The ability to understand the meaning of words is essential for effective communication. That’s not only true in order to understand different languages, it’s also true when speaking to people of different geographical locations, and even different generations. Here in Australia we talk about our car batteries going flat, but if you said that in America they would wonder if you had driven over your battery. In America batteries go dead, even though they were never alive to begin with! In the same way when we talk about God in our post-Christian culture many people will wonder who we’re talking about....

I enjoy woodworking.   For years this was my hobby.   Every week I would spend some down time cutting, glueing, and joining pieces of wood to create much of the furniture in our home.  One of the axioms I held on to all those years was this:   "Measure twice, cut once."   Working with expensive pieces of oak, walnut, or even pine I made sure my measurements were accurate.   I didn't want to have too much waste. Today I still get out my measuring tapes.  But rather than measuring pieces of wood, I now measure church health and...

All you need is a good hook.  It needs to be sharp.  And clean.  And shiny.   The same is true if you are using a lure with their fancy three-pronged hooks.   If you want to catch a fish, you need a good hook.  You might have some tasty bait or a bright new lure, but if the hook is no good, you won't be catching many fish. Sharing the gospel and making disciples is much like fishing.  In fact, Jesus called his first disciples to be "fishers of men" (Mark 1:17).   Now I know these first followers were...

Most discipling in churches today is done with Christians who are already committed or desire to be more committed.   This is where we begin when we think about making disciples.   But when I read the gospels I find Jesus beginning with those who desperately need saving.   The lost.   The outcast.  The misfits. Jesus was not the only one.   I am intrigued by the story of David in the Old Testament.   There was a time in his life when he found himself on the outside and alone.   Yet he knew God's call on his life...

Have you ever been desperate?   Really desperate?   So desperate that it drove you to your knees in prayer?    I have been there.   Often.   Really desperate for God to hear and answer my prayers. One time of desperation I remember so vividly.   My wife Jeannie and I moved to a new city to plant a church.   We knew we had to rely on the Lord!   We had no people, no building, and no regular Sunday worship gatherings.   From our research we felt God was calling us to open a ministry center out of...

I did a dirt experiment.  I wanted to grow some spinach seedlings to transplant into our veggie patch.   I picked up the cheapest bag of dirt at the local garden supply store - $2.99.   The dirt looked clumpy, full of bits and pieces of who knows what.   I dropped the seeds into the individual pods of 'cheap' dirt.   It took a long time for the seeds to germinate, and I kept losing one young sapling after another.   I reseeded with near similar results.   I then bought a more expensive bag of dirt -- dirt made...

God found a young man who refused to miss a prayer meeting as he cried to the Lord:  "Bend me!"    This young man, Evan Roberts, was used by God as an instrument to see the gospel spread like wild fire during the Welsh revival in the early 1900's.    Roberts began asking God for a 100,000 lost to be found and brought to faith.   Not only did God answer Robert's prayer for 100,000 souls but he multiplied the influence of this revival around the world.   The Spirit of God descended upon the coal-mining country of Wales.   J....

The Australian cultural landscape is changing, and changing rapidly.   More than 20% of Australians speak a language other than English at home.   1 out of 4 Australians were born overseas.   50% of Australians have an overseas parent.    Australians identify with over 270 ancestral backgrounds.   And all of this in a country is home to the world's oldest continuous cultures.   Visit the downtown of any major city or travel to specific suburbs all across Australia and you have this sense that the typical Australian is by far in the minority.   And I say all of...

I always found catching fish easier than cleaning fish.   Not that I am that good at catching fish, but cleaning fish is not easy.   It smells.   Your hands become filthy.   The fish is so slippery that it moves all over the place.   And what do you do with all the guts?   Years ago I would bury the guts in the ground, but we had this dog that loved to dig them up and roll in the mess.   And then we would have that stink all over again.   Cleaning fish is not easy.   Perhaps...

I might get into trouble for saying this, but I am not a fan of the usual 'meet and greet' times in so many of our churches.   Oh, it might work well for people who are regulars at church.   They do this every Sunday as they sit in the same pews or seats, and they usually shake the hands of the same people.   Week in, week out.  But this could be the worst experience for guests who come to church, the very people we are trying to reach and welcome into the Christian community we call church. Just...

