denomination

/də,noməˈneιſən/ n. 1 a name for a group or class of things. 2 a religious group or sect.

So far, the planning aspect of the wedding has gone very smoothly, I think. Rachel and I have been taking things one step at a time, just organising whatever needs to be done as it happens, and there haven’t been too many dramas. We paid a deposit for a photographer, Rachel’s bought her dress, ... but the Church has been one of the most difficult aspects of our planning.

We’ve arranged for Michael Zanetti to be our photographer on the day, and had a meeting with him a few weekends ago. I didn’t really know that much about him, but he took the photos for my sister’s wedding back in 2006 (see my previous post: “marriage”) and both Belinda and Mum suggested we should speak with him. He was very friendly, accommodating, and showed us some of his work and the different packages he offers. Apparently he doesn’t advertise a whole lot, but relies largely on word-of-mouth for referrals. It was a very constructive session for us, and we feel very confident about his service. (Plus, he’s one of the cheaper wedding photographers around). I’m looking forward to the “pre-wedding photo shoot” he’s offered us.

Rachel’s very excited about the purchase of “the dress”. It wasn’t the one she originally had in mind, but one she happened to see hanging on the rack at one of the boutiques she visited with her sister. She keeps telling me how she wishes I could see it, but knows it’s “not allowed” until the wedding day. That’s all right with me; I’m looking forward to the nice surprise...

I never thought it would be such a hassle to arrange a venue for the wedding ceremony itself. We already have our reception venue booked, have paid the deposit, and have also reserved a formal garden to have photos taken after the service. All this was relatively easy. My biggest disappointment has been the hurdles we’ve had to tackle in trying to book a Church. We’re not getting married near home (in fact, it’s a reasonable drive out of Sydney), so we wanted to find a nice venue which was comfortable, reasonably attractive, and not too pricey. I never realised that wanting to use our own minister would be such a drama. The Presbyterian Church we contacted had strict rules about who was allowed to marry in their Church. When I asked for an explanation of the reasons behind these rules, we were told we didn’t “meet the criteria” because we weren’t members of the Church or had a family connection there. Then the minister sternly told me he “wasn’t able to take the matter any further” with us. I didn’t think I was being particularly pushy, so the tone surprised me a bit. Anyway, that was the end of that! So, a couple of weekends ago, we visited a neighbouring Anglican Church. I’d phoned them earlier, asking their opinion about using our own minister, but they encouraged us to attend one of the services and call back when the senior pastor returned from his leave. We enjoyed the service and the message there. They’d sent us preliminary info about fees and other requirements (something like $400 for hall hire, an additional $50 for a “verger”, a “compulsory” marriage preparation course at extra cost, and a session of “Christianity Explained”). They were quite friendly on the day we were there, and potentially the sanctuary was big enough for the number of guests we’ll invite. I was hoping we wouldn’t need to go to “Christianity Explained” — we’re pretty cool with understanding what that’s all about! — and figured I could work that all out when I called the senior pastor. Sadly, we were rejected again! Not so much that we wanted to use their Church (they clearly allow that and have procedures in place for that to occur), but using our own minister was (again) the problematic requirement. I like to have an explanation for these sorts of things. His reply to my question was that “it’s not really my decision, but rather a new regulation just been passed by the bishop.” What a cop-out! He also said that even though we’re “all part of the same ‘family’,” they’ve had problems previously with ministers from other denominations preaching messages they’ve not been happy with. My immediate thought was that it would be quite easy to ask any minister what he/she was going to say before the sermon was “approved” (how far wrong can you go at a wedding?) ... but maybe they just think it’s easier to say “no”.

In a way, I can accept that it is their building, and their denomination, so they can choose who comes in and for what purpose. On the other hand, though, I find it extremely disappointing that our own Christianity and history was irrelevant, and that despite our own confessions of faith, they were worried about what another Protestant minister was going to say ... at a wedding ceremony, of all places!

Personally, I’m fed up with that type of insular, sectarian, bigoted attitude in the Christian Church. It’s that kind of stuff that gives us all a bad name. The Presbyterians and the Anglicans haven’t done themselves any favours from our point of view ... If ever we were looking for a new Church family after we get married, we know which denominations we won’t be looking at!

