Mark Conner Humour

The Donkey

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbours to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement he quietened down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.


As the farmer’s neighbours continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!

Mark Conner Spirituality

A Pattern for Prayer

Prayer is simply conversation with God – sharing our heart with him and listening to his voice. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he gave them a pattern for prayer (often called the ‘Lord’s Prayer’), not just words to say in a rote manner. Another pattern I’ve found helpful for my own personal prayer life is one using the word ACTS as an acronym as follows:

Adoration – begin by taking time to worship God. Tell him how much you love and appreciate him. Affirm his character and amazing attributes. Thank him for who he is as our God.

Confession – ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything in your own heart and life that may need taking care of. The Apostle Paul always tried to keep his conscience clear of offence towards God or people (Acts 24:16). That’s a great way to live your life.

Thanksgiving – take time to thank God for the good things he has done (1 Thess.5:18). Be grateful. Think about what is going well. Don’t take things for granted – even little things. Thankful people are joyful people.

Supplication – brings your requests, needs and concerns to God. He cares for you and is interested in every aspect of your daily life (Phil.4:8. 1 Pet.5:7).

Any time we talk with God, he promises to hear us and respond. Prayer can make a powerful difference in our world. James put it this way – "The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for the next three and a half years! Then he prayed for rain, and down it poured. The grass turned green, and the crops began to grow again (James 5:16-18 NLT)."

As we draw near to God in prayer, he promises to come close to us (Jas.4:8). What an amazing thing that we can become God’s friend!

Mark Conner Books

My Dad’s Biography

Dads_autobiographyMy dad, Kevin Conner, is known by many people around the world as a theologian, Bible teacher and best-selling author of many Biblical textbooks. Although thousands of people have been impacted by his ministry and his writings, only a few have heard his personal story. That's why I've been encouraging my dad to write a book on his life story for many years now. Well, he's finally done it!

The book is called This is My Story and on its pages my dad openly shares his life journey and the lessons he has learnt along the way. Writing this book was not an easy process for him, as he had to relive many of the emotional ups and downs of his life experiences. This is without doubt his most personal book. As you read, you will be greatly impacted by my dad's story of God's grace and be encouraged in your own spiritual journey.

Highly recommended!

You can purchase a copy from WORD Australia or from Koorong.

Mark Conner Personal, Web/Tech

Disclaimer

This blog contains the personal opinions and views of Mark Conner. As such, he is not speaking on behalf of or representing anyone else.

Where known, sources of material are noted. Please comment if you are aware of a source that is not noted.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this blog is accurate. Any corrections or suggested edits are welcome.

Mark Conner Church, Leadership

Church Governance

In many ways, churches tend to rise and fall based on the quality of their leaders. Strong godly leadership is important, as is good governance, clear decision-making processes, and appropriate accountability.

When it comes to the subjects of leadership and governance, the New Testament presents a fairly fluid and emerging model for local churches. That’s why there are so many different views on what church leadership should look like today. [For a detailed look at the subject of leadership as portrayed in the New Testament, here is a link to download a paper I wrote on this topic as part of my Master’s of Arts Degree in Theology at Ridley College back in 2001 – A New Testament Pattern for Church Leadership]

A few years back, I helped a large church that I was leading at the time engage in a governance review. As churches grow they need to occasionally review their structures and processes to ensure that they are conducive to creating a healthy environment. As a result of our review, the following decisions were made at the time:

  1. To simply the church’s constitution. [The constitution now contains just a Statement of Purposes, a Mission Statement and a list of Core Values. It then outlines the required Rules for: Membership, General Meetings, Governance, and Administration. Now that these things are clearly established, they will most likely not need to be changed again]
  2. To establish a single Board of Elders as the primary governance group of the church. [Prior to this time the church had two governance groups – an group of Elders focused on spiritual matters and a Board of Directors handling financial and business matters]
  3. To create an internal Policy Governance Manual that further outlines the specific role of the Senior Minister and the Board of Elders, and how they relate to each other. [It is important to know what decisions a Senior Minister can make by themselves and what decisions require the involvement of the Elders. This document is a working document and will by updated as necessary. The goal was to create an environment with a high degree of empowerment for the Senior Minister but also with an accompanying high degree of accountability]
  4. To require that no more than one third of the members of the Board of Elders be employed by the church or its ministries. [This is in order for there to be proper accountability and genuine ‘independent review’, which requires separation of the creation of ideas from the review or approval of those ideas. Both the Staff and the Eldership leadership roles are crucial in the life of the church but there must be adequate differentiation between them. Large churches often function best when ‘staff-led’ and ‘Elder-protected’]
  5. To have a person other than the Senior Minister Chair the Board of Elders. [This enables the Senior Minister to report and be accountable to the Elders. It also enables the Senior Minister not to have to perform a neutral facilitation role that may be best filled by a different person]
  6. To consider an appropriate ‘length of term’ for members of the Board of Elders so as to balance continuity and connection with the past while providing opportunity for new members to bring fresh ideas and perspective to a particular group. [Prior to this time, Elders remained in this role indefinitely or until they resigned or were disqualified]

These changes were implemented and a new Board of Elders’ team was formed, both of which have served that church well for many years now.

