As convention season ends, God announces his nominee for highest office in the land

Geoff Robson Christian Thought, Quick Hits , , , , ,

One Vote MattersIn a low-key announcement intended to reassure nervous voters, God has announced that his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, will once again be his 2016 nominee for Messiah, Saviour of the world, and Ruler and Judge of the universe.

Sources have confirmed that Jesus will once again be the only nominee for the position.

As the only eligible Voter, God announced that he intends to cast his vote early on the morning of November 8th, meaning that Jesus will once again be elected unopposed after receiving 100% of all votes cast.

He is currently serving his 496th consecutive term, and has maintained a 100% approval rating from the Voter during his time in office.

Continue reading →

The double standard of non-discrimination

Geoff Robson Quick Hits, Sport & Culture , ,
032416-NBA-Charlotte-Hornets-2017-All-Star-Michael-Jordan-PI.vadapt.664.high.63
Photo Courtesy: NBA

The NBA, which I love, has just made a big decision. It has announced that it’s moving its 2017 All Star Game from Charlotte, North Carolina, as a direct, specific response to North Carolina enacting law HB2. Known as the ‘bathroom bill’, HB2 says people must use the bathroom that matches the gender on their birth certificate. The NBA regards this law as discriminatory, and is taking a stand by removing its showpiece event from the state. The NBA is being widely praised for this move; key figures have described the decision as ‘[a] stand for inclusion and respect’ and ‘extremely poignant’. Continue reading →

America crowns first ever Preaching Idol

Geoff Robson Quick Hits, Uncategorized , ,

Golden MicrophoneLouisville, Kentucky – In an enthralling finale watched by more than 24 million viewers, Chicago native Nathaniel Adams has been crowned the winner of the inaugural season of Preaching Idol, receiving the honour in front of a raucous crowd of more than 17,000 preaching fans gathered at the KFC Yum! Center.

Adams triumphed over Boston’s Dallas Brown in what host David Mathis called “just an incredibly close public vote, in the providence of God”. Continue reading →

Giving up on Jesus

Geoff Robson Christian Living, Ministry, Uncategorized , , ,

14329298961_da63af3bfc_bI have a great job. I work for the Christian Union at the University of Canterbury (in Christchurch), teaching the Bible to students, talking to people about Jesus, and discipling and training young Christians. I love it. But sometimes ministry hurts. Sometimes, Christian ministry leaves you feeling like you’ve been kicked in the teeth.

Among the (relatively few) negative things about being a full-time, vocational gospel worker, there is one thing that, for my money, is far and away the worst: seeing one-time followers of Jesus give up on their faith and give up on Jesus. It just sucks.

Part of the reason I say this is that I once tried it myself. Continue reading →

More Precious Than Gold: Reading God’s Word in 2016

Geoff Robson Uncategorized

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. (Psalm 119:105)

It’s that time of year – time to realise how you should have devoted more time to reading the Bible in 2015, to admit that you’ve been foolish for neglecting the treasures of God’s holy word, and to resolve that 2016 will be different.

Or wait, is that just me…?

Anyway, if you’re interested in reading the whole Bible in a year, or at least finding something to give you a kickstart, there are lots of plans to help you do it. Over the last couple of years, I developed a couple of my own to suit my own preferences:

This plan (which I’m hoping to use in 2016) allows you to get stuck into one book of the Bible at a time, rather than jumping around. It also gives you days off to catch up, and it has pretty colour-coding.

This one gives you a different part of the Bible to read each day of the week. It also gets you through the New Testament twice in the year (which means it only offers a few days off).

If you find the whole thing a bit overwhelming or you have questions about why you should bother with the Bible, you could check out my book. Ligonier Ministries has also gathered a mountain of other reading plans.

By the way, there’s nothing that says you have to read the Bible. If you’d rather listen to it (while commuting or exercising, for instance), why not invest in an NIV audio Bible or an ESV audio Bible?

Whether you choose to use a plan or not, my prayer is that you and I will both spend more time mining the riches of God’s word in 2016, so that we will know, love and serve the God of the Bible with our whole lives.

