“the culturally compliant strain of Christianity promoted in Australia does not oblige (people) to embrace lifestyle choices that might involve discomfort.”
A Third Elephant – Don’t Mention the War (With apologies to the TV series Fawlty Towers)
Vacuum 3 – The Darkness Falls
The sun’s rim dips, the stars rush out, At one stride comes the dark’
Vacuum 2 – Compassion
The retreat of Christianity in western countries has left a Vacuum, that has been filled with a whole range of fundamentally demonic influences that are tearing the fabric of society. While it is a spiritual vacuum, there are material consequences. One of these is the loss of the God-reflecting exercise of Compassion flowing from a deep emotional concern for the needy, whether spiritually or materially, even enemies.
Another Elephant – The ‘Success Illusion’
“Hear this Word, this lament I have concerning you. I hate! I despise your religious gatherings; your church services are a stench to me. Even though you give money in the offering plate, or on-line, I will not accept it. Though you give offerings for special causes and occasions, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your praise songs! I will not listen to the music of your keyboards, drums and guitars. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
Vacuum 1 – The Degradation
‘The West cannot survive without a re-energized belief in Christianity’.
The First Elephant – Cultural Intelligence – A Missional Necessity
The current missional mindset of most local churches, and particularly of those in leadership, continues to be controlled by the assumption, even if subconsciously, that the goal is to reach a still-Christianised society living on what might be termed a ‘cultural Earth,’ whereas the reality is that most of Western society has changed address to a distant ‘cultural Pluto’. The failure to realise and respond to this is a major factor in the missional malaise
The Scissored Bible Version (SBV) and the Mission Mandate
Our, now decades long, failure in meeting Jesus’ mandate to ‘make disciples’, will not be reversed until Christians and churches don’t just claim to be ‘bible believing’ but cease their use of the SBV, re-insert the word ALL into the Missionary Verse, and act on it.
Where Would Jesus Be?
‘We had rain the other day, real rain, weighty drops falling as tears from heaven. In the rain a picture of God weeping formed. For surely, He must be, weeping that is over this not sun-baked but sin-baked, spiritually dried out land, this erstwhile gospel-shaped country that has been given all the promises of God in the message of Jesus.’
When the ‘Church’ Has Lost Its Way
‘Our shared morality, once the glue that held the social fabric together, is being torn apart’. Paul Kelly - 2nd March 2024․ *** Around a year ago I wrote this regarding our times; tragically it is even more relevant twelve months later – ‘In the West, we have arrived at Easter 2023 as a … Continue reading When the ‘Church’ Has Lost Its Way
Barriers to Faith
While it should be remembered that no-one can be argued into the Kingdom of God, Christians need to be equipped to be able to say something about what is actually a quite limited number of issues that both Christians and non-Christian's wrestle with. ‘Barriers to Faith’ is intended to be some help when Christians need to respond to some of the main questions/challenges they may encounter in conversation with others.
