culture
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The simple (yet deeply spiritual) stumbling block to evangelism
People cite all sorts of reasons why our culture is resistant to the gospel, individualism, consumerism, sexual-ethics, so on. But for the day-to-day Christian hoping to talk to their friend, these are rarely the stumbling block. Rather, the reality is that… Continue reading
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Phone calls, SMSs, email, Social media and Pastoral Ministry
Since we pastor people, and people are not in a vacuum but are part of a culture, the cultural norms and tools affect what pastoral ministry look like from generation to generation. Our culture uses SMSs, phone-calls, emails and social… Continue reading
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The kids all crowded around the bird and learnt to ignore death
While our kids were at a play centre there was a loud thud on the window as a bird crashed into it, and slid down to the ground outside. Kids ran over to the floor to ceiling window and saw… Continue reading
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Grace makes every story a miracle story
If God’s grace is the basis for salvation, that means that every salvation is only by grace. Simple, right? Always comes out in the way you speak, right? Think about it… every salvation is only by grace… so every christian… Continue reading
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Reblog: Evangelism trumps everything
If you’re in Christian leadership, you probably already think this. But don’t assume your people get it. You need to play out what it means… If you have to choose between going to your small group or taking a non-Christian… Continue reading
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My response to “Why shouldn’t women preach to men?”
(This would be one of the way’s I’d respond to someone who wanted to accept the bible’s teaching on male and female roles in ministry, but struggled to understand why God put them there.) If a gunman ran into your… Continue reading
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Reblog: The Aussie cultural bent against being part of a machine
As I read Yanks talk about church leadership and growth, I wonder if they make an assumption that just doesn’t fly here in Australia. See, Australians hate tall-hierarchy and being part of a machine. Whereas (the impression I get) is that Americans… Continue reading
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Dress to un-impress at church
We used to say, “Dress slightly more dressed-up than the average person in your church.” One of the main reasons was because we didn’t want people to think, “hmmm, this is too casual to be ‘church’ – it’s meant to… Continue reading
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You have a culture, did you know?
Whatever the group, big or small, whole church or growth group, it has a culture. There’s a commonly agreed way things are. A commonly held idea about how things happen; evangelism, bible reading, singing, everything. You only notice it when… Continue reading
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Don’t wait for numbers, just run it
If you’re going to run an evangelistic course, don’t wait until you have enough participants. Why would you? If you’ve got two people who are willing to hear the gospel, do it as planned. Just smaller to suit the numbers. There’s… Continue reading
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Beware divorcing rules from their reasons
Sometimes, setting rules is really helpful. Call them guidelines or self-imposed limits if you don’t like the idea of rules. But the fact is we do it all the time anyway. For example, we have a staff rule that male… Continue reading
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Questions don’t have to be answered
“Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things’” Matt 21:27 We have a very peculiar cultural rule; that if someone asks you a question, you have to answer that question. We seem… Continue reading
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Culture eats strategy for breakfast
I heard this line recently and its so true. No matter what strategy you put in place; lets take welcoming as an example… if there’s not a culture of loving the new people, getting to know them and engage them… Continue reading
MINISTRY PRINCIPLES & PRAGMATICS 