Weekly Wrap (21/07)

by Joel Hawting | @jhawting

Why did North Point Community Church come into existence? Andy Stanley shares his passion for creating an engaging church for all in this video.

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Simon Prevette - "You aren’t incredibly gifted? Well, welcome to the club of the “average.” Most of us dwell there. As an encouragement, let me introduce you to Simon Prevette. He is a man you have never heard of, but he is a man you should know." A great article written by Jason Helopoulos, guest blogger on Kevin DeYoung's blog.

How Can I Make A Bigger Impact? - "My response and challenge is simple: Be faithful now. Don’t fall into the temptation of merely dreaming about future ministry fruitfulness. Be faithful right now with what the Lord has entrusted to you." An excellent article from Eric Geiger challenging young leaders to remain faithful and develop patience in ministry.

10 Ways To Be A Better Church Staff Person - Thom Rainer writes a great article sharing from his experience, the 10 ways that people employed in work from the church can better support their pastors.

Is Discipleship The Focus Of Most Churches? - "Making disciples is not about a church program. It’s not one of the things the church does. It is the thing. Jesus’ last words to his followers were, “Go and make disciples.” So if this is the mission of the church, its reason for being, its all-encompassing purpose, then why isn’t this the focal point of all that we do?" A wonderful post by Dr Gary Thompson that is well worth a read.

Spreading Your Message Online - Wondering how to get your message out to the masses online? Tony Morgan provides some interesting insights into the most effective ways to engage with your desired audience online from recent research on the topic.
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Thought for the day...

"Christian maturity is not demonstrated through the lack of conflict, but by how we resolve it."
— J.R. Miller

Weekly Wrap (14/07)

by Joel Hawting | @jhawting

Why is discipleship important? Hugh Halter offers some great thoughts in this short video.

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Living On Mission Takes Time - "Some of us believe in "missions" or the act of being on mission, but we feel like we are complete failures at it. One of the reasons is because we fail to give mission time to mature. We are too busy to be on mission for Jesus because we are on mission for ourselves." A great article written by Michael Criner, guest blogger on Trevin Wax's blog.

The Importance Of Losing - Barnabas Piper writes a great article challenging parents to let their children lose.

Revolutionary Parenting In The Lord - "A myriad of books has been written on what “discipline and instruction,” “bringing them up,” and “provoke” mean. But we have focused on the wrong parts of these verses. We have solely focused on what we are to do and forgotten what Jesus is about and what he has done." A nice piece from Jessica Thompson of the Resurgence.

A Reunion Of Old Friends - A wonderful post by Tim Challies on some of his most dear friends - his much loved books. Well worth a read.

Reading The Bible Through The Cross - "Bible study can become a blind pursuit of self-righteousness. Our quest for the knowledge of God can subtly become a way in which we compare ourselves to other Christians. We can come to believe that our great knowledge of Scripture means that we are spiritually mature." In this great article Chan Kilgore reminds us of the importance of reading the bible through the lens of the cross.
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Thought for the day...

"Imagine the revolution if every Christian went to church wanting to bless someone and then left the church wanting to bless the world."
— Eugene Cho

Weekly Wrap (07/07)

by Joel Hawting | @jhawting

I recently came across this video from John Piper discussing the Prosperity Gospel. Somehow I don't think Piper thinks too highly of this kind of theology...

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Consumer Christianity - Marketing or Making Disciples? - "I don’t want to push the analogy too far, but for the sake of illustration, let’s think of the membership model of church as similar to the membership model of the modern health club. One becomes a member of a health club by paying dues (in a church, the monthly or weekly offering). Having paid their dues, the members expect the services of the club to be at their disposal. Exercise equipment, weight room, aerobics classes, an indoor track, swimming pool—all there for them, with a trained staff to see that they benefit by them." Are our churches about meeting people's needs or doing God's work? A challenging article from Dr Gary Thompson.

