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2/27/2007 List of postings: Dec '06 to Feb '07During this period the blog recorded over 10000 page views ... that's about a thousand hits a week! Thanks everyone for reading. I sometimes have the pleasant surprise of meeting another blog reader when I visit other churches. So say hello! You will notice a series of posts in January and February that are particularly relevant for people who lead Bible study groups (eg. 20, 22 and 24 Jan, and 5, 9, 17 and 19 Feb) - why not share them with your ministry team? December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
[ PS: which were your favourite posts during this period? Which ones did you feel strongly about? ] 2/25/2007 The road to denying the gospelDuring the day, Rev. Ying Yee talked the students through an article called Assumed Evangelicalism: Some reflections en route to denying the gospel by David Gibson (6 pages). It's an article well worth reading and sharing with your leadership team, but here I offer a brief summary.
Throughout church history a pattern has built up of how Christian ministries end up denying the gospel. And generally it doesn't happen overnight - it happens over a long period of time. The first generation of believed and proclaimed the gospel, and taught its social entailments. The second generation assumed the gospel and preached its entailments. The third generation denied the gospel, and all that is left is the entailments.
You would expect that an evangelical ministry would be committed to proclaiming the gospel. But Gibson is interested in assumed evangelicalism - one that "believes and signs up to the gospel. It certainly does not deny the gospel. But in terms of priorities, focus, and direction, assumed evangelicalism begins to give gradually increasing energy to concerns other than the gospel and key evangelical distinctives, to gradually elevate secondary issues to a primary level, to be increasingly worried about how it is perceived by others and to allow itself to be increasingly influenced both in content and method by the prevailing culture of the day."
While it's easy to spot ministries that are outright denying the gospel, it's much harder to spot one that's merely assuming the gospel. That's because it acknowledges all the right things, and is quite capable of outlining sound evangelical theology. This means critics of assumed evangelicalism are always open to the charge of being labelled judgmental, and their criticisms are largely about potentials rather than actuals.
What would an evangelical ministry look like when it is in the dangerous middle period of assuming the gospel? Gibson offers two diagnostic questions that help in locating which of the three categories a ministry is currently in. The first diagnostic question is: to what extent does the gospel dictate our priorities in life, and the visions and strategies of our churches, movements and institutions? There are two symptoms of ministries that are beginning to assume the gospel.
The first symptom is legalism - where the gospel is regarded as being for outsiders who haven't yet become Christians. Instead, Christians are taught about the entailments of the gospel. They strive to be acceptable to God and others on the basis of their keeping of rules, and their outward behaviour. "Assuming the gospel means that we regard it as what gets us to heaven but that other things are needed to make us good Christians - it is Jesus plus-something-else as what we really need to be right before God and others."
Gibson continues that the antidote to legalism "is always to recover the sheer scandal of the gospel of grace. In this church the question to ask is: when was the last time my pulse quickened because of the wonder of God's forgiveness of my sin that was so clearly being presented?"
The second symptom is license - assuming that because we are right with God, we can now do whatever we want. This can take the form of moral license, where we live as though our sexual immorality and greed does not bother God. But it can also take the form of practical license. Gibson writes that "the gospel is assumed as being true and important but the actual practice of the church has little to do with the structure and content of the gospel".
The antidote to license is "to reflect more deeply on the content of the gospel and to ask whether this content is actually the substance of what we are about in the life of the church. Is our spirituality gospel spirituality - marked by the Bible, the cross, Christ as Saviour and Lord?"
The second diagnostic question is: to what extent do the key features of evangelicalism dictate our priorities in life, and the visions and strategies of our churches, movements and institutions?
Gibson highlights the danger of theological students choosing academic respectability, over academic responsibility. A world of difference lies between the two, the first leading to a non-theological approach to the Bible - instead of seeing it as being the very words of God. He challenges students first, then college boards second, to contend for biblical authority, rather than accept theological bankrupt (but widely accepted) critical methods.
