Blog entries

Churches Planting Churches that Plant Churches

Jack De Vries — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:38:20 +0100

I found myself In The Chute this past few days. Not sure if the chute refers to a parachute or waterslide chute -- but in any case, there was lots of momentum. Close to 150 men and women gathered in Melbourne for the National In The Chute church planting conference put on by The Geneva Push. I was truly heartened by seeing so many young couples attending this conference. Some came to be assessed as church planters. Others came to explo...

A Must Read: The Gate Seldom Found

Jack De Vries — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:04:54 +0100

"If I could have only one novel on a desert island, this book would give me family, faith, and hope." So writes F. LaGard Smith, author of The Daily Bible. I bought this novel some years back, but only a couple of weeks did I pick it up, to read it. Well, I not only read this book, I devoured it. It is such a great read.

Perhaps I loved this novel since it takes place in the rural communities and surroundin...

CRCA Reverses 13 Year Decline!

Jack De Vries — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 05:00:00 +0100

The vision to grow numerically and multiply within Australia is becoming a reality. The CRC churches have not seen its membership over 9000 members for 13 years. But the decline is reversing. This past year, according to CRCA statistics, the CRCA has grown by 4.8%. Just imagine! The CRCA has not seen growth like this for almost 50 years -- five decades!

Yes, the last time the Christian Reformed Churches in Australia(CRCA) saw signi...

Increasing Sermon Effectiveness

Jack De Vries — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 05:00:00 +0100

What makes a good sermon? How do you know if you are effective as a preacher? How can we raise the bar as ministers of the Word? What can churches do to increase sermon effectiveness? These kinds of questions were asked at the recent meeting of Classis Queensland. If we are serious as pastors to increase the overall health of our churches, one of the very best places to begin is with the Word being preached. Good sermo...

Ten Keys for CRCA Effectiveness in the 21st Century

Jack De Vries — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 20:12:48 +0100

In just over six months the Synod of the CRCA will meet. The committees have been asked to write their reports. Since Synod of 1996 the CRCA has been focused on a new missional initiative referred to as the Fourfold Task. By God's grace and with the Spirit's aid and assistance we have made much progress in turning the tide of decline. In every state we are witnessing the momentum of planting new churches. The overall CRCA&...

The Pioneer and Perfecter of the Church

Jack De Vries — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:56:09 +0100

A new church is being planted in Mackay – Pioneer Community Church. And I guess I could start today* by talking about all the plans that have been made over the past number of months. A lot has been accomplished. The launch team has put in many hours and many prayers into giving direction for a healthy launch of Mackay’s newest congregation – a church called Pioneer Community Church. And we will get to that – all the plans for the future of this churc...

Pioneer Community Church (Mackay) Begins 2nd Phase

Jack De Vries — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 02:43:39 +0100

Pioneer Community Church, a CRCA church plant in Mackay, will kick off the second phase of the church plant at a gathering at the Mackay Harbour Park on Sunday 11 September 2011(2:30 - 5:00 pm). It is with gratitude to God and in answer to many prayers that a group of believers is growing, a group committed to seeing the establishment of a Christian Reformed Church in Mackay.

A launch team has been meeting for several months already and they are putting the ...

The Reason for Our Existence!

Jack De Vries — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 05:00:00 +0100

I met with a young preacher today and he posed a question that made me do some reflection. Over the next year he hopes to ask this question of a number of "older" colleagues in the ministry. "What is the most important lesson I have learned in my years of ministry?" I did not have to think long to format an answer in my mind. The almost three decades of ministry have taught me a very important lesson.

When it comes to m...

Reformed Church in Mackay Launches

Jack De Vries — Thu, 26 May 2011 01:05:32 +0100

Ready, Fire, Aim!

On Thursday evening, 19 May 2011, over forty adults gathered in the wonderful facilities of the Salvation Army in Mackay to see the launch of a new Christian Reformed Church in Mackay, a town which is listed among the ten largest growing regional centers in Queensland. This meeting was organised by Ninette Nell and Dolla Marneweck, local residents of Mackay, in consultation with myself, Jack De Vries, representing the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia (CRCA), an...

