Life + Faith

Hey, I’m Jon.
And this is where I write about life and faith, no niche included. Just an honest attempt to be faithful and fruitful for Jesus. If that’s something you want more of, subscribe.

  • Spurgeon On Writing

    I came across this this quote from Charles H. Spurgeon while traversing the interwebs this morning. What a great comment about writing and preaching.

    “Long visits, long stories, long essays, long exhortations, and long prayers, seldom profit those who have to do with them. Life is short. Time is short.…Moments are precious. Learn to condense, abridge, and intensify…In making a statement, lop off branches; stick to the main facts in your case. If you pray, ask for what you believe you will receive, and get through; if you speak, tell your message and hold your peace; if you write, boil down two sentences into one, and three words into two. Always when practicable avoid lengthiness — learn to be short.”

    – CH Spurgeon (Sword & Trowel, September 1871)

  • My Blogging Year – A Retrospective

    How do you summarise a year?

    I suppose you could use a one-word expletive, which I notice a number of my Facebook friends have used to describe 2016. But, there are a number of factors that make up a year with its various highs and lows. The variables of family, friends, work, hobbies, recreation, health and fitness, and more, make up much of what we call life. Each of these areas we may be able to summarise, but to tie them all together is difficult.

    restrospective

    Over at The Daily Post there is the challenge to summarise my blogging year. And upon reflection there are a few insights we can glean.

    First, I had six good months and six poor months of posting content. I obviously don’t like winter very much nor am I inspired during these months. I posted often in the January to March period but soon dropped off before taking up publishing again from October through December.*

    Second, the main topic I posted about was ‘youth ministry’. Of the top five most read posts three of them were on the topic of youth ministry. This isn’t too much of a surprise considering I was intentional in what I was to post about this year. Youth ministry was one area I wanted to write more about and this is clear through the posts I’ve written in 2016. The other factor would be the change of ministry role, becoming Associate Pastor for Youth and Young Adults at the start of the year. These things seem to point toward a youth ministry passion and this is being seen in what I write about.

    Here are my top five posts:

    1. The Ageing Youth Pastor
    2. Starting Fresh As A Youth Pastor
    3. Why Every Youth Pastor Should Watch ‘Spotlight’
    4. ‘N’ As A Social Media Movement
    5. I’ve Never Been To Aleppo

    Third, there was a 30% increase in traffic to the blog in the past 12 months. This has been encouraging and positive. You do expect an increase when you’re coming off such a low base though. 🙂

    Fourth, the top five countries where readers come from are: Australia, USA, Brazil, New Zealand and the UK. Four of them are not surprising. One of them is. You can probably guess which one.

    Fifth, each New Year that passes brings with it a good opportunity to reflect on the worthiness of writing and blogging. I’m one of those people who enjoy reflecting on events, conversations, experiences and time-periods. Blogging is no different. And while some people are against New Year resolutions, believing that January 1st is only another day, I do find it helpful to reflect and set goals for the next 12 months. These goals don’t need to be anything complicated, but they do need to be specific. My choice to write more about youth ministry seems to have been achieved as I’ve seen a few things here gain some traction with readers. It’s also helped me think through the topics in more depth.

    For 2017, consistency will be the key and the main goal for this blog. I seek to me more intentional about writing topics and will also aim at writing at least one decent piece per week. 

    If you’re a blogger (or perhaps there’s something in your life you need to be more intentional about) then what would be your main goal for your blog in 2017?

    *Another factor here may well be the birth of our second child. Probably can’t discount that variable either! 

  • My Top Books of 2016

    This is the week in the blogosphere where all bloggers release those awful list posts, humbly bragging about what they read this year. It’s an easy post to write, tickles the ego, and promotes faux intelligence. It also makes you feel bad for not achieving your own reading goals, and a reminder of all those other goals you failed to complete this year.

    Well, here’s another.

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    For me, 2016 was a horrendous reading year. I only finished 11 books. I won’t give you my excuses but will put reading back into its rightful position in 2017.

    So for the third year in a row, and in no particular order, here are my top books of 2016:

    Do More Better: A Practical Guide To Productivity by Tim Challies

    Here’s a little gem, at just over 100 pages, which helps you think through your own productivity system. Much of the advice given can be applied to the different spheres in which you find yourself – work, family, personal, recreation etc. It just helps having a good system and the one by Challies’ outlined here is a good fit for me.

    Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry: A Practical Guide by Cameron Cole and Jon Nielson

    If you want a good primer on youth ministry, giving theological grounding and practical outworking of that theology, then this is a good book. Every Senior Pastor and Youth Pastor should read this. If you’re in youth ministry as a volunteer it will give you a good idea of the foundational thinking your Youth Pastor should be thinking through, as well as providing you with excellent training in the process.

    Each chapter is about a particular topic: making disciples in youth ministry, teaching the Bible, building relationships, forming a gospel-community, partnering with parents, how to make youth ministry inter-generational, small groups, leadership training, music and worship, retreats and events, evangelism, serving the poor, and short-term missions. There’s a lot there and it’s all very solid.

    This book would now make my Top 3 Books for Youth Ministry.

    Martyn Lloyd-Jones: His Life And Relevance For The 21st Century by Christopher Catherwood

    There is something about Martyn Lloyd-Jones that draws me to read about his life and ministry. His own writings and sermons are invaluable themselves, but so are the reflections of others about his life. In this book Lloyd-Jones’s eldest grandson gives a brief precis about his life before delving into topics missed by other biographers. There are the chapters to expect, one on preaching and another on the centrality of Scripture. But, there are also chapters on home life, and how he is relevant and appealing to Millennials and the 21st century.

    It’s not a long book and is easy to digest. It’s worth the read.

    Luther on The Christian Life: Cross & Freedom by Carl R. Trueman

    The ‘On The Christian Life‘ series is a terrific series for those of us that enjoy biography and historical theology. Bringing this together with Martin Luther, one of the most significant figures in Christian history, Carl Trueman does an exceptional job. Albeit I’m a bit of a Trueman fanboy, but he does do a great job in outlining Luther’s life and theological growth, centred on his theology of the cross.

    Chapters cover Luther’s life, the Word, liturgy, baptism and mass, righteousness, and living and dying in the world.

    Growing Young: 6 Essential Strategies To Help Young People Discover And Love Your Church by Kara Powell, Jake Mulder, and Brad Griffin. 

    I can’t really go through this list without mentioning Growing Young. This is the book I’ve spent the most time in this year, thinking it through and reflecting upon it. To get a better idea of the book you can read all nine reflection posts on this blog if you’re so inclined!

    The main premise of this volume is what keeps young people in church. Much has been written about why young people are leaving the church, but this is a piece of research summarised into six core reasons why young people stay.

    This is a book for anyone who works with young people in churches. From senior leadership to volunteer leaders to parents and grandparents, this is a good resource to help you think through how to integrate young people in your church.

    Well, that’s the top 5 for 2016. If you’d like to read 2014 and 2015 then go ahead and do so.

    I hope you’re 2016 reading was better than mine, but if it wasn’t then why not try this awesome reading challenge for 2017?

    reading-challenge-2017

    My Top Books: Yearly Series
    2014
    2015
    2016 (this post)
    2017
    2018
    2019
    2020
    2021
    2022
    2024
    2025

  • Hope Gone Viral – A Christmas Reflection

    In 1991 Metallica released their self-titled album, commonly known as ‘The Black Album’. On this album they released a song called “The God That Failed”. The central theme of this song being about faith and the human reliance on promises which are broken by the God of the universe. Lead singer, James Hetfield, wrote the lyrics soon after his mother’s death from cancer. She had such a strong faith she would be healed that James felt that had his mother not held to her beliefs she would not have lost her life. The lyrics read:

    Pride you took
    Pride you feel
    Pride that you felt when you’d kneel

    Not the word
    Not the love
    Not what you thought from above

    It feeds
    It grows
    It clouds all that you will know
    Deceit
    Deceive
    Decide just what you believe

    I see faith in your eyes
    Never your hear the discouraging lies
    I hear faith in your cries
    Broken is the promise, betrayal
    The healing hand held back by the deepened nail

    Follow the god that failed

    There are no doubt times in our own lives when we wonder, due to our personal situation or from observing what is happening in our society and around the world, whether God has failed.

    This week alone we can think of the atrocities continuing in Aleppo, the attack in Berlin, and the assassination of a diplomat in Turkey. To have your mind blown check out the list of terror attacks that have occurred in December to date. Crazy times.

    Yet despite all of this we can still have hope for the future.

    This hope comes from knowing that God is faithful to his promises. 

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    If we go back some 2700 years we come to a time where God’s people are dealing with a similar question – has God failed?

    Through the prophet Isaiah we read of a time where God’s people were struggling for hope. Isaiah is called by God to speak to the people of Judah and Israel, bringing a message of warning and judgement with a sprinkle of hope. In one particular section, chapters 7-9, Isaiah is called to warn and encourage King Ahaz to trust in God despite what looks like very bleak circumstances.

