Seti and I were talking through things yesterday and spoke about really wanting to see 4 conversions happening for everyone we meet. Its another way of speaking about growing more and more wholehearted worshipers of the Lord Jesus. 

we want to see
1. conversion to Jesus as the Son of God (God’s grace)
2. conversion to the bible as the word of God (God’s government)
3. conversion to the church as the community of God (God’s gathering)
4. conversion to the world as the mission of God (God’s scattering)

it seems to me you can work out in a person  how well they have grasped  the gospel of Jesus and are appropriately responding by these 4 areas. its helpful for me as I think about how I am going too. 

have I grasped God grace in Christ?

do I greet the rule of God through his word? 

am I committed to living and serving and learning in the community of his gathering?

having been called out of the world, and am I faithfully living as one sent into the world? am I a missional  Christian in my local action and global concern? 

the correlates are pretty confronting. 

if you love Jesus and hate the church, then maybe you are not really converted. 

or if you love community but avoid the word’s authority, you are not really converted.

or if you think you are a Jesus and bible guy but can’t cope with a community of grace, maybe you are not truly converted.

and just maybe, you are yet to embrace the world as the sphere where God’s glory is proclaimed and lived for – then again you haven’t quite got it yet.

hebrews 4:12 speaks of the thoughts and desires of the heart.
• there’s what we think (interpret believe and trust)
• there’s what we desire (worship want treasure)

Tim Chester helpfully points out we are always interpreting and always worshipping something. Part of our very humaness is our propensity to expalin things and treasure things … It’s hard wired into us.
There’s the problem with my heart too. What I think and what I desire, because sin is not trusting God nor desiring him above all else. It’s beliving lies and falsehood rather than his good word and worshipping created things rather than my creator.
Only the gospel can help hearts. Only the gospel gives me a true object of faith and a true object of repentance. Only the gospel satisfies my thoughts and desires, my trust and worship.

I wonder whether we have captured this well in our gospel presentatons?

It would seem that our desires, our wants, our treasures are key in getting to heart issues, and not just our thoughts, interpretations and explanations?
how can I preach to hearts in a way that hits thoughts and desires?

jamming with Piper

more about “Treasuring Him – DWYL Sermon Jam Video“, posted with vodpod

we get a mention in southern cross here 

i stand by what i said there even if i don’t remember actually saying it

its because sometimes empty vessels make the loudest noises, and I am a little wary of myself in this regard. 

but here’s what I am doing instead :

1 .I am working harder on having respect for the word of God, that I both live under and proclaim

2. I am trying to show more respect for the people of God by paying careful attention to how I communicate the word of God

3. I am reading Tim Chester’s ” you can change ” really slowly, for no other reason than I need to understand my Lord;s sanctifying power and be transformed by it. 

4. I am encouraging other guys like me who are interesting in the kind of ministry that is clearly Reformed (theological convictions) Urban (ministry context) and Missional (ministry philosophy). I am calling it the R.U.M corps. (cool heh!). A few of us pray together each week for one another and the Marrickville LGA in particular.  

5. other people’s ideas are way more original and interesting then my own 

6. we have a 4th child called Declan (it Gaelic and means “full of goodness” – the Lord anyway!) – my wife and kids are far more worth the time that I have often spent indulging myslef in blogging.

back soon.  

next month I will be in Fiji for a few weeks and I have been asked to do some workshops on approaching the bible and teaching 

I was thinking of something that helps them to put the bible in its biblical theological context. something like :

the Kingdom pattern, perished, promised, partial, prophesied, present, proclaimed and  perfected. 

I only have a couple of hours and importantly, I want to model reading the bible for them.

what would you do ?

I read Don Carson recently on the memoirs of his father, whom he painted as a fairly ordinary pastor in an incredibly difficult context of Quebec back in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Tom Carson was faithful, prayerful,steadfast and not flashy.

The Don’s dad had a big impact on his life, in fact the Don is one of those great leaders and theologians we’ll probably remember long after he’s gone. But his dad – Tom Carson – will be remembered mostly as Don’s dad, if at all sadly.