Your Opinion Counts

Jack De Vries — Fri, 20 May 2011 17:02:36 +0100

Imagine our churches as training centres where the gifts, passion and missional potential of every disciple could be realized? Imagine that the training of leaders
ordained, non-ordained, full time, part time and voluntary, all dedicated to expanding the Gospel impact in our communities. That is the vision of the CRCA – to multiply the number of well-trained persons lovingly dedicated to reaching people for Christ. The CRCA Training Workgroup was formed by Synod 2009...

New Christian Reformed Church in Mackay

Jack De Vries — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:48:14 +0100

With gratitude to God and in answer to many of our prayers, we are pleased to announce the first gathering of people interested in seeing the establishment of a Christian Reformed Church in Mackay. Invitations have been sent out to a growing number of contacts in Mackay.

Prayer Request

Jack De Vries — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:45:22 +0100

Please pray for Peter and Nel Mechielsen as they seek God's will as to which ministry couple to forward the baton to when they retire at the end of June. They write: "We need our Father to lead us to them and for God to prepare their hearts to minister to the people at Langwarrin CRC."

Australind’s New Worship Centre

Jack De Vries — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:41:58 +0100

Check out the pictures of Australind’s completed worship facilities on Facebook

The Gospel-Driven Church

Jack De Vries — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 21:49:48 +0100

Sometimes you read a book and it makes you feel a bit uneasy -- you don't really agree with everything written in it. But yet there are truths in that book you need to hear! It is like the preacher who reminded his church that if they really wanted to know God's will for their lives, read the parts of the Bible they have not underlined. It is true, isn't it. We often underline the things we agree with. Well, I recently read a book tha...

Prayer: Our First Task

Jack De Vries — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:52:56 +0100

Many people wonder, how do we reach the lost for Christ? Where do we begin? What is our first task? As churches we have agreed that our missional task begins with prayer. We are "to call upon God for such an outpouring of his Spirit that his people will be assured of his love through his Word, seek to please the Saviour in all things, manifest the godly life and be filled with prayerful and sacrificial compassion for the lost in all the wor...

Prayer for the Church

Jack De Vries — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 18:03:27 +0100

O God, you are the fountain of all truth; we ask you to protect your church from all false teaching.
     Protect the Church
         From all teaching and preaching which would destroy people's faith;
         From all that removes the old foundations without putting anything in their place;

&...

Act As If

Jack De Vries — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 02:33:11 +0100

A friend of mine, Chris Schievink, moved several years ago to a second pastorate. This church has experienced significant growth. So I asked him, "What contributed to this growth?" I found his reply inspiring. This is what he wrote:

"When I arrived 3 years ago, I remember making rediculous claims that the "church would grow." It was ridiculous because Calvary church {Chatham, Ontario, Canada...

Of Elephants and Mice

Jack De Vries — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 21:46:47 +0100

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald. Now, this might disqualify 50% of humans beings, as my wife keeps reminding me:

us male species have a hard time multi-tasking. And for the most part, she is right on the money. But here is the deal: Dave Browning, in his latest book Hybrid...

Christian Community Church of Port Sorell, Tasmania

Jack De Vries — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 22:48:24 +0100

"Church has changed since you were a kid." This was the slogan of a church plant a mate of mine, Darrell Bierman, planted in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada( www.rivercitychurch.org ). And this church was different. Church has changed! Not the gospel, but the way churches do ministry.

This is also true of one of the newest church plants in the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia, Port Sorell Christian...

Forging Partnerships

Jack De Vries — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 21:21:49 +0100

"What a week this has been!" wrote Doug Birdsall, Executive Chair of The Lausanne Movement. "Over the past seven days the unity, diversity, and vitality of the worldwide Church have been on dramatic display in Cape Town." And it has been quite a week! What stands out for me is the

rich diversity of the global Christianity community. While in Europe, North America, and Austr...