Recently in Sydney there has been a billboard advertising campaign, with signs carrying various messages, including “Jesus: A prophet of Islam”, placed around the city. Run by Diaa Mohamed from the Islamic organization MyPeace, it certainly got some media attention. What was more interesting was the Christian response to it. Some were positive about it, others were negative, and some even said that it was offensive. (more…)
Author Archives: The Briefing
WordWatch: Idioms begat by the Bible
Word Watch
In 2011 we’ve been celebrating the 400th birthday of the King James Bible. Bible societies across the English-speaking world organized appropriate festivities, and used the occasion to draw attention to the Bible’s sweeping social and cultural influence over the last 400 years. Language is one place where the Bible has had a powerful impact. (more…)
Kids’ culture watch spot: Facing fear
Everyday Ministry
By popular demand (two people asked), here is my next script for a culture watch spot I did with the kids at church on Sunday.
You will need two overhead visuals for this culture watch spot:
Daniel 2-7, Harry Potter and Narnia
Everyday Ministry
It’s a Sunday as I write this, and I’m speaking on Daniel 2 and 7 later this morning at a friend’s church in Lidcombe.
Daniel 2-7 is chiastic in structure; that is to say, if you have a story where the first incident is labelled A, the second incident is labelled B, the third incident is labelled C, and so on, then the overall story (if it’s chiastic) follows the pattern A B C D E (and so on, depending how long your story is) and then you get to a point and go backwards until you get to E D C B A.
Love Wins
Review
Love Wins
Rob Bell
HarperCollins, London, 2011. 256pp.
Rob Bell—the founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids—is certainly no stranger to controversy. His groundbreaking Nooma series of short films and his first book Velvet Elvis were greeted with adulation by some, and something nearing revulsion by others. In fact, he seems to court controversy. He—or his publishers—certainly knew what they were doing when they engaged with the new media about the release of Love Wins. In a beautifully produced YouTube preview of Love Wins, Rob asks:
(more…)
Paul’s leadership essentials
Pastoral Ministry
Are you in a ministry role, teaching and caring for God’s people? Checking out the business section of the bookstore for tips? Adrian Russell encourages you to turn to Paul’s example of leadership in 2 Timothy 4. (more…)
Where is Jesus now?
Thought
Note: This is part 2 of a 3 part series on Jesus now—read part 1, ‘Who is Jesus now?’, or part 3, ‘What is Jesus doing now?‘. (more…)
Teasing the toothless tiger
Thought
The devil is our enemy, but how do we find out about him, and what can he do to us? Peter Bolt takes a walk through what the Bible says about Satan to determine what we need to know and how we are to treat him. (more…)
Stressors of pastors and leaders
Pastoral Ministry
In 1 Corinthians, Paul exhorts us to run the race without disqualifying ourselves. Grant Bickerton looks at how pastoral teams and their flocks can help professional gospel workers endure long-term. (more…)
David Helm on One to One Bible reading
Video
Talkin’ ’bout my generation (part 3): On giants’ shoulders
Pastoral Ministry
There is a famous phrase about intergenerational dependence: that ‘we stand on the shoulders of giants’. It reminds us that whatever we have we owe to those greats before us. But let me remind you of Isaac Newton’s specific use of the phrase: “If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”. In other words, the upshot of standing on a giant’s shoulders is that you tend to have a better view than the giant himself does. As we build sensibly on the greats of previous generations, we also have the privilege of seeing better than they.
Talkin’ ’bout my generation (part 2): Stepping aside (not out) so others can step up (not in)
Pastoral Ministry
It can be very tempting as an elder (in whatever context: family, school, youth group, church, denomination, organization, committee, etc.) to just do things yourself; you’re more experienced, more capabable, and can get things done quicker. And as time goes on and you keep doing things yourself for those very reasons, those reasons become self-perpetuating: you are more and more experienced than anyone else will ever be because they are never given a go.
Talkin’ ’bout my generation (part 1): Unassuming generations
Pastoral Ministry
There is a model of ‘intergenerational theological decline’ that has been doing the rounds of late, and perhaps you may have heard it: the first generation wins or establishes the gospel in their context, the next generation assumes the gospel, and the third generation loses the gospel.
Kids and idolatry: a spot I had to do at church
Everyday Ministry
For some reason, I’ve been asked to do a regular ‘culture watch’ segment for the kids’ spots at the beginning of church.
I’m not sure I even believe in watching the culture, but someone clearly did at some stage in the history of our kids’ talks, so here we are with me doing a ‘culture watch’ spot. My basic strategy has been to work on a topic or passage from the Bible, and find a YouTube clip with the faintest of connections to something that may possibly illustrate the bit of Bible I want to talk about, but is at least funny in a ha-ha kind of way.
Working with clowns
Everyday Ministry
The movie Real Men is at best a guilty pleasure. A womanizing super-agent teams up with a wimpy suburban family man to save the world, one long dad joke after another. For me, the scene which captures the style of the movie best is when the protagonists are attacked by a bunch of rogue CIA agents… all dressed in clown suits. It begins with the line “Who are those clowns?” and finishes as the last clown standing looks around and says (and if you couldn’t see this coming when the scene began, you should hang your head in shame) “I’m working with a bunch of clowns”, before running away.