A POST-CHRISTMAS REFLECTION

Perhaps it's just a sign of age, but every year I find the Christmas story more emotionally power-packed than the year before.

     Sure, its celebration has been grossly commercialised, cheapened by over-decoration, by slickly packaged for movies and TV, and even declared illegal in government buildings. And it's been badly eclipsed by the charming 19th century fairy story a New England father wrote for his children. But - so far, at least - it hasn't been completely stifled. Just when it seems about to be replaced by its own trappings, the real story shines through again: a section of The Messiah on the radio, the words of a carol in a shopping mall, a picture on a greeting card, or Linus' moving recital of Luke 2 in Charlie Brown's Christmas.

     What hit me this year harder than ever before was how the central characters of that story are such absolutely ordinary folk going about their everyday lives, and how its message is still for ordinary folk going about their everyday lives.

     Writing from the US, philosopher and author ROY CLOUSER reflects on the power of the Christmas story...  | more... |

IS FACEBOOK SHRINKING THE SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION?

"We are all so much together," said Albert Schweitzer, "but we are all dying of loneliness."

     Was the great humanitarian speaking prophetically of the digital communications age?

     A new academic study purports to provide solid evidence that social networking platforms are shrinking the gaps between people and networks of people.

     The study by the University of Milan challenges the widely accepted idea that in our globalised age, everyone is linked to everyone else by, on average, six degrees of separation.

     In theory, a chain of ‘friend of a friend’ can be made, on average, to connect any two people on earth, in six steps or fewer.

     The idea, which is the basis for a popular party game as well as a key component of recent network theory, is that it takes just six nodes of connection before we can link one individual directly with another, even if they live on opposite sides of the planet.

In a two part article, MAL FLETCHER looks at the impact of our growing connectedness ...  | more... |

THE GULF BETWEEN US AND THE POOR

The gulf between the rich and the poor is not simply an economical one. While the poor do not have moral superiority over the rich, and at least in theory our material affluence should not adversely affect our ability to understand the Bible, is our wealth a hindrance that stops us from fully understanding the plight of the poor and the Scripture?

     I don’t want people to become poor, because I have seen enough human misery. I belong to a community where a significant number of people suffer from economic hardships because of their disadvantaged social status. I met a lady recently whose son suffers from mental illness. They live in public housing and life is hard for them. A friend’s mother is currently seriously sick in Burma, and it has cost my friend a fortune just to send her to the hospital. I feel for them because I was once poor - not destitute, but poorer than most people I know in Australia - and I know the helplessness of living in a world where the rich and powerful call the shots.

     Two views on one cartoon
     My job takes me to different theological colleges to talk about poverty and injustice in the world. Last year I showed a cartoon to two different groups of students (see right). In the cartoon there are two cliffs facing each other. There is a big gulf between the cliffs. On the left cliff there is a girl living in poverty, with a broken-down car and a rundown house in the background.

     In an article first published on the website of Ethos: EA Centre for Christianity and Society, SIU FUNG WU looks at our perception of the poor...  | more... |

PLEASE AMERICA, RECAPTURE YOUR OPTIMISM!

The world may be short of fossil fuels and finance right now, but if these and other problems are to be solved, its more chronic need is for more optimism.

     Optimism is defined as a disposition toward a positive view of events, with an expectation of the most favourable outcome.

     Optimism shouldn’t be confused with naïveté. When the word ‘optimism’ was first coined in the eighteenth century, it was used to describe a belief that good ultimately predominates over evil in the world.

     An optimist, then, is a realist who chooses to colour his or her worldview with a healthy does of idealism. It’s not a case of the old glass half-full or half-empty, but more half-empty-but-will-be-full.

      In many ways, America has been for most of the last century the most optimistic nation on earth. Indeed, a willingness to find the silver lining in every cloud has been a core part of her charm and greatness and her attractiveness to the millions who seek to migrate to, visit or do business in America.

MAL FLETCHER on why the world needs the US to regain its optimistic outlook...  | more... |

DO WE REALLY NEED HALLOWEEN?

As October comes to its end, children all across the UK focus their attention on dressing up as ghosts, witches, skeletons and zombies.

     Yet Halloween only started being a major event in the 1960s. It has grown dramatically ever since, largely because of commercialisation and the spread of American culture.

     This year, spending on Halloween merchandise in the UK is likely to top £200 million ($AUD304 million) while in the US it is measured in billions of dollars. Many welcome this celebration, saying that Halloween should be promoted; in our all-too-divided society we need festivals that cross cultural, racial and religious boundaries.
     However, it is not universally welcomed. Many Christians, along with many followers of Islam and other faiths, dislike its focus on the dark side of the spiritual world. And they aren't alone. As Halloween gets bigger and darker in emphasis, people with little or no religious faith also feel uneasy about it. So I suggest that it is about time we took a hard look at Halloween.

     A tradition usually associated with the US, Halloween has been gaining ground in the UK and Australia. Writing from the UK, J JOHN, in an article first published on Assist News Service, questions whether it's something we really want to celebrate...  | more... |

IMAGE-BEARING AND PROMISE-KEEPING

Russell Moore, of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, recently published a trenchant article in Christianity Today's "Speaking Out" column. He was clearly provoked by broadcaster Pat Robertson's recent comment about a wife's Alzheimer's being legitimate grounds for a husband seeking divorce in order to marry another woman.

     Moore's provocative piece stirred considerable on-line comment. At last count, 2,747 readers gave it "thumbs up" on Facebook. It is a sharp criticism of a view broadcast by Robertson, former leader of the US "Christian Coalition", on his television show. He is reported to have said that because the woman is "not there" anymore, a man would be justified in divorcing his wife with Alzheimer's disease in order to marry another woman.

     A few readers were alarmed by Moore's "unChristian" criticism of Robertson and upset by his claim that the televangelist had repudiated the Gospel. But what impressed me was the normative framework within which Moore evaluated what seems to have been a thoroughly inept "pastoral care" suggestion.

     BRUCE C WEARNE finds much to think about in a response to US televangelist Pat Robertson's recent comments about Alzheimers and marriage...  | more... |

COSTLY FORGIVENESS

Following are some telling comments on forgiveness:

     “Counselors tell us to forgive people lest we become embittered and twisted. Thus forgiveness itself becomes a fashionable therapy, all about me.” - Kim Fabricius in Ben Myers' blog  

      And this from Tim Gombis: “Forgiveness is so profoundly powerful and beautiful...Forgiveness doesn’t ask for guarantees...Forgiveness takes the risk...Forgiveness doesn’t fix everything...Forgiveness doesn’t guarantee a Disney ending...Forgiveness doesn't clean up the whole mess...Forgiveness remains difficult, complicated, risky, and profoundly beautiful.”

     This is so powerful, and central to how we view the Gospel. So often we see the benefits to us in living the way of Jesus, thereby making it all about us. It's the same with the idea that we can't love others until we love ourselves; it subtly turns it around to make it all about me, which is the very antithesis of the Gospel. As someone said once, Jesus spoke about self-denial, not self-fulfilment. The paradox is that we do gain life by denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Jesus, but that is a by-product, it is not the end goal. When we make it the end goal, whether consciously or sub-consciously, we are not being loving.

     NILS VON KALM looks at what forgiveness is all about...  | more... |

FAITH IS A VERB - A THEOLOGY OF LOVE

There is a line in the famous movie Ben Hur in which one of his relatives goes to hear Jesus speak. She comes back enthralled. The way she describes Jesus is by saying that He is like no one she has ever met before - He speaks words of life.

     And so He did speak words of life. And the Gospel writers add that He spoke as one who had authority. The Message version interprets this as meaning He lived out what He spoke. Your life will have impact most powerfully when you live what you speak. And Jesus is the perfect example of this. Over 2000 years He has captivated people of all races and colours. There is something about this man that is like no other. He speaks words of life and He lived those same words. He loved His enemies, He walked the extra mile, He denied himself, took up His cross and lived a life of obedience to the Father.

     Our lives speak, whether we like it or not, and whether we think so or not. We are either speaking life or we are speaking death. Everyone has a worldview. This is what the debate about religious education in Australian schools earlier this year was about.

     NILS VON KALM argues for a faith that is characterised by action and love...  | more... |

THOUGHTS ON THE AMERICAN PSYCHE

My wife and I recently returned from spending some time in the United States. Having been there a few times now, and having some family over there, I have decided to pen my thoughts on this country of contrasts, of opportunity and of deprivation.

     We were in Florida on the 4th of July, and we spent the evening with a few hundred other people watching the fireworks and celebrations. As I watched and took on the reactions of the people, I was impressed by how much Americans love their country, and by how genuinely patriotic they are. While I do believe that Americans go over the top with their sense of patriotism, there is a reason for it, and on the other hand, I don't think Australia goes far enough with it. And frankly I am sick of people who constantly bag America for this and other reasons when they have probably never even been there. It is easy to be judgmental from afar.

     Americans really believe they are the greatest country in the world, not necessarily in the sense of being superior (though of course there are indeed many Americans who believe their country is superior than others; and that attitude is not just limited to those who believe that America is somehow God's promised land), but in the opportunities they have in this country.

     NILS VON KALM reflects on life in the US...  | more... |

"SHARED INTERESTS" ARE NOT WHAT MARRIAGE IS ABOUT

"Marriage is the agreement to let a family happen," wrote the Canadian playwright Betty Jane Wylie.

     If a new survey of top divorce lawyers in the UK is any indication, marriage is becoming less about family and more about romance and shared interests. For the first time ever, ‘growing apart/falling out of love’ has overtaken infidelity as the major reason for divorce.

     The study, undertaken by Grant Thornton, the business and financial advisors, showed that 25 per cent of respondents cite extra-marital affairs as their reason for divorce, while 27 per cent cite ‘falling out of love’.

     It is easy to imagine that many marriages today will suffer from diverging personal interests. Ours is an age where the growing cost of living demands that both partners in a marriage work outside the home and where people’s busy social and professional lives are filled with all manner of demands and enticements. People will sometimes grow apart.

MAL FLETCHER examines why so many marriages are failing...  | more... |

GOD USES THE WEAK AND LOWLY TO SHOW US WHO HE IS

I would like to share some reflection about how God uses the weak and lowly to show us profound truths. A couple of years ago I attended a pastors’ conference. The keynote speaker was a professor from North America, who was an outstanding scholar and communicator. The other speakers and workshop facilitators also had exceptional qualifications and experience in their fields. They all gave us great insights into the Bible and ministry.

     But the person I remember most was someone I met during a lunch break. He was a pastor of a church in a low socio-economic suburb in Melbourne. Formerly he was a refugee, and had experienced severe persecution for his faith. He was studying for his ordination. But he could barely pay for his fees because his church consisted of low-income people – many of them being refugees themselves – and they could not pay their pastor well. This pastor’s heart for his church and his love for God were inspirational. He reflects God’s glory in his own devotion to Jesus and his perseverance in times of hardship.

     I wonder what the conference would have been like if this unknown pastor was one of the speakers? Would he be able to help us learn something important about God’s grace and power?

     SIU FUNG WU writes about what the weak and humble can teach us...  | more... |

CHRIST AND COMEDY

I love to watch the comedy festivals when they appear on my television screens. To relax, laugh, and forget my troubles. Unfortunately, one does have to wade through a bit of crass, crude and disparaging material to find the good stuff. Because of this, comedy festivals are probably not the usual haunt of minister types, yet I believe that comedy and laughter are a gift from God. If we are made in God’s image, how can laughter not be an attribute of God? It does leave one wondering though, why should the Devil get all the good lines?

     Most comedians would agree that the best humour doesn’t rely on crudity. That is the easy way to a quick laugh. Humour is actually a very hard beast to nail down. What is funny to one doesn’t rate a mention to another. But humour, used well, is a powerful tool in ministry. If you make someone laugh, you make a friend. Laughing helps us to let down our defences.

     I actually think humour is something you find God and Jesus used, even though the Scriptures don’t contain any knock, knock jokes. You don’t believe me?

     You can't be serious? PAUL CLARK looks at the, erm, humorous side of the Gospel...  | more... |

GLOBAL POLL SHOWS PEOPLE STILL WANT FAITH

In the age of secularism, does faith still matter to people? A new global study by Ipsos MORI has found that it does - and to a higher degree than some might have imagined.

     A full 70 per cent of 18,000 people surveyed in 24 nations say that they have a religion and that faith is important to them. This belies the claim made by many militant atheists that in the age of science faith has become redundant.

     What's more, 73 per cent of people aged below 35 said that their religion or faith was important in their life. Faith, it seems, is far from dying out.

     Indeed, as the chief executive of Ipsos MORI, Ben Page pointed out: "The survey is a good reminder to many in western Europe of how much religion matters - and is a force for good - in much of the world."

     For people of religious faith, these results will not necessarily come as a surprise - though there are lessons to be learned, as we shall see.

MAL FLETCHER looks at the findings of a recent global survey on faith...  | more... |

THERE'S NOTHING NEW ABOUT THE RESPONSE OF NEW ATHEISM TO JESUS

Richard Dawkins, the aptly named prophet of ‘no God’, has brought atheism out of the closet and onto the side of buses. What is different about these ‘new atheisms’ – as any time spent on richarddawkins.net will confirm – is that new atheism is on the attack.

     The new atheists don’t tolerate Christianity. They don’t agree to disagree - they actively campaign against any sort of faith!

     The new atheists particularly believe that Christians are either intellectually impaired - there is something wrong with us mentally - or we’re intellectually dishonest - we are actually evil and dangerous. Indeed they vehemently believe the world would be a better place without belief in God. (At this point I’ve got to say that much of what does pass as Christian religion is pathetic, especially on richarddawkins.net! There is much ‘Christianity’ I would not want to defend.)

     The vehemency is so strong that many of the old atheists are embarrassed by the new breed. They say something like, "While I don’t believe in God, I respect those who can, and the learning, art, and good works that religion has inspired".

