Multicultural Ministry Matters

This Sunday, I'm going to be deliver the Bible talk at the monthly combined service of our English and Arabic congregations. I'll be speaking in English, of course - and it'll be simultaneously translated into Arabic, for people to listen on headphones, UN style. The person translating will need a full text in front of them, from which to translate as I go. I'm going to speak on 1 Cor 15:1-11. My points will be: This is the gospel that Paul proclaimed to the Corinthians, and that they took hold of firmly ("believed", "received", "took their stand"). We also must firmly take hold of this gospel. Real faith is a confident standing upon the Biblical message of Jesus, crucified and risen. We must pass this message on: to our children, and to an unbelieving world. The world seeks life in stupid things - wealth, power, career - and in so doing, they live in death, under God's anger. We have the message of real life, based on a Jesus who is re...

The answer to my last blog post is: D , of course - Calvin! Institutes , Book 3 chapter 6 section 4. Well done again, Mark Barry - sorry, Roger. It wasn't supposed to be all that difficult - Calvin's all I've been blogging about lately. I really need to think about something or someone else... Cor Meum Tibi Offero Domine Promte et Sincere. I offer my heart to the Lord, promptly and sincerely.

Who said this? For it [Christianity] is a doctrine not of the tongue but of life. It is not apprehended by the understanding and memory alone, as other disciplines are, but it is received only when it possesses the whole soul, and finds a seat and resting place in the inmost affection of the heart… it must enter our heart and pass into our daily living, and so transform us into itself that it may not be unfruitful for us. A. John Piper B. Mark Driscoll C. Jonathan Edwards D. John Calvin E. Mother Teresa No prizes this time, sorry. Just the satisfaction, if you get it right.

Kent has just pointed me to the Calvin 500 website. It's got a list of conferences celebrating Calvin's legacy. Pity I didn't discover this a coupla weeks ago, we could have put Discendi Studio on it. You'll be glad to know I got 7/10 for the Calvin quiz (*woo!*). Logos is putting together electronic versions of Calvin's institutes, commentaries, tracts etc, as well as biographies and other publications about him. Have a look at their prepub page .

At the Calvin Conference a couple of weeks back, Peter Barnes, of Revesby Presbyterian , delivered a paper on Calvin's preaching. For me, the most interesting part of the paper was how naturally Calvin identified with the congregation. In his sermons, he normally said "we" and "us", not "I" and "you". In his sermons from 1556 to 1558, he only referred to himself three times. A statistical analysis of his sermons on Acts shows he said "we" (French nous ) 3,416 times, compared to"you" ( vous ) only 53 times. So I take it that Calvin thought of himself, even when preaching, as fundamentally a member of the congregation. Even as a preacher, he remained a sinner saved by grace, being addressed by God through his word. He did not become a priest or prophet, in the sense of mediating the word of God to the congregation. He stood "alongside" the congregation, not "over" them. Only God, in Christ, through the Bi...

I'm almost-live blogging again. Here's Justin's second talk, on "beyond the predictable church". * * * * * I get preaching, but church is different. Churches are messy places. They’re about people, histories, emotions & all sorts of complications. The more I prepared this talk, the more I got convicted, and I want to share that conviction with you. I was doing ministry in an Anglican church in New York City, in the shadow of Redeemer Presbyterian Church. We were trying to work out what to do with our church, there in Manhattan. We would work together to try and form a functioning vision that would enthuse people and shape our programs and ministries. Then a young student asked “why are we always seeking distinctives? We’re one with all Christ’s church across the world. Christ sets our vision; Christ captures our hearts. Surely we must be majoring on what unifies us, not what distinguishes us.” The case for unity We’re building gone building for God. We want o...

Incidentally, Justin's put his method for preparing sermons his own blog. In summary, it's: Reading Listening Structure Writing Practising Culling Final

I’m at our Moore year reunion houseparty. Our speaker’s Justin Moffatt , from York St Anglican church in downtown Sydney. I’m blogging almost live – Justin just finished his first talk, I took notes on my laptop, I just tidied them up a bit, asked Justin for permission to blog – and here it is. The case for predictability A metronome is predictable. But it gives the piano player a structure to start singing a tune. The word of God and the gospel of Christ is the metronome that structures everything we do. It enables us to sing a song to our congregation, and encourage them to join us in singing the song of the Christ who died for us. We aim to aid the congregation to sing this song. God never changes. We have one story that will never change. We tell that gospel that Christ is Lord to a world that has a different story. We must preach that one gospel. Jonah is about God’s consistency, and how frustrating Jonah finds that consistency. God is consistently and stubbornly good; Jonah if p...

Like I mentioned previously , I spent last Tues, Wed & Thurs at a conference on John Calvin at the Presbyterian Theological Centre . It was a collaboration between the three Presbyterian colleges in the country: Queensland, NSW and Vic. The paper that mum & I delivered was very well received - thanks for your prayers. I'll blog about it later. For now, let me just reflect on some things I liked about the conference: 1. Meeting faculty & students from Victoria and Queensland, chatting about ministry, and getting to know the Presbyterian ministry scene better; 2. Having a cheerful dinnertime conversation with Bruce Winter, formerly Warden of Tyndale House , an evangelical research centre in Cambridge, and currently Principal of Queensland Theological College ; 3. Having my dinner plate cleared by aforementioned Bruce Winter; 4. Hearing students and recent grads - my peers - deliver really interesting, well-researched, deeply thought-through papers, and thinking that if ...

Just saw the Life of Jesus documentary on TV. John Dickson , Anglican Media Sydney and the team from the Centre for Public Christianity ("CPX") have done an excellent job in presenting Jesus' claims, and the historical reliability of those claims, in an easily watchable format. The only weird thing was that the lady who recited Bible passages had a heavy middle-eastern accent, so I couldn't always understand what she was saying. Have a look at the LoJ website , it's really good.

In 1539, while John Calvin was still single, his friend and fellow reformer Guilliame Farel had found a woman he thought might be to Calvin’s liking. Calvin set out his requirements in this in a letter to Farel on 19 May 1539: I am not one of those insane kind of lovers who, once smitten by the first sight of a fine figure, cherishes even the faults of his lover. The only beauty that seduces me is of one who is chaste, not too fastidious, modest, thrifty, patient, and hopefully she will be attentive to my health. If you think well of her [in light on this], set out immediately in case someone else get there before you. Well, at least he had the good sense to see that a woman who fit his requirements would be in high demand... Nothing came of Farel's matchmaking. But in August 1540, Calvin wed Idelette de Bure, an Anabaptist widow with two children. Idelette certainly met Calvin’s stated criteria of piety, modesty, frugality, and the like. But she was also savvy, sociable, respectab...