I have to confess that for much of my Christian life, I’d not really stopped to consider the person of Mary and what she contributes to the church today. I knew about the major controversies of church history, and the significant differences between the Roman Catholic understanding and that of reformed Protestantism. But at a personal level, I’d never stopped to ask the question, “What does Mary mean to me?”
Category Archives: Everyday Christianity
‘Missional lifestyle’: Lifestyle and legalism
Life
In my previous post, I started a short series on ‘missional lifestyle’, and set out a basic framework for discussing what that might look like. But before I jump into the details, I thought I ought to write a second ground-clearing post—this time focusing on the relationship between lifestyle and legalism.
‘Missional lifestyle’: A basic framework
Everyday Ministry
On a church camp recently (not our own church, but another one), I had the chance to take part in a discussion with a group of women about what a ‘missional lifestyle’ might look like for us in our various life situations. (My husband Dave was involved in a parallel discussion with the men.)
Stimulated by that discussion and a few of the loose ends left over at the end of it, I thought I might turn my thoughts into a short series of blog posts on the subject. I’ll do my best to write in a way that isn’t fixated on the things that are particular to my own situation. Instead, as far as possible, I’ll try and think the issues through in a way that opens up the conversation to other people in different life circumstances. But if the examples along the way tend to be a bit ‘mums-y’ at times, I hope you’ll understand and forgive!!
The basic framework for the conversation at the camp went like this:
Jars of clay: Blue-collar ministry
Everyday Ministry
Ben Hunter, plumber
Ben Hunter is a plumber. More precisely, he’s husband to Charlotte, father to Josiah, Lydia and Nathanael, a graduate of Sydney Missionary and Bible College (SMBC), a most-of-the-time plumber and a part-time TAFE chaplain. (In Australia, ‘TAFE’ stands for Technical and Further Education, and TAFE colleges provide a wide range of vocational tertiary education courses.) (more…)
The Winter Olympics, basketball, Paul and teamwork
Everyday Ministry
There are very few Mexicans competing in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Well, that is what I assume from the complete lack of coverage here. At least we are being spared the scandals, tears and fashion disasters that usually accompany such an event!
So with no curling to enjoy when I need a brain break, my remote has led me to watch a bit of basketball. Here in Mexico, we get both kinds of basketball: NBA (professional, LA Lakers, Boston Celtics, absurd amounts of money, etc.) and college (university, 18-21-year-olds—many of whom will in a few years be making absurd amounts of money). Now I’m the sort of guy who will watch just about any kind of sport. I’ve also played a bit of basketball in my time, so it’s been interesting to me to observe the difference between NBA and college. Strangely, reflecting on that has helped me understand 1 Corinthians 3.
What is Christ-centred worship?
Up front
In a number of Thai churches, I have noticed that the songs fall into three general categories: 1. “I offer you my life”, 2. “Pour out your Spirit”, and 3. “I want to be close to you”. This emphasis is hardly unique to Thailand; much of what we sing here is heavily influenced by the West. These type of songs have a time and place, yet it seems that in some churches, these are almost the only type of songs that are sung. As we sing the same basic things over and over again, I have begun to wonder, “Where is Christ? Where is the cross?” It seems a glaring oversight not to have songs about Christ and his finished work on the cross as the mainstay of Christian worship. (more…)
Diary of a ministry apprentice (Part 2): March 2008
Everyday Ministry
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…)
So you think you can serve?
Everyday Ministry, Sola Panel
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
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…)
“What do you say when…?” Taxicab conversations
Up front
As promised in Briefing #367, here’s another example of how to speak God’s life-changing word in any and every situation—this time, from Simon Manchester, who writes about what to say when you’re in a taxi and the driver seems talkative. (more…)
Of trees, trains and Christian growth
Life, Sola Panel
There’s a stand of huge old oak trees in the park where I walk. They have a slightly surprised air, as if they’ve been transplanted from a genteel English landscape and are wondering how they ended up here, surrounded by scruffy wattle trees under a burning Australian sun, with graffiti tags on their trunks and white cockatoos squawking from their branches like rowdy antipodean visitors. (more…)
How to encourage your kids’ Sunday school teachers
Everyday Ministry
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.
Self-knowledge for godliness and ministry (Part 5)
Life
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.
Podcast: Laying the foundations at Church by the Bridge
Audio
Paul Grimmond speaks to Paul Dale about his role as pastor of Church by the Bridge and the place of one-to-one ministry in his busy life (MP3).
Getting yourself right side up
Resource Talk
Over the next week, I intend to introduce some of the latest new resources from Matthias Media.
Today, I thought we might kick off with the brand new book written by one of our esteemed Sola Panelists, Paul Grimmond. It is Paul’s ‘debut’ book Right Side Up.
Like preachers who regularly preach that “The passage we are looking at today is one of the most significant passages in the Bible”, I guess I also run the risk of devaluing the currency when I say that “This latest resource is one of the most significant we’ve published”. Naturally enough, I get pretty excited about all our new resources.
But even when I force myself to apply some objectivity to the assessment, I am going to stick to my guns on the significance of this book for at least two reasons.