college travels

Shutting down "College Travels" blog

2010-10-13T13:50:00.000+11:00

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick post to let all those that follow our blogs know that we are shutting down our College Travels blog and instead posting all our faculty blogs on our new website http://www.youthworkscollege.edu.au/!

The exciting news is that you can subscribe to the RSS feeds to the faculty blog AND (for the first time ever) to the children's, youth and family ministry articles produced by Youthworks Training staff.

You'll find all the links to do this at the bottom of our College home page (above).

You can also follow us on facebook (facebook.com/youthworkscollege) and twitter (twitter.com/ywcollege).

Cheers,

Graham.

Identity Formation Creates Gospel Opportunities

2010-07-26T11:29:00.003+10:00

We are all involved in processes of becoming. We are being formed as we grow and develop and as we respond to the changing environment around us.

The challenge we all face is to become increasingly aware of these processes and to take whatever steps we can to ensure that there are good outcomes for us and for those around us.

During early childhood our involvement in these processes is largely passive. Our understanding of what is happening around us is very limited. We are given a particular genetic make-up and born into an environment where decisions are made on our behalf. But over the years we take a more and more active role in determining how we will respond, which parts of our character we will choose to work on and which parts will be left unchallenged.

As far as our own culture is concerned this makes the teenage years a particularly significant period. This is when the world of the child collides with the adult world. It means that these are the pivotal years during which identity formation takes place. And it means that for the youth minister that there is an unprecedented opportunity to speak into the life of an individual to ensure that those good outcomes are the best outcomes.

In the paper I will present at our upcoming Theology of Youth Ministry Conference, I will look at how Paul sets out to build a Christian identity in his audience. Since his ministry was chiefly one of taking the Gospel into new territories we will look at how he engages and overturns identities which have been grounded in a pagan past and how he challenges and shapes his audience to become "rooted and built up in [Jesus], strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness".

We will go on from there to consider what the implications are for ministry in the post-Christian world.

If you're interested in attending the Theology of Youth Ministry Conference, click here for more details. Early bird discounts end August 6.

The Value of Stories #5

2010-05-21T14:38:00.001+10:00

The seer’s goal is transformation, and while we can see these things throughout all of Elisha’s ministry they are especially evident in 2Kings 6.

As a prophet, Elisha’s knowledge comes from the Lord. The Arameans suspect that there is a mole, but the reader of 2Kings 6 knows that it is God who divulges their military secrets to Elisha. As advisor, Elisha is able to brief the king. As king, Jehoram is able to effectively organise his troops to safeguard Israel’s national security. But there is more than the question of national security on view in 2Kings 6.

Amid ongoing hostilities between Israel, the Northern Kingdom, and Aram, the king of Israel is inclined to see Aram as ‘the enemy’ and its soldiers as ‘hostiles’. When the Aramean army descends on Dothan, Elisha’s servant is terrified. But Elisha has access to the bigger picture. He has a perspective that allows him to keep his cool. He shares this with his servant so that they can get on with the task in hand.

If Israel and the angelic armies engage these soldiers in battle, they will win. We can call this a win-lose situation. Alternatively they will win the battle only to trigger a retaliatory strike against them at a later date when the Arameans reassert themselves, lose-win. If Israel loses the battle the outcome is clearly lose-win, and this will be worse still if it results in punitive measures inflicted against them.

Elisha executes a plan which will change the situation altogether. He reminds us of the human-ness of the Aramean soldiers and then shows them mercy. More than that, he has the king of Israel show great generosity towards them. This completely diffuses the situation and leads to a period of peace, win-win.

Whenever we find ourselves in the midst of long-running issues there are options open to us which compound the problem and prolong the tensions or there is the option of creatively looking for an approach that will build understanding, build trust, build friendship and work towards real and lasting peace.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God.”

The Value of Stories # 4

2010-02-12T15:48:00.000+11:00

In a beautiful episode in 2 Samuel 23:13-17, we see David at his best as sovereign, but we also get a chance to see what is meant by the masochist, one of the shadow forms for the warrior.

Courage, self-discipline, self-sacrifice, protecting the weak and living honourably are central for the warrior hero. The warrior lives to serve the sovereign in the cause of justice and honour. Arthurian tales of chivalry resonate deep within us as they excite the warrior inside us all. But when the cause takes over the warrior then the ends begin to justify the means. There is dispassionate talk of “collateral damage” and the fine line between courageous and foolhardy is obscured.

The masochist is so taken up by the cause that they do not consider personal risk and danger. Boundaries are set aside as they respond to commands, or what they perceive to be commands, without regard to their own needs and personal circumstances. Their whole life is taken over by the cause, the quest or the mission. It is to the detriment of personal health, friendships and family.

On a hot day at the end of summer David found himself camped outside Bethlehem, the town where he was born and where he grew up. His mind must have wondered back to similar occasions during his childhood or his youth. He remembered how he would go to a particular well, the one near the city gate. He would draw out some of its water, drink and be satisfied. He would immediately feel refreshed and revitalised. Good times. But for now, despite his proximity to Bethlehem it would have to stay as a memory. There was a Philistine garrison in town and it meant that he would have to stay thirsty, sweaty and dusty from his manoeuvres. He wistfully spoke out his desire, “Oh that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem.”

Three of David’s mighty men heard him say this. As a token of their love and respect for him as their leader and friend, they broke through enemy lines, stole into Bethlehem, went to the well, drew out some water and took it back to David. They offered it to him. As a person, there is nothing that could have been more welcome. As a sovereign, to accept this generous gift would be to encourage others to take the same sort of personal risk just to attend to his personal comfort. Not every exploit would end the same way. He cannot accept it. As sovereign his first thought is not for himself but for those he serves. But he cannot refuse it. He cannot give it back. He cannot ignore this wonderful gesture of generosity and loyalty.

David pours the water on the ground. On one level it looks like a complete waste and a disregard for the risk his friends have taken. But David is not just a thirsty man, he is sovereign. Furthermore he doesn’t just pour it on the ground. David finds a way both to honour their intentions while at the same time sending a clear message that this is not to become a precedent. He poured the water out before the Lord and explained what he was doing (2 Samuel 23:16-17).

It will be a long time in this story before we see a sovereign act like this again (Mark 10:45). Meanwhile it is important for those who find themselves in the service of that king to remember that the sort of ministry which leads to exhaustion, burn-out and extinction is likely to be associated more with the masochist than the warrior.

Youth Ministry - Ego + Equipping others = Sustainability?

2010-01-21T09:26:00.001+11:00

I have been thinking a bit more recently about some ideas from Mark DeVries' book, Sustainable Youth Ministry.

One of his most interesting ideas was that of the Architect-Building Manager-Construction Worker. The architect comes up with the youth ministry strategy, the building manager makes sure the strategy is implemented, and the construction workers do the work to get it all done (with Jesus as The Holy Spirit as equipment and OH&S officer?). DeVries particularly advocates having Building Managers who are long-term members of the congregation so that when (not if, in his experience) the youth minister moves on after three or four years, the youth ministry doesn't fall in a heap because there are people who will remain in the church long time who can keep a ministry moving forward. Given that DeVries heads an organisation called 'Youth Ministry Architects' it's no surprise that he suggests that the architect of a local youth ministry be external consultants.

The problem in most of our churches though is that if the Building manager is to be a layperson we'll be waiting a long time to find the right one, and there's always likely to be an unhelpful power play with the youth minister. The senior minister should be that person but they generally don't want to have to think that hard about the youth ministry. And the youth minister would prefer to be that person so they can call the shots.

When it comes to the architect, though Youthworks has filled this role to a large extent for a number of youth ministries (via the College or regional advisors), this work tends to operate mostly with smaller ministries and start-ups (either new ministries or new ministers), and even for those who have started that way, over time our hope is that they would develop the expertise and wisdom to take on that role themselves. At Youthworks we're in partnership with the longer-serving youth ministers around Sydney to together come up with plans that will promote the Kingdom of Christ in our city (perhaps our work is as town-planners? Devising development guidelines?). But in the end, it's the local church that is the centre of ministry, and the local church youth minister who best knows their local situation and (ought to be) equipped to apply fundamental principles and priorities of youth ministry in that setting.

So... what if the youth minister is someone filling all of these roles, but filling these roles in partnership with other members of the church, both the local church and the fellowship of churches (the denomination)?

Youth ministers are all local architects (they know theory and the local situation), they have the ongoing relationship with the youth leaders to be building managers, and they still have skills in engaging with teenagers to be construction workers.

The key of course is for them to not be attempting to do all this on their own. They already enlist others to join as fellow construction workers (youth leaders), but is it practical at all for them to be looking for fellow building managers (in the larger youth ministries these would be the assistant youth ministers, the leader of different sections of the ym), and fellow architects.

The fellow architect one is perhaps most contentious but I think the contentiousness stems from two things. The biggest challenge is that other than youth ministers (and probably other than experienced, senior youth ministers) there aren't many people in our churches or leadership teams who have their heads screwed on properly about youth ministry. So to enlist a congregation member or the senior minister to help 'design' the youth ministry strategy is often a recipe for conflict and debilitating compromise. So, it's just easier to 'go it alone'. The danger though comes from the other challenge (to getting a youth minister to share the role of 'architect'), that youth ministers have big egos.

I've written about youth ministry ego elsewhere in this blog. My fear is that our ego diminishes our ministries as much as it diminishes ourselves. Is it ego that in the end, prevents a youth minister from looking to share the responsibility of architecture and building management with others? Because of our big egos we don't want another congregation member or ministry team leader to intrude on our realm, and we certainly don't want the leader of another realm (another youth minister, or youth ministry organisation) to come and colonise ours! But isn't this just unhelpful ego?

Instead, should youth ministers be training other members of the church in youth ministry theory and strategy? If a youth minister were to decide that they had all the skills needed to disciple the young people in the church and therefore didn't need any other youth leaders to help out, we'd say that they're dreamin'. We'd say that their ego has got in the way of effective ministry. And even if they said, 'but there's no one in the church who has any skills for leading teenagers', we'd tell him to start doing some leadership training. Is it right then for youth ministers to train up fellow architects and fellow building managers as well?

Should a youth minister take responsibility for encouraging their senior minister to grow in his understanding of youth ministry theory and strategy? Urge the senior minister to go to the Theology of Youth Ministry Conference, the Youth Ministry Conference, the Youth Ministry Intensives? Surely that investment of time will help smooth the way for youth ministry in the church, as well as be a benefit to the next youth minister that comes along after the current youth minister leaves, or be a benefit to the youth minister at the new church that the senior minister one day leaves for?

Should a youth minister take responsibility for encouraging established congregation members as fellow building managers? That gives a role to older members of the congregation (a useful expansion of the age range of a youth leadership team) who might not have particularly fine gifts in relating to teenagers. They're able to be trained and equipped to be fully on board with the youth ministry strategy and able to add the organisational management that can often be lacking.

This would help establish the youth ministry of the church but perhaps needs to be done at the expense of establishing the youth minister. Perhaps (following the line of Robert Forsyth's latest blog on sydneyanglicans.net) this adds a bi-polar authority structure into what is currently a mono-polar structure.

And perhaps then, in that sort of climate (another one of DeVries' helpful ideas) we'd be more open to learning from other youth ministers, and thereby more open to engaging helpfully with one another to promote The Kingdom instead of my kingdom.

It might not happen overnight, and without any effort on the part of youth ministers (and youth ministry advisors and educators?) it won't happen at all. It seems to me a way of moving away from the isolation of the one-eared Mickey Mouse, of moving beyond the distraction of our competitiveness, and of applying the central command of Christian ministry - John 3:30, 'He must increase, I must decrease'.

Happy New Year

2010-01-11T10:07:00.001+11:00

The start of another year.

Today is my first day back in the office for 2010. Full of optimistic enthusiasm! So in the interests of making sure we don’t enter 2010 full of ourselves but remain filled with the Spirit of God, here are some tips on how to avoid becoming pharisaical that came from Mike Raiter (Principal of the Bible College of Victoria) at last week’s Church Missionary Society Summer School in Katoomba.

1. Keep on teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ as it comes to us in the Scriptures.

2. Annually visit a ‘heart specialist’ – someone who knows and loves you and will be honest with you. Ask them two questions

a. Do you think I am willing to receive criticism?

b. What do I need to hear from you that others won’t tell me?

3. Practice humility – not by thinking less of yourself but by ‘thinking of yourself less’ (C.S. Lewis?); remember that you can’t be arrogant when you stand beside the cross of Jesus.

4. Remember that the only heart you see is your own, so don’t impute bad motives to others.

5. Regularly survey your bank statements and check how generous you’ve actually been (we tend to overestimate our generosity when we guess).

6. Pray prayers of confession regularly.

7. Be an encourager of others.

God's Reflection in Pet Affection

2009-12-11T13:47:00.003+11:00

We started up the car to take our cat to the vet. By accident or by providence the USB-drive was still connected to the car audio system. The next track played:

How great the father’s love for us

We were on our way to have Timmy put down. He’d suffered a catastrophic kidney failure and was being poisoned by his own body.

How vast beyond all measure

My mind went back to Graham’s 2007 Theology of Children’s Ministry Conference talk “Will my dog go to heaven?” I remembered too something that C.S. Lewis once wrote. In The Four Loves he wondered if the affection we feel for our pets is a reflection of one of the dimensions of God’s love for us.

That he should send his only son

Having a pet does give you opportunity to learn what it means to be responsible, considerate and accommodating. We knew not to leave meat or corn cobs out on the kitchen bench, for this would have been a temptation more than Tim could bear (1Cor .10:13). If ever anything was knocked over or tipped out, if Tim was sick or coughed up a fur ball, we knew that we had to clear up after him, for he was not able to do it for himself (Eph. 2:5). He would trust us to feed him every morning and every evening of his life and to provide him a home to feel safe in and a place to belong (Matt. 6:33).

The Bible tells the story of God’s love for and commitment to the human race. Within the story we are made aware that this is just one part of a much bigger story in which God is reconciling the whole of the created order to himself. We see glimpses of this from time to time (Gen. 6:19; Ps. 148:7-13; Mk. 16:15; Col. 1:20). But few details are provided.

As we look back over Tim’s life we recognise and appreciate the part that he’s played in our family. He slept on James’s bed to keep him company through the night when James was anxious. He had a knack of sensing who was feeling down and sitting with them, or on them. He would sit down and listen as we read bed-time stories to the children. He would join us on walks from the house and wait for us at the boundary of his ‘territory’ to welcome us back. He was always available to play and you could tell him absolutely anything and know for certain that he wasn’t going to gossip to others.

Within that bigger story we do not know what part a goldfish called Dorothy or a dog called Lassie or a kangaroo called Skippy might have been called to play. But Tim has not only given us an opportunity to see in our care for him a pale reflection of God’s love for us. He has also reminded us again and again what friendship entails.

Even if you have no time for hermit crabs, guinea pigs or dogs, perhaps when you next talk to a child who has lost a pet, it might be worthwhile finding out how God has been at work in them, through their involvement with their friend.

To make this wretch his treasure.

Some thoughts on Culture in conversation with Walt Mueller

2009-12-03T14:42:00.002+11:00

I've just finished reading Walt Mueller's book on youth culture (Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture: Bridging Teen Worldviews and Christian Truth. IVP, 2006) and have found it a stimulating and engaging read.

My favourite quote is on p.20, which isn't actually from Mueller but from Tyler Durden:

Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. We're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.
For those who missed the sub-cultural reference you probably ought to read Mueller's book… and you ought to go out and hire the DVD of Fight Club before you read any further!

My other favourite quote seems to sum up Mueller's thesis:

If the church doesn't listen, the church can't understand. When young people realize they aren't understood, church becomes a place where they don't belong. Then, as they try other places in their efforts to satisfy the spiritual hunger, the unmet groans for redemption (Rom 8:22) grow louder and more intense with the passing of time. As part of the creation subjected to "frustration" because of sin, the lost and unredeemed suffer "emptiness, futility, purposelessness, and transitoriness." (p.25).

There are three sections to the book – I'd suggest a quick skim over section one where he gives an outline of postmodernism. It's strange to say this about a book that's only three years old, but the discussion is noticeably dated. But that's just what this world is like these days – the culture moves so quickly that rather than waiting for an expert to publish a snapshot of what the culture looks like, far more useful is to learn the skills to read and discern culture for ourselves. And that's what sections two and three are about.

There are lots of helpful ideas in this book – I'll pick out a few of the most helpful ones here, raise a big question about ministry that seems to arise from this, and then give a longer summary below.

Mueller gives a fairly familiar outline of the three steps of cultural engagement: listen, understand, and then give 'an explanation of the gospel that takes into account, understands and uses the familiar language, categories and concepts unique to their culture' (p.110).

I found useful the distinction from Patti Lane between subjective and objective culture. Objective culture refers to the observable parts of a culture (the artefacts, language, customs etc) that are on view to the world. Subjective culture refers to the hidden, internal parts of a culture that drive or motivates the visible, objective culture (p.116). Later on in the book Mueller gives a long list of questions to think about in order to get a handle on objective culture (p.218-219), and then some more questions to get a handle on what these cultural observations actually mean (p.221-224).

This of course is not an easy task – and I learnt a word for the biggest trap for 40 year old Bible college lecturers trying to interpret contemporary youth culture: misattribution (p.116… be careful that you read and pronounce it properly!).

Misattribution is 'the tendency to assume or assign our own meanings and motives to someone's behavior' (p.116-17). The classic, 'you listen to this song with some very depressing lyrics, you must therefore be depressed'; when instead the young person is thinking that the girl he likes likes this song and he will do anything to get her to notice him.

Mueller is good at lists. Which does make it easy to summarise. We get three ways that Christians interact with culture (accommodation, alientation, infiltration & transformation); three marks of a 21^st century messenger: three motivations (gratitude, responsibility, concern); four core commitments (committed to be a student of the word, to be a person of prayer, to live and embody an integrated faith, and to be a student of culture); fourteen core characteristics (that I'll list below); and finally seven steps to implement the same ministry strategy that Paul used on his visit to Athens (Acts 17… again, wait till later).

My big question is this: Mueller names what he describes as 'incarnational ministry' (p.190), and he contrasts this with an approach to culture he names as 'accommodation' (p.136 'the church on a leash'). Now, for regular readers of my ravings you'll know that I'm not much of a fan of what's labelled 'incarnational ministry' and instead I've proposed an approach to cross-cultural mission (particularly with young people) under the label, 'accommodation' – So, is Mueller arguing the opposite?

Well no, actually I think he's saying just what I want to say, we're just using the same words in different ways.

When Mueller is describing the 'infiltrate and transform' approach to culture as 'incarnational' I don't hear him saying that we ought to 'become' a member of that culture we're trying to reach. I don't hear him saying we ought to be content with forming friendships with young people on their own terms. I don't hear him saying that we ought not have an intention of sharing the gospel with young people in the hope that they might come to life in Christ. In fact the stories he tells of his own interaction with teenagers show him still being very much the middle-aged man dressed in 'khaki pants, button-down shirt, tie and navy blue blazer' (p.111).

For me this isn't incarnational, at least not what I hear most people who use the word incarnational to mean. Walt Mueller doesn't 'become' a goth in order to enter into a deep and significant relationship with Bekah; Jesus becomes human, fully human, not just as a communication tool, but to be our substitute. God has always accommodated his voice to our weakness, putting aside his rights in order to be able to talk to us in words that we can understand and engage with. This for me is a ministry of accommodation – me engaging with you in a way that leaves at the door anything of me that will get in the way of a relationship with you; it is not a ministry of incarnation – where I become like you in all things, so that I'm able to stand in your place.

But will Mueller object to my use of 'accommodation'; well he doesn't need to, because we're using the word to mean different things. For Mueller, accommodation to the culture means to conform completely to the culture – which to me is what incarnation means; when I'm using accommodation I'm referring to adjusting our communication to remove any stumbling block of offence or communication barrier.

Is it just semantics? Not at all – we ought not call the cultural engagement that Mueller is advocating (and I'm supporting) 'incarnational' for two reasons. First, because this is not what Jesus did in the incarnation (he did more than just listen, understand and communicate, he became one of us); and second, because this is not what others mean when they use the term (incarnational ministry has come to mean a relational identification that replaces gospel communication with cultural identification).

At least that's my two cents.

