The Afterword

Tag: god

  • Compelling

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    Peter
    in

    I wouldn’t say I’m religious—at least not in the way people usually mean it. If someone asks, “Do you practice religion?” my answer is yes and no. Yes, because I’m a Christian.No, because I’m not drawn to religious routine or ceremony for its own sake. I go to church every week—not because I’m especially fond…

  • Fit for the Feast – Leviticus 11

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    Peter
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    How can we be fitfor God? Exercise?Healthy food?That’s part of it.But our bodiesare more than that.They are temples,sanctuaries where the Spirithas taken up residence.They’re not our own—they’re made to honour God. Leviticus—pages of blood and fire,priests anointedlike lanterns for the people.Then, chapter eleven:camel, rabbit, pig—off the menu.Clawed birds and scale-less fish—off the table. Why?Not because…

  • Strange Fire – Leviticus 10:1–3

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    Peter
    in

    Some jobs are really importantbut not very dangerous—teachers with whiteboard pens.Some are dangerous,but don’t seem to matter much—sword-swallowers in shows no one remembers. But then, some are both:like those who run toward burning buildings,those who take a bulletto protect another’s life. And priests.Ancient priests.Their job:Vital.Holy.Dangerous. Set apart—washed with water,dressed in garments too sacredfor an ordinary…

  • There Is Freedom and Then There Is Freedom

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    Peter
    in

    In a world that worships the self, Augustine’s Confessions reads like a heresy. Where our age insists, “Be true to yourself,” Augustine responds, “But what if I don’t know who that is?” We often link freedom with the power to choose—what we eat, where we live, how we present ourselves to the world. Desire becomes…

  • Joyful Surrender – Leviticus 1–3

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    Peter
    in

    This is the part of the Biblewhere people give up—and rightly so.Bulls and birds, blood and fire,a wilderness of rules and ritualfar from the songs we sing. But stop—breathe in the smoke.Smell the grain, the roasted meat.Feel the weight of handson a creature’s head,its life for yours. We surrender things all the time—degrees, careers, our…

  • Something to Do, Someone to Love, Something to Look Forward To

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    Peter
    in

    Purpose is the why behind what we do—our deeper motivation. Direction is the how—the path we take to express that purpose in action. Without purpose, our steps may be aimless. Without direction, even purposeful intent can wander. Together, they form a compass and a road. For me, direction in life flows from a conviction that…

  • And He Called – Leviticus 1:1-4

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    Peter
    in

    Leviticus—the book everyone skips,tripping over rules piled high like stones in a desert. But here—at the edge of Exodus’ long drama—the story is not abandoned,it is gathered,the voice calls,the promise still breathes. And He called. Not because we were ready,not because we were holy,but because He remembered. The Holy One—terrifying and tender—desired to live among…

  • Not Too Late

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    Peter
    in

    Sometimes, people confuse caution with fear. They mistake deliberation for delay, and they brand those who think deeply as those who move too slowly. I’ve heard the criticisms before—some thrown at public figures, others thrown at me. But I have learned to wear patience not as a weakness, but as armour. For when the time…

  • Closer Than You Knew

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    Peter
    in

    People have always told stories—about gods who died,about love that survives death,about light returning after darkness. Before theology,before churches,there were questionsand songsand open hands. We reached outbecause something in usknew there was more. Some saythese old storieswere just wrong turns—ways of avoiding God. But I thinkthey were honest guesses,not perfect,but not pointless. They came from…

  • Hosanna and Tears – Luke 19:28–44

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    Peter
    in

    (A Lament in the Key of Hallel) It moves in slow motion—this final week.Like a breath held in the lungs of heaven.Something vast is about to crack the sky. Jesus rides.Not on a war horse.On a borrowed colt.No sword at his side,just a heart full of sorrowand a soul set like flint. He’s walked every…

  • This Book Reads Me

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    Peter
    in

    Well—not a book, exactly. A library. A sprawling, ancient, living library. The Bible. It’s the one I return to daily, not because I’ve mastered it, but because I haven’t. Not even close. You can’t really read it like other books. Not from start to finish, as though it were a novel or a textbook. Genesis…

  • Staying Soft

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    Peter
    in

    When I was a teenager, I heard someone say something that stayed with me: that he was lucky because he got paid to do what he would gladly do for nothing. He was a minister—an evangelist, to be precise—and his job was to tell people what he knew about God. And people paid him to…

  • Before & After – Mark 4:35-5:43

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    Peter
    in

    Desperation,raw and unfiltered,crashes like waves against the fragile ribs of a boat.Fishermen, seasoned by salt and storm,shake in terror.A storm that silences courage,a darkness that devours hope. And yet—He sleeps.Not indifferent,but unshaken. “Don’t you care if we drown?”They cry out,as I have cried out,when the winds rise and the waters rise and I riseonly to…

  • Bearing Fruit – Mark 4:1-34

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    Peter
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    Mark 4:1-20 Original message by Andrew West, The Bridge Church Macquarie Park NSW The farmer is not careful with his seed.He flings it wide, casting it over stone and soil,over path and thorn and quiet earth.He does not measure the worth of the ground—he only sows, and sows, and sows. Some seed never settles, never…

  • God’s Rescue – Mark 3:7-35

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    Peter
    in

    They did not look at the mountains,not at the impossible ridges,not at the distance that swallowed men whole.Just one step, then another— Nando and Roberto,walking for those who could not,for those left behind in the silence of snow.# Rescue is the only questionwhen survival is a choice between two unbearable things:The slow starvation of waitingor…

  • Poem for a Friend

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    Peter
    in

    You stand in a culture that sells mirrorsand handcuffs them to worth.Scales. Dress sizes.The photo where your arms looked better—these are its gods. But you are not here to worship.You are here to rearrange the furniture. You’ve always loved the misfits.Not just the ones who bloom late,but the ones who don’t knowthey were planted at…

  • God Dwelling Among Us – Exodus 40

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    Peter
    in

    Some pitch tents for pleasure,others flinch at the thought.For Israel, a tent was home, canvas stretched thinagainst the desert night, where God said, Build me a tent,a holy space to live among you. Three parts to His house:Courtyard, Tent, Most Holy Place.Like fire in a chamber, light within light,close to the core, only the chosen…

  • Radiance of Presence – Exodus 33-34

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    Peter
    in

    There are wounds people leaveseams that split in ways we can’t stitch,hurt that hammers us hollow—a weight we shoulder alone,or so it seems, Until God whispers,“I will go with you,”and his voice presses in, soft like breath,but firm like the groundunder our feet.“If I’m not there,” we say, “we can’t move forward,can’t take another step.”…