“The question of how to connect with that generation is a primary question of the church and has been for a number of years,” said Troy Messenger, who teaches at Union Theological Seminary in Manhattan and focuses on the use of media in worship. “Biblical texts are in such another time and culture, it can be very difficult to translate to our life. A two-minute movie clip can do so much more than two minutes of sermon.”
From here
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/nyregion/26journey.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&ref=nyregion
Is this true? Should I just play video clips and then go .. 'well there you go' that says way more than anything I could ever say'? (And is there more than just a little irony in the guy who teaches media in worship a Mr Messenger?) So many questions, but no answers. Can you help me?
Monday, October 27, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
A little worrier
Over dinner our family has been reading through Matthew. Last night we read in Chapter 6
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Now Emily has a routine where she lays out her clothes for the next day before she goes to sleep. And being 3 1/2 it can be stressful as to what to wear (I can't imagine what this is going to be like as the years go on!). She is my little worrier in so many ways. So, we were trying to get her to realise that it is good to trust God - she doesn't have to worry about her clothes or lots of the other things she concerns herself with. There was much nodding of the head on her behalf and we prayed as a family, Em, then Mum, then Dad and the family said AMEN.
Immediately then,
Emily: "What can I wear tomorrow?"
Will continue to pray.....
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Now Emily has a routine where she lays out her clothes for the next day before she goes to sleep. And being 3 1/2 it can be stressful as to what to wear (I can't imagine what this is going to be like as the years go on!). She is my little worrier in so many ways. So, we were trying to get her to realise that it is good to trust God - she doesn't have to worry about her clothes or lots of the other things she concerns herself with. There was much nodding of the head on her behalf and we prayed as a family, Em, then Mum, then Dad and the family said AMEN.
Immediately then,
Emily: "What can I wear tomorrow?"
Will continue to pray.....
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
The good, the bad, the ugly and the very good
What a terrible thing it is to be under the curse of God. Genesis 3 paints a picture of a transition from blessing to curse as mankind is punished for their rebellion against their loving Creator who had created a good world. ‘Cursed are you….I will increase your pains……cursed is the ground’. So bad is the situation and such is the power of this action that it will take a great blessing for it to be undone. Yet it was in God’s plan.
The great blessing begins in Genesis 12 where the word ‘bless’ occurs 5 times. Those promises to Abraham are hefty and lofty in their content yet God is faithful. The story of the Bible is of the one unfolding plan of God. All these promises find their fulfilment in Jesus Christ. As 2 Cor 1:20 says, ‘For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ’. God’s plan was designed to show his glory through his one and only Son. Yet it was ugly, it was through the death of an innocent man on a cross – this is ugly no matter how nicely you try to put it.
Our small group has been studying Revelation over the last little while and on Tuesday night we finished it! There was a verse that rung in my ears, especially in light of what is written above – ‘No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him’ (Rev 22:3). No curse! The curse is finally over; the slavery to sin – OVER! The presence of sin – GONE! The power of sin – VANISHED! This is better than good, this is very good.
What a great and glorious kingdom that Christ has won for us!
What a magnificent God we have who has worked this out since the beginning of time!
What a wonderful new creation!
What a hope we have!
What joy we have in being assured of our place in heaven!
What an immense thing to have every spiritual blessing in Christ!
With such a breathtaking vision of the riches and splendour of the new creation, it is no wonder that the book finishes with a plea for Jesus to return: ‘Come, Lord Jesus’. I don’t often pray for Jesus to return but I have been encouraged to this week and into the future.
The great blessing begins in Genesis 12 where the word ‘bless’ occurs 5 times. Those promises to Abraham are hefty and lofty in their content yet God is faithful. The story of the Bible is of the one unfolding plan of God. All these promises find their fulfilment in Jesus Christ. As 2 Cor 1:20 says, ‘For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ’. God’s plan was designed to show his glory through his one and only Son. Yet it was ugly, it was through the death of an innocent man on a cross – this is ugly no matter how nicely you try to put it.
Our small group has been studying Revelation over the last little while and on Tuesday night we finished it! There was a verse that rung in my ears, especially in light of what is written above – ‘No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him’ (Rev 22:3). No curse! The curse is finally over; the slavery to sin – OVER! The presence of sin – GONE! The power of sin – VANISHED! This is better than good, this is very good.
What a great and glorious kingdom that Christ has won for us!
What a magnificent God we have who has worked this out since the beginning of time!
