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Wimber Wednesday:
What it's supposed to be.
27/10/11 04:00 View entire series at: Wimber Wednesday
On Wimber Wednesday we will post inspirational audio, video or articles of the founder of the Vineyard movement, the late John Wimber. May they help you be a disciple, and make disciples.
Years ago in New York City, I got into a taxi cab with an Iranian taxi driver, who could hardly speak English. I tried to explain to him where I wanted to go, and as he was pulling his car out of the parking place, he almost got hit by a van that on its side had a sign reading The Pentecostal Church. He got real upset and said, “That guy’s drunk.” I said, “No, he’s a Pentecostal. Drunk in the spirit, maybe, but not with wine.” He asked, “Do you know about church?” I said, “Well, I know a little bit about it; what do you know?” It was a long trip from one end of Manhattan to the other, and all the way down he told me one horror story after another that he’d heard about the church. He knew about the pastor that ran off with the choir master’s wife, the couple that had burned the church down and collected the insurance—every horrible thing you could imagine. We finally get to where we were going, I paid him, and as we’re standing there on the landing I gave him an extra-large tip. He got a suspicious look in his eyes—he’d been around, you know. I said, “Answer me this one question.” Now keep in mind, I’m planning on witnessing to him. “If there was a God and he had a church, what would it be like?” He sat there for awhile making up his mind to play or not. Finally he sighed and said, “Well, if there was a God and he had a church—they would care for the poor, heal the sick, and they wouldn’t charge you money to teach you the Book.” I turned around and it was like an explosion in my chest. “Oh, God.” I just cried, I couldn’t help it. I thought, “Oh Lord, they know. The world knows what it’s supposed to be like. The only ones that don’t know are the Church.”
When you joined the kingdom, your expected to be used of God. I’ve talked to thousands of people, and almost everybody has said, “When I signed up, I knew that caring for the poor was part of it—I just kind of got weaned off of it, because no one else was doing it.” Folks, I’m not saying, “Do some-thing heroic.” I’m not saying, “Take on some high standard, sell everything you have and go.” Now, if Jesus tells you that, that’s different. But I’m not saying that. I’m just saying, participate. Give some portion of what you have—time, energy, money, on a regular basis—to this purpose, to redeeming people, to caring for people. Share your heart and life with somebody that’s not easy to sit in the same car with. Are you hearing me? That’s where you’ll really see the kingdom of God.
It's all in the mind:
How to help
24/10/11 06:00 View entire series at: It's All In The Mind
It’s All In The Mind is a series of helping tools for doing pastoral care with people suffering from mental illness. It is written by Kirk Vette from Shore Vineyards Churches, who is a clinical worker for YouthLine NZ. Kirk and his wife, Caroline, live in Auckland with their three children and on his day's off you will find him sneaking off for a surf.
Depression - How to help
To be fair helping a person with depression is not an easy task.Rule number one from my experience in working with depressed people. The hardest part of working with people with depression is watching them struggle. Don’t get caught in trying to rescue the person. Their low mood, despair and misery can draw a person in who cares and wants to help. I have learnt that this time will pass once they get the help, encouragement, support that they need.
Number two don’t be afraid to refer to a doctor and counselor, if the person is significantly low and fits the criteria above or you are just simply concerned for them get advice from another professional. The sooner help is sort and action taken the less severe the depression will get. Working back from severe depression can be a tough thing to do.
Three would be from a preventative view point; you can only be of assistance when you are in a good place yourself. Make sure you have plenty of the fun, exercise, good sleep and healthy diet. Take a long term view to your work and give yourself the breaks and stress relief that you need so that you don’t burn out.
I have quoted the following “How to talk to a loved one about depression” from this website, it says it very well.
Sometimes it is hard to know what to say or where to start when speaking to a loved one about depression. You might fear that if you bring up your worries he or she will get angry, feel insulted, or ignore your concerns. You may be unsure what questions to ask or how to be supportive. Try using some of these suggestions to guide your conversation.
Ways to start the conversation:
- I have been feeling concerned about you lately.
- Recently, I have noticed some differences in you and wondered how you are doing.
- I wanted to check in with you because you have seemed pretty down lately.
- When did you begin feeling like this?
- Did something happen that made you start feeling this way?
- How can I best support you right now?
- Do you ever feel so bad that you don’t want to be anymore?
- Have you thought about getting help?
What you can say that helps:
- You are not alone in this. I’m here for you.
