ARE ALL SINS EQUAL?

Editorial
From the Newsletter of Revesby Presbyterian Church
November 2008
Rev Dr Peter Barnes

In a sermon delivered in 1933, Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones asserted quite vigorously that all sins are equal in God’s sight: ‘All sin is sin to God and miserliness is no worse than drunkenness. Both are equally …

POVERTY AND PERVERSITY

Editorial
From the Newsletter of Revesby Presbyterian Church
October 2008
Rev Dr Peter Barnes

Where the Christian revelation is despised, there will be a consequent decline in our apprehension of beauty, goodness and truth. In other words, ungodliness will lead to moral decay, and the result will be a greater …

FALSE DEDUCTIONS

Editorial
From the Newsletter of Revesby Presbyterian Church
September 2008
Rev Dr Peter Barnes

People who claim to believe the Bible can still manage to draw false deductions from it. Over the centuries there have been some strange efforts in this regard. Sometimes the result is almost amusing – except …

INTERPRETING PROVIDENCE

Editorial
From the Newsletter of Revesby Presbyterian Church
August 2008
Rev Dr Peter Barnes

I sometimes get asked impossible questions from people who want to know exactly what God is doing in a particular situation. They may have to decide about a business venture, for example, and they want to …

PRESENTING THE GOSPEL

Editorial
From the Newsletter of Revesby Presbyterian Church
July 2008
Rev Dr Peter Barnes

The book of Acts reveals to us how the gospel was made known to people who were, initially at least, not Christians, be they Jews or Gentiles. The epistles, however, were written to churches or people …

GOD IS OBVIOUS

Editorial
From the Newsletter of Revesby Presbyterian Church
June 2008
Rev Dr Peter Barnes

Is it obvious that God exists? Richard Dawkins does not think so: ‘The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no …

A DEFENCE OF GENOCIDE

Editorial
From the Newsletter of Revesby Presbyterian Church
May 2008
Rev Dr Peter Barnes

Of all the accusations levelled at the Christian faith, perhaps one of the most difficult to counter concerns the charge of genocide – that the Israelites carried out a policy of genocide, on God’s orders, when …

THE RESURRECTION: WHAT IF IT’S NOT TRUE, WHAT IF IT IS?

Editorial
From the Newsletter of Revesby Presbyterian Church
April 2008
Rev Dr Peter Barnes

It is worth asking the question: What difference does it make to believe in the resurrection of Christ, as opposed to not believing it? Death is clearly the great reality and the great leveller of life. …

CAN GOD JUST FORGIVE?

Editorial
From the Newsletter of Revesby Presbyterian Church
March 2008
Rev Dr Peter Barnes

I was sitting in the manse lounge room with my Muslim friend who was trying to convince me that Islam is a religion of grace because Allah simply forgives. He declared that all who repent are …

SCRIPTURE MEMORISATION

Editorial
From the Newsletter of Revesby Presbyterian Church
February 2008
Rev Dr Peter Barnes

Trekking for nine hours a day in the Himalayas leaves one with a bit of time to think, in between admiring the scenery, watching one’s step, and trying to breathe. On our recent expedition, I took …