F R O N T L I N E

How churches lose the plot

2010-11-25T15:01:00.000+11:00

Carl Trueman has some thought provoking stuff on towing the denominational line in his posts 'How churches lose the plot' pts 1, 2 & 3. Especially 2. find them at this link

http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2010/11/

Acceptance

2010-11-18T11:42:00.002+11:00

I'm really quite upset at the lack of acceptance of others I've experienced in recent days!

We're all either stronger or weaker brothers and sisters and so Paul says in Romans 15 'Accept one another then, just as Christ accepted you'.

We judge so easily... looking down on others is such a reflex action! And its devastating to the body of Christ! I pray for myself and these others that God will make acceptance our first reflex. Only in that context can useful pastoral care happen anyway!

2 things.
1. I need to accept these people
2. I want to preach a series at the start of 2011 on the glory of grace.

preaching on parenting (2)

2010-11-18T11:35:00.002+11:00

Well, I preached on parenting... and in so doing... my emotions sneaked up and mugged me in front of everyone in the church...

I cried as i thought about my desires for my dear children... and my parenting practice. I didn't intend to cry, in fact I can't stand it when it happens because everyone feels so awkward don't they... but there it is...

...and all i can say is that it was absolutely for real.

It matters. but one of the most helpful thoughts i had was this: God hasn't stopped parenting, and he won't stop parenting. My parenting doesn't negate his. That's good to know.

preaching on parenting

2010-11-04T14:30:00.002+11:00

I'm preaching through a series entitled 'crucial relationships' and this week I'm looking at parenting! ...talk about bite off more than you can chew!

In looking at Ephesians 6v4... 'Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord' ...i couldn't help but reflect that it can seem that my children can seem most exasperated at those times when i'm trying to train and instruct them in the Lord!

Perhaps training and instructing them in the Lord actually exasperates them because it so often seems different from how our family operates most of the time. ...point being Eph 6v4 isn't merely talking about sitting down with the Bible and reading and praying with your kids - it is that - but much more than that also - living the gospel in family life.

I'm feeling pretty humble at the moment.

Awakenings

2009-05-21T10:16:00.002+10:00

John Woodbridge gave some lectures on various revivals and awakenings at the recent SMBC preaching conference I attended. I found them fascinating for a number of reasons. Here's a few...

They actually happened. It really gave a good stretch to my gospel horizons to know this and see the impact of these movements of God's Spirit.

They were messy. If you were trying to 'plan' one, the whole thing would probably fall in a heap long before something even got started.

They finished. I was left wondering what that looked like. eg. The 1857-58 revival that impacted the entire USA to some extent... what did 1859 look like?

It was also interesting trying to think of what to take from these lectures for church life. You can't but help start thinking, 'Well that's a good idea, we'll try that' ...and have in your mind that it might just be the key to starting your own 'pet' revival. I guess this brings some of the 'uncategorizable-ness' of these things to the surface... that these are events at God's good pleasure. Questions like 'should we seek and pray for these things?' arise... for example... John Woodbridge I think said that DL Moody spent all of his subsequent ministry looking back to that 1857 event earnestly seeking a similar outpouring! Is that faithful? presumptuous? He didn't 'get one'... but you probably couldn't say that his life didn't count for the gospel could you?

Any way there are a few rambling thoughts I'm just hanging out there...

inertia

2009-05-14T14:25:00.001+10:00

…is a word that applies to my attitude to this blog lately!

…is also the default position in ministry endeavors and the enemy of the leader who wants to lead!

…is now under attack in my life, not least because of some horizon expanding lectures at a recent conference I attended. More to follow.

(Thanks to you ‘goad-ers’ who have prodded me into action again… you know who you are)

Reformed Rev

2009-03-17T15:08:00.001+11:00

I would just like to apologise for a lapse in blogging activity, and as part of becoming a reformed rev recently... i would like to reform my blogging practice.

New perspective

2008-12-04T10:17:00.002+11:00

I'm doing a bit of reading on heresies at the moment. Got a bit confused with the so called New Perspective on Paul.
Is anyone able to give a nice short punchy statement that essentially describes the new perspective on Paul?

How to evade the jade...?

2008-12-04T10:07:00.004+11:00

I was feeling a bit jaded for various reasons this morning, until I hung out with a brother and shared some stuff and we listened to each other and talked about some ministry opportunities and some minstry disasters(?) and prayed together. It was 'tonic' for me (whatever it was for him) and I recommend it to you all. Anyone got any other insights on dealing with the jade... apart from the good old holiday... which is just a few weeks away also!

email posts

2008-11-27T11:49:00.002+11:00

Thanks to Mikey for instructing me in the way of the instant email post!

Sola scriptura vs historical cultural background

2008-11-19T14:45:00.003+11:00

In preparing for a major preaching series in 1 Corinthians next year I'm immensely enjoying the book 'After Paul left Corinth - the influence of secular ethics and social change' by Bruce Winter.

In brief, Bruce is a (rigorous!) historian who has dredged all sorts of sources - both secular and biblical - for clues as to the cultural background of 1st century Corinth. All this to illuminate the issues Paul addresses in first Corinthians. And illuminating it certainly is!

