fascinating, chilling, interesting…..provoke one to prayer…
“We were all human beings united by a tragedy, equal in the face of suffering and walking the path of recovery together….”
(more)
The Victorian fires…a chaplains experience
my leftie mac loving revisionist tiger supporting internet mate….
…..has put some good thoughts together on a way to think through the whole ‘revisiting’ church issue.
“In our rush to reject the consultant paradigm, there is a real danger that we embrace the house of sand approach that the bartender represents. The truth of the matter is that Jesus has a lot to say about how people, and the world is living……”
The consultant and the bartender walked into a church….
I dont respect people who dont proselytise…
Here is an excellent little video from an atheist….you may have seen him on Penn and Teller.
He makes the following points….
How much do you have to hate someone…to not share your faith?
If I believed without a shadow of a doubt that you were about to be hit by a truck…and did not say something to you, what would you say about me?
Ownership versus community centres
Having now become a church that uses temporary locations…..spaces rented off others who own them….I am keenly aware of some of the advantages and disadvantages of both.
Using a community owned and used space has helped us to grow, interact and communicate with the community so much better than what we used to. People know where we are, they see us, the interact with our programs…we are part of the community.
Downside is that we dont own the place! We get told off for this that and the other….even if we have done nothing really wrong. There has been a distinct period of the other people using the place getting used to us….One person in particular……(say no more!)
The person who runs the centre is great! Nothing but helpful, know that we know her and have been there a while.
But not being able to do whatever we want there…is a downside.
Ultimatly moving has been the right move for us. There is certainly pain. We have a lot of stuff to set up each week (3 times a week actually)…and not a lot of space to put it in…..but the upside is….we are starting to feel like a mission organisation, not a club.
New Laptop
Thanks to insurance……yes I can….
I did not have much…if any choice in it….it was a new for old replacement…and had to be an Acer. Fortunately this one does appear to be considerably more robust than my previous one…which had a fragile screen and keyboard (and the internet would confirm that in forum groups!).
It does have a nice screen, 250 gb hdd and 2 gb ram…..and a good quick dual core processor.
Oh….and its better than my co workers….which is probably the most important thing…. 🙂
Marketing your church
Your church is is people.
You might have magnificent buildings, you may have great coffee….but if you do not have people who are genuinely concerned about their community, you have nothing.
However….you do need to let people know you exist. The message we have to share is the best and most important message in the world! God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives. Jesus Christ is Lord….and making Him Lord of our lives brings about joy and peace!
How to let people in the community know about your church is a challenge. I dont think paid ads do much. They may help, but they are not the solution. I think we need a multi focused approach. Our churches should organise, run…..lead community events. They should advertise these well….be involved in the community, having community people work alongside us!
We run the Artisan Markets at Inglewood….It is awesome! Here is a story (stories are so much better than ads….SO MUCH better) that ran in this weeks local paper.
Its amazing how we do it to ourselves…
Go back to the same rubbish…
creatures of habit……
part of an unhealthy machine….
when you give in….you just wish you had not….
its cheap, sort of tasty and convenient….
but its rubbish……