The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous.
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. (Psalm 19:7-10)

Our Sovereign Saviour: Media from Relay 2015

Geoff Robson Christian Living, Christian Thought , , , ,

Last month, Christian Union held its annual leadership training conference, Relay. This year’s conference was called ‘Our Sovereign Saviour: How the doctrine of Predestination shapes our approach to ministry.’ Over the course of the weekend, I gave five talks (as well as leading interactive discussion time) to help shape our understanding of this topic. You can listen to (or download) those talks here. You can also download the conference booklet, which contains material for the interactive sessions.

Download: Talk 1 – God’s Sovereignty Over All Things

Download: Talk 2 – God’s Sovereignty And Our Salvation

Download: Talk 3 – God’s Sovereignty And God’s Glory

Download: Talk 4 – God’s Sovereignty And Human Responsibility

Download: Talk 5 – Q & A, God’s Sovereignty And Our Priorities

PDF Booklet For Conference Participants

Marriage in the Trenches

Geoff Robson Christian Living, Quick Hits ,

Old HandsOver the years, in my roles as a Christian pastor and university staff worker, I’ve helped to prepare a lot of young couples for marriage. When it comes time to do formal ‘marriage preparation’, I usually ask the couple to complete an online questionnaire. Once they finish, we sit in my lounge room to discuss the results and share some real talk about what it’s really like to be married. It’s a fun, important and sometimes eye-opening way to help people get ready for marriage.

But over the last few months, I’ve seen the limitations of this process. You see, there’s only so much marriage preparation you can do by sitting on the couch with a cup of tea, a bikky, and a series of coloured charts that claim to capture your mutual strengths and ‘growth areas’ (we’re not supposed to call them weaknesses).

Sometimes, I think the best way to prepare a couple for marriage would be to drive them to a local hospital. I’d take them inside, find a quiet spot out of the way, and ask them to watch silently as an elderly wife spoon-feeds her dying husband. Continue reading →

What’s that smell? Burning books, or burning martyr?

Geoff Robson Christian Ethics, Christian Thought , , , ,

bannedA couple of brief thoughts from afar on the book ‘banning’ debacle unfolding in NSW, for what they are worth…

First, it’s kind of amusing but not insignificant that one of the three books is misnamed. It seems like they meant to ban either this one or this one, and it’s genuinely hard to work out which one is intended. (Everyone seems to be forging ahead on the basis that it’s John Dickson’s book.) It makes the DEC’s directive look amateurish, and leaves the impression that the whole thing was hastily cobbled together rather than carefully considered. If I were banning a book, I’d want to at least be clear on the name of the book. Continue reading →

Recovering the scandal of amazing grace

Geoff Robson Christian Thought, Quick Hits , , , , , ,
961653-63da4b34-a606-11e4-b988-694a6302ad1f
Photo Courtesy: NEWS Ltd

Over the last couple of days, my Facebook newsfeed has been filled with people commenting on the final hours of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran (the convicted drug dealers executed in Indonesia on April 29). In particular, what seems to have caught people’s attention the most is that Chan and Sukumaran went to their deaths praising God, maybe even looking forward to meeting their Maker.

The response to this has provided a fascinating contrast. My Christian friends have celebrated the fact that these men embraced the hope and forgiveness offered by the Christian message about Jesus, even singing Amazing Grace and 10,000 Reasons in their final moments. But for some of my non-Christian friends, these reports obviously seemed strange – perhaps even perverse. I mean, how could anyone be hopeful, how could anyone sing, in the face of such a horrible death? And why would these men, of all people – convicted drug dealers, the scum of the earth – be looking forward to meeting their Maker? Continue reading →

To Sin By Silence: The danger of enabling spiritual abuse

Geoff Robson Christian Ethics, Christian Living , , , , , ,

Cover Eyes“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11)

Last month, when I wrote about the massive issue of spiritual abuse and what’s happened with Mark Driscoll, I expected a decent number of people to read the article. Driscoll is a high profile guy, and spiritual abuse and bullying within churches is a really big issue.

It certainly seems like lots of people have read it, and that’s good. If the aim of that piece was to shine light on an often-hidden and widely misunderstood issue, more people reading it can only help. Continue reading →