1. Life is hard
2. Your life is not about you
3. You’re not in control
4. You’re not that important
5. You are going to die

They’re drawn from his article on the Archdiocese of Washington’s web site and well worth reading through in detail, especially since they strike so hard at the way we’re encouraged to see ourselves in the 21st century.

Pope’s article is a summary of five points from an American writer Richard Rohr, (from his book ‘Adam’s Return). There would be many many things on which I’d disagree with both Rohr and Pope, but these five points are gold. I say a young man needs to learn these, but really men of all ages need to learn them, and until we do we’ll never really mature.

As parents, pastors, mentors, we should have in the back of our minds that these are truths we need to be gently teaching and living out for others. And of course that means first of all learning these truths ourselves.

Cheers,

Al

The ideas he lists represent a good start, but he could allow them to come a little closer to home. Chris says he doesn’t believe in God and puts a high value on science, but fails to mention for example that the rise of science was led by Christian thinking - not to mention capitalism and democracy (if you want the good oil on that last one see Rodney Stark’s The Victory Of Reason).

But it’s an interesting article nonetheless because he looks at the church’s involvement in the development of modern ideals as well as the New Atheist approach of ‘throwing the baby out with the bath water’ and concludes,

“It is fantasy to suggest these values emerged out of thin air once people started questioning God.”

I understand Chris has coped a hammering from fellow atheists about this article, published at the time of the Global atheists convention in Melbourne. However it’s good to see that even atheists can be concerned about the inconsistencies within New Atheism.

Cheers,

Al

Clare Cannon in her Sydney Morning Herald article gives a thoughtful critique of the trilogy of best-selling books that spawned the film - five ideas they’re pushing that we should have no appetite for. Clare has decided that after reading the books, she’s not going to see the movie.

However teenagers are going to see the movie anyway, so it may mean a trip to the cinemas for some of us in ministry or as parents. Watch it with your eyes open, if you know what I mean. Are Clare’s 5 points valid?

It raises an interesting point. As Jesus’ servants we’re called to avoid sin, but we have to keep our eyes open to the culture he’s called us to work in. For the guys I work with on a daily basis the movie Margin Call (a film that follows the key people at an investment bank during the early stages of the financial crisis) is much more relevant. Although if they make Margin Call 2 it might be more like The Hunger Games anyway.

I think 1 John 2:15-17 captures the principle we’re supposed to apply here - don’t love the world, don’t be seduced by the world, but see the world clearly to be able to speak the Gospel to people.

Cheers,

Al

Stuck in a drain by the grace of God - Steve Carter, SMH

This article is beautifully ironic at many levels. Steve talks about,

“...the infuriating tendency of so many religious people to look at everything that happens in terms of their beliefs,”

- and then does exactly that, unconsciously.

World views are like glasses: they become invisible to the one wearing them. Part of our job as preachers is to help people see other world views, and especially to see their own.

Cheers,
Al

I know people who are theologically astute will say, “We preach the gospel – that will be our growth dynamic.” This is certainly true, in that it will be your spiritual growth dynamic. Without gospel preaching no one will be saved, there will be no real spiritual fruit or growth. 

However, at a human level we need to have some reason why people will either come to our meetings or ways in which we will contact people. For example:

• You might choose to build a church or a ministry on the growth dynamic of having brilliant children’s ministry which will then connect the church with children and then ultimately their parents; or

• You have a brilliant youth ministry; or

• You have strong links to an institution which will just generate people, such as a school or a university; or

• You may have a growth dynamic in that you have the most brilliant preacher in your part of the city and people will travel to hear him preach; or

• You may have a growth dynamic of being or having the most friendly and lovable minister around and people will join because they love the particular minister; or

• You may be a gospel community where it is the quality of relationships that people have which are attractive to bring people in; or

• You may be a particular denominational association e.g. the brand out the front of the building can bring people along because of the way the denomination is thought of; or

• There may be an ethnic specific church, e.g. a Chinese church, or a second generation migrant church etc. 

Each one of these will bring people into contact with your network and will allow the opportunity for them to hear the gospel and be followed up. However working with the relational networks of the people in our congregation requires absolute and pro-active commitment. In my experience only about 10% (or less) of the people in any church will be gifted evangelists, the other 90% will exhaust the list of people who could be invited to something very quickly. Trying to grow a church through simply working the networks will be very hard work. I am not saying it is not possible but it will require deliberate planning.

Each growth dynamic has a limiting factor built in. For example, the denominational brand name will be good in some areas and not so good in others. In Sydney the Anglican brand name is strong in some suburbs and not so strong in others. Socio-economic factors play a big part, as well as the family life cycle as suburbs begin to age. It will appeal to some particular ethnic groups and clearly not others.

