Classic Mikey treaties

Here's some Mikey gold for the two of you who didn't get here via his blog:

The value of working really hard

The value of careful planning [a real life example]

A critique of the house church movement [be sure to read all four parts!]

Cool conferences

SMBC is quietly putting on three ripper conferences in August and September. The first is a series of talks held over six Tuesday evenings (from the 3rd August to the 21st September) at which Ray Galea, Leon Stead, John Chapman, Simon Manchester and Grant Thorp will be speaking. It's to celebrate David Cook's 25th anniversary as principal of SMBC. The format's the really exciting thing - first the speaker will talk about the sort of preaching that's needed today, then they'll give their sermon, and then the speaker and David Cook will discuss how the sermon was prepared.

The second conference is from the 7th-9th September and it's on Communicating Isaiah. The exciting thing about this one is the speakers - our own Kirk Patston who teaches Isaiah and has just written a commentary and who I can't recommend enough; Paul House, the man who wrote that Old Testament Theology; and the lovely Ray Galea.

The last conference is on the 11 September and it's about Preaching the Old Testament with Integrity. Kirk and Paul will be speaking at that one too.

Language immersion from the comfort of home

If you want to learn another language and memorising vocabulary isn't your thing, here's what you should do. You should switch your gmail and facebook accounts over to that language: then everytime you go online you will have a small immersion experience. If you don't know what something says you can always use an online translator. To my delight, the internet today conspired to amplify the experience. Now, whenever I hover my cursor over a word on the internet, a pop-up window gives me a list of Spanish equivalents. ¡Eso!

Something to say

Why does writing on world mission often use shoddy exegesis? Here's an example for you. The gospel of Mark records Jesus' refusal to continue teaching and healing in the town of Capernaum. David and Joyce Huggett think they know why: "Jesus’ need for space, then, was urgent, and He did not hesitate to make sure He had such space, even though at times this caused Him to close His ears to cries for help and to turn away from people".1 Wheras in actual fact, if you read the very next verse, Jesus has another explanation for why he acts this way: "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." (Mark 1:38)

My guess is that because it's a practical field, people turn on the 'common sense' part of their brain. So I hear people basing their views of the 'missionary call' on the experience of famous missionaries or guaging the rightness of a course of action solely by the effectiveness of its outcome (eg "I wouldn't normally agree with women leading churches, but there are no mature Christian men here, so it must be okay for the female missionary to lead the church.") Coming up with a Bible verse or a general Christian principle to support the decision is something of an afterthought and lacking in rigour (as the above example shows).

This sort of thinking drives me crazy! If the Bible doesn't provide any practical help for everyday life and decision-making then why are we bothering with the whole enterprise? Is it only for heaven that we are Christians?!? No!


1 D Huggett, J Huggett, "Jesus Christ: The Heart of Member Care" in K O'Donnell (ed) Doing Member Care Well (William Carey Library, 2002), 209-21.

Back home

The other day a lady was telling me about her daughter who went to Asia for work. She happened to end up living in the same city as some local women who'd been students in Australia and had become Christians during their stay. The daughter has ended up being something of a spiritual mentor and teacher to these women. What a great ministry opportunity! - going to Asia specifically to provide support and leadership to returned students! Dear reader, you should go.

The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle

Muslim people have a major issue with the very idea that God would come to earth as a man. For them Allah is so transcendent it is impossible for him to associate with people. I wonder if the book of Exodus might be a good book to share with Muslims as it's all about the awesome, terrifying and dangerous privilege of having Yahweh dwell among the people of Israel.* The Gospels also see the Jewish leaders struggling with the idea that this ordinary man from Nazareth could be a Prophet, let alone Almighty God, so they could be a good place to turn to next.


* How about these verses:
"the LORD said to him, 'Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the LORD and many of them perish. Even the priests, who approach the LORD, must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them.' . . . . When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die." (19:21-22; 20:18-19)

Bated breath?

Hang in there folks. I've been super-busy at college, and still am, but I've written a few draft posts and have 5 Post-It notes jammed with new ideas. Consider this a helpful exercise in delayed gratification.