Year: 2010

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Cross Cultural Fail

Realising that the man only spoke Arabic, plan B kicked into action. I reached for the green Arabic copy of Luke’s gospel. Proudly I held it up the right way. My cultural savviness was paying off; I know that this language reverses the reading direction. This is going well! Simultaneously he began closing the door as he said ‘Islam’. The conversation quickly progressed to plan C.

Yeah-soos?? Yeah-soos?? Yeah???

As the door closed, the smile on Robbo’s face said it all. Yes. I said Jesús in Spanish instead of Arabic.

I could justify my cultural faux pas by explaining to you that my mission team is very Anglo-Christian. It does include 3 Dave’s, 3 Matt’s, 2 Andrew’s and 2 Daniel’s. Or maybe I just need to work harder at understanding people and cultures…

THIS POST ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED HERE.

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Can you really say there’s only one true religion?

We’ve sent a number of advance troops out to leaflet commuters at Merrylands Station each morning. If you’ve spent much time catching trains around Sydney City, you’ll realise that commuters are willing to read any trash you put in their hands. MX is the prime example. Trashy journalism at it’s best, or worst. Yet everyone reads it!

Merrylands Anglican Church and/or Moore College don’t have the budget to produce glossy glossy publications every day, but we figure that we can provide some content that’s less trashy and hopefully a little more thought-provoking.

It works. People take it. People read it. Here is tomorrow morning’s edition: Can you really say there’s only one true religion? (PDF)

I think this is an evangelism/engagement strategy that churches could use once a week. If you’re near a busy train station or bus stop, here’s what you do:

  1. get someone with basic skills* in design to provide a simple template
  2. write a brief article with a thought provoking/provocative title
  3. advertise church and/or some upcoming events
  4. throw in a puzzle and some pictures
  5. print it A5 double sided
  6. give it to people thursday (or whenever) morning each week

Hey presto!

Does anyone know of churches/ministries doing this regularly??

*basic skills = knowing that Comic Sans is a bad font!

THIS POST ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED HERE.

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I played chicken with my host

I met my host family tonight. Lovely family. We spent about 4 hours chatting! Around midnight the family of 4 had dwindled down to 1. So it was just the father and me left. I was getting tired. But I didn’t want to be the one to break off the conversation. So in my head I thought I’d play chicken with him. Last one left standing wins.

By 1am I realised that I needed to call it off. But I couldn’t. I had to win. I thought if I just held out for another minute or two, he’d say “good night” first. He didn’t. I did. He wins. I lose. That’s okay.

I miss my family already, but here are 3 reasons why being billeted is gold:

  1. A tangible way of showing our gospel partnership
  2. A glimpse into the culture of the family, the local church and the local community
  3. An encouragement hearing of God’s work in their lives

THIS POST ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED HERE.

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Today I drank an instant coffee

The street we door-knocked this afternoon had an unusually high number of people offering us to come in for a drink. It may have been the heat, or maybe that’s just how they roll. We thought it would have been rude to reject the kind invitations. So we enjoyed the hospitality in four local Merrylands’ homes.

I don’t normally drink instant coffee. I’m not a coffee snob, but you’re a jerk if you reject an instant coffee when door knocking. Maybe you’re a jerk at any time if you reject instant-coffee-hospitality! So I drank the coffee.

While drinking, I explained Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee & the Tax Collector from Luke 18. She seemed to understand that God doesn’t accept the religious, but those who throw themselves on God for mercy. Yet, when pressed on what gave her confidence before God, she insisted that it was because she was good, moral and obedient. Pray she’d understand the Jesus-bit.

Here are 3 observations on this street:

  1. There are many religious people in Merrylands willing to talk about Jesus
  2. Their confidence before God is in their religiosity and not the work of Jesus
  3. Colin Buchanan’s DVD is pretty much like smuggling Bibles into North Korea

Merrylands already have their MP3s online. Check out this morning’s sermons.

THIS POST ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED HERE.

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Free Music Friday 02 // Jake Armerding – Her

Check out Jake Armerding’s album Her. You can download the whole album for free at Noisetrade.com. Jake Armerding’s genre is listed as Folk Rock/Americana, but as you listen you’ll hear an eclectic range of genres. The violin and some of the duets give some of the tracks a country twang. While there are jazz, roots and blues vibes in others.

FULL ALBUM DOWNLOAD | Band website | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter

Got an idea for Free (+ legal) Music Friday? Leave it in the comments. Are you a band? Think I might like your music? If you send me your album and let me give away at least one mp3 for free, no promises, it might be featured! Contact deets.

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The Prodigal God – By Tim Keller

Luke 15 is one of my favourite chapters in the Bible. I’ve spoken on the chapter 10+ times in the last couple of years. Some of my thinking on the passage has come from sermons and articles from Tim Keller. I recently read his book, all about Luke 15, The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith. It’s very good.

Here’s a basic overview of each chapter.

  1. The People Around Jesus – one of the keys to understanding this parable is understanding the two kinds of people that have gathered to hear Jesus. There are the tax collectors/sinners and the cranky Pharisees.
  2. The Two Lost Sons – often this parable is focused on the ‘Lost Son’. Keller argues that there are actually two lost sons. The younger brother, just like the tax collector/sinners, is obviously lost. The elder brother, is lost in the same way as the cranky Pharisees.
  3. Redefining Sin – this chapter kicks off with two ways to find happiness: moral conformity, like the elder brother/Pharisees; and self-discovery, like the younger brother/tax collectors. Both are wrong because both are on about self-salvation. Yet both are loved by God. Continue reading “The Prodigal God – By Tim Keller”