Why Gay Marriage Is Good (and Bad) For The Church - Trevin Wax writes a great piece challenging the church to hold fast to the exhortation found in Romans 8:28 amidst the apparent storm that is Gay Marriage in America.

How Much of a Pastor's Vacation Time Should He Use? - "You may begin reading this post with the idea that I will suggest how many weeks of vacation you should be given by your church, or how much you should advocate to give your pastor. Instead, I intend to answer this question a bit differently. My concern is not about how much vacation time a pastor is given, but how he uses (or doesn't use) what he is given." A great, thought-provoking article from Practical Shepherding.

Longing For God - A wonderful devotional by Charles Swindoll on Psalm 42:1-2. Well worth a read.

The Mathematics of Grace - "The world runs by ungrace. Everything depends on what I do. I have to make the shot. Jesus calls us to another way, one that depends not on our performance but his own. We do not have to achieve but merely follow. He has already earned for us the costly victory of God’s acceptance." A great article courtesy of the Gospel Coalition.
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Thought for the day...

"The Lord is kind. He is good to all who take refuge under his wings."
— John Piper

Weekly Wrap (30/06)

by Joel Hawting | @jhawting

Like being comfortable? Francis Chan talks about why we as Christians should reject comfort.

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Why You Need A Half-Year Resolution - "Life gets in the way of our good intentions and we sometimes abandon them all too quickly." Time to make some changes in your life? A good article courtesy of Relevant Magazine.

Listening To Young Atheists - "Church became all about ceremony, handholding, and kumbaya," Phil said with a look of disgust. "I missed my old youth pastor. He actually knew the Bible."" A very challenging and thought-provoking article from Fixed Point on a new breed of young atheists - ex-churchgoing, young group attending, God serving atheists.

Christ-Centred Hermeneutics and Typology - "Daniel Block suggested that we need to be less Christocentric and more Christotelic in our Old Testament interpretation. By this he means that we need to shift our emphasis from seeking Christ in the Old Testament and more towards seeing Christ as the end, as the destination, as the climax of the Old Testament, which each Old Testament text plays a preparatory part in." Like thinking deeply about Theology? Then you will appreciate this great post from Ed Stetzer.

Why I Pray Publicly For Other Churches - "Every Sunday morning, I lead the congregation of Third Avenue Baptist Church in a "pastoral prayer."... The part of the prayer that elicits the most comment, however—both positive and out of sheer confusion—is when I pray for another evangelical church or two meeting in the city of Louisville." A really timely article from the Gospel Coalition discussing a little known (and likely practiced!) practice: praying for God's broader church, not just your own.

Lay Aside The Weight of Self-Preoccupation - "Want to refresh your soul? Want to run with more endurance today? Cease to be the focus of your attention." Yet another wonderful and encouraging article from Desiring God.
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Thought for the day...

"We've substituted doctrinal belief for personal belief, thats why many people are devoted to causes & few are devoted to Jesus."
— Oswald Chambers

Be Still And Know That I Am God

by Joel Hawting | @jhawting

Do you sometimes find it really difficult to sit still and focus at times? I do. I find it really hard at times. The worst part is that sometimes I find it hard to slow down and do that which I most want to do in life; spending time in fellowship with and building a relationship with Jesus.

I came across Psalm 46:10 the other day in my quiet time. It reads:

"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"

Be still. Be still. What is it like to be still? So often in our culture - both church and secular - it is all about the doing. It is easy to get consumed with the busyness of life, moving from one task on our to do list to another, or one ministry meeting to another without even stopping to take a breath. It is easy to get consumed with work, work, work; doing, doing, doing. Trying to cram more and more things into each day. But God directs us to be still. Be still and know that I am God. What is this passage of scripture actually saying?


The word translated as "be still" is the Hebrew term raphah which is used in multiple places in the Old Testament and refers to that which is slack, to sink, to relax, or to let drop, or in some cases, to be disheartened or weak. In this context, scholars generally agree that "to be weak" is the most appropriate interpretation.