Don’s dad is a spiritual legend because there was no sham.

High spiritual pretense with low spiritual reality kills christian family.
Low spiritual pretense with high spiritual reality envigorates family.

It’s about applying the gospel to family really.

God’s grace toward spirirtual failures like me brings a humility which means we’re liberated from the crushing demands to perform. I don’t have to try and be something or someome who clearly I’m not.

Just humbled, thankful, full of grace.

And much better to be that at home, then to somehow pretend to be something other… No one will spot sham better than your own family, and no one will benefit more from your genuine spiritual reality then they will.

its is an Anglican School after all.

more about "urgent appeal – we need your help to …", posted with vodpod

Tim Chester is a co author of Total Church. 

Tim Chester Ordinary Hero  has now been publish through IVP. its about everyday Christian living from a reformed and missional perspective. 

Can’t wait to get my copy.

Recently I listened to Steve Timmis speaking at mars hill church on gospel communities. Well worth a listen, in fact we have begun using the talks In one of our community groups.

Importantly he shares what he understand the gospel is, because it is this that will centre shape and direct our understaning of community ( which in turn holds up and lives out God’s message – 1 tim 3:16).

So what is the gospel?

Steve puts it this way:

The gospel is…

Jesus, God’s promised rescuer and ruler,
lived our life, died our death,
raised again in victorious triumphant vindication
as the first fruits of the new creation
to bring forgiven sinners together under his gracious reign.

So what do you think? Do he capture it, and if so why?
And if anything, what’s missing?

aka “value statements” often end up being totally meaningless whilst the better ones can be deeply frustrating. 

1 .the meaningless ones don’t really tell you anything about a gospel centred community or its culture but more about what they prefer or like, the problem being it may have little bearing in relation to the gospel. 

for example, I came across one core value that said : we value excellence in all things. 

well good for you but what exactly do you mean by that, and what does it have to do with Jesus his rescue and rule?  No doubt it may, but exactly how it is hard to say. excellence in servanthood or excellence in the lines for the car spaces in the car park, or excellence in being excellent. 

or another: we value creativity. again I would want to say whose creativity and for what purpose, expressed in what ways. its all too value because it doesn’t define the good in the currency of the gospel which is what gives things worth.  

value statements must be more than what we like, and more than vague aphorisms; they must signify  the very dna of what it means to be a gospel community –  they must paint some kind of picture for what is essential to our life together in Christ. 

2. the other problem with churches values statements is that they are aspirational – that is even if they are good ones – they are things we are moving towards therefore dangerously under realised. this can be deeply frustrating when the church at its core is a community of spiritual failures and screw ups. 

don’t get me wrong, clearly articulated values, well defined and understood, can be immensely valuable, they shape culture or at least tell us something about the kind of culture of church that we would like to be , yet they can be terribly disappointing when we talk the talk but do not walk the walk. 

values statements have value – because rightly informed shaped and centered by the gospel, they tell us something of the kind of people we would like to be , or more importantly , what God would like us to be –  but we must be diligent in seeing them being realised without being crushed by the weight of the aspiration. 

 

so please help me in thinking through core values for a gospel community.

if you had to name 5 aspects of gospel community that were to shape us and we were to deeply cherish – what would they be ?

first not on you, you’re not as important as you might think. Jesus and his supremacy is far greater.

second, you could look around for some people who are keen on starting something new that helps people to know Jesus like a church plant and invest in them. I like this idea and think its necessary – but to be honest it not how I’d spend my first $250k, but defintely my second $250k. with the right guy, who has the the right message & the right mission in the right context – its a potentially high return – but its also a high risk – and having joined a body of people who in the past decade have blown half a million this way – I think there may be something that is lower risk and higher return as as first measure. 

so third – this is what I’d do first

Find those who are already in place, doing mission with existing reources – and spend the money helping them to do mission better. they’re there, they just not always sure what they are doing. 

you won’t improve everyone this way, but most churches I know have good guys, with the right message and mission but the wrong resources. I’d help them to get simple and clear about what they are doing, realise the potential of the resources they already have at their disposal, and give them the supports for putting in a place a growth orientated process in their churches. 

so what would $250 k buy? 

two things. 

