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…...
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...
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...
I’m observing someth...
posted by Dean Thomas
It all began when I read Acts again towards the end of last year – actually I’ve read it at least once a year for a long time, but it was last year I began to notice something which, to me anyway, was significant. Most of you who are leaders will have read widely enough to have heard of the...
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...
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...
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...
Make a difference? O...
posted by Dean Thomas
Is Our Vision Too Small? I read an article on the internet recently in which the writer made a critical assessment of world mission efforts during the last 100 years. He said we had invested our energies in either Gospel outreach or social action and the results in many countries have been...
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 images of...
Salvations, swine fl...
posted by Dean Thomas
In September 2009 four Pines’ Graduates went to Chiang Mai, Thailand, to encourage and minister alongside four other Pines’ Graduates – Peung, Relle, Terry and Robyn. The ensuing two weeks were filled with challenges, salvations, swine flu, tree removal, good food and new cultural...
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...
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...