TheStyle Logo
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Church Planting
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
  • Mission
  • Book Reviews
  • Media
    • Podcast
    • Photo
    • Videos
Home » Evangelism
  • Church Planting
  • Evangelism
  • Featured Articles
  • Leadership
  • Mission
Mar09

9 years in the making

posted by Dean Thomas

Having morning tea this morning, one of the students asked me ‘how was yesterday afternoon?’ I sat there trying to think what could he be talking about? What did I do yesterday afternoon? He noticed the blank look on my face and the vacant stare and proceeded to say ‘you know the old people!’ Ah it all came flooding back… Every Thursday I run a computer group for seniors. A nice bunch of people, friendly, fun, considerate group of people. But to tell you the truth at 38 years of age I did not picture my life being the way it is! I did not imagine I would be running a group full of how can I say…...

»»
  • Evangelism
Nov27

Erwin McManus on Eva...

posted by Dean Thomas

“My conviction is that we over-teach Christians and under-teach non-Christians.” This article originally appeared in the May/June 2005 issue of Outreach magazine. The key to evangelism in the New World is the same as it was in the first century—creating environments where...

»»
Contextualize, contextualize, contextualize
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
  • Mission
Sep09

Contextualize, conte...

posted by Dean Thomas

Contextualize, contextualize, contextualize. I hear this word a lot. I hear it from the emerging Church movement. I hear it from the evangelical pragmatics, (that’s what Robert Webber calls them in his book ‘Young Evangelicals’). I hear it from training colleges… What...

»»
Do You Hear It?
  • Church Planting
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
Sep03

Do You Hear It?

posted by Dean Thomas

The noise is getting louder each day! The boisterous opponents of the Church are becoming increasingly vocal: ‘All the Church wants is money!’ ‘Fanatics like them cause wars!’ ‘Bunch of hypocrites!’ ‘They don’t know how to have fun! ‘The...

»»
The Art of Being Different
  • Church Planting
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
Aug25

The Art of Being Dif...

posted by Dean Thomas

One of these things is doing its own thing; (sing along with me now) one of these things just doesn’t belong… O.K. so you’re not as familiar with the Sesame Street classics as I’d hoped. Doesn’t matter. Does it worry you to be different? I don’t always fit...

»»
re-inventing the Church in Australia
  • Articles
  • Church Planting
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
Aug24

re-inventing the Chu...

posted by Dean Thomas

Some people love the Church, some are suspicious of the Church and still others hate it with a vengeance!But which Church do they love or hate? Is it the greying, largely traditional Church; the aggressive, contemporary mega or regional Church; or the almost hidden (no buildings) emerging...

»»
Perspective Change or Just a Bad Day?
  • Articles
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
  • Mission
Aug24

Perspective Change o...

posted by Dean Thomas

Since my parents moved interstate I don’t see them much. I was afraid that with the move into a small country town they would somehow just give up on following Jesus. But it seems the reverse has happened. So when Dad asked me to take him to a large Christian Bookstore during his recent...

»»
Needs Met by Religion: Belonging
  • Articles
  • Evangelism
Aug24

Needs Met by Religio...

posted by Dean Thomas

I was going through my notes the other day and came across this article that I have collected along the way other the years. Sadly I have lost the cover sheet for it, so I can’t give credit to the original owner. If you should know, please let me know so I can give the author the...

»»
Change Me, Not the Circumstances! Part 1
  • Church Planting
  • Evangelism
  • Featured Articles
Jul10

Change Me, Not the Circumstances! Part 1

posted by Dean Thomas

I had to speak to our Cert IV grads who are beginning the Diploma course today. And while today should be a celebration for them… they have finished the CertIV… and although they earned to right to look back… and while it would be good to talk about how good the journey has been so far… I was reluctant to do so. And it wasn’t because I feared some of them would not shutup! I will explain in a moment. If you visit my house you’d see some of the furniture I’ve made. Traditional cabinet making is my trade, but it was more than a trade for me, it was my passion. Before I was married I spent what seemed...

»»
  • Articles
  • Evangelism
Nov04

Close enough to make...

posted by Dean Thomas

In Australia there is a growing phenomenon I like to call own-little-world-itis that is hazardous to evangelism and disciple-making. One of the symptoms of said phenomenon is the trend to activate your remote controlled garage door on the final approach to your house, and hit it again while...

»»
Honest evangelism
  • Church Planting
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
Sep15

Honest evangelism

posted by Dean Thomas

I was revising my evangelism teaching notes and came across an old article about ‘deconversion’. This article has always struck a cord with me and I thought it was about time I shared it with you. It’s long, but worth it. I can no longer get in contact with the orginal author to get personal permission. But I have noticed it is now scattered throughout the wonderful land of public domain on the net, so I hope it is ok (if it’s yours, please email me). The late fall afternoon is peaceful as I cozy up on the sofa for a few hours of cable television movies. Flipping through the channels, I happen upon a prerecorded...