1. leadership consultancy that actually helps churches to be missionally strategic and effective. 

2. leadership consultancy that helps churches to create new capital to fund there new improved mission strategies. 

in my context this will mean 

1. we stopped giving church grants where they throw good money into bad strategies and structures 

2. we plant churches only out of healthy missionally effective and growing structures that can support them. 

3. we reources leaders in existing churches by helping them to mangae their existing captial better whilst creating new captial and structures that will orientate for growth. 

4. when we do give churches grants for new projects, we will be confident that the money will be better spent because there will be better leaders with better structure in place.

5. overseers will have a clear focus, pastoral care of their leaders and facilitating the right consultants for growth.

in the majority of post Christian ministry contexts, ministry is

low key,

long term ,

hard labour,

highly relational,

gospel intentional. 

we would love to see heaps of new ministries popping up that help people to be wholehearted worshippers of the Lord Jesus. We want to grow more and more of them becasue we beleive thats what God wants. and we have a denomination – who are on the whole a group of like minded Jesus lovers who share a common history, theology and resources – who want to help us do this through grants. 

in my context if you went to our denomination and asked them to invest in new ministry, they’d say tell us about the person and tell us about the project. If they like the person and the project then they give you a reducing grant over three years. 29k, 19k, 11k. or something like that ( at least that’s what happened before we lost all are money through bad gearing and the GFC). 

here’s the problem. I can’t think of anywhere in our urban missional context where a new ministry could get up and running enough to pay its leadership in that time. where I live the money wouldn’t even make the rent. 

frankly its not a model for pioneering new ministry, but only tacking onto existing ones.

for new ministries – either our models of ministry have got to change – like have more part time and bi-vocational pastors and evangelists – or the way we fund things must change – so that the goals of funding and the resources that accompany them actually reflect the nature of ministry which is low key., long term. hard labour, highly relational and gospel intentional.

Recently in my reading and preaching I have been struck by a number of things in Luke’s gospel, with two in particular that I would like to take the liberty of sharing with you. it has uncovered a heart problem for me. 

first it struck me that before Jesus selected his apostloic band and descended onto the plain to teach the masses ,he spent a whole night in prayer and communiion with his father. have you ever thought about that? it was only after a night in prayer, only then did he make what I would consider a significant ministry decision, and only then did he did the teach the people on what it meant to be a radical community of grace. Jesus’ power in ministry was an outworking of his deep dependance on and communiion with his heavenly father it would seem. 

Just maybe I lack power in ministry because I do so much out of my own strength and ability rather than out of a humble dependance on God through prayer. 

Second it struck me that the bookends of Luke 7 are two models of faith. Two unworthy and unlikely people who honour Jesus quite profoundly.

The first instance is the centurian whose faith Jesus commends because he recognises as a man under authority that Jesus is a commander who must be listened to. so he says to Jesus, you say it and I’ll do it.

That’s radical obedience of faith that Jesus is looking for. Too often I have heard the command to come , go or do and ignored it because of sin and the dullness of my heart. 

The second is a shady lady who lavishly honours Jesus in one of the most socially awkward, intimate and emotionally charged scenes in the the wole gospel. its affectionate devotion that is uncaring of others opinions if ever there was. her deep debt, encountered grace and welled over in deep love. again leaves me looking a little cold. 

here’s the rub

Whilst I am no enthusiast, I can see much centurian like faith being called for within the camps where I belong yet little expression of the affection and deeply intimate faith of the women we meet in the end of Luke 7. Her wholehearted devotion was a costly, intimate, emotional effusion of wholehearted worship that welled up out of an intense appreciation of the greatness of sin and the greatness of the saviour. yet my fear is that we too often call for duty without joy, and where we do speak of sin and forgiveness – it seems to leave the heart untouched and unmoved. we lack her tears. 

