The cross preacher

  • Tony Payne
  • 2 June 2015

“You can’t be a cross preacher and appear wise to the world.” This was the provocative line I jotted down about halfway through Phil Colgan’s address at the Nexus 2015 conference. I’m pretty sure, by the way, that ‘cross preacher’ was my abbreviation for ‘a preacher whose sermons are

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A day of small idols

  • Jean Williams
  • 5 June 2015

I was standing near a group of school mums, waiting for my kids to come out of school, when I overheard this one-sided conversation: “It’s my island bench! I’ve always wanted one! It’s mine. Mine! “The new kitchen goes nearly the whole length of the house. There was this

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On good and bad evangelism

  • Sandy Grant
  • 1 June 2015

‘Proselytism’ is on the nose in our allegedly tolerant world, increasingly proscribed or restricted by law or administrative policy. Mostly the word is left undefined, open to great subjectivity. Some think of it merely as seeking to persuade others of the merits of a religion, with a view to

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Guidance on how to be a man

  • Peter Sholl
  • 29 May 2015

Warning: this post contains an obvious conclusion, but read on anyway! I am a 40-something Christian man. I am married, and at the moment I live in Australia (although I usually live in Mexico). I enjoy the cricket, can cook a good steak, and will happily go to the

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From one mum to another: Living in a Miley Cyrus world

  • Di Warren
  • 28 May 2015

“I’m my own person… I go to the beat of my own drum.” -Miley Cyrus If you’re like me, then you feel concerned about the constant unhealthy messages that our daughters get about their bodies. It seems they are under a lot more pressure than we were at their age,

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Down-under round-up: 27 May 2015

  • Sandy Grant
  • 27 May 2015

Issue of the week Neil Foster, Associate Professor of Law at Newcastle University, continues updating us on Schools, Scripture, Banning of Books and Sexual Orthodoxy, examining the merits of the objections stated to the now-marginalized Christian views on sex. He argues that “students are entitled to hear points of view at

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What your church needs to know about church

  • Tara Sing
  • 22 May 2015

People love watching and talking about trends. Trends in the stock market, trends in prices, trends in culture, and also trends in churches. And apparently, the trend for churches in 2015 is not a good one. If the predictions are true, it looks like things are going downhill: Your

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Down-under round-up: 20 May 2015

  • Sandy Grant
  • 20 May 2015

A more concentrated list this week, since I’ve been extra busy… Issue of the week The issue last week was the book banning placed upon NSW SRE (Special Religious Education) in schools. The good news is that the ban has been overturned. This has been an early skirmish in a potentially

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The upside-down cross

  • Tony Payne
  • 19 May 2015

The recent Nexus Conference on ‘Crucified Ministry’ left me with a notebook full of scribbled thoughts and insights from a richly stimulating and encouraging day. Over the next few days, as we post video of the three main morning addresses at the conference, I’ll be reflecting on a key point

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Making meetings effective: Facilitation techniques

  • Craig Schafer
  • 18 May 2015

In my last article, I outlined how a good agenda and minutes can make meetings a better investment of people’s time. The effectiveness of meetings can also be improved by adopting some basic facilitation techniques. These can also help to minimise non-creative conflict. There is nothing wrong with conflict per

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