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ESSAY: AND SO THIS IS CHRISTMAS...
"The celebration of Christ’s
birth is one of the most important events on the Christian -
no make that the world - calendar. Millions around the world
acknowledge it in festivities ranging from singing carols to
putting up Christmas trees every year.
Yet it’s ironic that many people, particularly in the
secularised states of the Western world where Christmas is often
celebrated enthusiastically in a glut of spending and feasting,
know little about who Christ is or why they are celebrating."
“I
think if you see the world as God’s creation then it’s
imperative that we care for it.” So says Colin Brown,
an environmental lawyer and chief executive of the recently
launched agency, Catholic Earthcare Australia.
Created in June last year following
a conference of Australian Catholic bishops, Catholic Earthcare
Australia has a mandate to highlight ecological issues both
within the Catholic Church and beyond. DAVID ADAMS
takes a look at how churches in Australia and around the globe
are promoting the message of environmental sustainability...
| more... |
"We
have now completed five weeks of the three-month course. It
is certainly challenging us to walk closer with God. The four
topics so far have been as varied as listening to the voice
of God to world child poverty and how we can get involved
in beginning to alleviate such a massive problem. We heard
figures about Africa's crisis and the orphans in villages
after being ravaged by AIDS. We have learnt to pray the Bible
out loud and were walking around the room sounding like kooks
all reading the Bible out loud. With some extremely passionate
people here, the noise was almost deafening. During that same
week we looked at prophecies and the end times through the
Old Testament and Revelation."
COLIN
and HEATHER McGAIN and their children STEVE, 15, and ADELE,
12, are spending several months in Hawaii where they are completing
a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) course. Known as the Crossroads
Disciple Training School, it is aimed at encouraging a closer
walk with God and equipping people for mission. They write
of their experiences...|
more... |
ATTEST: VIEW FROM IRAQ
"I
arrived in Amman, Jordan on 31 March. I was originally seconded
from World Vision Australia to the World Vision Iraq Emergency
Response Program for two months, however that was extended
for eight weeks. I have worked in a Muslim context before
(when I gathered stories and photographs for World Vision
in Somalia in January 2002), however this is my first short-term
contract in the Middle East."
Arriving
in the Middle East soon after war erupted in Iraq, World Vision
communications officer ANDREA SWINBURNE-JONES came face-to-face
with the reality of war’s aftermath. Following is an
email she sent describing the early days of her experience...| more... |
Introduced
to Christian Surfers through a summer surfing competition,
Kristi Van Es has been involved in Christian Surfers club
on Victoria's westcoast for three years.
Like many in the organisation, Van Es sees Christian Surfers
as a great way to meet other Christians interested in surfing
but also as an opportunity to tell others - Christians and
non-Christians alike - about her walk with Jesus.
"(It's) a really great opportunity to talk to others
about how God works in my life. It is amazing to see the (difference)
that helping others can make," she says.
It's that attitude which sums up the heart of what Christian
Surfers is all about.
It
might sound like chance to enjoy sun, sand and good times.
But Christian Surfers is also serious about the search for
souls. LLOYD HARKNESS profiles a growing ministry... |
more... |
FOR
MORE ON CHRISTIAN SURFERS:
THE
INTERVIEW: LLOYD HARKNESS spoke to professional surfer GLYNDON
RINGROSE about Jesus, his family and, of course, surfing...
| more... |
BIBLE SPECIAL: OPENING UP THE WORD
It’s
the most read and - certainly Christians would say - the most
influential book ever written. Yet ever since the Bible was
first “published” the scriptures have been translated,
polished and revised, appearing in an ever increasing array
of languages and formats.
These days the Bible has been published
in more than 2,000 languages and since the first printed English-language
New Testament was published in Germany in 1525, the number
of English language versions alone - if single books of the
Bible are included - has been estimated to be as many as 500
.
And that’s not including the ever
increasing number of Bibles which publish traditional versions
in a new format such as the recently released Surfer’s
Bible, Revolve - a magazine-format Bible for teenage girls,
or any one of the myriad of “study bibles” now
available.
There’s Bibles for men, Bibles
for women. Bibles for teenagers and children. Study Bibles,
devotional Bibles, paraphrased Bibles. Bibles on CD. Even
a Bible for tech-savvy mobile phone users.
ESSAY:
“I wonder if there is still joy in heaven now
that we have 326 versions of the Bible in English. I wonder
if we have created a problem with oneness: one Lord, one faith,
one body. I wonder? I ponder these questions because we need
to still be able to say this is what God said. This is THE
God breathed, God inspired scriptures. The Bible is truth
exposed and God revealed. It is the foundation of our relationship
and fellowship with God. If we lose the capacity to say this
is the exact, pure Word of God, then we are shaking our foundations.”