- You may not believe it now, but the way you’re feeling will change.
- I may not be able to understand exactly how you feel, but I care about you and want to help.
- When you want to give up, tell yourself you will hold of for just one more day, hour, minute — whatever you can manage.
- You are important to me. Your life is important to me.
- Tell me what I can do now to help you.
Next entry: Things to avoid
Subscribe via RSS Feed, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to not miss the next entry.Letters To A Young Leader:
He is God, and you aren't.
18/10/11 10:00 View entire series at: Letters To A Young Leader
Letters to a young leader is a series of leadership mentoring advice. It is written by Vic Francis who is the Chairman of the VCANZ board. Vic and his wife, Fran, pastor Shore Vineyards in Auckland and have four children.
Some things you need to know about God: God will not fit in your box
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“But it would not be good if our will were always done because we would then become too sure of ourselves.
It is enough for us that we have a gracious God.
Why he permits this or that evil to befall us should not trouble us at all.”
Martin Luther
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I have a file on my computer littered with three, four and five-year plans. You know how they go – if we do “a” and “b” we’ll inevitably get to “c”. These days, though, most of my precious plans are locked away out of the public eye, and I’m not sure whether any of them has really eventuated the way I anticipated.
But, and this is important, our churches have grown, people’s lives have been changed and the kingdom has been and is being extended. God has moved in and through and sometimes despite me and the people of the Shore Vineyard Churches.
I’m not against three, four and five-year plans. Just a few Sundays ago I spoke to our churches about the next decade and what I see God doing in and through us.
But I have also learned that while planning is everything, the plan is nothing; that God’s plan dwarfs our plan; and that what he wants must trump what we want.
The first commandment remains the first commandment. You shall have no other gods before him.
When we travel in India, those “other gods” can be pretty obvious – Kali, Krishna, Shiva et al. But in the West our other gods are perhaps less obvious – try materialism, independence or cynicism for starters. Or even your call, your agenda or your five-year plan.
It doesn’t take long for leaders to realise that God is outworking his plan with and despite us, rather than the other way around. Let’s spell it out. It is God’s church, not ours. They are God’s people, not ours. It is God’s plan, not ours. It is God’s glory, not ours. It is God’s responsibility, not ours.
This is surprisingly hard to accept sometimes when we burn so brightly with the plans and dreams and callings that we are so sure God put on our heart in the first place. But hold them a little lightly, realising with Martin Luther that just being loved by and knowing him is “enough”. Anything else is pure icing on the cake.
Next entry: He’s constantly wooing you
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Jesus - a murder mystery:
Jesus' Explanations
16/10/11 14:00 View entire series at: Jesus - a murder mystery
Jesus - a murder mystery is a series of strong theology and thinking for the resurrection of Christ. It is written by Tim Denne from Harbour Vineyard who in his spare time likes to read theology.
Jesus’ Explanations
Prior to his death, Jesus gave hints to his disciples about what was about to happen; it reached its climax at the Passover meal they had together – the Last Supper. Mark describes it like this:
While they were eating, he took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to them. ‘Take it’ he said. ‘This is my body.’ Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ‘This is my blood of the covenant’ he said, ‘which is poured out for many. I’m telling you the truth: I won’t ever drink from the fruit of the vine again, until that day – the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. They sang a hymn, and went out to the Mount of Olives. (Mar 14:22-26).
Luke’s version adds words about doing this in remembrance of him.
There is far more to this than immediately meets the eye. Here and elsewhere, Jesus is saying:
- that he is instigating a new Passover centred on him. They were gathered to celebrate the original Passover, as set out in Ex 12:43f. It had been introduced to remember the rescue from Egypt. The implication is that Jesus’ death resulted in a new rescue - from evil;
- as such, he is starting the new exodus – the start of the journey to the new Promised Land, a symbolism that fits well with the “already but not yet” depiction of the kingdom of God. And consistent with this motif, Jesus is thus the new Moses (as promised in Deut 18:15-18), something Jesus has alluded to previously, such as his first miracle (water to wine) having clear echoes of the first plague (water to blood);
- continuing the Exodus theme, he is the new manna (see John 6: 48-51), the bread that gives life;
- he was instigating a New Covenant relationship (sealed in his blood). This new covenant, promised in Jeremiah 31, is the unilateral declaration of forgiveness of sins, coupled with the law being written on hearts and the promise of knowledge of God;
- the sacrificial system was also part of the original covenant and it is clear that Jesus’ death was also being interpreted as a new sacrifice of atonement. But note, this was a sacrifice for people already rescued; it is not what rescue depends on. It is more the means for Israel to deal with its sin, so they can get on with what they are meant to be doing – being a blessing to the world;
- he is also the new temple – the place where God meets his people.
