Without question, Jesus Christ is Lord. This is a problem for someone who tries to make their own truth in the world. It has been suggested that an average Australian’s chief occupation (or idolatry) is ‘a general sense of well being in the everyday world’. This is the form that opposition to Jesus takes. If Jesus doesn’t produce what I want, he has to be reduced, ridiculed, and if he persists, removed. Israel’s leaders realised the threat Jesus was and sought to bring him down. Jesus did not defend himself but brought to light what was true. He shows that […]

This reading (Ecclesiastes 12:1-8), is addressed to young people, telling them what old age looks like without the joys of knowing their Creator. There are some things that are best learned before we get old, particularly, enjoying the creation and honouring the God who gave it. The Bible commends old age, but this is because people who have lived with faith, hope and love as they have grown up carry those benefits with them into old age. Working at godliness while we are young has lots of benefits all the way through life.

Author: Grant Thorpe. Many people are surprised, and greatly encouraged, when they see what the Bible has to say about Christian parents and their children. There is confusion in the community about the role of parents, and children, of course, have an instinct for making their parents feel inept! We could all do with some encouragement! This booklet does not seek to prescribe solutions for dilemmas or recipes for success, but rather to describe the task God has given to parents, and what hope he has provided for them. The central theme of the booklet is that parents are to […]

Author: Grant Thorpe. For some time, I have been aware that Christians tend to live in two worlds. One of these is a religious world where the creed sounds right and faith seems viable. It may be a retreat but it does provide some security. The other world is the one that is seen, where an income must be earned, bills payed, people helped and problems solved. It is the world which we hope will be favourable to us, but in which, we know, we must finally die. Against this tendency, it must be asserted that this world is the […]

Author: Grant Thorpe. The topic of peace is always interesting to consider, because it has to do with our sense of well-being and our freedom to engage in all the necessary things of ordinary life. But there have been particular reasons for recent interest in the subject. First among these has been the ongoing dilemma of conflict in those churches where it would appear that God’s Spirit has refreshed the people of God in the meaning of their gospel. The second has been the opposite problem–a beguiling tranquility in churches where the absence of friction may be largely attributable to […]

Author: Grant Thorpe. The prophet Isaiah described the people of God as he saw them: ‘…this people draw near with their mouth and honour me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men learned by rote’ (Isaiah 29: 13). He showed that there was a difference between what was happening externally and what was really happening. We are well accustomed to this distinction being made, but the question involved for those in Christian ministry is: ‘What is the relationship between reality and the expression of that reality in […]

Author: Grant Thorpe. In this booklet, the author shows why Christians are frequently timid and why churches sometimes resemble the anxious-to-please labrador. He looks at the church’s sometimes blustering past-a false confidence not to be resurrected. Great tasks wait to be done and Christians are urged into action, often with no effect. The writer sees the need for a rediscovery of meekness-the meekness of Christ and of grateful Christian faith. ‘The meek are not those who are cowered before their fellow men, but – those who have been humbled before God. They know the true meekness of living-as a creature […]

Author: Grant Thorpe. Grant Thorpe – a Baptist minister and a Staff Worker with the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students – is an alert young man with theological sensitivity. His sensitivity in theology has led him to the principle of practical application, i.e. no theology that does not relate to life. In this book he discusses the age-old question of law and grace. The result? Not static theology but the warm way to love God and one’s fellow creatures.   A book not only for the college student, but for us all. Download PDF

Author: Grant Thorpe. This study is a selective review of teaching on the return of Christ, focusing attention on some matters needful to the maintaining of a true hope at the present time. Download PDF

Author: Grant Thorpe. This paper attempts to describe the framework within which Christians can feel confident as participants in the daily business of life, whether in private conversations or public debate, personal living or community action, and whether it be in matters of quiet development or situations of conflict. Considerable discussion has taken place in recent times regarding a Christian’s duty in his social environment. I have not sought to catalogue the various views taken, but have sought to clarify some of the ‘givens’ within which a person may discover how they should act and talk in the world. I […]