R1202

November 2, 2012 Leave a comment

In his important book “The Tangible Kingdom” Hugh Halter writes “if you go to Africa and hang out in a village of starving children you’ll get a heart for starving children.  If you hang out with the mentally ill, you’ll get a heart for the emotionally imbalanced.  If you want an authentic heart for people outside the church … you’ve got to be with them.  As they grab your heart, your posture will change, your angle of approach will change, and the Kingdom of God will be a little more tangible”.

About eighteen months ago we launched an overarching theme for our QCCC sites.  Known as R1202 (Romans 12:2) it’s a bright, colourful hand that is now a visual presence at each site.  The attributes in R1202 are drawn directly from the Beatitudes and it has multi-layering so that the interplay of colour, fingers (and thumbs) and words create up to sixty memorable object lessons that we can refer to, depending on the age and demographic of groups we’re working with

At QCCC we get to hang out with more than 50,000 people each year, with huge variation in age, needs and desires.  It means we have a heart for people coming away from their everyday hum drum, it gives us a heart of service to make sure they have a wonderful time away, and a heart to see their time with us spent well.  Often we don’t have a lot of time with people, but we’re just a small link in the chain of the Holy Spirit’s work and prompting in their life which started long before they come to us and will go on long past.

Read more of this post

Filed under This business of camping Tagged with , , , , ,

Of salt and yeast

January 13, 2012 Leave a comment

In a past life I was a franchise of Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Australia.  In fact I’m proud to admit one of the stores I was responsible for set an Australian record for opening week sales.  I even have the T-shirt to prove it!  All that to say, I’ve dabbled in enough pizza to know a bit about their bases and the secrets of great dough.

Some of this came back to me recently as I sat in on some sessions on Jesus’ parables by a mate of mine, Rhys McFaddden.  Talk turned to Jesus admonition to avoid the yeast of the pharisees and his urging followers to be salt.  For me it wound me back to memories of flopped deep pan bases, none more so than when we were trying to make them in drought-ravaged Broken Hill when it’s water supply (Menindee Lakes) was down to 3%.  The town water became so saline that it was undrinkable – petrol stations stopped honouring discount vouchers and instead gave out casks of spring water with purchases. 

In the shop we had to start using cask water in the pizza bases too, because the saline content in the tap water was killing off the yeast in the dough mix and we couldn’t get any bases to rise. 

Read more of this post

Filed under Pithy observation, This business of faith community, This business of life Tagged with , , ,

Works or Words?

June 22, 2011 1 Comment

A couple of months ago I was at a Christian Venues Association (CVA) Outlook Conference (for leaders of the major Australian campsites).  Tim Costello was the opening presenter and together with several of his World Vision staff made a strong case for a social gospel, where the sharing of the gospel is integrally tied to a campaign of works and community involvement.

It provoked a lot of discussion about the approach to ministry and mission in the camping context, and bought on a collision between two different world views on what constitutes legitimate ministry.

Some sites have strongly held views on the primacy of compulsory bible teaching to all camps, where others are taking a more pragmatic approach to how they cater to their secular guests.

The internet age, and the rise of a virile and antagonistic secular humanism in the public school sector means that the day is not far off, if it is not already upon us, that twentieth century style bible teaching will become a barrier and stumbling block to secular schools and community groups accessing Christian campsites.

Read more of this post

Filed under Pithy observation, This business of camping, This business of life Tagged with , , , ,

The Home Front – Selous Scout Mission

February 22, 2011 4 Comments

 

Japanese war dead on Suri Ridge, Okinawa.

One of the major trepidations I have about writing on the Selous Scouts, and drawing analogies with Christian mission, is a deep sense of unworthiness.  Regardless of the books read, and even a sense of proximity of having lived through the Rhodesian bush war, how could I ever truly know what these men went through?  I was just a kid who went to bed each night in the far-flung outer suburbs of southern Bulawayo with a sense of security, while Selous Scouts and the rest of the Rhodesian Army made huge sacrifices and lived with constant deprivation attempting to protect our lifestyle.

I have often wondered what it must have been like for those guys, particularly Scouts, to return to “civilisation” for their R & R.  How was it to be air-lifted from deep within the tribal trust lands, dressed in the ragged, faded denim of the enemy, brandishing an AK-47 to find oneself hours later in one of the wild-west saloons of downtown Salisbury or Bulawayo?  With all they saw in the field, and were called on to do, was it possible to cast it aside as they returned to the “normality” of civilian life for a time or, more importantly, at the end of the war?
Read more of this post

Filed under Selous Scout Mission, This business of life Tagged with , , , ,

C Group

February 10, 2011 1 Comment

A short break in the Selous Scout Mission transmissions.  There’s a couple of other things I have to mention in the meantime.

 

The beautiful Blackall Range where we live

A couple of months ago I blogged about our church, Maleny Baptist, and the journey it’s on, with an emphasis on home groups.  We’re kicking one off in our area, Mapleton.  Below is our pitch.  Would welcome any thoughts or comments!

Mapleton Cell Group:

What we are:

A Cell Group for families in the Mapleton/Montville area, focused on encouraging each other in our spiritual journey and being proactive about practical ways to stay true to Jesus’ Commission to make disciples and share the gospel.  Hospitality, intentional growth and shared mission are the most important part of our fellowship.

Read more of this post

Filed under This business of faith community Tagged with , , , ,

← Older posts

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 127 other followers

%d bloggers like this: