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
Unbounded Church Essentials –Unbinding the Mind
As I get to talk to people about the Unbounded Church concept I increasingly become aware that the first thing that needs to take place for them to really understand it is an ‘Unbinding of the Mind’. For centuries, Christendom thinking and practice (and local mission practice when we finally realized we had to do … Continue reading Unbounded Church Essentials –Unbinding the Mind
The Parable of Woolworths and the Micawber Principle
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
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
As ‘Church’ Happened Tonight
The apostle Paul in referring to the gifts he had received from the Philippian church to support him in his gospel work describes them as “a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God” Philippians 4:18 I meditated on this “fragrance” pleasing in the ‘nostrils of God when ‘church’ happened tonight. It was a week … Continue reading As ‘Church’ Happened Tonight
A Great Leap Forwards – Into the Nineties!
I believe it was George Bernard Shaw who is reputed to have said “I went to church today and for once was not depressed!” My recent experiences have sadly not been so positive! To quote the home page of this site- “Unbounded Church is an idea – The idea that the church needs to be … Continue reading A Great Leap Forwards – Into the Nineties!
You Can’t Believe the Bible
The Importance of this Topic This topic is of the highest importance for two reasons. Firstly because the Bible is God's special means of revealing himself and his character to us, without which knowledge of God is limited to the inadequate inferences drawn from the Creation we see around us (general revelation). Secondly, experience shows … Continue reading You Can’t Believe the Bible
Science, the Bible and Faith
There has been much discussion in recent times regarding the concept of intelligent design: i.e. the claim that there are aspects of the universe which are far too complex for them to occur without being deliberately designed. This has generated a hot debate about what should be taught in schools, should children learn just the … Continue reading Science, the Bible and Faith
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