It seems to me that we are good are calling for obedient servants who ‘go’ ‘come’ and ‘do’, yet it doesn’t strike me that we do so with the joyful devotion that breaks all convention becasue of the supremacy of Christ. I don’t want to manufacture some emotional experientialism. I just want heart felt, warm, reformed piety that has a healthy place for the affections. 

the whole point of chapter 7 in Luke’s gospel in that we must graps who Jesus is. The gospel indicative must show forth in the gosple imperiative of love which in reposnse to the Lorship and Grace of Christ is both obedient and affectionate. and so I pray it would be so for me. 

Among the many reasons assignable for the sad decay of true Christianity, perhaps the neglecting to assemble ourselves together, in religious societies, may not be one of the least.

the pyro’s have a great little piece by Spurgeon here – some might saying dripping with irony – but I think he was saying , as useful as the methodology of the messenger might be, the power is always in the message – and we must never rely on the method – always the message.

pia desideria means the ” the piety we desire “. Its the title of a small book that was a large preface to another book and was written by Jacob Spener in 1675. Mark Noll mentions him in his book “the Rise of Evangelicalism – the age of Edwards, Whitefield and the Wesleys” . 

Spener was addressing an analysis of  Germanys spiritual problems where despite a stack of church activity, he lamented that there were few who really knew and practiced true Christianity. There was a deep concern that an arid orthodoxy and formal religion had not stimulated the true faith which is awakened through the word of God , by the illumination, witness and sealing of the Holy Spirit .

Spener proposed six remedies.What he advocates seems to have been a bedrock for the spiritual awakening which followed inthe next century. 

Amidst all the recent talk of ministry strategy and organization, its refreshing to read something as timeless and timely as this. it strikes me that if we were to ask ” what does the church needs today” there are few tracts , prefaces, books or conference offering piety as a remedy. 

here’s what Spener suggested: 

1. there must be a return to the word of God, for only there do we hear good news and are shown good living. 

2. lay people (non professional Christians) must again take an active role in religious life. interestingly he thought it vital that the ‘ancient and apostolic kind of church meetings’ where men and women gathered through the week for bible study and spiritual encouragement was urgently needed ( what we would call gospel commiuntiy groups) 

3. there must be a movement beyond correct beliefs to active godliness. The gospel indicative of love must be worked out in the gosple imperative of love. 

4. Harsh religious controversies must be stopped and replaced with a practice of heartfelt love toward unbelievers and heretics. 

5. the eldership/ pastorate of the church must be kept for men who are true Chrsitans and not place servers who are eager for prestige and power. 

6. bible college students must understand the practice of godliness ( we would say actually doing biblical ethics )and not merely trained to parrot theories of theological and spiritual life. 

 

tasty remedies – I say bring on pia desideria. timely?

well here’s the thing i am praying and planning for. 

twenty guys and their families who love Jesus,  leave sin , learn from his word and live for his glory 

growing gatherings of twenty people who are committed to the dual fidelities of the gospel and community in the Marrickville LGA 

in a partnership of twenty like minded groups who want to work together for the sake of Jesus being known and glorified in this sin sick city. 

imagine that – 20 gospel communities of 20 people  - 400 people knowing loving and serving Jesus in the our local area!

 it almost sounds achievable under God!

but there are 80 000 in my Local Government Area – so if we are to see a genuine spiritual awakening to begin to happen – we need to seek the Lord’s blesing on our prayer and proclamation 20 times over again. 

20 twenty 20

in the previous posts I was looking at ethically emaciated Christians and what might help to beef them up. 

Stuart Heath gave a wonderful description of a week in the life of his church.  

it raise the question of how would things be different if we restructured church to beef up ethically trained disciples of the Lord Jesus who are also missionally effective. 

here it is:

In the church I’m in now (part of The Crowded House network in Sheffield), our primary locus of church is not a Sunday gathering, but small groups (15–20 people, though we’re looking at ways to make these smaller). The key differences I see between this and most of my church experience in Sydney is:
(a) it facilitates church as community, rather than event;
(b) it helps me know which Christians to love in deeper ways (i.e. I focus on building relationships and serving the people in my small group, rather than being overwhelmed by having a hundred people to ‘really get to know’), and it facilitates a level of trust which allows us to be open with one another about our sins and struggles (because we’re committed to one another in a concrete way);
(c) it gives an easy context for doing mission together. That is, in Sydney, my worlds were sealed off from one another — church friends, uni friends, work friends, family. In this church, the idea is to get those worlds colliding, so that people who don’t know Jesus get to see his people living together (serving one another, serving others together, resolving conflict in godly ways, raising children, discussing life decisions, and so on).

