April 30, 2010
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My hope is that this series of posts "18 Confessions" will deepen the believers empathy for those seeking out the faith and bring insight into the internal wrestles of a new Christian or perhaps if you relate to the thoughts or struggles in these posts that you would consider the lasting satisfaction and joy that can only be found in Jesus.
April 28, 2010
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Ever tasted lots of joy from the good in this world when we are so aware that we are sooo bad? If we’re all so bad, and many of us don’t turn back to the one true living God, why is the world so good? We laugh, we dance, we care, we sing, we enjoy creation, we love…. Even strangers love each other.
Canberra man Robert Brown was fishing off the Tathra wharf two years ago when he saw a pram carrying a 15-month-old boy, and four-year-old boy fall into the sea… “Robert acted selflessly and at severe peril of his own life to do his best to help a complete stranger,” link
Why? Why would Robert a complete stranger risk his life to help a father and his two kids from drowning?
Scott Kauffmann in his blog essay “The Problem with Good” highlights 3 possible answers to questions like the above:
Logically, there are three possible answers to the problem of good.
- “Comic grace”: we’re good enough to save ourselves
- “Cosmic waste”: goodness outside salvation is an illusion
- “Common grace”: goodness outside salvation is God’s gift to everyone
… I believe the best answer to the problem of good is common grace. Common grace is one of the most essential, useful, redemptive, and dangerous truths to understand as we interact with the world around us. It helps us understand God, our world, and others.
… Let’s start with some key elements of common grace.
- God gives immense grace (unmerited favor) to all His creatures, in many ways.
- God cares about more than just saving individual souls. That is certainly of great interest to Him, but it’s not His only interest. He also cares about restoring His creation to glory through the coming of His kingdom.
- God is the author of truth, beauty, and goodness wherever – and in whomever – they are found. And they can be found nearly everywhere – in virtually every person, place, situation, or idea that ever existed.
- Wherever they are found, they can and should be used to point others and ourselves to their source in Jesus.
April 27, 2010
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Check out some new music.
For a limited time… you can download free Hymns Page CXVI Album.
The guys who have put this album together want people to experience the theologically rich hymns that have lead us to so strongly pursue music as a way of spreading the gospel. They want to see hymns be sung and known again.
The slightly odd thing about this is that Page CXVI is an anonymous project and so as much as we may all like to know they won’t be able to answer any questions about who we are or provide band photos.
Click the link below and the album is sitting there waiting for you and anyone else who wants to download it. Feel free to re-blog this, email the link, or tweet about this while the album is still free.
The promotion runs from April 27th to May 4th.
The new hymns album will be available for a pre-order or instant digital download as well.
April 25, 2010
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The doctrine of the Trinity is often seen as a problem or embarrassment for the Christian to explain, however the truth of the one true living God of the Bible being that of three mutual indwelling persons encapsulates the heart and mind of the gospel. The doctrine of the Trinity has pertinent relevance for each of our lives today.
This week, I went to hang-out with some friends who run an organic fruit and vegetable markets. While I was at the market I experienced the great relevance of the doctrine of the Trinity. I walked away from the afternoon saddened by the busyness of life that means we don’t take time to relate and engage in each others lives and also excited after tasting the glorious truth life is really all about making space for others. I watched people pass by, I entered conversations, I was invited to join conversations and lives of others. I bumped into people from my church, local community, made contact with some strangers, saw people dance and laugh with each other, I had one long conversation about spiritual things and generally just got to enjoy the love and joy of life lived in relationship with fellow humans.
This is one of the reasons why I love supporting my organic food friends as they are striving, through quality food, to see people come together in their local communities – connecting, playing and working together. They encourage people to make space for others… which is how God created us to live.
God, since the beginning of creation, has been in relationship. As theologians would put it ‘perichoresis‘ which comes from the Greek verb ‘perichorein’ that means ‘to contain’ and in that way ‘ a making space for the other, ‘a dynamic containing and making room for another’. A similar Greek word, ‘perichoreuein‘, which means ‘to dance around’ which has been used as a metaphor for the relation of the Persons. The later Church Fathers came to apply the term and its concept to God: the divine mutual indwelling of the three Persons in the one Being God.
Tim Keller describes The Trinity as:
“a dynamic, pulsating dance of joy and love. The early leaders of the Greek church had a word for this– perichoresis. Notice our word “choreography” within it. It means literally to “dance or flow around”.”
