Author Archives

redemptive entrepreneur, leader in church property & finance, cultural philosopher

• Sacred Cash Cows and the Prophets of Baal – Part I

  By Joel Plotnek on March 18, 2022 • ( 2 )

  

  A barren land stretched out below from the mountain top with not a drop of rain in sight from where the sky met the sea to the east.  It had been this way for years and the country was on… Read More ›

  View post to subscribe to site newsletter.

• Trump’s False Prophets III: Discerning the prophetic voice in Australia

  By Joel Plotnek on March 4, 2022 • ( 0 )

  

  There were many prophecies in 2020 that Donald Trump would win re-election. And interestingly, many of the prophets that foretold a Trump triumph have now come out publicly to repent.1 Two ‘stars’ aligned in 2016 heralding in the reign of… Read More ›

• Trump’s False Prophets II: This is not America

  By Joel Plotnek on February 18, 2022 • ( 2 )

  

  Culture is a slippery concept for Christians to navigate and engage.  Do we seperate from culture to keep ourselves pure and sanctified from the world?  Or have we been called to live in the world so we can be a… Read More ›

  View post to subscribe to site newsletter.

• Trump’s False Prophets I: How do we know when God speaks?

  By Joel Plotnek on February 4, 2022 • ( 1 )

  

  Does a false prophecy make a false prophet? There were many prophecies in 2020 that Donald Trump would win re-election. Can the church still recognise a prophetic voice within its ranks and if so, how do we discern our prophets’ messages?

  View post to subscribe to site newsletter.

• What The Bloody Hell Is An Australian?

  By Joel Plotnek on January 21, 2022 • ( 4 )

  

  This Australia Day raises more questions on our identity. Covid has revealed cracks in our Federation as the States withdraw to colonial borders. Why the paranoia of alien invasion and contagions? What past trauma might have possesed us?

  View post to subscribe to site newsletter.

• Is It A Wonderful Life? Why we make New Year resolutions

  By Joel Plotnek on January 8, 2022 • ( 7 )

  

  What is it about a New Year that compels us toward new beginnings and resolutions with born again fervour?  Why not birthdays which are personal New Years or Sundays, the start of a new week offering the opportunity to start… Read More ›

  View post to subscribe to site newsletter.

• Jesus On TV (Christmas Edition): What would Ted Lasso do?

  By Joel Plotnek on December 3, 2021 • ( 2 )

  

  Is Apple TV’s Ted Lasso a Christ figure that inspires us to live like Jesus? Or does he represent a Christless Christianity that sells us God’s kingdom without the king? Did Ted Lasso do what Jesus would do this Christmas?

  View post to subscribe to site newsletter.

• The New Rock Stars:  How cowboy theology is reinventing apostles as entrepreneurs 

  By Joel Plotnek on November 19, 2021 • ( 1 )

  

  Yesterday’s heroes were the cowboy and rock star. Today’s hero is the entrepeneur. Our heroes tell us who we are in the age we live. But can they interpret Christian life and mission? Are apostles also entrepeneurs?

  View post to subscribe to site newsletter.

• Peace, Love & The Beatles. Part II – Mad Men and the soul factory of desire

  By Joel Plotnek on November 12, 2021 • ( 3 )

  

  Can mony buy us love? Or make us happy? The Sixties revolution promised love and peace but then sold out to the market. The hippies grew up into boomer yuppies. Their children defined by demographics and brands. Can we still find love without money?

  View post to subscribe to site newsletter.

• Peace, Love & The Beatles. Part I – Whatever happened to the Revolution?

  By Joel Plotnek on November 5, 2021 • ( 3 )

  

  We are all children of the 60s, even millenials. A lot happened then that shapes our world now. But the decade that opened with the promise of liberation and peace ended with riots and body bags returning from Vietnam. What happened to ‘all you need is love’ and the revolution?

  View post to subscribe to site newsletter.