Church
Grace for Slackers
“Woman, get in your place and stay there!” With these words in last week’s post I was preaching boldly to myself while some of my readers were startled. If you are a woman who has heard those words spoken without compassion and understanding, I apologise for setting a tone that may have alarmed you. I [...]
Projection Software for Church Services
I remember the first time I saw a data projector used in a church service. The unit was the size of a carry-on piece of luggage and it also acted as a convergence device with a built in VCR! Today, you would be hard pressed to find a church without some integration of a data [...]
Top 5 Kids Songs
If you grew up going to Sunday School, then - like me – you probably have many songs stuck in our head. The older I get, the more I appreciate the life truths that these songs declare. Next to Scripture memory, I can’t think of better words to have circulating in my head. Here are my top 5 [...]
Spice Up Your Public Bible Reading
Switching on my iPod, I prepared to skip the Bible reading and go straight to the preaching. But something about the well-modulated tones stridently spiced with a Bronx accent arrested my attention. Aside from the fact that the woman’s voice was reading from a modern translation, this oral presentation of God’s Word brought fresh perspective [...]
Labels … More Harm than Good?
Do you every wonder why Spirituality is respected, but Religion is a dirty word? Consider the myriad of Christian terms: Protestant, Orthydox; Reformed, Charismatic; Fundamentalist, Evangelical; And this is before we use sub-denominations, philosophies or personalities. If this definition growth continues, we will soon run out of phone boxes to meet in. Through history, Christ’s followers have fought long and significant [...]
On Frightening Timothy
It is an evil thing and a bitter to frighten Timothy. And it is woefully easy to do. Timothy is very young. He always was! He always will be! Timothy has solved the problem of perpetual youth. He will never grow old. He was very young when he went up to Corinth that first time. [...]
Cultivating a Culture of Growth in the Church
Another sad story of church stagnation. Faces lined with weary stubbornness dot the congregation. Numbers are depleted since our last visit a few years ago, but besides the smaller numbers, nothing has changed except the decorations in the church lobby. Knowing a little of the background of this once thriving church, I wonder what led [...]
Straight Talk about Gay Guys
He was massaging my scalp and crooning a love song, twirling just a little in his high heels. My hairdresser, that is. Hot numbers from the karaoke all-time favourites list are his specialty. To make conversation I asked if he had ever performed in public (I meant outside of the hair salon). He confessed that [...]
Anyone for Easter Eggs?
A reader of this blog has raised the question: “Do independent churches make too little of Easter?” On my way to church last Sunday I passed several children carrying palm branches to church for the Palm Sunday service. The sight of them was the first time I even thought of this special day in the [...]
Too Right
Too right! It’s Aussie slang for “I agree with you.” However, many Christians I’ve met are so “right” that they can’t agree with anyone. Backing themselves into a corner by their insistence on being right, the sharp point of their rightness keeps others well away and prevents them from meaningful fellowship with others who do [...]
Things we could take for granted….
The March 26 election in New South Wales would emphatically suggest that voters are looking for a new direction in the state government. The Coalition has been elected with a significant majority and the Labor government has suffered the greatest loss of seats in Australian politics. As we look forward to a new government after [...]
Other Fields; Other Sheep
Brown-black eyes smiled warmly across the table from us. Newly arrived in town, the young pastor and his wife shared a little of their personal history. “People say to our pastor, ‘You’ve sent all your best people away to Bible school and seminary and now they’re not even coming back to help you!” Julie was answering a [...]
