The Afterword

Tag: faith

  • A Culture of Life – James 5:13-20

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    Peter
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    Is anyone among you in trouble?Then pray.Not because prayer is a leverand God is a machine,but because trouble reminds uswe are childrenturning againtoward the Father. Is anyone happy?Then sing.Praise is prayerwith its hands open,naming goodnesswhile it is still before us. Is anyone sick?Then call the elders.Let the community come close.Let oil be brought,medicine and sign,ordinary…

  • One Small Act of Trust

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    Peter
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    What’s a time you followed your gut and it turned out to be exactly right? Sometimes you meet someone briefly and sense that they are trustworthy. I met him in Tanzania. I was there working on a project and he was assigned as my translator when I spoke at a church. We were together for…

  • Ask for Patience – James 5:7-12

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    Peter
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    It was the best of timesand it was the worst of times,and James knew it. He wrote to peoplecaught in contradiction,faithful to Jesus,yet still suffering,still divided. Stress exposed weakness.Weakness found a tunnel.Pain became frustration.Frustration became grumbling. So James says,be patient.Not passive.Not numb.Not pretending.Patient. Long suffering.Able to take a hitwithout returning one.Able to choose gracewhen irritation…

  • Making It Happen Without Making a Fuss

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    Peter
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    Who are you most inspired by? I am increasingly inspired by people whose names never appear in headlines. They are the ones who turn up, notice what needs doing, and do it without making a fuss. Brilliance has its place. We need gifted people. But as I get older, I find myself more deeply moved…

  • What It Rests Upon – James 4:13-5:6

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    Peter
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    The tone changes here.No gentle encouragement.No careful instruction. A prophet has walked into the room.Like Jonah in Nineveh,James points and says:Look. You stand condemned. The merchants make their plans.The wealthy count their coins.The powerful drag their own peoplebefore the courts.Silver. Gold.The things that seem untouchable.James says, Look again.Even the things we trust mostcannot carry the…

  • Character Outlasts Achievement

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    Peter
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    What is your top tip to be successful in life? My top tip for being successful in life is simple: character outlasts achievement. We live in a world that measures success by what can be counted, announced, awarded, or displayed. Titles, income, influence, publications, prizes, and recognition all have their place. Achievement matters. Good work…

  • Joyful, Anyway

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    Peter
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    What is a common misconception people have about happiness? A common misconception about happiness is that it means being satisfied with everything. That is not true. In fact, it may be one of the more damaging ideas we carry. It suggests that if we are truly happy, we should be undisturbed by grief, injustice, disappointment,…

  • Charity Begins at Home

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    Peter
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    Share a proverb you think is completely wrong and make your case. “Charity begins at home” sounds sensible enough. It means we should care first for the people nearest to us. Our family. Our neighbours. Our local communities. The people we actually live with. There is something right about that. It is easy to care…

  • Pentecost – Acts 2:1-21

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    Peter
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    Three times a yearthe scattered people gathered—Passover,Pentecost,Booths. They came by the old roads,by memory,by moonlight,by the calendar of God. Jerusalem filledwith accents,dust,old prayers,the smell of harvest,the ache of distance. Fifty days. Seven sevensand one more,as though time itselfhad been waitingfor something to overflow. The grain was gathered in.The nations were gathered in.And hidden in an…

  • An Infinite Hunger

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    Peter
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    What is the meaning of life? At the beginning of the year I sat with a student who was trying to decide whether to change degrees. He had come to the college office after lunch and had waited near the doorway until I looked up from my desk. He said he only needed five minutes.…

  • Vital Signs – James 2:14-26

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    Peter
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    Faith is not a wordkept safe in the mouth. It is not the old habitof belonging somewhere,the family name,the Sunday seat,the language we learnedbefore we knew what it meant. James asks the hard question:what does your faith look likewhen someone is cold,hungry,standing in front of youwith no coatand no bread? A blessing is not bread.A…

  • Underrated People

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    Peter
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    Who are some underrated people in history? The world is full of underrated people: people whose contribution to others is far greater than the recognition they receive. Some are ordinary in the obvious sense. They keep minutes, cook meals, teach children, nurse the sick, open doors, and hold families together. Their quiet contributions are part…

  • Mercy Triumphs – James 2:1-13

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    Peter
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    Last time Jesus was on earth,crowds followed himlike a rockstar,not fanboys,not fangirls,but the poor,the sick,the unclean,the hungry,the frightened,the ones who had run outof other doors to knock on. And he did not turn them away. Often late into the nightcompassion kept him awake,healing one more body,touching one more wound,answering one more desperate hope. Then, in…

  • The Mystery of Grace

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    Peter
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    What’s a mystery from your own life that you’ve never solved? My father is ninety-six and still does not know why his mother left. He was seven years old. There was an argument in the kitchen. Plates and condiments went flying. His mother stormed out the door and walked up the road to stay with…

  • The Compass, Not the App

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    Peter
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    What gives you direction in life? I used to think direction meant knowing where I was going. Now I think it means knowing what I must keep facing. In the old days, we followed a map. We unfolded it across the steering wheel, argued about the best route, and tried to imagine the landscape before…

  • Where Our Wanting lives – James 1:12-18

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    Peter
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    James came lateto faith. Brother of Jesus,then servant of Jesus,steady in the early churchwhen the gospelopened its doorsto the nations. He knew this much:faith is not inheritedlike furniture. It is birth.Second birth.God giving lifeby the word of truth. So it is not enoughto say,my parents believed,my grandparents believed,I have known the songssince childhood. A chain…

  • When a Bold Step Was Needed

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    Peter
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    I have made cautious decisions all my life, which is probably why this one still catches me by surprise. When I was minister on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, there was a persistent idea that surfaced every now and then. There had once been a drive-in theatre on the beaches and, after it closed, one entrepreneurial leader…

  • When I Should Have Said No

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    Peter
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    Write about a time when you didn’t take action but wish you had. What would you do differently? When I was in theological college, I worked on weekends as a student minister in a church. My senior minister was very conservative, authoritarian, and very forceful in his opinions. At the time, we were building a…

  • What Now? – John 21

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    Peter
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    Two weeks after Easter,people were already backto ordinary things. Back to work,back to home,back to the placesthat felt familiar enoughto hold their confusion. Jesus was risen.That much was clear.Eternal life was theirs.But what did that meanon a Monday,or in grief,or when your body hurt,or when someone you loveddied too soon? The disciples went fishing.Of course…

  • One Sunday Morning

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    Peter
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    Describe a random encounter with a stranger that stuck out positively to you I met him in Tanzania when I was there with an international team working with the Lutheran church on a project for training preachers. On Sundays we were sent out to different churches around the region, which meant each of us needed…