     PAUL CLARK says one only has to read the Gospels to see the response of the new atheists is nothing new...  | more... |

REFUGEES - A CALL TO PRAY FOR CHRISTIANS FLEEING WAR, THREAT AND PERSECUTION

According to the angel, the birth of Jesus - "a Saviour who is Christ the Lord" - was an event of "good news of great joy that will be for all the people" (Luke 2: 8-14). Despite this, it would not be long before "an angel of the Lord" would appear to Joseph to warn him of the threat to the child's life, and instruct him to gather up his family and flee to Egypt (Matthew 2: 13,14). And so Jesus became a refugee.

     This Jesus, however, has become our great high priest, and "(not) a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin". And so the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews exhorts us, "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4: 14-16 ESV excerpts)

     The number of Christians fleeing for their lives is skyrocketing. Those with financial means may emigrate or fly out and apply for refugee status in the West, an arduous enough process. However, poorer Christians must risk death traversing deserts, oceans and dangerous cities, while dodging bandits and people-traffickers just to seek refuge in a neighbouring state. Lately, finding refuge is becoming increasingly difficult.

     International religious liberty analyst and advocate ELIZABETH KENDAL calls for prayer for Christian refugees...  | more... |

ASSISTED DYING - THE BREAKDOWN OF HOPE

Author Terry Pratchett has made no secret of his desire to request an assisted death at the time and in the manner of his choosing.

     In a BBC documentary aired this week, Mr Pratchett, who suffers from the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, said: "Is it possible for someone like me, or you, to arrange the death they want?"

     "When I can no longer write my books, I’m not sure I will want to go on living," he added.

     The argument over assisted dying and its bedfellow euthanasia is not a new one.

     Indeed, the issue of whether one has the ‘right’ to end one’s life has long been a subject that has vexed philosophers, ethicists and theologians alike. The idea of empowering another party, in law, to ‘assist’ in the process, to actually inject the chemical that ends a life, is an extension of that debate.

    Writing from London, MAL FLETCHER argues that the introduction of assisted dying is "a recipe for social confusion and the breakdown of hope"...  | more... |

GRACIOUS LIVING

Novelist Dostoevsky dubbed our species the ‘ungrateful biped’. Theologian Karl Barth agreed: "radically and basically all sin is simply ingratitude – ingratitude for God’s grace and goodness. God ‘is the source and stream and sea of everything good, of all light and life and joy. Grace and gratitude belong together like  heaven and earth. Grace evokes gratitude like the voice (evokes) an echo. Gratitude is meant to follow grace like thunder lightning’. "

     Two Biblical passages agree. Luke 17: 11-19 tells of the 10 lepers, whom Jesus heals, but nine never give him a second thought. Ingratitude is a disease uglier, more demeaning and deadly than leprosy. Only one returned to thank him - a Samaritan; perhaps his outcast status helped him not take grace for granted. Of him, Jesus said "your faith has made you whole" - the others were only half healed – their healing would dry up, incomplete, because these ingrates didn’t return thanks to the source, of all life and joy.

     GORDON PREECE writes about what it means to live graciously...  | more... |

SUFFERING AND KNOWING GOD

I have noticed over the years of my Christian walk that the people who really know God, who really know the heart of God, are people who have known what it is to deeply suffer. It is deeply wounded people who know the suffering of the God of the universe.

     People who have an intimate experience of suffering are the wounded healers, as Henri Nouwen expressed it. It is these people who I respect deeply and who I listen to when they speak. I want what they have.

     For these people, the pat 'Christian' answers aren't enough. They have experienced the deep injustice that life sometimes deals out, and they have experienced it often. These are people who weep easily, not for themselves, but for the state of the world. Theirs is a Godly sorrow. They might even come across as somewhat manic at times, and some people might even think that they are mentally unwell. But to the contrary, they are more than likely more in touch with reality than the rest of us.

     NILS VON KALM writes about suffering...  | more... |

PLANKING, SOCIAL MEDIA COLLABORATION AND THE TRUST REVOLUTION

In the past week, two stories have emerged which demonstrate both the benefits and challenges of life in the ever-fluid cyber-age.

     The first dealt with the growth of collaborative consumerism.

     According to the collaborativeconsumption.com website, the term refers to the ‘rapid explosion in swapping, sharing, bartering, trading and renting being reinvented through the latest technologies and peer-to-peer marketplaces.’

     Interviewed on this trend by BBC radio last week, I said that it is perfectly natural for people to want to turn mass communication into mass collaboration.

     I refer to the trend as the emerging ‘culture of collaboration’. It has powerful implications for everything from politics and business to science and exploration.

MAL FLETCHER writes about how the 'culture of collaboration' is changing the way we live...  | more... |

LIVING WATER AT THE WATER-COOLER - FROM ETHICS TO ETHOS

How’s your water-cooler witness going? A few years ago Sydney Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen challenged Christians to boldly evangelise around the water-cooler at work. A Herald writer slammed this as a violation of Australia’s religious pluralism and the private nature of religion. But Jesus offers living water to share around the water-cooler, over coffee, or a beer. But Jesus isn’t only the end, He’s also the means, so let’s look at how Jesus practiced water-cooler witness with the woman of Samaria in John 4.

     Jesus firstly crosses racial, sexual and spiritual barriers by going through half-caste and religiously plural Samaria and talking to a socially outcast woman getting water in the heat of the day. A tired and over-worked Jesus gently approaches her and asks for water. Their common humanity and mutual felt need for water builds a bridge of hospitality instead of hostility. Jesus surprises her, sidesteps her stereotypes, treat her as someone with something to offer and opens up a relationship. Need comes before creed. Belonging before believing.

     GORDON PREECE on the water-cooler witness...  | more... |

WHAT MAKES GOD, GOD?

What proved that Jesus was, indeed, God with us? Let us look at a traditional holiday in a new way - not as a day of peace, alone, but also the most dangerous day of the entire year.

     For a few days, those 2,000 years ago, the scoffers - the religious leaders who conspired to have Him arrested, sentenced in a kangaroo court, and put to death - they laughed and said, "See? All those claims were false! He was not God! If He were God, He could have called down ten thousand angels to lift Him from the cross! He did not lift a finger to save Himself!"

     Of course they were right about not saving Himself. He lifted not a finger in order to save US. Even them, the ones who condemned Him. But for a few days they seemed correct.

     In an article first posted on Assist News Service, RICK MARSCHALL looks at how Easter proves Jesus was God...  | more... |

PONDERING THE CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKE, PART IV

4) It’s not about us

And so many of us find ourselves in the recovery process with a spirituality and hope that, while shaken, sustains us and compels us to be involved. In the past days and in the coming days some of us will find ourselves to put it bluntly in positions of influence, rubbing shoulders with movers and shakers. Now historically the church has not handled power at all well.

     There is an important story in Scripture for times such as this - the story of Joseph. It’s an interesting story. Take the book of Genesis - an account of the foundations of the people of Israel, it looks at the creation of the world, the origins of sin and judgment, the start of the story of redemption, the lives of the patriarchs - and about one quarter is given to the story of Joseph. So what’s so important about Joseph? Well, Joseph is a picture of an initial fulfilment of the Abrahamic covenant - the call to be blessed to be a blessing to the world. When he is young he knows he is loved, he knows God is with him and he knows he has a destiny. But I want to suggest as he got a glimpse of the kind of influence God had in mind, it was kind of all about him. Nothing like a long period of suffering and disappointment to beat that out of you! The mature Joseph makes two statements that show how he now sees things:

     In the last of a four part series, STEVE GRAHAM, Dean of Laidlaw College in Christchurch, continues his look at the relationship between God and natural disasters like the Christchurch earthquake...  | more... |

PART III

In the third of a four part series, STEVE GRAHAM, Dean of Laidlaw College in Christchurch, continues his look at the relationship between God and natural disasters like the Christchurch earthquake...  | more... |

PART II

     In the second of a four part series, STEVE GRAHAM, Dean of Laidlaw College in Christchurch, takes a close look at what Romans tells us about God's relationship to the world...  | more... |

PART I

In the first of a four part series, STEVE GRAHAM, Dean of Laidlaw College in Christchurch, reflects on the recent earthquake in the New Zealand city...  | more... |

DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THIS STUFF?

Do you own your faith? I mean really own it. Or is it something that has ‘always been there’? Many of us have grown up in households where Christian faith was practised, at least nominally, and sometimes it has helped us and sometimes it has hindered us. The fact is that for many of us who grew up in a somewhat Christian home, our faith has never progressed much past what our parents have believed and passed onto us.

     For faith to mature, it needs to be tested, it needs to progress out of our comfort zone. Tim Costello has said that you only begin to understand your own faith when you move out of your comfort zones. Someone else said to me years ago that anything worth fighting for is never going to be easy. Faith is definitely worth fighting for, and it is indeed a risk. It is tough to step out and embrace what is unfamiliar. It puts us on shaky ground where our only option is to trust in the goodness of God. But it is in that very place that we grow and experience life as Jesus described it in John 10:10.

     NILS VON KALM looks at having faith amid disillusionment...  | more... |

A THEOLOGY OF WIKILEAKS

Hardly a day passes without headlines derived from the latest WikiLeaks revelation. WikiLeaks reached a new level in late November when it began releasing 250,000 US State Department documents, made more available and thus vulnerable post 9/11 as an antidote to various US intelligence organisations not sharing information that might have helped them link the dots and identify the plotters. Views of WikiLeaks vary substantially depending on how close you are to having your diplomatic underwear hung out for the world to see or whether you’re in the crowd enjoying seeing emporers, or their servants, without clothes. This article seeks to put a theological perspective on the issue.

     Many have found their cynicism that politicians and diplomats are serial liars confirmed by the leaks. Some see Julian Assange as a digital, 21st century Ned Kelly, thumbing his nose at authorities. Yet neither supporters nor accusers like PM Gillard are right to see him as a thief. He has committed no crime, except possibly in Sweden (though that seems a set-up like in a Stieg Larsson novel or movie). Others see him as recklessly indifferent to the political and human cost of his revelations, including possible costs of human lives. But ex-US spy Valerie Plame's memoir, later movie Fair Game makes one cynical about such concerns voiced by the US.

     GORDON PREECE, director of Ethos: EA Centre for Christianity & Society, looks at WikiLeaks' revelations from a theological perspective...  | more... |

PREVIOUSLY:

WIKILEAKS AND JULIAN ASSANGE - CYBER-ACTIVISM OR CYBER-ANARCHISM?...  | more... |

WIKILEAKS - A TURNING POINT IN THE 'INFORMATION RELATIONSHIP'?...  | more... |

BLESSED ARE THE CHEESEMAKERS? MISQUOTING THE BEATITUDES

So let’s have a look at these troubling sayings of Jesus.

     Blessed are the poor in spirit – This one has had a few different interpretations over the years. It is one of the main ones we have tended to ‘spiritualise’ because Matthew’s version adds ‘in spirit’ whereas Luke’s version just says ‘Blessed are the poor’ (Luke 6: 20). This beatitude has generally been seen to be referring to those who see themselves as inadequate, whose only hope is in God. And the fact is that these ones are actually the outcast. Listen to what Athol Gill says about this: “For Jesus…the kingdom of God belongs especially to the poor, the powerless, the outcasts, and the dispossessed – all those who have no standing within the community. Those who count for nothing in the eyes of their fellows are the very ones to whom the kingdom of God is promised. They come empty-handed, with no power or position of their own. Their only hope is in God, and that hope will not go unrewarded.”

     So it happens that the poor in spirit are also the outcast and marginalised, those with no power or privilege. And these are always the materially poor. But notice that Jesus is not saying they are blessed because they are poor. This is not about having a poverty mentality. There is no glory in wanting to be poor, unless God has specifically called you to a life of poverty. They are blessed because even though they are poor, in the kingdom of God they are loved.

     In the second and final part of his article, NILS VON KALM takes a deeper look at the each of the Beatitudes...  | more... |

PREVIOUSLY:

     In the first part of the article on the Beatitudes, NILS VON KALM explores what it means to take these sayings of Jesus seriously...  | more... |

THE DECLINE OF BIBLE LITERACY

A research report published by the Evangelical Alliance in the UK (EAUK) just came out. It mentions two interesting trends about Christians in the 16-24 age group. First, they are “less likely to strongly agree that the Bible has supreme authority in guiding their beliefs, views and behaviour.” Second, they are “less likely to pray or read (or listen to) the Bible every day.”

      Similarly, Cheryl Catford, the former principal of Tabor College in Melbourne, also observed the declining Biblical literacy in Australia in recent years. In an article in 2009 she talked about her experience of seeing a decline in Biblical knowledge among first-year theological students over her more than 15 years of teaching. The challenge of this phenomenon for the church today is well summarised in the following comment in the EAUK report.

     For many in this (younger) age group, beliefs have been shaped by good youth work and summer festivals, rather than personal devotions. We have shared bite-sized theology but one of the greatest challenges is to enable this age group to take responsibility for their own discipleship amidst busy, media saturated lives.

     SIU FUNG WU looks at what's behind the decline in Bible literacy...  | more... |

YOUTH DRINKING PROBLEM REFLECTS BADLY ON US ALL

Nothing is more dangerous for the future of a society than having its young people grow old before their time.

     Figures released recently by the NHS in the UK show that alcohol-related liver disease is on the rise among teenagers and young adults.

     The number of drinkers under the age of 30 who are admitted to British hospitals with liver problems, once found only in older adults, has risen by 50 per cent in 10 years.

     One medical expert in the field has claimed that while these statistics sound grave enough, they are in fact a gross underestimate.

     Whatever the exact numbers, they may tell us a lot more about ourselves and our culture generally than they do about our young people. We should deal with this as a societal problem rather than a merely generational one.

MAL FLETCHER says the problem of binge drinking needs to be addressed by society as a whole...  | more... |

CONNECTION AND...CONNECTION

In a day when everyone is connected, there is more evidence that we are actually more disconnected than ever. Our greatest human need is for a different kind of connection – connection with the other, but most importantly, connection with the Other. Star-struck lovers gaze into each other’s eyes, longing to be one with each other; in our Western culture, when we engage in conversation, we know when someone is listening when they are looking into our eyes; and when you want someone’s attention, you try to find eye contact.