In contrast, this morning we went to a Uniting Church service. The Church itself doesn’t look too crash hot from the outside (a big consideration for Rachel), but the inside is pretty, the sanctuary is certainly big enough, has a nice outlook over the bush, is at a perfect distance between home and the reception venue, doesn’t cost anywhere near as much ($80 for building hire) ... and most importantly from my perspective: the people and the pastor were the warmest, friendliest, most welcoming, most agreeable and open, most flexible we’ve encountered.

So, it seems like that’s the winner! I’ll contact the pastor again today, and then everything is confirmed. After that, I think we’ll have a little bit of time for a short breather from planning, because now most of the big stuff is done!

Hope you come back to the blog to check out how things are progressing next time.

Cheers.

budget

/'bΛdZət/ n. an allotment of expenditures for various items over a period of time. v.t. to make a plan for spending based on how much you have.

There’s been a lot of discussion this past week about finances. So far, things are going pretty well, but at the back of my mind is always the consideration about cost. I think I’ve been fairly relaxed and easy-going about everything, but Rachel (who’s probably being a little more practical than I am) keeps reminding me about how we’re on a fairly tight budget. I think I just need to rein myself in every now and then!

Last Saturday we took a car trip to check out some venues for the ceremony, photography, and reception. We’ve found some very nice places, and for the photos and reception I’ve been told the date we want is available. We’re waiting on final quotes and confirmation of our requests before we pay a deposit. The church we like the look of for the ceremony isn’t yet confirmed. I telephoned them earlier this week and left a message on their answering machine, but haven’t heard back yet. The outside of the church looks great, but we need to check out the inside to see how many people it can hold … not to mention the fact that we need to know whether they’ll let us use their sanctuary on the day we request … and of course, we need to know how much they’re going to charge us. We have a couple of back-up options, but obviously, we’d love our first choice. I reckon if I haven’t heard from them by the end of the week, I’ll need to call them again, or perhaps send them an e-mail. Mum started to get into a bit of a panic about “how little time there is left” before the day, but I think things will all be OK.

Anyway. So far, things are going pretty smoothly. My parents and Rachel’s parents had dinner last Saturday night, and it was nice for the six of us to get together. It was the first time Rachel’s dad had met my Dad, so that was good. Overall, it was a very successful evening. I’m looking forward to the next one; it’d be nice if the whole family (that is, brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews) could be in on that one.

I’ve been carried away with the excitement of it all, and already started looking at table decorations, invitations, and “bonbonnieres” or “favours”. This is probably a little bit premature, but … oh, well! I’m getting some good suggestions and ideas.

Phil came ’round to my place last night, which was great. We had dinner (a baked tuna risotto I’d made) and watched an episode from LOST season one. After that, we chatted for a couple of hours about the wedding, and his responsibilities as “best man”! He was keen to know what I was going to expect of him, but I think I’m pretty easy-going. Depending on what we do with car hire, he might need to drive on the day, and I’ll need him to help with choosing clothes, because my dodgy colour vision might let me down in the “matching swatches” department. Other than that, I’d prefer the lead-up to the wedding to be relaxed and casual. I’m looking forward to having a few nice meals with my groomsmen, just hanging out, watching some DVDs … that kind of thing. I’ve also suggested it’d be nice for all the bridal party to have dinner together one evening a little closer to the day. That will probably depend a fair bit on when Copland and Gary fly into Sydney.

So far, pretty much all is on track. Our next step will be to start confirming venues and paying deposits. Of course, Rachel is getting closer to choosing a dress, but I’m not allowed to have anything to do with that!

Cheers,
Andy

katoomba christian convention

I arrived back from “Engage 08” this arvo. It is a weekend put on by Katoomba Christian Convention, and I was invited to go with some friends of mine at the Eastwood Uniting Church Musical Society (EUCMS). The website for “Engage 09” is here.

In general, the weekend was awesome. I have come away with a fresh sense of God’s love for me, and the grace and forgiveness he gives me.

We heard from two speakers, Mark Driscoll and Don Carson.

As I look him up on Wikipedia (that source of all knowledge!), I can see Driscoll has caused some controversy in the past. He certainly has some interesting ideas, and I thought some things he said were great ... other things he said didn’t gel with me at all. Over the weekend he put particular emphasis on God’s regenerating work in us, through Jesus’ death and the Holy Spirit. Really, it was a fantastic reminder of some fundamental theology I really cling to. I have been tapped on the shoulder and led to recall that “[God’s] grace is sufficient for [me]”.