Gibson also points to the example of a chairtable organisation which continually talks about 'justice' - but uses this term selectively, in a way that ignores the fact that God has now brought about his justice ... at the cross! They would probably have acknowledged this. But "by just assuming this truth, rather than clearly and repeatedly articulating it and letting it govern the contours of the movement's vital engagement with social issues, there is vast potential for the next generation to deny what they have simply never had the chance to understand."
The test of this is to see how the doctrinal statement is used in the organisation. Is it just used as a flag of convenience? Merely to identify enemies? Or perhaps merely reprinted here and there and never consulted? Gibson writes that "when this happens, but then is practically ignored in the day-to-day policy of our movement, the doctrinal basis is unwittingly beginning to function primarily as a boundary-marker. The truth it expresses begins to be assumed rather than cherished and preached and we only retreat to it to prove our orthodoxy under challenge."
Instead, the doctrinal basis ought to contain "the source of our joy, our humility, our love, and the motivation for our ministry." And more than that, these truths should actually shape our ministry: "are they worked out in the structures of our ministry, the conferences we organise, the partnerships we pursue, the topics we preach on, and the books that we write?"
In the end, we have to be ever watchful of small things. "The temptations we face are often exceedingly subtle. [...] Crisis points come about because of daily decisions, made on a minute scale and over a period of time, to either assume evangelical distinctives or actively articulate them." Yet those daily decisions can have disasterous consequences for the next generation!
[ PS: did you read the article? what did you think of it? ] 2/22/2007 PILOT 2007The SCCCA English central training days are now in the capable hands of Peter Ko - and we have a new format, a new look, and even a new name... PILOT is the new day conference run by SCCCA English for the next generation of leaders in the Chinese church!
Several people have asked me what's going to be different. Well, there'll still be two great Bible talks (this time from Archie Poulos and Peter Ko). There's still be lunch together (which is why you have to register), and there'll still be lots of opportunity to network with youth leaders from other Chinese churches.
But this year we've also added a ministry launch - an opportunity to hear about some of the new and exciting things going on that you and your church can be a part of. And instead of the workshops, there'll be a networking & training time after lunch. Pastors, college students or MAP/MTS trainees will sit with small groups of people, look at a training paper and then talk and share about the issues that you are facing in your ministry.
Here's the rundown of PILOT:
PILOT is shaping up to be a great day! Register at http://www.ace-network.org/register.php - and tell others to come along as well!
[ PS: we've got some great things to tell you about at the ministry launch! ] 2/19/2007 Writing good questions: concrete and abstractJean Piaget was a developmental psychologist who wrote about the cognitive development of children. Piaget said that children go through four different stages:
Most of us will be writing studies for people who should be well and truly in the formal operational stage - but may people still find it easier to think in concrete terms. This is particularly so if they are tired, half awake, or not motivated to do a lot of work in the Bible study. And so because of this, it's important to be able to ask questions that are more concrete, or more abstract. In fact, it's helpful to think about this in terms of a continuum!
So for instance, you might have a base question such as: "What four things does Paul consel in vv.3-4?" What you can then do is make that base question more abstract, or more concrete according to your needs. The following diagram illustrates that base question, and several variations of that same question.
The base question just asks about the four things in those verses. But one step more concrete is to tell the group they're looking for two positive things and two negative things. And one step even more concrete is to actually give them the answer, but have them sort out the right one from a selection of others.
And you can also go the other direction. So one step more abstract is to just ask the group what Paul is asking them to do - but without giving them the clue that they are looking for four things. And one step even more abstract is to not even tell the group that Paul is asking his readers to do something, but get them to work out for themselves what Paul is saying.
In effect, they are all the same question! But you can see that it's possible to tailor a particular base question into a more abstract, or a more concrete direction, to suit your particular group.
Be aware too that sometimes a group needs some time to 'warm up'. Perhaps they are just shaking off the cobwebs of sleep, a frustrating drive through traffic, or have just had a long day at the office! And so you might find it useful to ask concrete questions earlier in the study, and then progressively move to more abstract questions once they've gotten into the mood.
Be aware too that you might be a real Bible nerd, with a real love of meaty, abstract questions. The danger is to write questions to suit yourself - instead of thinking about what your group is like, and where they're at. Remember that you are a servant - not a showoff!
