It’s the central claim of Christianity: Jesus is alive. Not just that his memory lives on in people’s hearts. Not just that his teaching still inspires people today. But that Jesus rose from the dead – flesh and blood, in time and space. If true, it means Jesus has conquered the grave. It says heaven is not a pipe dream, if we throw our lot in with Jesus.

But of course, dead people don’t rise. I’ve conducted over 100 funerals and I’ve never had to cancel a funeral because the deceased got better. 100% of those I bury stay stone-cold dead..

I am naturally sceptical. A surfer who saw a dolphin in the water during his heats said it must have been his late brother coming back to help him win his first championship! I don’t like to mock. But there is zero evidence for such a claim!

Is the resurrection of Jesus any better? Here are some strands of evidence I find persuasive.

Most of the relevant evidence is contained in the Bible’s New Testament. So why trust the New Testament? In brief, the documents were written close in time to the events they recorded. Ancient historians agree most were written within the same generation! Multiple manuscript copies, good scribal practices and modern linguistic research means they have been reliably transmitted and translated.

And though bound together in one book, the New Testament evidence about Jesus actually includes multiple, independent sources, including Mark, John, James, Paul, plus a source common to Matthew and Luke as well as their own unique material. This criterion of ‘multiple attestation’ is important to ancient historians.

What about the resurrection of Christ? Here are three strands of evidence. Firstly, his tomb was empty. Even the earliest anti-Christian propaganda agrees with this. Otherwise the authorities would have exhumed the body to expose the whole charade. And there was little benefit for disciples in stealing his body for a hoax that brought them much persecution and in some cases cost their own lives!

Secondly, eyewitnesses testified that Jesus appeared to them alive after his death. The various New Testament sources record over ten appearances to individuals and groups, where Jesus was seen, heard and touched. The names of many such eyewitnesses were recorded. And some remained alive decades after, available for cross-examination. This was an accepted method of first century historiography.

Thirdly, where did the transformation of the disciples come from? Peter changed from (a) cowardly denier to (a) brave proclaimer of Christ. Doubting Thomas from a sceptic  to a true believer. Paul from (a) zealous persecutor to persecuted missionary! It’s hard to believe they’d have done this unless they were convinced Jesus really was alive.

The Australian Skeptics Society website suggests we keep an open mind and not reject paranormal claims in advance. Examine the evidence. However it also states we should prefer an ordinary explanation to an extraordinary, the natural to the supernatural, and the simple to the complex.

In my view, on the balance of probabilities, the alternative natural explanations for the empty tomb, appearances and changed lives are more far-fetched and complicated, than the simple but supernatural claim that God raised Jesus from the dead grounded in ordinary ‘natural’ history!

I once read of a fisherman who arrived at Taronga Zoo with an injured penguin. The angler swore it fell from the sky, landing on him while fishing. The vet told him it was impossible, as penguins can’t fly. But the odd story became more plausible once they examined the bird’s injuries. They noticed puncture wounds consistent with sea eagle talons, and broken ribs from a fall. The Zoo team guessed the penguin was snatched from the sea, then dropped by its predator. (By the way the penguin recovered!)

My point is something that looks too strange to be true, can appear more realistic, once the evidence is examined closely. So let’s pause before dismissing the surprising historical claim that Jesus is alive. I know he’s changed my life.

Sandy Grant is the Senior Minister of St Michael’s Cathedral, Wollongong.

Some people think that Jesus is …the fun-police! Christianity seems full of rules to them, and negative about alcohol or sex.

But it’s more like good-time Jesus, when he turned the water into wine! Whether you believe in miracles, just about everyone loves this famous story, in John, chapter 2, in the Bible. Just like Slim Dusty’s pub with no beer, we have the wedding that runs out of wine.

I’ve taken enough weddings to know organising one is never easy. The catering can be a nightmare. And in the Middle East back then, the reception often lasted a week. And there were no late night bottleshops. You can imagine getting the quantities right was a challenge.

And to run out of grog was a disaster. A big loss of face in an honour-shame culture. Everyone would gossip for years about the groom whose wedding ran dry!

Now without going into too many details, Jesus’ mother asked him to help. She realised the wine had run short. And she had some clue of the power within Jesus. And Jesus agrees to help. So she convinces the servants to do what he says. And he tells them to carry six heavy stone jars to the local well, fill them with water, and bring them back. Amazingly, when the MC tries the contents, the water has turned into Grange Hermitage!

My only other full-time job – before becoming a Minister – was in a bottle shop. So I did the calculations on this once. The amount of wine is equivalent to at least 600 bottles. Using the best price I could find for my favourite wine, that’s over $10,000 worth! More than enough to keep a party going.

This tells us God is no kill-joy. Jesus is not some pale-faced, nightie-wearing, holy man hidden away in a monastery. Jesus rejoices in the good things of the life! Like wine to celebrate! And like marriage. The Bible says God made us male and female. He invented marriage… And the sex that goes with it! He’s all in favour ­– in the wonderful context of a man and woman united for life.

Psalm 104:15 in the Bible says God made “wine that gladdens human hearts”. Jesus is into celebrating with those who’ve got something good to celebrate.

But don’t become a Christian because he promises a good time. There are far better reasons! Because Jesus is a miraculous wine-maker here!

The narrator of this incident says, “What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory…“ (John 2:10).

But more than that… if you read carefully, Jesus did this miracle in private! He let the groom take credit for saving the best wine till last. Only the servants and a few disciples knew the truth. Presumably they shared the real story later on.

In other words, Jesus’ glory was revealed in quietly serving others. It was his glory to put others ahead of himself, by saving embarrassment for the groom. And if you know much about Jesus’ life, you’ll know this pattern of service is repeated all the way to his death.