For those who would like to do further study or who want to obtain some more extensive advice, I’d recommend the following resources related to church governance:

It is important to realize that from a spiritual perspective, Jesus Christ is the ‘Head’ and therefore the ‘owner’ of any local church. The Bible is to be each church’s ‘constitution’, providing a clear mission, as well as kingdom values. God directs and then empowers a church planter to start a church congregation. The initial Senior Minister usually forms an Eldership or leadership team and establishes involvement of members from the congregation as appropriate. Over time, wise church leaders articulate clear ‘mission and values’ so that the church can last beyond them and influence succeeding generations. The team of Elders them become the primary guardians of the ‘mission and values’ of the church entrusted to its care by Jesus Christ and together they take responsibility for its ongoing health, growth and well-being.

In contrast, from a legal perspective, most local churches here in Australia are set up as an incorporated association, especially if they own land and employ staff. An incorporated association belongs to its ‘members’ who are the real ‘owners’ of the organization. They appoint, or cause to be appointed, a Board (or ‘Board of Elders’) to govern the organization on their behalf. The Board of Elders then appoints and holds accountable a Senior Minister to give leadership to the church as it seeks to achieve its mission and live out its values. The legal constitution of an incorporated association essentially creates an ‘artificial person’, describes why it exists (‘statement of purpose’), and how it governs itself within society.

The church is a living organism (a spiritual entity) and yet it also has organisational aspects, and more so as it grows larger. These two differing but related aspects of church governance need to be held in delicate tension. God has designed the church to be like a ‘body’ – a body that is very much alive and carrying out the mission of it’s Head, Jesus Christ, yet also realising that a body requires a structure and processes to facilitate that very life.

Mark Conner General Interest

The Amazing Universe

UniverseClick here for a look at the most amazing space photos you’ve ever seen. These are the Top 10 pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, as selected recently by leading astronomers.

The Hubble Space Telescope was first launched in 1990. It is a floating astro-observatory that has been relaying back to earth some incredible snapshots of the universe. Remarking in an article in the UK Daily Mail, reporter Michael Hanlon says the photos "illustrate that our universe is not only deeply strange, but also almost impossibly beautiful."

What an incredible artist God is!

Psalm 19:1-4. The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or a word; their voice is silent in the skies; yet their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to all the world. NLT

P.S. If you haven’t seen Louie Giglio’s Indescribable presentation on DVD, it’s definitely worth watching. Louie directs the popular Passion Conferences in the USA.

Mark Conner Humour

… And You Thought You Had a Bad Day

This is a copy of a letter that was written to insurance company who wanted complete explanation by an injured man to explain the many injuries (he had a fractured skull, severe lacerations on his hands, legs had been broken) and all he had written for an explanation as to how he had had the accident was "I lost my presence of mind". This is how he answered…

"I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident I was working alone on the roof of a 6-storey building. When I completed my work I discovered I had about 500 pounds of bricks left over. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand I decided to lower them in a barrel using a pulley, which fortunately was attached to the side of the building where I was working at the 6th floor level.

Securing the rope at the ground level I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out and loaded the bricks into it. Then I went back to the ground floor and untied the rope holding it tightly to ensure the slow descent of 500 pounds of bricks. You will notice on the report that I way 175 pounds.

Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, as I told you, I lost my presence of mind. I forget to let go of the rope. Needless to say at a rather rapid rate I proceeded up the side of the building. Somewhere near the 3rd floor I met the barrel coming down. This explains the fractured skull and the broken collarbone …

Continue reading “… And You Thought You Had a Bad Day” →

Mark Conner Theology

Quest for God

QfgA few years ago, I heard someone say, “We don’t hear a lot of preaching about God nowadays”. The comment grabbed my attention (especially as a preacher!) and as I spent some time thinking about it, I had to agree. We have a lot of sermons on things such as relationships, faith, freedom, prayer, evangelism, etc, etc, which are all good – but not a lot of preaching about God.