And now for the extended summary… well perhaps in the next post…

It's a Scam!

2009-11-18T12:13:00.003+11:00

warning to those who are listed on the Youthworks recommended speakers page (http://www.youthworks.net/index.php?c=24&d=880&w=7000&r=Y) - there's an email scam targetting you as it has targetted others overseas (google London youth conference scam).

They say you've been selected to come and speak at a conference in London, all expenses paid!

The catch is they will then ask for your credit card number to get a UK Visa. and then, KAPOW, they go shopping!

So, even though getting invited to an international conference sounds like an appropriate recognition of your exceptional gifts... this one may not be the best invitation to follow up on!

Here's the email:

My Name is Rev James Williams from the London Youth Community

Here in London UK. We want you to be our guest Speak at this

Year LONDON YOUTH CONFERENCE which will take place here in

UK.We are writing to invite and confirm your booking to be our guest speaker at

these year.We want all LONDON YOUTH to come close to GOD and realize

the future is in their hands. That is why we intend to use these

conference to turn them away from the illicit behavior.

LONDON YOUTH CONFERENCE.

The Venue as follows:

VENUE: Holy Apostles Church Hall,

47 Cumberland Street,

Pimlico London, SW1V 4LY

Website.www.londonyouthconference.com (CURRENTLY UPDATING)

Expected audience: 3500 people

Duration of speech per speaker: 1 Hour

Name of Church/Organization: LONDON YOUTH CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY,

Topic:LIFE AND FUTURE

Date:19th of December 2009-23rd of December 2009.

For more information call: +448715036319 OR on my land line +2348136933407

We came across your profile on

http://www.youthworks.net/index.php?c=24...

and we say it’s up

to standard and we will be very glad to have such an outstanding

personality in our mist for these overwhelming gathering. With your

multi talented speech more lives will come close to GOD, Sorry about

our late invitation it is due to the fact that our Speaker had back

out because of her sudden illness.

Arrangements to welcome you here will be discussed as soon as you

honor our invitation. If you have any more publicity material, please

do not hesitate to contact

me. A formal Letter of invitation and contract agreement would be sent

to you as soon as you honor our invitation. We are taking care of your

traveling and Hotel Accommodation expenses including your Speaking

fee.

Stay Blessed

Rev James Williams

www.londonyouthconference.com

LONDON YOUTH CONFERENCE

The Value of Stories # 3

2009-11-03T10:43:00.000+11:00

As we continue to think about the significance of the narrative sections of the Old Testament we turn our attention to David. David gives us a rare glimpse into the role a lover. David made Saul feel very threatened but elsewhere he generates great affection and loyalty. His friendship with David is a prime example.

..So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, "May the LORD call David's enemies to account." 17 And Jonathan made David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.. (1Samuel 20:16-17)

.. I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.. (2Samuel 1:26)

Individuals within the homosexual lobby have seen this as evidence of David’s homosexuality, but it is better understood as the description of a strong and loyal friendship between two like-minded men, that has been forged through participation together in daring and dangerous tasks, like the liberation of Israel from Philistine domination.

David is an individual who adds to the experience of life, through his friendships, through his poetry, his music and singing. He brought with him a calmness and helped people to enjoy life (1Samuel 16:23), a ministry that he continued towards the king even after Saul had shown that he wanted David dead (1Samuel 19:9). If the stories about David are understood as representative of who he was, then he encouraged people and to give themselves to the celebration, such as when he danced before the ark (2Samuel 6:5), without regard for how this might look to the more conservative (6:20).

And yet just as David could not always keep the sovereign in check so too he allowed the lover to get out of control, not least in his involvement with Bathsheba. It is a reminder to us to enjoy the emotions that God has given us, but not to allow them to take over and dictate our behaviours and a reminder of just how hard it is to walk along that tightrope (cf. 1Cor 10:12-13).

The Value of Stories # 2

2009-10-06T13:25:00.001+11:00

The stories of the Old and New Testaments help us to engage with others by offering us examples or ‘archetypes’ to follow (see entry#1 on 3rd Sept).

Everyone wants to live a significant life. We all want to be mourned when we die and to be remembered for having achieved something. We will look to achieve in one of four areas or in a combination of two or more of: warrior, sovereign, seer and lover.

In Saul we see an example of what happens when a warrior is made sovereign. Saul cannot handle the responsibility. He fought well and bravely to rescue the people of Jabesh when they were under threat, but he is unable to function well as a sovereign.

As king his job is to empower and inspire others. But Saul is never confident enough of his position to allow himself to be generous towards others and to trust them and release them for service. He mistrusts his own son Jonathan even though it would be hard to find a more loyal individual. And the second half of 1 Samuel is dominated by his mistrust of David, even though David proves his loyalty on several occasions.

Saul is insecure as sovereign and is fearful that his power will be handed over to someone better suited for leadership and so he acts not so much as sovereign but out of a ‘shadow’ form of the archetype. He acts as tyrant. There is no room in his administration for warriors like David, though he needs them to fight the Philistines. He fears that warriors may attract support and threaten his position as king. Nor is there room for seers so he does not follow through on Samuel’s advice to him and eventually Samuel is forced into a sort of retirement. He perhaps fears that a seer will expose his lack of ability and his unsuitability as king.

Saul teaches us that the grass is not always greener on the other side. Just because Saul made a good warrior does not automatically mean that he will make a good sovereign. We may, from time to time, be asked to work outside our preferences but we should expect that our best contribution to be according to the way that God has made us. This is likely to be in a way that builds on the experiences that he has brought us through and the personality and preferences that he’s uniquely gifted us with.

‘Twitter is permissible, and may even be beneficial; but I will not be mastered by anything’

2009-09-30T08:40:00.000+10:00

In an article I wrote for the Buzz e-news I gave the self-justification for giving in and joining the growing number of twitterers. Paraphrasing 1 Corinthians 6:12, this post shares some of the dangers I’ve discovered, and my current strategies to keep twitter as a servant and not let it become the master.

4. Missing what’s happening because I’m telling other people what’s happening

A few months ago my youngest daughter and I were going out together to watch my other daughter in a school play. So my youngest and I had dinner at a little take-away chinese place in Wollongong. It was great sitting there with her perched up on her stool with her plate of spring rolls in front of her. I took a photo and posted it to facebook, with a caption something like ‘on a daddy-date with my daughter’. A wise friend replied, ‘so why are you on facebook then?!’

The advantage of twitter is the immediate update – real time reporting, ‘this is happening right now!’ The danger is that I end up like the tourist who spends their holiday looking at the world through the lens of their video camera and ends up missing out on actually seeing the world as it is.

So tweets will need to be mostly before and after the event. Does this kill the beauty of the technology? Perhaps; and perhaps there’ll be times when an immediate tweet is helpful – but if I end up one of those people who doesn’t look you in the eye when you’re speaking because I’m too busy bashing out a new tweet on my blackberry, then please come up and slap me.

3. Being constantly occupied with thinking I should be tweeting something profound

Now that I twitter my brain hasn’t just got a new task on the agenda, it has a new set of standing orders. I now have a new activity to fall back on in down times so that I never need to employ the services of a mental screen-saver. I’ve found that in the rare moments where I used to be able to just sit and think, I’m now busily constructing new thoughts to tweet to my loyal band of followers.

The problem is, for a Type A person like me, this puts me firmly on the path to a heart attack! My colleague Ruth Lukabyo diagnosed me a few years ago as dangerously Type A—the sort of person who finishes other people’s sentences, who walks quickly even if I’m not in a hurry to get somewhere, who stresses over whether they’ve chosen the shortest queue at the supermarket and who carries reading material everywhere just in case you have to sit somewhere and wait for three minutes and don’t have anything productive to do! All of which puts my brain in a constant state of stress, building an adrenaline addiction in my system that can lead to heart disease and premature death.

In his book, Adrenaline and Stress, Arch Hart outlines helpful remedies for Type A’s which includes the benefit of doing nothing every now and then. Our brains need some down time, and can often be far more creative when they’re given a bit of a break; the sort of breaks that come when you’re waiting in a supermarket queue, waiting for an appointment, sitting in traffic – as long as you’re not busily working on formulating your next tweet!

So my discipline is to not check twitter every time I’ve got a moment to spare (which doesn’t sound that difficult when I write it here, but actually is... which must be a sign of addiction!) and to train my mind to slow down, to smell the roses, enjoy the moment. Maybe if I keep doing that I’ll have more interesting thoughts to tweet!

2. Mistaking Twitter for the Bread of Life

My greatest addiction used to be coffee; I can see that it could easily become twitter.
The sign that coffee had become an addiction was when I found myself saying ‘I can’t get through the morning if I haven’t had a coffee before 7:30am’ (that, and the headaches I got when I tried to quit!). Yet at the same time I realised I was able to make it all the way to lunch without having prayed, and could go whole days without sitting in silence before God’s word. So the discipline was invoked, ‘no quiet time, no coffee’. I needed to express to myself that my need for the ministry of word and prayer was much more ‘vital’ in the literal meaning of being ‘life giving’ than coffee ever could be.

Now the discipline is to not read my twitter updates until I’ve read my Bible – my discipline of giving the first word to the God who I follow with my life, rather than to the twits I follow on my phone! It’s difficult because my phone doubles as my alarm clock – so the first thing I touch in the morning is this oh so tempting piece of communications technology. Maybe I should buy an alarm clock.

1. Living my life for the praise of men

This really is the biggest challenge of all for me. So much of my Christian life is lived publically; it’s one of the main occupational dangers of being in leadership ministry. So many of my reflections on and responses to God’s word are public, which makes me a prime candidate for the sort of hypocrisy that Jesus warned against in Matthew 6 – am I in this to be seen by others, or because I want to serve my heavenly Father? As Twitter gives the opportunity to share so much more of what’s going on in my life, it also gives the opportunity to shift the focus of my spiritual life from being lived for God to being on show for others: beware of tweeting your points of spiritual inspiration in order to be retweeted by others, I tell you the truth, you will have received your reward in full!

So my vow before God is to not tweet or facebook or blog or write about the things that are written in my personal journal of notes from my devotional Bible reading and prayers. This part of my life will be under the discipline of secrecy – not because it’s more noble to be secret; but because my heart is too weak to be able to avoid self-serving hypocrisy without this discipline to train me to love the praise of my Father in heaven more than the praise of men.

At times it’s killing me! I read something in the word and hear something from God that I’ve never realised before, make some connection that brings great clarity to some point of behaviour, or some aspect of church life or contemporary culture. And I think, if I tweet that I’ll sound profound and wise and maybe someone will retweet and maybe I’ll get more followers that John Piper or Mark Driscoll or Jodie McNeill!

But I’m not reading the word and sitting in silence before the Lord to wait for him to speak to someone else; and if I’m busily thinking about how to share these thoughts with the world I’m in danger of missing what he has to say to me. So I sit on the back deck in my quiet time chair, with my Bible and my journal. And I leave my Blackberry inside.

A Thesis Proposal

2009-09-17T21:43:00.002+10:00

I've been working on refining the actual topic for my MTh thesis. Here's what I've come up with so far - I'm presenting this to an Advanced Topic seminar at Moore College on Tuesday so it may well be changed significantly after whatever input my gracious fellow research students may contribute.

Towards an Appropriate Adolescent Theology
How do we engage mid-adolescents with the Scriptures in a way that is appropriate to their developmental stage and equip them to connect theology with practice both now and in the future?

Although practical theology and biblical theology are seen as two competing approaches to teaching the Bible to teenagers, nevertheless a method drawn from canonical-linguistic theology can be successfully employed because it can effectively connect theology with practice while keeping the Scriptures as normative, can address the developmental challenges of mid-adolescence, and be accessible to the developmental capacity of mid-adolescents.

Some thoughts on Church and Culture – Thesis 3

2009-09-13T19:29:00.001+10:00

My final thought (for now!) on this topic... Thesis 3: By equating ‘church’ with the hour and fifteen minutes we spend together on a Sunday instead of a community we load up the weekly gathering with more than it can or should bear.

This perhaps is not an idea specifically about church and culture but I think it’s one of the reasons we’re in such a pickle over the ‘church and culture’ issue.

I think we (meaning, Sydney Evangelicals (capitals intentional) who have been brought up on Knox-Robinson ecclesiology) have overemphasised the ‘church as gathering’ equation to the extent that church has become limited to what happens when we’re in the building together on Sunday morning (or evening, or Saturday or whenever we gather).

Church is not a building (though every physical gathering needs a location); it’s not an institution (though any gathering of people will have institutional structures, see Volf (1998), After Our Likeness, p.234-45); and neither is it an event (though as a gathering community the church will be marked by the significant regular gathering ‘event’).

Brief Theological Aside: Of course, this wasn’t the intention of Knox or Robinson (imho); their most significant contribution being the point that the heavenly gathering (Heb 12:23) being primary means that we are always ‘in church’. Still though, the insistence that earthly ‘church’ doesn’t exist when we are not gathered (“It is not too much to say that the church on earth does not exist, or is not visible, except in the actual assembly of believers” Robinson (1965). The Church of God), though linguistically precise, is I believe theologically limited. Yes, ekklēsia means ‘gathering’, and the word is mostly used in the NT to refer to actual gatherings (whether Christian or not); but there are at least two times I can see where Luke uses the word to refer more broadly to Christian people who are not actually physically gathered – Acts 8:3; 9:31.

Therefore I prefer to talk of the church as a ‘gathering community’: that is, we are a community living under the headship of Christ (so, we are ‘church’ even if we’re not gathered); but we are a community that is marked and defined by gathering, both spiritual and physical gathering, temporal and eschatological gathering. To be Christian is to be a member of the church, gathered now around Christ by the Spirit, to be gathered on the last day physically in Christ’s presence, and to gather physically now whenever possible and practical as the fundamental expression and experience of our identity. To decide to stop gathering with other believers will by definition bring into question our identity as Christians. If I’m a member of a football team (in my dreams I’m inside centre for the Wallabies) but decide to no longer meet with the other team members and instead aim to play rugby as an individual, I might have lofty intentions, and there may be understandable reasons for my decision, but you’ve got to ask whether it really is rugby I’ve ended up playing.

The upshot of all this is that church isn’t just our formal gathering; it is not less than that, but must be more as well.

Even if you don’t agree with my theological aside and want to maintain the church is church only when Christians gather idea, then at least we can agree that the church gathering doesn’t need to be (and I suggest) ought not be limited to one hour and 15 minute (or thereabouts) gathering once a week.

Pity the poor ‘Sunday Service’ – it must be a time of public reading of Scripture, gospel proclamation, theological education, spiritual nurture, practical instruction, corporate worship and prayer, and intimate fellowship; with offertory, announcements and morning tea thrown in there’s a lot going on in one gathering (and there’s another series of blogs on the implications of this sort of expectation on preaching and preachers...). The point for now is, that if you add the requirement to be ‘culturally relevant to all who attend, especially to the majority culture of our community that we’ve decided to target’ we’ve ended up with an impossible task.

Putting together theses 1, 2 and 3 therefore, cultural relevance belongs to church through individual Christians or small groups of Christians who are engaged in real relationships of evangelistic-love with their friends and neighbours; while the regular gathering of God’s people, aiming at transforming all our individual cultures by living intentionally as God’s people under Christ by the Spirit, will have a culture different to any other, and open to every other.

So, invite your vegan neighbours to a dinner of barley and eggplant salad on Friday night, your NRL loving workmates to a spit roast on Saturday night and have a cup of tea and a scone with Mabel from across the street on Thursday afternoon; get everyone from your church who surfs into the same home group and encourage them to be an evangelistic community to connect with local surfers; do the same for the scrap-bookers, the long-distance runners and the wanna-be-masterchefs. And then come Sunday, come together in the one gathering that transcends all human connections, this new community in Christ. Introduce your surfer friend to your sister the scrapbooker and your brother the vegan. Then sit together under the word of God and share together in the Lord’s table, and display the manifold wisdom of God to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places (Eph 3:10), and perhaps lead your friend to worship God, exclaiming, ‘God is really among you’ (1 Cor 14:25)!

The Value of Stories

2009-09-03T15:56:00.002+10:00

Some scholars work with the assumption that what counts in the narrative sections of the Bible are the propositions that are to be found there. They want to analyse and dissect a story so that it can be reduced to a series of theological statements. But if this were all that God intended us to do with the long sections of narrative in the Bible, then it is a wonder that he didn’t give us an encyclopaedia or Bible dictionary rather than a long and involved story of salvation.

Sociologists and psychologists will say that beyond supplying propositions, narratives have another important function. Not only do they convey information but they also confer and confirm identity. The stories that we listen to and the stories that we tell play an important part in making us who we are as a community. Furthermore it is in and through those stories that we, as individuals, learn to make sense of the world and of our experiences in it. There is something about a story, they suggest, that is internalised and becomes part of who we are and how we engage with the world outside us. There is something about a shared story that joins us and contributes to a sense of community.

Writers in this area suggest that stories help us to engage with others by offering us examples or ‘archetypes’ to follow. Everyone, they say, wants to live a significant life. They want to be mourned when they die and they want to be remembered for having achieved something. We will look to achieve in one of four areas or in a combination of two or more of: warrior, sovereign, seer and lover.

The narratives in the Bible help us to know how the people of God are to fight, to lead, to offer advice and to help others to appreciate all that God has made. These same narratives also warn us about what happens when these archetypes are expressed inappropriately and the sovereign becomes a tyrant or the seer a fool. They warn us how easily this change can occur and help us always to rely on God and on those he has set around us to keep us balanced and focused.

Samuel is an example of a seer. He is still learning and growing throughout his ministry, and there’s a lesson here for us. One of the things he learns is to see potential and what might be. So he trusts God and anoints a young David in preference to an older and more impressive Eliab or Abinadab. He also learns that his responsibility is to advise Israel and Saul and later David but that he is not responsible if that advice, well presented, is ignored. So he advised Israel against taking a king, but learnt to trust God and to stand by Saul when Israel persisted with their request. Samuel might have been disappointed with their decision, but he did not allow himself to turn that disappointment to bitterness. He served Saul speaking warmly and encouragingly over him at his anointing and continuing to advise him throughout his lifetime. In Samuel we see how to use the wisdom that God gives for the benefit of others and in service of his kingdom.

To be continued ...

God's Good News for Children in Families

2009-08-31T06:59:00.001+10:00

No doubt many of you will be aware of the recent death of Graham Wade (http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/news/stories/vale_graham_wade/). Graham was a great friend of the College from the very beginning – involved in producing our first prospectus, promotional video and various other pieces of information about the College, Graham was also an esteemed partner in the grand task of sharing the good news of Jesus with children. Graham was a presenter at our inaugural Theology of Children’s Ministry conference back in and gave a truly inspirational dinner address to the conference in 2007. It’s been an honour to share a first name with this brother and an even greater honour, privilege and joy to share in ministry with him.

It’s fitting then that I’ve been working recently on writing a gospel outline specifically for sharing God’s good news with children as part of a paper to be presented at the forthcoming Theology of Children’s Ministry Conference. Graham Wade taught us to love children enough to share the truth of Jesus with them in a way that they could understand and engage with. This humble attempt is offered in honour of his example and service.

So... the conference is a month away, so if you have any feedback for me I’d love to hear from you!

