Inside Out

My Sister Karen

2012-02-01T22:04:00.001+13:00

In the run up to Christmas my little sister died. Karen was 44 and her brave battle with cancer was over. I want to pay tribute to Karen's love of life and family. She expressed her emotions openly and told us she loved us. She had a smiling determination, a love of sport, animals and the outdoors. Her lasting friendships were obvious at her funeral when we heard from three friends from three particular stages of her life. I particularly appreciated hearing about her high school years, which were largely unknown to me having left home for University by then. I also want to pay tribute to Karen's husband Dallas who cared for Karen so faithfully and well right through her many health struggles.

My family and I have so appreciated the support of friends, family and our church family at East Taieri. It has drawn us closer to people here. As I said one Sunday morning, in a church the size of ET, some people won't have known that a sister, let alone that she had cancer. That is completely understandable. The wonderful thing is that some people knew, and those who were close to us have been incredibly thoughtful and supportive, especially elders and the ministry team, and those I work most closely with. Thank you everyone.

I have taken many, many funerals in my 20 years as a pastor, and sat with many grieving people. I'm reminded again how true it is that comfort came from people who managed to say a few halting words of sympathy or write a simple card. It wasn't their profound words, but their love and care that counted.

It isn't easy for me to speak about the trials we face. It makes me vulnerable. In this case, the vulnerability led to people being able to care for us. Keeping a "stiff upper lip" and not saying anything would have shut people out and kept the relationships shallow. Have you had an experience of being vulnerable leading to deeper relationships?

This time has also reminded me that the message of the resurrection is amazing and full of hope. I know this in my head, and preach it from the scriptures, but I've been reminded of the importance of the resurrection by seeing Karen's body waste away.

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands... Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." 2 Cor 4:16ff

I have preached from these verses in the last week at a dear saints funeral. I think I'm more motivated to share the good news of Jesus than I have ever been!

God bless you,
Martin.

How is Your Heart?

2011-10-27T18:02:00.000+13:00

Last week I wrote in our Sunday Bulletin about checking inside on the condition of our heart. I copy it below:
How are you inside? In some famous words from the Bible, “people look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Sam 16:7) It doesn’t mean the internal organ that pumps blood, but the governing centre of our lives – our character, personality, will, motives, and mind.

Taking part in God’s mission adventure means we will do things, but we need to be careful that we aren’t so preoccupied with what we are doing for God (as if he is relying on our help), that we miss what God is doing in us. Every day God will be working to shape us to be more like Christ, if we pay attention.

Want to take a quick heart check up? Here are some things to look for:
• Do I feel mad, sad, glad or scared? Grateful or demanding?
• Am I taking responsibility for how I feel or blaming it on others?
• Do I have a few safe relationships where I seek feedback about my behaviour?
• Do I have time for people, including those who don’t yet know Jesus?
• Am I growing in love for others, or impatience with others?
• Do I think everyone else is wrong?
• Am I falling into all-or-nothing, black-and-white thinking? E.g. if my performance falls short of perfect, I’m a failure.
• Am I picking out a single negative detail and dwelling on it exclusively, so that my vision or all reality becomes darkened, like a drop of ink that discolours a whole glass of water?
• Am I jumping to conclusions without the facts, or making assumptions about others without bothering to ask?

Let’s not ignore the health of our heart,
________________________________

Some readers might have recognised some of the above reflection which Jim Herrington, Robert Creech and Trisah Taylor offered as some practices for "calming" ourselves amidst the anxiety that can arise in congregations. They are using the insights of Edwin Friedman and Bowen Family Systems Theory to consider how interactions and relationships can work better in church settings. Their book is The Leader's Journey: Accepting the Call to Personal and Congregational Transformation (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003).
I am finding the insights of this systems theory and in particular the concept of the leader being an "less-anxious presence" very helpful.

Will chat more about this,
Martin.

One Service - Touch Pause Engage

2011-09-24T11:12:00.000+12:00

Last Sunday all 6 East Taieri congregations gathered in one service at the Hislop Hall, in Taieri College.

It was a wonderful opportunity to worship God together and to seek God for the year ahead. We also appreciated the music ministry of David Lyle Morris, who joined us for the occassion.

I paste below a summary of my sermon notes for that service from Luke 10:1-9

Introduction

Members of a rugby team are all different, but together they make up the team – each member playing their part.

Together, we make up the East Taieri Church team. We are all different. There are six different services represented here. But together we make up the ET team, each member playing their part.
The mission of the All Blacks is clear – to get the ball across the try line, and stop the opposition doing the same, so they win the game.
What is our mission as a church?

One people in mission for God’s glory

Growing in Christ and making him known in love

through word, sign and deed

Because all people matter to God.

What does that look like? What’s our vision for that in the future?

1) The people were in touch with Jesus (Luke 10:1)

The 72 people Jesus chose and sent out were some of his followers. He knew them, and they knew him. Jesus was sending them out as his ambassadors to proclaim that the Kingdom of God is near. God’s powerful rule as King was being demonstrated in Jesus ministry, and now they were going to do the same kinds of things. Healing people, driving out demons, and telling people about turning back to God. They had seen Jesus do it, now they were to go out and do it themselves. But it came from their relationship with Jesus. Being in touch with Jesus.

Our mission is an overflow of our relationship with Jesus. At East Taieri Church our vision is that we are all close to Jesus. Knowing Jesus, so our lives are changed and we can be a part of Him changing other’s lives too.

How do we stay in touch with Jesus? God took the initiative in sending Jesus, but we also need to respond. There was a woman who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years. She had spent all her money on doctors and none of them could make her well. She thought, “Jesus is my only hope.” She thought “If I only reach out and touch his cloak, I will be healed.” And she was.

You can reach out and touch Jesus in worship. Those of us leading worship are praying, digging deep in the Scriptures, practicing music, preparing creative stuff, getting ready. But all of us need to get ready for worship. We need to come expecting to meet with God in all His love and power. We want to grow in our worship services in the year ahead.

You can be in touch with Jesus in your own of course. Growing in your relationship with Jesus in those quiet moments at home. In the year ahead, I will be teaching about spiritual gifts and spiritual practices that are part of living as Jesus lived.

Or when you meet with a mentor or in a small group. In the past year we had 4 new small groups start, 2 at FUEL, and 2 from the rest of ET, giving us over 25 groups now. People encouraging each other in their life with Jesus. God has good things for us as we draw close to Jesus

2) Pause – Prayer, Reflection, Learning, Growth (Luke 10:2)
Notice what happened before they actually went out.
Before going out, they were to pray. Prayer reminds us that we are dependent on God’s grace and power. We humble ourselves, and ask God to do what we cannot.

So we are making October a month of prayer. We will give you a prayer diary for the month, inviting you to seek God daily. There will be suggestions for prayer and space for you to write down what you sense God saying to you. We will finish the month with a major prayer gathering to worship God together and hear what the Lord has been saying. We will be praying for our whole mission as a church, including that God would draw us all close to Jesus.

Then they were to go according to some specific instructions from Jesus. (Lk 10:3-9) We will see in a moment that the basic idea of our mission is simple. Sometimes we over complicate things. But here Jesus did give them some mission instructions. They were to travel light: no money, no bag, or sandals. They weren’t to dilly dally along the way making small talk to the people they met. There was a sense of urgency to find those people that were open to the good news about Jesus, discovering where God was already at work in a town or village and joining in. (Jesus altered these in Lk 22:35-36).

