The church has always been and is still only one generation from extinction!    This sobering reality is hitting home to many churches across Australia and in many other places in the world, including the churches that I serve in the CRCA.   In another 30 years these church buildings will close their doors, become restaurants, businesses, or mosques.  Why?   There simply won’t be anymore people!    But this has always been the reality!   Once upon a time the Christian Church in Jerusalem was a thriving hub of activity and outreach.   Travel today to Jerusalem and this church no longer exists.  The same is...

Sometimes it is good to look in the rear view mirror to see the way forward!  It was the ancient Greek historian Thucydides who said that his history was important to "those who desire an exact knowledge of the past as a key to the future, which in all probability will repeat or resemble the past."  Lately I have been reading history books.   A CRCA pastor got me on to Peter Fitzsimons and he is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors.   His retelling of the horrors of the Dutch spice trade in his book Batavia gave me a window into the...

A lot of gatherings of people call themselves “church”.   But are they?   What is the essence of being church?   As I go around meeting with people to discuss church health issues, I keep wondering to myself (and them), “Is this bunch people what you might consider church?”   What do you look for?   Recently I came across words penned by the 15th century Catholic Cardinal Carlo Carretto:   “Defending life, witnessing light, living out love; these remain forever and for every occasion the divine background of prophecy; they are the specific duty of anyone who calls upon God, following Christ’s unmistakable example.”   Life,...

“Everything rises and falls on leadership development.”    I am quoting Dale Galloway here but this is a church health principle that I have come to appreciate after more than three decades of pastoral ministry and almost a decade assisting unhealthy churches move toward health and growth.   Quoting Galloway again:  “It is my firm belief that the only way we will see the Great Commission fulfilled will be through the multiplication of leaders.   Contagious ministry multiplication happens through intentional leadership development.” (Innovative Transitions, Beacon Hill Press: 2007)   Leadership matters! You read the gospels and you notice quickly how Jesus spent the vast...

Recently I witnessed a hunger for the word of the LORD!   It reminded me of the words of the prophet Amos:  "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD GOD, "When I will send a hunger over the land, not a hunger for the bread or a thirst for water, but rather a hunger for hearing the words of the LORD." (Amos 8:11)  It began on a Sunday morning when I was asked to preach at the Coleridge South Seas Evangelical Church (SSEC) in Honiara, Solomon Islands.   I was in this country for six days for our annual visit to the SWIM base and our missionaries there.  ...

From 4-7 April seventy-one CRCA pastors, ministry workers, and their spouses gathered together for Recharge 2016.   It was a beautiful view!   As Peter Adam reminded us, the place where we gathered was Kalorama, which in Greek means "seeing beautiful things."   And it was beautiful in so many ways.   We began with dinner on Monday 4 April.   The conversations around the tables were lively and animated.   That evening, and over the next three days, Peter Adam walked us through the Biblical book of Esther.  We were reminded time and time again that here on earth we live as exiles.   But, like Esther, we are placed in this...

Most everybody has heard of Amazon!    Entrepreneur Jeff Bezos built Amazon from a small online bookseller to a retail giant.  In a recent article in Foreign Affairs (January 4, 2015) Bezos stated:   "Entrepreneurs ... benefit greatly from being willing to fail, willing to experiment.   Good entrepreneurs tend to be stubborn on the vision but flexible on the details.   Another quality is passion for the mission.   The very best products and services are always built by missionaries.  Such people wake up in the morning thinking about that idea, and they're doing that as they close their eyes at night."   When Bezos...

A reflection... After volunteering to write this blog I got writer’s block and a bit of anxiety: “why did I offer to do this??” Truth is: I don’t really have much expertise. I have never been part of a church plant, nor has our church been overly successful at planting churches. And yet I continue to find myself captured by the work of God as I see new churches planted, take root and grow. As a member of the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia’s Church Planting Taskforce (CPT) for the last number of years I have had the pleasure of hearing...

Recently I went through a Cardiac Computed Tomography(CT) Scan.   Sounds complicated, but really it is not!   Doctors used x-rays to take a bunch of detailed pictures of my heart, just to see how healthy my heart is.   Soon I will meet with a cardiologist to discuss the results of this scan. Every year I meet with many churches to discuss their health.   They too have gone through a scan.   In fact, over 1/3 of all CRCA churches have had this scan done.  The scan is not a CT Scan, but the NCD (Natural Church Development) survey.   A NCD survey gives detailed pictures of the health of...

Making disciples has always been a hot topic for me.  David Watson's book on world-changing discipleship, Called and Committed, changed my thinking back in the early 1980's, and in many ways, set the direction for my life's journey as a Christ-follower, a husband, father, and minister of the gospel.   Since then my library shelves have filled with countless other books on discipleship.   Did I really need to have one more? I couldn't resist when I came across Colin Neyes' recent book, As You Go Make Disciples (Resource Zone International: 2015).   This is not like one of Peter Fitzsimons' historical novels (I...