Driscoll has been holidaying in Australia for the past month. He has obviously been doing his research, and talked about aspects of Australian society and culture such as abortion rates, birth rates, divorce rates, and so on. He is opposed to homosexuality, and spoke very strongly against churches preaching “prosperity doctrine”. He did make some other interesting remarks though. He made reference to the number of men in their mid- to late-20s still staying at home, and exhorted all single men to move out and live independently for some time before they marry. “A girl doesn’t want to marry a guy whose mum has a nice house,” he said. Unfortunately, I think this shows a lack of understanding about the current cost-of-living, the housing market, and so on — at least in Sydney, if not the whole country. A (female) friend of mine commented, “It’s nice to see that a guy can actually get on well enough with his parents to want to stay at home.” When somebody asked him to tell us a Bible verse to back up his idea, he quoted this verse:

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

— Genesis 2:24

This certainly relates to moving out of home to get married, but I believe his encouragement for young men to move out of home years before that is a distortion or misunderstanding of that verse.

He also told us that the average Australian woman only has 1·7 children, but to keep the country going, she needs to be having two-point-something babies (on average). Someone asked him about a married couple who chooses not to have children. My understanding of his response was that such a couple is selfish. “Be fruitful and increase in number,” he said, quoting from Genesis 9:7. He told us we’ve got enough land for it: there’s a big patch in the middle of the Australia we’re just not using.

In response to that, I would say we’re not using it, because it’s desert, and you can’t live there.

While I think he was very insightful, his fundamental theology is fantastic, and I took away a lot from his speaking, I don’t think a month in the country gives him enough understanding of our society or culture to make judgements or generalisations such as those.

Anyway. I thank God that He sent Mark Driscoll to challenge me, make me think, and encourage me to renew my relationship with Christ.

Don Carson was fantastic. An older man, he was slightly more academic, but just as engaging, and with sermons which were just as stimulating, and I would happily listen to him preach any time. Again, I was challenged and encouraged. Again, I turn to God and thank Him for the work he has done for me and in me through Jesus Christ.

I really enjoyed the music and worship, too ... A nice mix of older hymns and new choruses just suited to a musicphile with eclectic tastes like me.

Andy

baulkham hills baptist church iii

I had an e-mail from Heather and Gary the other day, asking whether I’d been to Church at all in the last three months. There I was, thinking that no one was even bothering to read my blog ... Oops! Sorry guys. I’ll try to keep you up-to-date more regularly in the future.

Since my last entry, I’ve been going to Baulkham Hills Baptist (BHBC) morning services just about every Sunday. I like the music; a good mix of favourite choruses and traditional hymns ... and mostly songs I know well. They’re a really friendly bunch of people, and have been keen to make sure they always introduce themselves to me, and try to make sure I feel comfortable and welcome. I’m slowly getting to know more people by name.

I’ve been interpreting the songs into Auslan most a.m. services. This has been a good opportunity for me, and I hope my skills will improve with time and practice in this area.

Twice now I’ve been able to go to an evening service. The vibe is definitely different ... but still good. The people have so far been very keen to chat to me and make me feel at home. The evening services are much more “youth” oriented, and I don’t know as many of the songs (last night, for example, I didn’t recognise a single one!). Still, as one woman said to me, “That just means you need to come to the evening services more often!” I can’t go to an evening service every week, because I’m now playing piano at Wesley Mission on a fortnightly basis (more about that next time...).

I am keen to find out more about their community activities ... they seem to be very into community work and social justice stuff. I just need to find out what their programmes are and slot myself in wherever I best fit.

This is a very short entry ... I hope it sates your appetites for the time being. I’ll make sure I fill you in with more detail next time.

Cheers,
Andy

baulkham hills baptist church i and ii

The past two weeks have been pretty good, church-wise. I was very kindly invited to Baulkham Hills Baptist, by a friend of mine who completed the sign language interpreting diploma at the same time as me. She has been doing volunteer interpreting for the handful of deaf people who attend the services.

