Dirty Worshippers, Holy Worship – Part 1

In this two-part series, I explore the wonderfully reassuring paradox that imperfect, messed-up people get to use their gifts to serve a holy God; yes, even to serve on something as hallowed as the worship team. In this Part 1, I reflect on the question: who is qualified to serve? In the forthcoming Part 2, I will […]

Some Darn Good Questions for Young Marketplace Ministers

I have noticed that Singapore Christianity is pretty cutting-edge in terms of harnessing community transformation principles. Years ago, Singapore was used as a prototype for a massive city-taking campaign. The argument went that if you could see the city transformed, then the nation too would be saved given that, in Singapore’s case, the city is […]

From the Archives: Why the Church Needs to Embrace Change

Last Sunday, Peter Tsukahira preached an awesome message on Change, which really resonated with me. I will post my thoughts on that shortly. In the meantime, here is a post I wrote some time ago about the need for change. People often ask me: wouldn’t world missions and evangelism be so much easier if Jesus […]

Adventures in East Timor – Part 6

It’s Sunday, the 6th of January – Day 4 of our mission trip – and it was the Sabbath! I was looking forward to this day because Amos, a youth leader on our team, was going to deliver the Sunday message. I’m always up for hearing fresh preachers. Sometimes we are used to the same […]

Now That’s Radical Church

This week, we had dinner with some pastor friends of ours and we caught a glimpse of how the disciples must have felt on the Emmaus Road as Jesus was talking and they had felt their “hearts burning within” them (Lk 24:32). I think that’s the sense you get when a vision that has captured […]

Communicating and Shaping Culture by Drilling and Detonating

In my last post, one of the observations I made was about the arts communicating and shaping culture. At its core, the gospel is about transformation. Which is why I believe worship, in all its various musical, visual and artistic expressions will play a critical role in the gospel’s penetrating society and bringing change and […]

Why the Church Needs to Embrace Change

People often ask me: wouldn’t world missions and evangelism be so much easier if Jesus would just show up in person like He did two thousand years ago? He would walk around, do miracles, perform signs and wonders and preach the Word. And wouldn’t His effectiveness be multiplied given that He can now access technology […]

Worship in the Heart of the Perth Cultural Precinct?

Yesterday afternoon, we were walking home from the Perth CBD after doing a bit of shopping and we happened to walk through the Perth Cultural Precinct. They were playing Olympic highlights on the big screen outside the State Library. The setting actually reminded me of an amphitheatre. An amphitheatre for worship! And then the thought […]

The Church as Family

I’ve just finished reading Messy Church and for the past week, I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of church as family. We often like to think of the church in one of the following different ways: a corporate entity (with strict lines of authority, structures, rules and regulations), a movement (a group of […]

A Brief Reflection on the Kong Hee Saga – Part 2

Today, I want to reflect on some issues which the Kong Hee saga raises as it pertains to the broader church. I want to look at it from two perspectives: first, as a lawyer who practises in quite a bit of charity and non-profit law; second, as a worship leader who believes 100% in the […]