Search results for: faith

Conned!

Australians are swindled out of at least $50 million a year by local and international telephone scammers linked to organised crime, according to a recent article on News.com.

These sliver-tongued cold callers, often supported by slick websites, promise high returns for an average investment of $20 000 to $30 000.

Continue reading
Filed under: Jody Bennett, Popular culture, Thoughts on lifeTagged with: , , , ,

Grace and Jeffery Dahmer

Grace. You might know it as a girl’s name or a prayer at meal times, but that is not the amazing kind of grace I want to talk about here.

Grace is a Biblical concept that basically means getting something we don’t deserve (sometimes paired with the term mercy, which means not getting what we do deserve).  For instance, getting a promotion when we deserve to be fired, or getting a prize when we deserve a fine.

Christians talk about the grace of God in terms of us receiving His undeserved, free forgiveness which is not earned by moral living, but accepted as a gift, through faith.Continue reading

Filed under: About God, Jody Bennett, Popular culture, Thoughts on lifeTagged with: , , , , ,

You’re in the army now

Published in the African Military edition

When one joins the armed forces one is required to wear a uniform, to obey orders unquestioningly, to work in close co-operation with others, to focus on a common goal and to subordinate one’s own identity and desires to those of the organisation.

Each member of an army, navy or air force uses his or her abilities and training, which are often acquired in the military, to promote and serve their country through that corps.Continue reading

Filed under: About God, Jody Bennett, Thoughts on lifeTagged with: , , ,

More than a feeling

“Feelings, nothing more than feelings,” goes the 1974 classic by Morris Albert, and sometimes our actions seem to be governed by nothing else.

How many marriages have ended because “I just don’t feel like I love you anymore”? How many people have committed suicide because they feel that life is not worth living? How many people are addicted to various substances because “it makes me feel so good”?

Continue reading
Filed under: Jody Bennett, Thoughts on lifeTagged with: , ,

Don’t become a victim of victimhood

Easter article 2021

Have you ever heard someone disparage the Easter story by saying, “Well how could God have done that to His Son – send Him to the cross. It’s child abuse!”? Besides the obvious fact that Jesus was a 33-year-old man by this stage, and not a child; He Himself refutes this argument when He says in John 10:18

No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.

Continue reading
Filed under: Holidays and events, Jody Bennett, Thoughts on lifeTagged with: , , , , ,

Easter surprise

Article for Easter 2020

We know well in advance that Easter is on the way by all the Easter eggs and hot cross buns that the shops start selling around Valentine’s Day. The swiftness with which the year marches towards the holiday may take us by surprise but the long weekend certainly doesn’t.

However, nearly two thousand years ago that first Easter morning came as a complete surprise to those who had watched Jesus arrested, tried and crucified.

Continue reading
Filed under: Holidays and events, Jody Bennett, Thoughts on lifeTagged with: , , , ,