NewChurchLife

Check out the Australian Communities Report to see what Australians really think about Christianity. Christianity’s ten top belief blockers are in order) – 1. Church abuse 2. The hypocrisy of Christians 3. Judging others 4. Religious wars 5. The issue of suffering 6. Issues around money 7. It is outdated 8. Its teaching about hell [...]

Graham and Ailsa Ure have had simple church in their home each Saturday for 18 months now – but, simple church is not a one hour worship service. A number of factors motivated their move from long involvement in established conventional churches, including – none of the many friends they invited to church (over many [...]

In the current WikiLeaks saga many are having their worst suspicions of institutional control and secrecy confirmed. Talk hosts are being deluged as high profile backers weigh in on the side of freedom of expression. Parallels have been drawn on how the printing of the Bible by the Gutenberg Press challenged information control by the [...]

Last Thursday I picked up Wayne Jacobsen and Dave Coleman’s, “So you don’t want to go to church anymore!’ It is a challenging read – but very helpful. The authors get at some critical issues – and, for me, some of their insights and narratives came ‘very close to home’! One of the great dangers [...]

Milton Adams, coordinator of Simple Churches for the Florida Adventist Conference, has shared with me some very significant research on The State of the American Church. It reveals some startling statistics on the inevitable decline of churches older than 40 years (unless in their 70s – or those local churches established for more than 200 [...]

Some have written asking whether Judy & I are still alive! Since returning to Australia I have been coordinating preparations for three major series of public evangelistic meetings – and these have been happening for the last seven weeks. It has been an all consuming project! The programs began across Melbourne in April, with over [...]

As well as a time to share faith – and celebrate with our communities – this time of the year also gives an opportunity to say THANKS. A couple of weeks ago our Living Waters plant had a worship time entitled In Appreciation – during which we praised God and expressed appreciation for the contributions [...]