My Story - Jeff & Kylie

My good mate Jeff, and his wife Kylie, share their story about why they come to church:

Real Men Life is on this week!

Real Men Life the 2008 men's conference for C3 Oxford Falls is on this Friday night and Saturday. Conferences like this are part of the reason mega-churches are so popular and successful. I'm part of the Real Men team, so I'd like to encourage anyone who can make it to go along. Friday night is free, and Saturday is only $85 if you register before Friday (otherwise $95) - writing material, drinks and food are included.

This is what the leader of Real Men, Greg French, has to say about the Life conference:

The irony of our time is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, bigger cities and less friends, wider roads but narrower viewpoints. We have larger houses and smaller families, more money but less time, more knowledge but less judgement, more experts yet more problems.

We’ve learned how to make a living but not a life, added years to life not life to years, been to the moon and back but not crossed the street to meet a neighbour.

We’ve conquered outer space but not inner space, have more degrees but less sense, talked too much and listened too little, loved seldom and hated too often. We’ve cleaned the air but polluted the soul, written more but learnt less, planned more but accomplished less, learned to rush but not to wait. We laugh little, drive fast, stay up late, get tired, read little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

These are the days of fast foods and poor digestion, big men with small characters, steep profits and shallow relationships, disposable nappies and throwaway morality.

That can be the sum total of a man’s life. The colour and meaning of LIFE can be lost because we lose our perspective about what really matters. ‘Doing LIFE well’ doesn’t just happen. REALMEN ’08 conference ‘LIFE’ will help men adjust their worlds so as to enjoy the journey and do LIFE well. Look forward to seeing you there. It will be LIFE transforming!

Greg French

Here is the story of how one man's life has been transformed, through marriage, divorce and then eventually re-marrying his wife. The key? A relationship with Jesus Christ, and most importantly, with men he could learn from and relate to:

Bless those who persecute you ...

It is great seeing a little church really living out the commandment of "bless those who persecute you" - Romans 12:14. Kinetic Church had a bunch of their stuff stolen earlier this year and went out of their way to launch a set of billboards addressed to the thief. The culmination of their campaign was this video:

from: ThinkChristian

Change your nature, not your rules

I came across this great article Why Christians do not believe in morality today by Peter Sellick, an Anglican associate deacon:

I have said before that Christianity is not primarily a system of ethics, unlike Islam. Rather, it is a practice that transforms the individual by situating him in the story of God. It is this transformation that produces the moral life which we know we could not live if left by ourselves.

...

This is because the gospel forms our desires. We find that greed and the exercise of power have disappeared from our repertoire and we look forward to becoming people of peace, not people who are for peace but a people who are by their nature peaceable.

The point is that Christianity, because it involves an encounter with God, changes our nature, which trumps any planned change in the rules we live by. As the Bible puts it:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

Ezekiel 36:26

This is the heart of Christianity, and actually forms one of the great criticisms of it, that the church is full of hypocrites (as my pastor has said, “It's best place for them!”). The point is that the transformation has an element of continuity to it:

“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. ”

2 Corinthians 3:18

Obviously this is classic Christian theology (actually basic knowledge for any believer), but it's rare to see it so well explained, and that in a secular source. Well done Peter!

Real Men 2008

CCC's Real Men conference for 2008 is titled "Life", it will be on 25th-26th July 2008. Here is the promo for it:

Losing the culture wars?

It seems that Christians are increasingly becoming aware that we are losing the culture wars, beaten back by the sexual revolution, anti-creation science teaching in schools and the post-modern tendency to see everything as relative and DIY mysticism as a healthy spiritual path.

Time magazine has an article about Christianity's Image Problem, Michael Craven questions whether Christians are the problem and the tepid success of Christian movie brand Fox Faith makes some wonder if Christians are even paying attention. I found this comment about Fox Faith's difficulties most interesting:

Media guru Phil Cooke, president of Cooke Pictures, said Fox Faith faces unique challenges from “a branding point of view” due to the diversity of the Christian community.