This is highly aspirational: our prayer is that it be rare for us to meet *without* unbelievers present, but we’re a long way from that so far! But we seem to be headed in the right direction. The geography of Sheffield makes it easier than Sydney — most of us live within ten minutes’ walk of one another; people don’t commute an hour to work. Having said that, a few people do live further away, and it’s not unusual for some of them to have ’sleepovers’ if we’re having dinner late, or something.

We have no regular times when the whole small group meets all together, though we put a Sunday lunch in diary for every 4–6 weeks where most people will be present. There are two fixed meetings that people come to if they’re available — every Wednesday morning we pray for half an hour before work; every other Monday evening we meet to read the Bible.

Our only ‘formal ministry’ is running a conversation class on Saturday mornings for asylum seekers and refugees. Our hope and prayer is to develop relationships with those people outside the conversation class, and this has been slow so far.

All other ‘meetings’ are ad hoc. Living close means lots of low-key contact (cups of tea and so on). The idea is not to do ‘extra events’, but just to include people in what you’re normally doing. For example, we’re planning to go to a jazz night at a pub on Wednesday; we’ve invited our non-Christian neighbour and some people from our small group to come along. I’ll give you an outline below of what the last week looked like for me. Other people were doing other things; we don’t have any children at this stage so we’re freer to be involved in a range of activities:

Sunday: church meeting in the morning, followed by lunch. Also had dinner together, where we discussed holiday plans/budgets. Out of that, a few of us are going on holiday together in June.
Monday: met after dinner to read the Bible; spoke about repentance; that conversation has been picked up throughout the week.
Tuesday: dinner with Indian (Hindu) friends, who’ve invited us to their place for dinner tonight
Wednesday: prayer/breakfast before work
Thursday: whole church network AGM in the evening
Friday: lunch with a Muslim asylum seeker newly arrived in Sheffield. Then birthday dinner together.
Saturday: conversation class, followed by lunch. Some people went on to an outdoor gig. Then dinner and film at our place (with one non-Christian friend, F). At dinner, we also discussed doing a charity auction for F. We’ll use the church building and people will donate stuff to auction.
Sunday: church meeting in the morning (I picked up someone else’s non-Christian friend on the way), followed by lunch. Two families in our group have twelve-year-old boys who aren’t interested in ‘Sunday school’. So during the church meeting, men from our group mentor them
Today: it’s a public holiday, so a few people are going out into the countryside for a ramble. There’ll be three non-Christian friends, including an asylum seeker

discuss?

the conversation began here in case you were wondering. 

the main point being 

I been challenge by my friend Tim to think much more concretely and carefully about what we want a Christian to know, how God wants them to love and  see in what ways they can practically serve in all spheres of life.

and 

in other words letting the gospel shape and centre and direct the whole of life very intentionally.  we need to know what the good is far more concretely and know how to live it more precisely. 

there needs to be very concrete thinking that moves us from the gospel indicative to the gospel imperative. we need to help each other see what the response to the Lordship of Jesus – in repentance and faith – actually looks like. 

so the question is:

what are the top ten things a Sydney Christian needs to grow in order to live well and wisely as wholehearted follower of the Lord Jesus?

I am struck but the paucity of teaching on what the Christian life is like in most teaching I hear and I am deeply concerned to redress my own.