It also appears that he fully integrated his death into the Passover meal, tying his death into the four cups of the Passover seder that remember the four steps of Exodus 6:6-7. Brant Pitre’s brilliant little book, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist describes this well. Luke 22:14-20 describes 2 cups (vv 17 & 20) (which appear to be cups 2 & 3 of the seder); at Gethsemane he talks of wanting to avoid the cup (see Matt 26:39-42), and he avoids drinking (eg Mark 15:23; Matt 27:34) until he finally does on the cross, and then he dies (Mar 15:36-37). If this is correct, Jesus’ death is not only tied up with, and re-expressing the story of Israel’s exodus, but is also tied up with and reinterpreting the celebration of the Exodus.
The way that Jesus’ death is described in Scripture is very different from the abstract world of atonement theory. It is wrapped up in the continuing story of Israel, making it clear that what he is doing is breathing new life into that story. What he was about to do makes absolute sense in that context: God was being faithful to his original covenant, while introducing a new and everlasting covenant that redefined covenant membership, dealt with the sin problem, and enabled God’s people to get on with their job of being the image of God.
I’ll try to bring the ideas together more fully in one more piece.
Next entry: Jesus - a murder mystery: Making sense of the story.
Subscribe via RSS Feed, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to not miss the next entry.It's all in the mind:
Causes of depression
14/10/11 15:00 View entire series at: It's All In The Mind
It’s All In The Mind is a series of helping tools for doing pastoral care with people suffering from mental illness. It is written by Kirk Vette from Shore Vineyards Churches, who is a clinical worker for YouthLine NZ. Kirk and his wife, Caroline, live in Auckland with their three children and on his day's off you will find him sneaking off for a surf.
Causes of depression
It is important here not to rush to any conclusions about what may be the cause of a person’s depression. Sometimes a person may become depressed from a single event or may become depressed over time. There are often a several reasons for a person’s depression.
There are three areas that can influence a person’s likely hood of becoming depressed. They are called risk factors. These are family history, lifestyle choices and life events. (www.depression.org.nz)
- Firstly family history, this includes a history of abuse in the family and / or a history of depression in the family.
- Life style choices that may cause depression include excessive alcohol consumption, recreational or party drugs, social isolation, lack of sleep,poor diet , lack of exercise and stress.
- Life events include death or loss of someone close, relationship break-ups, traumatic, often life threatening events, financial pressure, unemployment, serious accidents (particularly head injuries) or long-term illness, some medication (check with your doctor),stress or problems at work, school or university, bullying or abuse, some women experience depression during pregnancy or after childbirth
Understanding that some of these areas may be the cause of depression helps to identify those that are relevant and address them. John Kirwin does an excellent job on the depression.org.nz website of helping people to identify the risk factors and then what treatment there is that may be appropriate to help. (depression.org.nz)
Next entry: How to help
Subscribe via RSS Feed, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to not miss the next entry.What should be on your bookshelf:
Christmas Wish-list special
10/10/11 11:00 View entire series at: What shoud be on your bookshelf
There is tinsel going up in shopping complexes around New Zealand, which leads some of us to think, “What do I want for Christmas this year?” Meanwhile, the more cynical viewer may be thinking, “Tinsel already? Good to see the consumerism-machine is rolling along nicely still…”
It’s with the former thought I get the pleasure of introducing today’s What should be on your bookshelf: Christmas Wish-list Special. I will leave the latter to another time perhaps.
A book wish-list is the perfect thing to start and conveniently leave lying around for your other-half to find. Good options include:
- The “wish-list as a bookmark” slipped into the book your other-half is reading currently.
- The “wish-list fridge magnet” popped next to the fridge door for that subliminal marketing.
- The “wish-list that I threw out, but oh whoops - you found it” lying next to the bin, but not in it.
- The “wish-list that is hinted to by leaving the BookDepository page of that book open in the web browser” trick.
- If you are into controversial-then-when-you-read-it-it’s-not-so-bad-after-all, then Love Wins by Rob Bell is probably right up your alley. (Especially good if you are a N.T. Wright Surprised by Hope fan.)
- If you want something leather-bound to match you leather sofa, and your leather wallet, then ESV Study Bible has become one of the best in the business.
