ABOUT US

 

Sight Magazine is an editorially independent, Australian-based website covering local and global news and issues from a Christian perspective.


Our mission is simple - "to open the eyes" of people not only in Australia but around the globe to how Jesus Christ is actively moving among his church today and to encourage Christians from all denominations to share how God is moving in their midst.


DAVID ADAMS, editor

 

A freelance journalist, David has written for national news publications in both Australia and the United Kingdom. Married to Linda with two wonderful children - Kyle and Clare.

 

LLOYD HARKNESS, associate editor

 

Lloyd is a teacher and father of four.

 

JAMES CROOK, webmaster/columnist

 

James is a freelance web designer and developer who also teaches multimedia part-time at a local Tafe. He enjoys writing restaurant reviews, doing techie things with Sight and also contributing the occasional article. For more info see the website of his Geelong website-design business Chocolate Chip multimedia.

 

ANN WOJCZUK, graphic artist/blogger

 

Ann is your average human being, who loves Jesus, and is interested in everyone and just about everything. She is happily married with two kids and sometimes gets to do web art for Sight.

 

    CONTRIBUTORS/COLUMNISTS

KRIS BATHER

 

Kris lives in Perth and in a constant state of amazement. God and pop culture are two of his passions and he makes sure not to separate the two. He also loves coffee, chocloate, cheap XBOX 360 games and free
food. He has worked as a DJ on community radio, sold mobile phones when they were bricks and has generally made a fool of himself to make others laugh in his various short films. The former comics books editor at Infuze, Kris also writes for Broken Frontier and is the creator of Extra Sequential, a new free on-line mag devoted to the wonders of comics. He likes to think that he is the geekiest person in the room. Usually, he's right.

 

CHOE BRERETON

 

Choe is a biological scientist by trade who has worked in forensics and more recently with many of the top scientists in the field of HIV research. Her writing career sprouted wings after she kicked science to the curb in August 2006 and fast-tracked a diploma in creative writing. She has since written for a number of publications. Married and living in New South Wales, she hopes to soon embark on a masters degree in journalism or communications. For every good thing that she has, she gives all glory to God.

 

JILL CAVENAGH

 

Jill Cavenagh works in the radiation oncology field and is also currently completing a Masters of Public Health at Sydney Uni. In between this and church, she enjoys travelling, surfing and all things music (singing, playing brass and listening)! Having travelled to India in 2010 with World Vision, Jill would like to use her Masters degree to impact communities in developing nations. She enjoys reading and talking about the Bible over a cup of Fair Trade coffee.

 

PAUL CLARK

 

Paul Clark is passionate about finding creative and innovative ways to reach all ages with the gospel. He believes the good news should engage and move its hearers. His Car Park Parable series is a ground breaking Australian look at the stories of Jesus. Paul has worked with young people for 20 years and has performed puppets and drama to thousands of school students across Queensland. He is a minister, husband, father of two, and former computer teacher.

 

DARREN CRONSHAW

 

(Rev Dr) Darren Cronshaw is passionate about training, coaching and
resourcing leaders and missionaries through his work as the coordinator of leadership training with the Baptist Union of Victoria and pastor of Auburn Baptist Church in Melbourne, Australia. He is an honorary research associate with Whitley College - the Baptist Theological College of Victoria (Melbourne College of Divinity), and also teaches with Tabor College Victoria, Australian College of Ministries and Forge Mission Training Network. His first book was Credible Witness: Companions, Prophets, Hosts and other Australian Mission Models (UNOH, 2006). Husband to Jenni, proud dad to three children, lover of good books and movies and occasional
rock-climber, Darren welcomes feedback to darren.cronshaw@buv.com.au.

 

MAL FLETCHER

 

Mal is a TV and radio broadcaster, social commentator and author whose books have been translated into five languages. He is also an internationally acclaimed speaker and lecturer who equips leaders and major organisations to deal with change in a proactive way. He appears regularly in various media and speaks to audiences around the world. Mal is the founder/director of Next Wave International, a Christian mission to Europe, based in London. His EDGES TV programmes are seen around the world. For much more, constantly updated material, go to nextwaveonline.com and edges.tv.

