All Columnists articles – Page 19
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Columnists
Age before beauty
School taught me how many wives Henry VIII had, helped me glean information about Australia’s mining industry and even taught me the French word for ‘station’, but nobody told me anything about the one thing you never believe will happen when you’re young but happens to every human on the planet.
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ColumnistsUngenerous generation
Meanness is ugly. Grabbing is unattractive. Last November’s Black Friday event was dark indeed, as the retail sector’s excuse for a greed-fuelled shopping frenzy sparked scuffles and scrums across the country.
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ColumnistsThe Night Caller
It’s 1.20am and my mobile is ringing. Loudly. A shrill ringtone, one I selected during a moment of madness, pierces through the thick layers of sleep.
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ColumnistsNo Turning Back
It all started when I lost my feet. Unable to see them because of the partial eclipse of a spreading abdomen, and becoming quite breathless after navigating a single flight of stairs, I decided to get fit.
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ColumnistsDoes Jesus disappoint?
After four decades of being a Christian, I confess: I am disappointed with Jesus. He hasn’t delivered as anticipated.
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ColumnistsAm I thinking what you're thinking?
I was delighted to be in Australia, despite the disconcerting reality that this is a nation with a bewildering number of options for those who’d like to get killed by wildlife.
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ColumnistsOffensive Grace
It’s been an odd 24 hours. I’ve been sworn at by half a dozen people, none of whom know me or one another, but apparently despise me nevertheless. I received three messages from one young mother telling me that I made her sick to her stomach and that I surely couldn’t be a parent. In one particularly vitriolic email, I was advised that I’m as bad as a child molester.
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ColumnistsLet us pray
I’ve never been much good at prayer. Perhaps I need to join a group. ‘Hi. My name is Jeff, and I’m addicted to activity...and conversation.’
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ColumnistsLove the moment
Growing up means that you are supposed to leave childish behaviour behind. I've think I've largely succeeded. If you disagree, I won’t play with you any more, so there.
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ColumnistsSmall choices
Smiling doesn’t come easily to me. I’m not Victor Meldrew with a Bible, a practised misery with facial features permanently arranged in a gloomy scowl. And I don’t see life as a safari, ever hunting for more opportunities to frown.
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ColumnistsJeff Lucas: Tents Moments
Before embarking on the Christian journey, I was warned that the pathway ahead might be littered with perils ...
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ColumnistsJeff Lucas: Life before death... and after
Sometimes important things slip from my mind. A person at church asks me for prayer, and panic sets in because I realise that I can’t remember their name.
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ColumnistsJeff Lucas: The Cactus Stalkers
Staying overnight at a bed and breakfast this week, we found the bed to be comfortable, but the breakfast not quite so. We began the day seated around a large kitchen table shared with the other guests, which included a couple of enthusiastic evangelists. Their passion was unswerving, and unnerving with it. With no idea that we were believers, their eyes glowed with joy as they breathlessly chattered away about their vital mission.
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ColumnistsJeff Lucas: Unhappy Campers
God is a camper. And I am not. I’ve tried the outdoorsy life, lured by the gentle pitter-patter of rain on canvas, late night chatter around a roaring campfire, and the cocooning warmth of a sleeping bag.
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ColumnistsPopeye Lucas: Nearly four decades of pastoral leadership has taught me this unpalatable truth: people rarely change
It being the New Year, I’ve been pondering potential resolutions. I’m going easy on myself this time around. Rather than aspiring to lofty, impossible goals, I’ve settled on some more reachable objectives.
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ColumnistsJeff Lucas: Strange Fire
The charismatic/pentecostal movement includes around 500 million people worldwide – about 25% of the total number of professing Christians. That’s a lot of people. And according to one man, John MacArthur, they are guilty of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
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ColumnistsJeff Lucas: Learning to hear from God
It’s a phrase that’s bandied about too frequently in Christian circles: The Lord told me. We’ve all met those breathlessly confident souls who imply that everything they do is directed by the voice of God.
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Columnists
Jeff Lucas: Why I’m not in love with Jesus
It’s a question that I have wrestled with from my earliest days as a Christian, and one that vexes me still, because of who it is that asks. Jesus.
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ColumnistsJeff Lucas: Take it from Larry
In the late 1970s, the world was in the grip of a fashion demon that roamed the earth. Otherwise sensible people adorned themselves in the most grotesque garb, stupefied into believing that super-sized flares looked cool.
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ColumnistsJeff Lucas: Longing for a King
My encounters with the royal family have been limited. I’d love to be able to say that I’ve spent happy days hobnobbing with the Windsors but, alas, it’s just not true.
