Tony Payne interviews Peter Bolt, author of ‘Living with the Underworld’, about demons, death, the devil and the difference Jesus makes (MP3).
Archives: tony-payne
Social action and the Last Day
Free Briefing subscription offer. But hurry!
Judging by the site stats, which we have been keeping an eye on (but not obsessively), The Sola Panel has lots of readers from Canada and the US. Here’s a deal I thought you should know about.
Of coffee, gospel and social action
Well, my little piece on FairTrade coffee has ignited plenty of discussion and debate—not only about the pros and cons of the FairTrade movement, but about social action, doing good and political involvement more generally. It is to these latter questions of theology and principle that I now want to turn (although ‘turn’ sounds rather too grand—as if I am about to give myself to a lengthy and learned disquisition).
Smell the coffee
A recent edition of Southern Cross (our diocesan newspaper here in Sydney) featured an extended and very positive series of articles on the Fairtrade movement. Fairtrade is a ‘think global, act local’ sort of initiative which involves consumers in the West attempting to improve the lot of poor and exploited farmers in the third world by buying ‘Fairtrade’ products. By buying certified ‘Fairtrade’ coffee, for example, you ensure that a higher income flows to the cooperatives that produce it (usually 10% or so above the market price). There were stories about Christians who have become involved in the Fairtrade movement, and strong encouragement for churches to get involved—not only as a means of adding valuable momentum to the whole movement, but as a culturally attractive way of building links with our community and sharing the gospel.
The same thing or the new thing
I once was sitting with the inestimable David Jackman in an airport, which is where we often seem to meet, and asked him what the big challenges were looking ahead for The Proclamation Trust. He paused a moment and then said in his characteristically gentle and mellifluous tone, “You know, I think it’s to keep on doing the same thing we’ve been doing for the past 15 years”.
Can we?
Couldn't Help Noticing, Sola Panel
In the fascinating rise and rise of Barack Obama, we see a resurgence of what the Americans call ‘liberalism’ and what we Australians don’t really have a decent name for, apart from the vague designation ‘leftist’. It’s a moral and political philosophy that takes an optimistic view of mankind and the human heart, and believes that if we all start afresh, work together, and change the way we do things, then together we can build a better America, a better Australia, a better world. Yes, we can. (more…)
Talking about Total Church (Part 1)
Review, Sola Panel
The Briefing in action
20 years ago in April 1988, our first child was born: a daughter. Like most first-time parents, we had discussed ‘the name’ at length, but almost as soon as we saw her tiny but perfect little frame, we knew what we would call her. She was a gem (and still is). We called her ‘Gemma’. There was another birth in our family in that same month 20 years ago: a little periodical was born. And the name was also a subject of much discussion. We didn’t want to call it anything too fancy or too pretentious, but we didn’t want to call it anything too predictable either. We wanted the name to say something about what the fledgling publication was and wasn’t: it wasn’t a newspaper or news magazine, attempting to report on what was happening in the world (the Christian world or otherwise), and it wasn’t just a special interest magazine for the Christian lifestyle, like Cigar Aficionado or Better Homes and Gardens. We wanted to convey that this new little periodical aimed to inform and equip Christians for life and ministry in God’s world—that its aim was not to entertain or divert, but to inspire action. (more…)
Introducing: The Sola Panel
The word ‘blog’, I gather, is a contraction of ‘web log’. I’ve been reading blogs on and off for a couple of years now, and it seems to me that ‘blog’ isn’t the only new word we need to describe what goes on in the ‘blogosphere’. Other handy words might be ‘binane’, ‘brudeness’ and ‘bwaste of beveryone’s time’.
Fight the good fight (part 2)
Life, Sola Panel
Under what circumstances, and in what manner, should we critique the views of others?
Podcast: Preaching and personal ministry
Audio
Tony Payne and Gordon Cheng reflect on the differences between the USA and Australia in the area of personal ministry (MP3).
Emoting about idols
Couldn't Help Noticing
They say that the psalms are the hymnbook of Israel. I don’t know if this is true, but if it is I sometimes wonder what the atmosphere in ‘church’ was like back then. (more…)
Back to mission
Couldn't Help Noticing
How times have changed. When I first went on beach mission *umphh-murmur-cough* years ago, we lived in tents, built a beach pulpit, put up with an appalling ‘amenities block’, got washed away when the inevitable rain came, and spent at least some part of every day whooping and hollering through the caravan park dressed in weird costumes to ‘scoop’ in the kids. That was then. After a very lengthy break, Ali and I have recently gone back to beach mission—this time with a family in tow. Now I am that old guy who used to hang around the place, and try a little too hard in the competitive games: the Camp Dad. And that’s not all that’s changed: the mission we are part of now runs in mid-January rather than straight after Christmas, it is located in a school rather than a caravan park (there’s covered concrete walkways and carpet on the floor!), and it is aimed at the locals rather than the holiday-makers. However, even though some of the surface details have changed, in all other respects everything that was wonderful about beach mission in the old days still applies—even for the Camp Dad. There’s the fun, challenge and joy of mucking in together and working hard with 40 or so other keen Christians for a week; the priceless opportunities for training younger Christians to have a go at things they never would have dreamed of doing at home; and the scary but vastly encouraging experience of telling kids and adults about Jesus. And here’s the kicker: you get to do all this alongside your own kids. It’s tiring (of course!), and Camp Dads don’t sleep as easily on camp mattresses as they once did. But let me testify to the fact that it’s one of the best Christian things we’ve done as a family in years. If you’re keen to give it a go, it’s not hard to sign up. Just let it be known quietly that you’re thinking of going back to beach mission. Word will quickly reach the ears of a Team Member near you. You will be pounced upon! (more…)