It is my conviction, and the 'driver' of the 'Unbounded Church' concept, that the church urgently needs to be set free from its rigid, cumbersome and change-averse ‘Christendom’ influenced forms and structures in order to be ‘A church as we haven’t known it for a society as we haven’t known it’. For this reason I … Continue reading Who Will Be Timothy?
A Herd of Elephants-‘Conversations’ We Need to Have
The inspiration for this Unbounded Church site is an idea-the idea that the Australian church, if it is to resurrect its mission, needs to be unbound. That is it needs to be set free from its current rigid, cumbersome and change-averse ‘Christendom’ influenced forms, structures and mission strategies in order to be – ‘A church … Continue reading A Herd of Elephants-‘Conversations’ We Need to Have
The Kingdom of God is Not ‘Respectable’
By definition a true Christian is someone who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9), an aspect of whose work is to cause us to become more like Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). This being the case how Jesus behaved in His earthly ministry should be what we see developing in our own behavior, both … Continue reading The Kingdom of God is Not ‘Respectable’
Mission and the ‘Einsteinian’ Insanity
Albert Einstein defined ‘Insanity’ as “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result!” I was reminded of this by the experience of a number of our ministry leaders who took a group of teenagers to a regional youth outreach event. The intention was that church youth would invite non-church friends … Continue reading Mission and the ‘Einsteinian’ Insanity
‘System Failure!’
A recent headline to an article by Paul Kelly of the ‘Australian' newspaper caught my eye. It read- “Broken System Can't Fix the Nations Problems" Of course Kelly was referring to what he calls the "failure in Australia's political system". However I think paraphrasing Kelly’s title a little to “Broken System Can't Fix the Churches … Continue reading ‘System Failure!’
The Village
In the ‘Village’ pretty much everyone dressed up and gathered in the church building for the Sunday service. During the week they lived and worked in, or in close proximity to, the ‘Village’, either on the land, or in service enterprises (blacksmiths, coopers, shoemakers etc). This proximity meant that they rubbed shoulders with and connected … Continue reading The Village
King Canute and the Unstoppable Tide
King Canute was an English King in the 10th Century who is recorded as having governed very wisely and as having done a lot of good for his people. However, the story (legendary or not) is that he became so flattered by those around him as to his greatness that he believed he could control … Continue reading King Canute and the Unstoppable Tide
The Unchanging Changer
All who claim to be Christians will say they worship God The degree to which we worship God however depends on the extent to which we actually know Him-or to put it another way which ‘god’ do we actually worship? If our knowledge of God is limited, defective or distorted by our own ideas, then … Continue reading The Unchanging Changer
“Crying Jesus Tears”
At a recent gathering I attended a young international university student told us how his heart was breaking, and I started to wonder why. Was it because of some personal loss, a relationship break up or death of a loved one? No he told us, his heart was breaking over the spiritual status of three … Continue reading “Crying Jesus Tears”
A Problem With Leadership
The Barbarians are at the gates, the gates of western civilization. The 'Christendom'-founded and shaped civilization we call 'the West', denuded by the leaching out of its gospel underpinnings; its foundation of the Rock replaced by Post modern relativism and so no match for the flood of alternative 'truths' whether liberal humanism, radical Islam or … Continue reading A Problem With Leadership