Begin with the character and power of God	There are so many good things in the world to enjoy – sky and sea, plants and animals, families and friends. The Bible tells us that God made everything for us to enjoy. God did all this so that we would know that he loves us.
Connecting with the child’s experience of the world– broken relationships with God, each other and the world; and death as the consequence of sin.	Sometimes it doesn’t feel like God is with us. We fight and can be unkind to others and they can be unkind to us. Children as well as adults get sick and die. There is pollution and there are wars in the world
The mission of God	God loves his world and he especially loves every person in the world. The Bible tells us about God’s plan to fix the mess that the world is in.
The formation of a missionary people as central to His plan.	God’s plan is to bring people together into a big family so he can be their friend. God helps his friends to work together with him to love and care for his world too.
Sin and its consequences	The Bible says that when people don’t listen to God we end up making a mess of the world and hurting each other. God is against everything that messes up his world.
God’s judgement on the world and his reason for this	When things in the world are painful for us God wants us to ask him for help. God wants us to listen to him. God wants to help us be kind to others and care for his world.
The accomplishment of God’s mission in Christ’s birth...	God the Father sent his Son Jesus to be born as a human baby and to grow up like us. Jesus always listened to God and was always kind to others.
...death,...	Jesus died so that God could forgive people for not listening to him and messing up the world.
...resurrection and return.	Jesus didn’t stay dead. He is alive again. One day Jesus will come back to make a new world for all of God’s friends.
Jesus’ provision of the Holy Spirit for the initiation of salvation in repentance and faith.	Jesus gives God’s friends the Holy Spirit so they can listen to God and trust his promise of forgiveness.
God’s provision of the Holy Spirit for the continuation of salvation	The Holy Spirit helps us love others and care for his world.
God’s provision of families for the nurture and instruction of children	God gives us families to help us listen to God and follow Jesus. Our families can listen to God by reading the Bible together. We can talk to God by praying together.
God’s provision of the church	God also gives us a church family with brothers and sisters from lots of different families. The church family helps each other listen to God and follow Jesus.
A response prayer – intentionally a prayer that can be prayed repeatedly rather than a once off prayer of initial commitment	You and your family could pray the prayer on the next page to speak to God, to thank God and ask him to help you love others and care for his world: Dear God; Thank you that you love the whole world. Thank you for sending Jesus your Son to forgive us and make us your friends. We are sorry for not listening to you, for hurting others and making a mess of the world. Thank you for giving us your Holy Spirit to help us listen to you and follow Jesus. Please help our family and our church family love others and care for your world. Jesus, please come back soon. Amen.

Some thoughts on Church and Culture – Thesis 2

2009-08-25T14:45:00.001+10:00

I think we've been presented with a false dichotomy – either target your church at a particular culture in order to connect with people from that culture, and manipulate the gospel as a result (see previous post)... OR don't change church to match the surrounding culture and end up with an alienating 'churchy' culture that reaches no one other than those who have been enculturated over a lifetime.

There's another option. Thesis 2: "A church shaped by the gospel creates its own culture where each member will engage any culture in the name of Christ"

Tim Keller (in The Reasons for God) points out how Christianity has found a home in cultures across the world and throughout history. There have been dominant cultures within the church, but the dominant culture has changed over time – from Jerusalem to Constantinople, then Rome, Europe, England, the United States of America, and soon to the Global South. At the same time the church has grown and thrived in diverse cultures and sub-cultures across the world.

The reason for this is that the trans-cultural truth of Christ can find a home equally within any culture—indeed, the church is made up of people from 'every tribe, language, people and nation' (Rev 7). But the way we come together is important to grasp – not as one new culture, nor as simply the collection of different cultures, but the transformation of each culture in Christ which comes from giving a new heart to each of those cultures.

Each culture is transformed in Christ – when we come to Christ we retain everything of our existing culture other than those things that are opposed to the Gospel of Christ. So as an Australian I'll still cheer the Wallabies over the All Blacks, but I'll put aside the binge drinking and disrespect for the law. As a coffee-snob I can still enjoy my macchiato but I'll need to tame the snobbery.

As our individual cultures are transformed in Christ, they still retain the differences that are taken up into Christ and therefore taken up into the church. Which means that each local church will have its own culture – a culture like every other church culture because it is centred on the gospel of Christ; but a culture unlike any other church because it is enriched by the culture of the specific members of that church. The church may have a majority culture, but that won't be a hegemonic culture because more significant than the majority will be the experience shared by all of confession of Christ as Lord; and neither will the majority culture be derived from those outside the church, but from those inside the church who are most fundamentally members of Christ.

As a result we have a church culture where any culture is welcome to come and be transformed and taken up into Christ. And we will have a church culture where the individual members of the church will be ready and equipped to engage with any other culture in the name of Christ.

So now, as a coffee snob transformed in Christ, my church culture has equipped me to be able to engage generously and openly with both the elderly couple who live next door, the motor enthusiast who lives opposite, the computer nerd I meet at work and the tree-hugger I met while walking the dog. And I do that NOT by pretending to be elderly one day, a rev-head the next, then pop into nerd-dom and finish the day wearing a hemp t-shirt. That sort of 'incarnationalism' is artificial pretense and not what Paul means in becoming 'all things to all people'.

Paul's point in 1 Corinthians 9 is that while he has certain rights and freedoms as an apostle and as someone set free in Christ, he will readily choose to give up those rights in order to serve others more clearly with the gospel. Where his rights may get in the way of the gospel of Christ being clearly heard he will forgo his freedom so that others might be saved. Thus for Paul, being 'all things to all people' is not about what he puts on in order to be like someone else (his aim is not to 'go undercover' or pretend to be what he is not). Instead he is concerned with what he will put off in order to not cause any unnecessary offence so that the gospel of Christ might be clearly heard.

So, to engage with my elderly neighbour I won't turn up my nose if they offer me international roast; with my motor enthusiast friend I won't turn up at his place in a suit, for my tree-hugger friend I won't serve him a coke in a Styrofoam cup. Though I have a right to do all of those things, I'll put aside my rights, knowing that I'm a servant of all, so that I might share Christ.

And when every member of the church has this at their heart, then we as a community together in Christ will be able to connect with anyone who lives near enough to us to join with us as we join the mission of God as His people called in Christ by the Spirit through the Gospel.

Marriage Equality Bill 2009

2009-08-24T17:52:00.001+10:00

I was forwarded this email today:

Submissions on the Marriage Equality Bill 2009 close 28 August!

You may have read our recent VoxPoint article on the Greens' Marriage Equality Bill 2009. It would delete the words "a man and a woman" from the definition of marriage in the federal Marriage Act, replacing them with "two persons".

If passed, the bill would allow two men, or two women, to "marry". It would radically change what marriage means in Australia.

The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee is holding an inquiry into the Marriage Equality Bill, and FamilyVoice Australia has made a comprehensive submission opposing it.

But homosexual and lesbian groups are flooding the inquiry with submissions in support of the bill. We need thousands of submissions opposing the bill.

Can you help?

All you need to do is send a short email by Friday 28 August to: legcon.sen@aph.gov.au .

In the subject line at the top, put "Marriage Equality Bill". In the email itself, write your message. It can be detailed, or very simple, such as:
………………………….
To the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee

I oppose the Marriage Equality Bill 2009 because it would completely change the meaning marriage has had throughout history. Marriage is vital for raising children, who need both a mum and a dad.

Include your name and street address, with postcode.

Click "send".
………………………

This is the email I sent off to the Senate Committee:

To the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee

I am writing to express my opposition to the Marriage Equality Bill 2009. I do so as a Christian who is concerned both for the significance of marriage and for my concern for the rights of same-sex couples. Marriage is the foundation of families where children can be raised by both a mother and a father. I was raised in a single parent family following the death of my mother when I was a child. I know first hand what I have lost through the loss of my mother. My sister raised her first daughter through the early years of her life as a single mother. I know from my relationship with both my sister and my niece of what they lost through the absence of a father in that family. There is no value judgement involved here - both my own, and my sister's experience of family were good, but they were not ideal and there was a loss involved. The Marriage Equality Bill would institutionalise this loss of a mother and a father for Australian children.

My Christian faith leads me to both argue for the preservation of marriage as the union between a man and a woman, and to argue for the safe-guarding of legal and economic rights of all Australian citizens irrespective of sexual preference. The Marriage Equality Bill appears to me to be seeking to preserve the latter by discarding the former.

Therefore I would urge the Committee to reject the proposed bill.

Sincerely...

FYI

Some thoughts on Church and Culture – Thesis 1

2009-08-20T17:55:00.002+10:00

I’ve been thinking a lot about the interaction between gospel and culture recently, particularly in relation to church planting. The vibe I’m hearing around the place is that we need to discover the culture of the community in which we want to plant a church and then shape our church culture to be able to fit with the surrounding culture. It goes under the heading of ‘incarnational mission’ (something I’ve railed against in the past... but that’s another story). So, to take a prominent example, Mars Hill Seattle looks around their city and sees a whole lot of Gen Y inner-city types; so they set about developing a church culture that is Gen Y inner-city-ish and from that platform set about evangelising the city. Which all seems great – and of course, there’s lot of greatness and godliness involved in it and lots of people have come to life in Christ. But here’s my concern...

Thesis 1: “If a church is targeted at a particular culture the gospel must become moulded to, marginalised by or manipulated by that culture”

Now you may respond as others responded when I first suggested this to them – “but Mars Hill is VERY orthodox! They’ve succeeded in keeping the gospel clear while also being relevant to the surrounding culture”. Buy my question is, is that really true? My BIG concern with Mars Hill is that the doctrine of the divinity and uniqueness of Christ comes across with the same force and passion and expectation of adherence as the doctrine that men shouldn’t be stay-at-home Dads. I imagine that when asked, Mark Driscoll would affirm that the doctrines of Christ are more central and important than the doctrine of stay-at-home dads (I hope he would!). But the problem is, that to the punter listening there’s no differentiation (that I’ve heard) between what is a catholic doctrine of the faith and a particular application of a particular interpretation of the Bible! Hence, a manipulated gospel at worst, a moulded or marginalised gospel at best.

I’m reminded of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s line: ‘God hates visionary dreaming.’ Which wasn’t a spray against planning and vision casting! Instead, he levelled a challenge to church leaders to dream of a church with Christ alone as its head rather than a church with themselves at the head. His point was that the church must be the community shaped by the gospel, and only the gospel.

I have a friend who is dreaming of a church that would have the same grungy-surfy-semi-alternative culture as the suburb he lives in. His dream is to see lots of people won for Christ. I just don’t think his plans are going to achieve that. If we craft a church that has a grungy-surfy-semi-alternative culture then we’re going to have to say to existing members of the church, ‘you can’t belong here’, or at least, you can’t be prominent in leading here because you’re an old-fashioned-anglo-conservative. Not only do we end up with a church that excludes those who are already Christ’s, we’ll also exclude those who could be Christ’s but who don’t fit the target culture – what happens to the grandmother who is neither grungy, surfy, or alternative in even the slightest way? We have a church where she can’t be welcomed. The church is no longer shaped by the gospel, it’s shaped by the culture, with the gospel fitted in afterwards.

Given that the gospel is the gospel for all nations, when we set out to create a church that will make current members no longer fit and potential members not be welcome we’ve moulded, marginalised or manipulated the gospel. To be saved you need Jesus and grungy-surfy-semi-alternative-ness.

But, my good friend says, all you’re ending up with is your own un-scrutinised promotion of a particular culture to the exclusion of current and potential members – you’ve just replaced the dominant culture of the area that will attract more people with the out-dated, weird, churchy culture that you’ve inherited and grown used to, and that attracts NO ONE!

Well, that’s quite a challenge – which I shall gladly rise to in my next post.

Tim Keller and the Value of Doubt

2009-08-19T23:04:00.004+10:00

Have been reading The Reason for God: Belief in an age of scepticism by Tim Keller. I was attracted by a book that aimed to defend and promote Christianity to a post-modern world that could quote from C. S. Lewis, a Nobel prize-winning Polish poet and Darth Vader (among others!). Almost half way through and it's a great read.

His introduction talks about the value of doubt: for unbelievers, they ought to consider that their doubts about Christianity are actually displaying alternate beliefs (to say, 'I doubt that there can be one true religion' is saying 'I believe that there cannot be one true religion'), and that they ought to expose their beliefs to the same scrutiny as they challenge the beliefs of Christianity. This, I can see, is a useful apologetic strategy in our current culture.

More interesting still though is his challenge to believers to doubt:

A faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenceless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart sceptic. A person's faith can collapse almost overnight if she has failed over the years to listen patiently to her own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection...
Only if you struggle long and hard with objections to your faith will you be able to provide grounds for your beliefs to sceptics, including yourself, that are plausible rather than ridiculous or offensive. (p.xvi-xviii)

I think this is so important for youth ministry (and, as children mature earlier, for children's ministry as well). Supporting someone in the 'searching' stage of faith development that transitions a young person from an affiliative to an owned faith is one of the key challenges of youth ministry. 'The search' is something that can fill the horizon of a young believer; and if we shut it down or leave them to search alone it can have disastrous consequences. Searching alone can be like sending a four year old off on an easter egg hunt without ever bothering to stop her before she gets to the freeway. She'll need to have a good look at the freeway and will have to work out for herself that the freeway isn't a place where eggs are hidden—but she's going to be able to work that out without being run over at the same time with a wise and supportive adult by her side. But to shut down the search is to tell her that there's an egg in the letterbox, another one behind the pot plant and a few more near the front door. Which takes all the challenge away, either leaving her infantilised and absolutely dependent on others, or turns her off and sends her looking for challenges in other places.

Are our young people getting run-over by the false ideas and alluring promises of the world without any wise and supportive adults to help them examine these options carefully without having to run headlong into them? Are we providing sufficient challenge for young people that will enable them, even force them, to grow up? Or are we providing an environment of such safe predictability that they wander off after concluding that the Christian faith can't be seriously lived by a thinking adult?

Tim Keller's book is a helpful resource for the search, and for those who want to be wise supporters of those who are on it.

Twittering

2009-08-19T23:04:00.003+10:00

Jodie McNeill has convinced me to give Twitter a go for a month and see whether it can be a useful way of promoting the work of the College. We'll see. I've set a challenge of 250 followers by this time next month. So if you're interested, you can follow me at @YWCgraham.

What’s wrong with Mother?

2009-08-07T16:59:00.001+10:00

The energy drink that is. With the equivalent of 60g of sugar and 160 mg of caffeine - well, my opinion had been they're a curse from the devil and one of the sure signs that society is heading rapidly down the toilet! That's my two cents as I sit here drinking my macchiato and feeling very self righteous.

Until we had a GP come to college and give us some facts.

That having over 1000mg of caffeine a day is dangerous, but having between 200 and 300mg a day is fine. And given that an espresso shot has 77mg of caffeine, then three to four cups of coffee is okay, AND two Mothers is okay (just).

So, I've had to change my tune – those of us who enjoy coffee and a bit of cake (with its own little bundle of sugar) have no health-related moral high ground to occupy from which to look down on those of you who enjoy a Mother or two.

BUT… is the physiology of caffeine content and sugar content all there is to say?

Because what I also object to about Mother and all the other 'energy drinks' is the sub-text behind them all, that you can party all night and just throw down a couple of these and you'll be able to get through the day and back up for another party tonight. And that just seems a bit debased to me. It doesn't sound like 'six days you shall labour and do all your work'; it doesn't sound like 'work and do something useful with your hands so that you may have something to share with those in need'. Instead it sounds like a 'do what you want when you want it and take this stimulant to get you through the day'. And that sub-text IS a curse from the devil.

Not that I'm getting all self-righteous again though – because the other sub-text I've been thinking about is the 'I drink macchiato in Newtown wearing my black skivvy' world that says 'I'm so much cooler than you because I can't stand instant coffee and I'll only plunge in emergencies'. Now I enjoy a good coffee, but I can see that there's a danger in setting my preference for good coffee as an indication of social superiority that will promote a Corinthian-like factionalism in the church – 'I'm of Campos', 'I'm of Vella Nero', 'I'm of Gloria Jeans', 'I'm of International Roast'. What folly!

Maybe we should all just drink tea?

Why do Youth Ministers have Big Egos?

2009-07-23T18:42:00.001+10:00

I was in a meeting today, talking about youth ministry across Sydney and someone said, ‘I’ve worked with senior ministers in Sydney before and I thought they had big egos, but that’s nothing compared to what I’ve seen in youth ministry!
Ouch

Are they right?

My first thought was that youth ministers have a lot more power than a senior minister over their own ministry. A senior minister is fairly limited in what they can change – they have to have a service, probably on Sunday, they have to have a sermon, songs, probably communion; they have to run a church council meeting, call their church what it’s been called in the past (St. Rahabs, Eastern Suburbs Evangelical Reformed Community church etc).

But a youth minister – well they can do what they like – they decide when to meet (Friday night, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night), they decide what to include in the program (games? Bible talk? Singing? A camp? Lunchtime group? Small groups?) and what to call it (Splash, Funky, Youth Group, Spew?). Add to this that youth ministers are often working with a team of leaders who are younger than them, and a ‘congregation’ who are all younger than them, and we end up enjoying being at the top of our own little empire.

So, is that why we have big egos?

Is that why we’re not that good at working cooperatively together?

Is that going to be a problem in the way we do our ministry and what we’re modelling to others.

Hmmm…

Calvin's wisdom for preachers and those who listen to them

2009-07-12T21:08:00.000+10:00

Leading the service at church this morning I included various elements from John Calvin's liturgy and theology of church in honour of his 500th anniversary last Friday.

I used this quote from the Institutes - some wisdom for preachers and those who listen to them: "when a puny man risen from the dust speaks in God's name, at this point we best evidence our piety and obedience toward God if we show ourselves teachable toward His minister, although he excels us in nothing" (Institutes 4.3.1)

For preachers: we are puny men (and women)! This seems especially significant for youth ministers who, standing in front of a group of junior teens who don't know any better, can easily pretend to be the coolest of the cool (those who can't cut it with their peers can always become youth leaders!). But Calvin reminds us of our puniness, risen from the dust, excelling others in nothing.

So, get over yourself and concentrate on doing your job - and what a job we have! Nothing less than speaking in God's name! Which is a privilege that should both give us a heavy sense of responsibility to speak God's truth from God's word, as well as giving us a boldness and courage to speak since it's not you but God himself who is speaking, God who uses us as his servant. Which must help for those times when our puniness is all too apparent (like when teaching year 9 Scripture).

And for hearers of preachers - let's pay careful attention; not just attention to a human preacher, but attention to whatever God has to communicate to us through His servant. Which also seems useful for those with a theological education (or part of one)who can very easily approach a sermon as a critic rather than a hearer.

So, Happy Birthday John. And thanks for reminding us of God's glory at work in human weakness.

Learning from another German... Dietrich Bonhoeffer this time

2009-07-09T16:42:00.001+10:00

Have just finished another Queensland trip with first year College students. Lots went on as usual, but this time I've especially been reflecting on what I've learnt myself about ministry through the whole experience - both from the tour experience of leading a temporary community for 10 days, and my reading (again!) of Bonhoeffer's Life Together.

I think in the past I've used the language of 'delegated authority' for Christian leaders - Jesus' as Head delegates authority to leaders. But I suspect that Bonhoeffer would not use the language of delegation, but instead talk of 'mediation' or something similar. Our task as leaders is to so order the Christian community so that God's people would be led by Jesus and be free to serve Jesus in response. I need to 'get out of the way' a lot of the time in order to leave God's people to the care and direction of God.

Bonhoeffer has a challenging section in his first chapter on the difference between spiritual community and human community. Here's the summary:

	Spiritual Reality	Human Reality
Basis of reality	the clear manifest Word of God in Jesus Christ	the dark turbid (muddy, opaque) urges and desires of the human mind
Basis of community	Truth	Desire
Essence of the community	Light (1 John 1:5, 7)	Darkness (Mark 7:21)
Fellowship	… of those who are called by Christ	… of devout souls
Love	The bright love of brotherly service, agape	The dark love of good and evil desire, eros
Order	Ordered, brotherly service	Disordered desire for pleasure
Subjection	Humble subjection to the brethren	Haughty subjection of the brother to one's own desire
Rule	Word of God	The man who is furnished with exceptional powers, experience and magical suggestive capacities
Binding	By the Word of God	Men bind others to themselves
Power, honour, dominion	Surrendered to the Holy Spirit	Personal power and influence is sought and cultivated
Government	By the Spirit	By psychological techniques and methods
Service	Naïve, unpsychological, unmethodological, helping love is extended towards one's brother	Psychological analysis and construction
	Simple and humble service	Searching, calculating analysis of a stranger

Knowing when Life Together was written makes me think of Hitler as the 'man who is furnished with exceptional powers, experience and magical suggestive capacities' who bind's others to himself. Yet at the same time I'm very conscious of the potential for my own leadership to be aimed at binding people to myself rather than to Jesus.

Bonhoeffer's big point is that in spiritual community there can be 'no immediate relationship of one to the other.' That is, the only basis of our relationships with each other is the work of Jesus; our relationships as Christians must be 'mediated' by Christ; we are brought together by Jesus, not by a common piety, or a shared interest, or any other human quality, and certainly not by any human power structure with the human leader at the centre.

