Opinion

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.  So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his ...

I recently went to see the movie, Charlie Wilson’s War. Charlie Wilson was a United States Congressman who became actively involved in a clandestine operation aimed at the defeat of the Russians who had invaded Afghanistan in 1979. The movie is both a fascinating and frightening insight into the political manoeuvring involved in such a venture and the consequences that ...

The Parable in Luke 16:1-13 is usually entitled, “The Dishonest Manager”. This title is actually very unhelpful, because it encourages us to focus on the parable as an example of inappropriate human behaviour, rather than as a story that points us to a particular truth about the nature of God and how God acts. In this story, the Manager is ...

Rev. Dr Alan and Mrs Judy Morrison spent a year in Tonga from July 2006 to July 2007. Here are Mrs Morrison’s reflections on their time there. The hour was late but the airport was alive with people – men, women and children moving, talking, laughing, looking – and everywhere the handshakes and hugs of meeting and greeting. Our pale ...

Moderator’s Message February 2008 My first conscious memory of Jesus being an important part of my life comes from age seven. The image relating to that memory is still vivid. My father and I, as we regularly did on a Sunday afternoon, were visiting my grandmother and aunty. My aunty and I were at the piano singing: Jesus loves me, ...

Much of this issue of Journey is devoted to examining the Gospels and what Jesus said, and might not have said. All good and interesting stuff, but I kind of like the little craze that spread around the world last decade called “What Would Jesus Do” (WWJD). Of course there is a very tacky side to it all with not ...

Christmas 2006 would be a difficult time – a space at the table on Christmas Day. I was on my own now, my husband, the love of my life, my closest friend, would not be with us this Christmas – it was real! I began to realise how hard it would be not having him here with us all on ...

In September 1992 the youngest of our three children, eighteen month old daughter Kristen, died on the road outside our manse, hit by a car. I was in my first year as a minister, serving in the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand in Tokoroa, a town of 16 000 people connected with the dairy, logging, pulp and paper industries. A month ...

Christmas is usually portrayed as a happy family time but for those who have lost loved ones, particularly in the year leading up to the celebrations, it can be a difficult time. This month Journey asked three readers, “How did your faith sustain you in the Christmas after your loss?” Christmas has always been a wonderful time of celebration for ...

Janet Jones knows depression as a darkness. She is on a journey into wholeness and wellbeing along with her church congregation, Christ’s other travelling companions! Each has their own need and often need the support of others in that need. Black is not the absence of colour; black is formed when all colour and light is held and none is ...