As a result, back in 2005, I shared a five-part series of messages on The Quest for God. We took a fresh look at the God who has revealed himself to us – who he is and what he’s really like. We talked about: (1) the fact that God is not dead – he’s very alive, (2) how BIG God is, (3) how loving God is, (4) the holiness of God, and what that means practically, and (5) where God is when we’re hurting (the question of suffering).

This series had a tangible impact on all of our lives at that time. For those of you who missed this it – a CD pack is available from our bookshop (order online or phone +613 9871 8300) and there are also free mp3s of each one of the messages on the CityLife Church web site.

This coming weekend I’ll be continuing on this theme as we talk about friendship with God. What an awesome privilege to think that God calls us to be his ‘friends’! He wants us to not just know ‘about’ him but to have a personal and intimate relationship with him. We can be as close to God as we want to be. He calls us to come closer. Will we respond?

As with any friend, let’s make an effort to know what God is like. Find out what pleases Him and seek to do those things on a regular basis. Find out what annoys Him or makes Him angry and be sure to avoid those things. Remember, God is a personal and relational God. He has feelings, thoughts and desires just like you and I do. After all, we were made in his likeness.

When it’s all said and done, what matters for now and eternity is knowing God. Let’s continue to take up the quest – for God!

Mark

Mark Conner Personal Development

How to Say ‘No’ Without Feeling Guilty

Many years ago I read a little booklet called How to Say ‘No’ Without Feeling Guilty. At the time I was a real people-pleaser who tended to say ‘Yes’ to everything, even to my own detriment (and my family’s!). I learned that ‘No’ is actually a very positive word. It enables you to say ‘Yes’ to other things that may be more important. When you always say ‘Yes’ to everything, by default you are also saying ‘No’ to other things, whether you realise it or not.

The truth is that none of us can do everything. We have to make choices. We have to be selective. We must know our priorities and focus our primary time on those important things. So I had to learn to say a nice ‘No’. Here are a few examples:

  • "Thank you so much for the invitation to speak at your church. I would love to do so but unfortunately, I already have a full schedule for the rest of this year and therefore I will have to decline. Maybe we could look at some time next year or else I could recommend someone else to you."
  • "Thank you for inviting me to your party. I’d love to come but I already have most nights out that week and so will need to spend time with my family. I hope the night goes really well."
  • "Thank you so much for asking me to conduct your wedding. I love to do weddings but unfortunately, most weekends are already extremely busy for me due to my other church commitments, so I’ll have to decline. Can I help you find someone else to conduct your wedding?"
  • "I’m sorry, I won’t be able to see you this week. Is there someone else I could recommend you to or is there a resource I could suggest to help you with your question?"
  • "I’m sorry, I don’t do personal counseling, as that is not my main area of expertise. However, we have an excellent team of qualified counselors at our community centre who would be able to help you. Can I give you a contact number to call?"

It can be a bit hard to say things like this when you first start. In fact, it can take some courage. But you’ll find that ‘No’ is a very positive word, once you get used to saying it. It’s a freeing word. I’m sure we’d all agree that there’s nothing worse than saying ‘Yes’ to too many things, then regretting having to follow through on our commitments (or should I say ‘over-commitments’!).

Of course, there will always be emergency situations that we may not be able to say ‘No’ to for various reasons. In those situations, we just need to do what needs to be done. But overall, our lives can be more enjoyable and more stress-free if we learn to say ‘No’ to things that may be good in and of themselves, but will pull us away from more important things.

When saying ‘No’, I always endeavour to be nice and I also try to think of alternatives to help the person achieve their goal. I can’t do it all myself. After all, I’m not Superman … nor are you! Remember, even Jesus set boundaries. At times he dismissed the crowd or went to a quiet place with just his disciples or went off by himself to pray. Yes, he made time to be available to meet people’s needs BUT he also knew how to say ‘No’ at the appropriate time, so he could say ‘Yes’ to what was most important.

Said any nice ‘No’s’ lately?

Mark Conner Contemporary Culture

Dinner with a Skeptic

Last week at the 500+ Pastors Conference in New Zealand (see separate post for further details), there was an evening debate on the topic: ‘Is God a Delusion?’ Pastor Allan Meyer from Careforce Church presented the Christian viewpoint, looking at some of the most common evidences for the existence of God. Dr. Bill Cooke, a leading skeptic from New Zealand, presented his perspective on why he does not believe in God. The event was held in a small historical church building in the heart of Queenstown, New Zealand.