The second part of our vision at ET is everyone growing in Christ, understanding that the Christian life isn’t just about going to heaven when we die, but living in the kingdom of God now – ambassadors for the King.
(Luke 10:9) Seeing God’s power at work putting things to rights, healing sickness and injustice, bringing forgiveness and reconciliation, changing lives, caring for God’s creation around us... A big view of what it means to follow Jesus as an ambassador of the King of Kings.

There are specific ways you can pause, reflect, learn and grow:

There are opportunities for intentional discipleship.
This ET brochure, “How can I grow spiritually?” has a menu for spiritual growth: starters, entrees, mains, desserts...
This year we put together a ministry opportunities board, which highlights opportunities for you to step out into a new serving experience with God.
We will be running the updated Network Course in the new year to help us be clear about our spiritual gifts, personal style and passion, so we understand more of where God is calling each of us to step out in mission.
In March next year we are having a church camp which will be a fantastic opportunity to build relationships and grow as a disciple of Jesus.

3) Engage in God’s Mission: In touch, pause, then go! You and I “go into mission” every day. When we get out of bed – our home is a mission. When we go out our gate, enter school, workplace, or join in with something through ET church or in the community, we are in mission. Our vision is that we all might be in a vital relationship with Jesus, growing in him, and overflowing to others in mission.

And while I’ve acknowledged that we need to be prayerful and reflective, learning & growing, the basic pattern in Lk 10:9 was fairly simple:

1. Minister to real needs with God’s power,

2. And tell people where it came from.

Let me give you a few examples of our strategies for engaging:

(a) Today, someone from FUEL gave you a brochure that explains the mission and vision of FUEL – a mission work of ET. FUEL is a breakfast cafe church that meets on Sunday morning in Fairfield. Their particular focus is reaching and discipling people not currently involved in church. FUEL has grown to around 30 adults and 20 children every week. We need to pray that God will raise up new leaders, so FUEL can go on and grow.

(b) We want to be a part of God changing lives and transforming communities. Our community facilitator Joy is doing a great job of research, networking, and seeing people join in opportunities that God raises. We want to engage our community.

It will mean building partnerships where we can be an influence for Jesus amidst something that may not be labelled “a ministry of ET church”. This already happens through our chaplaincy in schools... Through the way Christians from ET are involved in victims support, caring for the elderly, night patrols, sports clubs... The Father and Son’s breakfast Ben McK is helping organise. Our vision is that we would all be thinking “God’s Mission” as we go about these activities.

(c) We are going to consciously celebrate the way existing ET ministries are engaging people outside the church family. Sue Todd’s testimony: English for Speakers of Other Languages – Coffee & Conversation Group.

(d) We are going to introduce more people to Jesus.

Two key strategies:

(i) We attract and invite people to fantastic events (such as Christmas Eve – this year lets break the 1000 mark – and perhaps more importantly) and we attract and invite people to quality ministries (such as Mainly Music and the Marriage course).

(ii) We build relationships with people, and speak about Jesus.

Our attractional stuff is going well. But we aren’t great at actually saying something. I’m not saying this to heap guilt on us. But in the year ahead we are going to help you get better at speaking about Jesus in a relaxed, helpful way, using one simple, fun, training course. I’m sure we all have someone we know that we want to introduce to Jesus.

(e) Our vision is to grow our global mission too: Short term mission experiences; Supporting long term missionaries; Building the relationship that has begun with the San Pathong Church in Thailand...

Conclusion

Rubgy is just a game, but our mission is not a game. It’s life instead of death. Grace and truth instead of striving and lies...

My prayer is that these words, “Touch”, “Pause”, “Engage” will echo in our minds and will think of our vision of being in Touch with Jesus, Pausing to pray, reflect, learn and grow, and Engaging with God’s mission to a hurting world.

Mission Visit to Thailand

2011-09-08T21:01:00.000+12:00

In June/July, my wife Sue and I had the privilege of travelling to Thailand to visit missionary families associated with East Taieri Church. One family are members of our church so this was a particular focus. A long way to go for a pastoral visit, but it was fantastic! The other two families are also top people and it was inspiring to spend time with them. All three are doing great work in quite different settings.

Some reflections on our time. There is a saying "to be Thai is to be Buddhist", and while there is real openness and response to the gospel among hill tribe people in northern Thailand, Thai Buddhists are much less open. Significant resistance and opposition occurs. We were aware of principalities and powers also. Sue & I found ourselves praying a lot.

I am sure we can learn much from the challenge of sharing the gospel in this culture. One Thai church leader I spoke with said that the issue of Karma and the culture of shame (rather than guilt), required a foundation of loving acts of service before the words of the gospel could be shared. That has some echos of NZ (though we don't have a culture of shame). The church in which he is an elder has a significant community development programme underway - even though their church has and average attendance of only around 30 people!

The respect for Buddhism was evident in the people who scored priority seating at the airport! (The first icon is a monk). I heard on the radio today the way our market economy ranks people in order of importance according to their contribution to
GDP. This would give more value to the most lowly paid job, than to any volunteer role, or what I would regard as crucial roles of raising children, or caring for aged parents.

Perhaps Thailand has more insight than NZ on some of these priorities. Certainly older parents or grandparents are well respected. One Thai couple told us how much they appreciated the sacrifice our missionary family was making in coming to Thailand and leaving their parents back in NZ!

Meeting procedure in Thailand can be very slow (even to this Presbyterian), but it has the advantage of being highly relational. Again we could learn something here. One little personal reminder this somewhat task oriented pastor needs occasionally is "people before task Martin". I sometimes say that to myself.

The importance and also difficulty of language learning was obvious.

The different culture of missionaries from the US was apparent. They had more resources behind them, and a different approach to engaging Thai nationals. As in any church ministry team, missionary teams must work hard at their working relationships. The health of the team is key.

We were able to begin a relationship with a Thai church near Chiang Mai. I am excited about the mutual learning and support that will come from this as our relationship grows. At this stage we are simply praying for each other, but that first step is a good step. It's importance cannot be overlooked.

Looking forward to visiting again!

Martin.

God Space

2011-06-05T23:42:00.001+12:00

East Taieri Church recently hosted Doug Pollock on his God Space Tour. It was a privilege to spend an evening with Doug, who in addition to being a thoroughly nice guy, has one of the soundest, most effective approaches to evangelism in a postmodern context that I know. You can find out more about Doug at his website http://www.godsgps.com/

I read Doug's book God Space: Where Spiritual Conversations Happen Naturally in a couple of hours. A must read for every Christian - at least every Christian who wants to get better at having spiritual conversations so others can come to know the Saviour! This is an easy read in that it is full of wonderful stories, and practical advice. But it is a hard read in that Doug's style forces you to apply what you read and to look at yourself.

Key insights:
It starts with us. "If we’re going to create God Space for others, it has to start inside us. It takes safe people to create safe places.” p.16
He suggests that the reason we so often have spiritual conversations with people on airplanes is because on airplanes our spirituality has no bearing on where we sit. It forces Christians to have time with people who aren't Christians yet. We are fellow travellers on common ground, in close proximity, without distractions of cellphones... The challenge is for us to find ways of creating this kind of God Space in the rest of life.

We need to notice people and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's promptings. Doug gives us some exercises to help us notice - seeing with Jesus' spectacles.