     Richard Rohr also talks about a connection with animals. It is not for nothing that we call a dog our best friend. Many elderly people live much healthier lives for having a dog as a companion in their lives. Rohr talks about looking into the eyes of an animal like a dog and sensing a connection with another creature of the universe.  

     Much of our behaviour, in fact I would probably argue all of it, is a symptom of our desire for connection. Whether our behaviour be good or evil, it is all about our desire to find life, to transcend the purely physical part of our existence. Years ago, John Smith emphasised that the Rolling Stones song Satisfaction was not about sex and trying to "get some girly action" at all, but about a frustration at not finding something deeper. U2 sang about not having found what they were looking for - in their own lives and in the injustice in the world - despite "believing in the kingdom come".

     NILS VON KALM reflects on our deep-seated need for connecting with others...  | more... |

AFFAIRS AND THE MID-LIFE CRISIS

Many Christians, mainly men, have affairs in their 40s. Why is this? Do we really believe that another partner (more often than not someone younger and sexier) will give us what we think is lacking in our lives? Many of us talk about unmet needs, meaning sexual fulfillment, so we justify in our own minds finding it elsewhere, with someone who 'really understands'.

     But the problem with such affairs, apart from the obvious of betrayal of trust, is that, by definition, they are always artificial relationships. There is always a forbiddenness about them. That is why they are so alluring. Of course that is not the only reason they are artificial. It is also because, again by definition, they cannot be about the messy details of living with and really getting to know someone. Meeting someone for an illicit rendezvous, or even staying overnight at their place, is nothing like spending years in relationship with someone and learning to compromise and meet each others' needs.

     Affairs are a form of escape, and the fact that many studies show that second and third marriages have a higher rate of divorce than first ones gives more weight to that argument. The tragic truth is that the rate of divorce among Christian couples is approaching that of non-Christian marriages. And in parts of the US it is even higher. Imagine the image that gives of Christianity. No wonder people are turning off the church in droves.

     NILS VON KALM looks at some strategies for long-lasting marriages...  | more... |

RUNNING UP THE WHITE FLAG

‘Surrender’ has been a dirty word since time immemorial. Ever since Adam defied God by refusing to continue to submit his life to the One who created him, we have a natural tendency to baulk at the idea of giving up control. The irony is though that giving up means gaining. We surrender to live.

     Surrender is about pleasing God above all else. It is about having an attitude of not being rebellious at all, of not running life our own way, for that is defiance. Surrender comes out of a deep realisation that our own way of doing things has not been working. Countries surrender in war when they are forced to, and they realise the game is up. While God never forces us into surrender, we only do so when we realise the game is up with our lives and we choose to give up control and surrender our will to the Higher will.

     The way of surrender is completely counter-cultural. In our individualistic society where we are told that we are the most important person in the world and we have to be in control of our lives, submission is weak; control means power. This is just the way it was 2,000 years ago when Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers.

     NILS VON KALM examines what it means to surrender to Christ...  | more... |

GOD OF THE OUTBACK

Childhood memories can be a great thing. My wife and I have just returned from Broken Hill in New South Wales. During our stay there (which was only a couple of days), a number of events triggered nostalgic emotions for me. Driving through one of the most famous towns in Australia reminds me that there is so much history in this place. That and the fact that it was about 40 degrees every day we were there makes you realise that this is the outback. More than that though was the typical country hospitality of the family members we stayed with. These are people of whom city folks like me live off the backs of, and yet they will do anything for you.

     Being in a place like Broken Hill, in the Australian outback, does something to you, especially if you have not been there for a very long time. I was last in these parts 35 years ago on a trip to the Flinders Ranges with my mum, dad and brother. We never actually made it to Broken Hill on that trip due to the fact that we rolled our car just near Lake Frome, but that’s a story for another time. But despite that, the fond memories of being ‘beyond the black stump’ came flooding back on this trip.

     NILS VON KALM reflects on the beauty - and spirituality - of Australia's outback wilderness...  | more... |

WIKILEAKS AND JULIAN ASSANGE - CYBER-ACTIVISM OR CYBER-ANARCHISM?

"While all deception requires secrecy, all secrecy is not meant to deceive," wrote the Swedish-born philosopher and ethicist Sissela Bok.

     In terms of global news stories, this year may be remembered as the year of the whistleblower.

      The event that most dominated world headlines this year was probably the BP oil spill off the Florida coast.

     As BP struggled to find a way to limit environmental damage, whistleblowers leaked internal documents suggesting that the company was not keeping accurate records of how its rigs were built. This would make diagnosing and solving specific rig problems much harder.

     Meanwhile, another whistleblower accused BP of cheating when it tested equipment designed to prevent disastrous blowouts on its rigs. Whistleblowing wasn’t at the centre of this story, but it certainly made its presence felt.

      Whistleblowing was at the centre of a more recent story, which focused on accusations of impropriety at the heart of the 2018 football World Cup host selection process. England reportedly lost the right to host the cup because of media reports that had been fuelled by leaked documents and secret discussions with FIFA insiders.

MAL FLETCHER questions the benefits of WikiLeaks-style whistleblowing and suggests it may result in unintended consequences...  | more... |

FOR MORE ON WIKILEAKS:

      ADAM KELSALL takes a look at how relationships are shifting when it comes to information...  | more... |

THE ULTIMATE GIFT OF WORSHIP

How amazing is our God. And how good and perfect are His gifts to us.

      I remember holding my daughter, my firstborn, in her early days and weeping over the incredible reality that she existed. That this huge (10lb, 4oz) wriggling lump that I had carried around actually DID turn out to be a baby. I was blown away, awestruck and spent many an early morning feed time weeping, worshipping and thanking God for this miracle.

     My husband and I realised, in that first year, that she worshipped and adored us. Her eyes followed us around the room and she delighted in drawing our attention through gurgles and smiles and cute renditions of words. We were the centre of her world.

     One day, the incredible honour and responsibility that God had given, dawned. For a season we were able to see the heart and purposes of God by being as God, His representatives, to this helpless and vulnerable child. Like God we delighted in every achievement and smile; we enjoyed every milestone and every activity that we were blessed to be involved in; we were protectors, providers, teachers, nurturers and comforters.

      BEV HOLMES-BROWN reflects on the coming of the Son...  | more... |

FOR MORE ON CHRISTMAS:

In an article first published by Assist News Service, US author PAUL HARRINGTON separates fact from fiction in some of our common beliefs about the Nativity...  | more... |

WIKILEAKS - A TURNING POINT IN THE 'INFORMATION RELATIONSHIP'?

WikiLeaks has been hogging the news cycle a fair bit of late. The release of the secret files has captured the imagination of the public, played out against the backdrop of the arrest of the mysterious and, to some, increasingly iconic (some labeling him an electronic Che Guevera!)  founder Australian Julian Assange.

     As a romantic narrative, it is the geek activist using the ‘weapons’ of modern technology versus shadowy global conspirators. The aim - unveiling secret documents with the hope of increasing transparency of governments' democratically elected by the people.

     While WikiLeaks has governments scrambling to save face and the media salivating over the prospect of weeks of headlines, there is perhaps socially a bigger story unfolding.

     Could WikiLeaks' information deluge mark the moment where it is universally recognised that nobody “owns” knowledge and information anymore? Is it the strongest example so far of the use of world wide web to challenge traditional power relationships?

      ADAM KELSALL takes a look at how relationships are shifting when it comes to information...  | more... |

SO, HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW THE NATIVITY?

The Christmas Story - often referred to as "The greatest story ever told" - is as familiar to us all as a comfy old pair of pajamas. It's the well-known, centuries-old, heart-warming tale of Mary, Joseph, and little baby Jesus, a manger, and the three wise men that came to greet the child.

     Sweet, innocent, and completely...wrong?

     That's right. There's more fiction surrounding the Nativity tale than fact, and you might be surprised that many of the truths you hold near and dear to your Noel-loving heart are fairly questionable.

     So here are five things you think you already know about the Nativity, the wise men, and the Biblical story: question is, how many of them are facts we can substantiate?

     Think you know your Nativity? Think again.

      In an article first published by Assist News Service, US author PAUL HARRINGTON separates fact from fiction in some of our common beliefs about the Nativity...  | more... |

THE STATE OF THE CHURCH

During the week I came across an interview that Rowland Croucher, who is the director of John Mark Ministries – serving pastors, ex-pastors, church leaders and their spouses, as well as a counsellor, writer, preacher and seminar leader, gave to Australian Missionary News about the main issues facing the church as a whole at the moment. What he said makes interesting reading. Some of his thoughts were as follows:

     Theological issues: Interestingly, Rowland says homosexuality is by far the number one theological issue. I wonder if that would have been the case 20 years ago. Back then the issue of social justice was pretty high up there. I remember going to seminars which had topics questioning such things as whether or not the issue of human rights is a diversion from the Gospel. Fortunately many Christians today have moved on from that.

     Main church issue: Rowland explained that the main issue for the church in the West and for mainline churches was ‘losing customers’. In 2003 Barna Research revealed that more committed Christians were not attending church on most Sundays than those who were. This was the first time in history this had been the case. Seven years later I would say it is more so.

      NILS VON KALM points out some of the key issues raised in a recent interview with Australia's Rowland Croucher...  | more... |

BRIDGE BUILDING

It's always easier to throw stones than build bridges. The Christian imperative is that we should build bridges to be true to our faith, but an added irony of bridge building is that there really is no 'other side'. The Apostle Paul was a great bridge builder. He said he tried to find common ground with whoever he was with; Jew or Gentile, believer or non-believer. Common ground does not need to mean compromise on one's convictions, but the sharing of our common humanity, and so the sharing of differences can, in most cases, occur peacefully.

     Reading a Barna Christian research paper that has analysed some negative ideas many non-Christians have about Christians was both disturbing and challenging for me. These were their findings on those negative opinions. From them I've written down my reflections, attempted to personalise a response, and so perhaps put some more steel and rivets in the bridges I want to build.

     Christians were often seen as...

• Hypocritical: "Christians say one thing and do another; they hold to a moral superiority."

     If we as Christians somehow communicate (deliberately or ignorantly), that we are 'better' than others, then inevitably we will rightly wear the 'hypocrite' label in the eyes of many. I think that when I am standing on high moral ground, it could be easily interpreted as hypocrisy.

      JEFF BAKER gives his take on some common perceptions of Christians...  | more... |

RELATIONSHIPS IN NO MORE THAN 140 CHARACTERS

When was the last time you held a meaningful conversation with someone in person? Your response might reveal more about the fragility of relationships than any other time in the history of the world.

     Neil Armstrong, United States astronaut, was well documented for being the first person to step onto the surface of the moon, as he triumphantly declared, "One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind."

     Who could have imagined the irony of such a simple statement as it relates to the dynamics of relationships in every culture around the world?

     Historically, technological advancements have often been well received, yet uncertainty by late adopters has served as a necessary balance in the halls of debate.

      In an article first published on Assist News Service, EGYPT McKEE talks about relationships in the information age...  | more... |

LOOKING FOR GOD IN CHRISTCHURCH'S "BIG SHAKE"

What do you learn about God when you’re the unwilling participant in an earthquake? Being woken at 4.30am to the sound and sensation of your bed banging against the wall behind your head, the unexpected sound of being inside the engine of a runaway steam train, the crashing of glass and crockery along with the moaning of a house being twisted by huge forces is something you cannot prepare for! Even through the sleep daze, you find yourself moving to a safer place and bracing yourself for however long that it takes for the ground to stop contorting underneath you and twisting the building around you - self-preservation instincts kick in before you’re even awake.

     In the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquakes (and yes, more than 20 days later, they are still going), I have had time to ponder where God was in the middle of amazing and potentially soul-destroying devastation throughout the Canterbury region. It’s a part of the world that talks of earthquakes, realises the reality of them but ultimately couldn’t prepare for the physical and emotional onslaught that comes with a 7.1 magnitude quake and the huge number of significant aftershocks (more than 800 and still counting), on a fault line that was unknown of until 4th September.  

      TRACEY PARR, who along with her husband David was in Christchurch, New Zealand, during the recent earthquake, writes of her experience...  | more... |

BEYOND ELECTIONS - OF CONSCIENCE VOTES, ELECTORAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND "GENUINE POLITICAL DEBATE"

In the midst of the post election negotiations between Julia Gillard as the leader of the Labor Party and non-Coalition elected members, the newly elected "independent Green" Andrew Wilkie put forward a list of his demands for co-operation. Among them was one for a 'conscience vote' on the so-called 'gay marriage' issue. Quite rightly, the Labor leader ruled this out completely since her own party's election platform had clearly opposed such change to the legal definition of marriage to be applied throughout the Commonwealth.
      Now we have been told that in her deliberations with Senator Bob Brown there will an opportunity given for members of parliament to vote on a 'conscience vote'. It will not be on 'gay marriage' but on a matter that did not raise much comment in the election campaign. This is also a controversial issue and concerns the act of a previous Government to block the rights of states and territories to implement 'voluntary euthanasia' laws. Apparently, an agreement has been struck between Gillard and Brown to allow a conscience vote on this issue. This kind of political manoeuvring has significant consequences.

      BRUCE C. WEARNE poses some questions about Australia's post-election politics...  | more... |

ISLAND FEVER?

When coming to the topic of evangelism there is need for a church community to remember those continents and far off places where the Gospel has not been preached and to provide resources that may be scant or nonexistent for the continuation of the work in those areas. The importance of wealthier communities supporting and sending people into these regions so that all people have opportunity to hear the 'good news' is a Christian duty. The Pacific islands in particular have been a long term focus of the church for over a century and there is now a well established presence in these fields where the Gospel has had a large impact.

     You could say, however, that the back of the Pacific islands has been broken for many years now as population ratios of non-churched nationals to church membership is lower than in western countries like Australia. While there are some isolated pockets of outlying villages still clinging to traditional forms, the Christian impact on the Pacific islands has been significant, all encompassing and extensive.

