rhythm+hue
My musings, writings, observations, ideas, & thoughts about God, Life, and following Jesus in Suburbia.
-
Archive of "missional" Category
Bottled Water
I visited RE:VIVE church yesterday - they are an off-shoot from the Lilydale Seventh Day Adventist Church - and I must say that I was quite pleasantly surprised and impressed! The service was pretty much like any other contemporary worship service, except it was lead by younger folk (20’s) - and the atmosphere was VERY relaxed with folk getting up and grabbing drinks before coming back to their seats. Comfy lounges as well as comfortable chairs were available and all in all it was not a “slick” service but one that was definitely more heart-felt and spirit lead!
But it is not the worship that impressed me! The sermon was by a fellow called Luke - still need to find his name out - who was down from the Central Coast of NSW to talk. His talk was on the Living Water - the Holy Spirit - and what it means to be filled with the Living Waters. Luke then said that he had been drinking bottled Living Water for the past 32 years! To explain Luke’s background helps now; he is a Seventh Day Adventist minister who used to work at a Seventh Day Adventist School and had grown up the child of Seventh Day Adventists. So the claim that he had been drinking bottled Living Water for 32 years was very well understood by most of those assembled who knew Luke. (more…)
Posted in Australia, Church, Holy Spirit, Kingdom, church life, croydon, missional |
No Comments »Little Kingdom’s Part Two
I hope you had a chance to read my rant about the different welfare agencies working in the immediate area and the ineffectiveness that this can cause in helping those who need it the most.
I met with a mate today and some of his tribe that he is travelling with today for lunch. It was a wonderful time, two of the folks were actually interns in the training program that they have initiated. It is quite exciting and lots happening. It was also encouraging to hear that a number of the churches in the area are co-operating and working together not just in welfare issues, but identifying that they share the same purposes and mission afterall, as well as are part of the same Kingdom and serve the same King!
We shared that we both are aiming to unify more of the churches to work together too. Not just the big churches but the emerging ones, the Forge inspired ones! If anything they may be working, but they seem to all be working in almost isolation and silence apart from their immediate team! How wonderful it would be to hear of the stories of others and share our own, how great it would be to shed a tear of joy or sadness with others travelling similar paths! We just have to make an effort!
I will be writing more on this as I think about it, as well as the church plant we’re undertaking in the area - but it’s not a church plant at the moment, more a church seed, and it’s not a plant we believe should grow, but a movement! More on that soon too.
Posted in Australia, Forge, Jesus, Kingdom, Personal, Politics, church life, church planting, missional |
No Comments »Getting over our “little kingdoms!”
I visited the VicRelief Foodbank yesterday to get inducted for the Dining Room. It was quite a humble experience, but it was something that came up in the induction that has bothered me.
The foodbank has over 700 agencies listed as being able to access the food. It came up in conversation that there are quite a few churches and agencies getting food from just the Croydon and Mooroolbark and surrounds areas. It was suggested that perhaps a group of these agencies could combine to do a “shop”, saving time, fuel, money and the staff and resources of the food bank itself. The problem is, we aren’t aware of the other churches handing food and welfare, some meal services sure, but on the whole, none of the myriad of agencies and ministries in this area know each other, let alone work for the same causes, and with the same motivation.
Even within the churches serving meals such as the Dining Room, there is fierce rivalry about days and spaces, money, food and people we serve in God’s name! This is sickening and disgraceful to say the very least.
After some thought on this, I thougt I might do a “census” of the ministries and welfare services within the area. I did one earlier for the churches in the Mooroolbark area earlier out of curiousity and disgust to find almost 15 churches in the one suburb of Mooroolbark, yet not working together in an area rife with poverty, homelessness and other social justice issues. I’ll post the PDF later when back home (on the iPhone at the moment).
It saddens me, and I am sure God, that we cannot work together in unity! Imagine the impact combined outpourings of love and resources could have on the community and imagine what impact that would have on the Kingdom! We, and I mean, those of us who profess to follow Jesus, have to get over ourselves and the need for our own little kingdoms! This means accepting others and getting over the man-made doctrines and crap we call denominations, to start outpouring the love we have been shown through Jesus!
I’ll be praying about doing this census, but would appreciate your prayers and thoughts!
Sorry for any spelling errors - using the Wordpress app on the iPhone!
Addendum: PDF of Map of Mooroolbark Churches Heres the map I mention earlier about the known churches in the immediate area.
Posted in Australia, Church, Jesus, Kingdom, Personal, Social Justice, church life, croydon, missional |
2 Comments »Come On!
Hey all, please take the time to click on the lips to the right of here and support me to shut up for the Homeless! So far, I have raised $2 - can’t we do better than that! Please support this cause!
Click here - http://www.everydayhero.com.au/Neal_Taylor
Posted in Australia, Fund raiser, Social Justice, church life, human rights, missional |
No Comments »Old Books?
if you have any old books, of any nature, but particularly church based, I would love to have them! If you would consider donating them to me, I am planning on starting an online second-hand bookstore in teh very near future to support the ministry I am doing in Mooroolbark and Croydon here in Melbourne.
Email me or use the contact form to let me know - and if you are an established author in the church/christian/emergent fields, I would love to talk to you about stocking your books on the site for sale here in Australia and New Zealand.
Hope to hear from you!
Posted in Australia, Fund raiser, Personal, book, croydon, missional |
No Comments »Why Mark is angry!
Mark Broadbent has two articles in the excellent Neoleader site about why he is angry about the church in the Western world. His most recent entry cites some excellent examples why we may not be experiencing success in our mission to share the gospel in Australia.
To many people I’ve met have told me that there’s a reason we are not experiencing evangelistic success in Australia: ‘Australians are just too hard to reach’. I certainly agree that we are not the most spiritual nation on Earth, but I just can’t buy into their argument.
HERE’S WHY:
We’ve given Australians every reason to walk away from Christianity…
1. Catholic priests committing pedophilia
2. TV evangelists asking for money
3. Boring Chapel Services at Private High Schools
4. Boring Church Services
5. Ned Flanders (I love the Simpsons, but Ned is not helping our cause)(If you’re not sure you agree, just watch an episode of The Chasers. They regularly find reasons to pay out Christians).
Go take a look here and here and share your comments here please!
Posted in Australia, Blogging, church life, missional |
No Comments »
Recent Comments