Story is an excellent metaphor for understanding your life. A story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It has a theme, characters, subplots, trajectory, tone and genre. It helps to see your story as a subplot in the bigger story that we call “history”, which is really about God’s story in the world. … Continue reading Storyline: Understand Your Story
A Word of Encouragement this Week
Near the end of his first letter to the church at Corinth, the apostle Paul wrote this: 1 Corinthains 15:58. With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste … Continue reading A Word of Encouragement this Week
Fighting Spiritual Infection
A few days ago one of our family members was very sick. In fact, so sick we had to take them to hospital. It turned out they had caught a strong infection and simply needed a good dose of antibiotics to kill it off. Thankfully, they are better now. After this, I was thinking how susceptible … Continue reading Fighting Spiritual Infection
Mother’s Day
This coming Sunday is Mother's Day. I realise that this can be a difficult day for some people. Maybe your mother passed away recently, or you don’t have a good relationship with your mum, or maybe you always wanted to become a mum and it hasn’t happened. Our thoughts and prayers go out to you. … Continue reading Mother’s Day
Mission: The Work of God
Mission is the activity of God himself. It has its source not in the church but in the very nature of God. Mission is not just an activity or a department of the church. It is an attribute or a character quality of God. God is a missionary God. [The word “mission” is not used … Continue reading Mission: The Work of God
William Carey, the Father of Modern Missions
William Carey was one of the main instruments in God’s hand for the restoration of mission into the mainstream of Protestant Christianity through his writing, emphasis on prayer for world evangelisation and promotion of practical structures for mission. He was not the first to preach on missions, but he was the one used by God … Continue reading William Carey, the Father of Modern Missions
Whatever Happened to Mission?
What Happened to Missions? D espite the clarity of Jesus' commission to his followers, we have seen a “marginalisation of mission” over the last 2,000 years. 1. Mission has been belittled in the church. Many Christians have inherited mindset in church that has almost excluded mission altogether or has pushed it to the sideline of what church is … Continue reading Whatever Happened to Mission?
The Biblical Basis of World Impact
The dominant theme of Jesus' last 40 days on earth was world evangelisation and included a Great Commission: Matthew 24:14. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. NIV Acts 1:8. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on … Continue reading The Biblical Basis of World Impact