So what is this passage of scripture saying then? I see it this way: this passage is highlighting that we need to stop relying on ourselves, we need to stop doing everything in our own strength, and we need to take some time out from the busyness to relax with God! God wants us to take the time out to know that He is God! To recognise His majesty and splendour and to know Him as our heavenly Father! To become weak and allow the divine God of the universe to take back the leading of our lives! To recognise our finiteness and to behold His infiniteness.

Whilst we obviously do need to take initiative in our lives to actually fulfill our responsibilities, the key is that we should be relying solely on God to strengthen and prepare us for every task in life. Funnily enough, the Bible highlights the reality that if God is our focus, everything else that we need will fall into its rightful place in time. Matthew 6:33 says:

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

I don't know about you, but I think it is time to truly be still before God. It's not always easy to do, but it is what we all need to do. After all, the almighty God of the universe is just waiting for us to stop doing life in our own strength so that He can come in and offer us guidance, support and His strength to succeed. Sounds like a pretty good option to me!

Weekly Wrap (23/06)

by Joel Hawting | @jhawting

This is a beautiful video on God's amazing grace by Matt Chandler.

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What is Open Theism? - Do you appreciate theology? Then you will like this article and brief video with N.T. Wright on Open Theism.

Hymn Stories: I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say - Do you know the story of Horatius Bonar, the man who penned this famous hymn? If not then Tim Challies post will enlighten you. A great and encouraging read about a man of faith.

14 Free eBooks For You - "Though it won’t replace good old-fashioned books, the upward trend of ebooks has created a new platform for us to spread our message — that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him." Check out these 14 free eBooks from Desiring God.

Audio from the Christ-Centered Teaching – Panel Discussion at the SBC - Ed Stetzer, Eric Hankins, Jonathan Akin, and Trevin Wax were joined by more than 300 pastors and church leaders for a breakfast meeting devoted to discussing the New Testament’s use of the Old, the appropriate ways of leading people to Christ from Old Testament stories, and the difficulties and dangers of applying this hermeneutic in irresponsible ways. The audio of their conversation at the Southern Baptism Convention is well worth a listen.

Top Blog Posts of 2012 - Unhealthy Christian Organizations - "I decided to write about a problem I had seen in a number of organizations throughout the years-- an unhealthy culture among Christians in places of ministry. I wrote about it because I thought that it was an important issue to address, but even I was not expecting the level of response. Unfortunately, this appears to be a widespread problem." Ed Stetzer shares his research into the characteristics of unhealthy Christian organisations.
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Thought for the day...

"We must not be content with a theory of faith. We must have faith within us so that we move from the ordinary to the extraordinary."
— Smith Wigglesworth

It Is Not Good For Man To Be Alone

by Joel Hawting | @jhawting

It is not good for man to be alone. A long time ago in the garden God realised this and brought Eve into the world from the flesh of Adam. Genesis 2:18 reads:

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

God provided for Adam a companion. A lover. Someone to 'do' life with. Someone to be united with. God created the first woman in the history of the world as he saw that it was not good for Adam to be alone.

I've seen this passage of scripture in a new light recently. You see, my wife has been away on a remote work trip for the last week or so. She has been on a trip to some remote parts of central Australia in the Northern Territory, and was so remote at times that she did not have internet or phone reception. We have only been apart for a bit over a week so far - and we will only be apart for nine days total - but I'm feeling lonely. I'm missing my wife; I've realised for myself how it is not good for man to be alone.

God has made the institution of marriage for this very purpose. Two become one flesh and live to love, nurture and honour one another, developing an earthly relationship that reflects the heavenly relationship that the members of the Godhead experience. To live together in intimate relationship. To practice unconditional love and acceptance. To rely on and trust in one another. To spend time enjoying and experiencing life together.

God realised that it wasn't good for man to be alone and God brought into existence the perfect partner for Adam back in the days of Genesis. After this time apart, I am eagerly anticipating God returning my perfect partner to me tomorrow afternoon. Just like Adam, I've had enough of being alone. Just like Adam, I've realised that it's not good for man to be alone.