      DANNY BELL suggests it's time we started looking homeward when it comes to missions instead of another 'island experience'...  | more... |

THE GOSPEL - A SIMPLE PRESERVATIVE

"Why do Christians feel the need to tell everyone about their faith?” a friend asked me one day, clearly struggling to be polite and listen any longer. The question was not posed from curiosity; she obviously felt that my necessity to tell her about the God who had swept me off my feet was an invasion of her privacy and an unwanted challenge to her own Buddhist beliefs.

     I am sure that as a new convert my zeal was partnered with insensitivity. Urgency consumed me and I could hardly contain all that I had learned about my God. I cannot remember what I answered that day but I have since discovered there are many ways to answer this question.

      God in His infinite wisdom confounds our complex logic with a Gospel so simple that a child can share it.

     There is a central component to the Gospel message that Christianity has inherited from its Judaic roots; it begins with the transformation of an individual and burgeons into the deliverance and rescue of institutions, communities and populations.

      BEV HOLMES-BROWN reflects on sharing the Gospel...  | more... |

AIRBRUSHING AWAY THE SELF-ESTEEM OF YOUNG GIRLS

Judy Garland, something of a celebrity magazine favourite in her time, said: "Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."
      Sadly, Ms Garland fought a life-long battle against low self-esteem and in the end lost the fight. Her advice, though, is as timely today as in her own era - especially, it seems, for young girls.
      Recently the Girl Guide movement in the UK presented a petition calling on the prime minister to set in motion legislation forcing magazines to identify airbrushed images.
       Their goal is to protect young girls from having their self-esteem eroded, by pictures that depict the ideal young woman as either super-thin or blemish-free.

Writing from London, MAL FLETCHER says that while labelling images which have been airbrushed will help, the underlying problem - how to get young women to believe in themselves in the face of a culture telling them just the opposite - will remain...  | more... |

THE BIG SOCIETY NEEDS NATIONAL CITIZEN SERVICE FOR THE AGED

Any political party that has been out of power for more than 13 years will naturally want to bring with it a big idea when it next fills the government benches.
     For David Cameron and his Lib-Con marriage of inconvenience, that big idea is called the Big Society.

     In part, I suspect, the title represents an attempt to contrast the new regime with the Big Government ways of its predecessor. It is also, of course, a response to the urgent need for cuts in spending on social services – in the hope that, at the same time, at least some services might be maintained if not improved by volunteers.
     Whether or not the Big Project becomes more than just a grand idea will depend largely on three things.

Writing from London, MAL FLETCHER suggests national citizenship service aimed at helping the elderly may be a step forward in creating a society which values those most vulnerable...  | more... |

WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR US TO BECOME A MISSIONARY CONGREGATION?, PART IV
A voice against culture

As the church seeks to be a sign of the Kingdom, an alternative to the culture that they exist in, they will need at times to be a voice against culture. The way that the church responds to its context will be varied depending on the circumstances and context that the church finds itself in. That said there are times and situations when a missionary church will be required to take a stand against its culture.

     Lesslie Newbigin both affirms the creational structure of culture but also recognises that an idolatrous foundational worldview shapes every part of culture. As MW Goheen asserts in the 2001 text As the Father has sent me, I am sending you: J. E. Lesslie Newbigin’s Missionary Ecclesiology, because the Gospel is comprehensive it calls for a discipleship that embodies all of life and therefore does not “fit” into any cultural story: "It is totally impossible to fit the story of a crucified and risen Lord into any view of the world except the one of which it is the starting point. From any other point of view it is either scandalous or meaningless."

     In the final part of her series on the church as a missionary congregation, LENA JOHNSTONE looks at what it means for a missional church to be a voice against culture...  | more... |

PREVIOUS:

     LENA JOHNSTONE looks at context and the importance of 'Scriptural indwelling'...  | more... |

In the second of her series on what it takes to become a missionary congregation, LENA JOHNSTONE continues her series on what it means for a congregation to see themselves as being 'on mission'...  | more... |

In the first part of a new series, LENA JOHNSTONE takes a look at what it means for a congregation to see themselves as being 'on mission'...  | more... |

A MAN OF SORROWS WITH JOY BEYOND HIS COMPANIONS

From early on in my Christian walk I’ve pondered the idea that Jesus is called a ‘man of sorrows’ while also being described as having ‘joy beyond his companions.’

     God is ever present and all knowing. In a single moment He sees humanity at its greatest depths of despair and abomination as well as its greatest heights of achievement and satisfaction. Mere mortals, such as us, would be consumed by these extremes. In the naivety of my early walk I constantly prayed “God let my heart feel as yours feels, let my eyes see as yours see, let my ears hear what yours hear. One day He spoke to my heart and told me that such knowledge would destroy me. “I was not made to be able to bear the burdens of humanity, that task is reserved for God alone.”

     I believe that God is a God of strategy. I believe He positions His people in every dark place in the earth and that it is imperative that we, the church identify and undergird them with whatever resources we have at our disposal...especially prayer.

     BEV HOLMES-BROWN on why it's important to keep praying for Christian 'frontliners'...  | more... |

THE AGE OF OVER-REACTION

The massive oil spill off America's Gulf Coast, the swine flu outbreak that never happened and the ongoing saga of football's World Cup are stories that may seem to have little in common.
     Yet, in some respects each serves as a powerful lesson about our culture’s growing propensity for emotional over-reaction.

     Having spent the last month on a speaking tour of Australia and the US, I’ve watched World Cup matches with people of different cultures. There’s no doubt the game inspires powerful emotions the world over, even in nations not normally known for their love of soccer.
      World sporting events offer a form of catharsis, a diversion from the troubles of things like global financial crises. Letting off steam for a few weeks during a sporting tournament is a positive way of expressing latent patriotism.

MAL FLETCHER reflects on how - and why  - we are living in an age of over-reaction...  | more... |

NO-ONE KNOWS THE DAY OR THE HOUR

This is not an article about the Second Coming, though it may have some relevance to what I am about to write. This is an article about death.

     In the last few years I have been struck by the death of a few people around my age. One was my cousin Olaf, found dead in his bed in Germany by work colleagues. He was 42 and left behind a wife and two young children. Another was the popular Melbourne sports journalist Clinton Grybas, also found dead in his apartment. He was 32. Then there was Heath Ledger, a brilliant actor with everything before him, dead at the age of 28.

     Following on from this, in the last couple of years there have been four people that I have known in various capacities who have taken their own lives. These kinds of deaths have added an extra element of tragedy, as they will leave inevitable questions of guilt and unresolved sadness with their loved ones who are left behind.

     NILS VON KALM talks about an issue that affects us all...  | more... |

THE SAVING POWER OF TECHNOLOGY?

I love technology. I love living in the 21st century with all its gadgets, and I’m continually amazed at what we are able to do now that we couldn’t do even five years ago. Who knows what we’ll be able to do in five years from now? When a new piece of technology is released, there is that special surge of excitement you get with the anticipation of buying something new. A new technology purchase makes you feel good; you feel excited, and you want to spend all your time with your new friend. Sounds a lot like being in love doesn't it?

     Take the recent launch of the iPad in Australia for example. Apparently we’re the first country outside of the US to sell the new PC tablet, which does everything the iPhone does except make phone calls. People lined up for hours outside Apple stores all over Australia (some even slept outside stores overnight) to get their hands on this fabulous new device that promises to change the way we do computing. In a few years time though – give or take - the iPad will be old hat. After a while we tend to take for granted the technology we have at our disposal today. We often can’t imagine how we coped before mobile phones and the internet.

     NILS VON KALM reflects on the nature of technology in society...  | more... |

BRITAIN'S COALITION GOVERNMENT - A POTENTIALLY POWERFUL MODEL FOR COHESION

In many ways the value of Britain's new governing coalition may not be found so much in the policies it adopts as in the symbolism it provides.

     There is much talk these days about the importance of social cohesion and social inclusion, yet until now few in government have seemed to exemplify the types of attitudes and practices that are needed to produce it.

     We are living in the age of mass collaboration, which has been triggered and made possible by relatively recent developments in mass communications technologies.

     This is the age of the architecture of participation, to quote the online gamers. Ours is the generation of 'we-think', where collaboration is beginning to be esteemed as highly as competition, even in sections of the business community.

     With a new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in power in the UK, MAL FLETCHER takes a look at what it means to truly work in cohesion - and the opportunities such a bringing together of two parties may offer...  | more... |

PERSECUTION - WHATEVER THAT IS

On Easter Sunday, the BBC screened a programme by Nicky Campbell that probed the question of whether or not British Christians are being persecuted. While Campbell acknowledged that "Labour's anti-discrimination legislation has led to clashes between religious conscience and equality for homosexuals", he concluded: "So, are Christians being persecuted? No they're not being tortured or killed like Christians in Pakistan and the Sudan. But a minority believes they are being sidelined and victimised. By the standards of a liberal society that can feel like persecution."

     Similarly, in his ecumenical Easter Letter to fellow church leaders, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, maintained that, unlike many other Christians around the world, Christians in the UK are not persecuted, and he called on the church to keep its fears in perspective. In his sights were advocates such as Lord Carey and Bishop Nazir-Ali, who have decried what they maintain is escalating marginalisation, discrimination and persecution of Christians in the UK.

     The debate continues over whether Christians in the UK - and by extension, other nations in the Western world - are being persecuted. ELIZABETH KENDAL offers her view...  | more... |

FOR PREVIOUS: PERSECUTION? HARDLY...

"Opposition," said George Eliot, "may become sweeter to a man when he has christened it persecution."

     According to the UK's Daily Telegraph this week, some Christians in Britain may be doing just that, rebranding a sense of lost influence in the community as persecution.
MAL FLETCHER on what persecution is - and what it isn't...  | more... |

TO WHAT SHALL I COMPARE THE KINGDOM? LET'S DREAM A LITTLE...

Some time ago a group of people of which I am a part were asked how we would explain the Kingdom of God to a person with no Biblical background. We had to be careful to avoid any 'Christian-ese'! I immediately thought of how Brian McLaren likes to talk of the dream of God, following on from Martin Luther King's dream. Starting with that inspiration, and drawing on some further genius from CS Lewis, my thoughts developed into the following:

     Let’s dream a little. Imagine living in a world where peace, justice and love are the order of the day; a world where everyone is accepted just for who they are and where there is no anxiety, fear or mistrust. Then imagine that the ruler of this world had all of these characteristics and more. Because this ruler is like this, let’s call him God.

     This is a God who longs for His people to be in relationship with Him, and not just that, but God longs for His whole creation to be renewed. In this world there is ultimate trust because the ruler is ultimately trustworthy. Therefore it is a world where you love the fact that God is in charge. You realise that this God is both ultimate and intimate. God is both ruler of everything and yet knows and loves each of His creatures with a dignity we cannot comprehend.

    NILS VON KALM dreams big... | more... |

PERSECUTION? HARDLY...

"Opposition," said George Eliot, "may become sweeter to a man when he has christened it persecution."

     According to the UK's Daily Telegraph this week, some Christians in Britain may be doing just that, rebranding a sense of lost influence in the community as persecution.

     Paraphrasing comments made in a BBC Easter documentary, the Telegraph reported that, "Christians in Britain are feeling persecuted because of 'paradoxical' human rights laws and the ignorance of local councils."

     The programme's host, Nicky Campbell, was quoted as saying that while British Christians are not being tortured or killed as some in parts of the world, "a minority believes they are being sidelined and victimised (and) by the standards of a liberal society that can feel like persecution."

MAL FLETCHER on what persecution is - and what it isn't...  | more... |

WHY WAS JESUS SO SECRETIVE?

One of the striking features in Mark’s Gospel is how often Jesus tells people not to spread the word of what He has done. Why does He do this? Isn’t ours a missionary faith? Weren’t the 12 told to go throughout all the world and make disciples? Indeed they were, but it was only after Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection that they were told to do this. And that is the whole point of what Mark is trying to get across.

     Listen to what scholar Larry Hurtado says: "One of (Mark’s) major points is that Jesus’ crucifixion was his key work and that all else - even the exorcisms, healings, and other miracles - was only an incomplete hint of Jesus’ true nature and meaning. This is why no one is allowed to acclaim Jesus openly as Son of God or Messiah, for any acclamation uninformed by the crucifixion is misleading and invalid. This is why, also, the people and the disciples are presented in Mark (much more than the other gospels) as bewildered and even stupid. In Mark’s view, no one could understand the true meaning of Jesus and his work until Jesus had actually completed it by his death as a ransom for others (10: 45). Thus, there is a theologically profound reason for the emphasis on secrecy, mystery, and the dullness of crowds and disciples." (emphasis added)

    NILS VON KALM looks at the reason behind Jesus' secrecy in the Bible... | more... |

INVICTUS - WHAT REAL HEROES LOOK LIKE

If you believe the news media hype, celebrating Oscar week has become an almost religious observance. It's the week when actors, directors and technicians are feted like modern-day saints.

     In interview after interview on the infamous red carpet even their most inane comments are played and replayed as if dripping with holy wisdom. In the midst of all the hype this year, one movie serves as a timely reminder of what real-life heroism looks like.

     Invictus traces the lead up to the rugby World Cup in 1995, treating us along the way to a behind-the-scenes look at the early days of Nelson Mandela's remarkable presidency.

     Having visited the Robben Island prison where Nelson Mandela spent years breaking rocks in a limestone quarry, I found myself watching the movie with tears in my eyes just thinking about the remarkable character of the man.

MAL FLETCHER reflects on what it means to be a hero...  | more... |

LABELS, LABELS AND MORE LABELS

I remember a story told to me once by some old friends. They had brought up their children in Indonesia, and when their children played with children from other nationalities, their parents decided to ask them one day what colour the other children’s skin was. My friends’ children said they didn’t know. They just saw them as playmates. The colour of their skin wasn’t an issue.
      There have been times in my life when my compartmentalising of people and people-groups has been exposed. At the church I attend, in inner-city Melbourne where the socio-economic status is lower than where I live, we have a food cupboard which is available for anyone to receive food from. I have been told that it’s there for me as well. When I was first told that it was there for me as well, I felt awkward. My middle-class background has given me too much pride to be able to receive free food when I can afford to buy it. And besides, what would people say if they saw me lining up with those poor unfortunates who really need the food? What this exposes in all its ugliness is the fact that I don't want to be associated with being needy, that I do very well being quite self-sufficient thank you very much.

