Blogs

ReforMission – Living in Mission (Part 4 of 4)

Why is it that some communities are effective in their mission and others seem to constantly struggle?

The gift of manger hands

Many people know a familiar hymn once sung regularly at confirmations: “Take thou my hand and lead me.”

ReforMission – Engaging with a Changing Culture (Part 3 of 4)

I remember listening to a high school speaker talk about the relationship between cause and effect.

A Kingdom of Care

The most profound description of the way that “King Jesus” rules over us, is discovered in the parable of the “sheep and the goats” in Matthew 25.

ReforMission – Engaging with a Changing Culture (Part 2 of 4)

In his book “Didn’t See it Coming” Carey Nieuwhof writes “when the speed of change around an organisation is faster than the speed of change inside the organisation, the organisation becomes irrelevant.”

Good Lord, deliver us …

My first computer game had a profound message embedded in it. The game was called “Patton Strikes Back”.

ReforMission – Engaging with a Changing Culture (Part 1 of 4)

1517 was a remarkable year. It was a year in which Martin Luther began challenging the authority of the church to dictate the ‘how’ of Christian living. Luther’s nailing of the 95 Thesis at Wittenberg was a direct response to the hierarchical church’s promotion of ‘earning your way to heaven’. Luther’s emphasis was that the… Read more

‘For everything there is a season’

It is a bit odd for me to be talking about Christmas when it is still almost two months away. As the shops become more frenzied with Christmas sales, I encourage you to map your own calendar differently, to the one used by the marketing campaigns of the retail industry. The book of Ecclesiastes chapter three,… Read more

The power of Christian music

Some attribute to St Augustine the saying ‘to sing is to pray twice.’ Whether he said this or not, most of us would agree that music and songs can express the movements of our souls in ways that words cannot. Many people treasure certain hymns or songs because they are associated with periods in which… Read more

‘Plural praying’ post-Synod

Have mercy on US! Grant US your peace! I had the privilege of being the first of the LCA/LCANZ bishops to preach for the morning devotions at our recent Convention of General Synod. Using the story of the “Passover” in the Exodus text that was given to me for the service, I focused the delegates… Read more