I don’t mind working alone, but I’m glad that I’m not alone in my work. I like to think of my elders as my partners in the ministry. I like to think of my wife as partnering with me in serving God. In fact, I like to think of my whole congregation as joining with me in the work of the Lord. Actually, the Bible talks about how we get to join God in his work. We don’t work alone. Paul begins his letter to the Church in Philippi with thanksgiving. He says, ‘I thank my God in all my remembrance...

Ok, so the title might be a little bit of an over-exaggeration. But, it doesn’t mean this isn’t something worth thinking about. What really is the most missional thing that you and I can do in 2019? By missional I mean how can we get more involved in moving towards others with the good news of Jesus? I often wonder how we, as a church, can best support all the different kinds of people in our community to embrace a missional lifestyle. How can we best equip the university student, the mother of four children, and the full-time accountant to embrace...

A challenge in full-time gospel work is to free up time.  There is just so much that can and needs to be done.   As we seek to grow healthy churches and plant new churches, as a denomination our GROW strategy includes encouraging full time ordained ministers to re-evaluate their timetable and responsibilities to free up time (for example, at least one day a fortnight) to review existing initiatives and develop new initiatives in the local congregations.   The goal is that pastors will give serious thought to how their church can increase their gospel effectiveness in equipping and nurturing their...

A battle rages for the souls of people. The person of prayer will recognize that the forces of hell will do everything to keep men in bondage to their sins. The person of prayer understands that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). The man or woman of prayer must learn to wrestle in prayer against the spiritual forces of wickedness. God is assembling an army of prayer warriors in this generation. The Spirit...

One of the best advice I ever received as a young pastor was the importance of 'to-do lists".    I received this advice in the early days of planting a new congregation.   Life was busy and I found it difficult to get all the tasks of ministry done.    Marty was an aspiring realtor, with a young family, and the housing market was booming.   He was well familiar with hectic schedules and busy days.   He suggested to me that at the end of every work day that I should do what he does, that is, take a few...

  Christmas is a great opportunity to share the gospel. Just about everyone in our society celebrates Christmas, although many don’t really know what it’s all about. At Christmas time we get to share the Good News of God coming into our world in the person of Jesus Christ to save people from their sins (Mt 1:21-23). Every Christmas Westside holds what we call a Christmas Party. It’s based around four simple ideas:  1) Everyone is Invited: We invite our whole community through a letterbox drop (which our members hand deliver), and through signs that we hang up at all the...

I’ve heard it so often, ‘It’s not about church growth, it’s about being faithful!’ Usually, it’s spoken defensively by someone from a church that is struggling. And what they are saying is that God cares most about the faithfulness of his people, and the numerical growth of the church is up to God. And I agree 100%. Paul says ‘I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. (1 Cor 3:6-7)’ Growth is God’s work. We may be able to grow the church...

“The mark of good leaders is that they’re always learning and thus growing spiritually, intellectually, experientially, and emotionally.”   So writes Aubrey Malphurs in his book Building Leaders (Baker Books: 2004).   He goes on to say that “leadership development is never ending, because leaders are learners and if they ever stop learning, they stop leading.” In the CRCA we are committed to seeing leadership development across our denomination, in our churches, and among our pastors.   The third task of our denominational missional vision is about training, about “multiplying the number of well-trained leaders actively involved in God’s mission.”   This does not only...

A journey of a thousand kilometres begins with the first step.   Whether you travel by foot, or car, or plane – it all begins with the first step. Moving that one foot in front of the other. Starting that engine in your Toyota Camry. Booking an airline ticket with Flight Centre. It all begins with the first step. All CRCA pastors are being encouraged to establish a coaching relationship for themselves to move ever closer to living a life worthy of their callings as Christian leaders in the church. But where does one start? What are the steps that one...

We have a wii at home, and it has a game where you can jog around an Island. But at the end of the circuit it asks how observant you are. The first question was: What colour was the mushroom? I didn’t even see a mushroom! The second question was: How many dogs did you see? I couldn’t remember seeing any dogs! The third question was: Which character did you see at the finish line? And I remember seeing a character there, but I couldn’t remember which one! My skills of observance were described as ‘dwindling fire!’ The truth is, it’s...