When a number breaks your heart…
Numbers usually sound a little cold. Aid agencies know this. Rather than tell us that roughly 689 million people currently live in extreme poverty (that is, survive on less than $1.90 a day), they will usually tell the story of one child, knowing that as we sense the sadness of the one story, we will start to sense what it means when you multiply it 689 million times. Without the story, the number is quickly glossed over. The results of the Australian 2021 census came out this week – so it has been a week of numbers. In the midst of a vast array of data, one figure stabbed at my heart....
Read MoreA Spirituality of Simplicity
Can less be more? Or, in the world of church and Jesus following, can fewer services, ministries and activities help us draw closer to God? It may sound counter intuitive, but let’s play with the idea and see where it leaves us. It is actually a relevant question. After all, Covid shut downs have seen most churches run significantly fewer programs, and it is important that we ask if that has been to our spiritual detriment, or if in some strange way, it has helped us become a little more like Jesus. If the former, we should probably get back to business as usual as quickly as possible,...
Read MoreOn not making great things small…
I recently listened to a podcast in which Fuller Seminary President Mark Labberton lamented that religions (including Christianity) have a habit of making great things small. He said he initially heard the sentiment from his father – who at best was on the fringes of faith. He hadn’t really understood his father’s point until his own God encounter when he was about 18 years. His mother, who attended church periodically, realised that her son had experienced something meaningful, and so invited a pastor to come and see him. Labberton says that the meeting felt awkward from...
Read MoreHow to listen when the preacher doesn’t have anything to say…
I always like to be fair, and as my last post was on how to preach when you don’t have anything to say, I thought it only proper to look at the other side of the coin – how to listen when the preacher doesn’t have anything to say. Now don’t misunderstand the motivation behind these posts. I am not anti-preaching, albeit I am not in the camp that believes the world might end if a church service doesn’t include a sermon. I think that preaching can accomplish an enormous amount of good and that the sermon remains the means through which the majority of Christian...
Read MoreHow to preach when you haven’t got anything to say…
Amusing though the title is, let me start with the disclaimer that it isn’t mine, but was the topic given to Mark Oakley when asked to preach at a recent Church Times event. Now Mark Oakley always has something worthwhile to say – so do listen to his podcast on this topic, though other than for the title, I have taken this post in my own direction. Furthermore, lest you think this is for preachers alone, I plan to follow it up with a post: “How to listen when the preacher hasn’t got anything to say…” – so I am trying to make sure there is something...
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