Posts by John Staiger (Page 99)

When I became a Christian in 1977, I would hear brethren talk about the various congregations around the country. It became evident that (in Auckland) the ‘Gladstone,’ ‘Balmoral,’ and ‘Brixton Road’ churches of Christ were actually one and the same congregation.** In the early 1980s the congregation had purchased the current Leslie Ave property and has been known as Morningside since. I met the (back then, ‘Brixton Road) preachers and young people at the Ngaruawahia Christian Camp in the late…

My three children grew up with the internet, computers and cell phones and knew nothing of the world before then. However, they do remember the dark days of ‘Dial-up’ and the stone-age which preceded Smartphones, but that was centuries ago. I saw a survey that stated that sixty-seven percent of those born after 1997 “are likely to rate free wi-fi as their top accommodation amenity, when on holiday.” No wonder people don’t take statistics seriously. As if the other 23…

Recent News reports have announced that protesters have taken to burning copies of the Bible. Believe it, or not, Bible burning is nothing new. 2600 years ago, King Jehoiakim sat to listen as the prophesies of Jeremiah were read to him from a scroll. At the completion of each section, he took his penknife, cut off the text and incinerated it (Jer.36). But since God fulfilled every word of the Book of Jeremiah, his deed was futile. Two countries, North…

If I want to make sure that no one under 40 reads past the 5th word from now, I just have to say, “Retirement.” Once it meant rest for the physically weary working man, who probably didn’t have too many years to live anyway. Now it is more likely to be just a date on the calendar like any other. Long gone are the days when 65 meant you could afford to stop working. It is the minority that have…

As much as two thirds of Rome was burned up in AD64. It was widely rumoured that Emperor Nero sent out men, who while acting drunk, set the city on fire to clear space for his new palace. In his efforts to avert suspicion from himself, he blamed the Christians for the act. Thus, he justified his persecution of the church. Christianity is again being used to avert blame. Christians make easy scapegoats, so it shouldn’t surprise us that accusing fingers…

November 22, 1963 is a date etched on the minds of a generation as its sadist day. It was the tragic day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. An event that has influence upon the world to this very day. When Kennedy spoke, his words exuded hope to the young Baby-boomers looking to a future of fun and prosperity. To the parents and grandparents, he was a uniting voice to take them beyond a world that had…

Until you feel the full force of grief, you remain in an enviable state. The death of a loved one stirs emotions so deep that you wonder at its end. Such is the intensely personal nature of grief that, when looking back, you feel amazed that you came out with any form of sanity. One sluggish step after another is taken in a fog of feelings consisting of happy memories, regrets and the sense of loss. My father was 62…

Coffs Harbour is an Australian town. It is south of Woolgoolga, and north of Nambucca Heads and home to a sixty-one-year-old man who is presently very happy to have a new job…at McDonald’s. Not just any job, but one that took him two years to find. The strange thing, to me, about this situation is not that it took a 61-year-old man two years to find a job, but that he actually considered himself to be ‘old’ during the process.…

Nebuchadnezzar’s sixty-cubit-high statue of himself must have been absolutely impressive. The Babylonian king’s display of power and wealth was designed to engender overwhelming awe and fear. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to play along. Bow down they would not! Many would reason: ‘It wasn’t a big deal. Surely, it was just a statue. This event would pass from their lives as quickly as it came.’ Such was the faith of the 3 Hebrew slaves (albeit high bureaucrat leaders) that they chose…

Six months ago, I turned 59. Of all those years I have spent 43 as a Christian. God and the church have been very good to me. I have met the best of people in the Lord’s church, and, admittedly, I have met some who have had a very long way to go—but I have been one of those, too. I never suffered from meaningless doubts. God is real to me. I have always believed that nothing makes sense without…