Human Being is a newly released song from Caroline Cobb.
Category Archives: 1
Has Service Been Detached From Real, Christ-like Leadership? (via Ashley Hibbard at Dashhouse)
Ashley Hibbard provides a guest-post at Dashhouse which ponders whether management skill and leadership have supplanted serving as the marker of pastoral leadership in the church.
Avoiding polar extremes, the problem identified is whether the motivation to engage with others is for their benefit, or to be noticed.
From the post:
There are many unhealthy aspects of the Christian “celebrity culture” that has infiltrated almost every corner of the church, but one of the most deadly may be one of the least addressed: the need to be noticed. It seems to me that all too often, the need to be noticed masquerades as leadership.
I once heard an individual go a struggling church leader and offer help if he needed “someone to lead things or run things.” I knew of another, more mature individual who offered his help as “anything you need; anything at all.” While this is only one incident, I have seen evidence of or heard tell of many others like it. And it makes me wonder if we have come to a place where “leaders” have replaced servants, and service has been detached from real, Christ-like leadership.
Traveling To Brisbane
Waiting for a flight to take us to Brisbane.
I’ve somewhat given up on regional connections and budget carriers.
My anxiety levels don’t cope with the stress of arrangements that feel on a par with this. (and this one actually achieved its destination)
Attractional Is Not A Style. It’s A Paradigm. (via Jared Wilson)
In Gospel-Driven Church Jared Wilson offers a critique of church growth that is not confined to a style or a size of congregation:
I also want to be clear about what I don’t mean. When I use the word attractional, I am not referring to “contemporary” worship styles or megachurches. Some critics of the attractional church movement easily lapse into a megachurch critique, and while there may be valid criticisms of megachurches, that is not my concern in this book. The size of the church isn’t the point.
There are traditional and nontraditional, denominational and nondenominational, small, medium, and megasized attractional churches. Attractional is not a style. It’s a paradigm.
An attractional church conducts worship and ministry according to the desires and values of potential consumers. This typically leads to the dominant ethos of pragmatism throughout the church. If a church determines its target audience prefers old-fashioned music, then that’s what they feature in order to attract those people.Jared Wilson, Gospel-Driven Church, Zondervan, 2019, pgs. 24-25.
Footy Tipping 2019 – NRL Round 7 / AFL Round 6
With Easter and Anzac Day, the AFL are playing for something like nine out of ten days.
Which just seems a bit excessive. I lodged my tips when I realized last night’s game was starting.
I did my NRL tips as well, and they’ve started this afternoon as well.
Anyway…
NRL (last round 6/8; season tally 31/48)
Easts
Melbourne
North Queensland
Souths
Wests
Cronulla
Canberra
Parramatta (even though it’s their rostered weekend off)
AFL (last round 5/9; season tally 19/45)
Richmond
Collingwood
Port Adelaide
Brisbane (without confidence)
Adelaide
Greater Western Sydney
Fremantle
Hawthorn
Geelong
The Good Old Days by John Paul White
The Good Old Days by John Paul White from The Hurting Kind.
Serenity May Be An Outcome Of Faith, Hope, Love And Wisdom, But Is Not A Pre-condition (via Peter Adam)
Peter Adam takes Reinhold Neibuhr’s famous prayer for serenity, and offers a personal adjustment that seeks from God that which can lead to serenity.
I don’t think it denigrates Neibuhr’s premise, but seeks to speak to the experience of those of us who often feel a lack of serenity, even as we see God answering our prayers.
He also offers a few more thoughts in his article at Gospel Coalition Australia.
Negotiating all this complexity requires wisdom, patience, and hope. It requires godly contentment and godly discontentment. I often think of Reinhold Niebuhr’s prayer,
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.But when I use it I re-word it,
Loving heavenly Father, please grant me faith, hope love and wisdom:
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.For serenity may be an outcome of faith, hope, love and wisdom, but is not a pre-condition!
We need to learn to embrace God’s less-welcome gifts, such as discouragements, frustrations, suffering, sickness, and opposition.