Have you heard of Cardinal Borromeo?   A story is told by Abraham Kuyper when he gave the Stone Lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1898.   A 16th century plague had ruined the Italian city of Milan, and as the story goes, Cardinal Borromeo bravely stayed in that city to feed and pray for those who were dying.   Kuyper admired this Cardinal’s piety, but he admired John Calvin even more: During the plague, which in the 16th century tormented Geneva, Calvin acted better and more wisely, for he not only cared incessantly for the spiritual needs of the sick, but at the...

Have you heard of Cardinal Borromeo?   A story is told by Abraham Kuyper when he gave the Stone Lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1898.   A 16th century plague had ruined the Italian city of Milan, and as the story goes, Cardinal Borromeo bravely stayed in that city to feed and pray for those who were dying.   Kuyper admired this Cardinal’s piety, but he admired John Calvin even more: During the plague, which in the 16th century tormented Geneva, Calvin acted better and more wisely, for he not only cared incessantly for the spiritual needs of the sick, but at the...

Water currents affect weather patterns. A clear example is an El Nino. When the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean become substantially warmer than average this causes a shift in atmospheric circulation. For Australia this means that 2015 will shape up to be one of the hottest years on record. Weather pattern bringing drought and bushfires is expected to reach full force by Christmas. New currents are also happening with the CRCA SWIM mission in Solomon Islands. And while an El Nino might have devastating effects all across the south Pacific, the new currents at SWIM hold great promise of increased...

In the CRCA we talk lots about church health.   It has been stated that healthy churches are growing churches.  But is this true?   If a church is healthy, does that means that we will see growth?   And what kind of growth are we referring to?   Growth in numbers?   Growth in spiritual vitality?   Growth in gospel impact?   Peter Smit has been engaged as a church planter in Baldivis, a growing suburb south of Perth in Western Australia.   I asked him about the correlation between chruch health and church growth.   This is how he responded: "In every natural system in creation, health and vitality are essential for growth and development....

What is discipleship all about? How do we reach out to the lost, help people come to faith, encourage spiritual growth, and equip followers of Jesus to disciple others? People gathered in Campbelltown CRC to explore what it means to make true disciples.(see more photos) There were senior members who had a real concern to pass on their faith to their children and grandchildren. There were uni students exploring what they might do to engage fellow students in the claims of Christianity. Children were there thinking how they might use an iPad to learn about what it means to love Jesus...

What is discipleship all about?   How do we reach out to the lost, help people come to faith, encourage spiritual growth, and equip followers of Jesus to disciple others?   People gathered in Campbelltown CRC to explore what it means to make true disciples.(see more photos)   There were senior members who had a real concern to pass on their faith to their children and grandchildren.   There were uni students exploring what they might do to engage fellow students in the claims of Christianity.   Children were there thinking how they might use an iPad to learn about what it means to love Jesus...

Sometimes one feels all alone!   There might be hundreds of people around, if not more, but you still feel alone! That’s how I felt as I made my way to Victoria this week to catch up with pastors, church leaders, and then move on to Adelaide for several speaking engagements on the weekend. Perhaps it was leaving my wife and home, knowing that many days will pass before I return.   I do sense the distance from family now that we live in Australia, especially from children and grandchildren. But we just had been with them on our annual leave, so I...

Sometimes one feels all alone!   There might be hundreds of people around, if not more, but you still feel alone! That’s how I felt as I made my way to Victoria this week to catch up with pastors, church leaders, and then move on to Adelaide for several speaking engagements on the weekend. Perhaps it was leaving my wife and home, knowing that many days will pass before I return.   I do sense the distance from family now that we live in Australia, especially from children and grandchildren. But we just had been with them on our annual leave, so I...

David Cook was recently asked, "Do you have any deep convictions about developing the future leaders of the church?" You would think that David Cook has a view ideas about this question.  He is the Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and the former principal of Sydney Missionary and Bible College, where he served for 26 years. David Cook is also the featured speaker at the upcoming Preaching Conference at the Reformed Theological College in Geelong (more info) This question asked of David Cook tweeked my interest since developing future leaders is something I constantly think about. At the crux...

David Cook was recently asked, "Do you have any deep convictions about developing the future leaders of the church?"   You would think that David Cook has a view ideas about this question.   He is the Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and the former principal of Sydney Missionary and Bible College, where he served for 26 years.  David Cook is also the featured speaker at the upcoming Preaching Conference at the Reformed Theological College in Geelong (more info)  This question asked of David Cook tweeked my interest since developing future leaders is something I constantly think about.   At the crux of the CRCA missional...