As tempted as I was to write Dale off, the problem is that he leads a church which sees a ‘first-time faith commitment rate’ per year which is 10, yes, 10 times the national Baptist average. just let that sink in for a moment.
Read more "Why Christians should stop sharing ‘their faith’."Romans 12:14-15 (NIV) Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Events have occurred in the previous week that has stopped the western world in its tracks. The utterly heartbreaking and grotesque shootings that have claimed 50 lives in New Zealand have shocked so many due […]
Read more "Apples with oranges."So there I was, lying awake at 5am. I am often grateful for fresh revelations from the Spirit, but a little less so when it is before sunrise. Yet for some reason, I could not take my mind off it. I could not simply fall back asleep. I have a favorite painting which if you […]
Read more "The Greatest Christmas Gift."When you’re holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail so the saying goes. I wonder if when you’re holding a chainsaw does everything look like a tree? I think what the saying is trying to get at is the design purpose of the tool you’re holding will affect the purpose of the one holding […]
Read more "When you’re holding a hammer…"This is a group of people united by one goal; the preservation and improvement of human life. When it is at it’s most vulnerable
Read more "Truth in Triage"So, I’m getting a bit concerned with how addicted I am to comfort. I take my laziness far too seriously. Yep, I work hard but when I am watching a football or cricket game, try peeling me off the couch. If you ask my wife, she will tell you how capable I am of super-human […]
Read more "The issue with comfort."So, we decided to make the Waratah facebook page a public page and obviously, folks have liked some of the content as we’ve had a few requests to join. Firstly, that’s hugely encouraging and it’s great to see crew liking the content. However, some who have tried to join may have noticed that their request […]
Read more "Why we don’t just click ‘accept’."We often have a tricky relationship with music. You may be aware that when hymns first came in they were seen for many years as heretical because they were basically too musical for a community used to chanting. Today, one tradition seeks to possibly over-utilize the emotional power of music in their worship out of […]
Read more "A Song about Music"I was attending a church meeting the other day where the leader was announcing a replacement of the church’s road-front signage. I suppressed the urge to shout, “Hallelujah” and backflip off my chair at this announcement. As he spoke about the new LED sign that would be arriving I overheard someone a couple of seats […]
Read more "If it ain’t broke…"So last Friday I attended the Safe Woman, Safe Family forum. Before I get into a few takeaways that I would think helpful to church folks, let me share some preliminary reflections I had. There were about 130 registrations ranging from local politicians to delegates of non-profit and support organizations. Of those, I was one […]
Read more "Learnings from the Safe Woman, Safe Family Forum."