Articles, thoughts, essays, and content from Brian as well as students – our budding theologians.
Miscellaneous thoughts after a holiday in Europe…
All good things do indeed come to an end, and I am now back at work after four weeks of holiday, most of them spent on a river cruise through 5 countries in Europe. Lest you think that is the lifestyle to which I am accustomed, think again, but it was wonderful to be in a make believe kind of world for a while. Here are a few miscellaneous thoughts that came to me in the course of the trip. Seasons are real. In the first instance, that’s a statement about geography. Our trip took place during a Northern Hemisphere Autumn, in...
read moreAbout church buildings…
A common question of tourists is ‘So what did you see today?’ If they are touring Europe (as Rosemary and I have just done), you are likely to hear the reply, ‘abc’. Lest you have not heard the quip, abc stands for ‘another bloody church’. It is a little ironic that the worlds most secular continent is filled with church buildings – and not just any church buildings, stupendously splendid buildings, buildings that literally take your breath away with their beauty, history and heritage. On our recent...
read moreChurched, Un-churched or De-churched
A shorter post than usual today, but it poses some pertinent questions about those who are de-churched… Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. If you’re up with the discussions on the future of the church you’ll know that commentators distinguish between people who are un-churched (as in never had any significant contact with a church) and those who are de-churched (as in once were involved, but no more thank you very much). While the church has always worried about those who are unchurched (they’re the reason for the...
read moreOn passing a trainload of Syrian refugees…
Our river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest had many extra bonuses, each designed to keep us coming back again and again. And let’s face it – river cruising is a lifestyle that has a lot going for it. Take the extra special trip from Linz to Salzburg on the Majestic Imperator – the imperial train used by Emperors of the once great Holy Roman Empire when Austria was at the height of its power. We were in the carriage where the Emperor had once sat, and it was renovated to all its previous glory. Whilst on that day trip to...
read moreA time to speak: 10 Reasons to speak up…
The last post looked at 10 reasons why silence is golden. But there is a flipside. The writer of Ecclesiastes 3 is right. There is a time for everything under heaven… and that includes both a time for silence and a time to speak up. Here are 10 signs that it is the time to speak… 1) While we should be still and know that God is God, when that truth dawns on us, we should not be slow to sing out His praise. Just as there is a place for quiet contemplative worship, there is also a place for joyous, rowdy, exuberant praise. The...
read more10 reasons why silence is golden…
We live in such a noisy world. Getting ourselves heard can be a real problem. With everyone else so busy talking, no one really seems to want to listen to what we would like to say. Should we care? Here are 10 reasons why silence and being silent can be a virtue… 1) The Psalmist advises: Be still and know that I am God. When we speak too much we often start to think that we are God. Silence reminds us that we are not. 2) When we are silent, we often really hear what the other person is saying, and sometimes even begin to understand why...
read moreSo what is an evangelical, and should we care?
This is a lightly edited version of an article I published in Perth’s The Advocate, in 2012. It in turn was a more radically summarized version of a much longer article on the topic which I published in Churchman in Autumn 2008. With around 2 billion people claiming allegiance to Christianity, it is not surprising to discover that it comes in a wide range of flavours. Those in the know point to the Great Schism of 1054 when the church divided into the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Church. The latter divided again after the...
read moreIs there a case for a Christian University?
A few groups are working to form an evangelical Christian university in Australia. Is this wise, or is it a case of misguided zeal? Our last post explored the drift from a soft to a hard secularism. In this post I argue that the formation of a Christian university could help to change the missiological climate in which we are currently located. This is an updated version of an article of mine that was originally published in Perth’s Advocate newspaper in 2012. While we could argue as to what constitute the major missiological blocks to...
read moreFrom Deo Volente to Digital Video: The Flight to Secularism
To keep the blog going while Rosemary and I are on holiday, I have drawn on some articles I wrote for Perth’s Advocate newspaper. This one originally appeared in 2012, and I have now updated it slightly. We all sense that the climate in which we practice our faith is changing. This post examines the shift from a soft to a hard secularism. Though at times a little tongue in cheek, the underlying issues are of great significance. Hope you enjoy it… My mother-in-law is a wonderful human being who has almost adjusted to life in the...
read moreFriendships that inspire…
Perhaps you have come across Gordon MacDonald’s classic, Restoring your Spiritual Passion. It originally came out in 1986, and is memorable on many counts, but perhaps the one that first springs to mind is MacDonald’s description of 5 kinds of people that you come across in ministry (and indeed, not just in ministry, but in all walks of life) and the impact they have upon your spiritual passion and zeal. The MacDonald taxonomy describes each of the five types with 3 letters and then pithily summarizes their likely impact on your...
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