We don’t know the scientific details. But suspending the normal laws of nature, with some special creative act, shows that Jesus has God’s power as Creator.

I know some people are biased against miracles. But if you’re going to believe in God, then it stands to reason he can do miracles. It’s pretty silly to insist he must be unemployed. And I encourage open-minded people to investigate the historical evidence for the life of Christ* ­– including the miracles. There’s more evidence than people often realise for his reputation as a wonder worker.

Sandy Grant is the Senior Minister of St Michael’s Anglican Cathedral, Wollongong

*Try John Dickson’s Is Jesus History? (Dymocks; or Amazon)

Depending on the situation, it can be good or bad for a person to be emotional.

It’s obviously good and normal to cry when you meet your newborn child for the first time, or farewell a loved one for the last time.

But, we’d find it unsettling if a police officer, or a judge, or a surgeon was to cry or laugh out loud in the course of their solemn duties.

Interestingly, the Bible shows us several times when Jesus is emotional.

One time he was clearly upset at how he was rejected by his own, Israelite people, whom he came to save.

He was angry at those religious rulers in Jerusalem, and he expressed a heart-felt sadness about them:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” (Matthew 23:37)

Another time he was famously upset was when he uttered words that make up the shortest verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35)

Jesus saw how Mary was upset at the death of their mutual friend, Lazarus, and Jesus himself was caught up in tears.

Because Jesus continues to live in human form as he rules with his heavenly Father, we can be confident that Jesus continues to have emotions like this as he engages with those he loves and leads.

This doesn’t mean that Jesus’ judgement is somehow impaired by his emotions: he doesn’t stop being fair and wise.

Instead, it is a comforting reminder that Jesus’ love for his children is genuine and caring.

And it gives us a fresh reason that it’s so good to follow Jesus as our loving ruler and rescuer.

Jodie McNeill is the Senior Minister at Jamberoo Anglican Church.

Jesus is… blue cheese!

A 2015 survey of most hated foods in the UK found that over 1/3 of people hate blue cheese. It was 7^th on the list.

Generally cheese is loved, just not that variety. I don’t think people mind that others like blue cheese, as long as the smell doesn’t affect me!

How is Jesus like blue cheese?

If Christians want to believe in Jesus, then fine. But it’s not for me. And I don’t want them near me talking about it.

2017 research showed 68% of Australians follow a religion or have spiritual beliefs. And 45% identified with Christianity. The biggest change is that 1/3 of people don’t identify with any religion.

People are still talking though. Just over half of people report having religious conversations with friends often or occasionally.

Perhaps talking about the meaning of life with people you trust smells a little less.

In fact, when you trust someone, and see an authentic life, we want to know why people live that way.

Mike’s* friend died tragically two years ago. Around that time he struggled to talk with the guys he saw daily. One of them asked what happened and Mike explained. His mate was surprised that Mike had been able to be friendly at all during that time. He’d been through similar times and was worse. He asked how Mike did it.

Mike was a Christian. So he talked about the hope Jesus gave in death, and how a Christian grieves with that hope.

It’s the authentic life that we are attracted to, when people’s life matches their beliefs.

The opposite is true. I worked in a place where the other Christian was known as the “lazy person”. No one was particularly interested in finding out about Jesus from her.

Jesus’ life stands out as beautiful and amazing. I recommend you read Luke’s account of Jesus’ life (online here).

But perhaps find a Christian friend who lives it out and ask them.

Jesus said ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to God except through me.’ (John 14:6)

If that’s true then Jesus is for you. And that smells great!

Find a person who can explain why, without smelling like blue cheese.

Matt Bales is Assistant Minister at Minto Anglican Church.

*name changed

On Monday I asked a friend I train with how he would finish the sentence “Jesus is ____.” He responded honestly: “Jesus is a myth!”

We believe untrue things all the time.

I thought MSG caused asthma, headaches and stomach aches. But who knew that, ‘Evidence that it is harmful is still in short supply.’ (ABC, The Checkout s6e7) Instead, there is a history of media hype and racism about MSG.

But is Jesus myth? Useful for building morals like ‘love your neighbour’ but based in useless, biased history. Is the Bible just religious advertising peppered with the occasional history fact?

And with the rise of social media that allows people who yell louder to get their opinions across it becomes increasingly hard to discern truth. Popular atheists debunk the whole religious exercise, “We are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further”. (Dawkins, The God Delusion)

Fundamentalists reply with scientific “proofs” that others laugh at. But most people fall somewhere in the middle. Smart people seem to fall into both camps and there are nice guys and jerks on both sides.

Is it the loudest person on TV we listen to? Or are we willing to investigate?

Most historians agree that Jesus was a real person. But do the biographies written about him stack up? Perhaps read one as an adult asking the basic questions:

• Does this guy make sense?
• Does his life stack up?
• Is it true?

You can read these biographies of Jesus online. At our church, we often recommend Luke’s account.

It’s also worth reading (or YouTubing) serious investigations by modern people from both sides. Is Jesus historical? The lawyer and journalist, Lee Strobel’s, Case for Christ is a good read.

Are science and God opposed? The world-renowned geneticist Francis Collins explains his journey from ‘who cares’ to atheism to faith in Jesus in The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.

But at the end it is you, not them, who has to finish the sentence Jesus is _____.

Matt Bales was the Assistant Minister at Minto Anglican Church.

The world is full of “ologies”.

There are the ones we encounter at school, such as biology (the study of physical life), and cosmology (the study of the universe). There are “ologies” that we might specialize in for a living: acarology (the study of mites and ticks), or acropathology (diseases affecting the extremities), for example.

