Category Archives: Books
Sermon: “Stop all the clocks …”
Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church 14th of September, 2025 Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 Have any of you read Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series? If not, I highly recommend them. The books follow Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, and Ibrahim, who live … Continue reading
Ephesians 6:10-20: The Armour of God and the Gospel of Peace
It is in its resistance to the forces of evil, its working for peace, its prayer for the community, that the church lives out its calling as the body of Christ. So, put on your military equipment, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Continue reading
Review: David Cronin, Balfour’s Shadow (2017)
The horror is that this is a book published in 2017 and no matter how awful the actions of the British and the Israelis it documents, no one could have imagined the extent of the genocidal campaign Israel is currently carrying out, in 2024. Continue reading
Book Review: Yet in the Dark Streets Shining: A Palestinian Story of Hope and Resilience in Bethlehem
Bishara writes that three issues make it difficult for Western Christians to listen to Palestinians: guilt over Christian antisemitism; belief in Israel as an ally of the West; and, most potently, Christian Zionism, the belief that the State of Israel is the fulfilment of prophecy and a harbinger of the eschaton. Of the three, it is probably the first that keeps members of the Uniting Church silent on the question of Palestine. Bishara’s story makes it clear that Western Christians must not assuage our own guilt at the expense of Palestinians. Continue reading
Sermon: Being whole and seeing wholeness
We are not saints, and the world’s light and dark call forth in us now our light, now our dark. We struggle to see the wholeness of God’s love behind the fragments of the world that confront us. Sometimes the world shatters us into fragments. But the prophets, and the apostles, and the saints, and the mystics, and Jesus himself, speak with one voice and tell us that God created the universe out of love, and so the world is holy, even if we struggle to see it that way. And God created us out of that same love, and so we are holy, too, even if we struggle to see ourselves that way. Continue reading
Sermon: “Hello, my name is Paul and I’m a sinner”
We are not Christians because our lives are perfect, and we are admirable people and examples to our neighbours. Frequently we are Christians exactly because our lives are a mess, and we know that we cannot fix ourselves. The good news is that we do not need to try to fix ourselves. Continue reading
Sermon: Do not be afraid of this story
When I heard that one of the Electra-Lights had asked whether Adam and Eve were real I knew it was time for us to start talking with them about the nature of the Bible. Continue reading
Sermon: ‘Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise’
Sixteen-year-old me wanted to be Enjolras and take to the barricades. Forty-three-year-old me prays that God will enable me to live like an elderly bishop who can welcome and forgive a thief who steals his silver. Continue reading
Reflection: Help me, great and powerful internet community
I have twelve bookcases in my two-bedroom flat. I live surrounded by several thousand books – and as long I don’t leave a lighted candle too close to any of them this isn’t a problem. But I also live surrounded by … Continue reading
Rev Doc Geek 