no, No, NOOO!

So its been a while since my last blog (sorry). I saw this video the other night (thanks to Wretched Radio).

When I was is Sunday school we learned verses, read bible stories and sung Jesus loves me this I know (which is no longer politically correct). Nowadays, some have decided that we must nuance songs so that the kids will sing them. I'm sure Jesus is most glorified and lifted up through the singing of songs that bring spewing to the forefront of your mind...



This song is part of the Crazy Praise 3 collection of praise songs and I'm sure it will be instant hit in all the Nonsense-Driven Churches across the English speaking world.

'So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth.'

My time at the Crowded House...

Many of you will know at the weekend there I was down at the Crowded House in Sheffield. ‘Crowded House’ is headed up by Steve Timmis (also director of Acts 29 Europe) and Tim Chester. This pair wrote a book a wee while back called ‘Total Church’ which has become very influential and respected among the church planting and ‘missional’ circles.

I was down there to check out what was going on and to get a feel for the movement. Granted I was only there for the weekend but I think I got a good taste of what life is like in the Crowded House. Stylistically Crowded House is rather different from many typical churches. Many churches have small groups and this plays an important role in the church but Crowded House do it the other way around. They call the small groups Gospel Communities (GC’s for short), the GC’s are viewed as church. These groups hang out together, eat together, worship together and interact basically on a daily basis. Each GC has a focus some target the arts community, others help asylum seekers and others minister through football and pub quizzes. On a Sunday all the GC’s meet together (in the network I was in there was 7) in what they call the Gathering (which is basically a typical church service) but to them this isn’t church it’s a gathering of the GCs, church is something that is done every day in each GC.

So what did I get up to down there, well lots, I met a heap of people (most of which I can’ remember), I got to hang out with the guys at refuge GC who took me along to help them teach asylum seekers English. Here I met 2 Iranian men Hussein, and Usman. I can see how effective this relational ministry can be because they come along every Saturday morning for 3 or so hours just to chat! Awesome!

I went for dinner with Beccs and Ben and 3 others who are in the Manner GC. The Manner is a rough housing estate in Sheffield here they are very intentionally getting to know the community. One of the ways that they went about this is by establishing a pub quiz in a local pub in the centre of the area.

I got to hang out with the guys from South View GC, there focus is to the arts community. They put on events in the building Crowded House has. This particular event was a folk night, they booked a popular folk band from the area (there name escapes me but they were sweeeeet!!!). This event attracted many non Christians from the area, the place was packed. The entry fee is like a fiver and u get free cakes and unlimited coffee (not the crap stuff, but rather they have one of the big starbucks machines, much coolness). Again this was another effective method of relational evangelism.

I also got to hang out with a guy called Tm from the Broomhall GC. I think they are also into working with asylum seekers. However he was talking about building relationships up with the people in the area by attending local comities, political events and anything else that is going on in an area. This area is very divers ethnically and in age also, there is a mix of students, Jamaicans and many other people groups. Tim told me that a month or so ago just outside his house there was a drive by shooting. Time felt really strongly about living in this area and making a difference with the Gospel.

On the Sunday I attended the Gathering where Michael Tinker (the guy who kindly let me stay with him and his family) lead worship with the team. There was a good mix of songs, some older ones jazzed up a bit, some that was written by people in crowded house and some from Sovereign Grace. One thing I found a little different was, Fredrick a German guy who is hoping to plant a church got up and shared a book review with the congregation. After this Steve Timmis got up and gave a good word. They were working through Tim Keller’s series on the prodigal God. On that day Steve was talking about the older brother who is angry, self righteous and bitter- he compared this to many people in the congregation and many people appeared to be convicted.

After the service I got to hang out with the Living Room GC which is the one that Steve Timmis was in. These guys don’t really have a focus at the moment, to some extent the focus is football. Here we ate together and chatted about the sermon.

All in all I had a great time hanging out with the guys at the Crowded House, they are a great bunch of people who are really seeking the Lord and trying to live life’s that are pleasing to Him. I’d recommend to all of you to buy a copy of Total Church it’s worth a look!

Crowded House
Total Church

He's Baaaaaaaackkk!

That's right Todd 'shekaboomba ill have an affair and divorce my wife and marry my intern' Bentley is back, have no fear he has went through a time of restoration with Rick Joiner from the Kansas City (false) Prophets (or rather Profits). Many of you will remember summer of 2008, the Lakeland 'revival', that's right the bam bam sheekaboomba thing. Well its happening again over in Morning Star SC.