Outside work, there are “ologies” that we might indulge in for recreation: piscatology (fish), timbrology (postage stamps), magirology (cookery), and even philematology (kissing). You might be an aphnologist (wealth), a stasiologist (political parties), or psephologist (elections and voting).

There is an “ology” for every occasion.

The term “ology” comes from the Greek word “logos”. It means “word”. It can mean a saying, or a piece of wisdom.

Ancient Greek philosophers used it to describe the human search for order, understanding, and meaning – from which we get “logic”, and of course all those “ologies”.

But at its deepest level, to the ancient Greeks “logos” described not just the search for order, but the source of order. The “logos” was that principle, or force, that created and integrated and gave order to everything. The “logos” could be seen at work in the movements of the heavenly bodies, in the ocean with its abundance of life, and even in the tiniest unit of life.

All of which helps make sense of the introduction to John’s Gospel, where he says: “In the beginning was the Word [logos], and the Word [logos] was with God, and the Word [logos] was God. He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men …” (John 1:1-4).

It sounds strange to us, but to the original readers it made perfect sense. They knew what the “logos” was.

What would have intrigued them was John’s claim that the “logos” was not just a force or principle, but a person. A person who could be known: “The Word [logos] became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

He is talking, of course, about Jesus.

Not just “gentle Jesus, meek and mild”. But a Jesus who created, controls, and gives order and meaning to all things.

And this has implications for us all as human beings. It means that the greatest goal in life is not so much to acquire a vast array of “ologies”, but to discover that there is a “Logos,” a created order and a divine purpose, and to find in Jesus the one who makes sense of all things and gives us life and meaning for eternity.

John Reed is the Minister at St John’s Anglican Church, Keiraville.

When railroads were first introduced to the U.S., some people feared that they’d be the downfall of the nation. Martin Van Buren, the Governor of New York, wrote to President Jackson in January 1829:

“As you may know, Mr. President, ‘railroad’ carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of 15 miles per hour by ‘engines’ which, in addition to endangering life and limb of passengers, roar and snort their way through the countryside, setting fire to crops, scaring the livestock and frightening women and children. The Almighty certainly never intended that people should travel at such breakneck speed.”

In fact, people had been quite used to traveling that fast on horseback for centuries.

But whereas top speed on horseback was perhaps forty miles an hour at full gallop, trains were soon ‘roaring and snorting’ their way through the countryside at far greater speeds than that.

And then came the motor car. The first record with an automobile was set in 1898 by Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat of Paris, France, with an average speed of 39.24 mph (63.13 kmh). By 1904 Louis Emile Rigolly stunned the world by hitting 103.55 mph (166.64 kmh). By 1952 the first passenger jet could travel 500 miles an hour. And by 1961 astronauts were orbiting the earth at 16,000 miles per hour…

We live in a world of increasingly rapid change. Now, I don’t agree with the Duke of Cambridge who, in the late 1800s, said: “Any change, at any time, for any reason, is to be deplored”. But I do feel the need for a point of stability and constancy.

The author Lloyd Douglas as a university student lived in a boarding house. Downstairs on the first floor was an elderly, retired music teacher, who was confined to a wheelchair. Douglas would often bound down the steps, open the man’s door, and ask “Well, what’s the good news?” The old man would pick up his tuning fork, tap it on the side of his wheelchair and declare, “That’s middle C! It was middle C yesterday; it will be middle C tomorrow; it will be middle C a thousand years from now. The tenor upstairs sings flat, the piano across the hall is out of tune, but, my friend, that is middle C!”

He had discovered one thing upon which he could depend in a changing world. For Christians our unchanging focal point is Jesus.

The Bible says: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

And this is good news, because in him we find everything we need: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).

John Reed is Minister at St John’s Anglican Church, Keiraville.

Jesus is my beer

Being an Aussie male immersed in my culture, enjoying sport and camping and nights out with my mates I have made a blatantly obvious observation. I have become aware of a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

For many Aussie males he is a constant companion. We take him to dinner; he joins us on nights out, indeed he is often the life of every party. Some refuse to attend events in which he will be absent. He is always present at our sporting occasions. And he is warmly welcome at backyard barbies, often carried around in a game of backyard cricket.

He is a big part of my tennis group on a Thursday night and particularly makes his presence known at the end of year function.

I am, of course, referring to beer.

It’s so ingrained in our culture that young men and many women believe it to be a rite of passage. As the recent ‘Canadian Club’ add so cleverly expresses;  “I though beer was compulsory.”

So for me, Jesus is my beer.

He is the one who gives me comfort and support when I need it. He is with me at all times and he truly is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

He is the one who makes me feel good. And unlike beer, the more I have the better I feel.

And like beer, I can do it on my own, but the experience is better in company.

Jesus connects me to a community of like-minded people where I can relax and grow closer to Him and them.

Furthermore after a night with Jesus I am not going to end up with a headache or a punch in the head.

Mark Grieve is the Assistant Chaplain at The Illawarra Grammar School.

Jesus is to blame!

He’s our most socially acceptable punching bag. You try it: pick a social issue, work out which position is unfashionable, and then show how it’s the fault of the church/the religious people/that Jesus who started it all.

The beauty of the game is that you win every time – even if fashions change!

Take the environment for example. Are we destroying the planet? Well, in that case, it comes from the irresponsible human-centred view of creation passed down to us from the book of Genesis. Society isn’t concerned enough about global warming? That’s because Jesus said he’d be inviting his friends to abandon ship and head off to heaven, so they don’t care.

Are we not progressing fast enough with our medical technology? Blame those bleeding heart Christians who keep holding scientists back with out-dated ethical arguments. See how easy it is?

