Today, we had an “Observation Sunday” which is where we go to a different church, to observe worship there. This is a great idea, as we get ideas on how other people structure their services, buildings, morning tea, etc. But as with all things, you can often learn what not to do. Today’s experience had us asking all sorts of questions, because it could have been so good. But, if we were looking for a church to attend, we wouldn’t go back to the one we went to today. In fact, had we not been going to observe, we probably would not have gone in at all. Continue reading “Welcome at church?”
Author: Ben Clapton
I'm a violinist, teacher, composer and arranger from Ellenbrook, Western Australia. I love my family, coffee, AFL and running.
Doctrine rehearsal
It was another day of study and reviews. Slowly but surely, most of the cadets are finishing off their last assignments, and getting on with a bit of packing.
We also had another doctrine rehearsal. As part of the commissioning and ordination, we declare the eleven doctrines of the Salvation Army, from memory. In order to aid or memorisation, we have rehearsals, so that we can memorise them, and get our timing together so we all say them together at the same time. I’ll go through the doctrines at a later date, but I just wanted to say a little bit about memorisation.
It’s important, I think, to memorise the doctrines, because these are the central elements of our faith that we hold to be true. In eleven relatively short statements, we declare what we believe, and why we believe them. Memorising them helps us make them central to our Christian practice, to shape everything we do in our ministry.
What have you had to memorise? What’s helped you in memorising it?
What does God want you to do today?
Another study day today, more Greek, and some house work. Nothing overly exciting, except that I took Liesl out for lunch as she’s finished all her assignments.
Something in prayers this morning hit me quite hard. We had a question to guide our thoughts, which was “What does God want you to do today?” Continue reading “What does God want you to do today?”
Cup Day
It’s Cup Day, which means it’s a public holiday here in Victoria. As such, it was a quiet day, with no classes or anything. For us, we took it as an opportunity to do some shopping before our big move down to Tasmania. There’s some furniture that we need to take with us – a new bed for Annabelle, and a new change table, so we headed down to Ikea to get some new furniture. We also got a couple of things for now – a new chair for Annabelle to eat dinner at our little coffee table, and some Christmas decorations to liven up our place for the last month or so.
We also had a baby shower for one of the Cadets, which was a lot of fun. Continue reading “Cup Day”
Commissioning countdown – study and review
Well, we’ve finished out placement at Waverley, which means we’re officially into our final countdown to commissioning. Including today, there are 28 days until commissioning. I thought that as a little outlet for me – and as an insight for everyone outside of the college – I would share what’s happening as the disciples of the cross prepare for our commissioning.
Continue reading “Commissioning countdown – study and review”
The Jesus Creed
As has been my tradition, every sermon that I preach will be posted here. This sermon, Jesus Creed was given at Fusion Youth Service at Waverley Salvation Army on Sunday 3 November, 2013. The Bible reading was Mark 12:28-34.
“Which is the greatest?” It’s a question that is very common, to find out where you stand on certain important issues. Who was the greatest batsman? Well, you’ve got to go with the Don, but if you take him out, who was the greatest modern day batsman? Do you go with Ponting, or Tendulkar? Or who was the greatest Bond? Do you go Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan, maybe Daniel Craig, or perhaps Linda? This question of the greatest goes a long way in telling us what the priorities of a person are, and whether they align with our own. Continue reading “The Jesus Creed”
The importance of language
I’ve been reading Jim Wallis’ book, The Soul of Politics, and I got to one section and it really struck me how much it related to a recent change in tack in how the Australian Government treats Asylum Seekers. It’s from a section dealing with the inequality between gender, and Wallis tells a story from a report published in Sojourners magazine. Continue reading “The importance of language”
The Faith of the Bikie
As has been my tradition, every sermon that I preach will be posted here. This sermon, The Faith of the Bikie, was given at Waverley Temple Salvation Army on Sunday 27 October, 2013. The Bible reading was Luke 18:9-14.
Honest question, right here and now: Who heard this story and thought to themselves, “Thank God I’m not like that Pharisee”? Continue reading “The Faith of the Bikie”
Online Missional Church
I’m doing a unit at the moment called Missional Spirituality, and the readings for this week have got me thinking. It’s all about engaging in the world using the tools that are available – and in a sense, the tools that are at the forefront of the world. When the Christian Church started to develop, it wouldn’t have spread so fast was it not for the network of roads and, in a sense, the post network of the Roman Empire that allowed Peter and Paul and others to send pastoral letters to encourage the new communities of faith. When the printing press was invented, it allowed the bible to be mass-produced for the first time and people could have a copy in their homes. When TV came along, so did Television evangelists. But today, when the internet, and social networking is so entrenched in our society, is the church really as effective at using this method of communication as we could be? Continue reading “Online Missional Church”
An open letter to our new Prime Minister
Dear Mr Abbott,
Firstly, congratulations on being elected our latest national leader. You ran a very professional campaign, and defeated an opposition who was trying hard not to implode, whilst trying to destroy themselves at the same time.
So you are now the elected official to lead our country into the next three years. And while I didn’t personally vote for you, and I don’t agree with many of your policies, I thought that I would share some advice from myself, of things I would like to see as the hallmarks of your time as prime minister. Continue reading “An open letter to our new Prime Minister”
Ben Clapton 