    NILS VON KALM explores our need to 'label' people... | more... |

SEXUALISING CHILDREN: TOO OLD TOO FAST

In a speech this week the Conservative Party leader David Cameron condemned the "inappropriate sexualisation" of children and said that youngsters must be protected from irresponsible advertising.
      He promised that if elected to govern his party will give British children back their childhood.

     "What we are saying is that you can't cut children off from the commercial world," he said, "but we should be able to help parents to make sure that our children get a childhood and that they are not subject to unnecessary and inappropriate commercialisation and sexualisation too young."
      He outlined a series of proposals aimed at disciplining companies are step over the lines of propriety in targeting youngsters, particularly through their marketing. For example, he proposed that companies found to be acting in inappropriate ways toward children might have their right to bid for government contracts suspended for three years.

Writing from London, MAL FLETCHER talks about how we should respond to concerns over the growing sexualisation of children...  | more... |

MOVING BEYOND THE 'LEFT' AND THE 'RIGHT'

As we once more approach the federal election, we should first stand back and reflect on how our political system is communicated and what kind of concepts shape our understanding. There is certainly none more important than our spectrum of the ‘right’ and ‘left’ of politics, but is this framework as helpful as the weight put on it suggests it is.

     Our concept of there being a ‘right’ and a ‘left’ side of politics seems to have originated from France in 1789. In an attempt to define parliament after the most recent revolution, the revolutionaries ended up on the left of the chamber while those on the right side wanted to continue to govern based on the more traditional values of the time. From this beginning the church was naturally seen as being on the ‘right’ side, due to much of the pre-revolutionary French establishment being under the strong influence of the Catholic Church.

    NICK JENSEN on why Christians need to look beyond the 'left' and 'right' of politics... | more... |


FINDING REST, PART IV

Rest and spiritual formation

Author Calvin Miller stresses that intimacy with God cannot be rushed, that we cannot enjoy the presence of God if we are always looking at our watches. If spiritual formation is being made into the likeness of Christ, being transformed, then this will require intimacy with God. There are no short cuts to intimacy either in human relationships or in relationship with Yahweh; it takes time, unhurried time, focused, deliberate time. The kind of time that Sabbath rest creates and the busyness of our world destroys. “Time itself must be surrendered to the pursuit of the depths of God," notes Miller. "God does not wear a watch. His unthinkable glory is learned only in our time consuming communion with Him.”

     God at the centre

Sabbath rest enables a re-assessing, a re-ordering of life around the priorities of God. As stated earlier it allows us to step away from the mindset of the world and seek after the King and His values.  As James KA Smith has asserted in his book Working At Rest, entering God's rest is not therefore a matter of doing nothing, “it is a matter of desiring the right things, and then ordering our activities in light of that desire. When our desire is ordered to and by the love and grace of God, our autonomous desires to make our mark begin to look empty, even silly.”

    In the final of a series looking at rest, LENA JOHNSTONE underlines how times of rest give us the time we need to come closer to God... | more... |

THE DEVASTATION THAT PORNOGRAPHY WREAKS

In December 2009, writer and Bible teacher Tim Chester highlighted a study done by the Family Research Council on the effects of pornography. Now I have to say at the outset that the FRC is not an organisation I would normally recommend. I believe many of the stances they take are far from Biblical and reflect more of a right-wing political agenda than the way of Jesus. However I could not ignore this one. While I generally lean to the left on most issues, I do not place myself in any particular place on the spectrum of political views. I am first and foremost a follower of Jesus, and that may take me anywhere to the left or the right, depending on where I believe Jesus would stand.

     The fact is that there is nothing good about pornography. It objectifies women, destroys relationships and does not have anything constructive to say about the benefits of morality. And to those who would say that porn has a positive social impact in curbing the desires of men who can’t get it elsewhere and therefore limits the amount of sexual attacks that occur in society, the statistics clearly say otherwise.    

    NILS VON KALM writes about the damage pornography causes... | more... |

POLITICS - TOO MUCH SPEED, TOO MUCH COMMENT

If like me you have an interest in the background to major political stories, one book that’s been heavily publicised over the past week has much to commend it.

     Like Primary Colours before it, Race of a Lifetime: How Obama Won the White House by Mark Halperin and John Heilermann purports to tell the behind-the-scenes tale of a fiercely fought US presidential campaign.

     Unlike the earlier tome, this new one shuns any fictional veneer. It is, according to its authors, pure reportage based on eye-witness testimony from sources close to the candidates.
      Judging from the reviews and excerpts I’ve read, the machinations of the campaign plotters - not to mention the sometimes histrionic behaviour of some candidates - provide the kind of back-story that Robert Harris might have used in his series on ancient Rome.

MAL FLETCHER calls for more light and less heat when it comes to media discussion of politics... | more... |

BINGE BUYING

Binge buying can be just as injurious to your health and family life as binge drinking.

This is a lesson that, it seems, many Britons will learn the hard way over the next few months.

     Recession or not, research has revealed that UK shoppers spent more on debit and credit cards from 19th December to 31st December than they did in the same period last year.

     People spent an estimated £1 billion online during the three days immediately after Christmas Eve. Apparently, people were still spending big on Christmas Day.

     Over the New Year holidays, many major stores in London and regional centres recorded increases of up to five times their sales compared to the same period last year.

Writing from London, MAL FLETCHER says it's time people in the Western world tried to bring their spending under control... | more... |

CHRISTMAS REFLECTION - WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE TRULY HUMAN?

Last week at my son's school the children did a Nativity play. As I watched the infant Jesus I was reminded of Jesus' humanity. He was fully God. Yet we must remember that at the same time He was fully human.

     The Son of the Almighty God became a defenceless baby. Someone who is truly God was born as a truly human, with all its vulnerability and physical weaknesses. From the earliest stage of his life, He had to rely totally on the Father God who loved Him and cared for Him.

     Sometimes I wonder whether we Christians have focused so much on our strength and power that we no longer trust in God totally. Maybe after all our sinful nature has stopped us from being truly human as God intends us to be. That is, perhaps we have chosen not to rely on the Holy Spirit's empowerment in our daily life. Instead, we want to follow our own way of life - a life that is independent of God, and one that focuses on what I can get from Him rather than what I can give to others. This kind of life is, after all, not in line with the renewed humanity that God wants us to belong to as followers of Jesus.

    SIU FUNG WU takes a look at what the birth of Christ can show us about being 'truly human'... | more... |

REDISCOVERING WORSHIP, PART IV

Worship as singing only

In looking at how worship 'should' happen in the gathered community there is, as already discussed, the danger that the 'how' will become the focus of worship rather than the why. That said it is important that the gathered community is a place where all are enabled to worship regardless of age, gender or denominational background. If worship is indeed to be God-centric then the focus of worship in the gathered community needs to be that which pleases God, that which draw people's hearts toward Him. (Isaiah 29: 13) The issue is much less about the form this takes.

     As I stated earlier, I believe that when many state that “they got nothing out of worship” what they in fact mean is that they got nothing out of singing. In the churches that I have been a part of, the singing in church has usually been referred to as the “worship”. Unfortunately this has tended to lead people to believe that the rest of what happens in church and for that matter the rest of the week is something other than worship.

     In the fourth and final part of a series on worship, LENA JOHNSTONE examines why worship must be viewed as more than simply singing alone... | more... |

FOR PREVIOUS:

In the first of a series on worship, LENA JOHNSTONE takes a deeper look at what it's really all about...  | more... |

In the second part of a series on worship, LENA JOHNSTONE examines how we express our worship and God's role in our worship...  | more... |

In the third part of a series on worship, LENA JOHNSTONE looks at the influences on our understanding of worship, our expectations and the place of our feelings...  | more... |

THE PROSPERITY 'GOSPEL' AND THE GFC

A feature article in the latest issue of The Atlantic discusses the influence of the prosperity 'gospel' on the financial crisis. It also talks about some of the ideas behind this doctrine and, worse, some of the racist behaviour of banks teaming up with pastors to rip off Latinos and African Americans.

     The article makes the point that among the many reasons given for the crash is one "that speaks to a lasting and fundamental shift in American culture - a shift in the American conception of divine Providence and its relationship to wealth".

     The alarming increase of the prosperity gospel in the United States is seen in the fact that 'other Christians' apart from Pentecostals - among whom this doctrine has had its most influence - have been stung with this virus as well. Pew research has found that 66 per cent of all Pentecostals and 43 per cent of "other Christians" - a category comprising roughly half of all respondents - believe that wealth will be granted to the faithful.

     NILS VON KALM says the global financial crisis has done little to dampen the enthusiasm of the 'prosperity gospellers'... | more... |

ONLINE MISSION

Since its popular introduction in the mid 1990s the internet has changed how we communicate. Getting a message from one part of the world to another has become so easy, cheap, and quick that geography is no longer the same barrier for communication that it was in the past. At the same time the internet has expanded our understanding of communication. Using the internet is not just about passing on a message.

     When we send an email or a message through the internet, we link to the many million websites that are part of the world wide web - either directly by placing a hyperlink in our message or indirectly, since what we write and send will be evaluated in the light of other information that can be found online. The internet has also increasingly become a social experience. We are not just there to communicate, but also to socialise, sometimes as the persons we really are and sometimes, for different reasons, behind a pseudonym.

     In an article first published in Lausanne World Pulse, PETER FISCHER-NIELSEN takes a look at what is means to use the internet for online mission... | more... |

WHY WOULD ONE FIFTH OF BRITAIN LOOK AGAIN AT THE BNP?

The furore surrounding BNP (British National Party) leader Nick Griffin's appearance on Question Time last week was followed by the stunning news that, in a poll taken after the BBC program, a full 22 per cent of Britons would now 'seriously consider' voting for the BNP in a future election.

     A percentage of these people, I think, would have been reacting to the way the TV program was structured. Some viewers would have found the programme unsettling not so much because it revealed Griffin's fascist views - these had been well publicised and castigated by the press for months - but because panellists and moderator alike seemed intent on doing nothing more than publicly humiliating the BNP leader.

     Although there were revealing moments, the 'debate' was more about heat than light.

MAL FLETCHER takes a look at what the rise of interest in groups such as the British National Party means... | more... |

A CONSUMER REVOLUTION - NEW RULES FOR INVOLVING PEOPLE

A sea change is taking place in consumer attitudes during the recession. Consumers no longer want to be simply consumers; they want to be given the opportunity to become activists.

     They also want to feel a greater sense of personal connectedness with the companies they deal with in everyday life.

     Recently, I was invited to offer radio, TV and press comment on a survey undertaken by one of Britain's leading healthcare providers. The UK-wide study highlighted the dissatisfaction many customers feel with the level of attention they're receiving - especially from banks, utilities and health and other service providers.

     The study, conducted by the Benenden Healthcare Society, showed that almost 14 million people have either changed or considered changing their bank, healthcare or utility provider in the past year because they didn't feel they were getting 'anything back' from the relationship.

MAL FLETCHER says the recession has helped to bring about a change in what consumers are looking for... | more... |

THE COST OF JUSTICE
I remember my daughter coming home in tears from school, and the first words from her mouth are: "Mum, it's not fair". She tells a story of being the victim of aggression, of being misunderstood and not believed when she's telling the truth. The emotions she feels are anger, hurt, powerlessness. And she expects me to be her champion.

     If you unpack these emotions of a child, you find deep down an instinctive desire for good to prevail and evil to be punished; at the same time you see emotions that flow from our own sense of entitlement. My rights have been infringed. As a mother, you can react in two ways: you pile into the fray and defend her rights; or you tell her the facts of life: “Sweetheart, life is not fair!”

     The foundation of our faith as Christians is that God is just, and justice will reign in the cosmos: "Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18: 25).

     In the text of a speech given at Micah Challenge's recent 'Voices for Justice' gathering in Canberra, LYN LUSI, founder of HEAL Africa, talks about the cost of pursuing justice... | more... |

AN UNPLEASANT 'SUB-SPECIES' NOT BEHAVING THE WAY WE WISH - OR PRECIOUS SOULS DESERVING OF HELP?
Can you imagine someone waking up in the morning and announcing "Today I want to be homeless."

    What would you think if you got a Tweet or a Facebook status which starts "What's on your mind?" and you answered the same way, "By the end of the day I plan to be homeless."

     It just wouldn't happen, would it? No-one plans to be homeless, but as a result of certain issues we have experienced which impact our ability to successfully provide for ourselves, we, through no fault of our own, may end up homeless.

     However, as we began to think about the way some people regard the homeless, it occurred to us that many times they are looked at as a different and many times unpleasant sub-species; one which we've named "homo sapiens secus."

     JEREMY REYNOLDS and JONATHAN MATHENY take a someone tongue-in-cheek look at the serious issue of homelessness... | more... |

WHOM DO WE TRUST? THE DEATH OF WALTER CRONKITE

“Whom can we trust now?”

     The Washington Post asked that question last month after the death of Walter Cronkite, once known as the most trusted man in America.

     For many years, the CBS news anchor was a soothing, familiar presence in living rooms across America, and as the Post says, “He could have talked us into almost anything, if he wanted to.”

     Well, he and I sparred off over what I saw as biased reporting. I even once went over his head to his boss, William Paley. But even so, Walter was always a gentleman.

     But times have changed. Where there was once a single fatherly figure reading us the news every evening, now there’s a plethora of voices coming at us from the broadcast networks, the cable networks, the internet - more sources than we could have dreamed of back in the ’60s and ‘70s. There aren’t many public figures left who can unite the country the way that Cronkite once did.

     CHUCK COLSON talks about the issue of trust... | more... |

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ELDERLY
The laying to rest today of Harry Patch, Britain's oldest man and the last surviving member of its World War I armed services, ought to remind us again about the importance of honouring the elderly - and, perhaps, respecting old age itself.

     Robert Browning said that the last of life is the best of life. Many people would disagree. When most of us look at the loneliness and the physical if not psychological diminishment that comes with old age, we'd give almost anything to avoid it.