There’s a couple of reasons why the blame is so easily laid on Jesus. The first, sadly, is that far too often his followers are guilty as charged. Jesus may have laid out a compelling moral vision for human society, but none of his fans seems able to achieve it. Some of them fall far short.

Secondly, it’s undeniable that Jesus has managed to get his fingers into just about every pie. Love him or hate him, you have to admit that his influence on the world is second to none. Toss in a couple of thousand years of people debating over his teachings, and it’s no surprise that he can be enlisted in support of all kinds of ideas.

Sometimes Christians will get upset when they feel Jesus is copping it unfairly. Regardless of whether they have a point or not, there’s a good chance that we’re all missing the point.

Jesus didn’t just expect to be blamed; he wanted it. Not because he had self-esteem issues, but because his goal was to take all the blame in the world.

None of us likes to be accused. If we’re innocent, it’s unfair, and even if we’re guilty, we shy away from the blame because we know it precedes the punishment. That’s why we like blaming others. If it’s their fault, we are safe. And being safe feels very right to us.

So we look for a scapegoat!

And we find not only that the Bible coined that term ‘scapegoat’ (e.g. see Leviticus 16:10 in the Bible). But it did so to point to Jesus, the only one who can take the blame, and make our wrongs right (e.g. see Hebrews 9:13-14).

So is Jesus to blame? He certainly acted as The Scapegoat for people like you and me.

Anthony Douglas now assists the Bishop of Wollongong, and was the Minister at St Peter’s Anglican Church, Shoalhaven Heads.

Recently there’s been more bad news in the world.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he has tested a new design of nuclear weapons that cannot be intercepted, and that have a practically unlimited range.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates says the likelihood of another financial crash like the GFC is a certainty, with some finance gurus saying that we are close to seeing another economic bubble burst.

On top of this, our Facebook feeds keep reminding us of cancer and funerals and grief and trials.

In many ways, this flow of bad news is really, very normal.

Every week we hear about threats of war, economic instability, and personal sickness and death.

And none of us know if more of our own, personal trials are just around the corner.

In the end, the only certainty we have is that life is full of uncertainty.

Except for one thing: we can be certain about eternity if we put our trust in Jesus.

Jesus make it clear that we can have certainty about life after death if we follow him as our loving ruler and rescuer.

He said that his followers are his sheep, and that he is our shepherd.

And he gave this assurance:

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. (John 10:27-29)

In a time of uncertainty, we can find certainty in Jesus.

No matter what happens in the world or in our household, we can have certainty if we choose to have Jesus as our shepherd.

Since Jesus is certainty, it seems crazy to put your hope in anyone or anything else.

Jodie McNeill is the Minister at Jamberoo Anglican Church. 

Jesus is … worth checking out.

Do you remember Popeye, the cartoon character who eats a can of spinach when he wants to develop some quick muscles? During WWII, when meat was scarce, the US Government used Popeye to promote spinach as a substitute for meat. This was because a study by some German scientists in the late 1800s had shown that spinach contains the same amount of iron as meat.

Unfortunately, the world had fallen victim to an accounting error. The German researchers did prove that spinach contains iron, but when they wrote down their results they put the decimal point in the wrong place, thus overstating the amount of iron in spinach by a factor of 10! They later corrected the error, but apparently this news didn’t make it to the US until after the war, by which time Popeye had been getting strong on spinach for nearly 10 years!

Spinach actually contains no more iron than other leafy vegetables. In fact, the iron in spinach is not easily absorbed by the body unless it’s combined with an acid. (If you are a spinach fan, however, you will still benefit from its high vitamin C and riboflavin content.)

There are other famous myths that have been debunked, but which still are often repeated as fact.

For example, it’s often said that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure that can be seen from space. In fact, it can’t be seen from space at all. It can be seen from low-Earth orbit – but so too can the Giza pyramids and even airport runways.

Or, have you heard that masses of lemmings regularly jump off cliffs to their death in the ocean? This was perpetuated by a 1958 Disney documentary White Wilderness, which faked the whole thing. It simply doesn’t happen.

And what about the “fact” that human beings only use 10% of our brains? Again, this has no scientific basis.

How easily and quickly false ideas can become accepted truth!

What’s true in other spheres is no less true in the area of our spiritual beliefs. It’s not unusual for people to quickly give unquestionable status to beliefs that may in fact have questionable origins. We owe it to ourselves to examine what the evidence actually says.

In the 20^th chapter of John’s Gospel, John tells us about Thomas. He has gone down in history as “Doubting Thomas” – although in fact, in the end he turned out to be “Believing Thomas.”

When the other disciples told him that Jesus had risen from the dead, he refused to believe until he saw the evidence. When Jesus appeared to him, and showed him his hands and feet, complete with nail hole scars, Thomas had to radically re-think his beliefs (see John 20:28).

Like Thomas, I believe Jesus invites us to check him out for ourselves. You may find answers that surprise you!

John Reed is Minister at St John’s Anglican Church, Keiraville.

Jesus is my sleeping mat

Just after Boxing Day last year, we dragged our kids away from their Christmas presents and gadgets and set off on an adventure in the Snowy Mountains.

A tropical resort with kid’s club is more up my list of things to do in the holidays. But iit seems we’ve grown a love for the simplicity of hiking in the wilderness.

No more hot showers, no flushing toilets, no comfy beds, no movies and games on demand. Just a massive pack on our backs and a few snakes to keep us company, living in the same clothes for a few days.

On our last adventure I forgot the toothbrushes. This made our kids extremely happy since we couldn’t bug them to brush their teeth for a few nights.

