom and Authority in Lockdown Part 2: God’s Rule
God is not an alternative or enemy to human governments. Rather, he is the Lord over them. That’s why we are to pray to him.
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Jesus, Freedom and Authority in Lockdown Part 1: Prayer
How should Christians in lockdown respond to authorities? 1 Timothy 2:1–7 tells us to pray. But it’s not a bare command—it also tells us why.
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Faith and Love in the Mess (1 Thessalonians 3:1–13)
This sermon, preached in the middle of lockdown, emphasises the why and how of faith and love in the mess of the world – COVID or not.
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Bethel, Jesus, and Dove Dung
Bethel’s highly disturbing book The Physics of Heaven seeks spiritual truths in New Age spirituality and pseudo-scientific quantum mysticism
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God’s heart for all humanity (1 Timothy 2:1–7)
Tensions are very high in our community at the moment. Take the illegal anti-lockdown protest on 23 July 2021 in Sydney. The protesters were expressing a fear and anger that’s clearly present amongst many. They were wrong to express it in this way. But you can feel it, can’t you? I know right now many of us are feeling the frustration. Some of us are in almost impossible situations: climbing the walls! And it’s hard. The catch-cry of the protest was freedom: freedom of movement, of work, of association. And while the protest itself was way out of line, freedom does matter, doesn’t it? It matters for us and our community. The Bible teaches us to live as humans among humans and human authorities, by helping us to see God’s heart for all humanity, as we pray.
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Grace in ministry: Avoiding the shipwreck (1 Timothy 1:12–20)
“There was a widespread view expressed by participants that within [the church] culture there was an over-emphasis on sin and an under-emphasis on grace”. The report describes how this grace problem permeated the culture. It affected membership commitment expectations, views of authority, pastoral care, and more. And yet, the thing is: Nobody would deny that this church believed in grace. They preached a conservative evangelical reformed doctrine of grace. But on the ground, in so many instances, grace was not a key feature of this church’s ministry and relationships—with disastrous results. Today I want us to grasp that in Christian ministry, grace can’t only be the content we preach. Grace also must permeate and transform everything about us personally. And I want to give some suggestions for things we can do even now in lockdown, to wage the warfare of grace. (a sermon)
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“Paul within Judaism” and Romans 2:17–29
My article on Romans 2:17–29 supports one key feature of the “Paul within Judaism” perspective, but undermines another common feature.
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The goals of Bible teaching (1 Timothy 1:1–11)
In gospel ministry and Bible teaching, if you’re not committed to the right goal, or if you have the wrong goal, it’s not just a matter of being ineffective: you’ll be downright dangerous. So what is that goal? What are you seeking to achieve in your gospel ministry and Bible teaching – now and in the future? And how would you know if you’d done it right? This passage in 1 Timothy 1:1–11 speaks to this issue of the goals of ministry and teaching. It challenges us to think about our own aims in teaching, and to see how important it is to get it right. A sermon preached at Moore College Men’s Chapel on 14 July, 2021.
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Slow-burn crazy-making behaviours: recognising and responding
Do you know someone who seems to have drama and problems constantly appear around them? Whenever you relate to this person, perhaps you find yourself feeling vaguely guilty, or uncomfortable, or put down, or obligated to affirm them? Do you often feel like you’re questioning yourself and your actions because of what they say and do? You don’t feel the same way around other people; it’s just this individual who seems to attract these dramas and give rise to these feelings in you. If that’s the case, the chances are it’s not you who is the problem. It’s quite possible that the person you’re thinking of is exhibiting a pattern of behaviours that can be significantly detrimental to you and to others. This pattern of behaviours is hard to pin down; it doesn’t seem too serious in the short term, and indeed it might appear quite normal to a casual acquaintance. However, over the long term, it can cause serious problems for you and others. That’s especially true in close-knit communities, like families, churches and other Christian ministries.
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Romans Crash Course (video)
A 75 minute video course in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans designed for church members and leaders.
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The mistranslation “call yourself a Jew”: A myth-busting story (Romans 2:17)
This is a story about a scholarly myth and how I had the chance to bust it. I’m talking here about a small but significant 20th century biblical translation: “call yourself” instead of “are called” in Romans 2:17.
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The named Jew and the name of God: A new reading of Romans 2:17–29
I’ve just had an article published in the journal Novum Testamentum. In it, I provide a detailed defense of my new reading of Romans 2:17–29. This passage is not primarily about Jewish salvation – rather it’s primarily about Jewish teaching and God’s glory.
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Preaching the Pastoral Epistles
A one-hour audio seminar with principles and ideas for preaching the biblical books 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus (“Pastoral Epistles”)