Today was going to be my wedding day. Angie and I had everything planned. A ceremony by the beach; our reception at the winery across the road from where I grew up; thirty guests joining us from overseas. But then corona came. I first read of the strange Wuhan virus back in January. By February,… Read More Last Year I Was Engaged—Now My Wedding’s Cancelled
What price do you pay to follow Jesus? Five hundred years ago, the people of Europe whispered of a mysterious ‘Garden of Eden’ across the seas. It was a distant utopia better known as the Spice Islands, the home of cloves and nutmeg. In London and Paris, these intoxicating spices were worth their weight in… Read More The Price We Pay To Follow Jesus
It’s becoming more obvious with each passing year, and just about everyone in the West will agree: to be a Christian means to walk out of step with mainstream culture. It’s such a fixed feature of modern life that Christians have adapted a variety of solutions to this dilemma. Some believers relish the opportunity to… Read More Why Christians Clash with the Current Culture
In an effort to normalise pornography, there are people who point out that porn has been around since ancient times. That might be true, but porn today is like nothing the world has ever seen. Pornography is now everywhere. It’s available on almost every screen and smartphone on the planet. In the West, what was… Read More Pornography is a Public Health Crisis
A few years ago I wrote about singleness. That article, Last Year I Was Unmarried—Now I’m Single, has remained one of my most-read. I didn’t plan on it, but for a while I became a kind of poster-boy for singleness. I’ve never enjoyed the spotlight, but I was grateful for the opportunities I had to… Read More Last Year I Was Single—Now I’m Engaged
Have you ever left a comment online taking a stand for Jesus, only to return an hour later to a barrage of criticism? Or sat in the lunchroom listening to someone unleash on the evils Christianity, not knowing how to respond? It’s a common experience. Standing for truth in the public square comes at a… Read More Feel Like a Fool? All Good, God Chose the Foolish Things
Across the West, Christians in the medical professions are finding it harder and harder to practice both their career and their faith. Some are even having to choose between the two. Historically, the church has played a disproportionate role in healthcare through the centuries. After ending infanticide in the ancient world, followers of Jesus went… Read More Fired For Their Faith: The Crusade Against Christians in Medicine
When I was 19, I made one of the biggest decisions of my life. I moved to the jungles of South-East Asia. If you know me now, that may sound like the course my life was always going to take. Let me assure you: it was anything but an inevitable decision at the time. My… Read More The Year in the Jungle That Changed My Life
For some in the West, Islam is a synonym for terrorism and oppression. Others seem to believe that Muslims deserve a free pass, and special immunity from criticism. I’ll admit upfront that I’m biased too. I love my Muslim friends, and I have a deeper interest in Islam than any other world faith outside my… Read More How Islam Points to Jesus
The sky was cold and dark in Victor Harbor. Music thumped in the background. Conversations were happening all around me. I looked through the crowd and saw a Year 12 student with a couple of police officers. She was a little wobbly on her feet and she was wearing her tattered school dress as a… Read More I’ve Been To Twelve Schoolies and It Gets Better Every Year
Cross and Culture 