Category: Ministry
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Speech and the Spirit
We’ve got to move beyond the question, “Is every Christian an evangelist”? I had a go at moving the issue forward in my series of articles and talks entitled “speech and salvation,” focussing mainly on Paul’s letters. Tony Payne in a recent Briefing article addresses the same question in a more comprehensive and practical way. He asks: How…
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Book recommendation – helping kids to navigate the digital age
For all parents and pastors, I highly recommend Jim Steyer’s book Talking Back to Facebook: The CommonSense Guide to Raising Kids in the Digital Age. For the sake of our kids, we need to model and teach responsible, informed use of digital and social media. We can’t simply avoid it, but we mustn’t embrace it uncritically…
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There is no difference: Kurrajong Ministry Training Fund keynote address
The Ministry Training Fund is a brilliant initiative of Kurrajong Anglican Church. The fund is designed to encourage and financially support people from the church who are undertaking training in Christian ministry (e.g. at theological college, Youthworks, MTS). The inaugural dinner for the fund was held on 11 August 2012. I had the privilege of…
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Support the training of future gospel workers
Prior to Moore College, I undertook a two year MTS (Ministry Training Strategy) apprenticeship at the University of New South Wales. I’m immensely grateful for this experience; the apprenticeship gave me a gospel-centred, ministry-oriented theological perspective, which was foundational both for my academic study and for my future ministry roles. MTS Sunday is happening on…
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Are we really devoted to the public reading of Scripture? (Scott Newling, Cambridge)
As evangelicals, we’ll often claim to believe that God speaks to us through the Bible. But do our public church gatherings actually reflect this conviction? This article by Scott Newling (currently in Cambridge), which appeared last year, is a salutary reminder to put our beliefs into action: Many evangelical churches are today characterized by what…
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Anglicanism for dummies (and for everyone else)
Don’t let the dusty-sounding title of Ashley Null’s paper, 16th Century Anglican Ecclesiology, put you off. It’s a devotional, deep, rich, concise yet scholarly account of the roots of the Church of England by one of the most well-respected experts in the field. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to understand this very…
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Speech and Salvation: Conference Package
I recently led a series of talks and discussions at our church’s weekend conference. I’ve put the whole conference together here into one package for others to use (it would work with a small group or a larger church group). To kick off, I started with the question, “Are all Christians commanded to evangelise?” But…
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When the offended decide to go on the offensive
Being an Aussie living in the UK sometimes leads to bizarre experiences. Like when I’m talking to a Brit, and he or she makes a joke based on the premise that Aussies are descended from criminals. That, in itself, isn’t a bizarre experience (usually the joke is quite witty and droll, in true British style).…
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Greek or Hebrew?
A quote from George Athas at Moore College that’s crying out for re-posting: A friend of mine who pastors a congregation told me of a young man in his church who was heading off to study at a theological college. This young man approached my friend for advice on making a choice: should he study…
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Theological Education in Africa – a great need, can you help?