 

NICK HODGSON

 

Nick is a 1990 Chiropractic graduate of the Phillip Institute of
Technology (now RMIT University). He has been practicing full-time in Ocean Grove for the last fifteen years and runs the longest established and largest natural health practice on the Bellarine Peninsula. Nick is a Fellow of the Holder Research Institute (F.H.R.I.), and is a member of the Chiropractors' Association of Australia (CAA) and the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA), and sits on the WCA's International Board of Governors, and the WCA Council on Addictions and Compulsive Disorders. Nick has also been actively involved in leadership roles at the Ocean Grove Baptist Church; leading small study groups including Alpha, singing in the worship team, and coordinating the church-wide "40 Days of Purpose" spiritual growth campaign.

 

LENA JOHNSTONE

 

Lena currently lives in a village in rural Malawi and is working for and with Mphatso Children’s Foundation in a voluntary capacity with her husband and two children. She have degrees in both psychology and Christian counselling and has just completed a Masters in Church Practice. Lena has worked as a counsellor and as a lecturer for Tabor Bible College, during which she ran an annexe for its Year in the Son program. She has done a lot of work, especially with young adults, around spiritual and faith formation issues and has preached, taught and spoken at conferences’. Lena is passionate about speaking profound truth simply, and inspired by the transforming work of God.

 

KARYN MARKWELL

 

Karyn is the proprietor of Markwell Publishing (www.markwellpublishing.com.au) and specialises in writing and editing for Christian and Jewish clients. She has a deep love for Israel and the Jewish people based on God's Word and she speaks Hebrew. When she's not in Israel, she lives in Brisbane with her husband and two cats.

 

JUSTIN MICHAEL

 

Justin fills a number of roles - his current fulltime gig is as a music director/worship pastor at Kardinia Christian Church in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Justin performs with the Aussie band Compliments of Gus - check www.complimentsofgus.com - and somehow, has found himself doing solo stuff - www.justinmichael.com - as well as singing with the Melbourne Gospel Choir over the past few years. He is married to the very beautiful Jodi and they have a spectacular little man named Noah who keeps them busy. Justin says it's fun being a muso and that it’s crazy being all of the above things, but he wouldn’t have it any other way!

 

JIM REIHER

 

Jim is a husband, a father of four, and a grandfather to seven under the age of nine. Since finishing high school in 1974, he has been an ambulance officer (four years), a high school teacher (eight years), and a Bible college lecturer (13 years: five years at Harvest Bible College in Melbourne, and eight years at Tabor, Victoria). Jim has teaches church history and New Testament studies. He began the Berwick campus for Tabor, Victoria, and lectured there and in the Ringwood North campus from 2000 to 2007. He currently works for Urban Neighbours of Hope (UNOH) - a missional urban group in Springvale, Noble Park and Dandenong, (as well as Sydney and Bangkok) that seek to live with and work with the most poor and marginalised in the community. He is actively involved in politics, and stood as a candidate in the 2004 Federal Election, and more recently in the 2006 Victorian State election. Jim is also a keen writer with published books including The Eye of the Needle: Discipleship and Wealth (UNOH publishing); and Women, Leadership and the Church (Acorn Press). And later this year his commentary on the epistle of James will be out. It is called James: Pacifist and Advocate for the Poor (UNOH Publishing). Jim has a Bachelor of Arts, with a double major in history, a Diploma in Education, and a Masters in Theology with honours.

 

NILS VON KALM

 

Nils is a born-and-bred Melbournite with a passion for making the Gospel relevant to the everyday person. Married to Nell, he has an honours degree in sociology as well as an accounting degree. During the week he works as a grant coordinator at World Vision. Currently a deacon at St Martin's Community Church in Collingwood, Nils regularly writes articles for the church bulletin and preaches occasionally. An avid reader, Nils' interests are early Christianity, the person of Jesus, the question of God and apologetics, and communicating how Jesus and the Gospels relate to every aspect of life. He has recently launched his own website called Soul Thoughts.

 

RICHARD THOMAS

 

Richard enjoys living with his wife, Susanna, and three children in Wimbledon, London. He enjoys being the pastor of Hillside Church and the oncology chaplain at Parkside Hospital. He doesn't enjoy having thyroid cancer and epilepsy. He does enjoy sharing the message of God's love for humans from the Bible and the massive implications that has for all of life.