The biggest problem I have with this movement is that they are not preaching the Bible, Todd admits that the preaching of the Word takes a back seat when God 'wants him to heal people'. To clarify I'm not a cessationist, iv seen God heal and iv seen the 'Charismatic Gifts' used correctly. However this whole movement takes things beyond the Pale... The reason I say this is that the Holy Spirits role is to glorify the Son (John 16) you hardly hear any reference to Christ or his atoning work on the cross. This is my cue to have nothing to do with the movement.

Another thing that I don't like is the 2 hours of hysterical worship that is very repetitive and circler not dis-similar to that of eastern religions who do this to work themselves into a frenzy.

Here is Todd Friel from wretched radio to comment:


James 3
Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Dr Burke, Romans and Adoption

Today I'm spending a bit of time in a coffee shop (turns out the coffee shop I'm in is a gay coffee shop- is this what missional means?) studying the book of Romans. I have always loved this book, however it really became alive for me when I took a class at Moody Bible Institute with Dr Burke. Dr Burke is a Legend!!! he's a Irish Prof. that has spent some time teaching in various area in the world including Fiji, Wales and I believe Nigeria. Burke took us through Romans verse by verse and more often than not word by word. Burke showed us the theological themes that are weaved thought Romans. I loved that Burke took time to explain each theological concept in depth with passion instead of just rushing through. I particularly enjoyed the teaching on predestination.
If you are a moody student- take a class with Burke! You will be in for a treat!

Burke has written a fascinating book on Adoption. Adoption really is Burke's baby. The book covers various issues but the main point is that as Christians, we are adopted into the family of God. How awesome... D. A Carson another Legend reviews Burke's book:

“Not only the importance of God’s family, but also the enormous privilege of belonging to it, are powerfully underscored by Paul’s understanding of what it means to be the adopted sons of God. With such themes in view, a wide array of pastoral implications soon springs to light. In other words, this volume not only probes a neglected theme – it also edifies”

Too read an interview with Dr. Burke Re: his book click here

Whats wrong with NOOMA???

In light of Rob Bell coming to Perth to speak in the next few weeks I thought it would be fitting to post about some of his material. I firstly want to say that I have not read all his books nor have I watched all the Nooma videos. However I do have a problem with some of the stuff I have encountered. Ultimately there is no cross- that's a big problem, no cross = no Gospel!

Greg Gilbert from 9 marks reviews Nooma:

“The gospel as Bell communicates it in NOOMA runs something like this: All of us are broken, sinful, selfish, and prideful people. We carry around the baggage of our hurts, our resentments, and our jealousies. As a result we are just a shell of the kind of people God intends us to be. But our God is a loving God who accepts us and loves us just as we are. He can comfort us, heal us, and make us whole, real, authentic, living, laughing people. Not only that, but Jesus came to show us how to live revolutionary lives of love, compassion, and acceptance. By learning from his teachings and following him, we can live the full and complete lives that God intended.

And that’s about it. That’s not just the introduction that leads to an explanation of the cross, atonement, the resurrection and salvation, either. So far, at least, that’s what NOOMA holds out as "The Gospel." Full stop.
In the videos I watched, there’s almost no exposition of the cross. I only remember it being mentioned twice, once to say that Caesar killed Jesus and once when Bell says, "The cross is like God saying, ‘I don’t hold your past against you.’" Well, kind of. But that hardly exhausts the meaning of the cross, does it? At the very least, he ought to have continued that sentence by saying something like, "I don’t hold your past against you, because I held it against my Son." But then I suppose that sort of uncomfortable thought would have destroyed the smoothness of the presentation.

Even the resurrection—which usually plays an enormous role in Emergent theology—doesn’t get much emphasis here. NOOMA is all about "Jesus’ teachings," but only a select few of those. You won’t hear Bell talking about the teachings of Jesus that focus on ransom, blood, new covenants, and rebirth—much less judgment, sheep and goats, and "Depart from me." For Bell, Jesus’ teachings are apparently limited to his ethics, and Bell’s gospel is evidently limited to a call for people to embrace those ethics and "live like Jesus."

I have a theory about why Emergent church types seem to be able to communicate so well with "our generation," why they’re able to relate so well to people who have always been hostile to the gospel. You can chalk it up to some kind of "authentic" style if you want, but I’d contend that a big part of their ability to communicate the gospel without offense to people who have always been offended by it is that they leave out all the offensive parts!”

Too read the full review click here