What is the Bible basically about?

What happens when you get some Victorian religious art and some great words from Tim Keller?  A pretty sweet youtube clip.

Not normally a fan of these sorts of things, but this is good:

What is the Bible basically about?

Bible reading will be a lot easier if we get this simple point.

We need wise architects

In 1 Corinthians 3:10, Paul describes himself as a sophos architekton, a wise architect, or master builder.

What our churches need is not fancy preachers, but wise architects. Fancy preachers can answer the question “what will make people listen?”; wise architects design a ministry that answers the question “what will help people grow?”

I have benefited enormously from the preaching gifts of others, and it is an aspect of my own ministry that I enjoy doing and wish to get better at.

Nevertheless, I am increasingly convinced that what we need more than engaging preaching is excellent ministry architecture: people who have thought deeply, carefully, compassionately, missionally and sacrificially about what a God-centred, mission-oriented, love-fuelled, worship-sustained ministry should actually look like on the ground. Ministries built around the giftedness of the preacher often lack this sort of careful ministry design. Though they need not.

In Perth, I reckon these guys have thought well about ministry design, this guy is thinking it through in the context of an existing congregation, and these guys are building a new congregation that is working it from the ground up. And that’s just a taste of the many places in Perth where people are, to use Paul’s words, “being careful how they build” (1 Corinthians 3:10)

At Unichurch, we need to think deeply about our ministry design. Next year will almost certainly involve significant changes in how we configure our community (when we meet, how often, how we do what we do, how we disciple people etc). We need to pray for the gift of sophos architekton.

121degrees CORE Conference and The Sex Pistols

On 4 June 1976 a then relatively unknown band called The Sex Pistols put on a concert in Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall.

Only about 35 people rocked up.

And yet that concert is today mentioned in the same breath as Live Aid and Woodstock as one of the most important and influential concerts of all time.

Why? Because pretty much everyone who went formed a band. Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, Simply Red, The Fall and The Happy Mondays are all bands that are said to have been born from people who were at that concert.

Last week the 121degrees network hosted the CORE church planting conference. Only about 60 people came, and yet I am praying that pretty much everyone that went will plant a church. For me, it was the best conference I have ever been to. Jeff Vanderstelt (Soma Communities and Acts 29) and Tim Chester (The Crowded House, Total Church) gave takes each day that made me feel like I was drinking from a fire hose. Brilliant. And these were added to by excellent seminars from people involved in theological education, church planting and other excellent stuff in Perth.

Looking out over that room of 60 or so people several times I thought “If I get to work alongside these guys for the next 40 years, it will be a great privilege.”

—–

In 1969, The Velvet Underground releases their seminal Album The Velvet Underground and Nico. Not many people bought the album but (as the legend goes), everyone that listened to it formed a band. Which is my way of saying: “When the podcasts are available, listen to them!” I’ll let you know here when they are ready to go.

A rant on applying 1 Corinthians 1

Over the next few weeks I am preaching through 1 Corinthians 1-4 at Unichurch.

In preparation I have listened to about 5 or 6 sermons on 1 Corinthians 1. These have been from leading evangelical preachers in leading churches from across the world. I have benefited from all of them, and most are no doubt better sermons that the one I’ll be dishing up on Sunday.

And yet…One thing really bugged me. Without exception I think, in all the sermons I listened to, the main application of the passage was to people who weren’t there. And I don’t think that’s particularly helpful or healthy.

The typical application went something like this: “1 Corinthians 1 speaks of the power of the message of the cross. Some demand signs and wonders (like John Wimber and Joel Austin); others look for wisdom (like liberals and tractarians). But we (=evangelicals) preach Christ and him crucified.”

All the sermons I listened to gave the impression (no doubt unwittingly) that the abuses addressed in 1 Corinthians 1 were all ‘out there’. In here, the main application of the passage was “Steady as she goes. Just keep preaching, and avoid the abuses I mentioned earlier.”

Some reflections:

First, the issue in 1 Corinthians 1 is how we line up behind leaders and teachers (1 Cor 1:12). I would have thought that (given our emphasis on teaching) that this was more of a home truth for us evangelicals that almost anyone else, right?Because we love teaching, we love teachers. And because we love teachers, we are at least at risk of lining up behind them in the wrong way. Right? Surely therefore there is a better application to us that “keep it up! You’re doing super.”?

Secondly, even if the main abuses are out there, I don’t think it makes for healthy preaching habitually to apply the Bible to people who are absent at the time of the message. I grant that occassionally some preventative teaching is necessary, or movements come through that are publicly prominent and need to be addressed. But, as someone once told me, as a general rule in preaching ‘never criticise something that isn’t a live option for your hearers.’ It’s just not healthy; it feed arrogance and complacency.

Thirdly, if we want others to repent, surely the best first step is to show them how.

Here endeth the rant.

Unichurch Partnership

As semester 2 gets underway, we’re launching a new course: the Unichurch Partnership course. Over 3 weeks we will be looking at God’s word and hearing from Rory, thinking through what we believe as a church, what our mission is and what is actually involved in being a church. We hope to better communicate what we’re on about as a church, and that at the end of the course people will choose to sign up to become a partner, to affirm that Unichurch is your church and that you’re onboard with us in our mission to reach Perth with the gospel.