- After something classic-feeling, yet something modern at the same time? Brian McLaren’s new A Naked Spirituality is rumoured to be perfect.
- If you like authors who wear sports-coats and do speaking addresses to the staff of Google, then The Reason for God by Tim Keller might be something to add.
- A magazine subscription to Neue for the whole year will make your coffee table well stocked with a fantastic leadership magazine for those “I was killing time, flicking through this magazine, when I read this article that was so good I tore it out” moments.
By Dan Sheed
Letters To A Young Leader:
Some things you need to know about God - God will not fit in your box
07/10/11 13:00 View entire series at: Letters To A Young Leader
Letters to a young leader is a series of leadership mentoring advice. It is written by Vic Francis who is the Chairman of the VCANZ board. Vic and his wife, Fran, pastor Shore Vineyards in Auckland and have four children.
Some things you need to know about God: God will not fit in your box
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“Things never happen the same way twice, dear one.”
Aslan to Lucy
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It was my first evangelistic sermon. I was a fresh-faced youth pastor about to speak at an evening youth “rally” at our church. I prepared fanatically, polished my message, prayed on my knees during the afternoon, dressed in a suit (yes, a suit!) and was nervously ready to give it my best shot.
I suppose 50 people were there as I launched into my sermon, starting with Genesis, describing the fall, the exodus, the arrival of Christ, the reconciliation offered by God and giving the invitation to become a follower of Jesus. Then I drew a deep breath and called people to respond – every head bowed, every eye closed. And when I looked up, at least a dozen people were standing in front of me making a commitment to Christ.
A miracle was taking place before my eyes.
The next week, another youth rally was scheduled. Well, why wouldn’t you when the last one was so successful? I prepared fanatically, polished my message, prayed on my knees during the afternoon, dressed in a suit and was nervously ready to give it my best shot. After again preaching my heart out, I drew a deep breath and called people to respond – every head bowed, every eye closed. And when I looked up, not a single person was standing in front of me.
It took me all of one (successful) sermon to put God in a box. The response at that first youth rally became the blueprint for every similar event to come. When you prepare a certain way, pray a certain way, dress a certain way, gesticulate a certain way . . . God will magically appear. Not true.
Somehow on that first night I had tapped into the grace and power of God and lives had been changed for eternity. By the following week, having become instantly formulaic, the grace and power had departed and I was left looking a little silly.
Things never happen the same way twice. In his book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis says, “He’s wild you know. Not like a tame lion.”
I’m all for good systems, for preparing diligently and for maximising the abilities of myself and my people. But put God at a box at your peril. He just won’t allow it.
Next entry: Things you need to know about God - Part III
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Jesus - a murder mystery:
Theory
06/10/11 13:00 View entire series at: Jesus - a murder mystery | Theology
Jesus - a murder mystery is a series of strong theology and thinking for the resurrection of Christ. It is written by Tim Denne from Harbour Vineyard who in his spare time likes to read theology.
Jesus – a Murder Mystery: Theory
Paul’s letters, especially Romans 3 and 5 plus 1 Corinthians 1, and the unknown author’s letter to the Hebrews provides the background to a string of theories of what happened through Jesus’ death. If you want to read more, the late John Stott’s excellent book, The Cross of Christ, summarises this well, and my brief summary is as follows:
- Ransom theory/Satisfying the devil – since the fall, people are under the devil’s influence; the devil has rights that needed to be satisfied. Jesus death satisfied those rights but he was tricked when Jesus rose from the dead
- Satisfying the Law – God has established a law that required death as a result of sin. He must keep the law.
- Satisfying God’s honour and justice - sin dishonours and insults God. God cannot overlook this: it is not proper or possible for God to pass by sin unpunished.
- Satisfying God’s moral order - God is the supreme ruler governing with authority according to a moral order. Sin is an attack on this and there needs to be a supreme example to demonstrate God’s dissatisfaction.
- Moral influence theory – the cross is an act of love and inspires us to love (see eg lyrics to When I Survey the Wondrous Cross)
- God satisfying himself - satisfying God’s law, honour, justice and moral order make sense to the extent that these are seen as part of God’s character with which he has to act consistently. He acts for the sake of his name.
Other terms often used are: penal substitution, which is a combination of emphasis on law and justice; the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) but Jesus takes the sinners place. He bears the penalty that sinners should have borne and thus placates an angry God; and Christus victor – God achieves victory over death, sin and the devil.
