# Series (Page 56)
Blinded
By Kevin Hogg As I sit squinting in the bright sunshine today, I am dwelling upon online conversations with various individuals from the last few days. Specifically, a retired American attorney who happens to be a grandmother. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. As my children roll their eyes muttering, you only go online to argue with people. Not technically true most of the time. Invariably the usual suspects from the atheist/agnostic community join in the conversation. Usually my first…
Where from here?#5. “Holding pattern.”
I wish that air travel could be as exciting today as it was the first time I took off on an aeroplane. That was a thrilling experience. I still love the take-offs, but the confined conditions in economy class for up to 14 hours does dampen the spirit a little. Though, things could be worse. Add in baggage delays, extra security checks and long immigration queues and you start wondering why you left home. When flying, one thing that I…
Changeable
Kevin Hogg I am looking out the window and waiting for our weather to improve. If you have been in Auckland for any length of time, you realise that Spring time in Auckland is fickle. We get a hint of the warmer days to come, then winter like events intrude to remind you of what it is capable of doing. For those who don’t know Auckland weather, it is usually temperate. Our winter lows are about 2deg C (Clear skies,…
Where from here?#4. “Stories that point the way.”
I had never heard of a thing called a “Devotional” before I attended the Lord’s church. Pulpit sermons in the 1970s were still well over 30 minutes long, so these less formal mini-sermons seemed short at 15 minutes long. Everybody has their favourite devotionals. One I remember well was called: “The church is like a football team.” Having duly grabbed our attention with his title, our speaker proceeded to enlist the names of the members sitting before him as players…
Where from here?#3. “At a Crossroads.”
The last 18 months has seen much change. Tragically, lives have been lost, businesses closed, jobs suspended, and everybody confined to one degree or another. Add to that, disagreement over needed solutions and what were otherwise healthy relationships have become strained. That is not to say that everyone has had a bad time of it. Some companies have done very well. No commentary is needed on the success of online trading for old and new companies alike. Looking back, the…
Where from here?#2. “Just keep talking about Jesus.”
You probably won’t find yourself leading a revival or being at the forefront of a famous missionary effort; those things tend to happen to other people. Instead, like most of us, you are likely to be working to save the lost as part of the local church. Consequently, we are sometimes left with the feeling that we have not done as much as we were able. On rare occasions I have heard preachers suggest: “The fruit you bear for Jesus…
Where from here?#1. “The Far Country and Back.”
The Prodigal son of Luke 15 had no doubts as to his destination. It was, “Far Country, here I come!” With dreams to live and money to burn, everything was going to be better, beyond the constraints of home. In no time at all he found out that wild living looks cheap… until you must pay the price in full. With his dreams dead, and his money and options spent, the question, “Where from here?” was neither his to ask…
Sin and Forgiveness#4. “Forgiveness—Blind spots.”
One of my High School teachers held before us some cards with multi-coloured spots and asked if anyone was colour blind. One boy said he was and was asked to identify a number on each card. As you have probably guessed, the rest of us only saw spots. He and the teacher may have been in on a practical joke for all we knew. However, the numbers were printed on the backs of the cards, so, lest we had any…
Sin and Forgiveness#3. “Sin—Hidden in plain sight.”
Corruption isn’t restricted to third world depots with Swiss bank accounts and London townhouses. Leaders of some of our most sophisticated countries will leave the office with pockets much fatter than when they entered. Amazingly, the thing that they all seem to have in common is the ability to convince people that they care about the poor more than they care about themselves. You would think that someone might ask them if their gated communities have any housing for orphans,…
Sin and Forgiveness#2. “Forgiveness— Free and limitless.”
A young mother was trying to console her broken-hearted son. The child had asked his mother why her boyfriend had suddenly disappeared from the house and taken everything he owned with him. Trying to be as nice as possible, the young mother said, “Darling, he is angry with me, and that was the only thing that he had any control over to try to hurt me with.” Anger burns hot. It is the ultimate self-fuelling emotion. If not extinguished, it…