Dr. Cooke is the author of The Dictionary of Atheism, Skepticism and Humanism. He is an Honorary Associate of Rationalist International and the editor of The New Zealand Rationalist and Humanist. He was born and raised in Kenya, educated there, in the United Kingdom, and in New Zealand, where he now lives. He is a senior university lecturer in Auckland, New Zealand. 

Dr. Bill Cooke and Pastor Allan Meyer each spoke for 20 minutes, then responded to each other, after which there was a time of questions from the audience that had gathered. The discussion was amicable, though it was clear that both had very different perspectives on the topic, with neither being prepared to move from their personal convictions.

As a Christian and a pastor listening in to the conversation, the saddest thing for me was to hear Dr. Cooke begin his speech by referring to two experiences he had had with Christians and churches in his younger years that were very hurtful. In fact, they turned him away from any notion of God and towards a pursuit of atheism, skepticism and humanism.

No wonder Jesus said that the world would recognise that we are his followers by our love. When people encounter love and grace through Christ-followers they are usually drawn to God. In contrast, when they encounter harshness and legalism they are often repelled from God. What a responsibility we have, those of us who carry the name of Christ.

Nicole and I had dinner with Dr. Cooke and a few others after this event. It was clear that his views of Jesus and Christianity were extremely negative. I chose not to focus on the debate or on our different perspectives, but rather to listen and learn where he was coming from. I wonder how different this man’s life may have been had he had interactions with Christians characterised by genuine kindness and warmth. I went away praying that this man will somehow have a supernatural encounter that will show him how very real God is. No one is beyond the reach of God’s love.

Mark Conner Web/Tech

How to Get the Most out of this Blog

Here are 7 tips for getting the most out of this blog:

  1. Bookmark this page in your internet browser and return to it regularly to check for new posts (a 'post' is a blog entry). I try to add a new post every few days.

  2. Read the latest posts. They are in the left column of the blog. You can scroll down to read all the latest posts OR click on any post title under 'Recent Posts' in the right column (just below the Categories section).

  3. Click on any Category of interest (in the upper right hand column) to view posts grouped by topic.

  4. Click on any link within a post to find additional information, resources, or related web sites. Any underlined word is a link to additional material.

  5. Click on 'Comments' under any post to read other people's comments about that particular post or to make a comment yourself about the post or about someone's else's comments. I try to read every comment. It isn't practical for me to respond to every comment, but I do try to answer any questions and make occasional comments on any developing conversation. [Be sure to check out the commenting guidelines for this blog]

  6. Feel free to tell others about the blog and encourage them to join in the conversation too.

  7. If you are really keen, you can subscribe to this blog, which enables you to receive notifications each time a new post is added. You will need to do this through a blog reader such as Google Reader, Bloglines or Newsgator. You will need to copy the URL of this blog into whichever blog reader you choose. Click on 'subscribe' in the right hand column of this blog (just under the Category section) to save the URL, then copy it into the blog reader. Of course, it is simple to unsubscribe at any time.

  8. To search for a particular topic within the blog, type your topic or word of interest in the Search Box in the upper right hand corner of the blog and hit 'Enter'. A window will open up with a list of the most relevant hits.

Enjoy!

Mark Conner Web/Tech

10 Reasons Why I Blog

Here are 10 reasons why I started a Blog:

  1. It’s a chance for me to share a variety of things that I think and feel that I don’t always have a forum for or time to speak about. A blog is essentially a unique communication tool. It’s a bit like a free-flowing coffee shop conversation – casual, friendly and open.
  2. It’s enables people to get to know me a bit better. Through my blog, I can tell some of my own story and journey. This is especially important in a large growing church where I can’t spend time with each person one on one.
  3. It’s an opportunity for me to share what I am learning.
  4. It gives me the ability to pass on resources to other people that may help them. I like to write a few brief things on a topic then provide links where people can find out more information or recommend books for people to do further reading. A blog is about knowledge sharing.
  5. I like to hear feedback on various issues and topics. That’s why I try to read every comment that is posted on my blog. Although I can’t answer them all, I can keep a listening ear to what other people are thinking and feeling.
  6. It provides a forum for people to engage in a conversation about a topic of their interest. I enjoy stimulating people’s thinking and then listening in to what they have to say. Blogs can connect people and build community.
  7. Amazingly, it enables me to connect with people all around the world. It’s a global communication tool.
  8. I enjoy writing and putting my thoughts into words.
  9. I like new technology and I enjoy learning new things.
  10. It’s fun!

