Utterance Too

As a former journalist, I could only agree with this statement (below) from Wright and Bird. Of course, it’s ironic that the media is barely better trusted than politicians. And the non-MSM replacement is even more incredulous. As a Christian, I chuckled at the very Australianesque backhander in the last line, which also, sadly, is all too true. ‘(…the news media assume that the task of holding…

Andre told us image isHeadband, Lamborghini Canon camera everything.It almost became hisAcid wash pink spandexForehand three word nemesisThe Ancients say image isLet us make humankindUniquely in our likenessAnd so we became hisFlesh and blood, spiritedImage of God from Genesis.Can we imagine thisEverything is spoken out Word was in the beginning.And so we did reign as hisImage-word…

After many years, my book We’re just shooting stars has now been published. This personal project, from which I’ve shared extracts here at different times, will, I hope, bring some joy and impact to those who read it. As a thank you to supporters, it’s available for free until 6pm Christmas Eve in Australia (AEST – 5pm in Qld – check your time zone) or midnight 23 December Pacific Standard Time.…

This week threw up complex choices about where to be and who to be with complicated by Covid hotspot definitions and various responsibilities.

Interestingly, I was (and still am) to speak on the story of the Good Samaritan in our church this Sunday, something I postponed at one point, thinking I would be elsewhere.

With its message of loving your neighbour, Jesus’ ancient parable was a…

My wife was not impressed, but I’m claiming this for ‘sufficient courage’ and ‘fruitful labour’. Perhaps it will progress your joy.

Contemplating his own death, Paul in Philippians 1 expresses hope that whatever happens, he has on that day ‘sufficient courage’.

Then comes that great declaration ‘to live is Christ, to die is gain’ before the thought of continued ‘fruitful labour’ convinces him…

There’s a wounded person in heaven which means all wounded people may find their way there which is all of us.

After Jesus rose from the dead on what we now celebrate as Easter Sunday, it wasn’t long before he was showing the doubtful ones, which is all of us sometimes, the scars in his body so they would know that even in death there is life, even in brokenness there is victory.

I may not stand…

Jesus was dying because of:

– the brutality of an invader’s military rule – the cruelty of desensitised soldiers – spiritual pride of religious leaders – political expediency of grasping elite – fickle, insidious baying of the mob – shame-filled betrayal of a follower – grievous denial and abandonment of friends – the sin of every single one of us.

He cries out in the common tongue of his day,…

Lest we forget: Remembrance Day 2019

I don’t know how Great Uncle Roy died, only that he was lost on April 4, 1918, as the Australian Army scrambled to resist the final German offensive which included attempting to capture Villers-Bretonneux. And that his body was never found.

So I’ve imagined an adventure for him, and I’m sharing it with you to mark Remembrance Day 2019. It’s from my yet-unpublished novel, Shot. Was it his final…

I found this scrawl of a poem in the front of a year 2000 diary, which, yes, I still have.

I was only two years into Sydney’s public transport at the time. I’m slightly more accomplished 19 years on, but only slightly.

Perhaps the most interesting verses were written in the picturesque margin and I could only decipher these with the aid of a magnifying glass… 19 years on. Here’s the poem:

Timeta…

Working on a complex, time-sensitive writing project, I hit some challenges and could feel stress developing in my mind and body.

For a moment it began to feel heavy and unwieldy, not the way I want to carry this work.

I put it aside to spend some time serving someone else in our household, preparing a simple meal for them.

As I moved through the task, my mind found itself thinking through a…

Twenty five years ago last month my sister Melissa Hunt (Hallett) was beaten to death and her body dumped in a remote dam in the Newcastle region, NSW, Australia.

An inquest had two main suspects before it was ended abruptly and information handed to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Unfortunatelty nothing has happened since.

There was some attempt we believe to examine DNA evidence in…

There’s a part of me I almost always hold back. Not consciously but by default.

It’s the bit that says absolute conviction, no holds barred, be a true believer.

Cause that bit of me is already given and you can’t give it again.

I’ll be on the outer when it comes to humanity’s great plans, and I know I’m not the only one.

But I will follow the mysterious direction of first love, even if it seem…