I found this statement in a Queensland Government document about the Recovery model in mental health services. It fits in many circumstances: Hope is the limitless belief that things do not have to remain the same and that change can and does happen. It is about concentrating on strengths rather than weaknesses, focussing on the future rather than the past and celebrating small successes rather than insisting on rapid change. Hope fuels the recovery process through expanding the sphere of possibility, colouring life perceptions and sustaining individuals even during period of relapse.

True worship

I attended a funeral last week of a lady who had not been able to communicate during her life as I do because of an intellectual disability. But the disability was far from the focus of attention at the funeral where her sheer joy of life was cause for celebration. A number of people spoke about the way she loved to attend her local Salvation Army church on Sunday and participate enthusiastically in worship and reference was made more than once to her now being in heaven, not in the angel choir, but leading the angel choir. It made me think that worship is not about excellence in presentation, well crafted leadership and musical skills, or deep and meaningful moments of reflection. Worship for this young lady was uninhibited joy in the presence of her Lord. The apostle Paul said: But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. I think that would be a good guide for worship.

Running Dry

Blogging's run a bit dry for me. Time seems to have got the better of me. I've been very excited about how things are developing for Jesus All About Life at the moment. We are seeing a growing number of people catching on to the concept of what could be one of the most significant evangelistic campaigns West Australia has seen for a long time. News has just come to hand that the V8 utes will be coming to WA for the first time in May 2008. Andrew Fisher with his distinctive Jesus All About Life V8 ute has just won the Rookie of the Year and came fourth in the driver points for 2007. An amazing witness to Jesus in a tough environment. We're hoping to come up with some good ideas when Andrew comes over next year.

The dangerous cult of perfectionism

Reading Hugh McKay's book, "Advance Australia...Where?" I came across these quotes: "From the perfect latte to the perfect storm, the idea has taken root in our culture that perfection could be within our grasp if only we had enough money, enough persistence, enough beauty, enough talent, enough charm, or enough luck." I suspect that what McKay refers to as the dangerous cult of perfectionism has the church within its grasp too. It makes me go back to Paul who said: "But this precious treasure - this light and power that now shine within us - is held in perishable containers, that is, in our weak bodies. so everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is not our own.

"I saw the angel in the marble and I chiseled until I set it free." -- Michelangelo. What an incredible thought. In our work with people with disabilities this is so true, but it applies in so many situations. To see the potential that exists within people, and to work with them to discover and release their abilities.

It's probably a good description of the role of a Christian leader: It incorporates vision (I saw the angel); a recognition of the difficulties and challenges (the marble); hard work (I chiseled) and the empowerment of God's people (until I set it free).

Headship of Christ (3)

If Christ is the head of the church how is the church to keep in touch with it’s head? Clearly, it’s pretty easy to lose touch because we can’t see Jesus but we see lots of people, some of whom are pretty persuasive. It would seem that if the headship of Christ is a practical reality we need to build this into the church structure.

I have yet to see an organisational structure that has Jesus at the top. But if we were to do this as a practical reality (not just a theoretical concept), I wonder how it work?

Headship of Christ (2)

So if Jesus really is head of the church and not just a figurehead how does that affect church leadership structures? For a start humility needs to be an important quality for leaders as they recognise that they are not in charge, but are stewards of the authority that Christ has granted them. And maybe that humility will lead those leaders to hear Christ’s voice through the congregation.

What happens if old Mrs Jones who can’t get out but sits at home darning socks for the missionaries and praying as she darns, happens to sense God’s direction for the church? Does the church structure make it possible for her to impart to the church what Christ, the head of the Church, may be saying. Or should she simply keep quiet and accept that only the key leaders have that privilege?

Is their still a hierarchy that only the leaders have the ear of Christ, and they in turn pass on instructions to everyone in the Church? That doesn’t sit well with my understanding of the priesthood of all believers.

The Headship of Christ

I’ve been thinking about the idea that Christ is the head of the Church.

Sometimes the church seems to think of Christ’s headship in terms of the Governor-General as head of Australia. It is a ceremonial sort of function, someone to wheel out on important occasions, or to refer to in times of crisis. With Governor-General Jesus in place the church can get on with its own activities, acknowledge his presence, but basically hope to goodness that he doesn’t interfere too much. After all, the Prime Minister (read: Pastor) and his Cabinet (read: Pastoral team) is where the real headship responsibilities lie.

Sometimes we think of headship along the lines of a river where the head of the river is the source of life. It could be argued there are some strong theological reasons for adopting this view, but there still seems to be something lacking. While we recognise the river will run dry if the head of the river is dammed, as long as things are ticking over nicely, the river can meander down the valley without any specific direction from the head.

It would seem to me that the picture of the head in Scripture is more specifically related to the human body. When you meet a person for the first time they can tell you a lot about themselves, but you will generally draw some immediate opinions about the person through the features on their head – their eyes and mouth may tell you more about them than their words. If a person goes missing the police issue a description of the missing person and apart from height, weight and clothing details, the features of the head are the key to identification – their hair colour, facial hair, eyes and skin colour. Usually a photograph of the missing person is just a picture of the face not the whole body.

When a person who is not a Christ-follower meets the church the first thing they will look for is the head – to see if the eyes and mouth indicate trust, acceptance, friendship and safety. However, usually the first thing they see is the feet or the hands: active, busy, creative, tired, resting, lazy, useful...

What do we really mean when we say that Christ is the head of the Church?


If Christ is the head of the church, in the same way a human body has a head, it should have a profound impact on how the body operates.

It should affect the way people see the church. We talk about the church as being Christ’s body and seem to have a surgical view – that somehow the body is just the part south of the neck. But a living body includes the head, so when we talk about the body of Christ, it is necessary to include the head in the image and to think about what people see.

What I am saying is that people’s idea of the church shouldn’t be just based on what we do, it should be based on something deeper. I would suggest that people’s values and priorities become like the eyes because that gives a deeper entrance to understanding what makes the whole body tick. The criticism of hypocrisy is so often levelled against the church because people hear our words of love, but they look into the eyes and see something else.

My first post

Wow, my first post. I'm looking forward to doing a whole lot more in the future. But for this one, I'm not saying anything useful at all.