Monthly Archives: May 2004

No Short Cuts

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The last couple of days have been spent doing a fair bit of reading and thinking.

As much as I know this is really important, at times it is hard to feel like it is valid ‘work’. Isn’t our job to be with people?…

I can feel like I am doing something wrong if I take a day just to read and study. And yet without that time apart my value in the bigger picture is limited.

I have been reading some excellent essays from this missionary textbook as well as chewing thru what Paul means when he uses his ‘all things to all people’ statement in 1 Cor 9.

I believe any Christian leader who isn’t regularly reading, thinking and processing ideas relating to misson and ministry is in dangerous territory.

“This I Believe” subtitled “Over 100 eminent Australians explore life’s big question”

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This morning Danelle went to the local Anglican church to witness confirmations and renewals of vows by some of the folks there.

Each person was invited to write their own belief statements / creed and then read them to the congregation. I would have liked to have gone too… but it didn’t happen…

I reckon it would be an interesting exercise to write down what I believe now and compare it to what I believed 20 years ago, and then to do it again at 60. My beliefs have shifted substantially in the last 20 years.

On that, a great book for those who like to know what people believe is the one in the title of this post. Its a collection of the beliefs of ’emminent Australians’. I don’t know how emminent they are – I haven’t heard of most of them! But FYI here is a sample.

Greg Champion – apparently a well know musician pg. 51 opens by saying

I believe there are nature spirits in the garden and elsewhere.
I believe every creature, every ant, every animal is bonded to us.
I believe that plants respond to our energy.
That trees and mountains possess wisdom we can barely fathom
I believe that a man doesn’t have to do what a man doesn’t have to do.
I believe that when two men go up for the mark only one will find true happiness (that’s not deep – I just like it)
I believe that Tibetan Buddhists know nearly everything.
That all our worldly dealings are but an illusion preparing us for a greater peace.
I believe that its the God in me that helps me achieve good things
I believe if I had more brains I’d be brilliant
I believe there’s only one song and we’re all singing it.

Then Natalija Kristicevic a Croatian immigrant and uni student p. 208 writes:

I believe in God and admire his mystery. I have great faith in my religion but I respect other beliefs. I believe that religion should never be forced upon an individual. I have confidence in each person deciding what is spiritually satisfying for them.

And then back to John Casmir pg. 51 of the Sydney Morning Herald who has one very helpful observation where he says,
I believe banks are not our friends. But then after another list of random disconnected beliefs he goes on to say

More than anything, I believe there are no absolutes. Live learn, change your mind as often as you can.

The post below this one, a poem by Steve Turner, picks up on that theme beautifully!

Creed

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by Steven Turner

We believe in Marxfreudanddarwin
We believe everything is OK
So long as you don’t hurt anyone
To the best of your definition of hurt
And to the best of your knowledge

We believe in sex before during
And after marriage
We believe in the therapy of sin
We believe adultery is fun
We believe that sodomy’s OK
We believe that taboos are taboo.

We believe that everything’s getting better
Despite evidence to the contrary.
The evidence must be investigated
You can prove anything with evidence

We believe there’s something in horoscopes
UFO’s and bent spoons
Jesus was a good man just like Buddha
Mohammed and ourselves
He was a good moral teacher although we think
His good morals were bad

We believe that all religions are basically the same
At least the one we read was
They all believe in love and goodness
They only differ on matters of
Creation, sin heaven, hell God and salvation.

We believe that after death comes the nothing
Because when you ask the dead what happens
they say nothing
If death is not the end, if the dead have lied
Then its compulsory heaven for all
Excepting perhaps Hitler, Stalin and Genghis Khan

We believe in Masters and Johnson
What’s selected is average
What’s average is normal
What’s normal is good

We believe in total disarmament
We believe there are direct links between
warfare and bloodshed
Americans should beat their guns into tractors
The Russians would be sure to follow

We believe that man is essentially good
Its only his behaviour that lets him down
This is the fault of society
Society is the fault of conditions
Conditions are the fault of society

We believe that each man must find the truth
that is right for him
Reality will adapt accordingly
The universe will readjust. History will alter.
We believe that there is no absolute truth
Excepting the truth that there is no absolute truth

We believe in the rejection of creeds.

One of my favourite poems!

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An Inspiration

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Last night Danelle and I travelled back to Lesmurdie for the 30th wedding anniversary of a couple we had got to know briefly before leaving. These were not folks from our church. They came along to Ellie’s dedication, but it’d be fair to say that church, God and faith just isn’t their thing! However, footy, beer and partying?… Now you’re talking!

I had conducted the weddings of two of their daughters and over that time had come to see an amazing family and what a sensational marriage these guys have. Their kids – three of whom were part of our church – call them their best friends, look to them as their heroes and all that with due cause. Its not a schmaltzy kind of family – but one that has obviously worked at growing together and have a heap of fun. The ‘kids’ had put on this huge surprise party with marquee in the backyard and awesome food. It was a true celebration of everything marriage and family can be.

My job last night was to do the renewal of wedding vows and to say a few words about marriage. (I feel like I a becoming the official family wedding celebrant!) I prepared some stuff, but finished up asking Grant and Dianne to give their advice to the crew present – after all I’m a 13 year baby and they have been at it a while!