»»
Go … the ironic path of a reluctant church planter
  • Articles
  • Church Planting
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
Aug19

Go … the ironic path of a reluctant church planter...

posted by Dean Thomas

When I think back about why I chose to learn at The Pines, it really wasn’t to learn how to plant churches. (Sorry). I had felt for quite a while that Australian churches weren’t really impacting Australia, like we could or should.. like what happened in the Bible. I couldn’t see the blokes at high school coming along to youth group (though ironically some of the tougher guys did 🙂 And I was frustrated with the lack of progress I was experiencing with the guys at work. There was no way that the blokes there would come along to church or home-group! In fact, I wasn’t even interested in getting them to church. Most of the blokes I...

»»
Exponential Decay – Scientometrics – Atrophy and the Church
  • Articles
  • Evangelism
  • Featured Articles
  • Leadership
Jul26

Exponential Decay – ...

posted by Dean Thomas

I came across an article the other day from the ‘Boston Globe’ talking about the increasing difficulty of making new discoveries. I discovered (no pun intended) that until recently no one has really tried to measure the increasing difficulty of discovery. The name given to this new type of...

»»
Are Australians Resistant or Receptive to the Gospel?
  • Articles
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
  • Mission
Jul09

Are Australians Resistant or Receptive to the Gosp...

posted by Dean Thomas

David Garrison has alerted the world to the amazing phenomenon of Church multiplication movements.  I get excited when I hear about Churches multiplying themselves through a society via the rapid spread of the Gospel through relational webs. Most of the success is due to Church people (not pastors) taking the initiative to share the “Good News” with friends and family.  According to Garrison, most of this growth is occurring in Latin America, Africa and Asia. There is no evidence to date of this phenomenon occurring in the West. As an Australian I am envious. Why can’t this happen in my land? Garrison and Ed Stetzer write that two...

»»
Why I don’t follow Rick Warren
  • Articles
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
Jul07

Why I don’t follow Rick Warren

posted by Dean Thomas

Thank you to the original author of this article Julia Kate Swodeck for giving us permission to use her post. First off, I love and appreciate Rick Warren.  I have been to his church on several occasions, read The Purpose Driven Life, and even defended his choice of Hawaiian shirts & khakis, but when it comes to Twitter I just can’t bring myself to click the Follow button.  He is just one of the many christian influencers of our time that consistently unsocialize the social media.  “How’s that?” you say.  It’s quite simple actually… according to Twitter, Twitter may be used for any number of...

»»
Where are the leaders?
  • Articles
  • Church Planting
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
  • Mission
Jul06

Where are the leader...

posted by Dean Thomas

About six years ago the German football team was at a crossroads. They were playing what many people thought was a boring brand of the beautiful game. They were a defensive team and while they could sometimes win on the counter when it came to winning a game with their own strategy they really...

»»
God is not fair
  • Articles
  • Church Planting
  • Evangelism
  • Featured Articles
  • Leadership
  • Mission
Jun23

God is not fair

posted by Dean Thomas

Today has been an emotional day and it’s only 9.15 in the morning. I’ve just finished reading an article written by my wife regarding the terrible start in life our son Zeke had. I’ve also been keeping up with the saga of someone who’s been ripped off in an online transaction (read about it here, but be warned, there is some bad language). I recognise millions of people have so much more to contend with than I do and lately just about any story of powerlessness or injustice makes me think of  ‘fairness’ or more importantly the lack of fairness in the world today. I can’t even watch a simple...

»»
Internet Evangelism – home of the wild west
  • Articles
  • Church Planting
  • Evangelism
  • Featured Articles
  • Leadership
  • Mission
May31

Internet Evangelism – home of the wild west

posted by Dean Thomas

Almost every week I get an email from some Christian organisation asking me to sign a petition regarding something ‘bad’ on the internet. Every second day I see another news headline talking about the dangers of facebook. A recent news headline in Australia has been about defacement of a young schoolboy’s tribute page with disgusting porn images. Last week I saw another story about a teenage girl being lured by two men to her death through her facebook page. All this talk about facebook and yet not much about myspace. (By the way, myspace isn’t exactly a field of daisies either. “Lowlights” include video...

»»
  • Articles
  • Evangelism
May05

The Cost of the ‘Tun...

posted by Dean Thomas

I blame people like Barna for ruining my life… I have tuned in and dropped out. I have been in the ‘ministry’ now for some time and as I reflect on those years, I wonder how could I have been so wrong on so many things? In all of those years I experienced a degree of...