     Many of us think like John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church, who prayed: "Lord, don't let me live to be useless".

     Life expectancies have grown dramatically in much of the developed world over the past 50 or so years, yet we still seem largely unable or unwilling to confront the challenge of growing old.

MAL FLETCHER reflects on what it means to be old in Western society today - and why we need to reshape our view of the elderly... | more... |

IS IT RIGHT TO WORSHIP STARS?

In my 40 years in journalism, I have interviewed hundreds of Hollywood stars and rock idols, and have discovered that, in many cases, they are often sad, insecure people.

     Yet millions "worship" at their feet, which are usually made of clay.
      The latest outpouring of "worship" by Michael Jackson fans illustrates how empty the lives of so many people are. They prefer to live in a world of illusion and delusion, choosing to believe that their idol is fit for their idolisation.

     I have been to rock concerts where fans travel from around the world to attend their favorite bands concerts and then wait for hours outside to catch a glimpse of their favorite band member and even get a photo taken with them or collect their autograph.

     DAN WOODING takes a look at celebrity culture... | more... |

THE (UN)HAPPY PLANET INDEX
Back in 2007 I wrote an article on the decay of western culture, in which I mentioned the New Economics Foundation's Happy Planet Index. This is an index that addresses the relative success or failure of countries in supporting a good life for their citizens, while respecting the environmental resource limits upon which all our lives depend. Australia was ranked 139th out of 178, which suggested that Jesus was right when he said that life does not consist in the abundance of one's possessions.
Well, the NEF has published its latest version of the index, and it is indeed quite prophetic in its call for a new way of living in a world in which the earth's resources are being depleted at a simply alarming rate.
The report begins by stating that, "In an age of uncertainty, society globally needs a new compass to set it on a path of real progress. The Happy Planet Index (HPI) provides that compass by measuring what truly matters to us - our well-being in terms of long, happy and meaningful lives - and what matters to the planet - our rate of resource consumption."

     NILS VON KALM reflects on the findings of this year's Happy Planet Index... | more... |

THE GREAT COMMISSION - AN EXPLORATION OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT

The Great Commission as climax of the four Gospels
In Christian tradition, “the Great Commission” is a term for the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples - that they should spread His Gospel to all the nations of the world. In a narrower sense, the term defines five specific texts in the New Testament. In an even narrower meaning, the term often just defines Matthew 28:16-20.

     Jesus' most important concern between the resurrection and His ascent into heaven seems to have been world missions, made possible by His sacrificial death on the cross as the most important aspect of His suffering, death, and resurrection. All four Gospels include some form of the Great Commission given in the period of time following the resurrection (Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-20; Luke 24:13-53, particularly vs. 44-49; John 20:11-23, particularly vs. 21-23; and Acts 1:4-11).

     In an article first published in Lausanne World Pulse, Dr THOMAS SCHIRRMACHER takes a look at the importance Jesus places on the "Great Commission"... | more... |

ENDING POVERTY, ONE PERSON AT A TIME

A few years ago, at a Make Poverty History rally, Nelson Mandela said: "Sometimes, it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation."

     I recently interviewed Dr Tony Campolo for a new TV series. Campolo is a respected sociologist and author and professor of sociology at Eastern University in Pennsylvania. A former advisor to President Bill Clinton, he is widely recognised as a leading advocate and campaigner on social justice issues.

     I put it to him that making poverty history sounds good, but that for many people it remains little more than a noble dream, given the size of the problem.

     His response was characteristically succinct: with the enormous reserves of wealth still held within the developed world and the forces of globalisation and digitisation in media, we are the first generation in history which could realistically put an end to poverty.

MAL FLETCHER says that if we are serious about ending poverty around the world, it starts with us and how we live our lives every day... | more... |

WHY ARE CHRISTIANS SO ANGRY?

I have been a Christian now for nearly 50 years and I still can’t get over the fact that so many fellow believers in the West appear to be so angry.

     We read the words of Jesus in John 13:35 (New King James Version), who said, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

     But where is the love in these times? Almost daily, I receive hateful emails that are forwarded to me attacking other Christians, the president, and a plethora of other things. Most are urban legends that have not been checked, but they still get sent.

     A cottage industry has sprung up on the Internet of individuals and groups that spend most of their time in an attack mode. I call it the “wild, wild west of the blogosphere.”

     DAN WOODING wonders why so many Christians in the West seem so angry... | more... |

FAMILY REQUIRES RESPONSIBILITY

This past week has been, unofficially at least, designated the week of the family in Britain.

     The promoters of National Family Week, the London-based Henley Media Group, say they aim to "encourage families to play, learn, eat, read, compete and - most importantly - spend quality time together."

     Recent stories in the media suggest that this kind of emphasis is well overdue.

     We are reminded on a regular basis that the UK has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in Europe and one of the highest rates of abortion. We constantly hear or read stories about youth stabbings and other problems associated with social breakdown in our major cities.

     Many of these can be traced back to what one British judge called, "a period of family meltdown whose effects will be as catastrophic as the melt down of the ice caps."

MAL FLETCHER says the way in which IVF is changing the idea of family should be a cause for concern... | more... |

RUNNING TO STAND STILL

My wife and I recently returned from a holiday to the South Island of New Zealand. As we were travelling around that beautiful country, I started to see how much we always seem to have to 'fill in' time, how we always have to be 'doing' something.

     The first question we often ask someone we haven't seen for a while is 'Are you busy?' as if busyness is a virtue, and that if you're not busy you're not contributing to society.

     On our holiday we were always thinking of the next thing to do. But when we stopped off at a little place called Lake Paringa, on the west coast of the South Island, it looked as though it was a place where time could stand still. It was like the place that time forgot. It was the place where you could camp for a few weeks and your day would consist of getting up when you were ready, maybe doing a bit of trout fishing, reading a book, having a long chat, eating some dinner, and then doing it all again the next day. It's very hard to imagine being that still, to be actually 'doing' nothing.

     NILS VON KALM takes time out from his busy life to reflect on how all that busyness gets in the way of hearing God...  | more... |

TO WHOM HAVE WE BEEN CONVERTED?

In many of today's churches, Christians of all persuasions are feeling the pressure to conform to a certain 'way of being'. Much of our Christian experience has told us that we need to be a certain type of person to be a Christian, and if we do not conform, we are not 'in'. When this happens to us, we are, in a subtle way, not being accepted as a true Christian.

     Such a form of Christianity breeds a lack of freedom to express your love for Christ in a way that reflects the person whom God made you to be. In essence, it breeds a faith that lacks reality. Yet, in many of these same churches, the word 'real' is thrown around as an expression that describes the type of Christianity that is being lived out.

     This way of living contradicts the very core of how Jesus lived his life. Jesus accepted people the way they were. He did not require them to be a particular type of person before they were accepted. As Christian community worker and writer Dave Andrews said at a course last year, "if Jesus followed the form of Christianity that is so prevalent in our churches, none of his disciples would have been Christians".

     NILS VON KALM takes a look at what it means to be the people who God wants us to be...  | more... |

JADE GOODY AND THE DOWNSIDES OF CELEBRITY CULTURE

Newspapers and media outlets across the UK this week have been filled with news and comment surrounding the death of Jade Goody this week.

     In almost every story, she is referred to as 'reality TV star Jade Goody'. In one sense, this is natural, as it was through the Big Brother series that the public first became aware of this largely uneducated, yet obviously ambitious and clever young woman.

     It is right for us to mourn the passing of such a young person, someone who so obviously connected with the aspirations and challenges faced by other people. And if the coverage following her death raises awareness about the risks of cancer, this is something we should welcome.

     However, we should also pause to take stock of the possible downsides of celebrity culture. As a society, we should think long and hard about where the culture of celebrity is leading us - and our children.

     MAL FLETCHER says that as well as mourning the loss of Jade Goody, society should pause to take stock of where the growth in celebrity culture is taking us ... | more... |

THE JULIE MYERSON STORY - ARE LIBERAL VALUES FAILING US?

Last week, a British mother spoke publicly and passionately about the pain caused by her son's cannabis addiction.

     Julie Myerson was, I suppose, indirectly promoting her new book, The Lost Child, which deals with her family's struggle. Yet she was also giving voice to feelings and situations faced by many other parents today.

     Any parent who has raised a troubled child knows something of the pain these parents have been through. Those of us who, thankfully, have seen our children grow up without this kind of trauma can nevertheless empathise with the difficulties involved in balancing parental discipline with trust.

     MAL FLETCHER reflects on the struggles faced by parents today in balancing discipline and trust and takes a look at the dangers "excessive liberalism" poses for families and children... | more... |

FROM ZERO TO HERO - YOUNG PEOPLE APPRECIATE THEIR PARENTS AT 22

A British poll published two weeks ago suggested that young people only begin to really appreciate their parents when they reach the ripe old age of 22 years.

     Some parents of teenagers will find this disheartening, to say the least. 'Surely, we can expect some respect before then?', they'll say.

     I was invited to address this issue on BBC TVs popular breakfast programme recently. It seems that many people were surprised by the findings of this particular study.

     As the father of three young adult children, aged between 24 and 19, I think I know what this poll is actually suggesting. It's not necessarily that teenagers don't appreciate their parents. It's just that for most of one's teenage life, the focus of the mind is firmly on oneself. A certain degree of self-centredness is a factory setting in teenagers. Besides, only an adult can begin to understand the real pressures and restrictions of adult life.

     MAL FLETCHER explores why it is that children suddenly seem so interested in their parents' advice when they reach a certain age - and suggests that we treasure what time we have with them... | more... |

THE SCOURGE OF INTERNET ADDICTION

We are a culture obsessed with experiences. We fear missing out. We cannot bear to see our neighbours and friends having a seemingly enjoyable life where everything seems to go as planned, while we struggle along year after long, drawn out year.

     When we believe that this is our lot in life, it is a human tendency that we reach out for something, anything, to ease the pain. The rise of the internet has been the biggest revolution in our western lifestyle since television. The fact that you are reading this article means that, while you are now online, there is a smorgasbord of other information competing for your attention. It is all at your fingertips, and most of it is free. The question that then arises is 'can you resist?', and if not, why would you even want to?

    NILS VON KALM take a look at how to tackle the issue of 'internet addiction'... | more... |

LEADERSHIP IN TOUGH TIMES - THE NEED FOR COMPETENCE AND CONFIDENCE

The 29th December edition of TIME Magazine notes that, "Just like its banks and its carmakers, America's shattered confidence is in serious need of a bailout."

     After interviewing President-elect Barak Obama, the magazine notes that, "'Yes, we can' is both an affirmation of optimism and the essential claim of the competent."

     Competence and optimism are two of the most important aspects of leadership - especially in times like these, where executives, managers and the general work-force face great uncertainty and tough economic choices.

     Competence and confidence are not the only aspects of leadership, but they are the most needed in difficult seasons.

     MAL FLETCHER says that in hard times such as are being seen now around the world, competent and confident leaders are needed more than ever... | more... |

ASSISTED DYING - IS IT REALLY SO MERCIFUL?

In the face of the very real suffering endured by people in pain, some commentators have called assisted dying an act of mercy. But is it really the most humane response to suffering and where will it lead in future generations?

     This week , the respected BBC Panorama programme looked into the vexed question of whether or not an individual should have a legally sanctioned right to choose the moment of their death.

     The programme looked in particular at the experience and views of Margo MacDonald, a Scottish politician who has a personal interest in assisted dying.

     Ms MacDonald is described by the BBC as 'one of Scotland's most popular public figures - a firebrand, independent politician and forthright media commentator.'

     Sadly, this gifted woman has Parkinson's disease, a degenerative condition of the brain, and she would like to be given the right to choose the time and place in which she dies.

     MAL FLETCHER argues that advocates of assisted dying may be leading us slowly toward a culture of death which devalues human life even more than it already is... | more... |

THE RAPTURE - TIME IT WAS LEFT BEHIND?

So when we read passages like this one where it talks about meeting the Lord in the air, we need to look at the context of what this meant to people living in the Roman Empire in the 1st century. New Testament theologian N.T. Wright says this about it:

     'When the Emperor came to visit a colony or province, the people would go out to meet him at some distance from the city. It would be disrespectful to have him arrive at the gates as though they his subjects couldn't be bothered to meet him properly. When they met him, they wouldn't then stay out in the open country; they would escort him royally into the city itself. When Paul speaks of 'meeting' the Lord 'in the air', the point is precisely not - as in the popular rapture theology - that the saved believers would then stay up in the air somewhere, away from earth. The point is that, having gone out to meet their returning Lord, they will escort him royally into his domain, that is, back to the place they have come from.'

     NILS VON KALM continues his look at the issue of the rapture... | more... |

PART ONE:

There has been a lot said and written in recent years about what

is widely known in Christian circles about the rapture. Two readings - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and Matthew 25:1-13 - among a few others, particularly the one from Paul's first letter to the Thessalonian believers, form the basis of the belief that Christians will one day be snatched up and taken away and that we will spend eternity in heaven with Jesus.

     NILS VON KALM, in the first of a two part series, gives his take on the concept of the "rapture"... | more... |

GRACE ISN'T FAIR

The most famous hymn of all, Amazing Grace, was written by John Newton in the 18th century. Newton was an abolitionist who was a mentor to William Wilberforce in getting rid of slavery. But did you know that when Newton wrote Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, he was a slave trader? He wrote that hymn while sitting in a bar waiting for a shipment of slaves. At the time, he didn't connect the idea that the grace of God had something to say about the social conditions of his day. He was still living a life of ungrace. But over the years he changed, and he realised that the words, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me", meant that he was free to serve, to give his life for something bigger than himself. He saw that it wasn't just about his own private salvation with God and a ticket to heaven.

     If you look at the chapters just before and after this parable in Matthew's Gospel, you'll notice how often Jesus talks about servanthood, and the first being last and the last being first, and that fact that the kingdom is not about being the greatest, but that if you want to be great, you would put yourself at the service of others. It's everywhere in just a few chapters in this Gospel. This is what the Kingdom of God is all about. Jesus spoke about it and Jesus lived it. This is a God who accepts people no matter what they've done.