You may have a growth dynamic of appealing to young families or middle class professionals. This will work in a particular suburb or demographic, however if the suburb changes and the church is not able to change the growth dynamic it will mean a long slow decline for that church. An obvious example is there were churches that were booming in the 50’s and 60’s in white anglo suburbs with high numbers of young families, but with subsequent migration over the coming decades, the churches’ growth dynamic wasn’t changed and they disappeared as the demographics of the suburbs changed. Also school and children’s ministry will decline over time as a suburb ages.

The gospel community growth dynamic is very powerful in terms of drawing people in and growing strong communities but it does have the limiting factor that the very thing that makes the community attractive means it can be difficult to plant new gospel communities. That is, the strength of the relationship bonds formed in the group. The limiting factor on the friendly minister seems to be around the 150 mark, which is the maximum that any average person can truly know and minister to.  Similarly, the limiting factor on the great preacher is the size of the building. (It’s interesting to watch ministries built around great preachers who are experimenting with how to use technology to maintain multiple campuses etc).

The point of this little article is to urge pastors/leaders to work out what is the growth dynamic of their church or ministry and to be deliberate about trying to use that growth dynamic.  Some churches have no obvious growth dynamic - and it shows. The denominational label may have ceased to work and they have not yet worked out how to appeal to their suburb particularly. For others there is no particular group that they are trying to reach. or the networks in their churches are either exhausted or people don’t have confidences to invite their friends. So no growth dynamic leads to no growth and no opportunity to preach the gospel. We need to work out who are we trying to reach. The point being, to reach everyone means we are actually trying deliberately to reach no one. Or to put it another way, you will inevitably appeal to a group of people by default - the group who are there already.

The thing I liked about this book is that they actually looked at the Bible - there are many pages of actually unpacking Biblical texts. The result is a book that looks at what the Church’s priorities should be. (I know there’s another issue about whether the Church exists for any purpose or is actually ‘an end in herself’, the end-goal if you like. But stand that to one side for the moment).

Deyoung and Gilbert look at what the Bible means by justice. They also have some wise advice on how to work out priorities for helping people in a world of unlimited needs where technology brings those problems right into our lounge room. How do we work out what to do, when we obviously can’t do everything, but must do something? There’s also a good hypothetical discussion between a fresh young pastor and an older pastor about priorities in pastoring and ministry.

This is a good read for the ‘young reformed and restless’ and also the middle aged reformed and grumpy.

Cheers,
Al

We’re working in partnership with City Bible Forum and we’ll be meeting around Bondi Junction, and starting small. Not quite in a phone booth, but close.

Our plan is to meet every second sunday afternoon for the year. Our aim is to invite people who are interested to find out about Jesus, “What he taught and why it matters?”. It will be a simple meeting format - the Bible and a couple of people to pray.

I’d appreciate prayer as we try to get organised. We need a webpage for info and hundred other things. But mostly we need prayer and God’s guidance. For one thing I’m trying to work out where in the Bible to start…

For anyone who is interested in praying for this venture, I’ll keep you posted.

Cheers,

Al

for the year
# holidays - 4 weeks in what ever pattern works for you,
# Key family times, birthdays, wedding anniversary, clan gatherings
# Weekends away with church or the groups your running
# Choose the conferences you’ll go to (In The Chute - Dec 12-14th is a must)
# Brain space days, - days when you can pray and think, and plan uninterrupted, you may need to get away from where you usually work.

Monthly or fortnightly
# regular meetings with guys you’re discipling/training/mentoring or what ever you want to call it,
# Regular meetings with a coach or mentor,

weekly
(think through the rythm of your week, when will you see people, when will you hit the books, when does your brain work best, etc.)
# special time with your wife, (date night or equivalent kind of time)
# time with your kids,
# a proper day off
# time for extra reading,
# preparation time,
# regular contact with people who aren’t yet christian.
# FUN - what do you do that recharges your batteries

Daily
# a regular time to pray and read the Bible,
# exercise
# regular sleep pattern.
# if you can allocate time to admin and email etc, and then stick to that time, and not let it blow out you’ll be more efficient.

I’m not saying I’ve arrived with all this of course,
but I’m working on it.
cheers
Al

Here’s a great book. “Love and Respect” by Dr Emerson Eggerichs.  Kathy and I have read it together while we were on holidays. It’s done us the world of good. I know in one sense it wouldn’t matter what you read together with your wife on holidays it would do your relationship good, but this book is very insightful.

His main thesis comes out of seeing the different responses in marriage between a husband and wife. In summary see Ephesians 5:33:

“However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”

God tells husbands to love their wives, but tells wives to respect their husbands. Eggerichs’ thesis flows out of taking this difference seriously, that wives are wired up to want love, and men are wired up to want and need respect.

It’s a good book and works pretty well across the American/Australian cultural divide. It’s practical and easy to read. Kathy and I read a few chapters each, passed the book back and forward and talked about it. It works.