Some of these will be very familiar to us from sources such as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in which Aslan does a deal with the Devil (the White Witch) in which he dies to save Edwin’s life but he tricks her through rising from the dead to bring an end to an otherwise endless winter (with no Christmas).
As Stott and others point out, all have some degree of truth in them, but if not worded carefully they can suggest that God is beholden to something outside of himself (the devil, the law), or they can set up Jesus against God, ie God is the angry one and Jesus is the loving one.
God satisfying himself makes a lot of sense and is consistent with Scriptures such as Romans 3:25-26 which explain Jesus’ death as showing God’s righteousness. But rather than make conclusions at this stage, I want to go on to look at how Jesus himself described what he was doing, and he did this most clearly at the Last Supper before his death.
Next entry: Jesus - a murder mystery: Jesus’ Explanations.
Subscribe via RSS Feed, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to not miss the next entry.What action should a person take?
05/10/11 13:00 View entire series at: It's All In The Mind
It’s All In The Mind is a series of helping tools for doing pastoral care with people suffering from mental illness. It is written by Kirk Vette from Shore Vineyards Churches, who is a clinical worker for YouthLine NZ. Kirk and his wife, Caroline, live in Auckland with their three children and on his day's off you will find him sneaking off for a surf.
What action should a person take if they or you recognise the signs depression?
The most important thing to do is to start to get help, talking about it with someone. Don’t think that by not doing anything about it a person is coping, most often people will get worse if they do not get the help they need.
If the key signs of depression are what you recognise then I recommend that people see their doctor or GP and get some help from them. As well as the GP find a counselor who is experienced in working with depression and talk with them about what they are experiencing. The medical to help enhance what your body is not producing in terms of the natural feel good chemicals and the counselor who will be able to help them to understand what is happening and how to move forward. They can also help to explain more fully the following treatment options such as self help techniques, and talking therapies.
The self help techniques include getting good sleep, reducing stress, regular exercise ,keep doing the things that you would normally find fun, stay connected with your friends and stop alcohol use .
Your Doctor can prescribe you antidepressants that will replace the feel good drugs that your body stops producing when you are depressed.
Talking therapies can be helpful to work through the possible underlying issues of the depression.
Creating opportunity for the presence of God to touch their life is an excellent treatment also.
Thinking holistically about dealing with depression will help the person embrace treatment. Medical, environmental, lifestyle and spiritual interventions will all work towards moving through depression.
Working with a doctor and counselor will greatly enhance the likely hood of the depression reducing faster. If the person finds that the treatment that they are receiving is not going well for them review what they are doing with your doctor or counselor.
Next entry: Causes of depression?
Subscribe via RSS Feed, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to not miss the next entry.Wimber Wednesday:
Seeing the Ministry of Jesus
05/10/11 12:00 View entire series at: Wimber Wednesday
On Wimber Wednesday we will post inspirational audio, video or articles of the founder of the Vineyard movement, the late John Wimber. May they help you be a disciple, and make disciples.
What should be on your bookshelf:
N.T. Wright - Jesus and the Victory of God
03/10/11 13:00 View entire series at: Recommended Reading
We may as well come out and say it straight away. We are big fans of N.T Wright here at VCANZ, and rightly so. He is one of the leading scholars of this age, and one of the clearest communicators of theology today - perhaps his English accent and clear pronunciation of big words helps there.
If your library is lacking things such as his “________ for Everyone” commentaries on the New Testament, or his Mere-Christianity-esque, Simply Christian, then you need to probably put them on a wish list for Christmas this year.
But there is one book in particular we want to draw your attention to today: Jesus and the Victory of God. In this work, Wright offers a penetrating assessment of the major scholarly contributions to the current ‘quest’ for the historical Jesus. He then sets out in fascinating detail his own compelling account of how Jesus himself understood his mission: how he believed himself called to remake Israel, the people of God, around himself; how he announced God’s judgement on the Israel of his day, especially its Temple and hierarchy; and how he saw his own movement as the divinely ordained fulfilment of Israel’s destiny.
Recommended by Mark Brickell, the principal of Vineyard College, and many other key leaders of Vineyard Churches Aotearoa New Zealand, this one needs to be purchased for a nearing study break or sabbatical reading. It isn’t however one of those weekend-reads, but is perfect for some long-term growth and digging deeply into theology.
Jesus and the Victory of God @ Bookdepository
Jesus and the Victory of God @ Amazon