As it turns out, the Church is only five minutes’ drive from my house. Literally. If I hadn’t been invited, I probably would have come across it anyway, in the “search for a church”. The service starts at 9:30am, and both times has finished about 11am. The first week was a special one, with an emphasis on “beach missions”, which is something the church has been involved in. We heard from a number of people who spoke about their involvement in the mission, and their experiences.

There were about 50 or so people at both services, and all-in-all, I had a pretty good time. There are a fair few older people, but also a lot of new families — couples with toddler babies. It’s been interesting, because twice now people have suggested I should come along to the evening service also, because there are more “young” people there, who are “more my age” … (I don’t know how old they think I am?!) In general, people are friendly, and have made a point of coming up to me an introducing themselves either before or after the service. After last week’s service, the senior minister encouraged me to sign the guest book (which I did). Then a couple of days later, I received a very nicely worded card in the post, thanking me for my involvement in the service, hoping I enjoyed it, and welcoming me if I ever chose to come again. It was a very nice touch, and greatly appreciated.

They have a ministry team of piano, KB, a few vocalists, and some brass/woodwind players too, so the music has been nice. I’ve known just about all the songs, and been able to participate really well here. (When was the last time you sang “Your Love Keeps Following Me”?)

It’s pretty late at the moment, so I’ll keep this entry pretty short. But I will hopefully write a bit more next time … I plan to go back again. They are looking for someone to help with interpreting on a volunteer basis, so this might be somewhere I could fit in and also be useful. So far, so good!

Cheers,
Andy

hillsong ii

It’s been hot and stormy since this afternoon. I feel moist, sticky, and uncomfortable. As I drove to the evening service at Hillsong tonight, there were rumbles of thunder from a distance, and the clouds were rolling thick and low.

I got to the 7pm service nice and early this time, which was great. The car park “hosts” were out in force again, this time wearing plastic ponchos to protect themselves from the imminent rain … my guy gave me a nice big smile and an “air handshake” as I drove past him. I passed a bunch of people lining up for their coffee and eating ice creams as I walked into the foyer. The resource centre (shop) is always open before and after services, and they were doing a roaring trade.

The big screens in the auditorium made me feel great as they announced: “WELCOME HOME: Better one day spent in your house, than a thousand elsewhere (Psalm 84:10)”. The fairy lights must be a permanent fixture, I figure. It took me about ten minutes to find somewhere to sit because of all the Bibles, handbags, scarves, and jackets reserving the chairs on behalf of other people. It seems strange to hear, “sorry, you can’t sit here” in a church. I ended up being fairly close to the back again. I started to wonder whether there was something big going down that I didn’t know about, and that perhaps I was gate-crashing a special event I should have pre-booked a ticket for.

While everyone was sorting themselves out, they had some nice visuals up on the screens, accompanied by Bible verses. In one video clip, I noticed some people wearing shirts with “street teams” on them, working away at very hands-on looking activities. This sparked my interest; perhaps some practical work going on where I could be involved? Then the music began to crescendo, the Bible verses came thick and fast, intermingled with catchy phrases, and … WHAM! The service had begun.

Last week, when they said the evening meetings were more “relaxed”, what they should have said was, “informal”. There was nothing “relaxed” about the fast-paced music, nightclub-style light effects, swinging video cameras, and perfect “jumping in unison” I saw tonight.

I didn’t know any of the songs. Most everyone else did, though … especially the people down on the floor area, which was pulsing like a mosh-pit. Just as I was thinking, This is like a rock concert, the leader came up to the microphone and said, “We didn’t come here to have a concert…” Oops. I really got the guilts after that, and decided that I need to try and be a little more open-minded, and a little less cynical, if I’m gonna get anything meaningful out of the whole exercise.

Can’t say I lasted very long…

Half an hour after the service had started, the songs were over, and the leader came to the stage. He led an altar call, which was fascinating to watch. More of this: “All heads bowed, all eyes closed” (not many people did this … I know ’cause I was looking) … “raise your hands” and “come down the front” and so on. One guy a few rows away from me had raised his hand, but wasn’t making his way to the stage area, so he received a couple of enthusiastic nudges from his neighbour behind him, and ended up being guided down the front by a friendly host. I reckon about a hundred people walked down, and the people in the mosh-pit instinctively knew they had to move aside to make way for them all. Again, everyone got a free Bible.