We need to grow in listening. There are connections here with the Alpha Course, and with Dallas Willard's wisdom on evangelism.

We need to wonder - asking questions more than preaching at people.

And we need to be able to offer "spiritual appetisers" or bite sized chunks of the gospel peppered with our experience of it. The challenge here is not to "share our testimony" - one size fits all - but to ask the person if they would like to hear aobut part of our experience that is relevant to the questions they are asking.

What does this mean for ministry at East Taieri?

I will be altering the first part of "Sharpening the Saw" - the training programme we have developed which helps people share their faith with others. I'll do more on listening and asking appropriate (not pre-packaged) questions. Interestingly the gospel illustrations we use on Sharpening the Saw, which come from the XEE course correspond well with Doug's idea of "spiritual appetisers", provided we don't force the whole menu on people if they aren't ready.
We need to consider how we are creating "God Space" within our various ministries. Alpha already does this quite well. FUEL also creates this over breakfast and during their discussions. Night Church has been experimenting with this in various ways. Other services also need to ask this question. Our community ministries, including things like Mainly Music also need to wrestle with the question of creating room for spiritual conversations.
We need to wrestle with where drinking coffee and eating together fits into our ministry scene.
We also need to consider what physical God space we are offering. Sometimes this can occur within the church building, but more often it is before and after services, and we could be more intentional about this in our morning services.
It is interesting how directly this connects with the preaching series I have just finished which used a title based on a book by Bill Hybels. I called the series "The Power of God's Whisper." It was about us all being sensitive to God prompting us to do or say something, and having the courage to respond.

May we all become more passionate about having spiritual conversations with people who don't yet know Jesus.
Martin.

Taking Discipleship Personally

2011-05-21T12:55:00.001+12:00

Recently I wrote this short article for Candour Magazine and I thought others might be interested in it.

Discipleship as personal interaction rather than programme

In my early days as a Christian I was taken through the Navigator discipleship stuff (the Design for Discipleship Series): Bible study, memory verse, giving my testimony, the whole nine yards. Actually, it was good foundational material that contributed to my Christian growth. But what was most influential was my time with the man who led me through this course. I learned much more from the personal interaction with him than from the discipleship course itself and our relationship lasts to this day. He was an elder in a Presbyterian church and led the youth group and a home group. During our runs together I learned about a pastoral heart when, to my initial annoyance, he would allow our run to be interrupted by stopping to talk to someone we met. I learned about prayer from praying with him. Our prayers became more desperate when his first child had complications during birth. We weren’t sure if she was going to survive. It was a first hand example of trusting God in the midst of a trial, and then praising God together when his daughter survived and thrived.

Character discoveries occurred and rubbed off on me. One Sunday evening I was helping him show a gospel movie at church. We had invited lots of people who didn’t normally come to church. A good crowd had gathered, popcorn was popping and we were all praying, excited at the opportunity for changed lives! The movie was on an old reel-to-reel movie projector (before the days of data projectors) and just as we began, the film began jumping at the projector gate – chunkety, chunkety, chunk. Unless we could fix it, our carefully planned outreach evening was going to be a disaster. In the stress of the moment, I heard my mentor muttering under his breath and thought, “This will be interesting.” I leaned closer to find out what he was saying and heard the words, “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”

My mentor sometimes addressed me “Martin, Martin my son” (from words attributed to one of Martin Luther’s mentors who said, “Martin, Martin my son. I see nothing but a cross before you.”) Once, when I had moved to another city, he phoned me and my flatmate answered. Mistaking my flatmate for me he said, “Martin, Martin my son...” My flatmate called out, “Martin, it’s your Dad!” We laughed, and yet in a 2 Tim 1:2 kind of way it was my Dad.

I have benefitted from many programmes over the years, and I have so appreciated the mentoring that people are able to do from a distant century through their writing, but my most significant discipleship moments have been with people like this man. It takes time, but it is lasting. Their personal interaction has shown me what life is like as an apprentice of Jesus.

We need to take discipleship personally, and not rely on programmes, because it works and of course because Jesus modelled it. But there is another reason. I believe life on life interactions are crucial in discipleship because of the nature of truth we are seeking to pass on to others. A Christian disciple is not someone who simply understands and gives assent to certain doctrinal statements. A disciple is one apprenticed to the master, who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”

Lesslie Newbigin wrote: "The manner in which Jesus makes the Father known is not in infallible, unrevisable irreformable statements. He did not write a book which would have served forever as the unquestionable and irreformable statement of the truth about God. He formed a community of friends and shared his life with them." [Lesslie Newbigin, Proper Confidence: Faith, Doubt and Certainty in Christian Discipleship (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995), 89.]

Thankfully we can read in the scriptures what Jesus did and taught, and the effect Jesus had on those around him. But when we are discipled we experience another dimension to learning that is beyond reading a book. Michael Polanyi observed that the skills of a master are lost if they are not passed on first hand to apprentices in the next generation. The line of apprentices who made violins like Stradivarius has been broken.

"It is pathetic to watch the endless efforts – equipped with microscopy and chemistry, with mathematics and electronics – to reproduce a single violin of the kind the half-literate Stradivarius turned out as a matter of routine more than 200 years ago."

"To learn by example is to submit to authority. You follow your master because you trust his manner of doing things, even when you cannot analyse and account in detail for its effectiveness. By watching the master and emulating his efforts in the presence of his example, the apprentice unconsciously picks up the rules of the art... " [Michael Polanyi, Personal Knowledge (London: Routledge, 1958), 53.]

That sounds a lot like discipleship to me.

In my current role I contribute to discipleship in a variety of programmatic and structural ways. I preach, pray, lead worship, foster small group life, and ensure a range of programmes are running, including intentional discipleship using material such as the Omega studies. However, my most lasting impact is probably still time intensive, life on life discipleship. I think of the delight in seeing young ministry interns mature in Christ and go on in Christian ministry. I think of the challenges and joys of seeing people (including my own children) take steps in following Jesus. This doesn’t impact big numbers of people quickly, but I remain committed to having at least one person I’m relating to in this way. I’m taking that personally.

Inspired by the Good News of Easter

2011-04-26T21:32:00.002+12:00

Maundy Thursday communion at East Taieri Church was thoughtful and meaningful. Easter Sunday was a great celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. All my children had great Easter Camps. I had some quality time with Sue. I even enjoyed some Easter eggs. However the most life-transforming moments for me this Easter were those I spent in the Milton Prison.

In January, David, a member of East Taieri Church, told me he felt prompted by God to form a prison ministry team. God has clearly been in this, and to our delight a team came together easily and has been inducted and joined the roster of churches taking service in the Otago Correction Facility. I am a member of that team. The first service I was involved with was on Good Friday. I feel that God spoke to me in several ways through it:

1. All the unknowns forced me to lean on God and not to trust on my years of ministry experience. That was a great reminder for me. I also felt very appreciative of the Prison staff and the other members of the team as we made our way through the security checks into the facility.

2. I was struck by how young the prison congregation were. In contrast to many church congregations around the country, I would say the majority of these men were in their 20’s. This is a sad reflection on the choices being made and situations faced by young men in our society. (43% of prisoners are younger than 30 years old).

3. I was encouraged by how friendly they were. Sadly I have visited churches where people have been much less friendly than these men. They walked up to us, introduced themselves, and thanked us for coming.

