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
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’
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
What’s Not in the Bible
Now and again one hears people quoting things that are allegedly in the Bible but are actually not and which they allow to shape their attitude to life. Perhaps the most notorious ‘not in the Bible’ alleged quote is “God helps those who help themselves”. In actual fact what the Bible teaches is the very … Continue reading What’s Not in the Bible
‘Cogito, Ergo Sum’ – Or Maybe I Am Not?
‘Cogito, Ergo Sum’ – But Maybe I Am Not? “Cogito, Ergo Sum”. “I think therefore I am”, is a famous and profound statement made by the 17th Century French philosopher Rene Descartes. His point was that the evidence that he really exists is the fact that he can actually think about his existence! This is … Continue reading ‘Cogito, Ergo Sum’ – Or Maybe I Am Not?
There Are A Lot of Us ‘In the Box’
Much of the time I tend to operate in my own world, too busy to ‘look over the parapet’ and see much of what other denominations are doing. However now and again I get an opportunity to do so. One such opportunity occurred a while ago when I was invited to a meeting on the … Continue reading There Are A Lot of Us ‘In the Box’
‘Thankful-or Not?
I have only met a handful of lepers, or at least people who had in the past suffered from leprosy. This was in the Top End of Australia where leprosy, a terrible, maiming disease, used to be quite prevalent, indeed Darwin had a leprosarium not far from the city. Leprosy was a very common disease … Continue reading ‘Thankful-or Not?
Longing for God
For many years I worked as a professional engineer in a design office in Wales in the United Kingdom. Most of my colleagues were fluent Welsh speakers, a point that thoroughly irritated me because most of the time I could not understand what the office chat was about. So working on the principle of “If … Continue reading Longing for God
“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”
St Lukewarms- The Concrete Truck with a Holden Cruze Engine
When I was studying civil engineering at university many years ago, one of the requirements of the course was that we got some engineering-related employment in the long summer vacations. So I got a job as a concrete sampler with a ready-mix concrete company. This involved going out to construction sites and taking samples of … Continue reading St Lukewarms- The Concrete Truck with a Holden Cruze Engine
unbounded church 