“While the general culture looks at 'Christians' being a homogenous group of people, we [Christians] track along a wide range of extremes in our thinking, our attitudes toward culture, and our doctrinal perspectives,” Cooke said. “The Passion of The Christ, which pretty much set this 'faith-based' fascination off in the minds of Hollywood, was a traditional story of the Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. It told a story that the main thrust of the Christian community can agree on, and as a result, hit the box office jackpot. But once you drift from that central story that is the core of our faith, all bets are off.”

For me that hits the nail on the head. Christians are losing the culture wars because we are not a simple monolithic block. Different parts of the Christian faith succeed in different areas.

The Catholic church is still very well regarded for its third world missions and charity works, whilst in the first world many look so the Salvation Army or other Christian organisations for hope and mercy. Some Australian denominations like Christian City Church and Hillsong are well known for their emphasis on modern cultural elements in their worship and services, whilst also encouraging their congregation to be involved in the world of media and business. The Anglican church is well regarded for their intellectual rigour and emphasis on academic study, whilst also reaching out to their local communities.

Of course the fact that different groups of Christians have different effects upon the world should not be a surprise to us:

“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.”
1 Corinthians 12:12

The culture wars (if you like to see them that way) are really going to be won one fight at a time by the Christians on the ground. One day the church may be “chief among the mountains” (see Michah 4:1) , but that day is not yet come.

Australian Pentecostals < Buddhists

Amongst the various interest census facts reported by the SMH was this one:

“Though Pentecostal churches grew 26 per cent in Australia and 48 per cent in NSW, they remain numerically small, with 219,000 adherents, about half the numbers of Buddhists.”

That is a mixed result, it is brilliant that Pentecostal churches are growing, disheartening that they remain such a small part of the Christian faith in Australia and weird that there are more Buddhists - although given the loose definition of 'Buddhist' (likes Richard Gere, meditates, read a couple of books once, is a vegan), it is perhaps not so surprising.

The power of positive confession

We had Pastor Theo Wolmarans at our church this weekend, bringing what seems to be a fairly effective healing ministry and some great teaching on matters of faith and positive confession. 'Positive confession' is a bit of Christianese for describing the attitude that no matter what situations life throws at you, you will take a positive attitude towards them and speak positively about the results you expect from them. An example would be speaking confidently of God healing your leg, even though it might currently be crippled. Ps Theo pointed out that the Bible teaches us that faith and speaking go hand in hand, neither has power without the other.

Some people take exception to this, and in the absence of good doctrine you can have all sorts of weird things you might have 'faith' for - but really you can only have faith for what God has promised you, and the Bible is the ultimate record of God's promises. If you can find a good scriptural basis for your faith, and you feel convinced that God will bring something about, then speaking that out aloud (confessing it) is the next step to seeing it come to pass.

Our church's senior pastor, Phil Pringle, teaches on these points regularly, but Ps Theo went through quite a few scriptures and brought out some interesting points about them I had not noticed before.

Luke 17:5-6
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.”

…as small as a mustard seed…
Not many seeds, but one single, small seed - one scrap of scripture, of God’s truth. A single rhema is all that is required.

…you can say…
Faith is put into action by speaking, both need each other, faith without speaking is powerless as is speaking without faith.

Mark 11:22-25
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

…I tell you the truth…
Jesus is really emphasising this – it must be important! Ps Thoe pointed out that when you come across a lion in the bush, he doesn't need to roar for you to take him seriously, and similarly Jesus didn't need to emphasise his teaching for his disciples, so this is an unusual statement.

…if anyone says …
Believers and unbelievers alike prosper when they match an internal faith with their external confession (or fail, if that is their confession + faith, see Job).

Luke 8:18
“Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.”

…how you listen…
It is important that we listen with the right attitude, carefully and with discernment. It is important that we pay attention to what we are listening to.

Mark 4:24-25
“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

…what you hear…
It is important that what we allow ourselves to listen to is the right stuff, bad reports and negative thinking will at best hamper our internal faith, and at worst strangle it.

Romans 10:8-10
But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

…believe and are justified…
Internal faith is part of how we are made right with God.

…confess and are saved…
But it must be accompanied by confession of that faith if we are to be truly saved.

Proverbs 22:17-18 (Amplified Bible)
Listen (consent and submit) to the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge;
For it will be pleasant if you keep them in your mind [believing them]; your lips will be accustomed to [confessing] them.