Therefore, as a Christian leader 'I must release the other person from every attempt of mine to regulate, coerce, and dominate him with my love… I must leave him his freedom to be Christ's.' It must mean practically that as leaders we're not looking to direct others to obey my own will, but to allow them to be led by Christ and his Word. It means we will be more concerned to pray for others rather than looking for how we can become their confidante and helper.

In a slightly confusing passage Bonhoeffer asks whether a spiritual community should set aside any human distinctions like family relations or organisational roles (like Principal, lecturer etc)? Though we might assume that established roles like this could undermine true spiritual community, Bonhoeffer says quite the opposite – that disregarding family and organisational roles will spell the death of a spiritual community. Instead, a family (or a Bible college) is (or at least should be?) aware of the limitations of their power – a power to structure an environment that frees people to be led by the Word of God, but not a power to take the place of Jesus and his Word.

That's why short retreats (like the one we've taken College students on) can be dangerous – because we come away and may set aside the role distinctions of Loftus. We can sustain this sort of community for a short time and not notice the influence of the human element in our community. But then when we get back home and the role relationships kick back in we can feel that true spiritual community is not possible in everyday life.

As usual I'm left feeling challenged by Bonhoeffer's high standard, tired by the demands that this little book places on every part of my life – but then of course, the challenge isn't set before us by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, but by Jesus.

Our final Bible reading at morning prayer this morning was from Galatians 6 and included the verse: 'So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up' (v9). That's the challenge then – to trust Jesus; to believe that when he calls us to live life in his Kingdom that there's no part of our lives that don't rightly belong to him and shouldn't rightly come under his authority; to trust that when he calls us to live lives of love that he's not setting us up for a fall; to believe that when he promises us life and joy, life in all its fullness, that he's not lying. So we urged the students this morning to stay the course, to not give up the fight, to finish the race.

And so that's my prayer for them, for all of us, and for me and my family.

Learning from the Nazis

2009-06-29T20:20:00.000+10:00

Learning how NOT to do things that is.

I've been reading a book lately – Teenage: The creation of youth culture (Jon Savage). It's a social history of adolescents (and adolescence) from 1875 through to 1945. The latest chapter I've read was on the Hitler youth. This was his conclusion:

In keeping with its desire to create an entirely new kind of society, [Nazi Germany] privileged youth in its institutions, and indeed, for many adolescents this policy offered previously unthinkable freedoms. Intoxicated by this revolution, however, they failed to notice the downside to this Faustian contract: that what appeared to be freedom was slavery, that in the end they would be delivered, bound and gagged, into the hands of a sophisticated and pitiless war machine. (p.275)

I read that passage and reflected on how easily you could replace 'Nazi Germany' with any number of movements and world systems that have focussed their attention on winning young people – western capitalism, consumerism, 21st century hedonism, liberal humanism etc etc. One thing that western civilisation seems to have learned over the 20th century is that 'He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future' – said by Adolf Hitler at the German National Party convention in 1935.

It's a reminder to me of the importance of Christian ministry among young people – to both harness the energy and enthusiasm that is so often associated with youth, by giving them the freedom that is really free. It also reminds me of the ease with which our ministries could fall into manipulation and bondage when we replace the call of God in Christ with our own agendas and plans.

I'm back

2009-06-29T20:18:00.000+10:00

okay... so if we're going to have a blog I guess we ought to blog on it. apologies for visitors to this site who have been looking for something a bit more regular from us at Youthworks College.

Will endeavour to share pithy thoughts more often. :-)

Vote to keep the blog open!

2009-06-19T16:02:00.004+10:00

Dear Faculty Blog readers,

Unfortunately, we're not sure how many of you are out there which is why we're considering closing the College blog and just using all our relevant and insightful ministry-related thoughts and articles for the Good Stuff section of our website: (www.youthworks.net/goodstuff) and in our e-newsletter The Buzz (www.youthworks.net/thebuzz).

What do you think? We would love to hear your thoughts if you think it's worth keeping the College blog open - please speak now or forever hold your peace.

Cheers,

Angela Williams
(Communications Coordinator - using Graham's profile!)

The Children's Crusade

2009-06-05T17:56:00.001+10:00

When I think of the Crusades, the picture that comes to my mind is of hundreds of knights in armour painted with a red cross off on adventure anticipating their opportunity to reclaim the Holy Land. I think of blood, pillage, death and war. So with this picture in mind, I was extremely surprised to read that there was a children’s crusade. But what place do children have in religious war?

According to historical accounts, in 1212 many children were swept along in the popular crusading enthusiasm, along with youths who left their families, shepherds and mothers with babies. Writers have claimed that this was the first popular youth movement, long before the hippy movement, the punk movement or the scouts. Young people left behind the humdrum of daily life for an impossible dream of Jerusalem regained. Albert of Sade mentions the rebellious nature of the movement, as youth left despite their parents’ opposition. The children’s enthusiasm is also a reproach to half-hearted adults, including the Pope!:

Around this time (1212) children without a master, without a leader, ran together with eager steps from all the towns and cities of every region to parts beyond the sea. When people asked them where they were running, they answered, “To Jerusalem, to seek the holy Land”. The parents of many of them confined them at home, but in vain; for they smashed their locks or walls and escaped. The Pope (Innocent III) heard rumours about them, and, sighing, said “These children reproach us, for while we sleep they race to recover the Holy Land”. Even now it is unknown what happened to them. But many of them returned home, and when they were asked for the reason for their journey, they said they did not know. Also, around the same time naked women ran through the towns and cities saying nothing.
(1232 Albert of Stade)

There were in fact two movements in 1212, one in France and the other in Germany. The French Movement was said to involve 15-30,000 people led by Stephen of Cloyes a Shepherd boy. The German Movement was led by another youth Nicholas of Cologne and involved around 8,000. (The statistics are very hard to estimate because medieval chronicles are often myth-history and unreliable). There is some indication that these two movements may have joined together in their march toward the sea.

What motivated these children to leave their homes and families and face death and starvation? It seems they were certainly swept up in the same religious enthusiasm that motivated other pilgrimages and popular crusades. They wished to show their dedication to Jesus and his kingdom by marching to Jerusalem. Many believed that God would open up a pathway through the sea as he did for Moses and the Israelites. Though adults had failed in Crusade, God would bless the attempts of innocent children.

The end of the story, unfortunately, is tragic, an absolute disaster. Many died along the way to the sea. Some arrived in Italy, but then the accounts are quiet. There are myths that some found their way onto ships and were later ship-wrecked or enslaved. Albert of Sade states that many went home, not knowing why they had left in the first place. He also states that “naked women were running around, out of their minds”, thereby associating this erratic behaviour with the religious enthusiasm of the children. Many believed later that the children had been gullible and led astray by evil adults and clergy.

What can we learn from this story as we consider ministry to children and youth? Young people are the same today – they are enthusiastic, and seeking to make an impact in the world on their own apart from their parents and families. We should be thinking of ways to harness their enthusiasm to serve and to make a contribution to growing God’s kingdom, working with their natural passion. This may involve risking the perfectionist quality of our ministries by allowing young people to lead and serve in community outreach events, music, leading services, praying etc. How are your young people involved in Connect 09? Are we leaving it all to the adults?

The story is also a warning to us. Children and young people are vulnerable to charismatic leaders and movements. Are you careful with the way you use your leadership with the precious children God has entrusted you with? We need to be giving them a good biblical foundation so they can make wise choices as they seek to follow Jesus. We must teach children and young people a discernment from God’s word so that they will be able to evaluate true and false teaching themselves.

1. G. Dickson The Children’s Crusade Palgrave Macmillan: New York, 2008.
2. Dickson (2008) p, 109

Why we ought to 'sin boldly'!

2009-04-08T12:42:00.003+10:00

We have been preaching on prayer at Youthworks Chapel this semester. So far a theme has emerged that reflects the character and nature of God as a good Father to his children whose desire is to answer his children’s prayers in such a way as will be best for them. A paraphrase of this theme might be - God is not a mean-spirited Father.

A few weeks ago Andy Stirrup, our Old Testament lecturer, opened up 1 Chronicles 4 and the Prayer of Jabez. In critiquing Bruce Wilkinson’s reading of this passage he drew our attention to his T-shirt. It had a picture of Martin Luther, underneath which was written these words in Latin – ‘simul justus et peccator’. Translated this means that as Christians we are at the same time both justified in Christ and yet continue to sin until the final resurrection. In the context of the sermon it was an illustration of our need to recognise that though we may not have it all right, we do need to speak out against teaching that is not in line with the teachings of Scripture. Martin Luther would have agreed.

With this phrase rattling around and two new units that Youthworks College is offering this year – CH205 Reformation Church History that Ruth Lukabyo is teaching and DM250 Foundations in Young Adults Ministry that I will be teaching in second semester, I have been reflecting on Martin Luther and what he would say to young adults, especially those who may be earnestly aware of their own sin and as a result hesitant to step up and out in order to lead.

Martin Luther said some outrageous things, no more so than “sin boldly” in a letter to his mate Phillip Melanchthon during the 16th Century. Luther’s stand against the Church of Rome kicked off the Protestant Reformation, after which the world would never quite be the same. Because of Luther’s stand, all that people had known through the teachings of Rome was suddenly ‘up for grabs’.

This troubled Melanchthon, Luther’s conservative friend. He was concerned with questions such as: “Should monks, priests and nuns break their vow to the Church?”; “What if they are sinning?” and “How do we do the Lord’s Supper – maybe it is best to abstain from taking the Lord’s Supper until a priest can hand it out…?”. He wrote to Luther asking for advice on to how to proceed with these issues.

In response to Luther’s outrageous comments, Melanchthon asks of Luther: “What if you’re wrong?, or “What if you have misunderstood the Bible?” Melanchthon advises Luther to be cautious – “if you could be wrong then don’t do anything”.

In reply Luther writes to Philip Melanchthon on August 1, 1521:

If you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true and not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death, and the world. As long as we are here [in this world] we have to sin. This life is not the dwelling place of righteousness, but, as Peter says, we look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. It is enough that by the riches of God's glory we have come to know the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. No sin will separate us from the Lamb, even though we commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day. Do you think that the purchase price that was paid for the redemption of our sins by so great a Lamb is too small? Pray boldly you too are a mighty sinner.

Luther’s statement “Sin Boldly” disturbs many people. His enemies picked up on it and claimed that Luther was saying that people should go ahead and sin a lot because God forgives us anyway. But this is not what Luther meant. His enemies, critics and others misunderstood him.

What Luther meant can be seen in another of his famous quotes (featured on Andy’s T-shirt) about the status of a Christian until they die – ‘simultaneously justified and a sinner’. What Luther meant was if you are alive you will be a sinner. To quote from his letter “As long as we are here [in this world] we have to sin.”

So how do you live? Lock yourself away in a monastery or nunnery and try not to do anything for fear of sinning. Luther says No! Christians must live out in the real world. And as long as a Christian is alive they will sin.

Luther’s advice to a young adult, might be to live as a Christian (simultaneously justified and a sinner) and live boldly! “Believing and rejoicing in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death and the world”. That is what Luther meant when he said “Sin Boldly”. In other words “Live boldly”, acknowledging that you are at the same time right with God in Christ and always going to sin in this world.

Some practical outcomes of this theology for leaders of young adults begin with an awareness that for some young adults there may be a deep sense of sin in their life that may prevent them from feeling adequate for leadership. It will therefore be important to teach ‘the doctrines of grace’ Luther unpacked in order for young adults to grasp who they are in Christ ‘simultaneously justified and a sinner’ and to live that out boldly in their lives.

Young adults, because of their earnestness in regards to sin and righteousness may be hesitant to take on leadership positions, feeling that they are not good enough for the task. As leaders and teachers we also need to have an understanding of our standing before God in Christ as ‘simultaneously justified and a sinner’. We need to model this to young adults and share our lives with them, enabling them to see that we too are sinners but at the same time made right with God in Jesus. Leaders of young adults need to be transparent, up to a point, in their struggles with sin so the young adult does not give them a standing above that which we all have in Christ.

Finally we need to encourage Christian young adults to take up leadership roles in our church family. They have the earnestness and zeal, that if channelled well and coupled with a right understanding of our relationship with God them, will make them suitable for leadership in our churches. The barrier of being immobilised by feelings of inadequacy because of sin can be overcome through Luther’s theology of ‘simultaneously justified and a sinner’.

Therefore we ought to encourage our young adults to ‘sin boldly’, the other option is to do nothing. Stay paralysed. Join a monastery and cloister yourself away from the world. But you’ll still be sinning! So better to live and live boldly under the mercy and grace of God. In modern language “Sin boldly” is to say “Go for it!”, step up and out, take responsibility in leadership if it is presented to you, get out and live a full life with full assurance in service and devotion to Jesus.

Finding Help In Unlikely Places

2009-02-18T11:21:00.002+11:00

I’ve been thinking about Balaam for some time now. He is a character who appears in the Old Testament, in the book of Numbers. He claims to see clearly and to have heard the word of God. The trouble is that he is a diviner, practising divination, the ‘art’ (if that’s not too generous) of telling the future through looking at the stars, or sheep entrails or the flight pattern of birds and other such methods. What is more he comes from a place that we associate with ‘pagans’. It makes me uncomfortable. How can a person like this, with credentials like that, who comes from there have anything good to say?

If ever I watch Survivor I can’t help but be reminded how tribal we are. Put seven or eight strangers together, give them the same coloured bandana to wear, pit them against another group of strangers wearing a different coloured bandana and almost immediately they are plotting and scheming how to look after ‘us’ and to make sure that ‘they’ don’t make it.

I wonder if my reluctance to value Balaam is reflected in a reluctance to value others who are more ‘them’ than ‘us’. They did not train in the right place, they belong to the wrong diocese or the wrong denomination. They are the wrong age, or the wrong sex or dress in the wrong way and listen to the wrong music. If I think about it too long I’ll have to admit that it is.

But if I won’t listen to Balaam how will I be encouraged by his words? How will I be reminded that God is not a man that he should lie, when I am plagued by doubts about his promises? How can I be encouraged and motivated by the promise that a star will come out of Jacob; a sceptre rise out of Israel … a ruler will come out of Jacob, when I’m confused and troubled by the thought that ‘your will’ will never be done?

I’m reminded too that Jesus faced rejection because he came from the wrong town, his father particpated in the wrong trade and because of that he was given the wrong start in life. But they were wrong. And yet they must have felt so right: from Nazareth? A carpenter? They weren’t even married!

One of the lessons from Balaam that I need constantly to remind myself of is that help and encouragement can sometimes come from the most unlikely sources – if you don’t cut yourself off from it.

Cambridge (again)

2009-01-06T04:45:00.004+11:00

For long term followers of this blog you may recall posts from January 2007 from me at the international conference of the iasym (international association for the study of youth ministry) in Cambridge in the UK. Being a biennial conference here I am back in chilly England (where it was snowing this morning - quite beautiful, very cold).

perhaps there'll be some longer reflections on the conference from me in the future, but for now I'll just say that it has been an experience for me, and one that I've heard expressed by others, of Proverbs 27:17, 'as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens the wits of another'.

This is a truly international conference - with delegates from the UK, USA, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, India, Singapore and Australia among others. Truly amazing is the ability of those with English as their second language to engage in academic discussion in English! Their English is much better than my Norwegian.

The delegates are also from a whole range of Christian confessional and denominational backgrounds. It's a challenge to listen carefully and to understand how one persons understanding is shaped by their context and how my response is shaped by my own context.

The danger of course is to decend into relativism - where we all have a valid experience to share but that's all.

My paper in part was making a bid for calling us all to a clearer place for the ministries of the Word in our youth ministry so that it would be clear that we're being directed by God. The challenge is to hear others in a way that helps me read the Scriptures and hear the voice of God more clearly.

There's also great value in being face to face with people, particularly with the people we disagree with. And so it's a privilege to be able to travel across the other side of the world to have this time together.

Still half a day to go of the conference - I'm praying that our time together will continue to be effective and that God would guide the thinking and reflection of those who are here.

Sabbatical with Balaam #6: The Power of Words

2008-12-18T14:29:00.002+11:00

I don’t know how many times I chanted, 'sticks and stones may break my bones but names with never hurt me' as a child, or thought it as an adult. I don’t know how many times I’ve found it to be true. I suspect the first number is bigger than I’d like to admit and the second number is zero.

Words hurt. They can leave an indelible mark on the way we see ourselves and the way we relate to others. James knew the problem all too well. He wrote to his fellow Christians, “out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.” In another part of the Roman world the problem was not so much that Christians were dishing it out, but that they were on the receiving end. Guess what? It’s got something to do with Balaam!

Balaam turns up in the Bible in Numbers 22-24. I’ve been thinking about that quite a bit recently. But his name also appears in Revelation 2 in a letter, or rather part of a letter, that John wrote to the Christians in Pergamum in the west of what is now Turkey. It seems that the Christians there were facing persecution. It was not an easy place to live, so much so that it is identified as “where Satan has his throne” (Rev. 2:13). Satan, of course, comes from a word meaning “to accuse”. Satan is “the accuser”. The accusation being levelled at the Christian community in Pergamum was that they were corrupt and a corrupting influence on those around them. The name that was being used against them was that they were modern-day Balaams. It seems that 'Balaam' was a derogatory term used to put others down, and to write them off as an individual. Other documents from around the same time indicate that a Balaam was someone who was boastful and proud and led others astray.

Through John, Jesus invites the Christians in Pergamum to consider to what extent the accusation is true. If there is any truth in the accusation then he reassures them that there is a way forward. “Repent” (Rev 2:16). It’s not always easy, and certainly not the first thing that crosses my mind, but in every put-down there is an opportunity to examine yourself and see if there is a home-truth that needs your attention. It takes courage. It takes character. But if we do it and if we do see something within our behaviour or the way we relate to others that does cause offence, particularly a proud of boastful attitude, then there is a way forward. Repent.

Recognise that this sort of thing is out of place for a person who has been saved by grace. Admitting faults should not be impossible for us. We were not saved by being perfect ourselves. And that is not the message that we want to suggest to others through our attitudes towards them. We were saved because we needed saving. We were saved by someone who was perfect. That’s the truth that we want to shine out.

But then there is still the hurt, isn’t there? You’ve recognised that it wasn’t deserved or it wasn’t entirely deserved. You’ve repented. But it still hurts. No doubt the Christians in Pergamum would be the same. Jesus knew that. Every time they heared the term ‘Balaam’ then they remembered that this is what they had been called. The pain and the hurt come back. Jesus knows this too and he gives them a way forward. He gives a new name, his own name, his own pet name to each and every Christian he has called. "I will also give to him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it" (Rev 2:17).

The names people call you do hurt. But did you know that Jesus has a new name for you, the nickname that he will call you, a pet name that describes who you really are? And he is faithful and true.

Thinking Big Thoughts on Lord Howe Island

2008-12-10T14:05:00.002+11:00

Hi there - here I am, temporarily holed up in the Anglican rectory on Lord Howe Island. In between the arduous tasks of leading a Bible Study group, teaching a Scripture lesson and preaching at two church services, there's a whole lot of God's glory to behold and enjoy.

I'm also taking time to read, think and pray (i.e. I am working!).

This morning I was sitting in a cafe, enjoying a nice coffee, overlooking the lagoon with Mt Gower towering in the background, reading an article 'On Evangelical Ecclesiology' by John Webster (Ecclesiology, 2004, p.9-35), and came across this idea: that the church has its origins in the free will of God that desires to move beyond himself so that 'there should come into being a creaturely counterpart to the fellowship of love which is the inner life of the Holy Trinity' (p.9).

How amazing is that! (1) that I could get paid to sit on Lord Howe Island and read theology! (2) that God would desire to create us, the church, the 'creaturely counterpart' to his eternal fellowship of love! and (3) that he has made us with the ability to sit in a cafe and contemplate his inner life of love!

Simply breathtakingly good in every sense of the word.

Teaching our Children God-Esteem

2008-12-02T11:26:00.000+11:00

Recently I have been reflecting on the issue of self-esteem. I find myself drawn in two different directions.

Firstly, when talking to people about how they feel about themselves I feel that they must understand themselves in the light of Jesus revelation. That they are made in the image of God, they are part of God’s precious creation that he has pronounced to be “good”. Secondly, they have been important enough to God to send Jesus to die for them, more precious than jewels. Jesus has taken away a Christian’s sin & guilt, they should feel liberated from the old sinful self. They are spotless and blameless.

