We are now one month into the new year. I wonder how we have gone with those New year resolutions, all those good intentions. I suspect that for most, they have already gone the way of the ones we made last year, i.e. crashed! As churches in Australia focus their energies on getting back onto … Continue reading New Kingdom Resolutions
When my wife and I take holidays that usually means we do some travelling. As we do so we usually take the opportunity to visit a local church or two wherever we might be staying. On a recent trip we ended up visiting a church (disguised in this post) where some friends are regular attenders. … Continue reading An Inconvenient Question!
Mary was well into her eighties when I was asked to make a pastoral visit by the minister of the church I was attached to at the time. She had been attending the same church ever since her parents took her along to be baptised as a baby. It was there that she had met … Continue reading Mary’s Tale
The American businessman Stephen Covey was the author of the well-known statement that "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." While that was said in the context of business it also is highly relevant to the existence, health and purpose of the church, particularly in the area of Mission. At the … Continue reading When the ‘Main Thing’ Isn’t
“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” __________________________ In parting words to his disciples Jesus said “You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the Earth” (Acts 1:8) . Most church members ‘Get’ the idea of the “to the Ends … Continue reading Where Are the Beautiful Feet?
I don’t know whether you have noticed it but there is currently what might be called a ‘Great Salt Crisis’ both in terms of quantity and quality. This is not evident by an unavailability of salt at the supermarket, but rather refers to the use of the term ‘Salt’ by Jesus in Matthew 5:13 as … Continue reading The Great Salt crisis
One of the contributing factors to the general lack of missional fruitfulness by the traditional western church is the mindset that confuses the evangelistic ‘Activities’ designed to produce missional fruit with the desired missional ‘Outcomes’ themselves. This is what might be called the ‘Activity Trap’ We know that Jesus constantly indicated that he was looking … Continue reading The Activity Trap
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Australian population is growing at the rate of 1.5% per year, whereas church attendance is in significant decline. It is true that in some areas (e.g. the Anglican Diocese of Sydney) attendance is so far keeping pace with population growth, however, this is mostly due to what … Continue reading Multiplication is a Many Splendoured Thing
I saw a headline in a Christian magazine recently which read “The best ideas come from Jesus” and I thought – that’s right they do, especially I have found in the business world when I worked with a consulting engineering company. In such a company, a mid-sized one, the central issue was that we always … Continue reading The Parable of Woolworths and the Micawber Principle
We are often told that we have too much salt in our diet, that it is bad for our health, leading to increased rates of high blood pressure, strokes etc. However, while this may be true in the terms of our physical health it can equally be argued that, rather than too much, our society … Continue reading Where is the Salt?
unbounded church 