As I'm reading, (and enjoying, and learning) I'm also grappling with the tension between the perspicuity and sufficiency of scripture on one hand, and the helpful illumination of non-biblical material on the other. Has anyone got any thoughts on managing this tension?

Doubt

2008-11-19T14:27:00.002+11:00

In lining up a sermon on Psalm 73 I came across some excellent thoughts from Os Guiness in his old book 'Doubt - faith in two minds'

'Faith is the ass of the modern world... [Like harsh treatment of a donkey] many Christian's drive their faith unfairly when they believe, and then they flog it unmercifully when they doubt. In both cases they have been led to believe that true faith is doubt free and that doubt is the same thing (and just as sinful) as unbelief'

'Doubt is not the opposite of faith, nor is it the same as unbelief. Doubt is a state of mind in suspension between faith and unbelief so that it is neither of them wholly and it is each one only partly'

'Anyone who believes anything will automatically know something about doubt. But the person who knows why they believe is in a position to discover why they doubt. The Christian should be such a person'

'If faith does not resolve doubt then doubt will dissolve faith'

...i guess there'll be plenty more from where those came from.

Integrity at work

2008-11-04T15:16:00.002+11:00

How many of us have a method at our fingertips for thinking ethically and making Christ honouring decisions when presented with ethical dilemmas? How many Christian's in secular society have actually mashed their work expectations, outcomes, practices and priorities through the sieve of Christian ethics?
As I've been preaching through a series about 'work' I'm struck by how much help we need to think much more ethically. We settle so easily for the 'sacred / secular divide', locking away our Christian beliefs with the rest of our personal and private preferences. Jesus said to his followers 'You are the salt of the earth...!'

The 'salt' may not be that 'salty'.
Excellent book on this: 'Integrity at Work' by Norman Geisler and Randy Douglass.
It gives an introduction to ethics... a helpful acrostic called 'The ETHICS Compass' and a whole load of practical advice and real examples about ethical decision making that should get you excited again about living for Christ on the FRONTLINE. There is a chapter each on sexual dilemmas, dilemmas for employers, for employees, dilemmas with customers, dilemmas balancing work and home. Very helpful stuff.

Episode 2

2008-09-24T13:34:00.002+10:00

Tri-perspectival exegesis?
Sounds a bit dangerous! (Don Carson must have dreamt up the label!)
What it means is actually very helpful... as i read earlier this week

'To be a great preacher, one needs to be tri-perspectival in their exegesis. That is, they need to be committed to the exegesis of the Bible, the exegesis of our culture, and the exegesis of the human heart. Some preachers claim that if you exegete the Bible properly, you don’t need to bother yourself with the exegesis of our culture or the human heart. The problem with this view, however, is that the Bible itself exhorts us to apply Biblical norms to both our lives and to our world'

Episode 1

2008-09-05T12:49:00.003+10:00

Some interesting church planting stuff from our recent reformed church conference:
A mission flavoured church compared to a mission shaped church...

mission flavoured
...origin in reaction to the established church
...brings in other Christians
...started with public worship services
...attractional and event oriented
...invite existing friends
...meets needs of newcomers and work done by a few
...emphasize excellence
...remodel outsiders to local culture and bring Jesus to the community
...develops look and style based on own idea of what community needs

mission shaped
...had its origin in a call to mission
...brings in unchurched people
...public worship service is last priority (ultimately asked for by people)
...build relationships with local people
...go out and make friends
...operates on enthusiastic participation
...emphasizes participation and serving
...become insiders in local culture to bring Jesus to the local community
...allows those new to faith to influence look and feel of what the community needs

5 points

1. Clarify the call. The basis for mission-shaped church is a call to mission, rather than frustration that your own needs aren't met. As far as possible, deal with your own frustrations and other gripes before you set off to plant.

2. Begin with the end in mind. Right from the start, spend significant time with those you;re trying to reach. Your job is to be good news, not a purveyor of goods and services, religious or otherwise.

3. Keep public services in perspective. In a mission-shaped framework, a public worship service should be the overflow of mission and its fruits, rather than preceding it. It will therefore be shaped by those who've come to faith through mission. The form it takes may or may not follow the style and symbols of the receptor culture.

4. Make time for unchurched people. Public worship services are usually very resource hungry. Beware of committing too much of your people's time and energy to the service at the expense of relational time with the unchurched.

5. Let programs serve relationships. Programs as a concept are value-neutral. They succeed or fail as outreach tools largely on the basis of whather they provide a context for relationships to form and grow. Remember outreach and evangelism aren't the same thing.

a final thought...
Many large, attractive churches successfully reach unchurched people using a come to Jesus model. And some fo them began by launching a public worship service. This is valid and worthwile ministry. Missionshaped church is not a replacement for this model, but an alternative approach that will reach a different sector of society.

(All this from Tim Scheuer and others of the Church Army)

New Blog

2008-09-02T12:47:00.000+10:00

This blog is about sharing and exploring and raising issues that I'm facing in ministry. I'd like it to be a bit of a forum and I'd value anyone's comments. For those who want our news as a family please continue to use here comes the g - train . Better still, use both blogs together and get a richer idea of what's going on in our lives.