…keep them in your mind…
We need to keep reminding ourselves of our mustard seed, our rhema.

…your lips will be accustomed to confessing them…
Reminding ourselves of God’s truth also involves speaking that truth to ourselves and to others.

Big Church = Big School

There is a classic argument about whether big churches are missing some intrinsic quality of a 'real' church. Proponents of smaller churches point out that they are more intimate, less focused on finances and more community oriented. Big church supporters point out that their better quality worship music can increase intimacy with God, that smaller churches are often unable to help others because they are cash-poor and that a bigger church has more people involved in every section of the community, from young to old, rich to poor.

It's an old argument, and one that has little scriptural basis for a decision either way. Jesus did not specify a church size, but he did deal with different size groups in different ways, from the crowds that followed him, to his close followers, his group of disciples and then individuals like Peter or Mary. The book of Acts talks about the different size churches, and historians tell us that some of them were quite large (in the thousands).

My take on this (currently) is that the big vs small church debate is much like the big vs small school debate. By this I don't mean that big schools are just like big churches, but rather the comparison of the relative merits of size for schools and churches is similarly loaded.

Some people want their kids at a small school, other like the resources available in a larger school. Some think a small school will encourage more mingling of kids, others think a larger school will help their kids find a niche for them. The debate then passes onto class sizes, styles of classroom, and so on ad infinitum ...

But let's be sensible for a moment, most of these issues fall into the "it depends" bucket. When is a school big? Well it depends upon the seize of the local community, the range of years the school covers, and what other local schools are like. When is big bad? Well it depends upon what you consider the best thing for your children at their current stage of life. Etcetera.

I think most people are most affected in this area by their own good/bad experiences, certainly I am. I went to a very large boarding school and hated it, I went to a smaller day school and loved it, when younger I went to a very small day school and found it boring ... so guess where I fall when it comes to debates about big vs small, and boarding vs day? However, my two youngest brothers loved boarding school - so I figure they will have a different point of view than me.

People seem to back big, or small, churches because of the same cognitive bias. Their experiences inform them of which they would prefer, and that becomes their default 'ideal' size. Some people take this to an extreme and formulate complicated theological explanations for why their preference is the 'right' one. Piffle.

Personally I think you've got to find a church you're willing to commit to, one where there is some accountability (both ways). That means taking into account the needs of all your family. It also means being willing to forgive when someone offends you, or being able to bend when someone imposes on you, and it certainly means allowing yourself to feel underwhelmed with church from time to time. Big or small, all churches are likely to confront you with similar issues - unless the church is so small that it's basically just your family (in which case it will have its own set of flaws). My advice? Choose your church like you would your kids' schools, by weighing the pros and cons, and then being willing to stick with that decision for the good of you all.

Real Men 06: Influence

Before I begin this post, I just want to say that Brad has had a successful operation and despite some early missteps, is on his way to recovery!

I don't want to take this blog too far off-topic, but I spent most of today at RealMen 06: Influence, this year's edition of the annual men's conference run by CCC Oxford Falls. As always, it was a struggle to make the time, spend the money and physically get myself there - but as always, it was well worth the effort. Some of it was so good, I decided it was worth talking about a little bit here.

Whilst there was a well-known international speaker, Frank Damazio, it was two of the Aussie speakers that really made my day ...

Melbournian Allan Meyer ran an awesome session on helping men maintain purity in their sexual world. He was funny, but more importantly he really helped men get a handle on how to avoid sexual temptation (outside of their marriage of course!). From his own doctorate studies he has developed the Valiant Man program:

“This 10 Session Program with study and devotional guide is designed to fortify and restore the moral and spiritual integrity of men. Valiant Man challenges all men to fight for their own personal, moral and spiritual vitality and help other men fight for theirs.”

Based on today's session, I expect the material in that course would be life-changing for many men.

At the other end of the spectrum, Perth native John Finkelde was very naughty (one session not recommended for women!), and immensely funny, but he was also worth listening to as he covered how to supply your wife's emotional needs, most especially by ensuring you “spill your guts” occasionally. But he had me in tears at several sections, sometimes because of his great humour, and other times because of his raw honesty in sharing his own battles with us. His church (CCC Hepburn Heights) also runs their own blog.