[ PS: it's good practice to ask yourself as you write a question if it's pitched at the right concrete-abstract level... ] 2/17/2007 Writing good questions: from closed to openYou probably already know about 'open' and 'closed' questions. Closed questions are those that shut down discussion, that have a particular answer. Open questions are those that open up discussion, that encourage a group to think more broadly. Generally people tend to look down on closed questions, and prefer open questions - because you want good discussion in a Bible study group.
But both kinds of questions actually have their place in a Bible study. Both of them do different and important jobs! When you are wanting to get people looking at the passage, and observing what is there, you should be asking closed questions. And when you want people to move on from the particulars of the passage to discover the big idea of the passage, then you need to ask open questions.
So often what you want to do is pair up one (or more) closed questions with an open question. You get people to firstly look at part of the passage, and then you build the link to the big idea. Here are three examples (from three separate studies):
You can see that they move from closed questions (first line), to open questions (second line). The closed questions should be used to highlight the significant structural features of that passage. These are the things that you would have discovered from doing your own exegesis on the passage. And then the open questions pick up from there and directs the group's thinking towards the big idea.
Make sure that it's the significant structural features you are pointing out - not just the interesting ones! This way you avoid creating "tour bus" studies that wander aimlessly around the passage, but instead create "rally car" studies that will bring the group to the big idea, through the contours of the passage (see previous post).
An extra note on closed questions. You see the prhase "closed questions" conjure up dull and boring feelings. And so we feel we need to get away from these quickly, and get on to the interesting discussion questions.
But just because a question is closed doesn't mean it has to be dull and boring! There are in fact some creative ways of writing closed questions. Here are some ideas:
Notice that they are interesting to do, but technically they are still closed questions. They are getting the group to come up with what's actually in the passage.
Notice also that these can be good ways of covering large passages of Bible in a short amount of time. The group is still discovering things about the passage, but your closed questions are guiding and limiting them to see the significant features so it doesn't take forever. [ PS: looking at pre-written studies can be a good way of learning new ways to ask questions - but be aware that they may not always be picking up on significant parts of the passage (for closed questions), or heading towards the big idea (for open questions)! ] 2/13/2007 ''I don't like this church.''One example is the New Testament's teaching on the church. We're told that the church is the bride of Christ (Eph 5:32). That it is God's own household (1 Tim 3:15). That it is Christ's body (Col 1:24). It is God's temple, the dwelling place of God's spirit (1 Cor 3:16). It was the church which Christ bought with his own blood (Acts 20:28), and anyone who tries to destroy God's church will have to answer to God himself (1 Cor 3:17)!
And so theologically, we know that the church is precious and beautiful. We are committed to that, and I'm sure everyone will readily agree to that.
But you see, but that's not really how we think about the church...
And in fact people can be unhappy with their church for all sorts of reasons. Instead of seeing Christ's beautiful bride, we see an awkward and ugly embarrasment! Instead of seeing Christ's own body, all we see are annoying, frustrating - even unloving people all around us on a Sunday morning!
And so, when we are annoyed by other people at church, we simply leave for another church. When we are frustrated by the slow pace of change, we find ourselves another church. When we don't like the pastor pointing out our sins, we vote with our feet.
Can you see that there is a disjunction between our theology on the one hand, and our behaviour and attitudes on the other?
What we need to do is see the church through the lens of Scripture. Yes, we might be repeatedly let down by the people in our church - but it is still precious and beautiful. We might be frustrated by our fellow Christians, but it is still God's own household. We don't just need to pay lip-service to those verses - we actually need to let Scripture tell us how we are to think and feel about the church.
And don't imagine that the early church was somehow pristine and without the politics, pride and sinfulness that we see today - remember Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. The astounding sexual immorality of 1 Cor 5. And the church politics in 1 Cor 3! Yet despite these things, the New Testament writers still point out the precious and beautiful nature of God's church.
Are you giving up on your church - even though you know it's Christ's bride? Feeling angry about your church - even though it's the temple of God? Instead of going with your gut reaction, what you need to do is allow God's word to transform our minds. And so, be reconciled with those people who annoy you. Grow in patience with those people who frustrate you. And submit yourself to teaching that you may not like, but which is undisputably biblical.
