In Pascal's Pensees, the 17th-century French mathematician and philosopher proposed a suitably mathematical approach to faith. In a formulation that has come to be known as Pascal's wager, he suggests we can look at the truth of the God of Christianity as a game of chance.

The discussion about church structure versus mission is like an in-church version of the spiritual--or--religious "question" in wider society. It might be trendy to say, "I'm spiritual but not religious" or "I'm into mission but not organised church" but if we think about such statements more carefully, they don't make a lot of sense.

As a young and enthusiastic volunteer minister a number of years ago, I arrived at what I had been told was a growing and vibrant church. I was full of bright ideas and happy to share them. Neither the ideas nor me got very far.

As Adventist leaders and representatives from around the world sit down to determinedly not talk about recognising the contribution and calling of women to church leadership and ministry, Australia has its first female prime minister.

The Lost Meaning of the Seventh Day is one of the best books I've read in a while.

Considering my obvious lack of significant talent--both then and now--I spent an inordinate amount of my high-school years plodding up and down a windswept, concrete basketball court. And even on the other side of the world--in a country town in rural Australia--our hoop dreams somehow connected with the NBA.

Three nights ago, Switchfoot played in my hometown of Melbourne.

The resurrection of Jesus changes everything.

Somehow we got to talking about famous and favorite opening lines to books. And as the conversation evolved, this was pared back to comparing the first three words of literary works.

Eventually we got to the Bible and, despite her lack of religious background, she was proud to tell me she knew the first three words of the Bible, "In the beginning . . ."

If ever there was a church that should have learned a lesson about prophetic interpretation, particularly of the date-setting kind, it should be Adventists.