4. I was in awe at how carefully they listened to the Bible Reading of Jesus dying on the cross (Mark 15:22-39). Familiar, even routine words, which many church congregations on Good Friday may have taken for granted, rang out with fresh relevance as Mitch read them in that setting. One prisoner near me said, “Mean story!” at the end.

5. I was astounded at the openness of the prisoners in talking about Jesus dying for us all. I had more conversations about the sacrifice of Christ after that service than after any one church service in 20 years of ministry. Forgiveness, a new life, and the promise that there is more to life than this, truly do make for good news!

6. The importance of participation was highlighted for me by the prisoners taking ownership of the music and leading us in three worship songs. They were great!

7. As senior pastor, one of the most inspiring things has been the way this enthusiastic prison ministry team has come together. One church member felt prompted by the Holy Spirit. He was supported by ministry leadership, who had hoped for such a team for some years and had invited the prision chaplain to preach at ET. After the opportunity was promoted in one church service, others felt called to join the team and now it's underway. This encourages me that God is speaking into the "missional imagination of the congregation". By this I mean that God is prompting us to think like missionaries to Mosgiel, living the good news in our surroundings. See Alan Roxburg's book The Missional Leader (San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 2006), p.151.

May you also be inspired about the good news of Jesus dying for our sins!

Martin.

Search and Rescue

2011-03-12T21:59:00.000+13:00

We won't easily forget the images of the Urban Search and Rescue USAR teams working through the collapsed buildings to save people trapped after the Christchurch earthquake. In the early moments volunteers like Ahsei Sopoaga desperately tried to free people from under the rubble. Then the professionals moved in. I had to wipe a tear from my eyes when I saw footage of the international USAR teams coming to help. Now it is New Zealand's turn to help after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

I applaud these brave rescue efforts. They challenge me to bring greater ugency and focus to my efforts to see people rescued from sin. My friends and neighbours are not trapped under fallen rubble, but many are trapped in a fallen world and do not know that Jesus can save them. Oh that Christians would feel the same sense of urgency and motivation that Ahsei Sopoaga demonstrated. Oh that we would have the same professionalism and focus that the USAR teams show.

One key way East Taieri is helping people discover the rescue that Jesus offers them is through the Alpha course. We have run Alpha for many years now, but in recent years Alpha has been gathering more momentum for us. Currently our night church are using the student Alpha material with over a hundred people attending last Sunday. Every time we run Alpha people are set free from sin and from other things that have bound them up. People discover the Saviour and grow as disciples.

This year we are seeking to build momentum even more as we host a regional Alpha training day, and as we organise an Alpha reunion for anyone who has done Alpha in the past.

Isn't this something we need to be urgent and focussed about? I believe a key issue for the future well-being of our nation, and the demonstration of the kingdom of God, is our passion for seeing lost people rescued. If we really believe humans need redeeming (rescuing) from sin, and that the wages of sin is death, then we would have the same passion and urgency the rescue teams demonstrated in Christchurch.

Now I realise that Christians sometimes feel inadequate and are scared off evangelism. To press the analogy: just as we need USAR specialists, we need people with special gifts in evangelism. However, everyone can help lift some rubble, and every Christian can invite a friend or neighbour to Alpha. I actually believe every Christian is called to be able to say something about their faith in Jesus, but leaving that for now, surely we can all invite someone to a dinner. That's all Alpha requires of us. And yet, personal invitation is the key for Alpha.

Looking forward to week three of Student Alpha at night church tomorrow... and also looking forward to the next Alpha dinner. Who will you invite?

Martin.

Another Tragedy for Christchurch

2011-02-22T22:25:00.001+13:00

Hard as it is to believe, another earthquake has hit Christchurch. It is clear from news reports that the damage is worse than the September 4th earthquake, and because it occurred in the middle of the day when many people were in the CBD, casualties are high.

What can we do as a church from Otago?
First we can pray! I know people are praying individually, and in groups. In particular, those people trapped in collapsed buildings need our prayers.

We are opening East Taieri Church for an extra time of prayer at

7.30pm

Wednesday 23rd February.

Second, people with specialist skills may be needed to assist emergency services in Christchurch. I know that medical folks from ET Church have already been contacted about relieving staff in Christchurch.

Third, we need to check in with friends and family here in case they have loved ones badly affected by the earthquake and so need our pastoral support. Talking and praying together can be a great comfort.

Fourth, we need to be sensible and safe ourselves in our desire to help. We will not help the people of Christchurch by clogging phone lines and roads by rushing up there in an uncoordinated way. In due course we will be talking with contacts in Christchurch such as through Horby Presbyterian Community Church to offer assistance as we did after the September 4th earthquake. At the appropriate time there may be need for teams to assist with the clean up, or people willing to host Christchurch people for a break away from the city.

Finally we need to place our trust in God who can see us through all things. God's love and mercy comes to us even in the difficult times (like the valley of the shadow of death in Psalm 23). As I wrote on my blog after the first earthquake, it is not helpful to suggest that this represents God's judgement on Christchurch. Jesus didn't equate people dying in a disaster with their sin (Luke 13:1-5). In Dunedin, we are as much sinners as people in Christchurch. Rather than making simplistic judgements, let's offer our compassion and our prayers.

Martin.

ET Leadership Summit - Lead Where You Are

2011-02-13T18:09:00.000+13:00

I'm looking forward to our first East Taieri Leadership Summit on Saturday 5th March. This is an opportunity for everyone who gives leadership to sharpen their skills! Whether it is parents leading in the home, students setting the tone at school or with their mates, people giving leadership in the workplace or business, or an obvious church ministry.

Our speakers are:

Bill Hybels who will speak on “From Here to There” - leadership lessons from over 30 years of leading a growing church. Bill is the founding and senior pastor of the Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington Illinois and the bestselling author of more than twenty books. He helps inspire church leaders around the world.

Jim Collins’ topic is “Never, Ever, Give up”. Jim is a world class business thinker and bestselling author of “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t” and “Built to Last: successful habits of visionary companies.

Christine Caine will speak about “Leading on the Edge of Hope.” A passionate, out of the

box, and empowering speaker, Christine has been part of Hillsong Church’s key leadership team for over 20 years and is Director of Equip & Empower Ministries and founder of The A21 Campaign, an organization dedicated to the care and healing of victims of human trafficking.

You have probably guessed, that we won't have these speakers in person, but are using the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit DVD. These are world class speakers however who will inspire and equip us in leading where we are. After each session there will be opportunity for us to discuss the material and identify the principles which will transfer to our own situations.

Saturday 5th March 2011, In Oak Lounge

9am - 3pm,

Morning Tea and Lunch provided.

To register the Office 489 6308

Email: office@etchurch.co.nz
Registrations close 1st March

No Cost

Copland Shelter

2011-02-02T23:12:00.001+13:00

During the holidays my 17 year old son Sam and I climbed to Copland Shelter in Mt Cook National Park, along with a good friend and experienced mountaineer, Andrew. The plan was for us all to climb up from the Hooker Glacier to the Shelter (1,960m or 6,430.4 ft), and then the next day we would climb the remaining 190m to the Copland Pass. Sam and I would walk out the Copland valley to the West Coast and Andrew would return down the Copland Ridge to Mt Cook Village.

The day up to the Shelter was beautiful - almost too hot - but sadly a westerly front came in sooner than we hoped and the winds coming over the main divide were too strong to allow us to go over the pass safely. That second day we all returned to Mt Cook Village, tired, a little frustrated that we only did half the trip, but delighted to have had time in such fantastic alpine country.