What a wonderful new creation!
What a hope we have!
What joy we have in being assured of our place in heaven!
What an immense thing to have every spiritual blessing in Christ!
With such a breathtaking vision of the riches and splendour of the new creation, it is no wonder that the book finishes with a plea for Jesus to return: ‘Come, Lord Jesus’. I don’t often pray for Jesus to return but I have been encouraged to this week and into the future.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Grappling with marriage
The debate over whether to legally recognise gay relationships with a marriage continues in todays Sydney Morning Herald. Read the article here http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/gay-unions-accepted-but-not-symbolism/2008/05/07/1210131061925.html
There are a number of interesting points
1. He continues this stream of thought that there should be a wall between church and state and that the two should never cross paths but remain like train tracks. He needs to read Andrew Cameron's lecture on this topic. Read it here http://www.newcollege.unsw.edu.au/fileadmin/user_upload/pdfs/NCLs05Cameron1.pdf
2. He struggles to see that marriage is a institution that is for all people but was given to us from God for the proper expression of a man and woman's relationship. This objective reality of marriage continues to hamper those who want to make it something it isn't. They have not grasped the purpose of marriage. Those who want to change it want it to be something that it is not - how could a chair be used as a microphone? A chair's purpose is for sitting! The purpose of marriage is for a man and a woman.
There are a number of interesting points
1. He continues this stream of thought that there should be a wall between church and state and that the two should never cross paths but remain like train tracks. He needs to read Andrew Cameron's lecture on this topic. Read it here http://www.newcollege.unsw.edu.au/fileadmin/user_upload/pdfs/NCLs05Cameron1.pdf
2. He struggles to see that marriage is a institution that is for all people but was given to us from God for the proper expression of a man and woman's relationship. This objective reality of marriage continues to hamper those who want to make it something it isn't. They have not grasped the purpose of marriage. Those who want to change it want it to be something that it is not - how could a chair be used as a microphone? A chair's purpose is for sitting! The purpose of marriage is for a man and a woman.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
On the issue of relationships
There is an interesting article in today's herald about families being strangers to there teenagers by not seeing them for a year while they are at boarding school. http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/families-becoming-strangers/2008/05/05/1209839554193.html
A quote from the article
'The problem was not PLC's alone but shared among schools throughout Sydney and around the world, he said. "To earn enough money to make it, we haven't stopped to think what we are losing to do that," he writes. "If we are losing family values and community welfare, something needs to be done about that.'
It is a great thought, what are we prepared to lose to make it in the world? We are sacrificing relationships in order to be successful in the eyes of the world! It begs the question of who we are trying to please in the world? It also reminds me of a verse - What does it profit a man to gain the whole world yet forfeit his soul? (Mk 8:36) Relationships are not the only thing that are being left by the roadside, it seems the soul has been trodden on and run over by the Range Rover!
A quote from the article
'The problem was not PLC's alone but shared among schools throughout Sydney and around the world, he said. "To earn enough money to make it, we haven't stopped to think what we are losing to do that," he writes. "If we are losing family values and community welfare, something needs to be done about that.'
It is a great thought, what are we prepared to lose to make it in the world? We are sacrificing relationships in order to be successful in the eyes of the world! It begs the question of who we are trying to please in the world? It also reminds me of a verse - What does it profit a man to gain the whole world yet forfeit his soul? (Mk 8:36) Relationships are not the only thing that are being left by the roadside, it seems the soul has been trodden on and run over by the Range Rover!
The Environmental Divorce Rate
Having dinner with some friends on the weekend and we were talking about global warming and climate change and he commented, 'if we spent as much time trying to fix the climate as we did trying to repair relationships, in particular the divorce rate, that would be a better world to live in.' True, true...
Reading Revelation Right
Last Tuesday night at Bible Study we read through the whole book of Revelation in one sitting. It was a really valuable exercise (well at least I thought so!). I'm assuming when the recipients of the letter received it they didn't sit down over 9 weeks to read it but read it out in one hit. It helps to give the big picture of the book even if you don't understand everything John is writing about. It is an exciting book that is aimed at giving great hope to anyone by unveiling, revealing to the reader a marvellous vision of Jesus Christ (Rev 1:1 'The revelation of Jesus Christ'). It is ONE revelation it is not the book of revelations (it bugs me when people ask about the book of revelations!). Why not take an hour to sit and read it? I promise you it will be a worthwhile time spent......
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