I have really emphasised our worth in Jesus eyes, that we should feel happy and at peace as a child of God. This is the message of grace.

Because of this emphasis on grace, when my daughter recently was convicted of her sin and wept over her failure before God I felt really uncomfortable. She was a child, she should feel happy and good about herself. I wanted to say to her, don’t worry about that, God forgives you, it doesn’t matter too much. I wondered later on how much my thinking about self-esteem was shaped by the bible and how much was shaped by a culture that emphasises the right to be happy over everything else, the cult of self-esteem.

Meanwhile, I was studying the Evangelical revivals of the 18th century and the response of children. There are many stories of children coming under real repentance and terrible conviction of their sin and their condemnation before God. Do I emphasise God’s grace so much, especially to children that it becomes cheap grace rather than a costly grace that takes away the punishment for our real wickedness and evil. How do we speak to children about their rebellion against God? To Christian children about being both sinners yet justified? Are we encouraging them to continue with repentant hearts, in the ongoing struggle with the sinful nature?

Ian Fry at the Theology of Youth Ministry conference said a wonderful thing that has helped me in thinking about these issues. "We want to hold up to children not a mirror (as the world does) but a window." Their life’s goal should not be their own happiness, but the honour and glory of their heavenly Father who made them. This is the way to genuine lasting joy.

Four On A Couch Game

2008-10-31T15:18:00.002+11:00

With over 100 graduates serving in children's and youth ministries in all sorts of places, we often hear good tips on what people are doing in youth ministry. Here's something from Michael Hyam, one of the bunch of inaugural students at the College.

Mike Hyam - "I have been playing this new mixer for a few weeks at youth and it is really good fun with a little strategy. Seems complicated at first but give it a go!"

Four on a Couch

Depending on the size of your group, this game could work as an Up Front Game (for a large group—the group watches while a few do the activity in front of the group, entertaining the rest) or as a Mixer (for a small group—in a group of 8-12 kids you could involve almost everyone).

Create a circle with chairs and one couch, enough seats for everyone playing plus one extra seat. 2 girls and 2 guys start off by sitting on the couch, while everyone else sits in the chairs. Give every person playing a paper to write their name on. They are to turn their names in to you.
Mix the names up and redistribute them back to the youth, making sure no one gets their own name. They are not to tell which name they have.

The purpose of the game is for the guys to get all 4 guys on the couch and the girls to get all 4 girls on the couch.

The person to the left of the empty seat calls out a name of someone in the circle. Whoever is HOLDING THAT NAME (not the one whose name it is, i.e John calls Amy's name, and Jeff is holding Amy's name) gets up and sits on the empty chair.

The person who called the name and the person who sat on the chair, then exchange papers with names on it (that way the same name does not stay with the same person, it makes it more challenging).

The person to the left of the new empty seat calls a new name. (the same name cannot be repeated twice in a row).

Again, the purpose is for the guys to get the 2 girls off the couch and vice versa. This is a really fun game but it can last a long time.

Sabbatical with Balaam #5

2008-09-26T09:41:00.004+10:00

I’ve been thinking about Balaam for some time now. Although he gets a mention in seven books, from Deuteronomy to Revelation, my thinking is focused on the so-called Balaam narratives in Numbers 22-24. The next chapter in the book does not mention Balaam, though what takes place is later connected to him. In that chapter (Numbers 25) the Israelites come perilously close to being destroyed. It is as if God has sovereignly undertaken to keep Israel safe in chapters 22-24 and having protected them against the most frightening weapons systems that the world had to offer, it is only to see them shoot themselves in the foot. It’s a sequel that didn’t need to happen.

Funnily enough, Terminator 3 (N.B see last blog for reference to Terminator!) has been referred to as a sequel that didn’t need to happen. This certainly seems to reflect James Cameron’s position. Cameron directed Terminator and Terminator 2 but declined to participate in the sequel. In T3 the new threat comes from a T-X. Played by Kristanna Loken this is not so much a he cyborg as a she. But this is perhaps where we should leave the Terminator franchise and get back to Numbers.

In Numbers 25 the new threat is not some hired assassin (Destroyer) nor the king of Moab aka. Devastator. The new threat is Israel themselves and the way they can so easily forget the things of God in the presence of sexual temptation. The Israelites forgot God’s calling on their lives and their role as his agents. They forgot how he had saved them from slavery and looked after them so long. They forgot his promises to them and the honour and privilege of being called by him to participate in his plans. The [Israelite] men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women.

We kid ourselves if we think that we are any different. That is why at College, faculty, staff and students take these things very seriously. It's why we are thankful for the support and encouragement we all experience here and for the invitation we know we have to pray together 'lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil'. As a ministry training college we have an opportunity to share together on a deep level and to participate together in making God known to a needy world. These same highs and lows are part of our students' ministry experience in their churches. These are profoundly significant things and often connected to powerful emotions and momentous experiences. But with that ebb and flow of emotion the temptation to cross a line or step over a boundary often surfaces. Numbers 25 shows how destructive this can be for everyone involved.

Sabbatical with Balaam #4

2008-08-29T13:22:00.002+10:00

Warning: contains plot spoilers!

It will come as no surprise that since my last entry I’ve been thinking about Balaam. I’ve been exploring a feature of the text that I noticed a while ago but have not known what to do with. The story begins with a character Balak who summons someone from far away. This someone is Balaam.

Sometimes in Biblical narrative it is important to take note of the names. Nabal is a classic example. He appears in 1 Samuel 25. His name simply means ‘fool’ and anyone reading the OT in its original language would hear the word ‘fool’ every time the guy’s name is mentioned. It affects how we think of him as a character and what we understand he contributes both to the plot of 1 Samuel and to the Kingdom of God.

Balak’s name means Devastator. Nasty piece of work you might think – especially if you had sympathies with the Israelites in Numbers. But here’s the point - Balaam’s name means Destroyer. Weird isn’t it! There are two central characters in the story, one is called Devastator, the other Destroyer. It got me thinking about another destroyer figure, but not Alien or Predator. It got me thinking about the Terminator and thisis where the plot spoilers come in – but don’t worry, not for soon-to-be-released Terminator 4, only for 1 and 2.

In the movie Arnie’s character is the Terminator. He comes from far away - well it might as well be far away. He comes from the future and that’s not any place we can get on an aeroplane and fly to. He comes from far away and is sent to destroy a character from whom will come the one person who can save the human race. Is it too much to think of Balaam in Numbers 22? He comes from far away, from Pethor which is presumably near the river Euphrates and not a place your average Israelite is ever going to get a chance to visit. He is summoned to terminate the Israelites who are the people from whom will come the Saviour of the world.

And then in Terminator 2 Arnie is back. He’s in much the same gear, the same attitude, the same accent. The twist is that his role is now to protect the One. More than that, he has to do so against the wishes and despite the efforts of a second destroyer cyborg. In Numbers 23-24 Balaam blesses Israel and, in a way, secures both their present protection and so guarantees their future and the line of descent to Jesus, and all this against the background of Balak’s becoming increasingly angry and hostile towards him.

Weird isn’t it? C.S. Lewis used to say that the Bible story, from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation, is the story of salvation, the only story of salvation which can fully satisfy our hearts and which our inner-selves long to be a part of. He’s kind of following Augustine here. But he then goes on to suggest that any other story of salvation or redemption, whether it is Snow White or Clueless, Terminator or his own Narnia Chronicles, triggers something in us that resonates with a faint memory of the true story, the Bible story.

It is this, as much as anything, that we are enjoying when we sit and watch a good redemptive movie, like the Shawshank Redemption or read a redemptive novel, like Atonement.

I wonder if he is right.

Reviewing 'The Radical Reformission'

2008-07-29T12:20:00.003+10:00

A student in my evangelism class (who likes to be cutting-edge and open to new ideas) lent me the “The Radical Reformission” by Mark Driscoll. So I thought it might be interesting and timely to review this book with the “Engage” conference coming up in August.

Driscoll critiques both those Christians that are disengaged and hostile to culture around them (the fundamentalists) and those on the other side that accommodate their culture so much that the truths of the gospel are watered down (liberals). He wants to straddle this divide, claiming we need a conservative theology but also a deep cultural involvement. The title of the book reflects the balance of “Reformed” theology but “mission” (missional) focus. For this reason he can be hard to categorise, on one website I read that he invited John Piper to speak at his church so the author concluded he must be OK! Another blogger described him as on the “conservative fringe of the emerging church”. From this unique perspective there were two things that stood out to me:

1. The challenge to understand and engage with the culture around us

Driscoll challenges us to understand the culture around us in order to communicate the gospel to our neighbours in an effective way. Like most emerging church writers he wants Christians to think of themselves as missionaries in their own countries, to the cultures around them. As a missionary, in order to understand the thoughts, values and experiences of the people who live around us:

… you will need to watch TV shows and movies, listen to music, read books, peruse magazines, attend events, join organisations, surf web-sites and befriend people that you might not like to better understand people that Jesus loves (Driscoll, 2004, p. 103).

He states that our non-Christian friends will “disciple us in culture as we evangelise them in Christ” (2004, p. 97). We need to involve ourselves in the lives of those around us who are different to us, trapped in destructive and sin-filled lives.

Driscoll challenges those Christians who may be tempted to become legalists - to establish rules and cultural norms that are not biblical – to instead evaluate and critique cultures, both Christian and non-Christian, through a biblical and theological grid. This is in order to enjoy and participate in the good and reject the evil.

I have found myself wondering about my own easy engagement with Australian culture. I loved watching the top rating show Underbelly but because it is full of sexual immorality and violence, I generally kept this to myself when I was around other Christians. I know that many other Christians would find the show deeply offensive and distasteful. Why was I OK with it? My fascination with the show I hope was not merely voyeurism but here was a fantastic story that was real life! I could see a window into the lives of these people and there seemed to be great insight into their lives and motivations. Am I able to watch and enjoy the show, critically evaluating the show, without myself being polluted? I think so.

Driscoll critiques the view “garbage in, garbage out”. Can we really get involved in the culture around us without sin infecting and polluting us? His answer is yes, just as Jesus did. The way to maintain godliness and purity is not distancing yourself from the non-Christian culture but critically evaluating as well as staying close to Jesus as his disciple. Our goal must be:

…………not to perpetuate a tradition or embrace an innovation. The goal of reformission is Jesus, to faithfully walk with him each step of our journey as we head toward the home he has prepared for us. Anything and everything less than life in him, ministry through him, glory to him, by grace from him as we
journey to him must be continually repented of as sin, regardless of our history
or degree of hip-ness” (2004, p. 53).

2. The challenge to be faithful to the biblical message

Driscoll helpfully lists areas where we may be tempted to accommodate to our culture in a way that undermines the bible message. He explains the basics of post-modernism in a simple way that is helpful. It is here that he also engages with the extremes of the emerging church movement to critique them. I found these helpful warning signs to evaluate our own theology and practice. Sometimes we try so hard to be culturally engaged and “with it” that we can water down important truths.

They include:
a) Taking out of the Christian message elements that are offensive such as the judgement of Jesus, sin and repentance.
b) Reducing the authority of the bible to that of a story that shapes us rather than a word outside of us that we must submit to.
c) Being influenced by the focus of post-modernism which is to deconstruct (ie. to tear down rather than to build.) Many in the emerging church for instance are defined more by what they are against rather than what they are for.
d) Egalitarianism: Reacting against hierarchy of any description, which includes the person of God, in families and in church leadership.

This is a warning to us isn’t it. In our own ministries are we anti-authority? Do we avoid talking about Jesus’ return and judgement? Are we much better at critically assessing the ministries around us rather than building our own and encouraging others? We can’t assume that just because we are Sydney Evangelicals that we are not influenced by the culture around us, the post-modern mindset. We need to be on our guard and always assessing our teaching and behaviour that we might be faithful to the message of the bible.

Reflecting on World Youth Day

2008-07-21T12:35:00.004+10:00

Today is he last day of World Catholic Youth Day, it’s been interesting hasn’t it? WCYD has made me reflect on the differences between young Catholics and young Protestant believers.

There are definitely a lot of similarities ...

In materialistic Sydney where people seem obsessed with making money and living the good life, hasn’t it been great to see young people who believe there is more to life; that there is a creator God who has made the world and cares for it, a God to whom they will give an account of how they live their lives! They believe that Jesus was a real person in history who was also the son of God, that he died to deal with our sin problem, and that he gives us hope and salvation. Yay! – The message of the gospel and genuine faith has been the talking point in a secular, unbelieving world. They even sang some of the same songs that we do: I heard some pilgrims singing “Lord I lift your name on high” one night on the news (a wonderful cross-centred, Christ-focused song). They sang with real joy and enthusiasm, just like our own young people, they seemed to be full of the joy of the Spirit.

There were also many strange (to us) differences ...

As the cross and icons were marched into the city, the pilgrims showed real reverence for rituals and visual representations of the faith. This same reverence was shown for the bones of the dead saint that was brought to Sydney. The belief that God can distribute his grace through these means is very strange to Protestant ears. I only realised this week that the Catholic Church still taught a doctrine of purgatory. One of the motivations for the WCYD pilgrimage was to receive an indulgence from the Pope so that your time in purgatory can be shortened.

This week I have found myself giving thanks for the Protestant Church and the biblical doctrine of grace. There is no need for the extra grace of pilgrimages, blessings from the Pope, touching sacred objects etc. We have direct access to God through Christ alone.

Before the end of term at Youthworks College, Mark Benici spoke to us about his experience growing up in a Catholic home and needing to go through the rituals of mass, confession etc. He said it felt like he was on the outside trying to get in. What wonderful liberty and joy to know that through the blood of Jesus we can have “confidence to enter the most holy place” and that we can “draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience” (Hebrews 10: 19-22).

Thanks be to God for this confidence and assurance!

Sexual Expression: A Basic Human Right?

2008-07-02T10:27:00.002+10:00

I've been in conversation recently with a colleague in youth ministry education in the UK - sharing notes on how we go about certain aspects of our training. Recently Sally asked me how we equip youth workers to help young people who are confused or exploring their sexuality.

Here are some of my thoughts ...

I think that part of the reason that struggles over sexuality are so difficult for young people (whether same-sex attraction or frustrated opposite-sex attraction) is that our world has made sexual expression into a basic human right. We want to help students realise for themselves as well as encourage those they're in ministry to, to realise that their identity is wrapped up in who they are in Christ - not who they have or haven't had sex with, who they're attracted to, or what they wear, what they've experienced etc.

We need to have that sort of general 'climate', one where all of us are being told that Christian freedom doesn't mean we always get to do what we want, but that the path to freedom to really be who Christ has redeemed us to be lies in saying no to the desires of the flesh and yes to the fruit of the spirit.

So we're not just focussing on gay sex as if this was the only moral issue God is concerned about! Instead, we're talking about God's holiness, and his promise of the sanctifying work of the Spirit in each of us that transforms us to be more like Jesus. Therefore, if someone is struggling with a same-sex attraction that Jesus is asking them to say no to, the 'answer' for them is the same as that for the young person who hates their parents or who shoplifts, or who buys too many shoes - that is, God loves you, Jesus died for you, the Holy Spirit is renewing you, do you trust God in all this?

The advantage of this is that for the young person who IS struggling with same sex attraction but who has not / will not share this struggle with you, you're still ministering to them as you teach and model identity in Christ. Of course the other thing that needs to be emphasised is that the searching stage of faith development might mean that a young person is trying on all sorts of personas as they try to find a 'self that fits' - and one of those might be the sexual explorer or the homosexual lifestyle (which may or may not include actual sexual activity).

Where the role of the youth minister is to communicate and model the grace of God in Christ, the challenge for the youth minister is to continue to love and care for these young people, while at the same time being clear on the challenge to our self-determination that comes from Jesus' offer of freedom.

Sabbatical with Balaam # 3: Searching for the Big Picture

2008-06-18T15:43:00.001+10:00

If you’ve seen any of my previous blogs then you will know that I have been enjoying a period of study leave during which I’ve been taking the time to try to understand the Balaam narratives throughout Numbers.

The Balaam story takes place as we come to the end of the Bronze Age. Israel are on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land. It’s a journey that takes them through a number of foreign territories and there is opposition on every side. The Book of Numbers tells us about successful engagements against Sihon and Bashan...then comes the Balaam story.

There are hints and suggestions that help us answer some of our questions about leadership, diplomacy and international relations here. But I can’t help thinking that I need to know more to understand the passages better.

It used to puzzle me that part of the second world war was fought in Burma. Why Burma? What were they doing there? I have since found out that it has to do with the bigger picture and especially with the need to secure certain key resources. These days it puzzles me that in Numbers 22 Israel seems to be going in the wrong direction! They are headed towards Egypt, not away from it. It makes me wonder whether that has to do with the bigger picture as well!

Sometimes when we read a document the background provides important clues. A card saying “I love you” might seem pretty clear cut, but if it is timed to arrive on February 14th then there is another dimension that needs to be taken into account. I’m hoping that as I read about 2nd Millennium BC Ammon, Edom and Moab, I will be able to understand more about this curious story by being able to see more clearly the details of the bigger picture.

I still don’t know very much about Ammon, but I’m beginning to see Moab was, like Israel, a fairly young nation. They were a people who were establishing themselves in lands formerly dominated by Egypt. They were a nation who were anxious to establish themselves in their own region and to secure their borders against others. And this, it seems to me, has everything to do with Balak’s invitation to Balaam to help him against this new clear and present danger - Israel.

It’s a helpful reminder too, that when we think of Scripture, we know that men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Although, we also know that those men lived, breathed and ministered within a particular historical occasion. It doesn’t matter what Scripture we are talking of, whether it is Numbers or Malachi, Matthew, Colossians or Revelation, the more we give ourselves to understand what was going on, what were the people of God going through at that time, the more we will understand and the better we will be able to respond to God today.

Reaching Our Youth Through Hip Hop

2008-05-26T12:40:00.002+10:00

Youthworks College has intensive teaching blocks at the beginning of each year prior to the beginning of Semester 1. During these intensives I was teaching Youth Ministry 1 – a subject outlining the principles and practices of ministering to young people in churches. Each year we get extra students as well as our full-time students who just pick up the intensive.

The intensive at the beginning of this year was excellent, great group, stimulating discussion. During the course we shared ideas and resources. Again I was reminded of how important music is to many young people. We had a Mum in the course, who had children who are moving into adolescence. She had taken up the challenge to begin a ministry for young people at her church and she particularly wanted good music for her own children and the young people that she will serve.

As we talked about this I shared an issue that arose in one of the churches where I was youth minister. I’d visited a family who were concerned about the attitude that their son had toward them as parents, particularly to the mother. They felt that some of the hip hop music that he was listening to was very derogative toward women. They wanted his attitude to change and asked me what to do about it! They’d tried banning him from listening to one particular Hip Hop artist.

(N.B One thing that will not work for a 16 year old is banning! For example, Les Murray, the Australian poet once was asked how to get young people enthused about poetry. He said “Ban it!”.)

I said that I think redirecting interest away might work. So the next Friday night we had a “Culture Vulture” segment where one of the leaders promoted a hip hop/ roots CD by Michael Franti called “Everybody Needs Music”. Franti is not Christian, but going with the principle that we can use certain things in our culture that God has given us generally through people’s creativity, we were happy to promote this CD. And it worked! It’s a great album with more depth than some Christian albums.

As I got into listening to “Everyone Needs Music” I found I was uplifted. Most importantly he speaks well of women as opposed to some of the other Hip Hop singers. At the time I was also reading G. K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy. I read an interesting assessment of the popular expression of poetry that was coming out in his day and made a connection, all be it obtuse, to one of the songs on Franti’s album.

In Orthodoxy there is an essay called "The Slavery of Free Verse" in which Chesterton is weighing in heavily on the new poetry that emerged in the late 19 century – i.e. Free Verse, which is uncadence or unrhyming. The call was to free oneself from the strictures of poetry that held to cadence and structure. Chesterton didn’t agree. Even though the effect or the content of the poem may be good, or even be impacting, he upheld some eternal principle in the order and the rhyme. He had a way with words and found that trusting in the ‘fag-end rather than the principle’ was abhorrent. (Reminded me of a T.S. Eliot line but that's another story...). Rather than being liberated by such free verse, he felt it was enslavement. He said that if humans were truly free, we would talk in ‘rhythm and even in rhyme’.

