Almost without exception, preachers promote the idea that the Song of Solomon is loaded with sexually erotic symbolism and allegory that extols the joys of monogamous marriage. If this be true then it is completely out of step with the overall revelation of God's story of redemption!
The story goes, according to some preachers, that Solomon sees a girl, falls in love, takes her, has his way with her and she is entirely complicit with this erotic liaison. The language of the Song of Solmon, these preachers argue, is allegorical so as to show some decorum about what is usually not often talked about: the act of sex between a husband and his bride. I would like to debunk this myth and propose a different story that not only fits perfectly with the text but also the overall message of Scripture...[more]
Some years ago a self-confessed alcoholic homeless man in Sydney was gripped by the dire condition of his soul after wandering into an Anglican church where he heard the Gospel for the first time. The question that provoked Arthur Stace was Where will I spend eternity? He couldn't think of anything else. He intuitively knew that there must be more to life than this. 
This newfound peace through his conversion to Christ transformed the way this man saw other people. Having found that Christ had found him, he wondered why so many had not found that they were lost. For him, it wasn't religion that people needed. They needed a Saviour and the only Saviour was Jesus of Nazareth. 
His hand-written E t e r n i t y was seen all over Sydney and only eternity will reveal just how many were provoked into a Christ surrendered eternity. In the meantime, the City of Sydney honoured this mysterious mystic by taking his message and emblazing it across Australia's largest coat-hanger for the opening of the 2000 Olympic Games. However many people were moved by this man's chalk may well have paled into insignifance once it was illuminated across the Habour Bridge. 
This week I took a day out of the office and attended a one day Theological seminar with Prof. Andrew McGowen from Scotland. He gave a series of talks on the role of the Holy Spirit. His opening question asked what did a person need to do in order to become a Christian. The simple answer to this question, according to Dr McGowen, was: believe. But he then presented us with an exposition of Romans 1 which teaches that it is simply impossible for the natural mind to receive the Gospel. According to Romans 1, the mind of an unsaved person is "darkened", "futile", "hardened", "debased", "depraved", "reprobate" (depending on your translation). The natural mind is at enmity with God and His Word (Rom. 8:7).
There are so many things that demand our attention and cause us to lose focus. We have urgent lists to complete, repairs to be made, tasks to be done, people to see, children to drop-off and pick up, deadlines to meet, and places to be. In fact, in recent times I have found the pressure to keep up with all these urgent things quite immense. As a leader I know that leadership means carrying extra responsibility which means a higher price has to be paid by a leader. Nehemiah is a fantastic example of this. He led with such diligence that when his people slept, he continued to work. When Nehemiah's people were becoming intimidated by their antagonistic neighbours, he stepped up and gave clear leadership by re-focussing them on God and His mission for them. 
Added to these "beyond" responsibilies of leadership on behalf of our church are the ongoing responsibilities of pastoring our church family through teaching, writing and preaching. My pastoral goal is to help equip everyone in our church to be a Biblically-literate ambassador for Christ, ready to give an answer for the hope we have within us. The only way I can keep up with this is to constantly try to ensure that the important is not swamped by the urgent.
The other Theologian picked up on the chair analogy and said that God provides a chair that most people cannot see because the room is pitch dark. Even if they wanted to sit in it they couldn't - but the reality is they don't have any desire to sit in the chair because they don't even know it's there. He went on to say that God then turns the light on the room and the person becomes aware of several things. Firstly, they see themselves as tired and worn-out. Secondly they realise that it is not safe to sit anywhere- and then they see the most magnificent sight they have ever seen! They see an infinitely beautiful chair! It is gorgeous! They are drawn to its beauty and then ponder how perfectly comfortable it looks. The chair almost seems to be inviting them to sit in it and rest. Before they know it they are seated in the chair. This Theologian said, the saved don't sit in the chair because they fear being damned if they don't, they sit in the chair because they've seen their true condition in the light of God and seen their only solution as sitting in the chair which has become to them the most beautiful, magnificent, attractive person they could ever see. 
The Greek word for "Gospel" is evangel. Dallas Willard in his book, "The Great Omission", makes the point that there has been a change in what constitutes the term: Evangelical. Some people confuse the term "Evangelical" with "Evangelistic". While the two words are very similar and share some definitions, they mean quite different things. And this is something that Dallas Willard explores. His argument was that the two words used to mean the same thing. That is, both terms used to mean three things: (i) An awareness of sin, (ii) Spiritual conversion bringing forgiveness of sins, and (iii) Testifying to the work of God in a person's life.
He cites the Evangelistic ministry of Mordecai Ham who influenced Billy Graham to become a Christian. Mordecai would often preach for weeks in a town before ever inviting people to accept Christ. He wanted to make sure that the town understood what sin was and that they felt deep conviction about it. Willard adds to this point by referring to John Wesley's method of preaching the Law first. "I must preach the Law first, then grace" said Wesley. He did this for same reason as Mordecai Ham. He wanted people to know that the Gospel was a solution- not merely an assessment of the problem.