»»
The missionaries are allowed to – why can’t I?
  • Articles
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
Sep07

The missionaries are...

posted by Dean Thomas

Why are missionaries allowed to get away with so much when it comes to communicating the Gospel in the context of those they serve? What would happen in our communities if we lived out their missional strategies here at home? How would that impact how we talk? How we dress? How we serve? How...

»»
Perspective Change or Just a Bad Day?
  • Articles
  • Evangelism
  • Featured Articles
  • Leadership
Sep01

Perspective Change o...

posted by Dean Thomas

Since my parents moved interstate I don’t see them much. I was afraid that with the move into a small country town they would somehow just give up on following Jesus. But it seems the reverse has happened. So when Dad asked me to take him to a large Christian Bookstore during his recent...

»»
Posture Evangelism?
  • Articles
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
Jun26

Posture Evangelism?

posted by Dean Thomas

When I am riding my motorbike and going fast I posture my body differently. For example if I am breaking for a right hand corner I would for a brief moment transfer my weight on the left hand foot peg, move my entire body over to the right so I am no longer sitting on the seat, I will then point my right knee into the direction I want to turn, the weight is then shifted back now to the right foot peg. The way my body is postured determines the direction in which I travel. The more weight I transfer to the inside of the bike, that is the right hand side of the bike going around a right hand corner, the less the bike will have to lean over. My...

»»
  • Articles
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
Apr14

The Great Divide in ...

posted by Dean Thomas

For those of you who know me personally you would know that I really struggled through my bible college years… and I mean struggle. Every year a new intake of students would enter in the college and every year the students who have been around the longest would have to help integrate the...

»»
India – one man’s remarkable story
  • Articles
  • Church Planting
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
Apr14

India – one man’s remarkable story

posted by Dean Thomas

The movement of God in India – one man’s remarkable story One day, he was a professional young chemist living in an upper-middle class family in India; the next he was called by God to a life of servant hood and found himself living on the streets with no income and only some Bible tracts and a backpack to his name. That was 35 years ago. Today, Pastor R. Abraham is a spiritual father to many in India and has an influential relationship with Government leaders. He heads up the church planting movement of the New India Church of God, and is leading them towards the vision of planting 3000 churches in India and Nepal by 2010. So far, 2150...

»»
  • Articles
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
Mar12

One step closer or o...

posted by Dean Thomas

Today I’m re-assessing [deep breath]. I talk so much about the need for revolution. The need to stop perpetuating an institutional commitment apart from its cultural context, and to start living out the Gospel in the culture in which many are lost and facing a Christless eternity. I have...

»»
  • Articles
  • Church Planting
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
  • Mission
Nov04

Contextualize, conte...

posted by Dean Thomas

Contextualize, contextualize, contextualize. I hear this word a lot. I hear it from the emerging Church movement. I hear it from the evangelical pragmatics, (that’s what Robert Webber calls them in his book ‘Young Evangelicals’). I hear it from training colleges… What...

»»
  • Articles
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
Oct12

play of the day…

posted by Dean Thomas

So many of us are under-estimated in life! Have you ever felt that people just can’t see what you know is inside you?… or at least what you hope is there? I had this experience this week, someone I spend time with thinks I’m a drop kick. Now I know at times I act like a drop...

»»
  • Articles
  • Church Planting
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
Oct08

Do you hear it?

posted by Dean Thomas

The noise is getting louder each day! The boisterous opponents of the Church are becoming increasingly vocal: ‘All the Church wants is money!’ ‘Fanatics like them cause wars!’ ‘Bunch of hypocrites!’ ‘They don’t know how to have fun! ‘The Church has no place in politics/schools/the media’ Every day the opportunity for Aussies to hear about belonging to a community of God becomes more remote. Every day Mr/Ms Average Australia sees less need to go to Church. And more often than not, the wider Church body has one response: Silence. Do you hear it? In many Churches it’s...

»»
  • Articles
  • Book Reviews
  • Church Planting
  • Evangelism
  • Leadership
  • Mission
Oct07

MegaShift-the best n...

posted by Dean Thomas

Have you ever read a non-fiction book which is un-put-downable? If a quick survey of my close circle of Christian friends is anything to go by, books like James Rutz’s MegaShift are few and far between. The preface includes the challenge, ‘If you read it with an open heart, I...

»»
  • Articles
  • Church Planting
  • Evangelism
  • Featured Articles
  • Leadership
Oct02

Your Kingdom Come… w...

posted by Dean Thomas

From science we recognize that there are capacities and limitations to our own perceptions. From the early 20th century two guys named Donald Broadbent and Thomas Kuhn did separate studies and discovered we have filtering processes that both allow and prevent information from coming in to our...

»»

search

User

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by Wordpress