The Afterword

Tag: faith

  • Inexhaustible

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    What book could you read over and over again? That is both a hard question and an easy question. Hard because there are many books I’ve enjoyed, admired, and loved for a season. But easy because there is really only one I could go back to endlessly. The Bible, though even calling it a book…

  • The King of Peace

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    He goes before usnot hurried,not turning aside,not shielding himselffrom what he knows is coming. We follow behind himinto the city of palms,into the trembling air,into the week that gatherslike stormlight at the edge of the sky. He is called king,but not the kindwho comes with horses,with iron,with banners snapping above the will of men. He…

  • Building Your Life – Matthew 7:15-29

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    We have listenedto Jesuson the mountain. Words of blessing.Words of life.Words gentle enoughto lift the weary. And thenwords that search.Words that warn.Watch out, he says. It is a surprise.He has called us blessed.What danger remains?Not only the danger outside.The danger within. Voices among the people of God.Pretenders.False guides.Wolvesin sheep’s clothing.They promise lifeand lead toward ruin.…

  • Before I Speak – Matthew 7:1-12

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    Do to otherswhat you would have them do to you. A beautiful sentence.Simple enough for a child to remember,deep enough to follow for a lifetime. It sounds gentle on the tongue,but it reaches everywhere—into thought,into tone,into the private verdicts we passbefore we know the facts. How quickly we judgeas though we see everything,as though motives…

  • A Gift Finding Form

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    What was the best compliment you’ve received? The best compliment I received was not praise for something I had done, but recognition of something I was becoming. I went to theological college because I wanted to study the Bible. I was hungry to learn, but I never imagined candidating for ministry. I am a fairly…

  • The Courage of Conviction

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    Who is the most confident person you know? For me, confidence is not bravado. It is not loudness, swagger, or an inflated sense of self. A confident person has the courage of their convictions. They listen carefully, think independently, and act on what they believe. Their confidence is clothed in humility. They are willing to…

  • The Divine Store – Matthew 6:19-34

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    Jesus has been speakingabout the hidden life,the secret places of the heart. Now he turnsto the outward things—the stuff we store,the things we trust,the treasures we keepin the storeroom within. What do I cling to?What captures my attention,my hope,my ambition? Treasure is not onlyjewellery, clothing, food, money.It is anythingI believe will keep me safe:control,comfort,security,a future…

  • When No One Sees – Matthew 6:1-18

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    She was raisedto think often about righteousness.Her father was a Pharisee.She learned to do what was right,and she did it well. So when the rabbi said,Be careful,she was startled. What danger could there bein righteousness? Then he named it:doing holy thingsto be seen. Giving to the poor—the law had always made roomat the edge of…

  • The Loss That Changed Me

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    What experiences in life helped you grow the most? I grew  a lot the day I realised I had been scammed. I was older when I bought an apartment as an investment, and I trusted advice that seemed sensible at the time. A friend had recommended a financial adviser, and he showed me a number…

  • Kingdom Life in a Broken World – Matthew 5:33-48

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    When Jesus spoke of oathsI think he was speakingto that part of usthat likes to stand near truthwithout stepping inside it,that part that saysby heaven,by earth,by anything bright enoughto make our words look holy,while the heartkeeps one handon the latch. He had already saidhe came not to abolishbut to fulfil,and the old worldwas still humming…

  • The Word I’d Ban (For Now)

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    If you could permanently ban a word from general usage,which one would it be? Why? It’s just a word, right? A throwaway word.A quick word.A word people use all the time and think nothing of. So why get worked up about one word? Because words are not nothing. Because words shape what we see.Because words…

  • Blessed in the Dust – Matthew 5:17-32

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    Jesus sits downand says to burdened people,Blessed. Blessed?Under Rome?Under law?Under shame?Under the endless need to prove ourselves? They know the weight of commandments,the crushing pressure of getting it right.And Jesus says:I have not come to abolish the Law,but to fulfil it.Not a dot will be lost. No wonder they slump in the dust. We know…

  • #Blessed – Matthew 5:7-12

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    Do you want to live a blessed life—not the sunset-caption kind,not the #blessed kind,but the steady goodnessof God’s kindnessfinding you in the ordinary? I didn’t have language for it.I knew God—Scripture, church, study—but enjoying God felt like a foreign country.And then Jesus sits on a hillsideand says Blessed—not as a reward you earn,but as a…

  • A Life I Inhabit – Matthew 5:1-6

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    I remember the mountain,not because I was there,but because its shapestill presses into the imagination: the climb,the gathered crowd,the teacher sitting down—not to perform,but to name realityand call a people into it. Not a checklist.Not a Sunday add-on. A kingdom announcement. After the gardenwe learned too much—love and hate,good and evil,kindness and crueltyall housed in…

  • Psalm 23 at Finkenwalde

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    In the 1930spower wanted more than politics.It wanted minds.It wanted Jesus remadein the Führer’s image. So the Confessing Church went underground.Bonhoeffer opened a seminary at Finkenwalde—a community of discipleshipwith prayer, meditation, shared life—and across the lakea Hitler Youth camp shaped leadersfor a different kingdom. What do you dowhen formation is the battleground?They prayed the Psalms.Morning:…

  • Petros

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc. The name Peter comes from the Greek Πέτρος (Petros), meaning “rock” or “stone.” It’s one of those names with an instant personality attached to it: steady, solid, dependable. It also how the ancient city of Petra got its name — same Greek word, different purpose.…

  • The Parade of Opinions – Psalm 8

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    David didn’t Google.No TikTok prophets, no expert panels—only a sky that hadn’t learned to sell itself,only darkness doing honest workso the lights could speak. “A time is coming…”St Anthony’s warning drifts through my centurywhen madness becomes normaland the not-mad are called mad. Who am I?What is my place in the world? Before that, another questionlike…

  • Known – Psalm 139

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    This is many people’s favourite psalm—and of course it is:psalms are basically songs,and songs are what we dowhen the facts aren’t enough. As a musician I’m more melody than lyric,because lyrics are hard.So I listen to Psalm 139 like a song,it was born out of anxiety.David was fleeing for his life—and yet he starts with…

  • The Shape of My Learning

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    What colleges have you attended? I am a perennial learner. Not because I am restless or obsessive, but because learning itself animates me. It is the process—attention, discovery, application—rather than the outcome, that draws me forward. I began with pure mathematics at University of Sydney. I was young, immature, and not  ready for what I…

  • A Light Has Dawned – Isaiah 9:2-7

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    Long before Google,before WhatsApp, Messenger,before the soft tyranny of notifications—no ping, no buzz, no banner across a screen—a message came,not broadcast, not algorithmic,but carried quietly,wrapped in a name. Not everyone received it.Some were in the dark. Isaiah stood eight hundred yearsbefore the first Christmasand dared to say it:A light has dawned. Who were these people?A…