     NILS VON KALM continues his look at the concept of grace in part two... | more... |

PART ONE:

I used to really struggle over the 'Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard' and wonder what it was all about. I used to feel for the workers who had been there all day and think, yeah, they should feel ripped off. The story didn't gel with the Jesus who would hang out with the poor. Here He was in this story giving the same pay to those worked only an hour as to those who slaved their guts out all day.

     NILS VON KALM takes a look at the concept of grace in the first of a two part series... | more... |

PORNOGRAPHY IS A POISON

The Swiss police have this week broken up an online child pornography ring operating in at least four countries.

     It seems now that hardly a week goes by when we're not confronted with stories about pornography, and its links with paedophilia and other forms of sex abuse.

     Some prominent social commentators say that the growth of the porn industry reflects the breakdown in western culture - and a threat to human health. Yet many people who expose themselves to porn see it as nothing more than a pleasurable pastime. Who's right?

     Once upon a time, pornography was something pedalled under the counter by people you didn't want to know. Today, porn is big business.

MAL FLETCHER writes about the dangers of pornography... | more... |

PUBLIC MORALITY AND THE MASS MEDIA: PART II

The issues thus facing the NSW legislature can't be properly addressed without also reckoning with the further development of "body politics" - that is, abortion, IVF, embryonic stem-cell research, euthanasia and so on - in our public lives. And we come to the question of how we can justly define needs. What are the true needs in this situation that have to be protected by legislation?

     I would suggest that in this context Dr Kaye and Dr Cannold are implicitly suggesting that the Parliament should consider the seed as a harvest from a non-personal source, as if it had grown on a terra nullius, or more accurately a personae nullius. They suggest that the only just way for parliament to regulate IVF is to do so in ways that meet the needs of women who want to bear children by providing seed that must be legally dissociated from the males who supply it.

     Part two of BRUCE C. WEARNE look at the mass media's presentation of issues of public morality... | more... |

   In part one, BRUCE C. WEARNE wrestles with the mass media's presentation of issues of public morality... | more... |

GOOD NEWS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

The very beginning of the oldest Gospel that we have, the Gospel of Mark, has Jesus proclaiming, in chapter 1:15: “The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

     But what is this good news? When someone says to you, “I have good news!”, what is your immediate emotional response? In most cases it will be one of excitement as you anticipate what this good news could be. What did Jesus mean though when he talked about preaching the ‘good news’? Those simple words have led to 2,000 years of debated interpretation. To gain a proper understanding of Jesus’ proclamation we must look at the context into which it was spoken. We need to ask what the people who listened to Jesus’ message in first century Palestine understood when he said that he had good news for them.

     A quick glance at Jesus’ life reveals that he intentionally spent time with the outcasts, those whom ‘respectable’ society rejected. These included ‘sinners’ such as prostitutes, tax collectors, and any others who could not find acceptance within the community. For these people, good news meant outrageous love and undeserved acceptance, despite their actions and status in the culture. Put quite simply, Jesus’ message was good news to the poor, for they were the ones invited to the great banquet.

   NILS VON KALM, of World Vision Australia, takes a look at how the "good news" can change your life... | more... |

HUMANITY AND MEANING

It was the French mathematician Blaise Pascal who wrote of the God-shaped hole that lies within every human heart. Whilst it is said that Pascal may have originated the phrase, Augustine also hinted at the concept in his Confessions, saying that “Man [sic] is one of your creatures, Lord, and his instinct is to praise you. He bears about him the mark of death…But still, since he is a part of your creation, he wishes to praise you. The thought of you stirs him so deeply that he cannot be content unless he praises you, because you made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you.”

     In the 21st century we seem to have lost sight of what we are living for. We are so busy that we have lost the realisation that our lust for material gain to fill the void within is what controls our lives. Study after study has shown over the years that material wealth simply does not fill the emptiness. In fact, further evidence from the Australian Unity wellbeing index shows that, in Australia, once people start earning over $100,000 their level of happiness does not change. That means you can be a multi-millionaire and not be any happier than someone who is on a $100,000 salary.

   NILS VON KALM writes about man's search for meaning... | more... |

IT TAKES COURAGE TO APOLOGISE

On Wednesday, 11th June, while Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper was giving an official apology to Canada's Aboriginal People, my wife and I were driving into Regina, Saskatchewan, to attend the Rising Above National Conference on issues of abuse and residential schools. While the speech was historic and profound, I wasn't fully aware of what this apology was leading up to. Nor was I aware of how the events of this week would impact me.

     As we drove to our destination, we continued to listen to the speech broadcast live to the nation. Arriving at the conference site, we walked into an auditorium where some 200 Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people were watching the speech. Tears flowed throughout the gathering. It was a time of relief for some, yet very painful for others as it dug up memories that many kept hidden for years.
      During the next three days as I listened to people sharing their stories, I too found myself swept up in the whirlwind of horror, pain, and trauma. You see, I too am a survivor of physical and sexual abuse. While not an Aboriginal, nonetheless, I experienced abuse and have lived with those painful memories since I was ten years old.

     JIM UTTLEY, of Assist News Services, writes about what Canadian PM Stephen Harper's historic apology to Canada's Aboriginal people means to him... | more... |

STRENGTH TO DELIVER

Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Americans have become keenly aware of the uncertainty of our nation’s future. We have faced the shocking reality that neither our commerce nor our strong military can ensure our security. And we have been awakened to the vast extent of turmoil beyond our shores.

  The question is: What do we as Christians do in these troubled times?

  Steps toward solutions are complex. Yet this we do know:  We need a habitation of God’s presence to change us and compel us to impact our society with the Gospel.

    It’s not a time for status quo Christian living. The world is desperately searching for answers. And I believe that America in particular will come to her knees and experience revival either by a birthing or a shaking.

   DOUG STRINGER issues a challenge for the future... | more... |

FEMINISM AND FEMININITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Have we reached our goal? Are women and men equal in today's society? Are women achieving the most they can? Or has our society become derailed somewhere along the trek to gender equality?

    I have many girlfriends who struggle with ideas of what, how and how much they should work. One friend confided years ago that she felt that the money she earned she could spend on herself, but not the money her husband earned. Is that equality? What about the couples who put all their money into the 'pot', and then split it 50-50? Is that equality? Where are we - the golden age of true comradery and partnership, still mired in a dungheap of injustice, or just confused?

     Before I go on, I know that many people will not listen to my opinion until they know where I'm coming from...well, neither would I. So, I am now 30, raised by an old-school feminist, currently staying at home full-time and raising our three children (three, two and under one). There - got me fitted nicely into that box?

     KATHERINE BORN examines what it means to be female in the new millennium... | more... |

YOUR PRIVACY - GUARD IT OR LOSE IT

Is there any such thing as a "private citizen" any more? In an age of ID theft and vastly increased public surveillance, is privacy dead?

     These were among the questions put to me in a radio interview recently.

     There's no doubt that, if we are to live in a safe and lawful society, we will need to compromise some aspects of our privacy - especially as the potential for technology-based crime increases.

     Most of us are willing to pay such a price to enjoy the benefits of a globalised, interconnected consumer society. However, we are concerned when we read how anti-terrorism laws and the like are used to "spy" on innocent citizens, as happened recently with a UK Borough Council.

MAL FLETCHER takes a look at where our reliance on technological surveillance may lead us... | more... |

"NO CHILDREN ALLOWED. PETS ARE WELCOME."

My two-year-old-son, who usually receives a lot of attention here in Tokyo because of his blue eyes and blonde hair, was recently upstaged by a pet dog, dressed in a pink dress, sitting in a pram. As we stood side-by-side, my son was ignored as passers by only had eyes for the dog in the pram.

     It is not uncommon for little girls to “play mothers” and dress up the family dog or cat in doll's clothes, push the pet around in a pram and treat it like a baby. But an adult man or woman doing the same thing might raise questions about their mental well-being, that is unless they live in Japan.

     One of the biggest things I’ve noticed since living in Japan, is the number of pet-owners who treat their dogs as they would their own children, nurturing them with love and affection. I had seen this on a lesser scale in Australia, but in a city with more than 12 million people, everything is magnified in Tokyo. I soon became aware of the number of stores for dogs and dog owners, with merchandise ranging from the usual pet related products to designer clothes and diamond collars for the beloved pooch.

    CORAL VASS takes a look at why so many Japanese are splurging on their pets... | more... |

AUSTRIAN CAPTIVES  - SYMPTOM OF A DISCONNECTED SOCIETY?

People across Europe read with alarm this week's news that a woman in Austria, had been held captive in a basement by her father for twenty-four years. In that time she was raped repeatedly so that she bore him seven children, one of whom died.

     The woman was in her early twenties when she was locked in the four-roomed basement. Now in her forties, she apparently opened up to police only when she was assured she would never see her father again.

     The man, now in his seventies, is now being held by police.

     Some might see this as a blight on Austria - and it is - but it is also a blight on the rest of western society. We all share a detachment from our neighbour which makes this kind of thing, while unlikely, still very possible.

    MAL FLETCHER wonders whether in our rush to embrace technology, people in the Western world are missing out on 'real communication' ... | more... |

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FUTURE

The New Yorker described him as 'one of the truly prophetic figures of the space age.' There can be no doubt that Sir Arthur C. Clarke was very influential both in the area of sci-fi writing - he was, after all, the co-writer of 2001: A Space Odyssey with Stanley Kubrick - and, indeed, within science itself, for a great many scientists are familiar with his work.

     Clarke's recent death and the media response to it remind us again of the interest we post-moderns have in all things futuristic. As I noted in my own book The Church of 2020:
     "The study of the future has become big business today...Futurists charge their corporate clients huge sums of money for the benefit of their research and their prognostications about what is to come. Future study has also become a form of entertainment. Sci-fi movies haven't lost their popular appeal over the years. If anything they've grown in stature as much of today's technology fulfils the seemingly fantastic promises made by early sci-fi writers. Bookstores now feature whole sections devoted to the study of the future."

In the wake of the recent death of science-fiction writer, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, MAL FLETCHER takes a look at our growing fascination with the future and argues that Christians should not fear the future but approach it with boldness... | more... |

STEALING BACK TIME

There are never enough hours in the day! Where has the year gone?! Is it that time already? These are the common questions of a society out of time; a society like ours, in which we have so much we want to do, or as Bono puts it 'where freedom looks like too many choices'. The title of a well known book from some years ago called The Thieves of Time suitably describes how many of us feel in our day-to-day lives. Well, whoever the thieves of time were, it’s time we stole it back.

     When I read through the Gospels, one of the things I notice is that Jesus never saw anything as an interruption to what he was doing. Consider the instances where He is on his way somewhere, either to preach, heal, or minister in some other way, and He is stopped in his tracks by a person such as the woman who had a bleeding problem. In desperate faith she touches his cloak, knowing that she will be healed.

     NILS VON KALM takes some time out to reflect on our busy lifestyles... | more... |

SUICIDE - READING THE WARNING SIGNS AND HELPING A FRIEND

The suicide deaths of 17 teenagers in and around Bridgend, Wales, since January 2007 has put the ugly subject of suicide back in the headlines across the UK and Europe as a whole.

     It’s an ugly and heartbreaking subject because of the tragedy of wasted young lives, and the mess of shame, anger and recrimination suicide leaves with families and friends.

     Psychologists and others in the region are looking for reasons as to why this spate of suicides is happening. Theories abound; including the idea - as yet unproven - that they are somehow directly linked via the Internet.

MAL FLETCHER looks at how we can all help to tackle the issue of suicide ... | more... |

'IN THE WORLD' BUT NOT 'OF THE WORLD': HOLINESS, CITIZENSHIP AND THEME OF 'EXILE'

To be ‘in the world’ but not ‘of the world’ is a well-known phrase drawn from the final discourse of Jesus in John 17. It captures most fittingly the tension that Christians experience between the call to discipleship and the norms and pressures of the day-to-day world in which that discipleship must be lived out.

     Seeking to be ‘in sync’ with the ‘not of the world’ call of Jesus, Evangelicals of an era not-too-long ago were especially concerned with certain activities which were considered to betray ‘personal holiness’ such as smoking, drinking any alcohol, dancing, watching particular kinds of movies - or any movies - and, of course, sexual promiscuity. These prohibited activities ranged from those clearly proscribed by the Bible to those that to fellow Evangelicals seemed rather arbitrary. Be that as it may, the thing which linked all these was the concern with personal morality.

    IAN PACKER, director of public theology at the Australian Evangelical Alliance, talks about what is meant by the 'politics of exile'... | more... |

THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE AND SELF-ESTEEM

When talking about proper love of self and how God loves all of us, many Christians strongly hold the view that you cannot love others until you love yourself. In my view, this is not Biblical and therefore a heresy. I would challenge anyone to find a verse or passage in the Bible that says that you cannot love others until you love yourself.

     To respond to this, most Christians who hold to this popular view quote Jesus' saying in Mark 12:28-31 that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself. So, clearly we have to love ourselves so that we can love others. After all, you cannot give something that you haven't got.
      The problem with this view is that Jesus still says that we are to love God and love our neighbour. It is about giving. The focus is on others and not on us. This is linked to what is classically called the 'golden rule' - "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". In a particular situation, think about what you would most want that person to do for you if you were in their position, and do it for them.

    NILS VON KALM takes a look at what it means to have a healthy self-esteem... | more... |

CHALLENGING OUR NOTIONS OF THE GREAT COMMISSION

I am totally committed to the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20.

     I learned about it when I was a young Christian. For a long time I thought that it was about bringing people to Christ - both locally and overseas - and telling them how to “go to heaven”. Once they had been converted to Christianity, we would teach them how to be disciples, which meant doing a lot of “Christian things”. They included: Read the Bible; pray everyday; go to church every Sunday; participate in mid-week church activities; tithe; give money to overseas mission and the poor; and, above all, tell other people how to do all of the above!

     But at a closer look we find that these are not entirely right. First, Jesus didn’t really say that we are to tell people how to “go to heaven”. Yes, the Bible says that those who believe in Jesus will have eternal life. But it doesn’t say that after death there will be some kind of heavenly bliss. Instead, John tells us in Revelation that we will live in a new city, where God will dwell with us (21:2-3, 10). (Note that John says that the city will come down “out of” heaven.)

