One Flesh
When it comes to thinking about gender roles, I wonder whether some Christians have sold out to a traditional Western view of sex, and when I say sex, I mean the one flesh kind of sex not the male / female kind of sex.
Five dimensions of church (the blog convo)
The first topic of the blog convo is ‘the non-negotiables of church’. At this point I just want to make a kind of pre-contribution, which I’ll return to later. Soma Church is a new church startup in Sydney and they’ve blogged some useful ideas. Writing here and here, they sketch out […]
Who do you say I am?
Throughout the Gospels, the question asked of those listening to or following Jesus is who he is. Jesus asks it explicitly in passages like Mark 8:27-29 and it is still the question we must ask of others today. Last week on our way down to the LaTrobe / Swinburne uni […]
Oprah, value and grace
What makes us valuable / significant / worthwhile? This was the question asked at the start of the sermon tonight at church. My thoughts immediately jumped to Oprah, who claims that worthiness is our birthright. In a world that says you’re worthwhile because of what you do (accumulate, succeed in, […]
A Christian Twilight?
Christian publishing houses are coming out with their own vampire literature. “Thirsty” comes out later this year with cover artwork that looks suspiciously familiar. Putting aside the obvious cynicism that all the writer / publishers are doing is cashing in on the success of Twilight, stop and think for a […]
Gender and hereditary loss of hearing
As Tamie and I continue writing about gender, we’ve had two kinds of experiences. We’ve been encouraged by respectful conversations with others, such as the interaction following On Femininity. Yet we’ve been saddened to meet others who wouldn’t even consider the discussion because it has been so hurtful and offensive […]
Which bridge?
Two of the most controversial and prominent figures in evangelical Christianity are Rob Bell (of NOOMA fame) and Mark Driscoll. Both emphasise the importance of engaging with culture, ‘building bridges’ with unbelievers – both have called their churches ‘Mars Hill’ after Paul’s encounter in Acts 17. Yet they have very […]
Meet Jesus at uni 