Adelaide to Sydney

At the kind invitation of Tabor Adelaide I taught an intensive course in their postgrad program on the gospel. This was our first trip to Adelaide and we (Kris and I) thoroughly enjoyed it, and the class was fantastic. Graham picked us up at the airport and got us near Victoria Square to our hotel. After airbrushing ourselves a bit after a long, long day of travel, we went out for a late lunch and Kris and I hung on for a few hours before crashing.

On Sunday I spoke at Coromandel Valley Uniting Church on Acts 10:34-43, after which we had a Q&A on the gospel and gospeling in our world today. After which Graham and Gill hosted us for a wonderful lunch in their garden full of plants and little walks and opening up onto a larger field — where the cockatoos were in full form. (No Roos though. Yet.) In South Australia one has to wander a bit through the vineyards and so Graham and Gill took us on a tour of three vineyards, by which time Kris and I were doing our best to fight off jetlag (but we did see a few Roos, not Koalas). We made it back … and since my class at Tabor began the next day, I crashed … (Kris says it was just after 7pm).

Monday at Tabor involved a day long conference with pastors and students on gospeling — so I sketched some themes in King Jesus Gospel, and several observed to me that they thought I had extended the book slightly. I suspect it was more that in book form I was more guarded! Anyway, it was a great day with solid questions. Tuesday through Friday I met with the class from 9am to 4:30pm, with a generous time for lunch — and we looked at the gospel in church history (Epistle of Diognetus, Jonathan Edwards, we skipped John Wesley — and a couple students made hay because I did, and then we looked at a modern expose of the gospel as justification [Celebration of the Gospel]), then we spent a day on the kingdom of God and the gospel, a day on the gospel and justice, and then the gospel and conversion.

A wonderful, wonderful class of students, most of whom are already in ministry and brought real-life questions about gospeling to the table. I would like to mention names, but I’d have to mention all of them … mature students and they became friends over the week. It was the first time I have taught a class where I was given a bottle of wine as a gift! (Henschke.) Lunches, coffee time, casual conversations … all made this experience at Tabor a gift. (The lorikeet picture above was sent to me by a DMin student, Theresa.)

And the administrative support from Bruce Hulme and Graham Buxton and Stephen Spence and Melinda Cousins and Aaron Chalmers and Don Owens and David McGregor (and I don’t the spellings for their wives and so I want to avoid embarrassment) … and evening dinners … and advice on what to see … great time. Thanks Graham and Bruce!

If you followed my Facebook you will know Kris and I flew up to Sydney early Saturday morning after the week at Tabor Adelaide and, if they say Adelaide is sleepy, Sydney never sleeps. And we stayed in Circular Quay (fancy spelling for Key), wandered through Sydney Cove daily and through the splendid botanical gardens (cockatoos abound, and they landed on my shoulder and arm … and have you seen the bats [Grey headed flying foxes] there?) and we took two ferry trips (to Manly and to Watson’s Bay and Bondi Beach) … and went to the Sufjan Stevens concert at the Sydney Opera … and in addition, Michael Frost and the folks at Morling College invited me up to Morling to speak in chapel. Great time and I was glad to meet Michael and Ross Clifford and Tim Blencowe.