— The Reason for God, Timothy Keller pg 215
and the great philosopher and writer CS Lewis explains:
God is not an impersonal thing nor a static thing – not even just one person – but a dynamic pulsating activity, a life, a kind of drama, almost, if you will not think me irreverent, a kind of dance … (The) pattern of this three-personal life is … the great fountain of energy and beauty spurting up at the very center of reality.”– C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
The fact that the Godhead is made of of three-persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, means God was, is and will always be personal and committed to engaging with others. And if this is the God whose image all humans have been created in likeness of and mirror forth into this world then there is a profound overflow effect into our everyday lives, not only in our attitudes towards Him but also others:
_______________________
The Trinity | If you want to read more about The Trinity, check out the Desiring God’s topic index or check Christianity.net for quick answers to some common questions. OR Why not check out how Jesus talks about His experience of His relationship as God the Son with God the Father and God the Spirit in John 17.
Make Connections | If you are keen to see how Food Connect can help build relationships in your local community why not check out the Sydney Food Connect Website.
Get in contact with the team or feel free to contact me and I would love to help you make connections.
You Can Afford Organics | If you are a local to Crows Nest… pop along to Crows Next Plaza on Thursdays between 9am-3pm to say hello to Brock & Tsung from ‘You Can Afford Organics‘ and grab some tasty, fresh and 100% organic produce.
April 25, 2010
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I am more and more convinced that our generation is filling ‘the God shaped whole’ with data. Although these guys aren’t believers I think this video diagnoses the subtle idolatry that exists in our generations…. we look to data and technology to give us worth and identity, we wake with technology in our hands and we see the sun go down with technology in our hands. I wonder how many of us actually have technology creeping in for the position of God in our lives:
“Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God” – Martin Luther
I missed the National Day of Slowing Down on March 20, but the organisers created a Sabbath Manifesto with 10 principles to help you unplug. I particularly like 1-5, 9 and 10.
The Sabbath Manifesto is a creative project designed to slow down lives in an increasingly hectic world. We’ve created 10 core principles completely open for your unique interpretation. We welcome you to join us as we carve a weekly timeout into our lives.
April 24, 2010
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April 23, 2010
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GUEST POST: Steve Kryger from Communicate Jesus shares how to exploit Facebook and take hold of the endless opportunities it provides for outreach and evangelism.
Facebook provides a wealth of evangelistic and outreach opportunities, many of
which are yet to be exploited to their full potential. Here’s just a
couple of ideas:
How have you used Facebook for the purpose of outreach?
An opportunity that remains untouched (as far as I’ve seen) is the
capacity Facebook provides to share MP3′s. It’s very simple – when you
post an update, click on the ‘Link’ icon in the attachments area. Add
the link of an MP3 (e.g. the weekend’s sermon), and Facebook will
provide you with space to add the title, artist and album. Here’s how
it looks:
There’s some great potential with this facility – whilst friends and family may not make the trip to the church website to download a sermon, they might be more likely to listen to a talk you recommend on Facebook. Somehow it seems less scary to post a link to a talk via Facebook, than to send an email encouraging a friend to listen! And considering Australians spend 29% of their online time on Facebook, you might as well provide them with something to listen to while they’re there!
You can read more about this facility on All Facebook and The Next Web.
I’ve written more about Facebook at Communicate Jesus.
April 22, 2010
1 Comment
My hope is that this series of posts "18 Confessions" will deepen
the believers empathy for those seeking out the faith and bring
insight into the internal wrestles of a new Christian or perhaps
if you relate to the thoughts or struggles in these posts that you
would consider the lasting satisfaction and joy that can
only be found in Jesus.
April 20, 2010
0 Comments
Wondering how to stay in contact with the world? Or reconnect with people outside your church circles?
Too often we find ourselves without friends who aren’t of faith and we limit the opportunites God might have for us to preach the gospel.
Here are 5 tips to help you maintain contact or reconnect:
If you want to make friends with people outside of church and work, you first need to put yourself out there somehow in order to meet people. Friends seldom come knocking on your door while you sit at home watching TV or surfing the net.
You don’t have to be an elite athlete to join a sports team, but not all teams are so competitive, rather social fitness. As long as you enjoy the sport and support your teammates, joining a local team with a laid-back attitude could be a great way to develop new relationships or to help strenthen exisiting relationships. Why not join a team with a work colle
Volunteering is a great way for people of all ages to meet others. Working alongside people who are passionate about helping others or changing things you develop strong bonds.
You can join a club, go to community art school or join a sports group but you still won’t make friends if you don’t actually talk to people. You can talk to anybody: the postman, the person sitting in the sun on a part bench, the person next to you on the bus, or the person in front of you on the lunch line. Don’t be too picky. Most conversations will stop short and not necessarily end up anywhere and you may not ever talk again to the person but who knows maybe once in a while you might actually make a friend.
Check your body language and develop a personable and friendly presence. If you appear unfriendly to people they will be less likely to be friends with you. It is one thing that helps in building report. Try not to frown, squint, fold your arms, stare, or make disinterested looks. Open yourself up to opportunities.
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