Gentlemen, it’s our job to take the initiative in our marriages, and you invest this time with your lady, and it will help in many different ways. (There’s a degree to which he pushes the thesis a bit too far and uses it as his hermeneutic in explaining mutual submission etc, but this is a decimal point in a good practical book on Marriage.) This book would be useful for any Christian couple. You could also give this one to someone who isn’t a Christian, as an intro to the way Christians think.

Love and respect, essentials in making a marriage work.

Cheers

Al

I received the request below from Duane Olivier over at Kingsley Presbyterian Church in Western Australia, and his offer is just the sort of opportunity we’re keen to put before potential church planters:

Good Friends,

We are looking for someone to come and evangelise the Edith Cowan University (ECU) that is situated about 10km north of our two Churches. We are partnering with AFES in this gospel venture. Ultimately our goal is to plant a Church on the campus in the next two to three years.

The background to this position is that Kingsley Presbyterian Church has partnered with AFES over the past three years and kept up a presence on the campus. In particular, our intern, John Clayton, has done a wonderful job of evangelising and training students on the campus. His apprenticeship is now complete and he will be enrolling at Trinity Theological College (TTC) with our support. During his time on campus, a solid and committed group of students have emerged. Although quite small, they have all the right DNA and just need a leader to emerge who will encourage them in their gospel efforts.

There has also been an encouraging network between our church plant, Down To Earth Church, and the students at ECU who attend our Sunday evening meetings. We are particularly excited about the prospects of getting more traction in the student residence where some of the students come regularly to our Bible Studies.

As a church-planting church, we are hopeful that in two to three years time we will be in a position to plant a church on the campus. One of our interns for next year, Brendan Hurley, who is currently at TTC, will be finished his studies. John Clayton too, will be near the end of his studies. Both of these gifted young men are keen to get stuck into the campus. We are hoping someone will come and lead a team to plant on the campus.

The campus itself is situated in Joondalup which is the largest and fastest growing urban centre in WA outside of the CBD of Perth itself. Around 400 000 people are situated around the hub of Joondalup. We are not aware of any reformed, gospel centred and missional Churches reaching this area. Certainly, for the last three years we have been the only bible teaching movement on the ECU campus - a university that boasts about 18000 students. We view a specific focus campus Church as the first step to planting a more broad based Church in Joondalup.

On a more personal note, the city of Joondalup is such a church planters dream that it was one of the main reasons I decided to leave South Africa and move to the Northern suburbs of Perth.

In short, we are looking for someone to join with us to do student work with a view to church planting. The church that comes to life will be part of the FIEC network. Both Down To Earth Church and Kingsley Presbyterian are working towards joining with FIEC.

The person we are looking for will need to be assessed by the Geneva Push.

The financial resources to support this person will come from both AFES and Kingsley Presbyterian and depending on the personal situation of the interested person, may require some self-funding.

Please don’t hesitate to contact either myself (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) or Tim Thorburn (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) for more information.

All because of Him,

Duane Olivier
Kingsley Presbyterian Church

Does this opportunity fit with where God is taking you? If so, get in contact!

Al

It’s really good advice, in fact it’s what Proverbs teaches us.

“Proverbs 12:16 A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.”

Proverbs is saying, don’t react too quickly to something that annoys you. Calm down, and when you do, you may see that it’s better to overlook what was said.
This is especially true with emails. I’ve lost count of how many catfights have started or been significantly heated up by people sending cranky emails.  Email is instant, it can’t be recalled, and it can be forwarded to the world. My simple rule is “don’t send an email anywhere that you wouldn’t want published on the front page of the newspaper”. It’s no exaggeration to say I know of churches that have been torn apart because of a dumb email. ministry teams have been permanently damaged by emails sent late at night without proper thought.

So never, never, send an email when you’re cranky. Don’t blog when you’re cranky. In fact don’t even try to sort out a difficult conversation over the phone, solve problems face to face, there’s so much more communication happening both ways.
Before the electronic world took over,  wisdom used to be,-
‘don’t send a letter when you’re angry, put it in a draw for a couple of days, then read it again before you send it”.
I don’t know where you put an email for a few days till you calm down, but you get the idea.

And what about my friend who contacted me with a hand on the shoulder,  and an insightful question?
Proverbs tells us, it’s our mates who will ask us the hard questions.
Prov. 27:6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted,but an enemy multiplies kisses.

Cheers
Al

1st - Remember there’ll always be criticism
Rugby league legend Jack Gibson once said of a Queensland state of origin crowd, “This is a tough crowd. They’d boo Santa Claus.” So just remember there will always be some guys who, no matter what you do would “boo Santa Claus.” Our ultimate authority on the subject, the Lord Jesus, warned his disciples:

“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26)

In short, expect criticism. It’s par for the course.