Making the Bible more accessible or trivialising the
Word of God? LLOYD HARKNESS takes a look at the balance between
keeping the message intact and being culturally relevant...|
more... |
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ANGLICAN LEADER SAYS 'WIDE' CONSENSUS EXISTS TO HEAL DIVISIONS
Leaders of the Anglican Communion left for home from the Lambeth Conference earlier this month having heard Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams say there is "wide support" for measures to resolve a dispute over homosexuality that had threatened to tear apart the 77-million-strong grouping.
"We may not have put an end to all our problems but the pieces are on the board," Archbishop Williams said in his final presidential address to the 670 or so bishops attending the 16th July to 3rd August gathering in Canterbury, England.
TREVOR GRUNDY reports for Ecumenical News International...| more... |
THEY SAID IT
"I have decided to resign from the presidency...I am not thinking on personal levels, but Pakistan first. Take care of Pakistan."
- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, announcing his resignation in an hour long live telecast on 18th August, 2008. Mr Musharraf had been in power since 1999. For previous 'They said it'...| more...
|
DID YOU KNOW?
THE
STATISTIC
Number of people displaced in the conflict in South Ossetia:
Click here to go
to the forums to have your say...
FORUMS THIS WEEK
SOUTH OSSETIA CONFLICT
Two thousand people are already believed to have been killed in a conflict which has broken out in South Ossetia, a part of Georgia that broke away in 1992 after Georgia earlier gained its independence following the collapse of the USSR. Russia has reportedly sent troops, tanks and bombers into the region where they have clashed with Georgian forces, sparking fears of a wider war breaking out in the region. What's your view on the conflict?
SIGHTPOLL: SHOULD SPORTS STARS BE VIEWED AS ROLE MODELS?
With Victorian AFL club Collingwood suspending two players for the remainder of the season following a car crash which allegedly involved drink-driving, the role of sports stars - whether they should be viewed as role models and what this means - is once again up for debate. What do you think?
OLYMPIC MOMENTS
The Olympics have hosted some of the world's greatest sporting moments - from Jesse Owens' emotionally charged four track and field medals at the 1936 Berlin games (a feat equalled by Carl Lewis in 1984) through to Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci's perfect 10 at Montreal in 1976 and Cathy Freeman's emotional win in the 400 metres at Sydney in 2000. What's your favorite Olympic moment?
OF FAMILY HISTORIES
Seventh generation Australian, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been presented with a detailed history of his ancestors, who included convicts (one of the earliest was a 12-old-girl, Mary Wade, who arrived on the Second Fleet) and free settlers. Researching family histories has become an increasingly popular pastime in Australia. Have you done so? What do you know about your families past and have you ever unearthed any skeletons in the closet? Is it important to our own identity to know about our past?
Click
here to go
to the forums to have your say...
It’s interesting to see how different the gospel of Jesus is to much of Christianity today. I think the following from Tim Keller on the difference between religion and the gospel has alot to say to all believers.
NILS VON KALM'S blog on faith, life and how it all might fit together...|
more... |
STRANGESIGHTS:
OF JESUS AND CRICKET, BOUNCY CASTLE CHURCHES AND 'MANTIHOSE'
Jesus played cricket? An Armenian scholar, Dr Abraham Terian, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, reportedly says that an ancient manuscript - the Armenian Gospel of the Infancy (translated into Armenian in the 6th century from an older Syriac document) - contains a passage in which Jesus played a game with a club and ball which could be considered a precursor to cricket. Experts say that games similar to cricket are known to have been played in the Punjab region as early as the 8th century.
DAVID
ADAMS writes about the odder side of life...|
more... |
FOR
SIGHT'S BLOG LINKS, HEAD TO OUR BLOGSPOT PAGE...
SPOTLIGHT
Why are you holding a 'Dr Who and Spirituality' Day?
Sight's
trial podcast is now available to download online. The first of what we
hope will become a monthly feature, the podcast features discussions on
The Da Vinci Code, giving donations as presents, Wow! featuring
Switchfoot and a "live" cooking demonstration by "celebrity
chef" Jamie Crookiver.
• Grammy Award winners in the Gospel categories;
• Delirious? set to release final album with Stew Smith as drummer;
• Hillsong United to release iHeart Revolution : With Hearts As One project; and
• Newsboys win honors, ready for Rezfest... |
more... |
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