The Parsons have gone fishing......

The Parsons have gone fishing....

See you when we get back !

Miniute 4 Mission: Palestinian territories

Imagine that your parish is in the centre of a city of 200,000 people, 199,000 of them Muslim. Imagine that your parish is in a city that has been surrounded by military checkpoints for the last six or seven years and that to enter or leave your city involved waits of hours or days..or month...or years. Imagine that the streets you walk each day are the haunt of angry young men with access to guns. Imagine that many nights, you wake to the sound of tanks and jeeps rumbling past your house - or even worse the souns of gunfire. Imagine that you live in Nablus and are part of the remant Christian Arab population. You as an Anglican are a minority within a minority within a minority.

What would you do?

If you are the Anglican Church in Nablus, you seek to build God's Kingdom by every means open to you. You say to the population through actions and words that you are here to stay. You keep your hospital open to serve the poor. You open a new church building to proclaim that God is faithful and that this is your home. The Rev. Hosam Naoum has led the church in Nablus right rhough the terrors of the second Intifada and declares that the Gospel is the hope of the nations. He sees a new church building as a sign of the indestructibility of the Church. It means that the new life in Christ is continuing: and it means new hope for the Christian Arabs who see themselves as living sones of the Holy Land.

Great courage and faith is being displayed by our Christian Arab friends in the Palestine territories. In the face of such extreme conditions day after day, we need to look away from our own local lives and embrace in prayer those who are tested daily and retain their strong trust in God.

Pray for them

Blodwyn

On Church Councils

I have been reflecting on the Thirty-nine articles with respect to an Anglican doctrine of Scripture....

Article XXI Of the Authority of General Councils


....And when they be gathered together, (forasmuch as they be an assembly of men, whereof all be not governed with the Spirit and Word of God,) they may err, and sometimes have erred, even in things pertaining unto God. Wherefore things ordained by them as necessary to salvation have neither strength nor authority, unless it may be declared that they be taken out of holy Scripture.

According to Art XXI Church councils come under the Word of God
and do not sit over the Word of God.

O' Donovan writes "The books of Scripture are not authoritative because the church views them in a certain way; the church views them in a certain way because they are authoritative."
Pray for our Synod that it humbly sits under Scripture and does not lord it over Scripture, especially in its efforts to advance a strategic plan.
Pray for humility for our Synod


GP

Minute 4 Mission: pray for the TCK's

In Minute for Mission today we are focussing on TCK's. You may well ask: what is a TCK? A TCK is a Third Culture Kid - a child who spends their developmental years in a culture different from their parents' own culture. The child may live in Thailand with their Australian parents and this mix produces a third culture which is an amalgam of both. Missionary families are all in this situation. And such children have very unique lives and very real needs.

They have distinct characteristics. Because they are living in another culture, they have good cross-cultural skills and become sensitive to the different ways that people do things. They tend to have a broad world view because they see themselves as belonging to the whole world. They are used to travelling as their parents go on home assignment in different countries. But that very mobility often produces a rootlessness in teenage years as they struggle to feel that they belong anywhere. But they tend to be flexible and adaptable because they live with change all the time. They are usually bilingual or multi-lingual and develop very strong friendships with their TCK mates. Parents struggle with the unresolved gried of parting with their children for shorter or longer periods of time and this sometimes impacts on the children. But in all of this they are high achievers.

OMF is just one of the missionary groups which take very seriously the welfare of children. They see the need for families to model Christian family values in the target culture, but also the need to prepare these precious children for their adult lives back in their parents' culture. OMF seeks to work with the parents to find the best possible option for schooling.

Sometimes the children attend the local school and are educated in the local language. But sometimes the parents opt to send children to Christian boarding schools where they are cared for by those who see this as their missionary calling. Other children go to International Schools as day students. Some families opt for home schooling and the NSW Dept of Distance Education provides all the teaching materials that are needed. Then occasionally all the children get together for a Home Schooling Week where they meet other children from other missionary families. Where children go away to Boarding Schools, as for example in Chiang Mai, a full programme of social and recreational activities are all part of the mix.

If missionaries are at peace about their children, they will be more effective in the work they are doing. Usually the kids have a ball, but there are times of tears and loss. We need to pray for families and TCK's as they make their own sacrifices to make the Gospel known in places where Jesus is not known. Pray for 300 missionaries working all over China with OMF who will be travelling with their 150 children in the next week to attend a Conference of all China workers in Chiang Mai Thailand in the first week of October. The kids are on the move again!