2nd - “Let your critics be your coaches” - Mark Driscoll
Driscoll says listen to your critics and have the humility to learn from them. They will have things they say that are right, and we need to grow and change accordingly. There’s much wisdom here.

3rd - “A Pastor needs one blind eye and one deaf ear” - Charles Spurgeon
Spurgeon is reputed to have said this. I take it his meaning was that you shouldn’t listen to everything people say. Instead learn not to listen and not to see everything that’s going on. You need to be discerning in what you listen to and what you see.  Even better than Spurgeon would be to quote Ecclesiastes:

Do not pay attention to every word people say,or you may hear your servant cursing you (Ecclesiastes 7:21)

4th- “No one ever put up a monument to a critic”
I don’t know who said this first but Ian Powell (now a City Bible Forum Evangelist and all round legend) was the first to pass it on to me. The point is, it’s easy to criticise and throw stones, but simply being a critic accomplishes nothing. We also need to be people who do things. My challenge to the critics would be, “Show us how it’s done properly.” Maybe a humble attempt that got it 70% right is better than 100% correct and nothing happening.

So to summarise,
1. There will always be critics
2. Listen to them and learn what you can
3. Be discerning; there are things you need to not hear and not see
4. Have a go. Doing something is better than carping.

Cheers
Al

Listen to the person you’re interviewing and have a general idea where you want to go in the interview. If you’re listening to the person talk, you’ll know what the next question should be. I’d suggest don’t let the interviewee learn answers off by heart. They are the world expert on their own story, or what the want to say, just help bring out what they need to tell the audience.
Second rule, talk to the person you’re interviewing informally before you interview them in the meeting, so you have a general idea of what they’ll say, and where you want the interview to go. As you listen to them in the interview, you can ask the right questions and steer the interview in the right direction.
happy interviewing,
cheers
Al Stewart

This is especially true in ministry. People will give to a church or a ministry if they can see the vision for what can be done. Vision is essential. So don’t show people needs, show them a vision for effective gospel work, and lives changed. What will happen? Money will flow. God’s makes his people generous in response to a vision of what can be done in gospel work. I’ve seen this happen again and again.
Leaders need to talk the vision, encourage the vision constantly.

“Carbon tax… live animal exports… refugees held in detention centres (or shipped to Malaysia)… Muslim billboards in Sydney… chaplains in schools… gay marriage… hotly debated issues in our society – but as a journalist glued to the media I am not hearing Christian voices contributing to the wider discussion. Are we waiting for denominational leaders to speak for us? Are we talking to each on Christian blogs and websites and in Christian magazines – but not to the wider society?

We can do better! Christian voices can (and should) be heard! But how?

The letters pages of newspapers sometimes appear to reflect the editorial slant of the paper – and are hard to get into at the best of times. I want thoughtful, articulate, opinionated Christians to think about: open line or ‘talk back’ radio. Open line radio reaches tens of thousands and they are constantly looking for callers who will make “good radio” (well expressed, well thought-out opinions). Presenters of these programs may have their own slant, but callers of every point of view are welcome – as long as they’re interesting. (I’ve spent years producing and presenting these programs and I know that radio producers are always looking for callers who are “good talent”.)

Open line radio is hungry for content – it churns through more opinions every hour than the newspaper letters page does in a week. And open line radio is open for Christians to become public voices to the wider community – instead of staying silent, or talking to each other, or waiting for a denominational leader to say something.When you hear an issue in the news and you think “That’s wrong” – say so! When you hear an idea in the news and think “That’s good, that should be encouraged” – say so!

Here’s how to get on to an open line program (and have an impact). Listen (for a little while at least) to the program you want to get on to. Think about your message – have a clear reason for calling.

·    Don’t write out a script of what you want to say.

·    Do jot down a few bullet points to help you remember what you want to say.

·    Can you summarise your message in a slogan? If you can, jot it down – repeat it several times during your call.

·    Be gracious to the producer – and explain what you want to say briefly and clearly.

·    Be gracious to the presenter – and get straight to the point.

And here’s how to practice your open line technique: call my Sunday night program on 2CH between 10pm and midnight any Sunday night. You’ll get to air, you’ll get a sympathetic hearing, and you’ll polish your open line technique. Here’s the number to call any Sunday night: 1300-13-1170. Talk through what you want to say with my producer – she’ll help you sharpen your arguments before you go on the air. Call me on a Sunday night. Develop your skills. Then become a part of the wider public debate on as many shows as possible. Become a Christian voice heard by thousands.”

OK guys, there’s a concrete way to start!

cheers
Al Stewart

http://www.coolum-news.com.au/story/2011/05/27/pastor-left-without-a-church-carruthers-coolum/

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/how-the-hardcore-porn-industry-is-ruining-young-mens-lives-20110517-1erac.html