My reflections?
I value that kind of time with my son Sam, and our friend Andrew. Great talks, testing ourselves against the mountains, trusting each other...

It taught us more about peseverance. I was fairly fit, and Sam was even fitter, but our legs felt the test of the 7 and a half hours walking and climbing. We were very glad to see the Shelter at the end of the day. We got there because we kept on going, even when it was hard, even when I got cramp, even when it was a bit airy scary. Yes, we stopped to rest. Yes, we refueled with meusli bars, chocolate, nuts and water. But we kept on going. It was a lesson in pressing on no matter what. It's amazing how far our legs can take us if we keep on going.

But it was also a reminder of our limitations. The shelter is a 4 bunk, round drum. Without it we would have spent a cold, uncomfortable, even dangerous night in the wind. And it was that wind that convinced us to return to the valley below and wait for another time when the weather would be better. Against the splendour and power of God's creation, we are quite small and weak.

It also taught us about the importance of disciplines and procedures. We filled out our intentions with the DOC staff. One of those staff checked in at the scheduled radio call. We carried our share of emergency gear, GPS, Satellite phone, first aid kit...

And yet there was also risk. We managed the risk with safety gear like ropes and helmets. We avoided unnecessary risk by chosing our route carefully. We treated the weather with respect. And yet there were risks involved in our climb. There are always risks in life. Not always obvious risks, but risks are present if you look hard enough. The obvious danger we faced reminded us that as long as we are alive we face threats of some kind. The Macaulay Clan motto is dulce periculum, "danger is sweet." It reminds us we are alive!

Martin.

Looking ahead in 2011 at East Taieri

2011-01-29T11:48:00.000+13:00

Over the quieter January period I gathered this list of ministry activity that contributes to the overall mission of East Taieri Church which we describe as:

One people in mission for God’s glory

Growing in Christ and making him known in love through word, sign and deed

Because all people matter to God.

A memorable summary of this is:
...Growing in Christ and Making Him Known...Because All People Matter to God

Much of the fruitfulness of our ministry at East Taieri Church comes from faithful ministry by the whole body of Christ. Week by week people gather together, drink deeply of the living water Jesus offers, are changed from the inside out, and then overflow in mission to others around them in the Holy Spirit’s power. This occurs in both ET programmes and through one to one contacts. This is the Lord’s key strategy – disciples making disciples.

However, we do plan some special events, strategies and programmes for the year. At the risk of missing some out, let me name a few:
• We are going into the year with a revitalised creative ministries focus in morning services.

• Alpha has been having a steady impact at ET for years and it is gaining momentum. We want to build further momentum by:
         o Praying regularly in services for the people in our bundle of prayer cards.
         o Hosting a national Alpha Training Day at ET on April 2nd.
         o Night Church will begin the year using the Alpha material and ET congregations inviting people.
         o We a holding an Alpha reunion on April 14th for people who have come to Alpha in the past.

• Using the H2O evangelism programme with Mainly Music Mums

• Continuing to train and challenge us to speak about Jesus to our friends. [Friends for Life – March, Sharpening the Saw, XEE]

• Joining the “Essential Jesus” campaign as a follow up to the successful E100 Bible Reading Challenge

• We are holding our first ET Leadership Summit called “Lead Where You Are” on March 5th using Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit DVD. This is for equipping people at ET for leading in their home, business, ministry...

• On May 16th we are hosting Doug Pollock from Athletes in Action USA here as part of a nation-wide tour to help prepare the Church and individual Christians to use the Rugby World Cup as a unique opportunity to reach out into their communities.

• Our South Island Ministry Conference in May has Murray Talbot from Hornby Presbyterian as keynote speaker – “Let My People Grow!” Murray will address the challenges for churches breaking through growth barriers.

• We will be conducting a detailed Mosgiel Community Profile looking at needs and resources in the community – aiming to develop a significant community development project in Mosgiel in partnership with other organisations.

• We will be running the Marriage Course at ET beginning May 27th

• We will use a mix of Days of Prayer and Fasting, and Weeks of Prayer, to focus our prayer together as a church.

• We will gather all ET congregations for “One Service” for celebration and vision casting (probably at Taieri College) on September 18th, with David Lyle Morris.

• Christmas Eve will again be a key evangelistic opportunity.

• In partnership with FUEL, Fairfield school and a YET youth ministry intern, we will seek to develop a youth ministry programme in Fairfield.

• Develop our overseas mission focus in Thailand. Martin and Sue visiting the Fleck’s, Potters and Robertsons. Short term mission project.

Some great highlights ahead for us!

Martin

Reviewing 2010

2011-01-14T14:06:00.001+13:00

In many ways 2010 was a hard year for East Taieri Church with staffing issues, a drop in numbers of people attending morning worship services, and financial pressures amidst the recession. In behind these presenting symptoms of course lie deeper issues about mission, vision and expectations related to that; our Sunday worship and expectations about that; and how we relate and communicate together within the church.

Having acknowledged the challenges, I found it spiritually uplifting to review some highlights:

• 13 Adults were baptised including a whole family of 6.

• Two ET families stepped out into Ministry Internship training at the start of the year (Harrexs and van’t Wouts). Always hard to see quality people like this go, but they have been a blessing to the churches where they are doing their internship this year.

• At the end of the year Deborah Bower accepted a position as pastor in the Wakatipu parish (Queenstown, Frankton and Arrowtown).

• We held our first church camp for a few years, with around 150 people attending.

• Joy Davis stepped into a full-time community ministry coordinator role, developing new connections in the community, “Where is God on Monday?” programme, the Parenting Matters group, Christmas Dinner (90 people attending in an excellent partnership between ET, the RSA, Community Board, a community trust, and other organisations and churches).

• 150 church leaders at our inspiring South Island Ministry Conference in May with Paul Windsor as keynote speaker, and Tony Robinson taking one session.

• Global Missions weekend with Jim & Diane Young from Malawi.

• We have 5 young people on a summer mission experience with Teen Mission (2 in Uganda and 3 in Argentina)

• We Hosted the awesome World Vision “Girls Night Out” with Petra Bagust and Julia Grace.

• We took up the E100 Bible Reading Challenge. 235 individuals and 32 families participated plus some extras who joined in along the way.

• The One Service in September at Taieri College with all ET congregations participating.

• We have trained people in evangelism and put it into practice, one to one, and in Journeys and the Alpha Programme.

• Held a difficult but helpful forum to help elders and leaders hear from the congregations about issues facing ET.

• Following our forum in November a reinvigorated group of people met to discuss resourcing creative ministries in 2011.

• Fantastic Christmas services that reached around 1000 people. Huge number of community families at the children’s services. In the later two carol services many people responded by coming forward to write light candles or leave written prayers.

All this is to say nothing of the consistent week in, week out, gathering of children, young people and adults to worship, discover more about God, build community together and reach out to others, in Sunday services at ET, FUEL, CCC (and in retirement homes); youth ministry and children’s ministry, chaplaincy, life groups and pastoral care ministries... Youth East Taieri for example connected with over 250 young people a week in 14 youth programmes.

So, amidst the challenges I find myself encouraged and hopeful - Happy New Year!

Martin.

