dCyPl's Discipleship

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Mike and Robyn

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Marc at Purgatorio has given me insight into the emerging church.
Perhaps we should all look at ourselves.... (Fortunately I don't own an apple or an ipod), (but I do own a laptop and a palm tungsten!).

Here is a radar image of todays thunder / hail storm. We're right in Newcastle, and the hail was coming down sideways!

Image from BOM:
Received at: 04:46 UTC/GMT Thu 01 Dec 2005

Family Time - Eden and Nyssa 

Mystery Flora 

Phillip Jensen of the Sydney Anglican Diocese has been nominated to give the 2005 Boyer Lectures. This prestigeous series is aimed at stimulating debate on topical issues.... this year, it seems to be Christianity.

For those of you outside the limited sphere of influence displayed by Australia on the world stage, Phillip Jensen is one of conservative envangelical Christianities greatest proponents, causing great strife among liberal and traditional anglicans alike. He is regularly interviewed on anything religious, and seems to represent a faction of Anglicanism more akin to an independant evangelical standpoint.


At this site it is possible to listen to streaming audio of the speeches, or read transcripts.

His comments, as always, have given rise to a flurry of comments in the Australian blogsphere, (and elsewhere).

He states in one of his speeches....

DO YOU want this world to end, and a new one to begin? Rather surprisingly, the Australian Parliament begins proceedings with such a prayer. It goes something like this: "Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation."

and ends the speech with the following....

So, pray on, Federal Parliament; you have got it right. You are praying both for the kingdom of God to be manifest at the end of history, and inside history: your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven, asks the Speaker. You are praying for God's justice, both now, and then. Your prayer assumes that good things from the future kingdom have begun to grow in this world. The kingdom has been introduced into the historical process, as Jesus claimed.
In fact, many have been inspired to political and social transformation by the ideals of the kingdom which Jesus said was both present and future. Both of our great political traditions in this country are inspired to some extent by Jesus and His kingdom.

My mind isn't made up yet on the issues of politicians as Christians.... It's difficult to be humble and above reproach in the position.... but they start their procedings witht the Lord's Prayer? Do even a small minority of them believe it? Is it just part of the tradition? Hopefully this series of speeches, played on National radio, available online as audio files and full transcripts, and excerpted in National Newspapers such as the Sydney Morning Herald; hopefully this will get people thinking... hopefully they can see the real Jesus of the Gospels, not the one they imagine Him to be.

Whether you agree with Phillip Jensen's methods or his particular beliefs... the core of his belief is the true gospel, he believes in the Jesus presented clearly in the gospels and the epistles, Jesus, the Son of God.
Lets pray for a god-centred discussion forming from this series of speeches.

Cerulean Sanctum takes us on a wild ride of the full spectrum of possibilities when a Charismatic Church goes a bit feral. Dan provide 7 warning flags for the Church that act as warnings to us on the way we move into the 21st Century.

On reading these I had to think that the Charismatic Church had some things right, but as Dan says:

I offer the authority of Scripture and six others tests that are being critically overlooked by charismatics. Any time we encounter a teaching, practice, or supposed moved of the Holy Spirit, we should instinctively start counting red flags.

My observations on the six flags are as follows, (not just for Charismatic Churches):

Flag #1 - Cannot be squared with Scripture or is based on a single verse of
Scripture (usually taken out of context.)

For sure this is the biggest error in today's churches.... Given that we have the whole bible available to us, perhaps we should use it :-)

Flag #2 - Is pronounced by direct revelation through a single individual or a small group of people.

I've never experienced this first hand, but I've heard plenty of stories. I think our warning from this should come from the number of cult spinoffs that have distorted the bible to suit their own desires.

Flag #3 - Is considered relevant for today, yet has no historic precedent in the Church.

In our church, I feel that the relevance argument is being ignored as we do things that are perhaps aiming at cultural relevance. (Not doctrinally, but service format etc.) As the church has grown, I think there has been a relaxing of fairly fundamental means of communicating within the service. We have always been casual, but on occassions now that has passed to being informal.

Flag #4 - Attempts to make a New Testament practice/theology of an Old Testament practice/theology rendered moot by the finished work of Christ.

I must say this one baffles me, Isn't this the basis of Christianity?

Flag # 5 - Involves "Restoring" or the "Restoration" of a practice or theology.

Again, isn't this part of what Christ came to save us from?

Flag #6 - Is a "redeemed" version of a secular/occult concept or practice (usually which has been abandoned or discredited by secular/occult practitioners.)

Cult and Relevance issues again.

Flag #7 - May produce immediate results, but does not move the Church or individual into a deeper, biblically-based relationship with Christ in the long run.

This is like dieting to me.... you may look great for a while, but then either you start to feel hungry or the results wear off...

I see a link with the whole "5 steps to...", "7 habits of highly effective people"

The cult of the new is then questioned with three "case studies", well worth reading.

I agree with Dan's conclussion of needing more discernment of practices and biblical knowledge in our churches, whether they be Charismatic or otherwise. No one said life would be easy, and no one said that it would be exciting, we can get excited, but this doesn't form the basis for our doctrine or our worship services. What God has promised to us should help us understand how he wants us to worship, we are here to share His news to the world; that which we have graciously received, we should pass on; instead its so easy to get wrapped up in our relationship with Him.

These are our girls, Nysaa on the left is 6 months old, Eden on the right is 3 1/4.

Eden is a lovely big sister to Nysaa most of the time, helping us with her, and giving her cuddles and kisses.

As you can see from the photo, Nyssa still doesn't have much hair. She smiles lots and sits up pretty well. I imagine she'll be crawling around soon, she's highly motivated to chase Eden around.