He read out some prayer requests, and comments from people wanting to praise God … including this one: “I’ve been praying for my daughter since April 2003, but now I want to praise God because she has been cured of AIDS!” The screaming and cheering was incredible.

Then he announced, “Are you ready to give tonight?” We got to watch another very slick presentation (complete with slow motion, black and white film effects) of someone’s testimony. The hosts handed around the buckets, and after reading this Bible passage,

After this, Jesus travelled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

— Luke 8:1–3

they collected the offering.

Tonight’s guest speaker was Chris Hill from Dallas, Texas. He’s a bald, sweaty, energetic wordsmith who has a connection somehow with T. D. Jakes, a well-known American preacher. He bounced his way onto the stage — accompanied by a standing ovation from the crowd — and announced (in his voice which made him sound like a rusty earthquake) that he was “praying for a prophetic word that would feed the destiny of someone’s life”. Before he began to speak, he launched into a flowery prayer that was jam-packed full of churchy jargon … if you were a first-time visitor, you wouldn’t have had a clue what he was talking about…

This was his Bible reference:

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So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.

— <!--[endif]-->Joshua 4:8–9

The title of his message was “The Middle Praise”. Here are most of his main points. If you think about them, you can kind of see the analogies to the passage from Joshua.

• This text represents a transition in the life of Israel.


• Have you experienced the frustration of being close enough to see something (the Promised Land, in this case), but too far away to have it?


• Joshua wanted the whole tribe to be useful … A miracle is not about one person, but about everyone working together.


• God is waiting for you to “step in and believe” … (This is where Hill interrupted himself to say, “I was at the airport — Hallelujah! … and I had a revelation…” Just like the automatic doors at the airport, God’s doors won’t open until you get close enough … get it?).


• Watch who you walk with … Some people need to “wait on the shore ’cause their faith is not ready”.


• The breakthrough you need is waiting for you to step in.


• It’s not just about you; it’s about creating a breakthrough for other people.


• Don’t wait ’til you get there … Start building your monument now (that is, “in the middle” … get it?). “If you can dream your testimony now,” he screamed, “you’ll be able to speak it later on!”

He told a very long story about when he was preaching in Russia. This is what he said: “I got to the altar call, threw the net … tikka-tikka-tikka-sah! Everybody got saved.”

Apparently the same thing happened two nights in a row, in exactly the same way. On the third night everyone was so excited they started running around the church, and a girl in a wheelchair was wheeling herself around at breakneck speed (not waiting ’til she “got to the other side,” she was praising God “in the middle” of her circumstances … get it?). When she fell out (he said) she just got up and started running with everyone else. Then another night a woman told him how she could feel the “cancerous tumour inside” her just dissolving away as he spoke about Jesus. The frenzied stamping and clapping from the crowd was amazing.

It took him about an hour to get to that point. He was jumping around the stage, screaming and laughing and sweating, talking the whole time, but not really saying very much. I was already cranky and frustrated by this time. So, then, when he was just about to start his final prayer, I walked out.

Getting soaked as I slowly headed back to the car, I started thinking about everything that’d just happened. Why was I so annoyed? Why did his jokes irritate me so much? I’d promised myself at the beginning of the service that I was going to try and be open-minded … what happened? Why does hearing stories about people being cured of AIDS and cancer turn on the cynic inside me? Don’t I believe in miracles? Don’t I believe God can do such amazing things in people’s lives?

Thinking about it now, I think the hype and the showmanship really turn me off. It doesn’t seem genuine. I appreciate that it can work for a lot of people (it certainly seemed to be doing something) … but maybe it’s just not my style…

So, the question now is, do I go back again (seeing as I promised myself I’d commit to a month), or head off down a different path?... What do you reckon?

Cheers,
Andy

P.S. Coincidentally, this article came up on the Macquarie University News website today. Check it out. It’s pretty interesting.

hillsong i

As I was getting ready to go to church this morning, a flood of anxious thoughts went through my brain … “What will it be like? Who will I meet? Will I be intimidated or welcomed?” For someone who’s been attending church regularly for many years, it’s amazing how apprehensive and unsure I felt. Imagine what you’d be feeling if you’d never ever been to any church before!

