Be careful what you promise

Everyday Ministry, Sola Panel

Lionel Windsor | 6 February, 2010 | 1 comment

Do you know for sure that you are going to be with God in Heaven? If God were to ask you, “Why should I let you into My Heaven?” what would you say?

Have you ever used these questions (or a variation on them) to talk about the impact of the gospel of Jesus Christ with friends or strangers? They are the introductory questions in the well-known gospel explanation associated with Evangelism Explosion (EE). They’ve proved themselves to be a very popular way to start a serious discussion about our relationship with God. We assume that people in our world have given at least some thought to their own death and eternal destiny. These questions help us to show how the gospel, with its strong emphasis on assurance of future salvation through Jesus (e.g. 1 Thess 1:10, Heb 9:27-28, 1 Pet 1:3-5), provides a clear answer to important issues. (more…)

The gospel and ageing

Everyday Ministry, Sola Panel

Lionel Windsor | 3 February, 2010 | 10 comments

What is the most polite way to refer to an old person? Have you noticed how the words we collectively use to refer to old people in the media and in private conversation keep changing? It’s a strange process. We start using a word or phrase, for example, ‘old man’, ‘old woman’. After a while, we decide that this phrase is really a little derogatory, and so we change to another, more neutral phrase, such as ‘senior citizen’. But after a while, ‘senior citizen’ sounds condescending and slightly offensive. So we try another, more neutral, word—like ‘elderly’. But the same thing happens: after we use the word ‘elderly’ for a while, it starts to sound a bit insulting. So we try ‘aged’. Then ‘ageing’. And so on. The reason this keeps happening is that our underlying concept of ageing itself is negative. It doesn’t matter what word we choose to express it; that word will start to take on the negative connotations that we associate with the underlying concept. (more…)

Diary of a ministry apprentice (Part 2): March 2008

Everyday Ministry

Guan Un | 1 January, 2010

Guan’s story so far in four sentences: Guan likes self-deprecation, but isn’t very good at it. He is ever so slightly obsessive about his iTunes collection, he is married to M,¹ and at the time of writing (2008), he has just started ministry training (MTS) at the University of New South Wales (hereafter known as ‘the Uni’). So far, the year has begun with a whirlwind staff conference and recruiting students at the human flood that is the Uni’s Orientation Week (see Briefing #375). Now things begin to settle into a rhythm, but life is not without its challenges. (more…)

Freedom to do what you don’t like

Everyday Ministry, Life

Phillip Jensen | 1 January, 2010

Phillip Jensen teases out the true nature of Christian freedom.

There are two kinds of freedom. Christian freedom is the freedom to be a servant of others (Gal 5:13)—the freedom to do what I don’t like. But the freedom that allows me to do whatever I want is not Christian freedom; it is license and sometimes licentiousness. When in the name of Christian liberty, I am free to do what I wanted to do anyway, a deep suspicion enters my mind; it is not that God wants to deny me any pleasure, but that I know that my motives are corrupted by sin. (more…)

24

Everyday Ministry, Resource Talk, Sola Panel

Marty Sweeney | 1 January, 2010

I am one of the few who doesn’t regularly follow the worldwide hit show 24. My days are certainly not as action-packed as Jack Bauer’s. But I know that Bauer’s work isn’t as important as what I’ve been involved in over the last 24 hours of my life. Here are just the climatic scenes:
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So you think you can serve?

Everyday Ministry, Sola Panel

Lionel Windsor | 24 December, 2009

I’ve just read through the Apostle Paul’s letters and noted all the words he uses to describe his ministry. It’s a fascinating and humbling list. (more…)

Sergio, evangelism and customer service

Everyday Ministry

Peter Sholl | 18 December, 2009 | 2 comments

Winter arrived in Monterrey with a bang this week. As a result, we joined the shivering throng at our local giant hardware chain (Australian readers: think Bunnings on steroids) to buy a heater. We were served by Sergio¹ who spoke excellent English, who had wonderful customer service skills, who knew very little about heaters and who got me thinking about evangelism. (more…)

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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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…)

How important is the piece of paper?

Everyday Ministry

Peter Sholl | 12 November, 2009 | 4 comments

I’m very new to the world of being a provider of formal theological education (having had some experience as a student), and am learning lots along the way. One of the issues that is really big beyond the shores of Australia is the question of accreditation and qualification. (more…)

Overcomers Outreach

Everyday Ministry

Alison Payne | 1 November, 2009

Alison Payne tells the story of how God used Penny Wilkinson’s alcohol addiction to bring about much good.

“Oh Alison, if I thought I could just go and play golf, I would.”

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Day 3 of Synod – what if you disagree with a matter of wisdom?

Everyday Ministry, Sola Panel

Sandy Grant | 23 October, 2009 | 1 comment

The main item on the agenda at Synod yesterday was the expenditure side of the financial ledger.

But first we made some minor but important amendments to our Discipline Ordinance—the way in which the Anglican Diocese of Sydney deals with complaints about paid church workers and volunteer leaders who are accused of breaching our professional standards, especially in the area of sexual misconduct or child abuse.

I mention this as a reminder for all church members and leaders to pray for those with the heavy responsibility of overseeing their church’s or denomination’s safe ministry standards. Jesus says we must protect those who cannot protect themselves. Pray for those who oversee your denomination’s professional standards or act as chaplains to victims.

But back to expenditure. What do you do if you disagree on a judgment matter made by a leadership team or decision-making body you belong to?

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Ideas for strengthening families (Part 4)

Everyday Ministry, Sola Panel

Sandy Grant | 21 October, 2009 | 1 comment

Read parts 1, 2 and 3.

Another idea for strengthening families is reading something other than the Bible at the breakfast table. (It’s not often you’d see a Sola Panellist reading something other than the Bible!)

However, as you have probably guessed, I’m talking about something that aids our understanding of God—something that has provided a helpful change of pace to straight Bible reading and discussion. In other words, a bit of systematic theology.

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Ideas for strengthening families (Part 3)

Everyday Ministry, Sola Panel

Sandy Grant | 17 October, 2009 | 1 comment

Recently I shared two great ideas my wife came up with for strengthening family life. Now I’d like to share a couple of ideas I got from elsewhere that particularly focus on helping parents follow Ephesians 6:4 (“Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord”—NIV).

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