 

BRUCE C. WEARNE

 

A doctoral graduate from LaTrobe University (1986), Bruce lives and works from Point Lonsdale. He is currently working on a Christian sociological study of what it means to walk, as part of what it means to live as those who follow Jesus in this world. He thus also does a lot of walking along the coast to stimulate his research which also includes theoretical sociology and the production of stories explaining Christian life for children which are composed to be read with profit by their parents. He is married to a social policy researcher and has two grown up sons.

 

SIU FUNG WU

 

Originally from Hong Kong, Siu Fung has been in Melbourne since 1989. He was a pastor, and is a visiting lecturer at two theological colleges. Siu Fung studied computer science, economics and transport planning, and worked in IT for years. But his passion is the Bible and its relevance to the world today. After completing a degree at a Pentecostal college, he went to an Anglican college in England to do an MPhil in Biblical studies. Having grown up in a working class family, Siu Fung knows first hand what it means to be poor and powerless. He works part time as global education officer at World Vision, and seeks to encourage the church to embody the Gospel in
every sphere of life.


 

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WE'RE LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS!

If you think you can help out on Sight, then please let us know. We're always looking for new writers and reviewers and the more technically minded.

If you'd like to join the Sight team, simply send an email to editor@sightmagazine.com.au


 

THEY SAID IT

 

 

"While we need to acknowledge that there's a real anger, frustration and hurt that exists in some indigenous communities around Australia, we must not give in to aggressive and disrespectful actions ourselves."


- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda speaking on ABC radio after an Australia Day incident in which, in extraordinary scenes, the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard was swept from a Canberra restaurant by bodyguards after a group of chanting protestors from the Aboriginal tent embassy descended on the building. She lost a shoe in the process which was later returned (as quoted on www.ninemsn.com.au on 26th January, 2012). For previous 'They said it'... | more... |

 

 

THIS WEEK ON THE WEB

 

 

3rd February, 2012

Ahead of the upcoming National Day of Prayer and Fasting on 19th February, organiser Pastor Matt Prater has recorded a cover of the MC Hammer rap song, Pray. To download and listen to it, follow this link (2.2 MB). For more on the National Day of Prayer and Fasting, see www.nationaldayofprayer.com.au...


For previous 'This week on the web'... | more... |

 

NEW! SIGHT SOAPBOX

 

 

Something that you want to get off your chest but just haven't had the opportunity?
Sight's Soapbox is a new feature allowing you to have your say on a subject of your choice!

In our first Soapbox article, BRUCE C. WEARNE responds to an article he recently read concerning former AFL footballer Nathan Ablett...  |  more... |


Send all items for consideration to editor@sightmagazine.com.au.

 

 

DID YOU KNOW? NEWS BRIEFS

 

 

THE STATISTIC:

Unemployment rate in Spain, the worst of any country in Europe:

22.8 per cent

The Guardian

| more... |

• Malawi bishops endorse circumcision for HIV/AIDS prevention...  | more... |

• ACL to proceed with Queensland leaders' forum even though Premier declines to appear...  | more... |

• More than 85,000 urge ALP not to change definition of marriage...  | more... |

• El Salvador gives award to Archbishop Romero Trust...  | more... |

• Doctors urge parliament not to "water down" gambling reforms...  | more... |

• Australian Coptic Christians to hold "vigils of peace" commemorating brethren killed in Egypt...  | more... |

• New Zealand's quake hit cathedral to be partially demolished...  | more... |

• Greek Orthodox church will rebuild at Ground Zero...  | more... |

• Christian leaders plot ecumenical future in Indonesia...  | more... |

• After hurricane, faith-based groups mobilise relief teams...  | more... |

| MORE NEWS BRIEFS... |

 

WORLDVIEW

 

 

ECUMENICAL FUND HELPS SMALL FILIPINO ENTREPRENEURS

It is harvest time for strawberries in the northern Philippine town of La Trinidad, so strawberry farmer Alice Rivera will start repaying a loan extended by a Geneva-based ecumenical church loan fund.

     "This is what we appreciate...we can start repaying our loans only immediately after the harvest season starts," said Rivera, who is 45. She is just one of 7,000 clients being served by the Ecumenical Church Loan Fund-Philippines (Eclof-Philippines), whose initial seed fund was provided by Eclof International, a non-profit micro-finance organisation.