My friend Mike Taylor, who studied at Moore College in Sydney, is now principal of the Munguishi Bible College in Tanzania. Theological education is one of the most useful things we can provide for our African brothers and sisters. Mike is looking for supporters – perhaps you could help? Here’s Mike’s letter: Munguishi Bible College…
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Pet food, pornography, and the law
From The Briefing: One lazy afternoon in 1999, travel writer Bill Bryson discovered a shop that sold pet supplies and pornography.1 It was at the far end of the main street of an unassuming Australian country town called Young. The front of the shop contained rather mundane supplies of flea powder, fish flakes, and other…
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Jedi masters and the body of Christ
From The Briefing: I’m about to use Yoda as a model for Christian love. If you haven’t seen the Star Wars movies, you’ll probably be mystified by what I’m about to say. This is not the article you’re looking for. Our home group recently spent a few weeks discussing Christian love. We were focusing on…
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A new site for the Briefing (and for my posts on Christian life and ministry)
What’s changed: From now on my regular posts on Christian life and ministry will appear on the new Briefing site. The Sola Panel is now dead. What hasn’t changed: I’ll continue to use this site (Forget the Channel) to post about more technical biblical and theological topics. Check out the shiny new Briefing site; it’s…
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Christ Evangelical Reformed Church, Malaysia
Update 6 April 2023: I have recently been made aware that the church now has a “Council of Elders” which currently consists of the Lead Elder (with authority to make decisions) and two “non-Overseer Elders” (with an advisory role). According to the church’s website and constitution, these “non-Overseer Elders” are “respected members of the church”…
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Remember the Horn of Africa
The causes of famine in Somalia are many and complex: politics, corruption, war, greed; the list goes on. At this particular moment, however, what is needed most urgently is funds to buy food. Unicef says that if they can buy food, they can get it to where it’s needed. Apparently we haven’t taken this crisis…
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It ain’t over till it’s over
“The debate is over” – this is an argumentative gambit I’ve noticed quite a few people using recently around the web. It’s a subtle rhetorical device, designed to make people who disagree with you sound petty and ill-informed. The three debates that I’ve noticed it being used in are as follows: The debate concerning the…
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And while I’m at it – here’s another Easter sermon illustration
To follow up from my previous post: BBC News – World’s oldest man Walter Breuning dies in US aged 114. The world’s certified oldest man, whose advice to others included the observation “you’re born to die”, has passed away aged 114 in the US.
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Free Easter Day Sermon Illustration / Introduction
I’m not preaching on Easter Day this year. But if I were, I’d be using this as my sermon illustration and/or introduction. BBC News – ‘Oldest’ marathon runner Buster Martin dies A London man who claimed to be the world’s oldest marathon runner has died. … He features in a film by American documentary-maker Mark…
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On being boring
From the Sola Panel: According to a computer analysis, one particular Sunday in the 1950s (the 11 April 1954, to be exact) was the most boring day in the twentieth century. The most interesting things that happened on that day were a Belgian election (yawn) and the birth of a Turkish physicist specializing in atomic…
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Suffering and decision-making
On the Sola Panel: Is it better to choose a more difficult ministry, or an easy one? Is it more godly to choose suffering over comfort when we make decisions about life and ministry? After all, suffering makes us more like Jesus, and surely that’s good for us, isn’t it? From time to time, we…
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Before you criticise any past writer, remember…
The biggest difference between today’s writing and the writing of the past is that writers are no longer put to death. Writers nowadays could never dream of having to die for what they have written. Even if writerly execution was not always common, the possibility of death was implicit in every act of writing. The…
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Rereading Doug Campbell to help us preach the gospel
In chapter 1 of his megabook, The Deliverance of God: an Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), Douglas Campbell outlines what he calls “the justification theory of salvation”, which he seems to regard as a summary of the conventional understanding of the gospel amongst the majority of Western Christians (7). If…
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Want to support excellent Christian kids’ music? Give a few $$ (or ££) to Ben Pakula.
When I say excellent, I mean it in all senses I can think of: musically, lyrically and theologically. We–I mean me, Bronwyn, our 8 year old, 6 year old and 3 year old–love Ben Pakula’s music. It’s so true, and it’s so awesome. Those fantastic truths about our powerful God and his plan for salvation…
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Cross-shaped Wisdom (1 Corinthians 1)
This was originally published on the Biblical Theology Briefings website (beginningwithmoses.org) in 2006. The Biblical Theology Briefings aim to provide worked examples of sermons that apply the insights of evangelical biblical theology. I recently preached at the commissioning of two dear friends of mine who have now gone as missionaries to work as ministers in…
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Be careful what you promise
On the Sola Panel: Do you know for sure that you are going to be with God in Heaven? If God were to ask you, “Why should I let you into My Heaven?” what would you say? Have you ever used these questions (or a variation on them) to talk about the impact of the…