There was no rocket science in what he said ‘love one another – stick at it – it’s hard at times – its worth it’

It is possible to find people who have been married thirty years – you can do it – but to find two people married thirty years and loving it, whose kids see them as legends?… That’s rare. These guys are an absolute inspiration to Danelle and ,I and we dream that one day we might have a marriage and family that looks a bit like theirs!

FWIW here is a quote from another one of my heroes on marriage that I shared last night:

“We feasted on love, every mode of it, solemn and merry, romantic and realistic, sometimes as dramatic as a thunderstorm, sometimes comfortable and unemphatic as putting on your soft slippers. She was my pupil and my teacher, my subject and my sovereign, my trusty comrade, friend, shipmate, fellow soldier. My mistress, but at the same time all that any man friend has ever been to me”

C.S. Lewis

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Pastoral Care is not about milking cows…

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So starts Bruce and Sarah Stuart’s media release today for Australian Corporate Chaplaincy. It goes on…

Pastoral Care is not a new thing, but ask 50 people in the Perth CBD what they think Pastoral Care is, 51% will say it has something to do with milking cows and 18% will say it has something to do with Religion.
Bruce and Sarah Stuart directors of Australian Corporate Chaplaincy are hoping to change that mindset. They say, “Pastoral Care is ongoing interest and care in someone’s professional, emotional, spiritual and relational well being”.

Today, on average, one in seven people in the workplace will bring a personal issue with them to work. That means, in an office of 100 people 14 people are struggling to cope, suffering lack of concentration, stress and low production. That’s just today, and it is impacting workplaces all over Australia.

To a lot of people, seeking professional counselling has a stigma attached to it or they may feel that crisis counselling isn’t called for. More often than not, a compassionate, non judgmental, confidential ear is all they need and having it available right there in the workplace is just so convenient for them!

Chaplains are on site, dedicated care-givers available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, nation wide. They extend concern and compassion to all on behalf of company owners and executives. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Trust men and they will be true to you: Treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great”

QUOTE, “For whatever reason – you where the only person that bothered to talk me, and to challenge me, I guess what I am trying to say is thank you for taking the time. It wasn’t a wasted effort” – Mr B Smith – Engineer.

“Dear friends, please be tuned in to 98.5 FM on Sunday 8 pm to hear a news bulletin about our new business/ministry.”

Having recently come back from Prague its great to see these guys have taken the initiative to create a missional business venture that will see them doing what they most gifted at.

Just Do It

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I pinched this from David.

It disturbs me that people often like to talk and pontificate, but when it comes to the crunch there’s often a lot more said than done.

“Silence is the measure of the power to act; that is, a person never has more power to act than he has silence. Anyone can understand that to do something is far greater than to talk about doing it. If, therefore, a person has a plan or idea and is fully resolved to carry it out, he does not need to talk about it. What he talks about in connection with the proposed action is what he is most unsure of and most unwilling to do.” – Soren Kierkegaard

Make Me An Offer…

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I was cleaning out my bookshelves…

Yesterday I started to sift thru my youth ministry books – good books, but books that I will probably never ever use again. I don’t like clogging my shelves with books I’ll never read so I regulalry go thru and cull.

I finished up with about 25 youth min books and 10 years of Youthworker journals – 1992 – 2002.

The books range from ‘Purpose Driven Youth Ministry’ / Willow Creek textbook type stuff from when I was running the Bible College course to simple games/ideas books.

The Youthworker journals have been very helpful – even if I am an Australian…

If you’d like this pile of books and journals -many of which are excellent, then drop me a line – make me an offer and they’re yours!

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Chocolate, Worship and Incarnation

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We had a great team meeting tonight.

Jenny led us again in a brilliant worship experience and then we spent some time grappling with the question of what incarnation means and looks like here in Brighton.

For the worship experience Jenny gave us all a piece of chocolate to eat (slowly) and as we ate to savour it and to reflect on the goodness of God – to savour it. She asked us to reflect on the day and see where God had been present – she read a selection of scripture passages, then we shared some God moments and finished with a time of group prayer.

The chocolate idea (which she told me she stole off the phuture

naqoyqatsi life as war dvd

website really connected with me. I didn’t hear much of scripture, because I was reflecting on the whole sense of being with God as something to savour and enjoy slowly.

We began exploring this word ‘incarnation’ which gets a fair bit of airplay in emerging church circles and started to grapple with what it means and what its implications are. I believe its the core theological lens for us to view our mission thru.

I must confess to simply and unabashedly ripping off Mike Frost and Alan Hirsch’s stuff from chapter 3 of their book, but it really is some of the best stuff out there.

We got thru about 1/3 of what I had planned, but that didn’t matter at all. The discussion was really engaging and some excellent questions were raised about our role as missionaries.

We finished by looking at Paul’s call to be ‘all things to all people’ and were discussing what that means for us when we came to a close.

The question for us to reflect on this week is what does all things to all people look like?

How do we do this and remain true to who we are?

Can we really be all things to all people?

I am a huge Paul fan! I love seeing his missionary heart and his ‘whatever it takes’ attitude. Next week we’ll spend some time on the remainder of the stuff. We still might not get thru it. That said, the aim is not to ‘get thru’ but to really key into the issues that are live for us.

I love a healthy discussion where we seem to be learning and stretching one another so tonight was a lot of fun for me!