be.reflective

be reflective with meditations by Dave Andrews

The Story Of The Cross In Today’s World

One of the biggest difficulties we face, in trying to figure out the place of the story of the cross in today’s world, is that we live in a postmodern world, in which, it is said, there is no place at all for a metastory – like the story of the cross – anymore.   […]

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Sanctuary And Nonviolent Direct Action

  Dave Andrews We are called to protect the vulnerable against violence. St Paul says ‘love always protects and always preserves’ (1 Cor. 13:4) Direct nonviolent intervention is the most loving way to do that, as it is least likely to incite further cycles of violence and counter-violence. However, nonviolence should never be used as […]

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We Are Here To Take A Stand For Sanctuary

Dave Andrews’ Speech on the Steps of St John’s Cathedral 08/02/2016 I would like to honour the traditional owners of this land past and present whose representatives have publicly welcomed asylum seekers. We are here today to take a stand for Sanctuary. Sanctuary is when people of good faith, in times of turmoil, open up […]

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The top 20 sayings of Jesus

By my friend Jim Reiher This was hard to do! I have been studying Jesus and his teaching for many years…. And to reduce what we have on him to just 20 sayings… well… it is very subjective and a huge ask. It will be a countdown…. From the 20th to the 1st most important […]

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We Need To Accept Life, Respect Life, & Empower People To Live Life To The Full.

Dave Andrews Christ himself is our example, and his spirit serves as the inspiration for the simple, practical, compassionate path he wants us to take, regardless of the difficulties we may encounter along the way. His expectation is not that we slavishly copy him, but that we voluntarily make the same kind of choices that he made, and that he encouraged […]

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We Do Not Need A Christian Ideology So Much As A Christlike Sensibility.

Dave Andrews The best way I know of developing and practicing a radical spirituality of compassion in today’s world is by following the way of Christ Now having said that, let me say very clearly, that for me, Christ is not synonymous with Christianity. They are not one and the same. In fact the way advocated by Christ is […]

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The Need For A Radical Spirituality – A Spirituality Of Compassion

Dave Andrews We need to begin with the realisation that our world is in trouble; and that religion, which was meant to make things better, has often made things worse. We do not suffer from the lack of religion, but from the lack of love. So if we are to have any hope of survival, we need to find […]

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Maryam’s Song, The Revolutions Of God And The Jihad Of Jesus.

Mary’s Message For Christians And Muslims. Dave Andrews In the Qur’an it says ‘to Maryam the angels said: “Maryam, God gives you glad news of a Word from him” concerning her “son”, the “Masih – or Messiah – Isa” (3.45)’. And ‘Maryam said “Lord how shall I have a child, when no man has touched […]

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Violent World Needs The ‘Jihad’ Of Jesus

The recent disturbing events in Paris are the latest in a global series of religiously motivated terrorist acts. In his new book The Jihad of Jesus – the Sacred Nonviolent Struggle for Justice, writer and community worker for TEAR Australia, Dave Andrews, warns of the dangers of ‘closed set religion’. He spoke to Roland Ashby […]

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Maybe its true that “whoever is not with me is against me”, but it is also true that “whoever is not against us is for us”.

Dave Andrews on the Wheaton College great ‘same God’ debate. The suspension of Wheaton College professor, Larycia Hawkins has become international news. On December 17 2015 Ruth Graham reported in The Atlantic that ‘Larycia Hawkins, an associate professor of political science at Wheaton College, was placed on administrative leave on Tuesday after suggesting that believers […]

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Meaningful Interfaith Engagement – Principle-Based.

Dave Andrews Meaningful interfaith engagement is principle-based engagement. Stephen Covey says, ‘These principles are a part of every major religion, as well as enduring social and ethical systems. They seem to exist in all human beings, regardless of conditioning and loyalty to them, even though they might be submerged by such conditions or numbed by […]

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Meaningful Interfaith Engagement – Critically-Reflective

Dave Andrews We need to not only affirm ‘good things’, but also confront the ‘bad things’. In Christian-Muslim engagement either people do not confront the ‘bad things’ that need to be confronted, or people confront the ‘bad things’ that need to be confronted by criticizing all the ‘bad things’ about the other. The trouble is […]

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