As we enter the fading Twilight of 2017, all indicators are that the gospel influence on Australian society similarly fades as a rising tide of godless darkness consumes the erstwhile Christianized landscape. The metrics of this tide are well documented: the now well entrenched missional failure and the consequential decades-long chronic trend of decline in … Continue reading A New Babylonian Captivity
It was after dinner on a Hong Kong evening many years ago now, just before Christmas. I was sitting on the balcony of our apartment in the Mid-Levels of the main island, and looking down over the central business district of Hong Kong below me, known as Central, with the harbour beyond and further beyond … Continue reading The Atheist and the Sledgehammer
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre. The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world” W. Yeats ********************** In the University City of Oxford, England on October 16, 1555 the Anglican Bishops Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer were burned at the stake. Their … Continue reading The Light Flickers Lower, The Foundations Crumble and the Centre Will Not Hold
There is a failure “to in fact go deep enough to examine, much less challenge, deep-rooted ideas about what church is” As almost everyone will know, even if only from a brief glimpse on a news bulletin, that this year is the 500th anniversary of what is known as the Reformation. This was the time … Continue reading The Next Reformation
“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” This is a quote from Sir Winston Churchill who was paraphrasing a statement by the Italian philosopher and novelist George Santayana. Churchill went on to say- “We must always look forward, but we have to understand our history in order to not repeat … Continue reading The Square Wheel Delusion
I do quite a lot of driving, both in Australia and overseas. Often the journey is to places where I have never been before, and so I am unfamiliar with the route, the types of roads I will be travelling on or what traffic conditions, accidents or roadwork delays I might face. So on these … Continue reading Real Time Guidance on Mission Highway
There is a story about Air Chief Marshall Dowding commander of British Fighter Command during the critical stages of the Battle of Britain in World War 2. Reportedly, an officer rushed up to Dowding with what he thought was exciting news regarding the number of the enemy shot down on the previous day. “That’s good”, … Continue reading Leadership of a Star Trek Kind
Regrettably, despite several decades of increased missional endeavour the result has been continuing decline in the numbers of those being won for Christ in Australian society, with a consequent decline in the standard church. It is evident that we urgently need to develop 'Another way' of doing church and mission for the sake of the … Continue reading Unbounded Church Gathering
I have written in the past on Unbounded Church platforms about the urgent need for Australian Christians to wake up to the creeping persecution which has already started. Yet generally we slumber in a blissful belief that (reasonably) regular 'church' attendance, turning up at a Bible study, a bit of good works and trying to … Continue reading Christians Wake Up!
Rarely but occasionally, one experiences what I call a “My Fair Lady” (MFL) moment. If you have seen the movie, it’s the moment when Rex Harrison, who has been labouring hard to teach ‘proper speak’ to Eliza Doolittle a Cockney flower girl, finally cries out “By George, she’s got it”. It’s the moment a teacher … Continue reading My Fair Lady Moments- A Rarity!
