Young punk Driscoll lands some punches

The latest guru, Mark Driscoll, seems to have got a lot of things right (SC, Oct). But when he advocates the reduction of support for the "weakest" churches in favour of nourishing new opportunities in the name of "entrepreneurialism", I fear he is more guided by the spirit of the age than by the teachings of the prophets and Jesus.
He also supports churches organised on an affinity basis rather than the geographical basis provided by parishes. Yet the very latest thinking, forced on us by the need to conserve oil and reduce our ecological footprint, emphasises the importance of the local community for both business and social activity.  The parish system is ideally suited to this situation, in which people will become involved in the local church, rather than travel larger distances to an "affinity-based" church.
Church planting is fine in areas where there is no existing Christian congregation.  But where there is one, it would seem to me to be better to work from the inside to help reform or re-invigorate the existing church rather than plant a new and potentially competing congregation.
Graeme Sanders
Bowral, NSW

My mind immediately thought, "Hmmm, you can't plant a rival church 100m down the road!". But then I realised Driscoll's point: the church down the road attracts a different people network! One church may attract middle-aged professionals, the next a young mothers' group, the next the creative types. All these churches geographically within 100 metres but demographically miles apart.
Andrew Drury
Asquith, NSW

I love you guys. You go and ask a truth teller to tell it how he sees it and then stand back and cop it sweet. I was just laughing (inwardly crying) that in the almost impossibly unlikely event that Mark Driscoll might be invited to the Brisbane Diocese to offer a similar critique, he would still be penning it! Only 18 points!
I think the rest of us also had better take a look at how many of his points apply to us and see if under God we mightn't do better.
Peter D Young
Brisbane, Qld

I took my niece [and goddaughter] to the Mark Driscoll event. There I saw 10,000 people, not all young, gathered to hear a man talk about Jesus. As I looked around the tiered arena, full to the roof, of people seeking something, I was reminded of a similar crowd that I was a part of, four decades ago. Billy Graham pulled those numbers in the 50s and 60s in our city.
Would he too be called "just another visiting evangelical preacher'? Would those crusade crowds also reflect 'Sydney's unhealthy messiah complex'? I think not.
Billy Graham called forth my faith, in a way my church had not. And I am very pleased that he did. Mark Driscoll did the same for some people on the night of August 27. He also challenged the gathered young people to have a robust view of Jesus, that would lead to uncompromising obedience, in a culture that substitutes sex and possessions for God. Can this be a bad thing?
I didn't hear anything new, but I heard it with such a passion that it engaged and challenged the listeners, young and old alike. That so many young people turned up may be a message to our churches that Gen Y is looking for a Christian walk that is bigger, more radical and more passionate than anything they might hear from "listening to the Bible teachers in their own church".
Mark hopes to return in the future to teach church planting to a young generation of Sydney Christians. My only disappointment was that this initiative was only addressed to the young men present. Did he, at that point, not disenfranchise half of the audience? Don't we all share our Lord's commission to "go and make disciples of all nations",  those nations who now live in our beautiful city? I hope my niece would think so.
Helen McNab
Kings Park, NSW

I was at the Cathedral to hear Don Carson and Mark Driscoll. It was a great day and one of the very best things was the rousing singing that filled the cathedral. However, while sitting there I wrote the following: "I don't want that much. Just a snippet from the Garden of Eden, re-enacted here, now… two voices, collaboration, complementary gifts, joint decision making, shared creative energy " a brilliant partnership". 
That's all I want. I want to see transformed partnerships; I want to see half the crowd, women; I want to hear half the voices, women; I want to hear them lead some of the singing, read some of the Bible passages, give some of the announcements. It's not that much.
Over half the believers are women, after all. I don't want that much.
Rhonda Watson
Summer Hill, NSW

Thanks to those who brought Mark Driscoll to NSW. I took a group of 13 from Newcastle to hear him speak on "Loving the Coast". I'm 55 and I believe he has much to teach us about the need for us all to become "missionaries where we are'.
Paul Thompson
Newcastle, NSW

GAFCON no tactical error

Earlier this year I would have agreed with Peter M G Young ("Letters", SC, Oct). He feels a tactical error was made by the Diocese in not sending a representative to Lambeth "to continue the good work of GAFCON" there.
Apart from the opportunity to clearly present a biblical perspective on the current difficulties within the Anglican Communion, the attendance of a Sydney bishop " my argument went " would also strengthen our diocese's assurances, and those of other GAFCON participants, that they are not seeking schism.
But after this year's Lambeth Conference, I now believe that I was wrong and the bishops' position has been vindicated. The stories of bishops sitting around for days on end in their Indaba groups, waiting for consensus to supernaturally occur, convinced me that nothing concrete was achieved. Rather an appalling amount of money was spent on proclaiming liberal theology, contrary to the cause of Jesus Christ.
Conversely, GAFCON has produced real results for fellowship between Bible-believing Anglicans and for gospel proclamation. Sydney made the right call.
Chris Ashton
Chatswood NSW

Christian blogs have future

I disagree with Chris Braga that blogs are on the way out (SC, Sep). His definition of a "blog" is not accurate: the term "blog" comes from "web log", and refers to the practice of adding new entries to a website on a regular basis. This is why newspaper sites, though not personal, are bloglike. The same goes for Twitter and Facebook newsfeed. The size of these entries is smaller, hence the term "microblogging".
Are blogs here to stay? Yes, but their form is rapidly evolving.
Karen Beilharz
via email