Some people ask about how much time it takes me, especially when I’m already so busy. Essentially, making a single post is as simple as writing an email. You type in a subject or title, then the body of the text, then press ‘post’ and presto … there it is on your blog (or you can choose to have it published at a later time – enabling you to write a bunch of posts at one time and release them a day at a time, which is pretty cool). I use a blog program called TypePad, as it’s simple to use and professional looking.

For those that want to learn a lot more about the world of blogging, I recommend The Blogging Church by Brian Bailey and Terry Storch, a publication by Leadership Network that has just been released. I found it very helpful and gleaned a lot of ideas for making my blog even better. 

Mark Conner Bible

Which Bible Translation?

Bibles The majority of the books of the Bible were written in Hebrew (the Old Testament) and Greek (the New Testament). Eventually the Bible was translated into other languages such as Latin and German, and then English. In 1611, the King James version (KJV) of the Bible was released and it remained the most popular English translation for over 300 years. In the last 100 years, there have been many other English translations, resulting in literally dozens being now available. 

Essentially, there are three types of translations:

  1. A Literal Translation – this is an attempt at a direct 'word for word' translation. The New King James Version (NKJV) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) are literal translations.
  2. A Dynamic Equivalent Translation – this type of translation endeavors to translate the broader sense of the phrases, not just the literal words. The New International Version (NIV) and the New Living Translation (NLT) are dynamic equivalent translations.
  3. A Paraphrase – this is a translation into modern English. The Good News Bible (GNB) and the Message Bible (MB) are paraphrases.

Each of these types of translations have to try to balance readability with faithfulness to the original text. Because of this, there is really no fixed boundary between these three types of translations. They simply represent a range of translation methods.

The New Testament was written in Koine or 'common' Greek, which was the local street language of the day used for speaking with your neighbors or shopping at the market NOT in classical or 'proper' Greek, which was used for writing history, philosophy or poetry. As Eugene Peterson says, 'Our Bible was not written in the educated and polished language of scholars, historians, philosophers and theologians but primarily in the common language of fisherman, prostitutes, homemakers and carpenters." It was said about Jesus, "… and the common people heard him gladly (Mark 12:37 NKJV)." The Bible is meant to be readable as it is. It is not a book of secret knowledge accessible only to the academic elite. It is written plainly for plain men and women.

So which is the best translation? The Hebrew and Greek, of course! But unless you read these languages, you'll need an English translation. The best translation depends on your purpose. For something closer to the original words, use a literal translation. For something more readable, use a dynamic equivalent translation. For something fresh and contemporary, use a paraphrase.

The King James Version (KJV) was ‘contemporary’ 400 years ago. Unless you still speak to your neighbors like this – “Yea, verily, whither dost thou goest and how art thou?” … it's probably time to move on.

The main Bible that I use is the NIV, but I also really like the NLT, as well as the Message Bible.

For further information on choosing a Bible translation, I recommend the following two books:

Thankfully, with powerful Bible software anyone can now discover the meanings of Bible words in the original languages and do all sorts of interesting background studies. I recommend PC Study Bible.

Mark Conner Personal

My Favourite Music

Music_art2 I am thankful that our family grew up with a love for music. I studied classical piano (completed my 8th Grade exams) and dabbled a bit with saxophone and guitar too. I also studied music theory (completed 5th Grade exams) and arranging. Over the years I’ve done some song-writing and some recording too. In fact, my first ministry role in church was with worship and music. I thought I’d do this the rest of my life … but God had other plans. Nevertheless, I still enjoy music very much.

Here are some of my enjoyable musical styles and artists:

  • Worship Music – Michael W. Smith, Hillsong, Delirious?, Israel Houghton and Lincoln Brewster
  • Contemporary Christian Music – currently I enjoy listening to Leeland, The Fray, Relient K, Switchfoot and Brooke Fraser. As a teenager, I really liked artists such as Keith Green, Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, Andrae’ Crouch, Petra, and Russ Taff.
  • Pop Music – some artists whose musical style I quite enjoy include: U2, Jamie Cullum, Michael Buble, John Mayer, Celine Dion and Norah Jones.
  • Classical Music – you can’t go past a Bach or Mozart piano concerto. When it comes to classical singing, I really enjoy Andrea Bocelli (great music to play while cooking Italian food!) and young artists such as Josh Groban.
  • Other Instrumental Music – I enjoy saxophone (Kenny G, David Koz and Brad Evans, of course!) and piano music (David Foster is my favorite arranger).

"Good people, cheer God! Right-living people sound best when praising. Use guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs! Play his praise on a grand piano! Invent your own new song to him; give him a trumpet fanfare." Psalm 33:1-3. [The Message Bible]