Transform Consultation

2010-09-23T15:46:00.000+12:00

Billed as a strategic consultation on church based evangelism and transformation of society, "Transform" was 48 hours with 25 other senior pastors from around NZ and a team from Alpha NZ. These were top people and I appreciated our discussions and the issues raised by our speakers. East Taieri is a church which has a heart for helping people discover Jesus. This is about seeing lives and communities transformed. You can see the connection I felt with this consultation. Some reflections and insights:

One
We need to think about the gospel we proclaim. What do people hear me preach? Simply that God loves them? Do I include the big picture of the Kingdom of God? Do I warn people of God's judgement?
Max Scott pointed out that "God loves us" (while being true) was actually not part of the gospel presentations in Acts or in Matthew, Mark or Luke. (Check it out if you don't believe me) The key part of the gospel presentation in Acts was that Jesus rose from the dead! And, it was usually given in the context of God's judgement. Max explored the issues raised in Don Carson, The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God (Crossway, Wheaton IL, 2000)

Two
Leadership is key. It was so energising being around other leaders who shared a vision for seeing people come to know Jesus and living as citizens of his kingdom - working for salvations, justice and peace. We talked about discerning the biblical vision of the kingdom of God. Preaching it, talking about it, writing it down, discerning how it also springs up from the grass roots... We also talked about the way the role of the pastor needs to change and develop as a church grows.

Three
Our consultation was very real about the integrity challenges facing the church. People often don't hear the good news of Jesus because of the way people view the church. Scandals and judgemental attitudes, internal divisions and dogmatic ignorance, churches perceived to be wasting wealth and yet always wanting people's money, misconceptions about doctrine or practice fueled by the media... all these cause barriers for our witness. We have seen Cadbury drop from NZ's most trusted brand down to number 32. In the same way, trust in the church has suffered over the years.

Four
We heard inspiring stories of churches that were both helping people come to know the Saviour, and working for the transformation of their communities. One church, who are well connected with their community, recently broke the world record for the biggest pot of soup (25,000 litres). This was raising moral in their city. Read about it here. Every great missionary of the 19th Century had two passions: bringing people to Jesus and fighting injustice. Perhaps we are rediscovering this!

Five
When we hear from time to time of churches having huge numbers of "converts", we must ask, "Where are they?" The pastors I spoke with were seeing people come to know Jesus, as we are at East Taieri, but it is slower, steady growth as people pray and reach out to others with the good news of Jesus. Alpha often figured in this. I'm all for praying for revival, but in the meantime we need to be faithful with the ones and twos. I'm all for transforming a whole city, but we it often begins with a home at a time, a street at a time.

On the way up on the plane I was able to speak with a man about how Jesus resurrection shows us that death need not be the end. Yet, I came home with even greater confidence in the lifechanging power of the message of Jesus we have.

Martin.

Earthquake Experience

2010-09-07T22:13:00.001+12:00

Even in Mosgiel, the earthquake woke me. I was just deciding to wake the twins and make sure they got to a safe space, when the quake stopped. Returning to bed I prayed for Sophie in Wellington (thinking the quake might have been near there) and for anyone affected by it. Little did I know that my wife Sue (who was on the 8th floor hotel room for a GP conference) was being shaken around along with the rest of the Christchurch region (including my brother and sister there). Later that day Tessa and I drove to ChCh to bring Sue and another GP home. My reflections from what I saw and heard are:

Isn't it interesting that the first response of people in a disaster is to phone loved ones and tell them... they are OK...that they love them... The cellphone has made this immediate communication possible. Sue was able to phone me at around 5.30am to tell me she was OK. Until that point I hadn't been worried about her! When day broke, I found myself phoning my Christchurch family to see how they were faring.

An earthquake (along with other disasters) reminds us that we aren't as "in control" of our lives as we often think. It exposes the hubris of our age.

Both Prime Minister John Key and Mayor Bob Parker used the word "miraculous" to describe the fact that there had been no loss of life. In this they seemed to be pointing beyond themselves to a "miracle worker." In contrast to these two, news media and residents seemed to be looking to local and national government to provide the fix that would make everything better.

Although Jesus taught that wars and rumours of wars, famines and earthquakes would be signs of the beginning of the end (and the return of Jesus) (Matthew 24:6-8), he did not equate them with God's judgement. On the contrary, I see more of God's mercy in this earthquake (no one died) than God's judgement on Christchurch. I'm sure Christchurch has it's share of sins, but no more so than Dunedin, or Mosgiel.

Arriving in Christchurch on a sunny Saturday afternoon, I was struck by the large areas of the city that were not damaged. It reminded me that the news media had focused on the damaged areas. This is understandabe and reflects the serious extent of this disaster, but if we only consider the media coverage, we can be left with a biased view.

One of the lasting impressions from driving through the streets was the sight of people queuing for water at a water tanker. Not a common in New Zealand. People knew their need and they knew where to go. I would love people to realise their deep need of God and that they need to go to the Saviour. We don't need to queue!

I have also been reminded again of the opportunity for good even in the midst of disaster. People have spoken of a feeling of "being given a second chance", of experiencing a miracle, of discovering their place in the community... Without wanting to be simplistic or flippant, I honestly believe God can use even these traumatic experiences for good, such as bringing people to know Him. (Rom 8:28)

Finally, as a church leader I reflect on how we can best help the people of Christchurch. We will connect with a Christchurch church and find appropriate ways we can serve them. This also challenges me about how we can better respond to wider needs such as the floods in Pakistan.

I continue to pray for those in Christchurch and elsewhere who must live through such events.

Martin.

Rocking Up the West Coast

2010-09-02T22:27:00.001+12:00

23 years after our first attempt, Sue and I finally made it to Punakaiki to see the famous Pancake Rocks. Last time we missed turning off to Westport and ended up going through Reefton to Greymouth instead. Distracted by our conversation and young love I guess. Anyway, I believe that taking a wrong turn in life need not be the end of the story. God can redeem our wrong turns. In this case our next time on the Coast had to wait 23 years, but it came.

Punakaiki had changed a lot since I had been there as a boy. DOC, with the thoroughness of the post Cave Creek era had constructed an amazing series of walkways, viewing platforms and display boards. Interestingly the geologists aren't sure how the amazing pancake rock structures were formed. I appreciated their honesty and transparency. Sadly, not everyone who writes about origins is as candid. Some Christians and some who don't follow Jesus claim with unreasonable certainty to know how our planet came into being.

Sometimes scientists speak with dogmatic certainty about evolution and big bangs which are only theories. The credibility of science suffers. Dr George Wall, a nobel prize winning Harvard biochemist, is convinced that is impossible for life to have spontaneously arisen from non-life. “…That leads us to only one other conclusion, that of supernatural creation, but we cannot accept that on philosophical grounds, therefore we choose to believe the impossible, that life arose spontaneously by chance."

On the other hand, the credibility of the church suffers when Christians insist with dogmatic beligerence that their understanding of the time frame of God's work of creation is the only way it can be. My point is that these issues are debated even among those who have a high view of the Bible, so let's have the integrity of those who wrote the DOC signs on the origins of those amazing rocks, and acknowledge when we aren't sure.

Anyway, we enjoyed the spectacular Punakaiki as well as Hokitika and many other beautiful places from Haast Pass to Westport and the Buller Gorge as we travelled through on holiday.

Don't leave home til you've seen the country!
Martin.

Inception

2010-08-14T21:33:00.000+12:00

We left the cinema exhausted, exhilerated and wondering. Inception is a movie that packs a punch and leaves you thinking. One critic described it as a doctoral level version of the Matrix.

