Dale Appleby

Responding to human tragedy 24 Jan 10

Responding  to human tragedy

Human tragedies seem to pile one on top of another.  Bushfires, floods, earthquakes, drowning, murders. Loss of life on huge scales and loss of life on very personal small scales.  But not all human tragedies result in immediate death.

Many tragedies keep on going. The intensity varies from day to day but the pain, loss, despair are always there. All of us know someone who is affected by some great sadness and calamity. Sometimes it is of their own making, sometimes not. Sometimes a bit of both.

Sometimes the person we know is ourselves. And we recognise that tragedies are relative. But estimating the relativity is tricky. “Why me?” is one response.  Thankfulness that it is not as bad as someone else is another.

Responding to the tragedy involves more than working out who is worse off.  And it is not just the sufferer who has to respond.  Friends, family, communities also respond to tragedies and are affected by them. But how best to respond, especially to large scale or chronic tragedies?

Read more: Responding to human tragedy 24 Jan 10

Which Old Testament God? 17 Jan10

Which Old Testament God?

I was listening to a famous Australian novelist being interviewed on radio this week.  In passing he referred to the God of the Old Testament as vengeful cruel kind of God that no one nowadays would approve of.   It is a common idea, and not surprising that people repeat it, but it was surprising to hear an otherwise educated man repeat it.

It comes from a superficial reading of the stories, or perhaps a partial memory of certain stories. But it reveals a profound ignorance of the Old Testament.

Take the first stories for example. Read them closely and you will see a joyous God extremely happy with his creation and intent on establishing close and personal relationships with humans.

Take the stories of the Exodus, especially as summarised in Deuteronomy. Certainly there are harsh judgments and dire warnings. But more powerful is the repeated emphasis on love. God’s patient love towards his people. The expected love of his people for their God. And his mercy, or his loving-kindness, as the rich Hebrew word is sometimes translated.

Read more: Which Old Testament God? 17 Jan10

Evangelism and Mission Resources and Ideas

Evangelism and Mission: Resources and Ideas

This is a changing list of resources that may provide ideas and resources for various aspects of evangelism and church growth. Feel free to let me know about other useful links.

Latest Additions:

Some resources from multi-site churches

Anglican Church Planting Initiatives
ACPI exists to “Serve tomorrow’s churches today” by encouraging and assisting the planting of healthy, missionary-minded churches.

Church Power Point: free images for worship and sermons

The Text This Week: a virtual study desk for students, teachers and preachers.

YouVersion is an online resource and a free mobile Bible application with over 5 million users. It allows people to read the Bible (a variety of versions) online by a variety of methods, keep their own journal and interact with other users - and more.

Read more: Evangelism and Mission Resources and Ideas

The Interests of Christ 10 Jan 10

The Interests of Christ

“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” The foundations of the Anglican church at Willetton were solid and bold. They owed much to the inspiration that came from the renewal of the Church of the Redeemer in Houston, its amazing community life, the leadership of the Revd Graham Pulkingham, and the music of the Fisherfolk.

What was then the Leeming church began as an intentional Christian community with an attempt to provide an all-age Sunday meeting of the church. It aimed to reach out to the community with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ – and did so very successfully. Later a church was planted in Willetton and built up by the preaching of the gospel of Christ.

Clearly God began the good work. Like most churches this one has had its up and downs. Some people have fallen away, others have been tested and become stronger. It is very encouraging that God who started the work will bring it to completion on the day of Christ.  And he will do so by using ordinary people. But not all the ordinary people will keep on looking out for the interests of Christ.

Read more: The Interests of Christ 10 Jan 10

The Bible and the Expansion of Christianity 3 Jan 10

The Bible and the Expansion of Christianity

2010 marks the centenary of the famous Edinburgh Missionary Conference that gave rise to the modern ecumenical movement  - and to various  gloomy forecasts of the decline of Christianity.  Africa, especially, was soon expected to be over-run by Islam.

Yet, strangely, it is the west that has been over-run by a post-Enlightenment secularism with a serious decline in Christian numbers. Denominations that have embraced Enlightenment views seem most at risk of extinction.

By contrast Christianity is booming in Africa, Asia and South America. The old colonial outposts have blossomed with Christians.

In 1900 Africa had 8.7 million Christians  and 34.5 million Muslims in a total population of 108 million. In 1962 there were 60 million Christians and about 145 million Muslims. According to Lamin Sanneh*, a Professor at Yale, by 1985 there were about 16,500 conversions a day – about 6 million a year. Around the same time about 4,300 people were leaving the church each day in Europe.

Read more: The Bible and the Expansion of Christianity 3 Jan 10

Christmas for Adults 25 Dec 09

Christmas for Adults

What would an adult version of Christmas look like? What would we celebrate and how would we celebrate it?

I think the party would have to be ambiguous and mixed. Real grown-ups behave like that. I think there would be a kind of sombre joy, a kind of serious happiness.  Tears and laughter would run together. Like those profound moments when a baby is born. The sheer wonder of a birth defies a simple response.

It is like that with the birth of Jesus. It is quite sobering to think that things got to such a state. That God himself had to intervene in human affairs in order to rescue a bunch of humans  who would love him and treat him like God. The sheer hubris of humans is staggering, and God’s response to it is quite humbling for those who are grown-up enough to admit it.

Read more: Christmas for Adults 25 Dec 09