Multicultural Ministry Matters

I've underestimated how evangelical a lot of Christmas carols are - as in how thoroughly gospel-focused they are. Take the unfortunately little-know carol The Infant King . It goes from incarnation to suffering of the cross to victorious resurrection. Or As with Gladness Men Of Old . The second verse says that we "with willing feet", would "ever seek thy mercy seat" - that is, the cross. The third verse challenges us to bring "all our costliest treasures" to "Christ... our heavenly King". But I like the fourth and fifth verses best (and you have to read the fifth verse with the descant in mind): Holy Jesus, every day Keep us in the narrow way; And, when earthly things are past, Bring our ransomed souls at last Where they need no star to guide, Where no clouds Thy glory hide. In the heavenly country bright, Need they no created light; Thou its light, its joy, its crown, Thou its sun which goes not down; There forever may we sing Alleluias to ...

Hey - anyone got any furniture, cutlery and crockery they're not using, and that's gathering dust in a corner, and they'd like to donate to a worthy cause - namely (*ahem*), me? I'm moving into my own place after Christmas, and I need to furnish it. I've got the most important items - bookshelves for the library - but I need just about everything else: sofa, chairs, table, plates, cups, mugs, glasses, bowls, saucers, forks, spoons, knives, cooking utensils, pots & pans, rugs, table lamps... Unwanted, out-of-fashion, superfluous & redundant items gratefully accepted. I'll pick anything up from anywhere in Sydney. It's a small unit - real bachelor pad - so if you're offering big items of furniture, I'll need to have a look at it & work out whether it'll fit or not. Thanks!

Today, my parents and I celebrate 20 years in Australia. We left Sri Lanka on the night of 18 Dec 1988. We had spent a year preparing for the move. I remember my parents being stressed all the time, and yelling at each other a lot, 'coz it was hard to get all the paperwork & permissions required to leave the country. Twenty years ago in Sri Lanka, there wasn't much of a "customer service" mentality anywhere - people did things for you if and when they jolly well felt like it. Add to that the general fear & confusion caused by a drawn-out civil war. And to top it all off, my dad's work hadn't paid his superannuation - an omission which was illegal, of course, but there was no effective regulation back then. The unfortunate effect on me was that I really wanted to leave. I remember thinking "get us out of this cursed country! Maybe then my parents will stop yelling at each other." Because of flight times, we had to transit almost a full day in ...

Hey everyone - I have defeated my nemesis; slain the monster; foiled the bad guy; cracked the cliche: I passed Hebrew! YAHOO! Best Christmas present I could get this year!

Here's another song Reepicheep might sing. He Who would Valiant Be , by John Bunyan . Bunyan wrote these words while he was in imprisoned for 12 years. His crime? Being a Baptist. You'll see the resonances with Pilgrim's Progress , Bunyan's famous allegory for the Christian life. * * * * * Modernised words: He who would valiant be ’gainst all disaster, Let him in constancy follow the Master. There’s no discouragement shall make him once relent His first avowed intent to be a pilgrim. Who so beset him round with dismal stories Do but themselves confound—his strength the more is. No foes shall stay his might; though he with giants fight, He will make good his right to be a pilgrim. Since, Lord, Thou dost defend us with Thy Spirit, We know we at the end, shall life inherit. Then fancies flee away! I’ll fear not what men say, I’ll labor night and day to be a pilgrim. * * * * * The original text from Pilgrim’s Progress : Who would true valour see, let him come hither; One he...

I just found The Theologian , a website of theological resources collected by St. Helen’s Anglican church, Bishopsgate. Articles & MP3 talks by excellent conservative scholars like Peter Adam, Gerald Bray, Graeme Goldsworthy, Carl Trueman & ors. While the Church of England has steadily drifted from its Biblical, Protestant heritage, St Helen's has, for decades, made a stand for Biblical faith.

The journey of life may be easy, may be hard, There’ll be dangers on the way; With Christ at my side, I’ll do battle as I ride ‘Gainst the foe that would lead me astray. Chorus Will you ride, ride, ride with the King of kings, Will you follow my leader true; Will you shout hosanna to the lowly Son of God, Who died for me and you? My burden is light, and a song is in my heart, As I travel on life’s way; For Christ is my Lord, and he’s given me his word, That by my side he’ll stay. Chorus... When doubts arise, and when tears are in my eyes, When all seems lost to me, With Christ as my guide, I can smile whate’er betide, For he my strength will be. Chorus... I’ll follow my leader wherever he may go, For Jesus is my friend; He’ll lead me on to the place where he has gone, When I come to my journey’s end. Chorus... * * * * * Incidentally - it's not actually Reepicheep's song. It's a hymn, called The Journey of Life (*shock*). But if Reepicheep sang anything, I reckon this'd ...