I mean practical teaching on everyday living in the spheres of life the majority of people inhabit, like living wisely and well in this world. 

most ministries that I have come across look at a guy like me sitting in the assembly each Sunday and think

• make sure he is converted 
• make sure he is sure 
• make sure he is coming 
• make sure  he is giving 
• make sure he becomes a full time minister 

its no wonder that churches fill with spiritually emaciated men and women who feel there is little value added for them most weeks. 

it seems to be me that what  we maybe  lacking is a theolgoy for the middle of life, and I wonder whether this may accout for the relative success of churches like Hillsong. 

what I mean is this : 

in evangelical circles we focus on the beginning of life ( conversion) and the end of life  (assurance and the new creation)  , yet maybe assume way too much about what happens in between- a theology of the middle. also called ethics. 

so what is the allure of the prosperity gospel movement and other how to shamen?

they offer a more coherent and attractive vision for healthy wise and prosperous living now in the present – they need a (stronger?) beginning and end theology but at least they have a middle!

I been challenge by my friend Tim to think much more concretely and carefully about what we want a Christian to know, how God wants them to love and  see in what ways they can practically serve in all spheres of life.

Everyday Christian ethics for marriage and parenting, for the workplace and for living in the communties where we are to be “salty and lighty”, that gives a coherent vision for what wise godly living actually looks like in this world.

in other words letting the gospel shape and centre and direct the whole of life very intentionally.  we need to know what the good is far more concretely and know how to live it more precisely. 

(aside: if Moore College makes cuts next year I pray its not in the ethics department!) 

what is your church’s vision for the Christian life? 

where do you think we could strengthen a theology of the middle and see Christian ethics taught well in churches?

I’m on the 422 heading to the city and listening to scott thomas speak on what he is looking for in a church planter . The bald guy sitting next to me is wearing a lovely zebra skin jacket with pink lapels and is eyeing off my sexy iphone.
Scott is asking what kind of person who is going to start and then lead a brand new church. All really helpful teaching but one thing stood out. It’s most likely not the guy sitting next me. ( btw he has lovely manicured purple nails)

Thomas highlighted that nearly every church planting expert who is current in North America failed to rate personal love for God in their hitlist. and whilst everbody wants culturally savvy and connected young guys, all the young guys seem to be being moved and taught by a totally unhip culturally disconnected old guy called John Piper. (What a dinosaur!)

His point was this:
Connecting with culture is overrated.
Connecting with God is underrated.

It’s so true, people in the end don’t need hip, they need holiness . And that means I think I need to spend as much if not more time considering my calling out of the world to Christ as much as my sending into the world for Christ.

Do you think in our desire for contextual ministry we have downgraded the power of counterculture?

1. moderate every comment and take half a day approve the most menial comments like ” thanks that was interesting” or ” I agree”

2. incessantly criticise those who are not  from your stable 

3. be suspicious of everything and everybody from North America 

4. patronizingly affirm a position, throw in a big BUT, then warn of the great dangers if we  stand on this slippery slope, then defend the slippery slope arguments against those who think its maybe not so slippery or slopey, before reaffirming the great danger if we take this any further 

5. write essays that you think your favorite lecturer is marking rather than publish news worthy snippets and opinion. 

6. defend , defend, defend. 

7. leave no room for an alternate view other than Satan’s

8. thank a person, put in a  :)  than use logic like a meat mallet to smash and flatten stupid questions or personal opinions 

9. ride that hobby horse till you feel the splinters

10. say nothing other than what they said 

11. please men 

12. ?

his address to students in March has just been released on Syd Ang. 

Having just spent a couple of days with John at my year groups conference, I am deeply appreciative of his humility and openness to listening. Whatever accusations of paternalism that may be leveled at his generation of leaders is definitely not true of him. 

Whilst the implications of his letter may be interpreted by some as gloomy, I think it it indicates a creative tension that has wonderful potential for equipping the next generation of missional pastors and teachers.

his correlating commitments are exceptional and mark a potentially significant  shift 

• Clarify, reaffirm and commit to what must not change
• Plan now for major cuts to the usual sources of income
• Evaluate the possibilities for greater flexibility in our theological education
• Review the academic workload
• Commit to raising the standards of preaching
• Commit to raising the awareness and concern for mission
• Commit to greater engagement with the Christian community

no doubt this will make some of the old entrenched establishment cranky, but good on John – he is a worthy model for younger leaders to follow. there is lots that he thinks they are doing well, and I wholeheartedly agree – yet he is secure enough to explore alternatives for the sake of both faithful and effective preparation of servants of the assembly.

what is it that I love about fat fighters AKA Biggest Loser?

one word: Transformation.

who said people don’t like change?

last night alone 1.5 million people watched and marveled at the progressive morphing of a couple of “fatties” into “fitties.”
it moves , inspires and amazes millions at just what can be done with some good ‘ol exercise and diet.

it reduces their biological age, reshapes their body image, redresses advancing morbidity, revamps their self worth – yet for all the wonderful change – it cannot redeem them from their deepest bondage nor renew them in their truest image.

