Charles Spurgeon, the great 18th century English preacher and evangelist, described prayer as the ‘engine room' of his ministry. Whatever else he was doing, for Spurgeon, serving God began with prayer. For us – whether it's our Christian lives, ministry in our local church, or the bigger picture of the diocesan Mission – the fundamental starting point must be to pray.

While you are reading this, Bishop Reg and Dorothy Piper will be in (or just returned from) Sabah, Malaysia, leading a team of 15 people from around the Wollongong region on a ministry trip.

It is every woman's nightmare. Lois Rabey has never forgotten the day 23 years ago when the hot-air balloon holding her husband and his two friends caught on fire. All three men were killed instantly in front of her and her two young daughters. “At that moment, I had a positive experience of heaven, that it is real, and those men were entering it,” she said. The story received broad news coverage, in part because Mrs Rabey's faith in Christ led her to testify that her Christian husband and the two men killed with him were in heaven. Despite having never spoken in public before, she was soon in demand to share her experience, including an invitation to speak at a Billy Graham crusade in front of 14,000 people just weeks later.

A report by the Australia Institute, published earlier this year, suggested that 24 per cent of boys and seven per cent of girls ‘accidentally’ encounter sex sites on the Internet every week. What the report did not highlight was that much of the temptation to visit dubious sites comes unasked. One click on the link to a website on an unsolicited email can take the receiver to a pornographic site.

It is now 30 years since the ‘Roe v. Wade’ case made abortion legal in the USA. Earlier this year, Norma McCorvey, alias ‘Jane Roe’ (the Roe in ‘Roe v. Wade’), sought to overturn this decision, voicing her regret over the part she played in the original lawsuit.

Brussels is considered one of the wettest places in North-West Europe. That hasn't dampened Hugh Cox's passion for building the Kingdom in this strategic world centre.

Sydney Diocese's ten-year Mission plan puts church planting right at the heart of its strategy. With this in mind, over 40 ministers and interested parties from around the Diocese and beyond met last month, to discuss how to develop a ‘College of Planters'.

Sydney Diocese's ten-year Mission plan puts church planting right at the heart of its strategy. With this in mind, over 40 ministers and interested parties from around the Diocese and beyond met last month, to discuss how to develop a ‘College of Planters'.