I wonder what Chesterton would have said of hip hop and Franti’s style of music and poetry. Franti sees himself as a poet and hits the spoken word circuit at times. So reading Chesterton and the line ‘I have always had the fancy that if man were really free, he would talk in rhythm and even in rhyme’ reminded me of this line out of Franti’s song ‘If I were the words, then everything that everybody said would rhyme’.

Here are the first couple of verses from the song for anyone who is interested:

What I Be - Michael Franti off “Everyone Deserves Music”

If I could be the sun
I'd radiate like Africa and
Smile upon the world
Intergalactic love laughter and
If I were the rains, I'd wash away the whole world's pain and
Bring the gift of cool like ice cream trucks on sunny days and
If I was the earth I'd be like mountains bountiful
And if I were the sky so high, I'd be like wind invincible and
If I could be a seed, I would give birth to redwood trees and
If I were the trees, I'd generate the freshest air to breathe in

(chorus)
What I be, is what I be
What I be, is what I be
well, well, well, movin on!
well, well, well, movin on!
Do you love someone? Do you love somebody?
Love that one!

If I could be the leaves, then like jade I would stay evergreen and
Spread my limbs out wide and pull love so close to me and
If I could the roots, I would dig deep like ancestry and
If were the fruits, you'd make the sweetest cherry pie from me and
If I could be the night, my moon replace all electric lights and
Magic music would transmit from outer space on satellites
If I myself could be the ocean, you would feel emotion all the time and
If I were the words, then everything that everybody said would rhyme

A Prayer Worth Praying

2008-05-19T09:58:00.002+10:00

When it all seems like too much to cope with here’s a prayer worth praying:

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12.

With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfil every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

It reminds me of what my main task in life is: to be worthy of God’s calling to be his servant.

It reminds me to be active in the way I live this life: to have good purposes and actions prompted by faith.

It reminds me of the way that these plans can be fulfilled: only by his power.

It reminds me of the goal of all our life and ministry: so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in me .

It reminds me of the overflowing love of Jesus that shares his riches with his servants: so that… you [may be glorified] in him.

It reminds me that all this will happen not because I deserve it, or because I’m clever, or hardworking, or creative, or good looking or well dressed but: according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you get a chance to pray for the College today, would you pray this for us please?

Do our young people view the Bible as fiction or fact?

2008-05-12T12:47:00.001+10:00

Not long ago a student mentioned to me that in her high school scripture class there was a girl who listened very politely, seemed very interested in everything that she said, but in the end said “They’re just made up stories after all”. She engaged at the level of interesting religious beliefs but couldn’t believe that the bible was anything other than a made-up story because it was just “what a few different men got together and wrote down”. Fiction rather than Fact. Legend rather than History.

Not that long ago we could presume in Australian society that when you taught a scripture class that the children would have grown up with a general respect of the bible and of the story of Jesus, even if they did not believe it themselves. Now young people are very sceptical about the reliability of the bible. The last few years have been a bit of an onslaught against the bible from the diatribes of Richard Dawkins and others to the bizarre fictions of the Da Vinci Code and the “discovery” of the gospel of Judas. All these have contributed to a greater scepticism.

I was convicted after this conversation of the necessity of looking again at history and gathering the evidence to show the historical reliability of the bible. The problem is, of course, that young people are easily bored with lots of information that seems dry. John Dickson’s video at Easter time was fantastic, but still a little sophisticated. I think there is a place for someone to prepare high quality materials for children and youth, to show them the historical evidence for the Christian faith. We can no longer just presume they will assume “Its from the bible, so its true”!

Has anyone out there prepared scripture lessons or resources that others might be able to use?

The Family-Friendly Church

2008-05-01T10:34:00.005+10:00

Do you want families in your church to know Jesus? Is it your hope that parents in your church will be actively involved in the discipleship of their children? Have you ever wondered how you might be able to encourage and enable families to glorify God within their local community? These are questions that are addressed in The Family Friendly Church by Ben Freudenburg with Rick Lawrence.

In this book, Ben Freudenburg shares his journey of personal discovery in regards to ministry with young people and in particular with young people as they belong to, and interact with their families. In his own experience he has found that ministry to children and families with young children is often overlooked and undervalued. This is not only true in the United States but for many in Australia this can be a common experience. How many of us have seen that when a church grows or adds staff, the first position to be filled, is unlikely to be that of a children’s worker.

However, in this book we are challenged to think more widely about the church’s responsibility to families. Freudenburg says, 'parents are the primary Christian educators in the church’ and that ‘the family is the God-ordained institution for faith building in children and youth and for the passing of faith from one generation to the next’.

This leads us to ask, is it wrong for us as workers to create programs that remove parents from this God-given responsibility? We need to ask ourselves, are we intentionally looking to find the correct balance between the role of Children’s and Youth ministers, Sunday school teachers and youth group leaders with the primary responsibility of Christian parents to pass on their faith?

Having set out his reasoning for why we need to change our focus Freudenburg is particularly helpful in providing practical and helpful suggestions about the way forward. This is a strong characteristic of the book. Its great strength is in biblical principles supported with many ideas for practical application. For example, Freudenburg identifies four simple family habits that make the difference in helping children of all ages to know about faith and to see how this faith works out in practice.

The four "difference makers" are:

Talking about God and your faith with your mother.
Talking about God and your faith with your father.
Praying together as a family each day.
Doing service projects together as a family to help those in need.

He then pinpoints a number of practical ways to implement these ‘difference makers’. For example, here is one of his suggestions in regard to parents talking about their faith:

Use "teachable moments," those moments when you can use events to make a point or open an age-appropriate discussion.

When you are reading a story or watching a movie, discuss the moral of the story.
You hear about someone ill or injured, offer a prayer.
Your child tells you about his friend telling a lie, you talk about honour and the standard of living by God's laws.
When your child tells you about something troubling him.
When you see your child is struggling with peer pressure, school pressure or experiencing difficulties with relationships.

It is not surprising that that these factors make a difference. Studies have proven again and again that parents are the single most powerful influence in their children's lives. The challenge is to help families recognise and take on board these small but significant steps. How can we help parents to see that giving their children the opportunity to talk with them about God and their faith is easy if they make it a priority? How can we encourage them to have discussions about God with their children as a regular, spontaneous part of life? You will find many helpful and realistic suggestions within this book.

As well as the answers to these questions you will be challenged to broaden your perspective on parent involvement, be encouraged to become committed to educating parents by offering seminars and workshops and be convicted of a need to be scheduling-sensitive. The book provides guidance and resources to help you:

Walk alongside parents as they lead and teach their children
Bring families together at church
Equip families for a home-based, church-supported ministry instead of a church- centred, home-supported ministry.

If this sounds like a change in direction that you and your church are ready for, then I suggest you buy a few copies and pass them around the ministry staff. Plan a day to discuss the concepts and ideas – I’m confident that it will bear fruit for ministry to the families within your care.

Sabbatical with Balaam #2

2008-04-07T09:54:00.000+10:00

It’s good to set aside time to think. I’m enjoying it and have been find it enormously refreshing. Whatever love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength means, it has something to do with dwelling on, thinking about, listening to, trying as best you can to understand and make sense of who God is and what he has done.

"What he has done"? A memorable phrase, this time from earlier on in the story, goes - God replied to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." It’s a phrase that has left people puzzling ever since. But one thing does seem clear. In this announcement God indicates to Moses that he will be known through what he will do. And this, of course, will be entirely consistent with all that he always has been. Numbers takes the story past Exodus and tells us more of what God did and said and thought. From it we are meant to understand who God is.

"As best as I can"? Well when the Old Testament talks about the heart it has in mind, not so much our emotional centre, as the centre of our thinking. This is the place where we make decisions, resolutions and commitments.

It’s good to set aside time to think. I’m still in Numbers. I’m still thinking about Balaam, donkeys, messenger-angels swords and so on. It’s a weird passage but it was included in the book of Numbers and so my hunch is that the author / complier of Numbers didn’t find it nearly as odd or weird as I do. And so I’m focussing a lot of my attention, at the moment, trying to understand what the world, or rather what a small part of the Near East looked like around the time that people first began to use iron implements.

Iron had been known about for some time. But it was known to be soft, easily corroded and of little practical use. That was until people learnt to combine it with other elements, and until new technologies allowed furnaces to be much hotter than had previously been possible (cf. Deut 4:20). This useless element became a prized substance and a key ingredient in economic and military success and domination (cf. Josh 17:16; 1Sam 13:19).

So what was it like living at the end of the Bronze Age?
What sort of technologies did they have?
How big were the cities?
How effective was communication?
How efficient was agriculture?
Who were the key players within village communities?
What sort of government did they have and who made the decisions?

These are the sorts of questions I am trying to find answers to. Not simply to amass trivia that is hardly likely to come up in anyone’s Bible Trivia Quiz. I’m trying to find answers to these questions that I might better understand what is going on in Numbers 22-24. I’m convinced that these chapters are profitable for for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness. I just don’t have much experience of that profit yet. But with persistence, perseverance and with God’s help I will do.

How do adolescents grow into healthy adults?

2008-04-01T14:25:00.003+11:00

Developmental Psychology in relation to adolescence talks a lot about identity formation—how a young person gains their ‘sense of self’. Much of the adolescent years are given to what psychologists call ‘mirroring’—looking to other people to reflect back to us a ‘self’ that we then come to accpet as our own. Will a young person see others viewing them as sociable and productive, or as useless and disruptive? We come to an understanding of who we are by seeing ourselves through the ways that others see us, and the way they present ‘me’ back to me. Out of this process we develop ‘my identity’.

Significant in this process is that of ‘the adult guarantor’. Kenda Dean and Richard Foster describe the adult guarantor as ‘an adult who believes in you before there is any good reason to do so’ (The Godbearing Life, 1998, p.85). They note that having a positive adult guarantor has a more positive impact on youth development than any other youth ministry delivery system.

Chap Clark in his book Hurt: Inside the world of today’s teenagers (2004) goes further to recognise that today’s young people need more than just one adult advocate. No one adult is able to give all the support needed because there are so many demands on adolescent needs today (intellectual, sexual, social, educational, economic etc). Even the best mentors leave, so we need more than one adult to stand for each young person. In addition, there are often so many negative voices surrounding young people, that in the face of multiple negative voices we need multiple supporters delivering the same message for our young people to develop a positive self image.

So where will these adult guarantors come from? Well how about the church? Jesus said that anyone who has left brothers or sisters or mother or father or children for him and the gospel will not fail to receive a hundred brothers, sisters, mothers, children in this present age (Mark 10:29-30). His promise is fulfilled in the church, the household of the living God (1 Tim 3:15).

As the Family of families, our churches are rare inter-generational communities where young people looking to establish their identity in the world can be connected with various adults who can speak words of love and value. For those in broken families, those who’s families have abandoned them as they have embraced Christ, as well as those who face the normal embarassment of their own parents, the church community would seem to be the ideal developmental resource!

So is our message to be, ‘Come to Christ, it will help your adolescent’s identity formation!’? It hardly sounds like the biblical gospel to me! Not only would this be a poor exchange (the gospel of grace for the pottage of developmental psychology), neither can the church community ever be for any young person all that they need, no matter how age inclusive and connected we are.

Ultimately, the role of the adult guarantor, ‘the one who believes in us before there is any good reason to do so’ can only be fulfilled by God. It is God who will never leave us nor forsake us; the multiple needs of developing adolescents are met by the relational unity of Father, Son and Spirit; and the constant negative voices from outside are met by the indwelling voice of the
Spirit.

It’s with this realisation that we find the heart of the task of Christian ministry with teenagers: To mediate the YES of the Trinity that comes in Christ to everyone, including our young people.

Our YES to teenagers will open a door for them to hear God’s YES to them. We’re called to love teenagers with an evangelistic love – not reducing our relationship with them as simply a means to an end, or a clever evangelistic tool. But to love others as Christ has loved us. This will call us to stand with them and for them, and to call them to the new kingdom life that has been opened up to us all through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.

With this aim in mind the insights of developmental psychology can point us to recognising the value of connecting young people to adults in the Christian family. One youth leader is able to be one voice mediating the love of God to teenagers; but just as we’ve recognised the extra value of having a leadership team to work together as a community of love mediating the love of God to teenagers, there are also great opportunities for the whole church family to take a part in this task.

The importance of relationships between teenagers and other adult members of a church community was emphasised through a landmark research project on the religious and spiritual lives of American adolescents undertaken from 2001-2005 (the National Survey of Youth and Religion, results published by Christian Smith (2005). Soul Searching: The religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers. Oxford/New York: OUP). One of their conclusions was the following:

Another important general way religious congregations may better engage youth is through simple, ordinary adult relationships with teenagers. Adults other than family members and youth ministers could be intentionally encouraged to make better efforts to learn teens’ names, to strike up conversations with teens, to ask them meaningful questions, to be vulnerable themselves to youth in various ways, to show some interest in them, to help connect them to jobs and internships, to make themselves available in times of trouble and crisis, to work toward becoming models and partners in love and concern and sacrifice. This would no doubt resound positively in broader areas of youth religious belief, commitment and practice and in youth outcomes more generally. (p.269).

Are there ways that we can encourage ‘simple, ordinary adult relationships’ between the teenagers in our youth ministries and other adults in the congregation? When it comes to work experience work, can you draw up a list of work experience opportunities with congregation members? Spending a week with a Christian plumber or accountant will not only provide a week’s experience of plumbing or accounting, but also a taste of the issues that a Christian faces in the demands of Monday to Friday working life. On top of that there’s the opportunity for at least one adult in the congregation to know the name of one of the members of the youth group. Who knows whether or not the relationship develops into a lasting deep commitment to each others’ welfare. But whatever develops, the more we are able to develop these connections, the more opportunites for fruitful relationships will exist.

Here is one of the means of grace given to us by God so that together we’d grow in understanding who we are – our common identity as the people of God called together by his grace in Christ. If we can see the adults in our congregations as gifts from God for the spiritual development of the young people, we might also help the adults see the young people as God’s gift also to them.

North Coast Christian Youth Conference

2008-03-17T09:07:00.003+11:00

Have just come back from NCCC YC up at Evans Head. A great weekend! About 150 young people from the Far North Coast. We stayed at Evans Head K-12 Public School. The theme of the weekend was "I'm on my way.. " picking up the old Proclaimers tune and adapting for a journey through the Psalms of Ascent Psalm 120 to 123. We saw the movement from the Badlands as the Old Testament person of God began to focus on the pilgrimage up to Jerusalem to gather with God's people in worship.

The weekend challenged and encourged me in a number of ways. As evangelicals we react at times in a polemical way to movements or theology that may not be helpful or even wrong. However our reaction may move us to an extreme that also pushes the boundary of truth. What I am thinking of is worship. The Old Testament people of God gathered to worship Yahweh in Jerusalem and it was a mix of both reason (theology) and experience. When we gather as the new people of God to sing praises to Jesus we are worshipping him. Worship rightly is more than singing, (Romans 12:1, 2). However, singing praises to Jesus must be included in the broader category of worship (Revelation 5:8, 9). And when we sing praises to Jesus our King it is to him. There must be a vertical element in our worship to Jesus. It is not merely horizontal, an encourgement to those gathered.

We had great times of worship, singing praises to Jesus our King up at NCCC YC., lead by Jon (thanks bros. for your input and enthusiams to worship with our minds and our hearts in a real way). We worshipped Jesus as we listened to the Bible being read and spoken about. We worshipped as we responded to Jesus as God's great King.

Thanks to all the crew up there who put so much work into organising a great weekend.

Surprised by God!!

2008-03-12T10:32:00.002+11:00

Recently I was invited to Moore College for my final interview for Ordination. I have to admit that I had butterflies in my stomach as I waited, with my husband Graham, to be asked in. We were the last interview for the day and had no idea what to expect. The three people interviewing us were warm and welcoming and did everything they could to make us feel at ease. They were interested in us as a couple and took time to learn about our journey of faith and the opportunities that we have in ministry.

As I had previously mentioned I was feeling anxious, although I don’t think this was apparent to the others in the room. However, as I re-lived the interview in my mind, I recognised that I had become more extroverted and had ‘lots to say’. I shared my desire to see Children’s Ministry valued by our churches, to have men and women of all ages taking up the opportunity to be trained and for ministry with children to be recognised as a viable and sustainable career move. Ordination into Children’s Ministry is one way in which I believe people will be encouraged to think long term about ministry with children.

The biggest challenge, however, during the interview was when they asked: “What’s in it for you”?

"Well, what IS in it for me", I thought? I remember replying that I hoped to join the network of ministers within the diocese, to have the support of the Anglican Church, for opportunities to teach the gospel and to be ‘a voice for children’. These are all true and yet I found that I was left feeling as if I had missed something.

Later I tossed and turned, praying, thinking, wondering, examining my motives and asking yet again. Why am I doing this? What is in it for me? SHOULD there even be anything in it for me? As I considered this question I came to the realisation that there is something in it for me. In fact there are many things that benefit me directly from this experience.

Firstly, in order to be ordained, I have embarked on further study. Without the need to do this I would have found it difficult to find the motivation to complete an extra eight subjects for the Advanced Diploma. How sad it would have been to miss out on Andy’s subject on Families and Jim’s teaching of Isaiah.

Secondly, I have been forced to move out of my comfort zone. Writing and presenting my paper, ‘Look at me. I’m a Princess!’ was challenging. I’ve always enjoyed the practical teaching components of my work and struggled to do the critical theological reflection that must stand alongside this. God in his kindness has placed me in an environment that continually encourages me to stop and think. This has not only benefited my ministry but also my personal and spiritual life. It is my hope that being ordained will continue to provide opportunities for rigorous theological reflection on all areas of my ministry.

Lastly, I have been given the opportunity to ‘live the dream’. Many years ago a handful of Children’s Ministers met in St. Andrews House to ‘dream, dreams’. As we shared our vision it was very much with the thought that we would not benefit ourselves but others, particularly our children in the future might benefit from the strategies implemented. The decision by the diocese to ordain Children’s Ministers brings to fruition one of these dreams.
So there you go – although it shouldn’t come as a surprise, God was working things out for my benefit as I sought to benefit others, without me even realising it!

Isn’t our God wonderful in that as we work for him and the building of his kingdom, he is simultaneously working in our hearts and building us to be the people he wants us to be!

It just goes to show that the “what’s in it for me” question does not have to be self-centred but rather can give God glory as we see what he is doing in our OWN lives through our ministry as well as in the lives of those we minister to!

Any thoughts?

So you think you can dance?

2008-03-10T14:12:00.001+11:00

What is it with Dance?

So You Think You Can Dance Australia has become an unexpected hit on Australian TV. Opening with 1.47m viewers, the Monday night results show is still attracting that size audience one month on. In particular, it has attracted 55% of the 16-39 age group.

So what’s this telling us about Australia? And what will a bit of critical reflection on this cultural phenomenon teach us about children’s and youth ministry?

Why is Dance Australia so popular?

Is it because Australian young people are really into dance? I think not. Yes, we watch a lot of music videos, and they dance a lot in them – but that might explain an interest in Hip Hop and Krumping, but Contemporary and Ballroom? And yes, Strictly Ballroom was a great hit at Australian cinemas in 1992, but we went to laugh at the ballroom dancing antics and cheer for the underdog who shakes off the confines of the establishment to chart his own course and finally win the day (another retelling of the great Australian colonial story?... but I digress).

Is it because Australians just love reality TV. Well, recent tv trends would suggest there’s a lot to that idea. Particularly the ‘talent quest’ type shows (think Australian Idol, Dancing with the Stars, and my personal favourite Americas Next Top Model, the world record holder in shallowness!). While there are probably a lot of people watching in tv land identifying with the contestants, imagining what song they’d choose for Brit Pop night, or practicing their own sashay across their living room floor, for the majority I suspect we like to sit in the judges seat.

Identifying with Matt, Bonnie and Jason, we’re given a sort of vicarious expertise, suddenly capable of sitting as authorities over the dancers who audition before us week by week. We sit back in our lounge chairs learnedly observing, ‘he’s not sitting into the beat’, ‘they’re unison is all over the place’, ‘her toes were floppy on that lift’. Add the power to pick up our phone and vote for our favourite the appeal of the original sin, ‘you will be like God’ is complete!