Pray for TCK's

Blodwyn

Godly Dead Guys: Cranmer on Change

Cranmer on Change:

"And whereas in this our time, the minds of men are so diverse, that some think it a great matter of conscience to depart from a piece of the least of their ceremonies, they be so addicted to their old customs; and again on the other side, some be so new-fangled, that they would innovate all things, and so despise the old, that nothing can like them, but that isnew: it was thought expedient, not so much to have respect how to please and satisfy either of these parties, as how to please God, and profit them both." Cranmer 1553

What do you think we need to change at 10am to please God?

GP

Sydney Anglican church on Climate Change

Sydney Synod has also given its approval to a statement by Darren Mitchell and Dr Karin Sowada on climate change, accepting “the emerging scientific consensus that climate change is occurring”. Synod has agreed that Christians need to respond to the potential problems of climate change by being godly stewards in their personal and communal lives, giving children a biblical understanding of creation and stewardship and encouraging all levels of government to “take climate change seriously and make wise policy decisions to deal with its effects”.

The statement has also put forward the need for environmental policies within each parish and Diocesan organisation with “principles of good environmental stewardship and care”.

However the statement has also called on Christians to take advantage of the opportunities climate change presents in praying for the world, explaining the lordship of Jesus Christ and ministering to “those most vulnerable to the effects of climate change such as farmers, rural communities, the homeless and refugees”.

What do you think our response should be?

http://your.sydneyanglicans.net/sydneystories/synod_split_on_funding/

GP

Go Wallabies !

Minute 4 Mission: Chapmans at "Playa Coyote"

Recently a letter came from Shelley and Rob Chapman, telling us about the development of their outreach café:
Greetings from Mexico! The main focus this year has been on getting our café “Playa Coyote” firmly established. We open for 16 hours a day, which has been draining, but seemed the right thing to do...it’s an exciting place to be, as each day brings new events, opportunities and challenges…
By the end of the semester there were about 15 of us working serving between 1000 and 2000 people throughout the day…
So we feel that our vision to create a bridge between the Christian community and the university is becoming a reality; …its not uncommon for people to ask what it is that makes us different, and its not hard to explain the hope that we have in Jesus when the students have asked us.
We have seen a very positive impact of the café on the student staff. As all of them are Christians, they have the opportunity to meet and talk things over with other Christian students. They have a regular source of income, which gives them the freedom to contribute to their families, their churches and the Compa (Their University Christian Union). We are taking more of a back seat at Compa and the students often organise activities before, while, or after they work at the café.
We have been encouraged to see students mature through their Bible study groups on campus. The students organised an event in April for fellowship and teaching on such subjects as apologetics and life after university – it was completely student led, with much organisation and preparation – more students attended than ever before.

Shelley has other irons in the fire, giving two writing classes at the university and she ran a writing workshop for a week. These gave her opportunity to share her faith.
They give an update on their twins: Luis and Tom have now completed grade 2 and both did very well, with Tom dux of the class. They both have blue belts in Tae Kwon Do; and are on to their third series of X-plore the Bible. During Easter they went on their first church camp for kids.
They conclude: It hasn’t been an easy semester. We know your prayers for our health, provision and work have helped us to continue, and we continue to give thanks for you. Keep fighting the good fight.

Shelley and Rob

Bring Back Bill!

Rugby World Cup is here ! Yahoo!

Come and join me at my place for the first Wallaby game against Japan

Saturday 8th Sept, 9:30pm Perth time at my house. Big Screen

RSVP 9388 1914

More Games coming ......

Introducing God

As a follow on to our Good News Week, we are running the "Introducing God" Course 7:45pm @ Church, starting 12th September. The Course is a dvd based introduction to the central teaching of Christianity. It is for those with questions about God, faith, life, and eternity. It is a good forum to explore some of life's bigger questions from a christian perspective.

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A normal night looks like this:

.....a. 7:45pm Gather for coffee and chat

.....b. 8:00pm Watch dvd input

..........(Featuring Dominic Steele)

.....c. 8:25pm Open round table discussion on input

.....d. 9:00pm session ends

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1. 12 Sept: Introductory Session, Acts 17.

2. 19th Sept: God us and the meaning of life, Genesis 1&2.

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3. 26th Sept: Our declaration of Autonomy, Genesis 3.
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3rd October: School Holidays Break
10th October: School Holidays Break
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4. 17th October: What is God doing ? Psalm 2.

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5. 24th October: God’s competent King, Luke 8.

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6. 31st October: The death that changes everything, Luke 23.
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7. 7th November: God made Jesus Lord and Christ, Acts 2.

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8. 14th November: How then shall we live? 2 Peter 3.

If you, or someone you know is interested

Please Call Gavin Parsons or Tim Karajas 9381 2640