When we are out in the mountains there are so many moments that remind me of our wondrous God… There are the intricate wildflowers, stretching up to the sky, which remind me of the goodness of God in his mighty creation. The views from our mountain top picnics, which make me ponder what it was like to gaze upon the Promised Land. The grumbling of our kids as they question why we have brought them on this adventure instead of leaving them at home in the comforts of their screens, should I say ‘in Egypt’?

Perhaps it’s the unhurried moments sitting on the ground around our little burner waiting for dinner to cook, reflecting on the day. These moments may just be best because they remind me of how the disciples would have sat with Jesus listening and learning and wondering what the next day held for them.

But actually, the moment I love the most about these trips is the moment I lay down on my sleeping mat. All that can be heard initially is silence. But listen longer …and you can hear the water running off the mountain, and into the streams, that work their way down into the rivers, and then into the lakes.

In that moment I listen with utter thankfulness for all that God has so richly provided to us. On that uncomfortable little sleeping mat I am comforted by the One who allows me to rest.

Jesus is my sleeping mat.

In fact, throughout the Bible God is calling his people to come and rest on him. From the beginning he created the Sabbath, not for himself, but for us.

I reckon many of us would find the words of Jesus quite appealing when he says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Because we are weary and burdened!

We’re weary from workplaces that want more and more of our time… the busy school schedules that heap guilt on us for not being there to applaud our kids… the after-school activities, meal planning and shopping, cleaning, caring for aged parents, enduring chronic illnesses, managing difficult relationships.

It’s exhausting even thinking about it.

But perhaps Jesus was thinking a bigger than our ‘to do’ lists.

Perhaps he was speaking about a rest from the constant wrestle in our hearts to be more, do more and have more. Perhaps he is asking us to come to him and lie down and listen in the silence, listen for the living water that provides the only rest for our souls.

Jesus is my sleeping mat. Is he yours? 

Nada Appleby wrote this while at Port Kembla and Warrawong Anglican Church.

An Invisible Sky Fairy

“Ah, Christianity, just another religion about a fairy god in the sky.”

This is the view of one of Australia’s leading sports journalists and biographical authors, Peter Fitzsimmons. He is particularly cutting when Christian athletes make claim to the assistance of the almighty in determining the result of a sporting fixture.

His criticism may have some merit, but what is the real issue here?

Is Jesus just like a Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy or the Flying Spaghetti Monster? Is it just the figment of someone’s imagination, who either had too much time in their hands or too much drink in their belly? A god that is a nice story for kids and the gullible, but a load of rubbish that makes no difference to our life?

Whether you buy it or not, Christians claim that God is not just up there and out there. The Bible makes an extraordinary claim that God actually came to earth, lived as a human, died and then came back to life.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

Christians don’t believe in a fairy god in the sky. Rather, they believe in a God who actually came to live in real time and space just over 2000 years ago.

This event is attested to not just by the Bible but other ancient sources.

God isn’t distant or a figment of our imagination. In Jesus, we see the God who comes near to us, who knows us, who loves us, and has stretched out his arms in friendship.

Will you accept his offer of friendship? By doing so, you will discover a God who loves you, forgives you, and offers you a life where you don’t need to look to fake fairy sky gods for meaning.

Jim Dayhew was Lead Pastor of Christ Church Anglican Wollondilly.

Jesus is unscientific.

In the movie Meet the Parents, Robert De Niro plays Jack—an intimidating ex-CIA agent. Greg is his daughter’s boyfriend (Ben Stiller) and they don’t hit it off. At one point, Jack hooks Greg up to a lie detector and asks him a series of uncomfortable and revealing questions. Greg is exposed.

The scene is funny for its absurdity. We’ve all heard of a daunting future father-in-law. But this is ridiculous.

Sometimes it is said there are two kinds of people. Those who believe in evidence. And those who have faith.

Evidence and faith are seen as contrary and opposing things. Either you’re a person of faith—someone who can’t be reasoned with. Or you’re scientifically minded—someone who chooses hard facts over wishful thinking.

And yet, when it comes to daily life, no one demands the kind of evidence Jack did. You’d be crazy if you did! On closer inspection, pitting faith and evidence against one another is not convincing. Even the most scientifically-minded person still exercises faith every day. It might be faith in a motor vehicle that defies my understanding. It might be taking a medicine whose ingredients I can’t pronounce. In both cases, I am exercising faith in something that I have not personally tested.

When it comes to other people, all of us exercise faith.

It is worth pausing to think about what our faith in others is based on. Ideally, we make a friend, confide in a confidant, or choose a spouse, based on the proven character of the person. Yet the evidence for their trustworthiness does not amount to peer-reviewed science.

Sure, we may look for tangible signs such as healthy communication skills, kind speech and a good reputation. But none of these things is strictly scientific. Trusting or having faith in someone is in a large measure, intuitive. Through conversation, through ‘sussing them out’, you determine if someone is worth trusting.

Faith in Jesus is much the same. Like all characters in human history, Jesus cannot be put under a microscope or tested with the experiments of modern science. Even if we lived in the time of Christ, no test could have determined that he is the divine Son of God, or the Saviour of the world. (What would we look for? A certain blood type? Or a particular DNA?)

What we can do is look at the accounts of his life. Unlike other major religions, Christianity is ‘particularly open—some would say vulnerable—to historical scrutiny’, as John Dickson says in his book A Doubter’s Guide to Jesus (2018).

In one sense, trusting Jesus is not so different from trusting any other person. There is evidence available, but it is not scientific evidence. It is historical evidence from eyewitnesses. Not so different actually from getting the word on someone’s reputation today.

