Nov2014
Eyes focused, finger on the pulse
by Reid Matthias
As the sun set below the western horizon, darkness settled over the ocean like an ebony blanket. I stood on the balcony, grasping the railing and watching lightning bolts touch the water, far out to sea. I was torn: to fish, or not to fish? That, my friends, is the real question. Then, in the… Read more
Sep2014
The Holy Grail … is a servant’s cup
by Reid Matthias
Sometimes it seems like every church is on an endless quest to figure it out—to find the formula to bring people into membership. I guess we’ve tried every possible recipe: a dash of new programs, some exciting three-point preaching, maybe even a (gasp!) drum kit somewhere in the general vicinity of the sanctuary. We’ve copied… Read more
Aug2014
My precious
by Reid Matthias
There are three things that I have learned not to poke fun at in Australia: Vegemite Slim Dusty Cricket It’s very easy to ridicule Vegemite because it tastes like scrapings from the oil pan of a rusted-out old ute—but I promised Christine that I wouldn’t make fun of it. I don’t know much about the… Read more
Jul2014
Mind your slanguage!
by Reid Matthias
Buckle up and hang on for the ride, because I’m going to tackle that which has confounded me for my first three years in Australia: slang! Because my wife, Christine, is Australian, I have been introduced to various Australianisms. For example, if I want to say that a child is unhappy with an outcome, I… Read more
Jun2014
Make it better
by Reid Matthias
She couldn’t have been more than two years of age. Her bright, blond curls bounced like springs as she took bounding little steps towards her mother, who was absently thumbing her way across her phone. The little girl approached her mother, right index finger pointing straight into the air. Obviously, this finger had absorbed the… Read more
May2014
A good dance by the font
by Reid Matthias
On the day of the service, Carl texted me at 8.00 am: ‘Make sure you watch out for roos.’ With eyes peeled, I drove the speed limit thinking about Carl Thiele’s regularisation service. I thought about Carl and his own journey, of living with and through God’s call … how we all have different sensory… Read more
Apr2014
The inherent danger of rules
by Reid Matthias
I have a friend named Louise, who, to all intents and purposes is a pretty good driver; slightly irrational, because she is terrified that a semi will throw a tyre into her windshield at any moment—but basically a good driver. Louise follows the road rules, uses her indicator, checks her mirrors at all times—but she… Read more
Mar2014
Mourners – or midwives?
by Reid Matthias
In 1872, in a small corner of the world—London’s Hyde Park, to be exact—a new breed of orators stepped up to speak about their own specific agendas. Whether political, scientific or religious, these ‘soapbox orators’ opened themselves up to praise or ridicule, all while standing on a crate. From the 19th century to the 21st,… Read more
Feb2014
Worship war
by Pastor Reid Matthias
Not long ago, in a church not that far away … We’re trying to do different styles of worship at Green Pastures. This is a relatively new experience for the ‘little church on the prairie’, although there have been short-term forays into ‘contemporary’ worship. Basically, this meant that they used the rainbow of books, rather… Read more
