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
Holy Discontent In the Strangeness of It
It’s Saturday which means by amazing logic tomorrow is Sunday! Sunday is when most ‘church’ happens in Australia and here are some facts about it all. • Tens of thousands of Christians will be happily filing into their church buildings for ‘worship’ although Amos 5:21-24 might sometimes cast just a little doubt on the unreflected … Continue reading Holy Discontent In the Strangeness of It
The Dead Hand of Apathy
A few years ago, 2008 to be precise, as part of a paper I was writing at the time, I carried out a small survey in regard to the level of passion in congregations in regard to reaching the community with the gospel. The format was that I asked a number of Senior Ministers to … Continue reading The Dead Hand of Apathy
Unbounded Church and the Divine Freedom
The central motivation for this website is the belief that if the ‘church’ is to achieve its Divine mandate to go and make disciples it needs to be set free (unbound) from its captivity to current traditional forms of ‘doing church’ and mission. The great tragedy is however, and one with seriously negative implications for … Continue reading Unbounded Church and the Divine Freedom
Prayer and the Dark Power
In his book ‘Mere Christianity’ the former atheist-turned-Christian C.S. Lewis writes: “One of the things that surprised me when I first read the New Testament seriously was that it talked about a Dark Power in the universe—a mighty evil spirit who was held to be the Power behind death, disease and sin...This universe is at … Continue reading Prayer and the Dark Power
Mission and ‘Messy Theology’
“To live a creative life we must lose our fear of being wrong” Joseph L Pearce **************************************** I have always had a great interest in science, particularly new discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics, the science of stars, black holes, how the universe works etc. and now in the current debates about quantum … Continue reading Mission and ‘Messy Theology’
The Problem With ‘All’
Sometimes when I’m thinking about the general missional unfruitfulness of Australian churches I wonder how much it is due to the prevalent use of the HDV bible. The HDV (Humpty Dumpty Version) has I believe had a seriously deleterious effect on our missional activities. Just to remind us, Humpty Dumpty is a character who … Continue reading The Problem With ‘All’
Planning to Fail In An Uberized Netflix World
Summer’s sun beats down, January days slip by, schools’ return looms near and down in the forest of parish-land there is the faint rustling of ministers stirring from their summer slumbers. First musings on sermon series seep into the consciousness, music leaders are planning their selections, Sunday school programs call for attention. A seemingly endless … Continue reading Planning to Fail In An Uberized Netflix World
A Dangerous Delusion
I have written previously of the fact that I believe in the church we have a Crisis. I use this word in the sense that we are at a point in the life of the church in Australia when we will go one of two ways, continued decline or revival, in the same way as … Continue reading A Dangerous Delusion
Square Wheels Aren’t Funny
A while ago I watched a portion of one of the now ancient “Carry On” comedy movies. It must have been a very bad night on TV! Which one of the series I cannot remember but in the bit I saw a caveman had come up with a new invention, namely the “Square Wheel”. However, … Continue reading Square Wheels Aren’t Funny
