Praying together in light of the gospel

Jeff Read | 1 December, 2009

Jeff Read looks at the business of prayer and why it should be a central element of our meeting together. (more…)

Uncommon prayer

Life

The Briefing | 1 December, 2009

Diary of a ministry apprentice (Part 1): January 2008

Pastoral Ministry

Guan Un | 1 December, 2009

Guan’s story so far, in four sentences: He is currently a writer for The Briefing—since, at least, the start of this paragraph. As of the time of writing (2008), he’s 26, looks about 13 (blame the Asian genes), is married to the amazing Mary,¹ and is about to start MTS at the University of New South Wales (which, in keeping with Aussie colloquialisms, is referred to here as the ‘Uni’). Prior to this, he’s worked in web design, publishing and doing the most lonely job in the universe. He wanted to start MTS before, but a long up-and-down struggle with the black dog of depression prevented him from doing so—that is, until this year.

Something Grimmo said: “On MTS, failure is success. And success is failure.” Keep this in mind: it’ll be important later.
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A spot of gardening

Resource Talk

Ian Carmichael | 1 December, 2009

I want to be frank with you, so I’m just going to say it. I don’t want any argument, okay? There is nothing—repeat, nothing—more boring on television or radio than shows about gardening. If you disagree with me, then I’m sorry, but you just need to be corrected.

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Gambling

Up front

Phillip Jensen | 1 December, 2009

Of all the addictions, one of the worst is gambling. Most chemical addictions are stopped by unconsciousness, but gamblers know no stopping: there is always one more throw of the dice, one more hand to play, one more person to borrow from. Their lives are filled with expensive thrills and deep desperation. (more…)

The Bible and the refugee

Up front

Anonymous | 1 December, 2009

Ben Atwood recalls the time he spent speaking the Bible’s life-changing word to a refugee in detention. (more…)

Enshrined adolescence

Up front

Paul Grimmond | 1 December, 2009

I have a friend who has an adolescent daughter. Surprisingly, there are moments when the relationship is more rocky road than dairy milk, if you follow me. As he described his current set of frustrations, it suddenly occurred to me that adolescence is the new black. (more…)

Holding onto the gospel: The challenge of preaching Jesus in South Africa

Interchange

John Child | 1 December, 2009

I appreciated the interview with Grant Retief in the October Briefing. He has certainly done a significant work on university campuses in Durban and in the recruiting and training of apprentices. His analysis of the South African Christian scene is also perceptive—and provocative. (more…)

Choosing the right move

Up front

Andrew Lansdown | 1 December, 2009

When thinking about euthanasia recently, I found myself also thinking about the samurai of ancient Japan. In particular, my thoughts turned to a book titled Hagakure (‘hidden leaves’) written in 1716 by a samurai called Yamamoto Tsunetomo.¹ (more…)

Should theodicy be at the heart of our preaching?

Up front

Andrew Barry | 1 December, 2009

Theodicy is the defence of God’s justice and goodness. It is something we naturally think about, and more often than not, it drives our preaching. You reach a difficult teaching of Jesus about hell, or a confronting passage of Paul’s about the role of men and women in the church, or even a verse about the uniqueness of Christ, and instead of listening to the passage, you start arguing with it. And sometimes God’s word seems to magically come around to your point of view. (more…)

Self-knowledge for godliness and ministry (Part 6)

Life

Mark Baddeley | 1 December, 2009

We come now, in our series on self-knowledge for godliness and ministry and our thinking about personality tests as a kind of ‘worked example’, to a weakness of personality theories closely related to the one we saw last time: overvaluing the insight.
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How to encourage your kids’ Sunday school teachers

Everyday Ministry

Nicole Starling | 27 November, 2009 | 12 comments

On Sunday mornings, I come to church wearing two hats: parent and Sunday school teacher. Drawing on my experiences from both roles, I thought I’d put together a few thoughts about how parents can encourage our children’s secondary ‘disciplers’ (in this case, their Sunday school teachers) to keep doing the job with perseverance, diligence and joy. It’s a somewhat random list based mainly on my own frustrations and joys over the years. I’d love to hear your additions to the list.

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Please hurt me, I’m not a masochist

Life

Paul Grimmond | 26 November, 2009 | 2 comments

I have an admission, and it’s time to make it public: I suffer from CPA (Chronic Pain Avoidance) syndrome. I hate conflict, so I try to avoid saying things that will cause it. I don’t like physical pain, so I try not to exercise too hard. My eight-year-old son gave me what he describes as a squeeze cuddle the other day, and my ribs hurt for the next 24 hours. The older I get, the more pain-averse I become. (more…)

Self-knowledge for godliness and ministry (Part 5)

Life

Mark Baddeley | 25 November, 2009

Jennie and I have been discussing personality theories as a worked example of pursuing self knowledge in the service of godliness and ministry. Jennie has discussed some of what they offer, and in my last post, I discussed two interlinked possible problems they can create: justifying sin in ourselves or others. Over the next two posts, we turn to two more related weaknesses—weaknesses arising from over-valuing the insight that personality tests might offer.

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Bethlehemian rhapsody

Everyday Ministry

Gordon Cheng | 24 November, 2009 | 1 comment

I feel a bit wrong posting this video to the Sola Panel as an actual contribution, but if I were God, this is how apologetics would be done: (more…)