[ PS: this raises an interesting question: in what circumstances is it legitimate to give up on a church? ] 2/12/2007 Youth ministry in Chinese churchesHowever of these, very few are willing to consider youth ministry in Chinese churches... If they are open to serving in a Chinese church at all, the majority are looking to serve as a pastor - not as a youth pastor. In fact you can probably count the number of people who are open to serving in youth ministry on one hand!
However, of the 70 Chinese churches in Sydney less are in a position to take on a full on English pastor, and more are actually in a position to take on a youth pastor. This is partly due to the history of Chinese churches in Sydney - a small number are well-established denominational or independent churches from the 70's and 80's. But a lot more Chinese churches sprang up in the 90's from Hong Kong migrants leaving before 1997. The children of these migrants form the English congregations of many of those 70 churches - and they're currently in high school.
Youth ministry is important - you will find that the piviotal point for the majority of Christians was their high school years. Youth ministry is a foundational ministry. And it's important that it's done well - because youth could quite easily be turned off from Christianity altogether from a badly organised youth ministry.
Why aren't as many people willing to consider youth ministry? Possibly, it's not a position with a high enough kind of profile. Yes, becoming a pastor is seen as a fitting end to three or four years of study at theological college - maybe even student ministry! But youth ministry is not... This is an ungodly attitude: ministry is about service, not about position or prestige.
Then again, possibly it's the perception that youth ministry isn't well paid. That's quite likely true, and churches need to make changes in this regard to make sure their workers are financially secure. But yet again, this is an ungodly attitude: ministry is about service, not the money.
Whatever the reason is, this is still an area of huge need. It's what many Chinese churches are needing right now. What we need are lots of theologically well-equipped ABCs serving in some of the smaller Chinese churches as youth pastors, and being willing to grow their role as their congregation grows up over the years.
[ PS: why not consider youth ministry in a Chinese church? ] 2/9/2007 Writing for the big ideaThose of you who've done KYLC strand 1 know that a lot of your Bible study prep is about working out the big idea of the passage. And so maybe you might have done a lot of the exegesis work to get out the big idea of the passage. But this doesn't necessarily translate to a good study - sometimes the big idea you've worked hard to discover fails to make it into your actual Bible study questions!
In fact I have often seen Bible studies that meander aroung the passage like a tour bus taking a bunch of tourists around the interesting sights of Sydney... Studies that point out all sorts of interesting things, but never really get people to the big idea in a clear way!
Your Bible study is not meant to be like a tour bus. Your Bible study should instead be like a rally car! A rally car that takes people quickly to the big idea of the passage! And yes, your Bible study will follow the contours of the passage, just like a rally car doesn't just drive straight through the bush to get from A to B. You will take people through the passage - but ultimately your goal is to get them to discover the big idea for themselves.
A lot of Bible studies that you can buy on the shelves are in fact "tour bus" Bible studies. That's why you have to be very careful when you use pre-packaged Bible studies - many of them actually do a very bad job of getting across the big idea of the passage. Yes, they'll explore lots of interesting and worthwhile things about the passage - but in the end, what is the passage actually about? They often obscure the main point, and sometimes miss it entirely! But you want to consistently write "rally car" Bible studies - studies that will get people to the big idea, through the contours of the passage. And it's doing this that separates an ordinary Bible study from an excellent Bible study. So. How do you go about doing this? Here are three things to remember.
Firstly, discipline yourself to do the exegesis. Work hard to identify the big idea of the passage, and how the passage builds towards the big idea. Don't be lazy and launch right in to writing questions! It's tempting to do, but do your exegesis properly, uncover the big idea. Secondly, make sure your Bible study heads towards the big idea. Don't do all the hard work on the exegesis ... and then neglect to build your study around the big idea! No, make sure your big idea shapes the questions in your study. Ideally, your questions should lead people to discover the big idea for themselves. Instead of writing questions to explore all the interesting and fascinating bits of the passage, use your exegesis to good effect. Maybe you've worked out that the passage has four sections. You've worked out your big idea, and you know how each of those sections contribute to the big idea (see diagram). Well, what you now want to do is write one or two questions on each of those sections - but you spin the question so that people are thinking towards the big idea.
