Brian Mclaren in Perth.

Let me begin by saying my time in Perth was a real blessing as I was able to catch up with a few friends and try to make some new ones.Alistair and Pat Macindoe were a real blessing to me as always and it was great to spend some time with Dave Beck again.

Let me start by being honest.Since I have no background in theology much of what was being said was difficult for me to grasp.But it was good to be stretched and to think about my faith.

What challenged me the most was the talk of our narratives.Brian tried to explain where he stood on biblical narrative.I don't want to try and explain his stand point as he is in enough trouble without me adding to it.



But it made me think of how I look at the bible story.This is not the same as not believing the story but its about the lens through which we see it. One example of this is how in many ways we have removed the Hebrew story from our minds and filled it with the Greek world view.I don't believe we can grasp the fullness of the story if we forget that Jesus was being proclaimed the king of the Jews.



This make the story of salvation much greater than a short prayer we might ask people to say in order that they experience salvation.To the Jews salvation was much more than just going to heaven even if it was about that at all.It went much deeper than being forgiven for sin (although that is great).There saviour was going to do much more than that.For me that puts the kingdom of God back at the centre of the story.



Watching Brian worship and listening to him share I felt a man who loves God and his word a man who wants to encourage us to see the whole picture that God is giving to us and to avoid being to narrow in or approach.This does not mean he is right in everything he says and people much smarter that me challenged him all weekend.His response was not always perfect but always gracious.Making sure that we knew that he is not advocating we have to give up all we hold dear but that we should at least be brave enough to make a safe space to talk about the things that really matter.



I do not agree completely with his new narrative but he made sure we understood that at the centre of his narrative was Jesus and that makes him ok by me.