I write in response to this video.
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This video is hard for me to watch, both as an Australian and as a Christian. Both sides of this arguement are flawed.
Did you know that when new citizens are sworn in by the Australian government, they are required to agree to a statement of values? In it, it says this:
Australian society values respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual, freedom of religion, commitment to the rule of law, Parliamentary democracy, equality of men and women and a spirit of egalitarianism that embraces mutual respect, tolerance, fair play and compassion for those in need and pursuit of the public good.
Yet, when I watched that video, I didn’t see that respect of freedom of individual nor religion. As Australians, we pride ourselves on being able to be ourselves unapologetically. But what I saw was a woman being laughed at for her views because they are not...

Do not decorate the walls of this life when this world is not our home.
– Matt Fuller

As a 20 year old living in Sydney, the temptation to to be caught up in the business and craziness of life is so overwhelming. More than that, the want for instant gratification rules the every day in a nearly inescapable way. All our longings and desire, all our hopes and dreams, are to do with tomorrow. And it all comes down to the question: where will I find the next best thing to make me feel good?

This past week I was told a story about a man named Brian Telfer. For nearly all of his life, he was a faithful servant of Jesus Christ. When he was drawing near to death, he called one of his sons to his side and asked this son to read him Isaiah 12.
For those of you who don’t know Isaiah 12 very well, it’s a small 6 verse chapter right at the end of a section where the prophet is talking about how on...

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

One of the big things that has been on my mind for the past month is the very real possibility of going into long term mission work to reach the unreached. What has been pushing this is the question of why not? Because I don’t see any reason not to go.
So often in the West, particularly here in Sydney, we have a view that you can do you over there and I’ll do me over here, and so long as we don’t interfere with one another, we’ll be good. But this is not the call of the Christian!
In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus says to his disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end...

Over this past weekend, I had the joy of being up at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains to gather with Christians all over Australia to celebrate Easter. For many, Easter is just another holiday. A time to have a break from work or study, and enjoy spending time with family and friends. One of my biggest surprises every year is how we still publicly acknowledge Easter here in Australia, to the extent that school holidays are shaped around when Easter falls each year. Yet for me, Easter is very personal. It is a time to focus on the events nearly 2000 years ago that led me to writing this piece. It is such a blessing that I am able to openly and freely talk about how Easter is about God redeems humanity back to Himself through the blood of the Son. It is a time to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of my life.

At the end of last year, after two years of...

To be able see prayer being answered is one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had. To see God listen to my cry and my plea is a beautiful thing indeed.
Yet at the same time, it is also profoundly confronting. At the start of this year I asked God to change and shape my life in a way that would make me more like Christ. And He has done exactly that. Over the past few months, my life has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows. But to see the Creator of the universe at work in all of that is, for the lack of a better word, mind-blowing. To be able to cry out to the LORD, the living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and have a personal response given is life changing.

When I was back at uni, one of my mates was giving a talk and he said this:
Check yourself before you wreck yourself.
Admittedly, I failed to this and managed to wreck myself. But God is good and, by His grace, I have...

“My biggest fear is that you will eventually see me the way I see myself. - Anonymous

I have no idea who that quote is by, but it resounds with me on a very deep level. As a young man who battles with anxiety and how I’m viewed by others, having someone see me the way I see myself scares the crap out of me.
I keep a small circle of close friends. I open up completely to few and don’t generally hang out in big groups of people very often. This is partially my personality but it’s more than that. To be vulnerable, to be known fully, is something only a very small handful of people have ever experienced from me.

I first realised I had anxiety at the start of 2015 when I walked into a lecture theatre filled with 200 people who I had never met, and all of a sudden, my chest clamped up and I felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness. Since that day, I have have felt that way more times...

These are some reflections I wrote on my last night of beach mission.

As beach mission draws to a close for my first year here, I have a few thoughts that I want to share.

Firstly, my time here has been a great time of growth and challenge for me. In serving on the teens team, I have been stretched in not being apologetic for the gospel. Last night I gave a talk on the death and resurrection of Christ. And it was really moving to see the work that the Spirit was doing in some of the teens here in Brunswick Heads. When God calls someone to be your brother in Christ the night you give a talk, it feels really special. Praise be God for saving any of us at all.

Secondly, I want to come back. I want to come back year after year to see the work and be part of the work that the Lord is doing in this small costal town. It’s been amazing and heart-changing to be part of. I have fallen in love...

NTE 2016. 1700 uni students and staff. 1700 brothers and sisters in Christ. I am sitting amongst family.

Last night, I ran into an old friend who I haven’t seen since preschool. 15 years apart but we are brothers in Christ. I am sitting amongst family.

People from 30 nations gathered under God’s Word. Brothers and sisters from Tonga, Indonesia, Japan, Slovenia. I am sitting amongst family.

The love of the Father poured out for us on the Cross. Christ is risen from the grave. I am sitting amongst family.

“If Christ is not all to you, He is nothing to you. He will never go into partnership as a part-Saviour of men. If He be something, He must be everything, and if He be not everything, He is nothing to you.”
― Charles Haddon Spurgeon

If I had to describe my life in three words they would be Christ, coffee, and music.
Music is a huge part of my life. It is rare to find me without it my headphones in my bag. Over half the storage on my phone is taken up by music. For the past 12 years, I have played an instrument.
I wouldn’t be me if there was no music.
But if I had to give up listening to and playing music if that someone could be saved, I would give it in a instant.
The same with my love of coffee. They are both worthless compared to the salvation of others and myself.

What of my life? Is that of any worth compared to the salvation of others? By all means, NO!
I have already been given...

You are not saved because you believe. You believe because you are saved.

Those words bring much comfort to me. If I was saved because I believed, then it would be my works that saved me. But I believe because I’m saved.
Ephesians 2:4-10 reads, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we...