After a lifetime of serving and leading among Australian churches, Colin is aware of the moment that has come to the church. He has a strong love for the Body of Christ but is not blind to the nature of the challenge before her. Much of Australia no longer looks to the Church for its wisdom,...
REPENTANCE How can I know when it is genuine?
posted by John Tanner
All leaders fail at some time. Some try to hide their sins. How do we deal with our own repentance when we fail and how do we know if a co-worker has truly repented so they can be given a second chance? This paper provides some tests to help us to be discerning and loving.
9 years in the making
posted by Dean Thomas
Having morning tea this morning, one of the students asked me ‘how was yesterday afternoon?’ I sat there trying to think what could he be talking about? What did I do yesterday afternoon? He noticed the blank look on my face and the vacant stare and proceeded to say ‘you know the old people!’ Ah it all came flooding back… Every Thursday I run a computer group for seniors. A nice bunch of people, friendly, fun, considerate group of people. But to tell you the truth at 38 years of age I did not picture my life being the way it is! I did not imagine I would be running a group full of how can I say…...
What feels worse tha...
posted by Dean Thomas
My wife and I worked at the same job for 11 years. We were fortunate in that it was more than just a job. It was something we both considered called to do. It wasn’t just a job, rather a cause we felt honored to help be a part of in fulfilling. The cause you might ask was to enhance,...
Empowerment
posted by Dean Thomas
My favourite T-shirt has this picture on it with the following phrase on it “thanks for the legs suckers!” The photo is of Sir Douglas Badder. If you have never heard of him before. I can highly recommend you grab a copy of his book “Reach for the Sky” Thanks for the...
The 2nd 3 F’s ...
posted by Dean Thomas
It has been a long time since I felt like writing. And I came across an article I wrote some time ago called “The 3 f’s of church planting” the entire article left me very ‘flat’… you see what I did there? Yeah I know not very ‘funny’…...
neil cole quote
posted by Dean Thomas
“Ultimately each church will be evaluated by only one thing. Its disciples. Your church is only as good as its disciples. It does not matter how good your praise, preaching, programs or property are: If your disciples are passive, needy, consumerist, and not moving in the direction of...
Listen up Sheep: The...
posted by Dean Thomas
by Neil Cole: I found this brilliant passage in an article by the late F.F. Bruce recalling a powerful teaching from E.H. Broadbent. The article by Bruce was addressing the things that went wrong with the Jerusalem church, one of which was legalism. So many of us look to the Jerusalem Church...
Erwin McManus on Eva...
posted by Dean Thomas
“My conviction is that we over-teach Christians and under-teach non-Christians.” This article originally appeared in the May/June 2005 issue of Outreach magazine. The key to evangelism in the New World is the same as it was in the first century—creating environments where people...
Contextualize, conte...
posted by Dean Thomas
Contextualize, contextualize, contextualize. I hear this word a lot. I hear it from the emerging Church movement. I hear it from the evangelical pragmatics, (that’s what Robert Webber calls them in his book ‘Young Evangelicals’). I hear it from training colleges… What...
Do I Like God?
posted by Dean Thomas
Another story which somehow had been sitting in the draft section for way too long. Can I tell you two stories, both of which occurred to me last week. I was driving home with my 4 year old daughter and my 3 year old son, when they both unexpectedly started singing this song; ‘You are...
Evolution is Flawed
posted by Dean Thomas
I wonder what happened to this guy? Get the Flash Player to see this video.
Sea Parable
posted by Dean Thomas
An amazing parable but sadly the truth does indeed hurt! “ship wrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown”… watch the video and say the those words out loud. Get the Flash Player to see this...
Do You Hear It?
posted by Dean Thomas
The noise is getting louder each day! The boisterous opponents of the Church are becoming increasingly vocal: ‘All the Church wants is money!’ ‘Fanatics like them cause wars!’ ‘Bunch of hypocrites!’ ‘They don’t know how to have fun! ‘The...
Billy Graham: Techno...
posted by Dean Thomas
TED provides a wealth of information and inspiration, it shows the best and worse of humanity. I was amazed to discover that Billy Graham was once one of the key note speakers, and despite his age, when it was given, the message is still relevant and insightful. Christians should be involved...
Play of the Day
posted by Dean Thomas
So many of us are under-estimated in life! Have you ever felt that people just can’t see what you know is inside you?… or at least what you hope is there? I had this experience this week, someone I spend time with thinks I’m a drop kick. Now I know at times I act like a drop kick, but not to the degree that person thinks I am. I remember as a young kid standing in line on the edge of the soccer field as two of my primary school mates picked the day’s lunch time soccer teams. Without fail, I was the last to be picked for soccer (not so with rugby, but soccer was a sad sad story for me). I never understood the rules, in fact...
The Art of Being Dif...
posted by Dean Thomas
One of these things is doing its own thing; (sing along with me now) one of these things just doesn’t belong… O.K. so you’re not as familiar with the Sesame Street classics as I’d hoped. Doesn’t matter. Does it worry you to be different? I don’t always fit...
re-inventing the Chu...
posted by Dean Thomas
Some people love the Church, some are suspicious of the Church and still others hate it with a vengeance!But which Church do they love or hate? Is it the greying, largely traditional Church; the aggressive, contemporary mega or regional Church; or the almost hidden (no buildings) emerging...
Perspective Change o...
posted by Dean Thomas
Since my parents moved interstate I don’t see them much. I was afraid that with the move into a small country town they would somehow just give up on following Jesus. But it seems the reverse has happened. So when Dad asked me to take him to a large Christian Bookstore during his recent...