That way people aren't distracted by interesting detail, but missing out on the main point of the passage. That would be a real tragedy - and you would have failed in your job of opening up the Bible for your Bible study group. Sure, people might tell you that it was an interesting study - but have they really gone away with an understanding of what the passage was really about?
So once you've written your questions, double check them. Make sure your Bible study questions aren't wandering around aimlessly. And your exegesis will help you in that regard. And thirdly, when it comes to application, make sure it's the big idea that you're applying. It's a big temptation is to pluck something from the passage that seems to stands out, something that seems to be a command or an action to emulate, and to apply that. No, that's not the way - what you want to do is to apply the big idea. And yes, the passage may give you a clue as to one way the big idea can be applied in the church to which Paul was writing. But the big idea could be applied in a number of different ways as well - see previous post. [ PS: be aware that this is often a chronic problem in devotional study guides, and can end up training you to have sloppy Bible reading habits! ] 2/7/2007 The MTC / SCCCA course!There are in fact quite a few ABCs coming through the Bible colleges. But unfortunately quite a few of them have chosen to go to 'vanilla' churches (ie. not a specifically Chinese church, see graph). Generally they are partly attracted by the better pay and conditions, and they are also partly turned off by thier past negative experiences in Chinese churches.
But that's not all - some who have gone into Chinese church ministry in the past have found it so hard that they have left to serve in non Chinese churches.
One of the things the SCCCA English committee has been working hard at is talking to Bible college students about the need for more people to go back and serve in Chinese churches. We're convinced that this is the best way to reach the Chinese. However it is a hard ministry, and one of the important steps to getting people to serve in Chinese churches is sharing the skills and the mindset needed to survive in Chinese churches.
Throughout last year Archie Poulos at Moore Theological College (MTC) has been talking with us at SCCCA English about the possibility of running a short intensive course on how to go about doing Chinese ministry. This course is going ahead on 20th February 2007, with a range of lecturers from Chinese churches! It'll be open to 3rd and 4th year students at MTC, and contribute to the ministry component of their bachelor degree.
The course will cover:
It's our hope and prayer that this course equips more people to work well in Chinese churches, and will mean more graduates would consider serving in Chinese churches!
[ PS: if your Chinese church is looking for a pastor for your English congregation, hang in there! ] 2/5/2007 Stages of group lifeHis insights have generally been applied to work groups. But Bible studies are also groups - and so are committees (eg. a camp committee) and ministry teams (eg. the youth leaders). And the insights of Bruce Tuckman are useful in understanding the different stages that a group will move through - and what you can do to help the group develop well.
A useful thing to do be aware of at this stage of the year when Bible study groups, ministry teams etc. are starting up everywhere around you!
1. Forming
In the forming stage individuals come together to form a group. During this period there is excitement and enthusiasm, together with uncertainty and insecurity.
The group hasn't yet agreed on common objectives and roles, though individuals may have their own ideas. The role of the leader is very important at this stage in bringing the group together and outlining the basic goals of the group. Work hard to start the group well.
2. Storming
In this next stage, the uncertaintaies and insecurities of individuals start coming up. And so too do the different ideas that people have on commitment, objectives, roles.
The group may have agreed on objectives and roles, but individuals have yet to work out the implications for themselves or adopt them as their very own. And so individuals may still be turning up late, or pursuing individual agendas instead of group ones. The role of the leader here is to coach people to see the implications of group agreements.
3. Norming
In this next stage the group has worked out its norms - the normal way things operate, the objectives to which they are working, the roles that people play in the group. Generally there'd be a sense of commitment and unity and openness with one another.
The norms may be good ... or bad! If the leader hasn't done a good job in the first two stages of the group's life, a group may have ended up adopting norms where lateness, personal agendas, lack of trust etc. continue for the rest of a group's life. But in any case, people will have become comfortable with one another. Norming is, to my mind, not so much a stage as a transition from 'storming' to 'performing'.