Hillsong is about ten minutes’ drive away. That’s reasonably close, and it’s pretty well known, so I thought this could be my first port of call. Also, I confess I have badmouthed the church quite a bit in the past. So, in fairness to them, I figure I should actually go to some of their services so I know what I’m talking about … Who knows? I might even change my mind …

At this early stage, I’m going to try and just give a description of my first impressions and what happened, rather than get too judgemental; it’s a little soon for that!

I took a wrong turn on my way, so I arrived about five minutes late (it started at 10:45am). The first thing that struck me was the number of parking attendants wearing glowing orange vests, telling people where to drive in the massive, sprawling car park. After I parked, and not knowing exactly where the service was being held, I followed the crowd of people heading for the biggest building on the complex. There was just about as much diversity as you could get … all ages from little babies in their parents’ arms to elderly folk shuffling along with their walking frames. As soon as you walk into the foyer, the first thing you see is the “resource centre” (read “shop”) … an entire wall covered with books, CDs, and DVDs for sale. They have heaps of “hosts” (volunteers in black shirts) directing you this way and that, so you end up going through the right door, and hopefully getting a seat.

The services were referred to variously as “church”, “meetings”, and “services”. The main auditorium is enormous. I’m not very good at estimating numbers, but I’m sure there would have been at least in the order of 1000–2000 people there, and constantly coming and going. I’d been hoping to see some Auslan interpreting — apparently they have a deaf ministry goin’ on — but there was no signing to be seen. There were strings of fairy lights hanging from the ceiling (left over from Christmas?) and data projection screens had been lowered around the room at strategic points, so everyone could see what was happening on the platform. Three huge screens wrapped around the back of the stage, and there were amplifiers, speakers and coloured spotlights everywhere. They had eight leading singers, a choir of about twenty guys and girls, and other instrumentalists (guitars, drums, percussion, keyboard, and the like). There were camera operators running everywhere, and the guys at the sound desk kept everything running, fading, sliding, and transitioning very professionally.

As I said, I missed the very start of the service, so I’m not sure how they kicked things off, but I came in while they were in the middle of singing a hymn. They did a nice little arrangement of “Amazing Grace” with a couple of added verses. Apparently it’s a version from the recent film Amazing Grace. It meant that I could at least participate a little; I’d been worried I wouldn’t know any of the songs they were going to sing. One of the leaders spoke a little about grace … I was encouraged; a lot of what he was saying made sense to me. He followed this with a prayer for anyone who was sick, and prepared to collect the tithes and offerings. Using these verses:

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

— Proverbs 4:23

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

— Matthew 6:21

he told everyone that the easiest way to protect our hearts from being trapped by love of money is to honour God by giving our tithes and offerings.

We watched someone’s testimony on video. Then the hosts passed around the offering buckets. While all that was happening, they played a series of announcements on the big screens, and the musicians had a bit of a jazzy jam session.

We had communion, which was nice. Apparently they make a point of doing that on the first Sunday of every New Year. Again, the hosts were very helpful, handing everything out and collecting it all up again … like a well-oiled machine.

The preaching was done by a guest speaker named Danny Guglielmucci. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but he said he wanted to “speak from the heart” about people’s dreams and visions for the future … since we’re at the start of a new year, I guess. Then he said he was going to “speak prophetically”. He told a short story about a Hillsong church in Sicily who had a dream to break down barriers across generations of churchgoers.

His main Bible passage was this one:

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

— Mark 10:46–52

He made three points:

• Bartimaeus had to cry out to Jesus. Similarly, Guglielmucci hears a cry in the church for a fresh vision.


• Bartimaeus threw off his cloak. He said the people of the time could identify Bartimaeus by his clothing. Likewise, congregations should throw off “restrictions, ritual, and religious regalia”, so people don’t perceive a “blind church”.


• Bartimaeus then connected with Jesus.

He then turned to this passage:

Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will be subject to you.”
But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel.”
The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days so we can send messengers throughout Israel; if no one comes to rescue us, we will surrender to you.”

— I Samuel 11:1–3

Confessing he was “no theologian,” he said this passage showed the Israelites were complacent, and too willing to give up their vision (literally and figuratively). “I prophesy multiplication in the impact this church has on the community!” he, um … prophesied.

Then, Guglielmucci said he would make four points about vision:

• Power. A vision starts with one person, and great things can come of it (Genesis 12). God doesn’t want you to rely on your own abilities. He showed this video of what people can achieve with a vision.