    King Ahaz rules over the Southern Kingdom of Judah and is a terrible king who is constantly disobeying God, worshipping other gods, and following his own devices. You can read of his reign in 2 Chronicles 28. And having been warned by Isaiah not to make allegiance with the Assyrians he decides it would be a good idea to do so. He is soon run over by them and then neglects the worship of God, making other gods for himself and his people.

    So God’s people are in a bleak and dark situation. Their nation is being bombarded and they are wondering whether God is truly faithful to his people.

    They wonder whether God has failed.

    Yet in chapter 9:1-7 Isaiah brings a glimmer of hope. Like the sun poking through the clouds on an overcast day, Isaiah brings a brief message of hope in amongst the warnings and judgement to the people of God. This hope culminates in v6-7, which reads:

    For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
    and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

    Of the increase of his government and of peace
    there will be no end,
    on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
    to establish it and to uphold it
    with justice and with righteousness
    from this time forth and forevermore.
    The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

    Here we find that the hope for the people of God is a child-king, a person, who will be born, who will be named, and who will rule an eternal kingdom. This passage, and these two verses in particular, give the people of God great hope for what is to come.

    For those who believe, who live 2700 years after Isaiah’s message and this side of the cross, recognise this child-king as Jesus. 

    Isaiah’s message is that there is a great king to be born. This king will not be like the current king, Ahaz. Rather he will be a king that surpasses all other kings. He will lead well and true and fair. His leadership will bring peace and his rule will be eternal.

    God had not forgotten his people, nor had he left them. His promises come to fruition through this child-king. God himself will fulfil his own promises and come as a baby, making a way for everyone to know him and bring hope for the world.

    In this Christmas season we can look back and see that Jesus was a gift of hope to people in the time of Isaiah, just as he continues to be the gift of hope for Christians around the world today. Through this child-king Jesus hope has gone viral.

    God himself fulfils that which he has promised in Isaiah by sending his Son Jesus, who rules wisely with strength, power, and holiness. Isaiah calls Ahaz to turn from his disobedience and sin and put his trust in God. In the same way God calls us to do the same. This trust is made manifest through the life and death of Jesus, through this child-king, who came and lived, and died on a cross in order for us to know our God and King.

    This Christmas, like last Christmas and the one before that, and the one before that, we celebrate our Lord’s birth; knowing that he came into this world as a baby. We also celebrate him because of what he has done for us. The gift of mercy, grace, and hope he provides us with.

    Christmas reminds us that we worship a God who has not failed.

    Christmas reminds us that we worship a God who will never fail.

    Christmas reminds us that we worship a God who is faithful.

    This post is in response to the WordPress Discover Challenge – Hope Gone Viral. 

  • Jesus Invites You In – A Christmas Poem

    Below is a Christmas poem written by someone who attends Rowville Baptist. It was written and shared last week at a local retirement village. I had the privilege of having it emailed to me and received permission to share it here. Enjoy.

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    Jesus Invites You In!

    Young Mary with Joseph a journey did make

    Tho’ pregnant with child, this risk she must take

    There were thieves along the way, the road was rough

    By the time they reached Bethlehem they had had enough

    They were hungry and weary, the babe was due any minute

    When they saw the inn they hurried to get in it

    They knocked on the inn’s door and asked to lodge there

    The innkeeper refused, for their plight he didn’t care.

    “No room” he said, you cannot stay,

    “Go to the stable, go sleep on the hay”

    The tills were overflowing, business was good;

    Take in these straggling strangers? Couldn’t see why he should

    But he paid a price when “No room” he cried

    He missed big time when the shepherds arrived

    He never got to hear how the heavenly host did sing

    He missed being at the birth of our Saviour and King

    We recall this story each year for a reason

    Lord, help us reach out to others this season

    As the day approaches and we are all set to rejoice

    Help us remember those who have no voice

    Lord may we not reject with a word or a glance

    And say “We have no room”, not give others a chance

    With your heart and your eyes help us to see,

    And pray for the suffering, for those who aren’t free

    We pray for ourselves to do unto others

    Remembering always they’re our sisters and brothers

    Lord we think of the many souls that are lost

    We thank you, you saved us at such a great cost

    How thankful we are that You made Yourself known

    Visited us as a babe, left behind Your own throne

    We are so thankful Lord Jesus, that you love us so much

    Others who don’t know You, they too need Your touch

    Now as Christmas approaches, You stand at the door

    Saying “Come in, come in, there’s always room for more”

    – Marlene S