Is it also because it’s G rated sex? Is it just me, or was there a lot of sex and flesh on stage last night? I’m sure someone could do the analysis, but have the guys discovered that the way to avoid getting voted out is to make sure you appear without your shirt on? Maybe I’m just revealing that I’m not a dancer and couldn’t be one – but where the judges are saying, it’s not enough to act sexy and erotic but you have to BE sexy and erotic, well that makes me a little uncomfortable.

Is there suddenly a whole army of pubescent males who have suddenly found an interest in contemporary jazz fusion? Are are there a lot of unhelpful fantasies being fuelled by writhing bodies that leave just enough for the imagination to latch on to?

So perhaps there’s reason for pause when it comes to this show, but I must admit I’m still a fan. The bottom line is, I just think its amazing. I find myself turning to my wife and saying to each other ‘how on earth can they do that?’ ‘How can they remember all those moves?’ That sense of amazement I think is accentuated by the video package that precedes the performance. We see the dancers learn a routine and practice their lifts, and we get to see how hard it really is. But then come Sunday night there they are, effortlessly jumping and twisting and swirling across the stage, not only doing extraordinary things but communicating something as well. How do they do it?

Which makes me think, isn’t that what being ‘gifted’ is all about? To make something that’s difficult look like its easy? And for dancers who have perhaps not had the media attention in this country that they perhaps deserve (just ask yourself, had you ever heard of Jason Gilkison before Dance Australia?) then perhaps it’s a good thing to give them a moment in the limelight?
So what about those in your children’s ministry or youth group who have been gifted by the Holy Spirit?

We know that all who are in Christ have been given gifts by the Spirit for the common good (1 Cor 12:7). A key aspect of the pastoral task is to notice the gifts in others, to encourage them in using those gifts in love and to celebrate the presence of that gift among us. Are there gifts among the members of your groups that have gone unnoticed? Gifts that could be fanned into fire? Gifts that can be celebrated as another sign of the gracious presence of the Holy Spirit among us?

The challenge of course is to look beyond the beautifully gifted to find those who are gifted in a way that our world will never recognise. From watching Dance Australia you’ll know there’s a select few who get the ‘privilege’ of standing next to Natalie as she does her introductions – is it just a coincidence that they’re all good looking, well dressed with straight white teeth?

While our televisions might be good at celebrating some of the gifts of the beautiful, will our churches be good at celebrating all of the gifts of all of God’s people?

Sabbatical with Balaam

2008-03-04T09:24:00.001+11:00

I’m on Sabbatical at the moment. Sabbatical is, of course, related to the term Sabbath, a period of rest and refreshment, a time set aside to enjoy God, family, friends and creation, both God-made: mountains, rivers streams surf, and man-made: music, movies, meals and soccer. Sabbath is related to the Hebrew word for seven sheba(, though the experts argue as to just how it is related.

We may think of decades: 60’s fashion, 70’s tv, 80’s music, 90’s politics… but the people of the OT worked in blocks of seven. Seven days to the week, the seventh is the Sabbath. Similarly the seventh year was a sabbatical year, when fields were left fallow and debts suspended (Lev 25:2-7) and then, of course, every seventh Sabbath-year a Jubilee was proclaimed (Lev 25: 8-12).

So am I having a rest?

Well yes, and no.

My sabbatical is a time to pull back from normal college responsibilities: lecturing, small groups, fireside and so on. I am having a rest from that. But Graham, Kerrie, Ruth and Jim are covering for me not so that I can have a holiday, but so that I can have a big, uninterrupted block of time to get into some further study.

I’ve decided to have a good look at Numbers 22-24, the Balaam Narrative.

On one level the choice was fairly easy. No one else seems to be having a look at this bit of the Bible so I thought I’d give it a go. But there’s also the fact that it’s seriously weird, and somewhat confusing. The challenge to make something of it was quite appealing.

But then, when you think of it, Balaam seems to come up quite a bit in Children’s ministry. I bet he’s in most Kid’s Bibles, and books of Bible stories for children. But he seems never to come up in youth or adult ministry. That’s weird too isn’t it? It’s odd that a passage that can be so helpful for kids, seems to become irrelevant once they get older. Or are we missing something? Or is it not as helpful as we’ve imagined for children? Should we stop using it at church and in SRE?

In many ways the hardest thing is to try to keep an open mind as I come to the passage. I’m well aware of the press that Balaam gets in the NT, but for the moment I’d like to try to focus simply on what Numbers has to say about this curious character and this weird moment in salvation history.

War! what is it good for?

2008-02-15T10:53:00.002+11:00

Thanks to Frankie Goes to Hollywood for the title (and thanks also to Bruce Springsteen for his truly excellent cover version!). Is there any place for war imagery in our teaching the Christian life to children and young people?

Is anyone else out there old enough to remember singing: I’m too young to march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery; I’m too young to fly over land and sea, but I’m in the Lord’s army, Yes Sir!

With such a strong militaristic tone it’s perhaps no surprise that songs like this one are out of vogue today. But though we might be hesitant to encourage images of war in our kid’s clubs or youth programs, is there something we’re losing about Christian discipleship in the process?

One of the features of the book of Revelation is the prevalence of warfare imagery. This was not because John was peculiarly fond of war stories; he was drawing on a significant theme of the great end-time war against evil that appears both in the Old Testament (such as Ezekiel 38-39) and in other Jewish writings of the first century.

But what do we do with such images of violence? Surely the message that Jesus wins because he is more powerful than Satan is simply a spiritualised version of ‘might is right’. D. H. Lawrence famously described the Book of Revelation as the Judas of the New Testament – betraying Jesus’ message of love and salvation by its focus on envy and destruction.

John reinterprets the motif in light of the death of Christ emphasising three key aspects of the work of Christ and the life of Christian discipleship. Firstly it’s clear that Jesus’ victory is already complete through his death on the cross.

Revelation refers to a final battle in a number of places (Rev. 16:16, 19:11, 17-21) but without ever actually describing any real warfare. The final ‘battle of Armageddon’ proves to be no more than a final act of defiance of an already defeated foe (20:7-9). Revelation focusses clearly on the already accomplished victory of Christ on the cross (5:5, 12:7-10).

Secondly, Revelation is clear that Jesus’ victory came through self-sacrificial faithfulness. Though the images of the Lion of Judah and the Root of David (5:5) have strongly militiaristic associations, these images are reinterpreted through sacrificial imagery - The lion is the lamb that was slain (5:6). In a similar vein the conquest of Jesus’ enemies comes from the sword of his mouth (Rev. 19:15,21), not the power of his arm.

Just as the Lion is reinterpreted as the Lamb, so also the people of God as the army of Israel (7:1-8) is reinterpreted as the faithful redeemed (7:9-14). In Revelation 7:14 the victorious people of God are described as those who ‘have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb’ connecting Jesus’ faithfulness to the point of death with the same faithful witness of Christian disciples. This description is in stark contrast to the end time army described in the Dead Sea Scrolls who wash their robes ‘in the blood of guilty cadavers’ (1QM 14:23).

What we have in Revelation is a willingness to use culturally relevant imagery, but to make them completely servant to the gospel of Jesus. In doing this John is no different to earlier New Testament writers who also used the metaphor of war to describe the Christian life. One example is Paul in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.

So should we have a WWII theme for our next holiday kid’s club? Well, perhaps not. What we must do is emphasise that Jesus won a real victory over a real enemy. And we must emphasise that as his people he has called us also to be conquerors (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21; 21:7). Conquerors though who don’t fight as the world fights, but who imitate Jesus – like the saints described in Revelation 12:11 –

They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

MIA

2008-02-15T10:48:00.003+11:00

Far out... it's been a long time between drinks here!

That's the thing with funky new communication tools, you still need to communicate!

Though (and here comes a gross rationalisation thinly veiled by theological argument!), my lack of posting anything here is perhaps more honest than the false communication that goes on in so many communication technologies - we might be writing words, and talking at each other, but is there really any communication going on?

okay. lame excuse I know.

thoughts about nooma

2007-05-04T21:19:00.001+10:00

Okay, so it’s taken me a while to catch up … but this morning on the train into work I watched my first nooma dvd. Some of you will be gasping at the tragically slow pace of cultural integration that I’m displaying, others will be gasping at the knowledge that Youthworks College has paid for one of these tools of Satan that are guaranteed to spell the end of Christianity as we know it. True to character, can I perhaps suggest a more measured response…

So I watched ‘flame’ – it’s about Song of Songs, or actually about the three different words for love in Hebrew that are used in Song of Songs – in brief, companionship, commitment and sex. Rob Bell describes these three loves as three flames and builds to his major point that the flames were meant to burn together, to create ‘the big flame’, rather than going for the emptiness that comes from trying to get all the heat we’re created for only from the flame of sex without the combination of companionship and commitment. In the fifteen minutes Bell takes to share these thoughts we see him driving to a remote location in mid-winter USA and then carrying two fuel cans through the snow. Towards the end of the clip we see his destination – a HUGE pile of dead trees over which he pours the contents of the ‘gas cans’ resulting in one of the biggest bonfires I’ve ever seen – the point is rammed home: don’t miss out on the big flame.

As a piece of gripping communication, this is right up there. It’s visual communication as cinema and television has trained us to receive it – basically there’s a talking head, but a talking head set within a narrative, and a narrative that isn’t full of ‘flashing arrows’ that tell you exactly what’s going on. Here’s a piece of visual communication that is engaging our mental capacity – we listen, we watch, we try to work out what’s going on (where’s he driving to, why has he stopped, what’s in the jerry cans, what’s the fuel for, is he really going to light that?), we feel the cold of the snow and the heat of the flame.

As a statement of Christian theology, this is perhaps a vast improvement on many a youth group talk – planned on the run, built around the latest funny story that landed in your inbox that week, with a stray bible verse conscripted into service to keep the rector happy. Rob Bell is right, that the way the Bible talks about love is more multi-dimensional than our use of the English word love often suggests (‘I love my wife and I love tacos?!’). And yes, we are made by God so that sexual love would only be deeply satisfying in combination with commitment and companionship and the attempt to make sex satisfy all our longings for love is as pitiful a comparison as a lighter flame with a mighty bonfire.

The other implication of the point that ‘the three flames were meant to burn together’ is that companionship and commitment isn’t as good without sex. That of course will raise significant problems for all but one of our human relationships (so I don’t really love anyone other than my wife?) not to mention all of Jesus’ relationships (was he a man who never really knew how good love was?). It’s something that Rob Bell never gets to addressing in this ‘discussion starter’ but then it is a ‘starter’ not a main course, and so hopefully the youth minister who knows how to use a DVD player and data projector is also wise enough to discuss human sexuality. Unfortunately there’s no further direction given for the discussion to follow other than a print version of the material which is just as hip and spare in it’s message as the video.

As a piece of biblical exegesis it really misses the mark. Other than the information that Song of Songs is an erotic love poem we’re left without much sense of what this book is about (though how many sermons on Song of Songs have you ever heard that made sense of what this book is about! So I offer this critique with all the gentleness I can muster!). The image of the great flame does come from the text (see chapter 8:6-7) but our attention isn’t drawn there. The necessary connection between the three words for love is drawn without any explicit justification from the biblical text.

Now of course, that final critique can spell the death of any resource in the exegesis loving evangelical church. But again, remember that this is a discussion starter not a training program in exegetical method. And again, much will depend on the ability of the youth minister to read and explain the Bible (and again, it’s unfortunate that there are no resources in the nooma package to help with this task).

So, given all that, how are we going to respond?

Well, I can already see that ‘we’ being bible-loving-evangelicals will respond in a variety of predictable ways:

§ Some will reject this outright (bad exegesis, bad theology, and they’ve obviously spent too much money on frivolous things such as production quality, money which could have been spent on the poor or on another evangelism training program);

§ others will use it cautiously, picking and choosing which bits to run with (partly because it’s a good quality resource and we might as well use what’s available and partly to really annoy all those people who think it’s from the devil);

§ and I’m sure that some will decide to produce a theologically sound evangelical version of the concept, mimick the packaging, choose a similar but slightly daggier name (ruark), and produce a product that wins on theology and bible but comes a sad second in production quality and narrative depth.

Okay, I’m cynical. Maybe someone will come up with a winner on all counts – but as we worry about all these sorts of options are we perhaps going to end up neglecting the great strength of gospel ministry, the number one basic element of sharing Jesus with young people?

Just talk to them! Spend time face to face; share with them the stories of God – about those who loved well and those who didn’t, about David and Jonathan, about Solomon and his thousand, about Jesus and John, about Paul and his instructions to the Corinthians; ask questions about their lives, about their love lives; share with them about you, about your life and loves, about what you understand and don’t understand from the Scriptures.

I’m happy for people to use all manner of tools and technologies to help people engage with one another as together we engage with the Lord. But without the desire and intention and skills for personal connections, a hip video and a big video screen will struggle to advance the kingdom of God. A life shared in imitation of and empowered by the life of Christ shared and given for us has always been the technology of choice of this Kingdom’s King in the plan to draw all people to himself.

More needed than just teaching hobbies

2007-03-14T11:27:00.000+11:00

An article in this morning’s The Australian caught my attention (‘Debnam falls of old hobby horse’) reporting on the election promise from the NSW opposition leader that, if elected, he will set up a program that will see the elderly teach new hobbies to troubled teenagers. All we need is a database of old people’s homes and local schools that can match people according to their interests!

It’s fairly clear that the reporter thinks it’s a dumb idea – ‘Yes, the troubled young of today—the disenfranchised and the unemployed—may think life has nothing to offer but the Xbox. But they could be building sea-worthy crafts from ice-cream buckets, or drilling holes in tin cans and walking around on them, using string to steer’! And, I must admit, reading that Mr Debnam said, “I’ve always enjoyed a bit of boat-making and wood-working… Lots of kids would enjoy that” it doesn’t sound like a leader in touch with the concerns or needs of today’s youth.

The article points out all the problems involved – the need to screen elderly people for working with youth, the need to screen the youth involved (“What if they turned up for cross-stitching and stole from an old duck’s handbag?” the reporter asks!). Adding a quote from a nursing home resident saying that he moved to the retirement village to get away from the young people who used to throw pebbles at his house and it’s clear that the idea is fraught with difficulties and will probably vanish into history as a well meant idea thrown around at election time that never had much chance of making real difference.

Perhaps I’m cynical.

But…

What caught my attention? Our community wants to overcome the division that exists between young and old; our community needs to overcome the division that exists between young and old. Teenagers who are ‘troubled’ need older, wiser heads to show them some attention and care, guidance and support. Elderly people ought not need to (or want to) escape to a walled enclosure to get away from pebble throwers. Elderly people ought not be ‘filed away’ into retirement homes, out of sight and out of mind of the rest of the community.

There are all sorts of problems that exist relating to the age divisions in our community and at the very least we ought to be praying for our elected representatives (and political candidates in an upcoming election) that God would be gracious to them (and to us) and give them His wisdom so that they’d be able to govern with justice and righteousness ‘for the tranqulity and good of all.’

The point of this rave is, how much are we in the church, and those in youth ministry in particular replicating / contributing to / acquiescing to this age divide?

I’m not suggesting we get the retirees in the congregations to come to youth group and teach the kiddes crochet and whittling! We need more than a program; something that will take more investment than a new database. We need older people to take a genuine interest in the lives and concerns and challenges of young people. And yes, we need young people to respond to the leadership offered by adults with respect and honour. Those who are mature in Christ will need to lead – whether it’s mature older people who can initiate gracious investment in the lives of young people for their benefit and the glory of Christ; or whether it’s mature younger people who can initiate gracious respect for older people for their benefit and the glory of Christ. It’s called love; more particularly it’s called family.

It’s a theme we keep coming back to at College… the family is church and the church is family. What will our youth and children’s ministries look like if we took this seriously? What would the relationships between old and young look like if we took this seriously? A lot different to a state government run database at least!

Graduates' Conference 2007

2007-02-19T21:28:00.000+11:00

Advance Notice to blogwatchers - the Graduates' conference this year is on Monday June 4. Day program from 9:30am. Dinner and Mad Dog Barley Lecture from 6:30pm.

Andy is up for the Mad Dog lecture - the brief of the lecture is to share your latest thoughts that might somehow impact on youth and children's ministry... you all know how 'out there' Andy's thoughts can be, as well as how insightful for ministry those thoughts turn out to be. It will be a great day and a great night. Hope you can be there. More details to come.

some thoughts from Cambridge

2007-01-11T07:48:00.000+11:00

So what was the iasym conference like?
It was really cold (even though the locals kept delighting in how mild it was!). It was great fun - living with 100 other people really interested in thinking seriously about youth ministry was a hoot. I got to meet a lot of very interesting people (took Kenda Creasy-Dean to the pub, had lunch with Pete Ward, breakfast with Malan Nel).

Beside all that, the conference in Cambridge sparked a number of interesting thoughts.

The need for a gospel governed practical theology

The was a question that was explicitly raised in response to one of the research papers being presented, but also a question that could well have been raised in response to many others. Does Youth Ministry begin with the sociological observation of youth spirituality, or does it begin with the call of God in Christ? It’s not a question that we often think about in Sydney, but the discussion that was going on at the conference was quite split on the answer. So many of the research papers had done quantitative or qualitative research on young people and ‘discovered’ things like young people like to pray, and that youth groups having their own space to operate will be better at enhancing Christian consciousness over those that don’t. Having made such observations youth ministry then takes its direction from this research – and we aim at fostering the prayer life of young people, or at creating spaces for young people to use.

What is missing in most of the discussion and thinking about youth ministry is that we get our impetus and direction for this ministry from the word of God. It’s the fact that Jesus is King that drives us to speak his words to young people. It’s the word of God that explains and critiques the observations we make of the spiritual lives of young people.

Thinking about the value of sociological research reminded me of Peter Jensen’s discussion of general and special revelation – “Experience intimates, the gospel enlightens; the gospel interprets, experience confirms” (The Revelation of God, 2002, p.108). Our experience points us in certain directions by which we can look at the gospel with different eyes. Reflection on the actual experiences of young people and youth ministries can point us in certain directions by which we can look at the gospel with different eyes. But we need to gospel to make sense of our experience of the world.

There is a definite need for a gospel driven practical theology – an understanding of theology and ministry practice that takes the particularities of our ministry experiences seriously (using all that sociology, psychology etc can reveal to us) that remains directed and driven by the gospel.

Don’t get intimidated by people with PhDs

A corollary to the first point – there are plenty of people who have PhDs in fields relating to youth ministry (mostly under the heading of ‘practical theology’) who could benefit to going back to the uncomplicated task of reading the Scriptures to understand the nature of God and the task of ministry. Rule of thumb - don't get intimidated by someone with an impressive sounding title or CV; and don't get sucked in to pursuing these things at the expense of the kingdom.

American Youth Ministry has failed… and doesn’t know where to go next

There is a strong sense in the academic world of youth ministry in America that the entertainment driven American style of youth ministry has failed. A significant research project last year revealed that though American youth ministry has succeeded in things like number of kids involved, numbers of leaders, training of leaders, provision of resources, what they have singularly failed to do is produce adult disciples.

Could there be a connection between the first point and the last? Of course that is my hunch – now we need to share our theological arguments with the American academy, and it might also be helpful to have some sociological research to confirm what the gospel enlightens.

2007-01-03T03:10:00.000+11:00

Happy New Year to you! For me the New Year clicked over somewhere over Afghanistan I think, while I was flying from Sydney to London – leaving in 2006 and arriving in 2007.

I’m in the UK for the International Association of Youth Ministry conference in Cambridge from Wednesday through to Saturday. The conference draws quite a diverse range of people together. The common theme is working with young people from a Christian perspective – though what constitutes ‘Christian perspective’ is quite varied (and sometimes difficult to understand fully – one paper talks about ministry as a ‘life-transforming process’ which has as it’s goal ‘fullness-of-life-for-all in a Regnocentric perspective, proclaimed and manifested by Jesus Christ’!).

Having got over jet lag yesterday, today is given to reading through the conference papers. So I’ve managed to find a desk in the reading room at the British Museum

<-- here’s a picture of my spot – there are signs saying ‘no photography’ but no one seems to take any notice of them!.