• Price. Having a vision comes with a price. He spoke about some criticisms he’s had, from within the church and without. He talked about sixteen churches who completely renovated the Adelaide Children’s Hospital in a weekend, and I found a news article about that here. Then he used this video as an example of someone paying the price for their vision.


• Pattern. Hmm … as I go through my notes, I realise that in the end he didn’t get to talk about this one.


• Prize. When people partner together, multiplication happens. He talked about fifteen British schools who had received £35 million to be handed over to Christian organisations. Apparently, some people are going to travel with our PM to see how it all works. I couldn’t find any news articles on-line about this one. If you come across anything, let me know, and I’ll post the link.

He concluded his message by praying for vision for 2008, for everyone in the auditorium.

The service ended with one of those prayers … not an “altar call”, but you know, one of those ones where everyone has to close their eyes, and the leader says, “yes, yes, thank you, yes, I see that hand, yes, up the back, thank you, yes” … one of those ones. Everyone who put their hand up got a free Bible. Then it was all over, and we went home.

It went for about 1½ hours all up. As a first time visitor, I could’ve taken up the invitation for free tea and coffee in the “meeting lounge”, but decided not to. So much for my fears about “will people try and harass me after the service?” … I didn’t talk to anybody! In fact, if you liked your anonymity, I reckon you could quite easily slip in and out on a regular basis for years without anyone even knowing whether you were new or part of the furniture.

Next week, I’ll try and get to the evening service as well … they say it’s more low-key and relaxed: “You can wear your jeans and t-shirts” … oops, I was already wearing a pair of jeans. At least I know how to find the place now, so I’ll be on time!

Again, let me ask for your input and comments on this posting — they’re much appreciated. I tried to make my summary of the message as complete but concise as possible; I think it’s important to include, hopefully giving you an idea of the kind of theology they’ve got going on.

Cheers,

Andy

quest

/kwεst/ n. a search or hunt. SYN: pursuit.

Welcome to my revamped blog ... It’s been a long time since the last posting.

I apologise for the melodramatic title of this particular entry. It’s been more than a year since I got back from Fiji. In that time, I’ve been working at my old job, but with a new cohort of staff. It has been a struggle for me, in lots of different ways. I also went in an amateur production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, which was a lot of hard work, but fun, too. In the middle of the year, I moved out from mum and dad’s house into a rented granny flat. Perhaps the biggest thing that’s taken up my spare time this year was my enrolment in the Diploma of Auslan/English Interpreting. Auslan is the official name of Australian Sign Language, used by the deaf community of Australia. I was going to TAFE two nights a week for most of the year. In the end, the time flew by, and we had our final exam in November. A mark of 70% or more qualifies me as an accredited Auslan/English interpreter; we’re still waiting on our final results to be posted to us.

The other day, I realised (much to my dismay) that it has been about eighteen months since I attended Church regularly. This is not a good thing. For various reasons, I have not wanted to go back to my regular Church — the Church of the Nazarene close by my parents’ house. But, I do need to “plug myself in” somewhere.

So, I present this updated website, to hopefully chronicle my search for a church.

There are almost too many churches to choose from in Sydney, and the range and diversity is enormous. So, I thought it would be a good idea to work out some “essential criteria” ... the basics of what I’m looking for.

• 
  
  Solid, biblical preaching/teaching and sound theology. This is an absolute must-have.


• 
  
  A passion for, and action on social justice issues. If the church is full of people who just wanna rock up once a week and warm the seats while they wait for the cup of tea and a chat after the service, then trot off home again, it’s not for me.


• 
  
  Something which is friendly and approachable.


• 
  
  Music ... Hmm. I’ve been thinking about this one. I’m not quite sure what I want. I am a very musical person, but I feel like I don’t want to place too much emphasis on the music itself. I think I’d be disappointed if they didn’t sing any hymns, though.

I’d really like this blog to be very interactive. I’m interested in your thoughts, comments, opinions, chastisements, and so on. So please add your own two cents whenever you feel like it ... I think it’ll help me in the process.

Anyway. That’ll do for now, I think. It being the end of 2007, my first outing to a Church will be in early January 2008, I suppose. I’ll keep you up to date!

Cheers,
Andy