4. Performing
The group now has a shared understanding of their purpose. They've also worked out their own ways of doing things. Relationships and roles are working well in the group. And as a result, most of the group's energy goes towards the group's task, rather than working out how they're going to do things.
5. Mourning
At the end of a group's life, it's important for the group to end well. Instead of just ending abrubptly, or letting things peter off, take time to celebrate what happened during the group's time together. Acknowledge people's contribution, reflect on the good and the bad. This will help people to feel better about joining another group next year.
Being aware of where your group is at will help you know what steps you can take as a leader to help the group develop in healthy direction.
Notice that the leader has to put in a lot of work in tending to relationships in the group at the start, and end of a group's life (especially 'forming', 'storming' and 'mourning'). If that is done well, the leader and the group can spend most of their time in the middle 'performing' stage attending to the group's purpose.
Been in a 'bad' group in the past? It's likely that things weren't started off well, so that bad norms developed in the group!
[ PS: remember that this doesn't just apply to Bible study groups, but also to committees and ministry teams... ] 2/1/2007 Where to buy your books fromThere are a number of large Christian bookstore chains in Australia. One of which is Koroong (in Sydney, their store is in West Ryde), and another is Word Books (in Sydney, they have a store in Sutherland and another in Martin Place). You probably know about these, because they market themselves quite heavily.
The market dominance of the larger bookshops have led to a number of smaller Christian bookshops closing their doors - the two bookshops I used to frequent in Parramatta in my high school days have long since stopped trading. However, there are still quite a number of smaller Christian bookshops that have survived, and a lot of them are listed on the CBAA website. It's very encouraging that there are so many Christian bookshops in country areas!
Bible college students have slightly different needs from regular shoppers - they are after textbooks and scholarly commentaries that other bookshops may not stock. There are a number of specialist bookshops that cater to Bible college students - one of which is Moore Books, the
bookshop attached to Moore Theological College. And another is Ridley College Bookshop, attached to Ridley College in Melbourne. These are the places to go for those harder-to-find textbooks.
Matthias Media produces a lot of worthwhile books and resources - and often the cheapest way to get them is via their own web store. However Moore Books sells Matthias Media books at Matthias Media prices.
Books published overseas can often be much cheaper to buy online. Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble are examples of secular booksellers that also stock quite a number of Christian books. There is also ChristianBook.com which specialises in Christian books. While these are often cheaper, you will have to pay a considerable amount for postage (often more than the cost of a book), and wait longer for the package to arrive. However, if you can put together a big order of books and have the patience to wait, this is often the cheapest way to get your books.
And sometimes you might be after a book that's gone out of print (OOP). Some bookshops (such as Moore Books) can track down OOP books for you. You can also try AbeBooks.com, a website that specialises in OOP books - that was how I got my copy of Perfectionism, by B.B Warfield (see for yourself). You can also search for used books through Amazon.com (see for yourself).
So how do the prices compare? I've done a search on a number of Christian online bookstores for a variety of books, ranging from popular Christian books, through to textbooks. The prices for Amazon.com, CBD and B&N are in US dollars, so I've converted them into Australian dollars. Today's conversion rate, as listed on XE.com, is 1 AUD = 0.775 USD. Also, these prices are without postage, so remember that you will have to factor that in!
So. Within Australia, theological books are best gotten from places like Moore Books and Ridley College Bookshop. Matthias Media books aren't even listed on those big overseas websites, so get them through Matthias Media's own webstore. Books are generally much cheaper overseas, but they only justify the postage cost if you have a large order.
However, be aware that there is also a social dimension... Buying everything from overseas will mean that business will dry up for local Christian book shops. And like those two bookshops in Parramatta, the others will also be forced to close their doors. This in turn may make it harder for certain segments of the community to access Christian books (namely those that aren't able to order things over the Internet). It can also end the browsing of books in bricks-and-mortar shops that sometimes leads to discovering a better book. It's the problem of globalisation!
[ PS: you can also find great books going cheaply on eBay! ] |
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