I keep wondering what we can do as a gospel community to get our people delighted and awestruck at God’s transforming power, and get those around us to seen how good and glorious God is. I think at least part of the answer must be seeing transformation.

we must show people what it is like when by his Grace the gospel impacts our lives personally and together.

maybe then our millions of viewers might stop switching over to something else and start switching onto the reality of Jesus?

our church’s web address is www.cooksriver.net.

trouble is no one knows where the cooks river is and what it has to do with church. 

the mix : 

our church building is named : St Peters 

our suburb locality is : St Peters, Tempe, Sydenham

our LGA is : MArrickville 

we are about : gospel and community. 

so heres the suggestion

www.stpeterscommunity.org 

or 

www.stpetersgospelcommunity.com/ org 

or 

www.stpeterschurch.info

 

or 

????

 

what do you think????

I just discovered a site called theopedia when I was looking for a definition of Federal Vision Theology. its now on my bookmarks bar. a handy resource to have tucked away.

The gospel coalition has taken Mars Hills ” The City ” ( a social networking tool for churches etc). ITs awesome. Its free. And there is an australian group. 

please take a few secs and sign up here 

I have start a group called Sydney – Urban Planting Communities , looking forward to seeing what floats.

there’s a new online greek reader – works real good – helps the hacks like me without spending $$$ on the bible programs that enable faster reading

free online greek bible 

h/t Stephen Shead (ola!) 

“It’s a free, online, customizable Reader’s Version of the Greek NT and Hebrew OT. For those of you who haven’t seen the printed versions of the Reader’s Greek NT and (very recent) Hebrew OT, the idea is to help people actually maintain and improve their Greek/Hebrew by encouraging them to READ the text with vocab help when they need it, rather than the “search for words and hover the mouse over everything” Bible software method, which doesn’t actually help you to maintain or improve it.

With this free online one, you put in a passage (just select the passage name at the top and replace it with what you want – “Acts 1″, for example), and you can specify what frequency of words you want as the cut-off for the vocab it will list at the bottom, along with various other things. Then the idea is that you print it out and take it with you, for sermon prep or personal reading or whatever. Again, the idea is to encourage reading, with more or less help as needed.”

it struck me again tonight that too often when things go belly up we account down. 

when something in a church goes pear shaped more often than not we look at the pastor and say its his fault. ie we account down. or if community groups don’t work we blame their leaders. but who is overseeing these leaders and what is that overseer doing? 

I reckon we need to account up. i.e we need to understand why the pastor failed. it may be him. but what about those who appoint and train and supervise him. his overseers. maybe he has failed because they have failed. i.e not given him the tools and resources he needed to succeed ( whatever that means). 

can you see the implications. 

1. whatever I oversee I need to take responsibility for – it my job to encourage resource equip and train – and take the rap when it goes wrong rather than beating up on my subordinates. 

2. in the broader culture of the church we got to be careful not to beat up on guys for perceived failure – when they were never given the tools to succeed in the first place. our default should be to look to their boss and say “what haven’t they done?”

3. if a guy can’t preach. he may not be gifted, he may not work hard enough, or just maybe his teachers have failed to teach him. 

4. if pastors can’t lead a church to grow, then maybe we need to ask how the organization has failed to prepare them for leadership, or allowed them to be there in the first place . 

5. more than funding new ministries  through loans and grants , I reckon networks and denominations need to pour resources and energy into leadership development that prepares the person they are about to invest in – otherwise they’ll just throw good money into bad leadership. 

can you think of other way our default in church needs to shift from account down to account up?