Recently I have observed this phenomenon: there is an inverse relationship between dreaming great visions and faithfulness in the little things. The people who have the grandest, most sweeping plans and strategies for the future are likely to be unreliable and untrustworthy in the smaller, short-term tasks and responsibilities. They talk about the great things they want to achieve for God in the years to come, but right now they tend to drop the ball in significant ways.
Just how sovereign is God?
I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes—that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit as well as the sun in the heavens—that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses. The creeping of an aphid over the rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence—the fall of sear leaves from a poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche.
The new principalities and powers #6: Culture clashes
What is culture? We all have one, apparently, and the lucky ones may have several. We are well-tuned to abhor ‘cultural insensitivity’—I know that—but what is this thing called culture?
Nervous about the mystery
Remembering the Reformation
In honour of it being Reformation Day yesterday (31 October), it seems appropriate to remember the gift that God gave us through the Reformers. What better way to celebrate than to hear from a young preacher straight out of Bible college learning the realities of biblical ministry. This is an excerpt from Briefing #325 called ‘Relishing the Reformation’:
(more…)
We need more shack time
Review
The Shack
William P Young
Windblown Media, Newbury Park, 256pp. (more…)
10 ways to discourage your husband in ministry
Pastoral Ministry
My dearest Mara,1 (more…)
Windex for ministry
Resource Talk, Sola Panel
Of the many funny and endearing things about the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, one of my favourites is Gus’s habit of solving every problem with Windex. Pimples, backaches, grazes, smudges, stains—according to Gus, there’s very little that a squirt of Windex won’t fix.
Husband material
Up front
In case you missed it, Mark Driscoll has been to Sydney recently. It’s created lots of healthy discussion about lots of important things. I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on one particular idea that occurred more than once in his public talks: the challenge to the ‘late-blooming’ young men of Sydney to grow up and take some responsibility. His basic formula was move out of home, get a job, buy a house, get married and plant a church—in that order. (more…)
In defence of evangelical heroes
Up front
Recently I preached on 1 Corinthians 1:17-2:5, and I asked the following question: “Where do you see the power of God at work today in the world?” (more…)
Is church for evangelism?
Up front, Sola Panel
Apologies for posing what, at first glance, may seem an obvious and even silly question, but it’s one I’ve been pondering lately: is evangelism a key purpose of Christian assemblies (or ‘churches’)? I am not asking whether God’s people should evangelize—the answer to that is as clear as the need is urgent. I am asking whether evangelism is a primary purpose of our regular ‘Sunday’ gatherings. (more…)
Driscoll and listening to criticism
Recently, Sydney had the pleasure of hearing Mark Driscoll. In a two-week period, he spoke in many venues, including my church St Andrew’s Cathedral, where he twice addressed a packed gathering. His second address challenged our evangelistic ministry in this city: he lovingly told us 18 problems he saw we had. This caused considerable discussion amongst Sydney’s evangelical community. (more…)
Welcoming children
Up front, Sola Panel
One of the quirks of being a Christian minister associated with an historic building like St Michael’s Wollongong is that I end up officiating at a lot of weddings. However I recently attended a wedding as a guest with no official capacity. It was full of joy and wonderful testimonies to the grace and love of God through his Son Jesus. But I noticed something strange: throughout the wedding, from the processional to the final speech at the reception, no mention was made of children at all. Not once. (more…)
Christ and culture re-thought
For the last 50 years or so, H Richard Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture has dominated most Christian thinking on the relationship between Christ and culture. Scott Newling examines two books which seek to break away from this paradigm.
Culture Matters: A Call for Consensus on Christian Cultural Engagement (more…)
Carson on culture
All authors dream of writing the book that is not only popular and valuable, but which becomes the reference point—the standard work—the book that sets the terms of the discussion, such that all subsequent books have to take account of it. H Richard Niebuhr managed to do that with his 1951 book Christ and Culture.
In it, he put forward a five-fold framework or typology for how Christians in history have interacted with culture. Niebuhr’s typology has framed the options ever since. His five models for Christians relating to culture were (very briefly):
1. Christ against culture—in which the demands of Christ are so opposed to the norms of culture that the two must be fundamentally opposed. In the Bible, we see this in the powerful imagery of Revelation (where the world is an evil opposing force to God’s kingdom), or in passages that urge us not to “love the world or the things in the world” (1 John 2:15).
2. The Christ of culture—in which Christ represents, exemplifies and perfects all that is best in human culture. This is the vision of Enlightenment-style Liberalism, where there is no opposition between Christ and culture, but where Christian doctrine is molded to reflect and endorse what we already regard as the best and highest aspects of our civilization.
3. Christ above culture—in which the demands of Christ and culture are in some tension, but a tension that can be resolved by putting the two together (with Christ in the higher place). This approach is typified by Thomas Aquinas, who argued that the church stands over the world and helps the world achieve peace, stability and fulfillment.
4. Christ and culture in paradox—which also sees Christ and culture in tension (neither entirely separating, nor accom¬modating), but says that this tension will never be resolved in this age. This approach is exemplified in Luther’s doctrine of the ‘two kingdoms’, in which the Christian belongs at the same time to Christ’s eternal kingdom, and to the temporal kingdoms of this world. There is a high degree of pessimism in this option about improving or transforming the culture: it will remain sinful and flawed until it is redeemed in the new creation.
5. Christ transforming culture—which accepts the tension of option 4, but is more optimistic about the effect that Christ’s gospel will have in renovating the world now. Niebuhr anchors this in Augustine and Calvin (although with some difficulty), but is a little vague about how much transformation is possible. (more…)