Category Archives: Uncategorized

A different centre of gravity

Everyday Ministry

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This heartwarming feedback just came in from Dave, a pastor here in Sydney:

I’m not a teary kind of bloke. Last night, though, I was almost at the point of crying as we went around the room and people shared what they’d got out of doing The Course of Your Life. In the week following the weekend away one lady has told virtually everyone she’s met about Jesus and started praying all the time; another lady has cut back her excessive work hours and is praying far more frequently; three men shared how they’ve started speaking about Christian things in conversations at work where in the past they would’ve kept quiet; one of them gets in the car a few minutes earlier each day so he can pray for opportunities to speak about Jesus at work; another guy can’t stop reading Colossians because it’s just so exciting.

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Is parenting a vanity too?

Life, Sola Panel

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I was preaching on Ecclesiastes 3 yesterday, and made what I guess is the pretty familiar point that although we experience meaning in our daily lives, we also experience the frustration, bewilderment and ‘vanity’ of life under the sun. We know that there is a bigger story—there is eternity in our hearts—and so we see the beauty or appropriateness of different things that happen (a time for this and a time for that). And yet God has also made sure that we “cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” (v. 11). There is a frustrating opacity to life that is meant to humble us, and lead us to fear God (v. 14). (more…)

Hating or adorning?

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Further to my last post on being hated, Jean Williams posted this insightful comment and question on my wall:

Here’s a verse I’ve been reflecting on that came to me as I read the post: “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26). Sobering words, and ones that challenge me.

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Teaching our kids Two Ways to Live

Everyday Ministry, Life, Sola Panel

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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…”.

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Gospel speech at our school

Everyday Ministry, Life, Sola Panel

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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…)

Inviting discussion

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One of the neat things about the web is the way that (almost) instantaneous communication can take place. Someone makes a statement, and you can not only find out about it on the other side of the world but you can say your own thing as well. Here at The Briefing we value the input that many of you make to critique, sharpen, and refine the thinking presented in our articles by way of feedback, in all its kinds. (more…)

Something important to share with your group leaders

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My intentions to write more short pithy posts notwithstanding, this post is a little longer because it basically consists of part of an email that Sandy Grant recently sent round to the small group leaders and youth leaders at his church. For reasons that will become obvious as you read, Sandy is saying things that I strongly endorse! Can I suggest you follow his lead, and give some encouragement in this vein to your leaders? (more…)

Re-booting for 2012

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A new year dawns. Time to re-boot the exercise plan (for at least the next three weeks), the diet (I’ll give it four weeks), the regular Bible reading and prayer (no comment), and of course contributing to the Sola Panel. (more…)

A statement of purpose for the new year

Life, Sola Panel

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flickr: danielmoyle

I’m no great fan of New Year’s resolutions: quite the reverse.1 For a perfectionist like me, resolutions often come unstuck, resulting in legalism, guilt and (once I fail to live up to them) a spectacular throwing-off of the reins. Change becomes about meeting my standards rather than responding to the God who forgives and transforms me.

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Editorial: A gathering, a bride, and divorce

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It was late high school when someone changed my perception of reality.

I can’t remember who it was, but they were a leader on a holiday conference. I was part of a group of students who were spending several days working through a passage in Hebrews, nutting out the context, the flow of the passage, what the main point was, how to express that to someone else, and so on. This guy helped me to read the Bible carefully, and to see the picture painted in Hebrews 12: I am part of that congregation of believers gathered not at Mount Sinai in fear and trembling, but in joy and glory around the throne of Jesus in the heavenly Jerusalem. (more…)

Two editorial jobs at Matthias Media in 2012

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As the year draws to a close, a big thanks to our many readers, subscribers, and commenters. It’s been a year of changes at The Briefing, and we’re hugely grateful for all the encouragement and interaction and support we’ve received. Keep it coming in 2012! (more…)

Loving people at our school

Everyday Ministry, Life, Sola Panel

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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.

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