Notes and essays

Description
Things on my mind in various stages of thought development.

Financing physical ministry infrastructure

As Andrew Hong noted a few months back, developers of new residential developments in the outer suburbs of major cities don't have much room for church buildings. There simply isn't sufficient financial incentive for developers or local planners to p...

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Hyperbolic discounting and eschatological myopia

The title of this article may sound scary, but hopefully it's not that so.

One of the many discoveries from the field of behavioural economics is the concept of hyperbolic discounting. Hyperbolic discounting occurs when someone chooses a smaller payo...

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Demographic changes and the shape of (lay) ministry

Recently at the 2007 Biennial Convention of the Institute of Actuaries of Australia, there was a fascinating paper presented on the changing nature of the workforce. The paper, titled It's time to abolish retirement (and here's how to do it), looks a...

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Popular economics

If you have been following the news, you probably have heard of various political parties announcing enquiries into petrol prices and grocery prices. While clearly it would be interesting to see what (if anything) transpires out of these enquiries, i...

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Book Review: Passing the Baton

Passing the Baton: A Handbook for Ministry Apprenticeship

Title Passing the Baton: A Handbook for Ministry Apprenticeship
Author Colin Marshall
Pages 120
Publisher Matthias Media
Year 2006
ISBN 978 1 921068 79 9
Purchase Matthias Media or Moore Books

There are times when you are so f...

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How to use PowerPoint properly

This post is related to one of my previous posts, Why PowerPoint is evil.

Firstly, a disclaimer. I am not an expert in giving presentations. I don't think my words have a lot of authority in relation to this particular subject. There are better place...

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What men needs

At the City Bible Forum the other day, Ian Powell made a very interesting observation while introducing his talk on 1 Kings 16:29-17:24. He noted that men need to know three things in order to function properly.

  1. Who is in charge
  2. What are the rules
  3. W...

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Book Review: How Long, O Lord? (2nd edition)

How Long, O Lord?  Reflections on Suffering and Evil

Title How Long, O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil (2nd edition)
Author D. A. Carson
Pages 240
Publisher Baker Academic
Year 2006
ISBN 978 0 8010 3125 0
Purchase Moore Books

This is a book about the concept of suffering...

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Book Review: Engaging with God

Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship

Title Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship
Author David Peterson
Pages 317
Publisher InterVarsity Press
Year 1992 (the 2002 print was reviewed)
ISBN 0 8308 2697 1
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Worship ... is essentially a...

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Book Review: Going the Distance

Going the Distance: How to Stay Fit for a Lifetime of Ministry

Title Going the Distance: How to Stay Fit for a Lifetime of Ministry
Author Peter Brain
Pages 260
Publisher Matthias Media
Year 2004
ISBN 1 876326 73 5
Purchase Matthias Media or Moore Books

God gave me the gospel and a horse...

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