It's time to close the competition to guess my favourite Narnia character . The answer is - Reepicheep ! Reepicheep is decended from the mice who helped cut Aslan's bonds at the stone table. In gratitude for this, Aslan turned them into talking mice. At the end of Voyage of the Dawn Treader , he reaches the end of the world and enters Aslan's country. He welcomes the children to Aslan's country in The Last Battle . I love Reepicheep because: he's loyal to Aslan, and the Pevensie children. "We have anxiously awaited your return, my liege", he says to Peter in Prince Caspian ; he's valiant in battle, despite overwhelming odds; he's noble - he won't fight an unarmed enemy; his one weakness is over-confidence - I can associate with that; in the movie, he cracks some great lines - they're collected here (try and ignore the Chinese subtitles...); people aren't very original in their response when they meet him. "You're a mouse!...

Don't forget to have a go at guessing my favourite Narnia character ! Gotta close the competition 5pm Monday! Don't miss your chance!

Recent missional ecclesiology states that since the Triune God of the Bible is on a mission, the church that God creates must share his mission (see, eg, Guder. “The Church as Missional Community,” in The Community of the Word: Towards an Evangelical Ecclesiology , ed. Husbands & Treier; Downer’s Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2005: pages 116-9, 124-7; McIntosh, “Missio Dei,” in Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions : 632). On the surface of it, this sentiment is correct. As we saw in our last instalment , the Bible demonstrates God to be a missional God. Unfortunately, missional ecclesiology is confused about the nature of God’s mission. The ecumenical movement of the World Council of Churches repeated the mistakes of their Liberal forebears. Operating with a low view of scripture, and denying the uniqueness of the incarnate Christ, they eviscerated the gospel of its supernatural power, and fail to distinguish between God’s preserving, “common” grace from the special, redemptive gr...

Here's some ponderings on church & mission. From the same essay as the previous posts on the kingdom of God . * * * * * God is a missional God. The unfolding story of the Bible portrays God on a mission to re-establish his rule over his rebellious creation. He enacts his missionary purposes mainly through choosing, commissioning and sending human agents to represent him, and working through them to achieve turning points in salvation history. He sent Moses to rescue Israel from Egypt. He sent the prophets to call his apostate people back to him. These prophets foretold that God would send a Spirit-anointed Servant-Messiah, who would enact a final redemption which, while focused Israel, would spill over to the “ends of the earth”. Christ is God’s missionary par excellence : the Son, sent by the Father, in the power of the Spirit. His mission is to accomplish final deliverance for God’s people, by fulfilling all the expectations of the old testament. He achieves his mission by es...

Hey look what I found: http://www.theologicalstudies.org.uk/ http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/ http://www.earlychurch.org.uk/ http://www.medievalchurch.org.uk/ Good resources with links to quality publications by conservative scholars, including Richard Bauckham, F. F. Bruce, Rob Doyle (of Moore College! Woo!), and historically significant authors like Adolf Von Harnack, Gustav Aulen, C. K. Barrett & ors. Recommended by, amongst others, Oak Hill College, London School of Divinity and Tyndale House. Some free, some link to Amazon . Oh - and don't forget to have a go at guessing my favourite Narnia character ...

Okay everyone - we're taking a break from the serious theologising for something more fun. Let's see how well you know me. Who do you think is my favourite Narnia character? Those of you who know my personality should be able to work it out fairly quickly. You can find the entire list of charaters here . But that's too big so let's stick with the main characters, viz: Aslan; Beaver, Mr; Beaver, Mrs; Bree the Horse ( Horse and his Boy ); Caspian X, or Prince Caspian; Kirke, Professor Digory (the Pevensee children stay in his mansion in Lion, Witch & Wardrobe ); Pevensie, Edmund; Pevensie, Lucy; Pevensie, Peter; Pevensie, Susan; Pole, Jill ( Silver Chair , Last Battle ); Puddleglum the Marshwiggle ( Silver Chair ); Puzzle the Donkey ( Last Battle ); Reepicheep the Mouse; Rillian, son of Caspian X ( Silver Chair ); Scrubb, Eustace ( Voyage of the Dawn Treader ); Shasta of Calormen, who becomes King Cor of Archenland ( Horse and his Boy ); Shift the Ape ( Last Battle );...

