What is Australia’s greatest export?
- AC/DC or opera singer Joan Sutherland?
- Nicole Kidman or Russell Crowe?
- Crocodile Dundee or “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin?
- Charming colloquialisms? (“G’day, mate!” or “Put another shrimp on the barbie!”)
- The Vegemite sandwich or wallabies?
- And don’t forget Moore Theological College (Graeme Goldsworthy, Peter O’Brien, David Peterson, etc.), exporting rich Bible teaching anchored in a robust biblical/theological framework.
But in terms of everyday kingdom expansion, perhaps Australia’s greatest export is Matthias Media, the “little engine that could” evangelical publishing ministry Phillip Jensen began at Sydney’s St. Matthias Anglican Church (their namesake) in 1988. Since then (at least on this side of the pond) they’ve been most known for their evangelistic tract Two Ways to Live.
But in October 2009 there was a seismic shift when they published The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind-Shift That Changes Everything (co-authored by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne) and things haven’t quite been the same for the Matthias Media team. In short, it has pleased God to use this book (for them a comparative juggernaut) in wonderful ways, helping individuals and churches understand the relationship between structures, programs, and institutions (i.e. the “trellis”) and the primacy and priority of the gospel work of disciple-making (i.e. “vine” work). It looks to have a long shelf life.
But do a little digging and you’ll soon discover Matthias Media isn’t in the publishing industry for the numbers. Rather, they’re zealous for something they’ve coined as the “gospel growth process”: outreach, follow-up, growth, and training. That’s why they’re in ministry. That’s why they write books and create various resources. Everything they produce is intentionally designed to support this gospel growth process, including The Trellis and the Vine.
It’s also why Col and Tony (along with Marty Sweeny, Matthias Media’s [USA] Executive Director) are on the tale end of a North American trek conducting hands-on intensive workshops. It's not to sell more books or to put another feather in their cap, but instead to promote this gospel growth process.
Here at Desiring God we want to learn more about what these brothers have to teach us about this gospel growth process, laboring for vine work while ensuring the trellis supports the vine without overtaking it. It’s also why we’ll be blogging through the last Trellis and Vine workshop (here in the Twin Cities) today and tomorrow: we love the gospel, we want to grow in the gospel, and we want to help others love and grow in the gospel, teaching others to do the same.
So put on your garden gloves and stay tuned for our blog posts on the Trellis and the Vine workshop, and be prepared for a mind-shift that changes everything. In the meantime, learn more about Matthias Media’s exports:
- Their Gospel Convictions;
- The Briefing (an international evangelical monthly);
- The Sola Panel (a collaborative blog worth bookmarking);
- Phillip Jensen (Matthias Media’s founder, who in his spare time happens to be one of the worlds foremost Bible preachers, author, and Dean of St. Andrew’s Cathedral);
- More info about their mission and resources.