I won't risk spoiling the movie, or take excessive space on this post, by trying to outline the complex plot of Inception. Suffice to say it is an action thriller that mixes dreams with reality. It is a bit like James Bond meets the Matrix, with some emotional moments built in.

Some themes and discussion starters:
One of the characters is "The Architect" who has the job of creating the world of the dreamers. Makes one think of the Architect of the real world, and how our imaginative, creative ability reflects that of our Creator.

At several points in the movie characters are asked to "take a leap of faith". What is a leap of faith? How much evidence should we require. Sadly the movie also contains a leap of faith which leads to tragedy because the character's faith was misplaced. Freedom to believe something that isn't true is not some kind of postmodern tolerance, it is the tragedy of delusion.

Guilt for past mistakes racks Cobb (Leonardo Di Caprio's character). Ariadne (played by Ellen Page) urges him to find forgiveness and let that go because it is threatening the whole team. In the dream level his subconscious emotions have real effects. Isn't that also true at reality level? The plot of the movie includes an opportunity of redemption for Cobb.

Layers upon layers of dreams leave cast and audience wondering what is real. That is a very good question to be asking. People sometimes contrast the walk of faith with "the real world". The implication is that someone who believes in a miracle working God isn't living in the real world. But I think the key question to ask is, what is ultimate reality? I would argue that the ultimate reality all humans must grapple with is that Jesus died, but Jesus rose again from the dead. Can that happen you might wonder? Is that real? The testimony of Jesus followers is that it did happen. Over the centuries Christians are those who have discovered the reality of the resurrection.

Not a movie for everyone, but more thoughtprovoking than any action thriller I've seen for a long time.

Martin.

Parenting - Who's the Boss?

2010-08-08T22:40:00.000+12:00

This week Aric Sigman's book "Spoilt Generation" featured on the Six O'Clock News and in our newspapers (click here). He was brought over to New Zealand by the lobby group Family First (led by Bob McCoskrie) who describe themselves as speaking "from a family friendly perspective with an emphasis on the Judeo-Christian values which have benefited New Zealand for generations."

Sigman says, "We now live in the time of the child-centred upbringing." The rights of children had increased to a point where parents no longer felt they could say no, felt guilty if they criticised a child rather than constantly lavishing praise, and pandered to what the child was interested in rather than his or her best interests. He is particularly critical of money rich but time poor parents who come home late from work and then try to make up for that by indulging inappropriate behaviour from their children. Interesting the way parenting fads come and go!

I haven't read Sigman's book, but what reflections does the Bible bring to this discussion?

Children are precious, made in God's image, and not to be exasperated (Eph 6:4) They are certainly not to be abused, emotionally or physically.
However, the Bible clearly expects parents to be in charge. Children are to obey their parents. Parents are to raise their children in the ways of God. (Eph 6:1f)
Children who do not respect their earthly father, will find it hard to respect their Heavenly Father.
There are times when God says, "No" in answer to our requests. Surely there are times when we need to say "No" to our children in their best interests.
Respect for authority is a good thing and it can be modelled and developed in the home.
There is a difference between just authority and authoritarianism.

Sue and I enjoy our teenage children. Like all families we have our difficult "moments", but by and large the teenage years have been fantastic. As our children are growing up they are taking on more and more responsibilities and the boundaries we set for them become wider, leaving more choices for them to make on their own. However, when they were very young, the boundaries were much tighter. We worked at winning the smallest battles so they knew who was in charge.

Recently I was in the supermarket queue and a young mother calmly told her youngster he was not having lollies from the checkout rack today. There were howls of protest, but the mother stood her ground and won the battle. I complemented her on resisting the urge to give in to the toddler's demands just to keep the peace.

I'm not arguing for battling against our children, but because we want the best for them, we will stand firm if they are demanding something that isn't best for them.

God Bless you parents. It's such an important job - but you really are wiser and know more than your young children (most of the time anyway). That's why you are in charge!

Martin.

Living from the Inside Out

2010-08-02T13:04:00.000+12:00

Last Monday (my Sabbath) Sue and I had lunch in Palmerston. I was amused to discover a shop with the same name as my blog.

It is a recycle clothing shop! The other interesting thing is that the reflection on the shop door upset this amateur photographer when I tried to capture the sign on my iPhone. The photo shows more of what is outside the shop than what is inside. And yet isn't that the way life works? Who and what we are inside affects the way we behave on the outside. This is illustrates part of my conviction about Inside Out (see my post of 16th July). It was Jesus who said, "Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." Mt 12:34 Good for a preacher to remember!

John Stoddart was reading my blog and sent me a link (here) to an article that gathered wisdom from some mature Christian leaders. Among other things the article said, "These 'fathers of the faith' also made it clear to us that their leadership is simply an overflow of who they are. What they have allowed God to build and develop in them has become the reservoir that the Holy Spirit draws upon as they lead people, make decisions and discern the guidance of God. The deliberate tending of their hearts has helped to guard and guide them as disciples of Jesus and leaders in the kingdom."

I took one other photo of the shop. This one shows a little more of what is inside - a cross! May that be true for me! Again and again I find, and it is true just now, that it is when I am living close to Jesus that I am most fruitful. When he is dealing with stuff inside me and keeping me from rebellion, opportunities to share my faith arise and people around me come to know Jesus.

It isn't a magic formula, but it is part of my conviction about Inside Out!

Martin.

The Marriage Course

2010-07-30T23:41:00.000+12:00

Tonight was the last evening of the seven week Marriage Course which Sue and I and several other couples have been leading at East Taieri Church. This is the course which comes from Holy Trinity Brompton - the church which gave the world the Alpha Course. Although running this course meant extra evenings out for me, when I already have quite a few evening meetings, it was a good experience for several reasons:

First, it was something Sue and I could (and indeed had to) do together. It gave us some quality time together talking over those things that can easily get pushed to the edges in busy lives. You know, things like feelings (ugh!), forgiveness, and the impact of family. We found it helpful (even after 22 happy married years), so hopefully the guest couples did also. (We will read the evaluation forms next week).

I feel very tender toward the couples who invested this time and money in their relationships. Although couples discuss things on the course privately, we had time to talk and get to know each other a little over dessert and coffee at the start of each evening. Each of those marriages feels very precious to me. We plan to meet again for a catch up in a month.

While every marriage has its challenges, I was inspired that couples can grow closer and love each other more deeply. Sometimes I have heard Christians criticise the lack of commitment in society today, but that was certainly not the case with those who came to this course. Whether they were church couples or not, they showed high levels of commitment to their marriages by attending the course and (as far as we could tell) completing their homework! The desire to make marriage work is common ground between those who are Christians and those who are not.

This course was not cringy. The DVD presentations were very professionally done. Over the top you might say? Don't get carried away with the excellence thing you might advise? But when you are inviting friends who are not from church (as I was) you want it to be good. Thankfully this was a high quality, helpful course. Even the week on "Good Sex" was dealt with sensitively and well. This builds the credibility of the courses offered by East Taieri Church. It will help encourage people to come to other courses or events hosted by the church, such as Alpha.

Hope this is inspiring for you too!
Martin.

Church staff

2010-07-24T20:26:00.000+12:00

Some of my time this week has been replying to the first response to our advertisements for a new Children and Families' Pastor. It's encouraging to have a good inquiry. But why do we need to have paid staff in a church? It's worth asking the question.

