Monthly Archives: November 2008

In for the long haul

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I have been reminded in a number of ways this week that following our saviour is sometimes very hard work. It can be physically and emotionally exhausting to live not for yourself, but for others. In God’s kindness, he grants us his very precious promises to encourage us to persevere. I found this little article that Gordon Cheng wrote for Briefing #290 a great encouragement. Hopefully it will encourage you too:

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Doing the little things well

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Recently I have observed this phenomenon: there is an inverse relationship between dreaming great visions and faithfulness in the little things. The people who have the grandest, most sweeping plans and strategies for the future are likely to be unreliable and untrustworthy in the smaller, short-term tasks and responsibilities. They talk about the great things they want to achieve for God in the years to come, but right now they tend to drop the ball in significant ways.

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Just how sovereign is God?

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I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes—that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit as well as the sun in the heavens—that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses. The creeping of an aphid over the rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence—the fall of sear leaves from a poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche.

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Nervous about the mystery

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It’s important to say that God is a mystery, as I suggested in my last post, but I can understand why many evangelicals might be a bit nervous about saying it. I’m a bit nervous myself.

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We need more shack time

Review

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It has topped The New York Times’s bestseller list and has been called The Pilgrim’s Progress of our generation. But what is it about William P Young’s The Shack that has captivated so many people—Christian and non-Christian? Paul Grimmond investigates.

The Shack
William P Young
Windblown Media, Newbury Park, 256pp. (more…)

Windex for ministry

Resource Talk, Sola Panel

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Of the many funny and endearing things about the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, one of my favourites is Gus’s habit of solving every problem with Windex. Pimples, backaches, grazes, smudges, stains—according to Gus, there’s very little that a squirt of Windex won’t fix.

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Husband material

Up front

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In case you missed it, Mark Driscoll has been to Sydney recently. It’s created lots of healthy discussion about lots of important things. I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on one particular idea that occurred more than once in his public talks: the challenge to the ‘late-blooming’ young men of Sydney to grow up and take some responsibility. His basic formula was move out of home, get a job, buy a house, get married and plant a church—in that order. (more…)

Is church for evangelism?

Up front, Sola Panel

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Apologies for posing what, at first glance, may seem an obvious and even silly question, but it’s one I’ve been pondering lately: is evangelism a key purpose of Christian assemblies (or ‘churches’)? I am not asking whether God’s people should evangelize—the answer to that is as clear as the need is urgent. I am asking whether evangelism is a primary purpose of our regular ‘Sunday’ gatherings. (more…)

Driscoll and listening to criticism

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Recently, Sydney had the pleasure of hearing Mark Driscoll. In a two-week period, he spoke in many venues, including my church St Andrew’s Cathedral, where he twice addressed a packed gathering. His second address challenged our evangelistic ministry in this city: he lovingly told us 18 problems he saw we had. This caused considerable discussion amongst Sydney’s evangelical community. (more…)

Welcoming children

Up front, Sola Panel

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One of the quirks of being a Christian minister associated with an historic building like St Michael’s Wollongong is that I end up officiating at a lot of weddings. However I recently attended a wedding as a guest with no official capacity. It was full of joy and wonderful testimonies to the grace and love of God through his Son Jesus. But I noticed something strange: throughout the wedding, from the processional to the final speech at the reception, no mention was made of children at all. Not once. (more…)

Christ and culture re-thought

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For the last 50 years or so, H Richard Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture has dominated most Christian thinking on the relationship between Christ and culture. Scott Newling examines two books which seek to break away from this paradigm.

Culture Matters: A Call for Consensus on Christian Cultural Engagement (more…)