Tony Payne: Phillip, you’ve been in ministry for quite a long time…
Phillip Jensen: Well, ever since I became a Christian; that’s when you start ministering, and that was back in ’59. (more…)
flickr: The Arches
A few years ago, our family of six left a congregation full of parents with young children, and joined a church made up mostly of university students.1 This wasn’t an ideological statement on our part: it was simply because my husband works in university ministry, and that’s where we needed to be at the time. But it’s made me aware of some of the benefits and costs of going to church with people from a different age and stage from your own.
If you’ve been going to Sunday church services for as long as I have, you will no doubt have a list of things that you don’t find very edifying (i.e. things that drive you nuts). But what should we do about this all-too-common lack of quality in our church gatherings? (more…)
by Andy, age 5
The other day, my husband Steve told our four children to grab a piece of paper and a pen. Then he rolled out those old, familiar words: “God is the loving ruler of the world…”.
Late last year I wrote about praying for our school and loving people at our school. Today I conclude my mini-series with the bit I find the hardest: gospel speech.
flickr: activefree
I’m no saleswoman. I don’t have the thick skin, the showmanship, or the gift of the gab. But apparently, that’s not what I need to help people get to know Jesus. The best salespeople, I’m told, show genuine concern and sympathy, and believe in what they’re talking about.1 That sounds a bit more like me. I can love; I can believe; I can pray. But I also have to open my mouth and speak.
That, I’m not so good at. (more…)
In the September issue of The Briefing, Moussa Ghazal wrote about making conversation with Muslims. He spoke of two alternative approaches: befriending Muslims and patiently sharing the gospel, and the polemics of ‘expose-the-errors-of-Islam’. He suggested the former method is something any Christian can do, and the latter is probably best left to experts who have extensive knowledge of Islam (and Christianity!). Samuel Green is one such expert, and although he’s no stranger to warm, personal, gospel conversations, here he takes on the task of responding to ‘A Common Word’, an attempt by Muslims to engage in interfaith dialogue with Christians over what they claim is shared ground: love of God, and love of one’s neighbour.
A pastor friend has some book money in his budget and wants to stock up on books he can freely pass out to people he is discipling or those who come through his office. He asks me about my choices. (more…)
Late last year a conference was put on with the title Exploring Effective Ministry Under God. There were a number of presentations about church membership, training, mobilisation, and lots more from a range of contributors, spearheaded by Tim Sims (who conducted the research on Sydney Anglican churches published recently in The Briefing). (more…)
2012. A new year. Resolutions, decisions, choices to be made. What if…?
Over on Kevin DeYoung’s blog, guest blogger Jason Helopoulos asks this intriguing question: (more…)
If you insist to a friend that the ‘real meaning of Christmas’ is the birth of Jesus Christ, there are two kinds of response you’re likely to get. (more…)
Here’s my second post inspired by Lionel Windsor’s ‘gospel speech’ series. The last one was about prayer; this one is about relationships; the next will be on gospel speech.
flickr: Adam Jones, Ph.D.
Our local primary school is marvellously multicultural. During the years they’ve been there, our kids have become best friends with Buddhists from the Punjab, Muslims from Pakistan, and Catholics from Serbia, as well as some fair-dinkum Aussie pagans. At last count, the kids at school trace their recent ancestry to more than 50 countries. In a place like this, mission knocks on your door and asks itself in.
Recently, we’ve been preaching on Guidance, and to reinforce the theme, I selected “Guide me, O my great Redeemer” as our hymn of the month. (more…)
I’ve shared before the concept of “Hymn of the Month”
In November, given our sermon series on Guidance, it makes sense that I selected “Guide me, O Thou Great Redeemer” as Hymn of the Month. Here’s what I wrote about it in our weekly church newsletter… (more…)
