The billboard caught my eye. Written across a background graphic of young people partying in a nightclub were the words: “DESTINY is calling, but BEER is on the other line.” What should one choose; Destiny... or beer? In the bottom corner of the billboard were the words, “Hello BEER,” accompanied by a bottle of Carlton Dry Beer. In the mind of the advertiser, the decision was clear. Don’t respond to the call from Destiny on Line 1. Pick up the call from Beer on Line 2. Here was another ad championing the ‘here and now’ over the future, the good life in terms of ‘Beer’ not ‘Destiny’. To really live one needed to make the decision to take hold of a Beer and ignore the call from Destiny. Read More...

As is well known, an ongoing debate in Christianity is whether women could be disciples at the time of Christ. Much of the debate revolves around the teaching of Paul and especially 1 Cor 14 and 1 Tim 2. Jesus’ teaching and attitude toward women in this regard however, is arguably of more consequence when considering the issue.  Read More...

As long as I can remember I have read the NZ Herald. When I was young it was delivered each day, and when I left my parent’s home I continued the tradition. It is nice turning the pages of the Herald each day over breakfast. This is about to change, however. Late last year I got a good deal on an iPad, and while on holiday over Christmas and New Year I started reading the Herald iPad App. Since I returned I have kept it up. And there are no advertisements and no racing pages! Just news. I think there is a problem though. It seems to me (at this early stage in my Herald iPad experience) that some news items that appear on the iPad don’t make it to the print edition while some of my favourite columns (e.g. Jim Hopkins on Friday and Paul Holmes on Saturday) don’t make it to the iPad. Neither do the cartoons, although I am not sure that any of the current cartoons are up with those of Sir Gordon Minhinnick (died 1992). I guess it is “market driven,” and they do need to keep selling paper copies. The other problem is that the iPad App doesn’t give the date when a news item appeared in print. Those of us who want to comment on an item can’t give the issue date unless they find it on paper. Read More...

The other day I heard a prominent US figure speaking about the various Republican candidates seeking to win the nomination for the upcoming US presidential election. The interviewee stated his preference for one candidate and the interviewer asked why he was against the other candidates. He responded stating that it was not that he was against the other candidates, it was that he was for a particular one and his views. He in fact stated that he liked all the candidates in some way or other and could live with them winning, but had a strong preference for one. Read More...