The difference with Jesus is the level of the claims he makes. He claims to have risen from the dead. He claims to live in heaven now. He claims to offer us life eternally with God.

A person would have to have observed every moment and incident in the universe since its inception to say these things are not possible. So two questions cry out for an answer. Are Jesus’ claims true? Would you check him out and see?

Joshua Maule is a Minister at Jannali Anglican Church.

“Jesus is the joy of living, He’s the king of life to me,
Unto him my all I’m giving, His for evermore to be.
I will do what He commands me, anywhere He leads I’ll go.
Jesus is the joy of living, He’s the dearest friend I know.”

This chorus from an old hymn speaks to my heart. The words give expression to my longing to live in such a way, in these latter years of my life, that He will be able to present me to His Father with the words: “Here is a good and faithful servant”.

Having committed my life to Him in my late teens, and being 90 on my next birthday, I am too human for the words of the chorus to be true for every day of all those years. Born in 1928, into a working class family and brought up during the Great Depression; leaving school at 15 and working to help support the family; all the time being sent to Sunday School, I learned about Jesus.

When a godly old pastor asked me why I didn’t put my trust in Jesus, I had no answer. So that night I commenced on the Calvary* road.

Regrets, I’ve had a few; mistakes, I’ve made a lot; perfect I’m certainly not, but right now, and for some time past I can say with real meaning: JESUS IS THE JOY OF LIVING, HE’S THE KING OF LIFE TO ME, UNTO HIM MY ALL I’M GIVING HIS FOR EVERMORE TO BE. I WLL DO WHAT HE COMMANDS ME, ANYWHERE HE LEADS I’LLGO, JESUS IS THE JOY OF LIVING, HE’S THE DEAREST FRIEND I KNOW.

Eric Porter, at 91, continues to be a member of St Michael’s Anglican Cathedral, Wollongong.

* ‘Calvary’ refers to the hill outside where Jesus was executed on the cross, the Latin translation of Golgotha (John 19:17).

Jesus is Essential

“Who needs Jesus? Not me!”

That’s the attitude of most Aussies at the moment. In the last Australian Census over 30% of people indicated they follow no religion at all. And of the 50% who identify with a Christian denomination less than one in five goes to church with any regularity. That’s less than 10% of the whole population.

Who needs Jesus? Not many, so it seems.

Jesus seems irrelevant to most people. After all, there are far more important things that take up our time and energy: work, eat, sleep, family, paying bills… Billions of people do these things every day without any thought of Jesus. We get up, have a busy day, go to bed, wake up and do it all over again…. Who needs Jesus?

I get it. I used to think that way myself. Life is busy and hard enough without putting extra effort into some ancient religion. We have science & technology now – we don’t need to rely on some ignorant superstition.

So it seems.

Then I discovered that Jesus had far more to do with my life than I realised. I discovered Jesus was the only reason that you and I and everyone else exists in the first place. Here’s an insightful quote from the Bible about Jesus:

For by him [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.   (Colossians 1:16-17, NIV)                                                                                  

Jesus made everything. He’s responsible for everything we enjoy – comfy bed, TV, good food, chocolate, whatever. He made us too. Without him we’d have nothing. Not only that but “in him all things hold together.” He’s the reason our molecules don’t fly apart. He’s the reason gravity keeps us from floating away. He’s responsible for our next heartbeat, our next breath. He holds our life in his hands, every moment, every day.

If that’s not reason enough to take him seriously, I discovered Jesus does far more than keep our heart beating. He offers us a crucial thing that’s missing in our lives – meaning & purpose & value. Here is Jesus’ own words about himself:

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.                 (John 10:10, NIV)

Without Jesus, we’re just a bunch of random chemicals, clumped together for a short time. The universe doesn’t care whether we exist or not. There is no right or wrong, things just are. Without Jesus, all our efforts as human beings come to nothing.

But Jesus freely offers “life to the full.” As we come to Jesus we realise every human is designed & made to live for him. As we come to Jesus we realise every human is precious to God – he would even die for us on the cross. As we come to Jesus he teaches us how live the way he designed life. In Jesus, we have a relationship with God that starts now but goes beyond death for eternity.

Life with meaning and purpose and value. Life that goes on forever. Life to the full.

So who needs Jesus? I do! You do! Everyone does.

Jesus is not irrelevant – he’s ESSENTIAL to life.

Nigel Webb was the Minister at Denham Court Anglican Church.

Jesus is … Aussie!

Most of you will have seen the art of Reg Mombassa. This former band-member of Mental as Anything has won fame for his paintings, notably published on Mambo Clothing’s T-shirts. His Mambo Theology pictures explore the spiritual side.

On one hand they display a certain insight: imagining Aussie Jesus casting out gamblers from the casino or multiplying pies and beer when they ran out at the footy. On the other hand, his art is often blasphemous and rude. And he always subverts the biblical accounts of Jesus’ life.

In a recent biography, Mombassa says he believes Jesus was a real, radical preacher. But,

“I think some of his more obsessed and deluded followers concocted a belief system from his teachers afterwards.”

Ironically, he says he’s never read the Bible from cover to cover, but claims,

“I’m very familiar with it through secondary sources, Bible comics and …Sunday stories and films. And I’ve read lots of books about the Bible …” [The Mind and Times of Reg Mombassa by Murray Waldren, pp293-94]

Mombassa says he’s interested in what happens when you die. And he claims to understand the real Jesus. But ironically he admits he hasn’t read the Bible properly!

Like too many Aussies, in forming their opinions on important questions like the reality of God and life after death, Mombassa has relied on vague Sunday School memories or second hand hearsay.

Check out the primary documents for yourself. Start with the Gospel of Mark.

