Tag Archives: relationships

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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SSM – Not Again

Life, Thought, Sola Panel

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Friends, this is a post I’d prefer to avoid. Same-sex marriage (SSM) is not something I want to focus on. But we don’t always get to choose which issues to discuss. And SSM really is the issue of the times. Everyone agrees, even if they’re weary of the topic. (more…)

Work ethics in Christian ministry

Pastoral Ministry

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If our whole beings are to be devoted to the gospel, what is the place of rest in the lives of those in ministry? Ben Boardman looks at the privileges and challenges for Christians in paid ministry as they organize their week. (more…)

Raising kids in a sex-crazed world

Life

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Imagine living in a world where husbands wooed their wives with Adam’s passion—bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh—and sex was enjoyed. Imagine living in a world where, after the stress of each day, husbands and wives found comfort in sexual intimacy as David did with his wife after the death of their child. Imagine living in a world in which the only reason for not having sex with your marriage partner was the urgency of prayer. It would be a sex-crazed world.1

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Keep the Sabbath

Life

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At the risk of being too general, most Christians agree it’s good and wise to keep the intention of the Sabbath by taking a day off every week and resting.1 We don’t do this because we’re under the law of the Sabbath, for Jesus has fulfilled that law for us. We don’t have to have it on a certain day of the week, and it’s not done to win God’s favour. Instead, we observe these Sabbath-type days because we trust the God who loves us in Christ and who rules all things; taking a day off once a week is “an expression of this commitment”.2 (more…)

Making singleness better

Life

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There are those who say that singleness is better, but unfortunately that is not the experience of many who have been single long-term. Tim Adeney looks at why, and what we can do to love and serve the single people in our churches. (more…)

A Luddite revolution?

Up front

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It occurred to me recently that we may need a Luddite revolution in our attitude towards ministry.

The Luddites were basically a group of tradesmen in 19th-century England. They saw the threat posed by the spread of industrial technology, and protested against it—even sabotaging local wool and cotton mills. (more…)

A Christian Upbringing

Life

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“Being brought up in a Christian home is hard on a child.”

I have heard variations on this comment at various times and it has set me thinking. In fact, I have begun to feel somewhat bitter towards my parents, who gave me a thoroughly Christian upbringing.

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