Will head up to Cambridge tomorrow. More to come – stay tuned…

Revelation Insights

2006-12-07T10:37:00.000+11:00

I've been on a study week this week preparing a new subject on the Book of Revelation for next year. Thought I might share these thoughts from Gregory Beale's commentary.

In many ways you could apply the same words to all of the Scriptures; and have the same aim for the College program and our local church ministries - reminding ourselves, each other and the world of what is truly true, so we might successfully navigate this life, or (to borrow a phrase from Kevin Vanhoozer) have a fitting participation in God's drama in the world we find ourselves in.

There are only a few big words... hope you can be encouraged by his thoughts:

The book portrays an end-time new creation that has irrupted into the present old world through the death and resurrection of Christ and through the sending of the Spirit at Pentecost. John’s vision communicates values that run counter to the values of the old world and provide “a structure of meaning that ground” the lives of Christians in the new world. The symbols describing the new world spell out the eternal significance and consequences of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection and of the present choices and behaviour of the readers. Part of the main point is to motivate the readers not to compromise with the world but align their thoughts and behaviour with the God-centred standards of the new creation. They are to see their own situation in this world in the light of the eternal perspective of the new world, which is now their true home.
In this respect, the churches are to read and reread the book in their assembly so that they may continually be reminded of God’s real, new world, which stands in opposition to the old, fallen system in which they presently live. Such a continual reminder will cause them to realize that their home is not in this old world but in the new world portrayed parabolically in the heavenly visions. Continued reading of the book will encourage genuine saints to realize that what they believe is not strange and odd, but truly normal from God’s perspective. They will not be discouraged by outside worldliness, including what has crept into the churches, which is always making godly standards appear odd and sinful values seem normal. John refers to true unbelievers in the book as “earth-dwellers” because their ultimate home is on this transient earth. They cannot trust in anything except what their eyes see and their physical senses perceive; they are permanently earthbound, trusting only in earthly security, and will perish with this old order at the end of time when the corrupted cosmos will perish with this old order at the end of time when the corrupted cosmos finally is judged and passes away. On the other hand, Christians are like pilgrims passing through this world. As such they are to commit themselves to the revelation of God in the new order so as progressively to reflect and imitate his image and increasingly live according to the values of the new world, not being conformed to the fallen system, its idolatrous images, and associated values.

G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation, (New International Greek Testament
Commentary), p.175.

Second Round Applications - January 19-20

2006-12-04T19:36:00.000+11:00

Thanks to those who prayed for the application interviews last week. We were tired by the end of it (lots of conversations asking the same questions in the same little room) but have met some great people and are looking forward to the start of the new year once again.

Tell your friends that there are still some places available for 2007 - we'll be interviewing again on January 19 and 20.

Application Interviews for 2007 begin

2006-11-27T22:14:00.000+11:00

We're starting the interviews for new students in both the Diploma and Year 13 courses tomorrow.

All you graduates and students reading, think back to the terror you felt when you turned up to College, all nicely dressed, desperate to impress the intimidating faculty ... spare a thought for the new applicants and pray that they'd be relaxed for the interviews.

Pray that we'll be able to understand each other well and that the Lord would help us make wise decisions regarding who to accept.

For anyone still thinking about applying, you might want to get a move on! Apply before Thursday and we may be able to interview you on Saturday. There are still places open, and second round of interviews will be held in mid January - apply now to guarantee an interview.

Open Day this Saturday

2006-11-13T14:01:00.000+11:00

For anyone interested in having a look at Youthworks College - and for anyone thinking of who they should send to Youthworks College, this Saturday is for you!

The Open Day starts at 9:30 and goes through to 2:00pm. There are a number of different information sessions for you to drop in on - hear what College life is like from students and staff. There's a free lunch provided at 12:45pm.

Contact the College office (8268 3367) for more details

The Ranch

2006-11-10T14:24:00.000+11:00

I often get asked, so here's the answer: this is what I get up to when students aren't around -
Building Burgers in Camden!

Teen Ranch has opened a Burger Shop called 'The Ranch' (5 Oxley St Camden, between the new age shop and the hairdressers) and I spent the lunch hour rush working alongside Graham Poole (aka 'Dr Poole', husband of graduate Linda Poole (YWC 2000), aka 'Mum') making burgers. Which made me realise how relaxed and stress free running a Bible College is in comparison!

The aim behind The Ranch (in my understanding - which Pooley might want to correct) is to have a missional presence in the community and a context for teaching and modelling whole of life discipleship. The shop is staffed by Teen Ranch staff - Cert III trainees as well as senior leadership - with the challenge that if you can work out how knowing Jesus makes a difference to how you flip burgers then you'll learn a lot about how knowing Jesus makes a difference to every part of your life (and I guess the flip-side, if knowing Jesus doesn't make any difference to how you flip burgers then does he make any difference at all?). At the same time there's the opportunity and challenge to connect with the regular Aussie hamburger buyer who will come into a burger shop but not into a church.

At another meeting yesterday someone told the story of how the Mormons were forbidden from having a presence on a university campus in Chicago, so they bought a shop directly opposite the entrance of the uni with the aim of making this the cheapest and best place to get food and drinks for all the uni students - and as a result Mormonism boomed in that community.

So what does it all mean? (... I can feel a critical reflection coming on ...) Is the sort of thing the Ranch is doing an evangelistic strategy? Is it a ministry supporting business venture (it's a business that makes money!)? Is it a ministry training ground? Or better, it's all three, or rather, it's life - the full life, whole life, doing everything to the glory of God: connecting with others, being involved in the community, modeling discipleship, learning discipleship. It speaks to me of having an idea and giving it a go; of making decisions shaped by the Kingdom rather than shaping our view of (and involvement in) the Kingdom by our decisions.

And if the College ever goes under I can add 'experience in the fast food industry' to my CV.

Table Tennis Champion 2006

2006-11-01T15:23:00.000+11:00

At least those from previous years' Tuesday-Wednesday class will be interested to hear that this year's table tennis champion is Andrew Spalding. It came down to a three way round robin for the championship between Kiel, Spaldo and the Dean.
I thought it would be best to let the students win, so they don't get too sad ;-)

Youthworks lead Moore early in first half

2006-10-31T16:15:00.000+11:00

Alas by the end of the game the scoreline was not so flattering. But the boys of Youthworks College fought valiantly on the Rugby League field against Moore College last Wednesday night. If there were bonus tries for having faculty members on the field we would have won by a long shot!

So far we’ve come second to SMBC at soccer, second to Moore College at League, maybe we can beat Mary Andrews College at AFL?

Jim French

2006-10-19T14:27:00.000+10:00

We're very excited to be able to announce that Jim French will join the Diploma Faculty team full time in 2007 teaching in New Testament and Exegesis as well as taking responsibility for the Youth Ministry Skills program.

Jim left school in year 10 and got an electrical trade before going to Moore College in 1995. Since finishing Moore he's worked in youth ministry in Liverpool and, until now, at Orange Evangelical Church in Orange western NSW. Jim has just recently finished his M.A. in Theology with Moore College.

We're very grateful to OEC for letting us take Jim away from their church - the least we can do is ask you, our trusted supporters, to join us in thanking God for their generosity and praying for their ongoing ministry in Orange (check them out at http://www.oechurch.org.au/).

I've known Jim for over 10 years and am thrilled that he's going to join our team. He's no dummy, has had lots of experience in youth ministry, loves the Lord and gets on with me! A rare combination indeed ;-)

In 2007 Jim will be teaching NT202 (Acts and Epistles) to first and second years, and will team up with Andy to teach OT216 (Isaiah) for the Advanced Diploma students - all the more reason for you graduates out there to come back to College to check out the new-boy.

Please pray for Jim as he prepares to start the new year and thank God for making all this possible.

Alfred and Susan Olwa

2006-10-19T14:03:00.000+10:00

We enjoyed a vist from Alfred and Susan Olwa from Uganda yesterday at College. Alfred is the Dean of the Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology at Uganda Christian University. They're training pastors for the Anglican Church and other protestant churches in Uganda as well as providing general education in Christian basics for all the students at the university.

We were very interested in the degree in Children's work that they've recently introduced to the University - always glad to hear of others who are taking ministry to children seriously.

They asked us to pray for an upcoming course they run for the spouses of students who are training for parish ministry and also for their own family life as they deal with the day to day pressures of being involved in a demanding ministry.

Highlights

2006-10-15T11:49:00.000+10:00

Finally back home - and with that strange feeling of realising there's another world across there on the other side of the country where life is so different and so similar.

<-- That's Mt Magnet, the buildings near the horizon in the middle of the photo. The buildings in the front are part of the mines that surround the town. It's not a big place. And it's a long way from anywhere else.

Here are my top three stories:

Four year old boy, swears like a grown up truck driver (which is a lot), who also said he was a follower of Jesus. His mates ask, 'if you follow Jesus why do you swear all the time?' he replies, 'Jesus hasn't told me anything about not swearing.' I add, 'there is something in the Bible about not using bad language', which recieves the classic reply: 'well when I get to that page I'll rip it out and piss on it!'

Another four year old boy, asked by a friend's mother if he's enjoying Kid's Club: 'It's really good, we're learning about a really cool guy... I can't remember his name... he made the whole world! That's right, his name's God... he's got another name too... but I can't remember that';

And finally, a sixteen year old girl who asked whether it was true that when we die the next baby to be born is your soul. One of the team members talked to her about the next life, judgement and the promise of heaven for those who are Jesus' friends. The girl asked whether there would be bush in heaven and the team member talked about the new creation, a renewed earth that would probably have bush in it as well, but perfect. To which the girl replied with eyes of wonder, 'you mean bush without drought?' What better way to put it - we long for the place where there's bush without drought.

Thanks for joining us on this journey to Mt Magnet. Please keep them in your prayers.

Here's a shot of our trusty team - all decked out in their glorious orange t-shirts.

The final day

2006-10-12T15:41:00.000+10:00

Hey there -
one more day to go. We're currently in final throes of preparation for the last Kid's Club meeting. It's hard thinking about saying goodbye - each day the kids say, 'you gonna be here tomorrow?', and every other day we've been able to respond with a happy, 'yep!'. But not today.

We're glad that Bill and Jackie are here to keep working with the kids after we leave, but they're aware of the contrast between what a team of enthusiastic young visitors can provide with what's possible with just the two of them. Their big prayer points are for more Christian people to choose to come and live and work in the town - experienced teachers who are able to deal with the challenges of teaching the kids as well as having the energy to be involved in youth ministry at church, a doctor who can serve the community and be part of the congregation, a youth worker who can give themselves to sharing Jesus with the young people in town through sharing their life and sharing the gospel. Please join with us in praying for all these things.

Yesterday went well - less kids than previously, but it seemed that the Lord brought the right ones for the right time. Pray that they come back today and that we'd have the chance again to share Christ with them.

Sport's night was a hit. The kids had a good time and played in a generally good spirit.

Pray for Mel - she tried to kick a football yesterday but didn't quite succeed and so the football kicked her instead, and strained the ligaments in her ankle. So we were back to the Nurse's station! In God's providence we managed to pick the one day of the month that there was a physio in town - so for Mel, it's crutches and ice packs. Pray for her as she sits around, watching the rest of the team do the running around that she'd love to be joining in with.

Tomorrow we have our celebratory greasy breakfast at the Swagman roadhouse before heading back to Perth - our aim is to get to the ocean before the sun sets at 6:27. Overnight in Perth, perhaps a swim in the Indian Ocean before flying back over this great country on Saturday afternoon.

over half way through.

2006-10-11T12:53:00.000+10:00

Aaargh... the local swimming pool was planning on opening from 12 to 5pm each day - right when we are running our program, which would have spelt disaster for us. Fortunately Bill has such good contacts in town that he heard about the plan and was able to ask them to open from 12 to 3, with our program running from 3 to 5! phew.

Yesterday went well, a few less kids than the day before (at least one family we knew of were going to Geraldton for the day) and the busload of kids from Yalgoo didn't eventuate (hopefully they'll come today or tomorrow), but a good time in both youth and kid's groups.

Last night the girls did nail polish, scoobies and played cards with the girls, and the guys opened the youth centre and let the guys play pool. Gave us a chance to say hello to some of the teenagers who haven't been around in the afternoon - but it's a long road to having substantial conversations with them. We keep praying for a miraculous intervention of the Spirit to call some, and maybe use us as the right people at the right time, or that when the Lord does choose to visit them, that their memory of how we related to them (in whatever small way) will be part of what the Lord will use for them to say Yes to him.

Same program this afternoon, with sport's night tonight. We're over half way, and beginning to feel the sadness of having to say goodbye after such a short time and with so much more work able to be done. Please keep praying for the team's enthusiasm and energy, that they'd be confident in God's promise and provision. And pray for miracles.

Talking of miracles, last night we drove a few minutes out of town on the road heading East till we were in the middle of darkness to watch the glory of the night sky - we were all left wondering where all those stars hide when we're back in Sydney! And then the moon rose... just off full, bright orange and the size of your fist on the horizon. wacko. How great is our God!

Day One

2006-10-10T13:09:00.000+10:00

Executive Summary:
Day one went well. 30 kids (14 junior, 16 senior). Connected again with some of the kids from last year. The Senior group is a lot less talkative than we had planned.

Prayer Points:
Give thanks that Brad and Narelle arrived safely from Perth – now our team is complete.

Give thanks for a good first day and that the tweaking we’ll give to the program will be beneficial.

Pray with us for some of the kids in particular: for two boys to own their faith that they’ve inherited from their keen (and quite strict) Christian parents; for one 16 year old guy whose life is falling apart through drugs and alcohol – he wants to make a change but doesn’t have the resources to make it happen. Pray that we’d have a chance to share the good news of Jesus with him, and that the Spirit would be pleased to call him; and for a 16 year old girl who we’ve been told is a major handful for Christian grandmother who she lives with. Pray for a miracle – that her grandmother’s prayers might be answered.

The Full Story:
The first day of anything always brings a strange mix of emotions and experiences. At our team meeting in the morning we shared one word to describe how we were feeling – we had words like, good, better (that was Hamish), anxious, excited, enthused.

This morning’s study was on Psalm 121 – where will our help come from? Does the person speaking in verse 1 look to the hills and get excited by the destination that lies ahead of them, or do they get anxious when they think of the dangers that hide in wait for them, or do they get tempted by the foreign gods whose places of worship dot the high places? Whatever emotion they face, where will they find help to deal with it all?

Maybe it’s one of the elders in the village that responds in verse 2 – ‘whatever you’re worried about young fella, my help has always come from the Lord, which is just what you’d expect because he’s the one who made heaven and earth after all! And there’s every reason to expect the same protection on your journey as I’ve had on mine.’

That’s what we wanted to take into Day 1: reminded again of the truths of our faith – that Jesus is Lord and Saviour (both of us and of everyone we’ll be in contact with here in MtM); and with the conviction that what we believe does actually work out in our experience, our prayer is to enter the day confident that Jesus will build his church, that the Father will be drawing people to Jesus, and that in that freedom we’d be able to give ourselves to whatever he calls us to be involved in today.

Our first big prayer point was for Brad and Narelle to arrive safely from Perth – partly because we wanted them to arrive safely, but also because we wanted their car (with all the equipment we needed for Kid’s Club) to arrive in time in time. And thanks to God, both things happened!

About 30 kids turned up at 2:30 including some of those we met last year. We did chalk drawings, coloured in and kicked footballs. From 4:00 we split into junior and senior groups for the teaching time – following Jesus in the footsteps of Peter (chant with us: Jesus is – the mighty mighty king – Jesus says – come follow him). The junior group was good fun, mostly aboriginal kids, quiet on the whole with some enthusiastic characters thrown in. Jess did a great job of leading the session, ably supported by Mel, Ally and me as puppeteers. The teenage group was a bit harder – with day 1 technical difficulties in setting up AV equipment, and with a group that was on the younger and less talkative end than what the team had prepared for. But Mitch adjusted the plan on the fly and came up with something that worked.

Various adjustments to be made this morning of course, but that’s the nature of mission programs like this.

Today is more of the same – though with a busload (i.e. about 15) kids coming from Yalgoo (another town about 150 km west of here). It’s probably going to be 35 degrees today – so pray we keep the fluids up, and thank God that ‘the sun will not harm us by day’ (Psalm 121:6).

Hamish Update

2006-10-09T13:40:00.000+10:00

Well, he wasn’t just sick, he had a bug and was badly dehydrated, so much so that his kidneys weren’t functioning properly. Now, if we were in the city we’d just take him to the nearest medical centre. In Mt Magnet we had to ring a nurse in Perth, describe the symptoms over the phone, they then contacted the nurse in Mt Magnet and we took Hamish to the nurses station here. They gave him some drugs and put him on a drip, and sent him home with the instruction to come back if he hadn’t done a wee by midday then we’d have to fly him to Perth.

Fortunately Hamish announced at breakfast that he had indeed been to the toilet during the night. There was much rejoicing.

Sunday, 8 October 2006 - Return to Magnet

2006-10-09T13:38:00.000+10:00

The Executive summary:
Have arrived in Mt Magnet and in the throes of final preparation before Kid’s Club starts tomorrow afternoon.

Prayer points:
That Hamish would get better; for Brad and Narelle to arrive safely from Perth; that final preparation would go smoothly; for more Christian people to move to Mt Magnet; give thanks for Bill and Jackie France.

The full story:
We’re here – Mt Magnet, not much more than a dot on the edge of the desert. Other than the fact that there’s gold in the ground it’s hard to imagine why anyone would choose to settle here. For fans of Dirt Music (Tim Winton), Lu Fox comes through here on his trip north – has a run in with some aboriginal kids at the BP and spends the night at the Granites just north of town.

Yesterday was a long haul – up at 6am to get to the airport for the 9:30 Virgin Blue flight to Perth, collected the hire cars and began the six hour drive to Magnet.

(When we got to Perth I’d forgotten which car company we’d booked with, so we each lined up at a different counter and asked whether they had a booking in the name of Stanton, or perhaps Betts (our college admin person) or even Youthworks College – didn’t take too many attempts before hitting the jackpot with Thrifty! Lunch stop was at Midland, which we discovered was not the sort of place most people from Perth would choose for lunch, but hey, we’re from Sydney. We (actually I) left a bag of shopping on a bench, when we went back five minutes later to find it missing the security guard shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘it’s Midland, what can I say?’)

We’re back in the same house as last year – very big thankyou to Anne from Mt Magnet School who is in Perth for school holidays – literally on the edge of town (which means we’re 2 minutes walk from the centre of town).

Church this morning was Bill and Jackie (the minister and his wife), the seven of us, two others and three kids! The sermon was from Revelation 1:9-20 – seeing Jesus in his ascended glory, reminding us why we’re here and what we’re here for: under instruction from Jesus the King, and ambassadors for Jesus the Saviour; by his grace and for his glory.

Being here again reminds me of the opportunities and challenges for Christian ministry in Mt Magnet and in so many similar remote towns across the country. It’s a privilege and freedom to be here as ambassadors of Christ in the power of his Spirit. Instead of being overwhelmed, the experience of being here enlarges my prayers once again – and it would be great if you, my happy readers, could join in praying for Christian teachers, doctors, police, council workers etc to come to Mt Magnet and stand with the Christians in the town to demonstrate and announce the reign of Christ. Will such a strategy change the world? It could at least change the world for this community, and in the plans and purposes of the God of Heaven, then who knows what might follow?

We’ve got a day and a half to get all the final preparation done before Kid’s Club begins tomorrow afternoon. Pray with us that everything comes together well and that we’re ready for whatever tomorrow brings.

Hamish (one of our team members) has been knocked down with a vomiting bug. Please pray that he’s back on his feet (and out of the toilet) soon and that his normally generous nature doesn’t extend to sharing this bug with anyone else.

Brad and Narelle Young from Perth are joining us tomorrow – pray for them as they make the long drive up.

Thank God for the ministry of Bill and Jackie – for their patience and devotion to serving Jesus in Mt Magnet, and for the way they’ve looked after us.

gday

2006-10-06T22:41:00.000+10:00

This is me, and this is the first entry in my new blog.

It's mainly been set up to fill you (whoever you might be) in on how things are going in WA for the week of mission we're doing in Mt. Magnet. Tomorrow we fly to Perth, so tonight I pack, and set up this blog.

stay tuned.