A young schoolboy who recently caught a ride with a friend of mine looked out the window and asked her, “What are all those buildings with the letter ‘t’ on top?” Times have changed! it...
Jesus had three key conversational techniques. (1) He asked questions, (2) he made provocative statements that drew people in (possibly the most difficult), and (3) he told stories from the natural world that aided understanding,...
Some people wrongly assume that, if we truly love people, we will find a way to share the gospel. I haven’t found this to be true. I’ve met many sincere Christians who would love to...
While many identify fear of rejection as a key hindrance to outreaching action, it is unavoidable that love conquers fear. No matter how much time we give to showing them how to outreach - if...
A friend recently recounted the typical journey of all organisations - including our churches and para-church organisation. It is an interesting reflection: Mission - movement - model (mechanism) - monument. (And, does the Shining Lights...
I've been reading a leadership book (which I'll leave nameless because what follows). It promotes prayer as a vital leadership habit - but then it measures prayer in terms of time. It's a great book...
A recent Pew study claimed that New Zealand is one of only three countries in the world where the non-religious are expected to outnumber the religious by 2050, according to new research. They believed that...
At present, some are pushing for a new flag. You may have seen the FB post which points out the possible connection between the flag and our constitutional foundations. If not - skim to the...
Are you sick of churches hurting people? Have you been hurt within a church? ‘Water under the bridge’ is the title of a new book by Don Barry, Pastor of Gateway Church in Hamilton. It is...
Why pay attention to this initiative and subscribe when others seem to offer similar stuff? It's a good question that we involved have also had to think about. Lets consider it....
A friend emailed this to me. I thought this concise speech was worth a post because of the breadth of perspective it brings to the kind of world we lived in back in 1814. The following speech...
I just met with Russell - the pastor of Ranui Baptist. This church is rare in that people are choosing to embrace Christian faith there regularly, and the only 'strategy' apparent is that the members and...
This past week I became aware of a friends school that ended religious education classes, and invited local churches to run a lunch-time program instead. I’m not aware of the reasons, however (while this particular...
Educational experts — like teachers — have known for years the importance of repetition in education. The spiral curriculum is a concept of repetition. Every week, month and year teachers intentionally repeat and expand upon...
Is the mission of Jesus truly the mission of our churches? In recent years our nation has been rediscovering how our early missionaries actually got a lot more things right than they were previously credited for,...
THE ‘HOPE PROJECT’ — NEW ZEALAND The below are a few paragraphs written for for a Christian audience, to help someone explain the Hope Project effort so far. What they do not communicate in the ‘balanced’...
Our team are very happy with the first effort. Assessment has identified areas that need addressing. The primary of these is the low web interaction / high bounce rate (meaning that many who came to...
After the most hectic year of my life the first phase has been achieved, and my mind has space to reflect on things other than only ‘core business’ - like blogs. For me, a big thank...
A reflection by Dave Mann, Hope Project Coordinator It is a matter of integrity to me that I’m open about this, because I don’t want to ever be accused of leading people ‘down the garden path.’...
(A reflection on where equipping such as that contained in the mini-equipping seminars might lead us) Noting the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20, our ‘come to us’ efforts (personal witness to friends, including invitations to them...