When: Begins this week at Hub, Tuesday (students), Wednesday (workers) at 7pm

Where: St Matthew’s Anglican Church, 114 Onslow Rd Shenton Park

Who: Everyone at Unichurch, whether you’ve been around for a long time or a short time, whether you’re regularly part of Hub or not.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Get off the couch!

Have you ever wondered what inspires those crazy people who decide to leave everything and go be a missionary in another culture?  Is the idea of doing missions in a foreign country scary to you?  Or ludicrous?  Or perhaps you’ve never really considered whether missions could be for you.

Well you have a golden opportunity to indulge your curiosity about missions in the fun, interactive and immersive ‘Be A Missionary For A Night’ that will be run bySt Matts as part of our Global Gospel Focus.  You will step into the cultures of Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa and draw from the experiences of missionaries and mission agencies as they share and discuss what both short and long-term missions would be like in those cultures.

If the idea of doing missions seems scary to you, then this will be a chance for you to take away the fear factor by imagioning for a night that you are a missionary, and exploring what it would really be like. If doing missions is something that you’ve never really though about, then here is a chance for you to find out why everyone can get something out of a short-term missions trip, even if you don’t see yourself as ‘missionary’ material.

The ‘Be A Missionary For A Night’ event will run on Saturday 19th June, 7pm – 9:30pm @ St Matts. Internaltional food will be provided. Bring all your tricky questions as if you were actually applying to be a missionary. Entry is by gold coin donation.

So, as we at MIA like to put it, ‘get off the couch, and just do it!’  In the end, missions is about leaving our comfort-zone to go share the gospel with people who need to hear it.  Is your vision big enough for God’s vision for the world?  What’s stopping you from giving missions a try?

Skip about!

My mum is my evangelistic hero

My mum, Jean, is my evangelistic hero.  She never learnt the lessons we normally learn about inviting people to stuff.  It’s not that she finds it easy, or loves doing it for some buzz – but she hasn’t learnt the lessons we have learnt about evangelism.  And in the wake of the essence talks, the Safari Supper this week, church and Hub every week and other events on their way, I wondered what my mum never learnt that makes her my evangelistic hero.  Here are 5 lessons about evangelism my Mum never learnt:

1/ Make the conversation awkward and rare. My mum never does this, she talks about Jesus and church events naturally and frequently.  It makes it seem normal to be a Christian and that attend the event might actually be okay.  It also shows that Jesus is a part of every day life, not just Sundays.

2/ Be embarrassed about the event.  My mum never learnt that you should apologise for the event and tell them beforehand that it will not be that good, they probably won’t like it and that they probably shouldn’t come.  My mum actually trusts the talk to be good, the event to be well run and the people to be friendly.

3/ Talking to your family is hard.  Jean just doesn’t seem to understand that it should be hard talking to your family about Jesus.  She has no qualms about telling her parents, parents in law, children or more distant relatives about church, what’s happening at church or if the conversation turns that way, Jesus.

4/ You cannot set up your own event.  My mum hasn’t learnt that you have to wait for the church staff team to plan and organise an event, because after all, the staff team will always now what is best for you and your friends.  Instead my crazy mum starts her own event.  She loves sewing and needlework tools, so she started a group at church that makes these pillow/quilt things called quillows (they’re great, a cushion one minute, a blanket the next). Women not normally involved in anything to do with church come and the conversation often turns to Jesus.  Madness – she will never learn.  The last lesson my mum has never learnt is this:

5/ Loving people and inviting them to events are different things.  Surely loving someone means that you do things for them, if you have to, use words.  My mum never fell for this lie.  She loves them enough to actually tell them, often whilst doing something for them.  My mum actually loves her neighbours as herself, she tells them about Jesus, the greatest news ever.

My mum is my evangelistic hero because she has not learnt the lessons we normally learn about evangelism, which means she actually does it.  I suspect she’ll never learn these lessons, because you can’t teach an old dog a new trick.  Not that she’s old…or a dog.  Anyway, my mum is my hero.  Happy Australian Mother’s day mum.

The Isolated…

Isolation – self induced, by personal living circumstance or by oppression – is one of the greatest threats to people, including Christians.

One of the greatest challenges to Christians living under religious persecution, oppression and restrictions is isolation, both from God’s Word and from the body of Christ. While many of us who reads this live in places with religious freedom and harmony, and a click away from great preaching and exposition of the bible, there are many more who have no access to this blog, or any Christian blogs, who are isolated, who have not met another Christian for months… or years… who are wondering if the church, or God Himself, has forgotten and given up on them. North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Maldives are the top five countries among the 50 that the WorldWatchList ranks as the worst persecuted countries. Death, arrest, imprisonment, lost of citizenship or identity may be a nightfall away…

While we thank God for this unique freedom of faith, to be able to choose the where, when, what… on the church we are planning to go to this weekend, let us remember and pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are living under persecution, with no “where, when, what”  this coming weekend or in fact the uncountable weekends ahead on enjoying a physical gathering around decent number of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ over great songs of praise, hearing God’s word together, having delicious supper out in the open…

Yet, when these brothers and sisters in Christ are encouraged and strengthen by God’s word, by prayer of the church, by fellow suffering Christians, they can exhibit the forgiveness and love that few living in comfort can imagine.

Quoting from the WorldWatchList “Where Faith Costs the Most”,
“The witness of persecuted Christians has a unique power to reach a new generation of lives and communities that would otherwise never be open to the gospel – but they cannot do it alone.”

Are we with them?

Understatement

We are kings and queens of overstatement.