Thank you to the original author of this article Julia Kate Swodeck for giving us permission to use her post. First off, I love and appreciate Rick Warren. I have been to his church on several occasions, read The Purpose Driven Life, and even defended his choice of Hawaiian shirts & khakis, but when it comes to Twitter I just can’t bring myself to click the Follow button. He is just one of the many christian influencers of our time that consistently unsocialize the social media. “How’s that?” you say. It’s quite simple actually… according to Twitter, Twitter may be used for any number of purposes,...
Where are the leader...
posted by Dean Thomas
About six years ago the German football team was at a crossroads. They were playing what many people thought was a boring brand of the beautiful game. They were a defensive team and while they could sometimes win on the counter when it came to winning a game with their own strategy they...
What kind of churche...
posted by Dean Thomas
Recently on the “Church Planting Village” website, Tom Cheyney posted an article outlining the traits of churches that multiply. He called these churches “sending” churches and gave a simple outline that might be a useful leadership discussion. Check the site...
The Phases that lead...
posted by Dean Thomas
(the first of three conversation starters outlining the key features in the process of beginning new faith communities that lead to multiplication). The phases of church planting have been discussed before and I am not introducing anything new to you in these articles. But for the past few...
Hard Heart or just n...
posted by Dean Thomas
I was having lunch the other day and the topic of my recent illness (cancer) came up. A colleague who was there said they had no idea it was so serious, due to the way Christine and I had continued on as though nothing was seriously wrong. This got me thinking. (I know, I need to stop it!)...
God is not fair
posted by Dean Thomas
Today has been an emotional day and it’s only 9.15 in the morning. I’ve just finished reading an article written by my wife regarding the terrible start in life our son Zeke had. I’ve also been keeping up with the saga of someone who’s been ripped off in an online transaction (read about it here, but be warned, there is some bad language). I recognise millions of people have so much more to contend with than I do and lately just about any story of powerlessness or injustice makes me think of ‘fairness’ or more importantly the lack of fairness in the world today. I can’t even watch a simple...
Oasis of beauty in desert of suffering
posted by Dean Thomas
The animated movie “How to train your dragon” is the story of the interaction between some ferocious flying dragons and a Viking village led by a hulking, weathered chief called Stoick who has a very un-Viking like son, Hiccup. The dragons are the nemeses of the villagers, attacking their houses and stealing their sheep. All village teenagers go through a dragon training program teaching them how to fight and kill the winged fire-breathers. Hiccup is an anomaly in his village – a hopeful, sensitive Viking lad who is looked down upon by the villagers, his father included. One night during a dragon raid Hiccup brings down a feared Night...
7 Life Changing Less...
posted by Dean Thomas
7 Life Changing Lessons Learned From Walt Disney – by Dumb Little Man. Walter Elias “Walt” Disney was a film producer, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, international icon, and philanthropist. Walt is well-known for his influence...
Make a difference? O...
posted by Dean Thomas
Is Our Vision Too Small? I read an article on the internet recently in which the writer made a critical assessment of world mission efforts during the last 100 years. He said we had invested our energies in either Gospel outreach or social action and the results in many countries have been...
Multiplying Churches...
posted by Dean Thomas
Multiplying Churches without adequate prayer is about as effective as trying to sell melted ice-creams. I love ice-cream. It’s my favourite food! Sometimes I help my wife with the grocery shopping and we often buy a tub of ice-cream to bring home. None of those generic brands – No! When...
Internet Evangelism – home of the wild west
posted by Dean Thomas
Almost every week I get an email from some Christian organisation asking me to sign a petition regarding something ‘bad’ on the internet. Every second day I see another news headline talking about the dangers of facebook. A recent news headline in Australia has been about defacement of a young schoolboy’s tribute page with disgusting porn images. Last week I saw another story about a teenage girl being lured by two men to her death through her facebook page. All this talk about facebook and yet not much about myspace. (By the way, myspace isn’t exactly a field of daisies either. “Lowlights” include video images of...
The Unexplainable Co...
posted by Dean Thomas
At 3pm one day a few years ago my son, who was 5 at the time, sat down with me to watch the world superbike championship. He was quite pleased and truthfully so was I because I had been longing to watch it, longing to watch Aussie Troy Bayliss beat the best the rest of the world could offer!...
The 3 “F”...
posted by Dean Thomas
I was asked the other day to speak about my ‘church planting’ experience… you know the usual questions… Why should we church plant? Who should church plant? How did I start? What have I done? What would I do different next time? But before I get to that I want to tell...
The Cost of the ‘Tun...
posted by Dean Thomas
I blame people like Barna for ruining my life… I have tuned in and dropped out. I have been in the ‘ministry’ now for some time and as I reflect on those years, I wonder how could I have been so wrong on so many things? In all of those years I experienced a degree of...
Learn about and hopefully experience Revival
posted by Dean Thomas
Revival ~ 7 days in May & June @ The Pines Training Centre Learn about the dynamics of revival the purpose of revival how to prepare for revival and how to maintain revival. Ian Malins is the trainer, and he will be joined by experienced practitioners in revival including Roy Funu, John Tanner, Graham Sercombe and Clyde Soai [who is coming from the Solomon Islands]. These men will speak and pass on a passion and mantle for revival in Australia. Venue: The Pines Training Centre, 102 Buderim Pines Drv, Buderim Q 4556 Dates: 25-27 May and 31 May-3 June 2010 Cost: $25 enrolment fee and either – $40 per day per person [total $280] to...
Salvations, swine fl...
posted by Dean Thomas
In September 2009 four Pines’ Graduates went to Chiang Mai, Thailand, to encourage and minister alongside four other Pines’ Graduates – Peung, Relle, Terry and Robyn. The ensuing two weeks were filled with challenges, salvations, swine flu, tree removal, good food and new cultural...
Worship for red-bloo...
posted by Dean Thomas
In the first article I discussed some of the background to the issue. Here, I will explore some of the details in the expression of worship that may enable men to more easily access worship. Males and females are obviously different. This is not going to be an extract from a biology textbook...
The missionaries are...
posted by Dean Thomas
Why are missionaries allowed to get away with so much when it comes to communicating the Gospel in the context of those they serve? What would happen in our communities if we lived out their missional strategies here at home? How would that impact how we talk? How we dress? How we serve? How...