Sandy Grant, St Michael’s Cathedral, Wollongong

Jesus is … not to be ignored.

Brett Richardson is the Minister at City Central Presbyterian Church, Wollongong

Jesus is … a courageous choice

Peter Hutchinson is the Senior Minister at St Mark’s Anglican Church, West Wollongong

Jesus is … timeless

Colin Grant was Minister at Wollongong Christian Reformed Church, Fairy Meadow.

Jesus is … my home boy!

Although you have probably heard this before and may think it is a little too corny for your liking, it’s true. Jesus is my home boy, and Jesus is your home boy.

The phrase ‘Jesus is my home boy” originated all the way back in the 1980s, when young Texan man, Van Zan Frater, was set upon by a young street gang.

Beaten, broken and bound for execution, Zan Frater was pleading for his life to the group of men standing over him. Praying to God, he pulled on last ounce of strength to say “Jesus is My Home Boy”. Whilst the crowd around him was taken aback by his words, he continued, “Jesus is your home boy, and Jesus is your home boy, and Jesus is your home boy”.

The power behind those words saved the life of Zan Frater in that moment, with the group of thugs leaving him be. But why? Why is saying that some man, who lived so long ago, is your home boy such a powerful thing? What does it mean for Jesus to be your home boy?

Now a home boy is someone who you trust. Someone who’s got your back.

“No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

Jesus has our back. He’s taken the bullet for us. He DIED for us, even though people continue to reject, badmouth and betray him, because he loves us. He died one of the most horrific deaths imaginable, in our place. He laid down his life for us.

And why?

Because Jesus is my home boy.

Josh Hayward was a Youthworks trainee at St Michael’s Cathedral, Wollongongand now serves at Christ Church, St Ives.

Jesus is … for outsiders.

Rod Bayley is Senior Pastor of Wollongong Baptist Church

Jesus is … just a crutch for weak people.

Andrew Sullivan, a US-based author and commentator, gay activist, and political conservative, labelled belief “a psychological crutch to keep reality at bay”.

Richard Dawkins once said: “Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense … lacking all supporting evidence but … if people needed a crutch for consolation, where’s the harm?”

But what’s wrong with a crutch? Some injured and disabled people use crutches. Old people use walking sticks, and no one makes fun of them! If you have a need, it’s sensible to find something that meets the need!

Indeed, everyone leans on some sort of support mechanism for their life. Even the toughest person needs help to cope.

Former BBC Nine O’Clock News host and agnostic, John Humphrys wrote a book “Confessions of a Failed Atheist”. In response to the charge that Christianity is just a crutch, he said, “Don’t we all [have cructches]? Some use booze rather than the Bible.”

What or whom do you lean on for support? Is it a relationship or your bank account? For many, workaholism reveals their job is a crutch, and for others it’s sport. It could be drugs; for others it is food. Many lean on caffeine to get through the day!

But will your particular crutch hold your weight?

Those things are here today, gone tomorrow. The temporary caffeine hit, the relaxing glass of wine, the sporting success. Soon replaced with the need for another.

And if not gone today, then certainly in a few years. Your health, your money, your job, your loved ones. All can disappear in an instant.

So, in reality, I reckon we all have crutches of some form or another.

That’s why I’m not embarrassed to admit that Jesus is a crutch for weak people. That’s exactly what he says in the Bible.

Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32.)

This is a message for the humble in heart. Jesus comes for the spiritually broken.

But any doctor will tell you the healing process cannot begin till the patient admits they’re sick and in need of help. Likewise Jesus can’t help you until you admit you are sick with sin.

To those who know they are weak, Jesus famously promised:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28).

In that sense, Jesus is more than a crutch. He is not some mechanical assistance to help us walk ourselves. He is a life support system, for he provides a whole heart transplant.

On the cross, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. And so the Bible says, if anyone is in Christ, the old has gone and the new has come!

So I invite you, if you have not yet come to Jesus: get your heart transplant today. Admit your weakness. Admit your spiritual heart disease. And kneel at the foot of the cross for healing. Lean your entire weight on Jesus.

Sandy Grant, St Michael’s Anglican Cathedral Wollongong.

We recently took a trip into the city and because we’re country folk, we were excited about pulling out the GPS to lead the way.

We plugged in our destination and presto, the journey had begun with detailed instructions kindly offered by a nice man, who we couldn’t see but at each crossroad, showed us the way…

Sometimes though we missed an important instruction because the music was a little loud, or we’d been distracted by our own discussions. But the GPS guy would give us a new instruction to get us back on track… He was a pretty patient guy.

It reminded me, Jesus is … our GPS; he is ‘that guy’!

He knows exactly where we need to be heading and how to get there, and if we’re listening to him in the bible, his instructions are pretty clear.

But of course, there was a point on our journey when the GPS guy was telling us to take a right, and we’d never taken a right at that point before, so we refused to listen and used our own logic instead; we thought we knew better than the GPS guy.

Twenty minutes later stuck in traffic, we hadn’t heard from the GPS guy, maybe he had had given up on us or perhaps we were in too much of a mess because of our own stubbornness?

He knew we were going to hit that traffic jam, even before we knew – he was trying to save us from a whole lot of grief – yet we thought we knew better, we failed to trust, we failed to live by faith.

After Jesus explains to his friends that he is preparing a place for them, Thomas is troubled and says,

 “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” (John 14:5)

Jesus replies,

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6)

Jesus is our GPS, our way to the Father, our way to Heaven. Yet many will think they know the way and refuse to trust Him as their GPS, as that guy that speaks to us every step of the way…

No matter how much of a mess we’re in, he’ll never give up; he is ever patient, ever merciful and will not stop the search until all his sheep are found.

