If you get frustrated with people telling you, “slow and steady wins the race”, and you have a sense God’s church should be busting out all over the place, then you will find Viral Churches, by Ed Stetzer and Warren Bird, a welcome relief. As they say, “This book can...
Go … the ironic path of a reluctant church planter...
posted by Dean Thomas
When I think back about why I chose to learn at The Pines, it really wasn’t to learn how to plant churches. (Sorry). I had felt for quite a while that Australian churches weren’t really impacting Australia, like we could or should.. like what happened in the Bible. I couldn’t see the blokes at high school coming along to youth group (though ironically some of the tougher guys did 🙂 And I was frustrated with the lack of progress I was experiencing with the guys at work. There was no way that the blokes there would come along to church or home-group! In fact, I wasn’t even interested in getting them to church. Most of the blokes I dealt with...
FIRE2010 Podcast Sat...
posted by Dean Thomas
FIRE2010 Saturday PM session… ‘the other track’ by John Tanner
FIRE2010 Podcast Sat...
posted by Dean Thomas
FIRE2010 Saturday AM session… ‘power power power’ by Colin Stoodley
FIRE2010 Podcast Fri...
posted by Dean Thomas
FIRE2010 Friday ‘I am ok with that?’ ‘Are you ok with that?’ The question we need to ask… a lot. by Dean Thomas
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...
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...
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...
The slide into less!
posted by Dean Thomas
I don’t believe anyone deliberately chooses less in life. We may unwittingly choose it because we feel unworthy of anything more, but never because we actually prefer less. No. There is, in fact, a long journey through badly handled decisions and deep disappointment before we reach less. The...
The Great Divide in ...
posted by Dean Thomas
For those of you who know me personally you would know that I really struggled through my bible college years… and I mean struggle. Every year a new intake of students would enter in the college and every year the students who have been around the longest would have to help integrate...
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 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 Church has no place in politics/schools/the media’ Every day the opportunity for Aussies to hear about belonging to a community of God becomes more remote. Every day Mr/Ms Average Australia sees less need to go to Church. And more often than not, the wider Church body has one response: Silence. Do you hear it? In many Churches it’s deafening....
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...