All Christians are a part of God's mission, serving in a whole range of ways. Paid ministers or church staff can't and shouldn't do it all. We need everyone in the game. The Holy Spirit gives different gifts to people, so everyone has a contribution to make. In fact, those who aren't paid for their Christian service have an advantage when it comes to telling others about Jesus. Writing back in 1927, Roland Allen said, “If he is a paid agent both speaker and hearer are affected by that fact.” There is strength in voluntary, unrehearsed witnessing - even if there are many things the Christian just doesn't know. No one can say, "She is just saying that because it's her job."

It's also true that a Christian's whole life is an act of worship or service to God, not just the time spent on church ministries. We are living for God in our working hours, in the school day, and while caring for our families.

Having said that, staff make a special contribution to God's mission at East Taieri. Life today is busy and having paid staff increases the ministry hours available to a church. This means a church with paid staff can take new mission inititatives that churches without such staff simply couldn't manage. Staff give us that extra capacity and help get us out of maintance mode into mission mode. Staff help us make a bigger kingdom impact and grow as a church. A Children and Families' Pastor is a good example. Could we run Kidzown (our Sunday children's ministry) without a paid staff person? Provided we have very capable volunteer leaders, the answer is probably, "Yes." But, would we have the capacity to really grow and develop Kidzown, reaching new families from the communities around us? Probably not!

Staff bring resources of specialist training and experience. This can help us develop and lead effective ministries, provided it doesn't discourage other Christians from contributing because they don't feel "qualified".

As growth comes, we need more volunteer leaders and not less, so staff have a crucial role in recruiting, training, inspiring and coordinating volunteers. Volunteer hours are becoming more and more precious as families increasingly have both parents working and there are so many commitments and expectations that use up our time. While I believe Jesus calls us to a simpler lifestyle that allows more time for serving others, our hours as volunteers are always limited.

In the Bible we see Paul making tents while he is preaching so that he was not a financial burden for the new churches he started. This wasn't necessarily a long term approach though as Paul himself wrote “The worker deserves his wages.” 1 Tim 5:18

So, while there is a significant cost to having church staff, they enable us to take steps forward, provided they don't try to do all the ministry themselves but instead stay faithful to their Ephesians 4 role of "preparing God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up."

I'm so glad I get to serve alongside such a great bunch of paid and unpaid "ministers"

Martin.

Inspire 2010

2010-07-18T22:32:00.000+12:00

Yesterday I was part of a team from East Taieri that travelled down the Presidential Highway to Gore for the Inspire 2010 worship conference at Calvin Church. We were informed, encouraged and inspired by keynote speaker David Lyle Morris. As a preacher listening to a musician/worship leader I appreciated again the partnership that can occur in worship services with music and the other creative arts and preaching working together to communicate effectively and prompt God's people in worship.

You can discover more about David Lyle Morris and his music here. I chatted with David, who you might remember sang and spoke at ET in Oct 09. He is keen to come again so we have pencilled in Sept 2011. We have a big combined ET service with all the congregations in together at the Hyslop Hall at Taieri College on 5 Sep 2010. Assuming that all goes well, we could have David lead another combined ET service in Sept 2011.

Some of my reflections:
David and the Inspire team were very encouraging and positive. That encouraging, affirming attitude was refreshing, healing and inspiring in itself.

What a wonderful facility Calvin Church now has! They used the modern auditorium very well. The space was ideal for the responsive/interactive stations they had set up for the Saturday morning. We had plenty of time and room to move around for praying at a cross, painting, writing on stones, viewing a beautiful powerpoint, sharing communion... For ET people, it was the same style as "The Well" which Night Church have set up a couple of times now. The quality of worship space was enough to inspire me about a new auditorium for ET!

I appreciated the blend of songs about God and songs that allowed us to express our response to God. Sadly our repetoire these days is often dominated by songs of response that are actually about what we are doing in our worship, more than they are about God. I think we are improving in this at ET but still have a way to go. Inspire began well with a focus on God and yet also allowed for our responses.

The workshops were simple, yet allowed for people to ask questions and engage at a more advanced level. I learned more about sound (hopefully understand more for times when I need to help music teams with the sound desk in their practices). I also attended a multimedia workshop and appreciated chatting with one of the younger members of the ET team walking back from that one. There is so much potential for involving a wide group of people in using their creative arts to build our worship of God.

So good to be there as a team - talking over issues, encouraging, debating, visioning... Reassuring to know that we are creating worship services together.

On Saturday evening they used a multimedia clip that reminded us that worship is ultimately not all about us and how we feel, but about God! Sometimes I think we are worshipping the feelings and experiences of worship, more than we are actually worshipping God. Look at the words of the songs we sing in those "waiting on God" moments in worship together.

Encouraging to see such a range of people (ages, abilities, gifts,...) all contributing to worship. I was moved to see a young woman with downs syndrome contributing to a painting, and later worshipping God in dance.

Hope this encourages you to be a part of Inspire 2011! I'm certainly fired up to press on with involving our creative folks, as well as building our music, sound and lighting.

Martin.

Why Inside Out?

2010-07-16T08:39:00.000+12:00

"Inside Out" is an important image for me in several dimensions of my life.

First, although I have a highly people-oriented role, I am somewhat on the introvert side of the introvert/extrovert scale. I am learning that this means I need to voice what I'm thinking about even while my views are still being formed. This allows my family, friends and those I work with to interact with my ideas early on rather than me announcing formed, firm ideas and leaving them wondering "Where did that come from?" I hope this "Inside Out" blog will help me speak "in draft mode" a little more, getting my inside thoughts out there so people can comment on them and be involved in the shaping of them.

"Inside Out" also captures the way I understand the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. Following Jesus for me is not about simply conforming to a whole bunch of external rules and regulations. That so easily leads to dead legalism. Rather, God seems to work by changing me from the inside out, renewing my motives, thoughts and desires. I think that is what Jesus was getting at in Matt 15:1-20. The problem isn't just our external behaviour, but our heart attitudes which lead to that behaviour. This is a key part of my sense of call to ministry. We can't give the ultimate help people need by addressing their outward behaviour. I believe we need Jesus to provide the inward heart change that makes us want to follow God's ways. Ezek 36:26

Related to this heart change is the surprising way Jesus turns my thinking inside out and upside down. Consider his sayings like: "The first will be last and the last first." or "Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Jesus so often turns my thinking around.

"Inside Out" also describes my sense of a church active in God's mission. Of course some of the life of a church is focused inward on its members. The members of a church must pastorally care for one another and build each other up to maturity in Christ (Eph 4 stuff). The church gathers at least weekly for public worship. But all this quickly becomes stagnant and boring if it is cut off from what God is doing in the wider world. I believe Christians must overflow with the love of God out to people who don't yet know about Jesus. This inside out mission appears as glimpses of God's kingdom here and there. It might be acts of loving service to people in need, working alongside people to see their communities develop. It might be Christians telling someone about the new life they have discovered in Christ, so they also can come to know forgiveness for sin and new life. It might be seeing an injustice put right, or someone healed, or people set free from evil spirits that had been troubling them. It could be an act of caring for this beautiful planet God has made... These things demonstrate that Jesus is Lord and King, not just inside the church, but also when the church goes out to their workplaces, schools and neighbourhoods.

Looking forward to sharing "inside out" thoughts with you, and reading your comments,

Martin.