Doing ‘nothing remarkable’ on the coast

Pastoral Ministry

Andrew Heard | 3 February, 1999

Twelve years ago I had a ‘vision’ which in hindsight appears prophetic, but in reality can be put down to youthful enthusiasm. While holidaying on the New South Wales Central Coast, my wife and I read of its staggering growth rate (around 5% p.a.) and became aware of the needs the place would have in the years to come for a growth in gospel ministry.

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The New Perspective in action

Thought

Rob Smith | 24 December, 1998

All Christian teaching has implications for Christian living. Likewise all doctrine works itself out, one way or another, into a pattern of Christian practice. Having examined the ‘New Perspective’ on justification in the two previous Briefings (#228, #229),¹ in this article, we want to explore the ‘cash value’ of the ‘New Perspective’ on justification—that is, its impact on Christian experience and ministry. Once again, we will focus our attention on the teaching of Tom Wright— partly because of the significance of the challenge he poses and partly because he (more than others) has taken the time to articulate what he sees as the practical outworkings of the ‘New Perspective’ on justification.

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All we need

Michael Fischer | 23 July, 1998

From Euthanasia to the Gospel

Everyday Ministry, Sola Panel

Tony Payne | 1 August, 1995

You’ve invited the neighbours over for dinner. Dessert has been successfully concluded, and the kids have retired to their bedroom where they are conducting experiments in paint durability under various impact scenarios. The coffee orders are being taken. As it so often does, the conversation is meandering down loosely connected paths and byways, and your dreams of perhaps talking about the gospel (or even something vaguely Christian) seem to be fading faster than the paint in the kids’ bedroom.

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Christ vs culture

Everyday Ministry

Ray Galea | 2 May, 1995

When I first became a Christian and went to a Protestant church, I noticed two things: one was that the church buildings were very small compared to Catholic churches, and the other was that everyone was different to me: they were in the main Anglo-saxon. Over the last 15 years, I have spent time in six churches, and our church buildings are still too small, and most of the people inside them are still Anglo-saxon.

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Saving the heart: What is an evangelical? (Part 1)

Thought

Mark Thompson | 6 February, 1995

The last few years have seen a plethora of books on the subject of evangelicalism. While some writers are critical, the overwhelming majority of them present the picture of a Christian movement which is sweeping all before it, triumphing over both liberalism and ritualism. Evangelical Christianity is making the church at large sit up and take notice. But the triumph is an illusion. Behind the hype, the citation of statistics and the self-congratulation, many evangelicals have become confused and distracted from the critical tasks of evangelism and edification. Part of the cause of this is a new reluctance in some quarters to clarify just what is genuine evangelical belief and practice.

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