Deep darkness is punctuated by the flash of a thousand cameras; rumbling bass rattles through my bones. Throughout the arena I can hear the burbling, surging, building crescendo of music ready to erupt—and then, with a synthesizer burst, lights erupt throughout the stadium, only to be extinguished just as quickly.1 (more…)
Category Archives: Church
Getting with God’s program for mission
Everyday Ministry
On any given Sunday, my church has four non-English services. Furthermore, 54% of people from one of our English services are not from Anglo-Saxon or Celtic backgrounds. So while the Sunday school I attended was 100% Anglo, my daughter will most likely go to Sunday school with children from just about every continent of the world. And this trend is not restricted to our churches; it reflects our wider society. In fact, it seems to me that while in the past we had to get on a plane, the ends of the earth have now arrived in Sydney! (more…)
Making the Most of Christmas
Everyday Ministry, Life, Sola Panel
Here are a few rough and ready suggestions I jotted up for our church about “making the most of every opportunity” (Col 4:5 NIV) for the gospel from the Christmas season.
Custom-make your own conference
Everyday Ministry, Pastoral Ministry
This time last year I was enjoying the Geneva Push In the Chute conference in Melbourne. I gathered with others from all over Australia, young and old, from a range of denominations, to encourage each other in the work of planting new churches. In some ways, I was the middle-aged pinup boy, heading to the Top End to begin all over. It was exhilarating to feel the energy, especially from those who were moving to new places to reach out with the message of Jesus. I had the privilege of teaching on why we need to keep planting new churches, how to build ministry teams, as well as sharing our specific dreams and plans for outreach in the Darwin area. (more…)
→ The joy of sects
Link
Carl Trueman reflecting on how the English Anglican Synod’s rejection of women bishops is being cast as cultural suicide:
One of the key failures of the currently trendy Christian cultural engagement movement is that it takes the questions which the culture is asking too seriously. We often assume that it is the answers which the world gives which are its means of avoiding the truth. In actual fact, there is no reason to assume that the very questions it asks are not also part of the cover-up. ‘Answer my question about women’s rights or saving the whale’ might simply be another way of saying, ‘I don’t want you to tell me that my neglect of my wife and children is an offence to God.’
Prayers for those suffering abuse
Pastoral Ministry, Sola Panel
There has been a national Royal Commision of inquiry into the tragedy of child sexual abuse and institutional responses, announced by Australia’s Prime Minister, Julia Gillard (her press release here). (more…)
Trellis & Vine Talk 9 — church planting and personal discipleship
Trellis & Vine Talk
In this episode Sam Freney talks to Paul Dale from Church by the Bridge about church planting: gathering a team, one-to-one discipleship, the surprising diversity of Kirribilli, and not reading books about church planting (MP3). (more…)
→ Seven cautions for eager polemicists
Link
Kevin DeYoung on fighting:
I am not against polemics. It is a necessary virtue for Christians in so far as Christianity believes in the immovability and central importance of truth. Where would the church be today if Athanasius, Augustine, and Luther eschewed polemics? Christians must be willing to enter the fray and engage in controversy if they are to be faithful in a fallen world.
I also know there are many dangers with polemics. I see them in myself and can spot them (more easily, sadly) in others.
All seven are worth reading.
Trellis & Vine Talk 8 — Sunday sermons: necessary but not sufficient
Trellis & Vine Talk
Trellis & Vine Talk 7 — common and uncommon preaching
Trellis & Vine Talk
The role of singing in the life of the church
Life
Now there are all sorts of reasons why Christianity is a singing faith; for the practice of making melody to the Lord, and of hymn singing in particular, has many purposes. My intention in this article is to focus specifically on congregational singing and to open up its three principal purposes. (more…)
→ Why pushing right is harder than pushing left
Link
Theologically speaking, pushing right is much harder than pushing left. I do both, depending on the context, and pushing right is definitely more difficult. When I’m trying to nudge people to their left on an issue—trying to persuade five point Calvinists to become four pointers or less, commending pacifism, defending theistic evolution, or championing charismatic gifts for today—I feel radical, creative, daring, exciting, and somewhat impish. But when I’m trying to nudge people to their right about something—inerrancy, hell, gender roles, sexual ethics, biblical authority, Reformed soteriology—I feel conservative, stern, unpopular, staid, and even somewhat apologetic.
The Two-Pronged Strategy of a Master Evangelist
Everyday Ministry
It’s amazing how culture changes and we don’t notice it. The practices that one generation took for granted become unknown, and slightly shocking, to a later generation. Even for those of us who live through the change it happens too incrementally for us to observe it. It is when we revisit the old times that we detect how much we have changed—sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, and often without any real difference. (more…)
Liturgical v. freeform prayer
Pastoral Ministry, Sola Panel
Relevant for our corporate praying! A thoughtful balance from Goldsworthy…
In assessing the relative virtues of liturgical versus non-liturgical prayer, I have come to conclude the following:
Stop preaching only to the choir?
Pastoral Ministry, Sola Panel
It’s hard to manage expectations about how much our regular church meetings are for evangelism!
Last weekend, I received this feedback from a very mature and committed member, via our comment cards.
(more…)