John Piper is praying for four waves of Change…

Wave #1: Putting world evangelization into the passions of a new generation

Wave #2: Weaving the dark thread of hell back into the fabric of our compassion.

Wave #3: Blowing away misperceptions about what is needed in missions.

Wave #4: Persuading pastors that a passion for the global glory of God is good for the saints at home.

see the full explanation here

Here is a good article discussing the present state of this debate in Sydney with some good reasons on holding back. Thanks Michael!

Possibly one of the hardest bits to comprehend about the Christmas Story is the notion that the eternal all powerful creator God became a humble human baby. Philippians 2:7 describes this as an emptying of himself; as the lord of all he takes on the form of a servant. While we commonly see people portraying the baby Jesus in a manger we do not often think of how this scene challenges us.

Nativity scenes are often cute; there is warm lighting, animals, everyone is smiling, a new born baby, and it seems kind of romantic but if we were really in that situation would we cope? Surely we would need a few more comforts to make ourselves feel even close to normal. Christmas in our society seems to have become excessive, it is all about the presents we receive and serving enough food to feed a small third world nation. Yet, the first Christmas was very humble. We do not find any details of the food, it is all about the God who owns everything coming and living among us with nothing. For Jesus life was never about what he had but what he came to give. For Jesus life was not about comfort or balance, but unwavering devotion to God and serving others.

For Christians following Jesus is far more than just being nice to each other, it is about following the man who gave his life to make us right with God. The ultimate present was His giving of himself. In Jesus we see God’s great mercy to us. Once we know God’s mercy life can never be about our comfort but it is the challenge of radical obedience to God, even when it costs everything. The question is, will we let the nativity scene challenge us to humbly live for God and not for ourselves?

Here is a great paper by Os Guinness and David Wells reflecting on the impact of Globalization on Christian mission:

Global Gospel, Global Era: Christian discipleship and mission in the age of Globalization

It is a paper set for the Lausanne conference in Cape Town.

A great piece in The Age from Michael Leunig gives this reflection on our society:

‘Like in many situations elsewhere in the culture, what is valuable and original is being most obscured or overlooked, and what is most lurid, feverish and foul in the human condition is lavishly displayed.’

If you’re following the election debate in Australia it is hard to pick what are key issues or what will really make any difference. The things that are really important in life are not decided by how we vote but how we treat God and how we treat the person next to us.

Okcupid is claiming that iphone users have more sex (see here), a closer look at the data they are presenting reveals a fairly fatal assumption in their analysis. They have assumed that more partners equals more sex. If you look at the articles attached previous posts (here and here) better sex is not related to quantity or diversity but quality of relationship. If it is quality of relationship that creates the best sex, then as they have on average more partners, iphone users have the most unstable relationships and hence the worst sex.

There you go, with a small shift in assumptions there are good statistical reasons to avoid an iphone.

Who would have thought that the choice of phone could change you life that much?

My mate Kamal has got a full article in the paper today! Check it out here.

Goodwork Kamal!

Check out this article:

Sex: the Bible says go for it

Yes, my old friend from school, Kamal, who is a Presbyterian minister in Western Sydney, has been lecturing with his mum in Melbourne in the last week. Great to see you made the news Kamal!

With all the hype around the ipad’s release in Australia I am wondering what is driving all of this. Is it merely the love of gadgets and technology? Is it fashion and the status it can bring? Is it the need to have the most convienient, up to date information or some way of connecting in the urban jungle?

I love my gadgets but I have not yet gone and camped out for the release of one. Trying to scratch below the surface of these phenomenon is difficult. Perhaps grabbing an ipad is how you can become part of a new type of community, I certainly know that not having such devices can make you feel almost obselete at times. In modern society Community and connection are increasingly hard to find and establish. People are more mobile than ever and it is hard to establish local communities with the diverse demands on people’s time today. While devices such as mobile phones, and the next generation including the ipad seem to promise connection it is hard to see how it will be anything but superficial. Often the complexity of technology can lead you to spend more time playing with it than working on meaningful relationships. The ipad is designed more for communication of information and entertainment than any real connection. Admittedly when it comes to the ipad there is more behind it than merely connection, I suspect the novelty value and the perceived power of instant information are big factors too.

As I continue to look for connection I am reminded that through Jesus that God wants more than a superficial connection with us and calls us to find something deeper with Him. Knowing God gives us more reason to get involved in the inefficient process of getting to know others. In my suburban context I think for now I will be better spending my money on coffee at my local and enjoying life connected face to face.

Mark Sayers has a good reflection on his experience of running a missional church here. I have reflected on the question of ‘Is the church missional?‘ in the past.

Theologically speaking the church cannot be fundamentally missional for the church is eternal and mission is not. However I do not want to diminish the importance of mission in the present context. The helpful reflection Mark brings is that mission comes out of our experience of God. I would want ot push this to say that it is as we gather and are discipled around the word of God that we then look out in mission. God helps us to see the things he is doing in Christ which then gives us a deep concern for others and God’s world.