Christmas once again seems to have caught up with me. I suppose other issues have been top of mind, centred around family, health and well-being. However, as the festive season and summer break are upon us, it is good to take stock and give thanks. There is a lot to be thankful for, from the perspective of church life; I'm thankful for the end of term prizegiving service that included young people we just had and for those who took it upon themselves to re-enliven a ministry

It was timely to be in Napier recently, to be present and assist with some issues my parents are having in their retirement village life. This was at a time when my brother was temporarily out of action following surgery. It was sobering to hear my Mum express confusion about who I was. She was expecting "Martin, from Auckland." I assured her that was me. There is a kind of unraveling at play. The stories are less distinct, the timelines more uncertain. My Dad, also living wi

Otuihau Whangārei Falls Apostle Paul manages to write from prison in the early 60s CE his most joy-filled epistle to the Philippian Church. Being in prison sounds like a bit of a downer to me, but Paul has this waterfall of joy flowing out as he urges his readers to always rejoice. The source of his joy is the Lord, and his hope of Christ's return, at a time of God's choosing. He encourages the believers to keep their hearts and minds on the important things of faith, with wo

As I was doing about thirty laps of the AstroTurf sports field at Forrest Hill on Monday morning, I began by listening to an online devotional based on Luke 16: 19-31 about the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus was a beggar languishing at the gates of the rich man who generally ignored him. It made me think. As we enter the Advent season, we do well to pause and meditate on what scripture has to say about the sharing of resources with those who have little, by those who have mor

John 7:18 records these words of Jesus; "Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him." Jesus was indicating to his fractious listeners that he was not just 'blowing his own trumpet', but was an integral part of God's mission to the world. He was and is both the messenger and the message. His words were not just human words, but the words of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Sadly,

Green Route November 2025 Life throws some things at you. There are stories that can be shared of unexpected things that happen in ministry, some good and some terrible. I've shared with you previously about the time a certain woman had the mic at the service in week two of my ordained ministry and instead of reading the call to worship, went into a long tearful diatribe which resulted in her and half the youth group disappearing to the Mormon Church the next week. It was sup

'We Mavericks' at Kumeu Arts Centre The musicians we went to see on Saturday night wove a tapestry of vocal harmony, guitar, mandolin, violin and cello, seasoned with spontaneous humour. They expressed gratitude to the live audience for showing up, urging us to encourage our friends to pull themselves away from Netflix and head out in search of live performances. I can only agree, it was a great night and for a very reasonable ticket price. With streaming services hoovering u

Window, Transitional Cathedral, Christchurch I was in Christchurch last week, for the General Assembly of the PCANZ. Collected by friends at the conclusion of the assembly, we braved the wind and had a bit of a wander around the central city. I had not been to Christchurch for some time, and had never visited the Transitional Cathedral. It's existence was of course was necessitated by the series of catastrophic earthquakes and tremors beginning in February 2011, which destroy

The first day of General Assembly in Christchurch had all the things one might expect and more. I attended the AFFIRM pre- assembly mini conference in the morning, which was both encouraging and informative. The welcome into St. Paul's Trinity Pacific Church was enjoyable. It's such an impressive complex. The congregation worship band was outstanding, bringing some contemporary interpretation of familiar hymns, with a bit of a soul/funk edge to it. The singing in the very ful

Takapuna Beach I find it interesting that the speaker of our parliament is instigating a review of dress standards within the house. Ties for men may become mandatory again. My personal opinion is this is another small and petty way of bullying those who represent the refreshing diversity we now have within the halls of power. It is a distraction from the real business of serving the people of New Zealand.. Dear reader, before you label me as a screaming lefty, please know I

Long Bay coastal walk ‘Sovereign Lord, you alone know.’ This is the response of the prophet in Ezekiel 37 to the valley of dry bones he...

Centennial Park panorama Before the day of his assassination earlier this month, I had never heard of Charlie Kirk, American conservative...

Dead Tree, Schnapper Rock Rd. I have a strong memory from 1984 of sitting in Mr. Hawkins 6th form maths class and realising that maths at...

Centennial Park I was talking with my son about the troubling nature of news and world events. We discussed that information, news and...

Cityscape from Forrest Hill From about now, those of us on the electoral roll will begin receiving our voting packs for the local body...

Karangahake panorama People we know and love are going through things all the time, although there seem to be a lot of challenges at the...

Martin's Bay The Jews of Jesus' time no doubt saw the religion of the Samaritans as syncretistic and therefore an abomination to them,...

High tide at Campbell's Bay The Psalmist, singing of the greatness of God, proclaims; "In his hand are the depths of the earth; the...

Lake Rotorua panorama Aug 2025 The aphorism "a change is as good as a rest" seems to hold true. It was restorative to get away the last...

Centennial Park Panorama I was having a personal prayer time and singing a song from 1979; He Has Brought Us This Far By His Grace. I...