The theodynamic view of God's kingdom explains new testament eschatology. Some new testament passages speak of the kingdom as present in Christ (Matt 11:4-6; 12:28; 19:28; Mark 2:21-22; 3:13-19; Luke 11:20; 16:16; 17:20-21); others, of it coming in the future (Matt 5:19-20; 7:21-23; 8:11-12; Luke 11:2; 13:22-30). The tension between these two kinds of passages is not explained by Weiss and Schweitzer’s " consistent eschatology ", or by Dodd’s " realised eschatology ", but by the ‘inaugurated eschatology’ of Cullman, Ridderboss , Ladd and Hoekema . God’s kingdom is theodynamic—it is the activity of God ruling. Christ’s death and resurrection is God’s theodynamic act which institutes his rule. Those who believe in Christ enjoy the blessin gs of the present aspect of that rule, by faith, through the Spirit—what the Westminster Shorter Catechism calls the "kingdom of grace” (Answer to Q 102). This rule is invisible: unlike the nation of Israel, it is not a v...

In the cliffhanging conclusion of our last episode , we saw what God needs to do to establish his kingdom: he must deal with human rebellion, his own wrath, and Satan. Christ established God’s kingdom by defeating Satan, God’s true enemy, who wielded a kingdom opposed to God (Matt 4:8; 12:26-28; Mark 3:27; Luke 4:5; 11:18-21; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; Col 1:13; Rev. 11:5). He anticipated this in his miracles (Matt 12:26-28; Mark 3:27; Luke 11:18-21), and finally achieved it in his death and resurrection (1 Cor. 15:23-28; Col 1:12-14; 2:13-15; Rev 5:5, 9-10; 12:5, 9-10). Christ’s penal substitutionary atonement thus establishes God’s kingdom. Satan wields his power, his alternate kingdom, by deceiving people into rebelling against God, then accusing them before God. Christ’s sacrifice satisfies God’s justice towards his people, removing their guilt, thus removing Satan’s ability to accuse them. God is no longer angry towards those who trust in Jesus. Christ has dealt with that, once for all...

Here's some ruminations from an essay I wrote this semester. * * * * * The Kingdom of God is a key new testament idea. It occurs 61 times in the Gospels (including the Matthean equivalent ‘kingdom of heaven’, excluding parallels). While the term ‘kingdom of God’ does not occur as such in the old testament, the OT is replete with the idea that Yahweh is the king, who rules all nations, but in particular his people Israel. The kingdom came when the Christ the king came. Jesus of Nazareth is autobasileia : king and kingdom in himself. In his life, death and resurrection, Jesus both fulfilled the longings of the old testament, and perfectly expressed what it means to live under God’s rule. Jesus is God’s true Son, who pleases the Father. He succeeded where Adam and Israel failed: he refused to succumb to the Devil’s temptations, and let the Word of God rule his life instead. He is the true Davidic king, and divine Son of Man, whose kingdom will never end. God’s kingdom is theodynamic ....

I'm sure I'm not imagining it - the quality of students attending National Training Event ("NTE") is increasing every year. A quick bit of background. NTE ( SPRTE this year) is a five-year course, structured as follows: Year 1: basic tools to understand a passage of the Bible ("exegesis"); Year 2: reading the Bible as a whole book ("Biblical Theology"); Year 3: understanding the great themes of the Bible ("Systematic Theology"); Year 4: thinking about how to apply the whole teaching of the Bible to specific life situations ("Pastoral Theology and Ethics"); Year 5: putting together a teaching program ("putting together a teaching program"). I led a group of first-timers, learning exegesis. They came from Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. The Aussies already had a lot of background knowledge, and were already familiar with what we were doing. We had to slow them down and make them think about ...

Hey cool - the Australian Presbyterian (national Presbyterian magazine - kinda like Southern Cross , only it goes across the whole country, not just Sydney) has made their issues free to download when they're three months old!

Sorry this is a bit late. Mum was on radio again last Sunday (30 Nov 08), on ABC Radio's Sunday Nights with John Cleary . Download the podcast here .