Will you make him your GPS?

Nada Appleby attends the Port Kembla and Warrawong Anglican Church.

Originally I wanted to say that “Jesus is the reason I’m broke”, but I realised that isn’t really true. Before Vanessa and I were Christians, we had more disposable income but we also found more ways to spend it. Now, Jesus has changed our financial priorities.

You could say: Jesus is … my accountant!

I remember sitting with a mortgage salesman who was telling us how quickly we could own our home. I then asked him to do the sums again taking into account the money we wanted to give to church, student ministry, overseas mission and child sponsorship. He then told us we couldn’t afford it!

Now we are paying our mortgage off at an incredibly slow rate, but we’re supporting our local church.

Now we only have one car, but we’re supporting university ministries around Australia.

Now our holidays are fairly simple affairs, but we’re supporting overseas mission.

Now we’re spending less on restaurants and clothes, but we’re helping the poor in other parts of the world.

Recently I was planning our annual family getaway and I was looking for somewhere new and different. But it was tricky to find something in our price range with enough activities to keep the kids busy. However, when we talked to the boys about it, they were very happy to be going back to our old faithful, Shoalhaven Heads.

Part of me wants more; part of me wants to give my family all the best holidays and experiences. Part of me wants the stuff that other people have.

Recently, my car mechanic gave me the “It’s-getting-old, there’s-not-much-we-can-do” talk. But Vanessa and I agreed that it’s not dead yet.

The truth is I feel the allure of fun family holidays and gadgets and a new car and gadgets and paying off our mortgage and gadgets, but our great accountant helps keep our priorities in perspective.

The gift Jesus gives us is greater than all those things, it’s the gift of contentment and the ability to say no to something good for the sake of something better.

Jim Douglass is the Minister of Narellan Anglican Church. 

He was born to a teenage mother in a dumpy, rural, bogan town. He lived in relative obscurity until about the age of 30, working a blue collar job. But the legacy of his life makes him one of (if not) the most popular figure of all time.

Arguably, more books have been written about him, more paintings painted of him, more songs have been sung about him than any other figure in the history of the world. He is of course Jesus, the Christ.

He’s way up there in pop culture. He routinely shows up in the Simpsons, and South Park. He’s been the cover story of TIME Magazine and of Popular Mechanics. T-shirts  – saying Jesus is my homeboy – are worn by celebrities. He’s also a very popular tattoo.

And the life and death of Jesus has been portrayed in film, theatre, and musicals.

No serious scholar denies that he lived and was condemned as a criminal.  And his life and teachings reverberate today.

Jesus is relevant!

But the question really is – how is Jesus relevant to you?

In the eyewitness account known as the Gospel of John, we read these incredible words:

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them” (John 3:36)

You can praise Jesus, disagree with him, quote him, glorify him, vilify him, trust him or reject him.

But what you cannot really do is … ignore him.  Your eternity hangs or falls on how relevant Jesus is to you!

Richard Chin is the National Director of AFES. 

Last year a friend of mine posted about the Bathurst 1000. I’ve got to confess that I really love motor racing. And for Aussie motor racing fans, 161 laps of Bathurst is as good as it gets.

So when I saw my friend had posted something about Bathurst I dropped everything to read it.

Before I was a Christian I used to watch Bathurst from 7am till the end of the race (about 5pm).

I’ll never forget the anxiety of the year Vanessa sent me out to buy take-away lunch during the Great Race. What relief to discover the shop was broadcasting the race, so I didn’t miss too much!

I still love motor racing. But the truth is that compared to Christ, watching Bathurst for a day just isn’t as exciting as it once was. The realism of life following Jesus – and meeting with his people – trumps the escapism of motor racing.

Jesus is better than Bathurst!

When I’m at the race track, I’m happy to sit with the “Blue Oval Brigade” and barrack for the Falcons, but it’s just not that important. Being a Ford fan just doesn’t really impact my life or my future. Following Jesus is completely different.

Following Jesus changes everything, my loves, my priorities and my passions.

Now of course, I wouldn’t be the first person in history to swap one passion for another. But in this case I was a reluctant convert.

I don’t follow Jesus because I find Christianity so exciting or because he makes me feel good but because I am absolutely convinced that his resurrection, 2000 years ago, has changed the world forever.

So yes, I do love motor racing – it’s just that now, I wouldn’t trade a day meeting with God’s people for it.

Jim Douglass is the Minister of Narellan Anglican Church.

There’s nothing like a royal pregnancy!

For some it’s a wonderful bit of romance. For others a matter of mockery. This month, a privacy-invading prank on William and Kate caused awful harm. But, most of us were only wise after the event, as we rushed for a scapegoat.

I care little for celebrity gossip about English royals. But 2000 years ago, in David’s royal town… Hark, the herald angels sang! And wise men came bearing gifts. All for a baby born not in a palace, but a livestock food trough.

For me, that’s a royal birth worth getting excited about. And if Christmas still has any appeal beyond consumerism, then only that royal birth can power it.

Christians can overdo the clichés. Here’s my list of banned Christmas sermon phrases: Jesus is the reason for the season. Wise men still seek Jesus. And worst pun of all: Jesus is the only ‘presence’ I need.

But clichés exist because they capture a certain truth. And our keenest desire is to say: Jesus still matters today!

For example, Jesus grew up and famously taught us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Isn’t forgiveness a message that radio shock-jocks and hospital administrators and media moguls and greedy consumers and self-righteous preachers all need to hear?

So this Christmas, Christians around the Gong and beyond welcome you to our churches to celebrate the royal birth that matters most.

Jesus is CHRISTmas!