     Rivera, a widow and mother of a nine-year old son, has started harvesting strawberries from a 500-square-meter lot that she leases from the farm of Benguet State University, an agricultural school.

MAURICE MALANES reports for ENInews...  |  more... |

 

 

THE WORD EXPLAINED

 

 Wordle

Synergism

Eucharist

Deism


| more... |

 

 

BLOG

 

 
QUESTIONS ASKED ABOUT HELLO KITTY'S ORIGINS; THE RETURN OF OTTO VON BISMARCK'S VOICE; AND, THE BACKWARDS TALKING GIRL...
Questions are apparently being asked about the citizenship of iconic cat cutie Hello Kitty following the publication of a new book, Hello Kitty’s Guide to Japan in English and Japanese. According to the official biography published by Sanrio, the company that owns the rights to her, Hello Kitty (real name Kitty White) was born in London.

DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life... | more... |

BYZANTINE-ERA BREAD STAMP DISCOVERY IN AKKO SHEDS LIGHT ON JEWISH LIFE...
A small ceramic stamp used to mark bakery produce may not seem like a significant archeological find, but Israeli archeologists are rather excited by such a discovery made near the northern coastal town of Akko.

In previous eras, Akko was known as Acre, and was a major Christian stronghold in the Holy Land. That is why interest has been piqued by the small ceramic stamp bearing an image of the seven-branched Temple Menorah, which was found in a controlled archeological dig at Horbat Uza just outside Akko.

The stamp dates back to the 6th century AD, a time when Akko was a Christian-dominated city under the Byzantine Empire.

RYAN JONES, of Travelujah, reports... | more... |

 

HOLY LAND CHRISTIANS STRIVE FOR UNITY...

One of the central themes of Jesus’ ministry on earth was unity. Prior to His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus prayed that those who followed Him “may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.” (John 17:20). But unity has often proved elusive, especially for the many Christian denominations represented in the small, but holy city of Jerusalem.

RYAN JONES, of Travelujah, reports in Sight's blog on the history and culture of Israel... | more... |


OUT OF AFRICA: AN ANNIVERSARY...

Recently it was a year since we left Australia; so today it’s a year since we arrived in Malawi. I have caught myself thinking a couple of times; ‘Would I have come if I had known what I would experience here’? If I had really understood what it would mean to leave everyone and everything familiar and to adjust my life to another culture? To be constantly observed, whether in my home or out, to live my life in such a public manner? Would I have come if I had known the things I would see, dying babies, people ravaged with disease, people suffering with malnutrition?

LENA JOHNSTONE's blog about life in Malawi, Africa, where she works with the Mphatso Children's Foundation... | more... |


NEW! THE STOREROOM: CONVERSATIONS WITH THE EDITOR...

Usually we meet for lunch but on this occasion we had an early start travelling to Westminster to hear Alistair McGrath on the King James Bible. It was excellent. Then a Wycliffe Bible translator talked about his story of translating the Bible into a language spoken by 14,000.

I asked the editor what he thought about that and whether there were some languages spoken by too few people (who speak other languages) to justify the translation effort. He said that it would always be preferable for people to read it in their won tongue. I can’t imagine even having to manage with one English translation so I suppose he may be right on this occasion.

RICHARD THOMAS' sometimes weird and sometimes wonderful 'storeroom' of ideas... | more... |


TIREDNESS, FRUSTRATION AND TRUST...

In the U2 song, Peace on Earth, Bono sings of his frustration about our constant talk of peace without it ever really happening. Peace, peace when there is no peace is the cry of the prophet he is echoing. All around we see power corrupting and people in power getting their way at the expense of those with no power. Over and over again it happens.

I have no trust in political and economic systems. Ultimately I trust more in Jesus, whose power did not corrupt and through whom our desires for power are redeemed. John Smith asked a question many years ago which is a challenge for everyone who claims to be a serious follower of Jesus. The question is this: who are your friends and who are your enemies? The point he was making is that, when you look at the life of Jesus, His friends were overwhelmingly the powerless, the marginalised and the oppressed. And His enemies were overwhelmingly the rich, the powerful and the oppressors.

 NILS VON KALM'S blog on faith, life and how it all might fit together...  | more... |

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