In our previous article we looked at the prophet Elijah who told God that he could no longer continue with the work. He was, in effect, saying “no” to God!
Elijah here in this record joins a group whose words, thoughts, and actions challenge or contend with the will of God.
When the Faithful Said No (2) Read More »
Here’s a question to consider. If God came to any one of us—if he appeared in a dream, or if he sent an Angel, and commanded any one of us to do something—how would we respond? I don’t know about you, but I would imagine that I would probably be too scared to do anything else other than wha…
When the Faithful Said No (1) Read More »
Russian Destiny at a Crossroads
A century ago, as the armies of the great powers clashed in ever-increasing numbers across the battlefields of Europe, there was a new social and political mood beginning to sweep through a number of countries. Between 1917 and 1919 the common people – the victims …
Autocracy in Russia – the 100th Anniversary of a Revolution Read More »
Despite the national and personal aggrandizement that came from hosting the Russian Winter Olympics, the Ukrainian crisis of late February has revealed the long suspected extent of Russia’s intrigue in the a_ airs of a nation that was, until the Soviet era, commonly called ‘Little Russia’. The…
The Olympic Peace Shattered Read More »
Despite its complexity, there was something straightforward about the post-war world, of which the success of the Apollo Space Missions seemed typical. Then US President John F Kennedy set his government the task of achieving nothing less than the conquest of Space and that ultimate “small step fo…
“… and distress of nations on account of perplexity” Read More »
“I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night … till he establish and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth” (Isaiah 62:6–7)
In response to questions from his disciples about the end of the Jewish age the Lord Jesus Christ stated, …
Revolutions and Earthquakes Read More »
Against the stark light of an Australian Royal Commission, it can be difficult to see the contemporary Catholic Church as anything other than an institution bedevilled by scandal and beset by accusers. The abandonment of the papal throne by Benedict in 2013, widespread immorality in the priestly ord…
She Said in Her Heart, “I Sit a Queen” Read More »
In 1 Thessalonians 5:3 Paul likens the end of these last days of Gentile darkness to the suddenness of labour in a pregnant woman. In doing so he echoes the words of Christ in Matthew 24:19. In these passages the image is that of a woman already heavily pregnant, weighed down with the cares of her…
Stopping the Ongoing Crisis Read More »
The foundations of the modern Middle East were laid in the aftermath of the First World War. This conflict set in motion the final acts of the long, slow drying up the “great river Euphrates” (Rev 16:12). While the well-known 1917 Balfour Declaration led to the eventual creation of the state of …
Foundations challenged Read More »
It’s been an eventful few weeks in Rome with two bolts of out of the blue and a puff of white smoke.This edition’s Watchman is written as two articles, penned while the unexpected circumstances in the Vatican unfolded over late February and early March – the first written in the aftermath of…
A New Pope and a Pope Emeritus Read More »
