The general subject of this booklet is the Missional Malaise that now infects the whole Australian church landscape. The specific subject is the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, arguably still the strongest part of the Australian non- Catholic Church and thus of broader relevance to the wider church. While the specific focus is Sydney, it can … Continue reading The Missional Malaise – Time for Something Completely Different
The writer of the Biblical book Ecclesiastes, often called ‘The Teacher’, makes the statement that- “For everything there is a season”. (3:1) This ‘season’, as the last year fades and the horizons of the yet untravelled vistas of the new year … Continue reading The Big Why? – A New Year’s Reflection
Around the year 1748 Czar Nicolai of Russia built a fortress on the island of Suomen Linna in the Baltic Sea. It was built to mark and guard his new territory, the country we now call Finland, which he had gained from Sweden. In the middle of that sea-fortress is a Lutheran Church, and one … Continue reading War Zone 2019
It’s Christmas. Of course, we don’t have to be reminded of that, the evidence for the season is all around us, at least in terms of parties, holidays, presents, open-all-hours shopping, family gatherings etc. For many, even the majority, those are the things Christmas is about. But is it? For those of us who still … Continue reading All I Need for Christmas is a Telescope – The Right Way Round
This Christmas Time the World is Dark. Dark powers rend society’s fabric, destroying what binds, like termites in the base, so the centre does not hold. Leaching Gospel glue, Darkness descending, cloying minds. Ignorance of the Divine schema allows decay and degradation rules. Stealing children’s childhood and adults’ minds. ‘Grown ups’ in school, lecture hall … Continue reading The Encouraging Light
For some years I worked overseas as an engineer in a very different cultural environment to the one I was brought up in and trained in. There were a few of us expatriates but most of my colleagues were locals and as time went by, I started to notice an interesting difference between the two … Continue reading Releasing Technocrats to Missionaries Be!
From time to time I have written about some of what I call the 'Straws' blowing in the winds that are rapidly changing Australian culture. Such ‘Straws’ are indicators of the increasing de-Christianisation of society, paralleled by a rising rejection of, and hostility to, the Church and Christians in general in every aspect of public … Continue reading More ‘Straws Blowing In The Wind’- Or Is It A Gale?
I have always admired the Missionaries of previous centuries, for example those who took Christianity to the native tribes of Africa in the 19th Century, particularly the Scottish missionary David Livingstone. A major aspect of the challenge faced by Livingstone and others was the need to penetrate a threatening landscape, often jungles full of threats … Continue reading Without More Missionaries We Will Lose
One of the great promises of God is that he promises a life to come, a life of perfection, joy, peace, no pain, no death, no suffering or bereavement. (Revelation 21:1-4). This promise is one that Christians particularly at certain times need to hang on to, because our current life of course is not always … Continue reading Our Certainty and God’s Suffering Love Paradox
“The future depends on our capacity to manage change amid uncertainty” Paul Kelly ____________________________ I read this quote in an article by Paul Kelly in the “Weekend Australian” newspaper recently just after returning from a Sunday church service and I was struck by its relevance to the church. For I had observed once … Continue reading The Church In the Land That Time Forgot
