au

Brent Van Mourik

Press Service International

Brent Van Mourik is the Queensland Church Relationship Manager for Baptist World Aid Australia and is a registered pastor with the Baptist Union of Queensland. He completed a Bachelor of Theology with honours in New Testament through Malyon College in Brisbane, where he now lives with his wife, Jane, and his young son, Joshua. In his down time, he enjoys making and drinking good coffee, and developing his theology of disappointment, whilst putting into practice Ephesians chapter 4 verse 26 (“In your anger do not sin”) on the golf course.

Brent Van Mourik’s previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/brent-van-mourik.html

  • Riding the Waves of Positive and Negative Feedback

    A concept I often repeat is that we should ride the waves of positive and negative feedback, rather than being drawn into them.

  • Is sarcasm sinful? Well, duh!

    Anyone who knows me well will tell you that I love a joke – whilst I can take myself too seriously at times, for the most part I like to think I am fairly jovial.

  • Where you want your heart to be…

    I’m passionate about caring for the poor now, but I haven’t always been. There was a time in my life when I knew I was supposed to care for people experiencing poverty, but I just didn’t care that much in all honesty.

  • Discipleship: not just for super Christians

    Recently, during a conversation with a friend struggling with anger, I commented that their issue with anger provided a good discipleship opportunity.

  • A Christian Response to Compassion Fatigue

    There is a lot of need in the world that we live in. Perhaps it’s because I work in aid and development and so am hyper aware of it, but I feel like this need is thrust in our faces more now than ever before.

  • When worldviews collide – why millennials are less generous with their finances

    As a millennial working in the not-for-profit sector, I regularly have people asking me why young people don’t seem to give as generously as previous generations.

  • Raising money is a spiritual activity

    One of my roles as the Queensland State Representative for Baptist World Aid Australia is to raise money for our work. Even as I type, I can hear the pastors among us gasp at the thought of having to speak about money in every sermon, but actually, I really enjoy my role of fundraising within churches. I think raising money can be a tangible, and exciting spiritual activity.

  • What might it mean – Jesus' wealthy or poor

    When I was a local church pastor, before taking on my current role in aid and development, I preached a sermon in which I made the statement, “Jesus himself was poor.” I made this comment as I sought to show how Jesus cared about the poor, but was challenged by a congregant who didn’t agree with the statement. So, was Jesus poor, or not?

  • Baptist World Aid Australia is celebrating 60 years of impact

    This year Baptist World Aid Australia is celebrating our 60th Anniversary. Together with churches across the country there is such a rich, shared history to celebrate, and so I’d love to share with you about some exciting ways that you can be involved in this.

  • What does it mean to not glean to the edge of your field today?

    Sometimes we read stories in the Bible that we understand in theory but struggle to apply to our lives today – this has always been the case with Leviticus chapter 23, verse 22 for me.