    SIU FUNG WU takes a closer look at what the Great Commission is all about... | more... |

BRITNEY SPEARS & CO - KEEPING YOUR KIDS AWAY FROM THE CELEBRITY TRAP

How can you keep your kids from falling in love with the celebrity ideal? If you're a parent, and especially if you have teenagers, you will have asked this question along the way.

     A few years ago, a European survey of young adults asked, ‘What would make you most happy in life?’ The number one response was: ‘I’d be truly happy if I could be famous.’ When asked the follow-up question, ‘famous for what?’, the answer was usually, ‘It doesn’t matter...just famous for anything.’

   The New Year has hardly dawned and already we’re reminded about the ‘dark side’ of celebrity. Britney Spears, once the highest selling female artist on the planet, has lost the legal right to see her own children because of her desperate and perhaps despairing behaviour.

   Sadly, this very talented but troubled young woman has been on a downward spiral for some time. Many people look on in sorrow and bewilderment, asking: "Doesn't anyone in her inner circle have what it takes to reach her and turn her around?"

    MAL FLETCHER takes a look at the 'celebrity trap' and outlines his tips for how parents can help their children avoid it... | more... |

WHAT'S WRONG WITH CHRISTIAN MEDIA?

"Everyone may be talking about digital switch-overs by 2012, but some things will never change - like the godly qualities that inspire trust; the qualities that make us trustworthy.

     "This is where those of us involved in the independent Christian broadcast sector have an important and even prophetic role to play.

    "In the Christian worldview, trustworthiness is a virtue based not first in human nature, but in the nature and character of God. Perhaps more than any other media community, we can model trustworthiness to a generation that has seen so little of it. In the process, we can put ourselves at the centre of an important cultural conversation."

    In a controversial speech to the Christian Broadcasting Council (UK) in late November, MAL FLETCHER talks about the future of Christian media... | more... |

FAITH AND POLITICS - A CLOSER LOOK AT THE SIN OF SODOM

No doubt the church is increasingly interested in public policy issues. About 700 churches across the country participated in the Rudd-Howard webcast in August, where the two political leaders were asked where they stood on a range of moral and justice issues. According to some reports, over 100,000 Christians took part in the event. This is a clear indication of their interest in political debates.
      But among Christians there seems to be a difference of opinion regarding which policy issues are most important. Some Christians think that social justice issues are most important. Others, especially evangelical and Pentecostal Christians, tend to be more concerned about personal morality issues, such as same-sex civil union and embryonic stem cell research.

     SIU FUNG WU puts a different slant on the Biblical story of Sodom... | more... |

REMEMBERING BURMA

The human hunch is a powerful indicator that things are not right. And so it was when our group stepped across the border from Thailand into Burma. It was my first trip overseas and I had been confronted with HIV, leprosy and poverty in Thailand along with the exuberant smiles and graceful hospitality of the Thai people.

     At the border we were met by heavily armed security. There were obvious language barriers but our guide spoke and we were motioned forward. Without really thinking about the ramifications, I passed over my passport which was studied and then kept. We stepped into Burma and there was the hunch, the taste in the mouth, the tightening of the neck muscles, the narrowing of peripheral vision.

     I questioned why our passports were not returned - “If something happens, they will be destroyed and we were never here” my friend replied. My breath shortened and I start to notice the humidity and heat like the pressure of something heavy.

     ADAM KELSALL finds memories of a trip to Burma several years ago have come flooding back... | more... |

OF FAITH AND FOOTBALL

It was the great Liverpool manager of the 1960s and 70s, Bill Shankly, who, when asked in an interview about football being a matter of life and death, replied: “I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that".

    If you live in Melbourne, you would have to have been asleep for the last couple of weeks to not be aware of finals fever. September is in the air. It is that time of year when the smell of the grass fills your nostrils, when spring has started and the weather is a little warmer, and Monday's experts - to use a phrase from a popular song some years ago - are out in force. If your team is involved, you can feel the excitement as you make your way with the droves of other worshippers to pay homage at the temple, otherwise known as the MCG.

     NILS VON KALM on his love for Christ - and for AFL club Hawthorn... | more... |

TOWARDS A THEOLOGY OF WEALTH

It should have become clear that the right response to the good news is not merely about giving money to the poor. The theology of wealth is all about true discipleship - one that embraces the poor like Jesus. It is about identifying with those in humble circumstances by giving up one’s own privileges, power and status.

     Thus the issue is not about whether God wants to prosper us with lots of money, or whether we should remain poor like George Muller. It is about our willingness to respond to the call of genuine discipleship.

     Those who enjoy financial prosperity not only have to watch out for the “love of money”, but also the love of honour, status and privileges. On the other hand, there is a danger when one thinks that poverty is a way to attain some form of “superior spirituality”.

     In the second part of a two part article, SIU FUNG WU looks at how our call to discipleship should shape our response to money... | more... |

Perhaps more than ever we need a theology of wealth. Why? Three reasons immediately come to mind. First, Christians in the West are richer than most people in the rest of the world. If most of us are relatively rich by the world’s standard, how, then, should we use our wealth?

     In the first part of a two part article, SIU FUNG WU takes a look at what it means to be wealthy for a Christian... | more... |

SHAKEN AND STIRRED IN ACEH

The recent flooding in Bangladesh, and the enormous suffering that came with it, hardly rated a mention in Australian media. Watching SBS brought back memories almost three years old.

     I went from a Brisbane lounge room to a makeshift office in Banda Aceh during the terrible weeks of early 2005.

     “Oh s**t, that’s bigger than last week!”
     “I’m getting outside.”
     “Sir! I cannot swim.”
     “It’s all right Bunda. There isn’t another big wave coming.”

     Our middle aged translator fled. The army sergeant shook his head and gave me that look.

     “Yeah, right sir. How long have you been a qualified seismologist?”

     That exchange took place in the former morgue, amidst the wreckage of Banda Aceh’s largest hospital. I served there for almost six weeks on the Australian Task Force sent in the wake of the Boxing Day tsunami. As officer in command of media operations, I dealt with the international press corps covering the Australian Defence Force relief effort.

     PHIL SMITH recalls how the Boxing Day tsunami challenged his faith... | more... |

BLAIR DEPARTS - A REFLECTION ON LEADERSHIP

Today I rode in a cab past the Palace of Westminster just as Tony Blair was closing his final Prime Minister’s Question Time, and bidding farewell to 10 years as premier of Britain.

      A few minutes earlier we had passed Buckingham Palace, where news crews were already setting up to cover the arrival of Blair for his final audience with the Queen; just before Gordon Brown would arrive to be asked to head the government.

      The British media have been talking about this day for a long while. Of course, as you’d expect in a vibrant democracy, many people have been hoping for an end to the Blair era for years. Despite the misgivings of many, though, he had still managed to win three terms in government, a feat never before achieved by a Labour leader.

      Later in the day, I arrived in Paris, where the French have recently seen a change of personnel at the top, with President Sarokozy commencing his term in office.

      As these leadership changes take place, I’m reminded that leadership at any level is a temporary thing; that leaders have only so much time in which they can bring change.

     MAL FLETCHER on what makes a good leader... | more... |

THE ESSENCE OF HUMILITY

Far be it from me to write an article on humility. At first it strikes me as kind of ironic to be writing an article on this topic, given that it will probably be read by many people. It's dangerously good for my ego, and therefore not good at all. It can be dangerous for me, someone who likes being upfront and receiving affirmation, to write an article on what it is to be humble. Who do I think I am?

      However, write this I will, and I pray that it will not be me writing, but the Holy Spirit who guides me and teaches me more about humility as I write. For if there is one thing I have learned over the last couple of years, it is that doing life my own way does not work. I cannot do life on my own. I need someone or something bigger than me to guide me. Otherwise I keep running into walls and end up being selfish, resentful, fearful, anxious and unloving. It is God who keeps me on the straight and narrow.

      Philip Yancey writes of heroes of his who have exercised humility by finding a group overlooked and undeserved. Listen to what he says: “I think of Dr. Paul Brand, a promising young physician who volunteered in India as the first orthopaedic surgeon to work with leprosy patients. Or of Henri Nouwen, professor at Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard, who ended up among people having a fraction of those students' IQs: the mentally handicapped at L'Arche homes in France and Toronto. Both of these men demonstrated to me that downward mobility can lead to the success that matters most.”

      NILS VON KALM sets out in search of true humility... | more... |

THE GOSPEL AS PUBLIC TRUTH

The term ‘public theology’ is increasingly being used to make the point that biblical and theological principles have relevance outside the four walls of the church. Christian ministry to the world in which we live is more than ethics and evangelism.

     ‘Public theology’ covers social and cultural analysis, workplace ministry, political involvement and social ethics. It deals with the public relevance of Christian doctrine and aims at overcoming the privatised and domesticated view of faith which has long restricted Christian influence. A privatised view of faith has suited both secularists and many Christians who have accommodated to this demarcation of life’s issues and focused on personal and family issues while leaving broader issues of public life alone.
      But the past few years has seen a significant change in attitude, evidenced in the politicisation of evangelical groups previously committed to being (at least nominally) a-political. Theologically, this fits well with the claim of theologian and ethicist Oliver O’Donovan in Desire of the Nations that "theology must be political if it is to be evangelical".

      Dr BRIAN EDGAR, director of public theology at the Australian Evangelical Alliance, on the value - and dangers - of public theology... | more... |

THE GAME OF POLITICS

Recently we have seen another Federal Budget come and go. The pork barreling has happened again, and of course no one is surprised, especially in an election year. This is what we expect months out from an election. According to the media, this was a good budget in that it gave something for everyone and no one missed out.
      In the budget we were also introduced to the Government's own version of Kevin Rudd's 'education revolution'. In addition to what we saw in the budget, we have seen the Government soften its stance on its contentious industrial relations laws by introducing a fairness test. In the process they clearly outsmarted the Opposition.

      Australians have become used to such budgets and such promises by our leaders, and we have also been numbed to the media response. We are not surprised at the media's reporting that these government initiatives are very strategically thought out to put the Government in the best position to outsmart the Opposition and prepare itself for the upcoming election.

      NILS VON KALM calls for Christians to stand up and help to "change the direction of the wind"... | more... |

SUFFERING WELL?

You might find the topic of suffering an odd subject to write, but I find it quite appropriate. I find that most, if not all, of us cringe at the thought of suffering. Quite naturally I suppose. However, I want to dive into the not-so-natural way to endure suffering, or, you could say, the 'supernatural' way to suffer.
      Honestly, I find the idea of suffering a most repulsive thought myself, but that doesn't change the reality of enduring my fair share of it. In fact, that is why I have developed a mindset of learning to suffer in a manner that brings glory to God. Let me say right up front that I have not perfected this at any level, but I have made it one of my life goals.

      Quite possibly there are those of you who are already thinking to yourselves 'what a morbid topic'. My suggestion would be to take a step back and examine what Jesus told us as believers we would endure. So, for the purposes of this article, pick up your cross and come along with me as we strive to learn to suffer well.

      CHRIS THOMPSON writes about one of the paradoxes of Christianity... | more... |

THE FOOTPRINTS MYSTERY

Such a beautiful poem, yet it has become the subject of such a bitter fight. Although many have stepped forward to claim authorship of the Footprints poem that has inspired millions across the world, there are three major contenders: Carolyn Carty, Margaret Fishback Powers, and Mary Stevenson.

     CAROLYN CARTY
     Carolyn Carty says that she wrote the Footprints poem in 1963, while grieving the death of her grandfather. She was just six-years-old. Although this seems an amazing feat, Carty was quick to point out that she was able to read and write fluently from four-years-old, and comes from a long line of teachers and preachers. She was inspired by a poem written by her grandmother, as well as Longfellow’s poem A Psalm of Life and John F. Kennedy’s immortal words: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country".

      Originally content to stay out of the limelight, Carty became so outraged when others began to claim authorship and cash-in on her work that she decided to come forward. “It is hard to be noble in this situation,” she told me. "It only came to my attention in May 2003 that others were not only claiming authorship, but were collecting money that does not belong to them."

      JANET CAMILLERI takes a look at the controversial origins of the Footprints poem... | more... |

THE UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM...OR IS IT?

There is a brilliant book called The Upside Down Kingdom by Donald Kraybill, which explains how the kingdom of God is so opposite to what the world teaches about what is important in life. The world teaches us to look out for number one while Jesus teaches us to deny ourselves and love our enemies. The world teaches us that having more and more will make you happy. Jesus asks us what will it profit someone if they gain the world yet lose their very self?

      However it is my view that it is not the kingdom that is upside down, it is the world that has things the wrong way around (I need to state that Kraybill says this also, however he simply wishes to retain the upside down image to focus on certain issues).

      When I think of this term, I think of the way of Jesus, being the way things were meant to be. When we follow Jesus, we are being who God originally meant us to be. It is when we follow the ways of the world that things turn upside down. The ways of the kingdom are the right way up.

    NILS VON KALM takes a look at the right way up... | more... |

A CRY FOR CREATIVITY?

A German boy, aged 15, lapsed into a coma recently after excessive alcohol consumption at a ‘Flat Rate Party’.
      His case serves to highlight again the problem of rising alcohol abuse rates among Europe's teenagers.

      The young German was allowed entry to an event where patrons are allowed to consume as much alcohol as they want for a flat fee. Apparently, nobody bothered to check his age - the legal drinking age in Germany, as in much of Europe, is 18 years.

      Many across Europe are questioning why, in an age of unprecedented prosperity and opportunity, young people are turning to alcohol in a way that puts their health, even their lives, at risk.

      Indeed, for some young people, alcohol consumption seems to have become a form of personal expression. It's almost as if they feel they cannot be truly alive, or creative, without a few stiff drinks.

    MAL FLETCHER argues that drinking to excess among young people reflects the lack of long-term creativity in their lives... | more... |

BILLY THORPE AND GOD - THE SPIRITUAL SEARCH OF A ROCK ICON

In a period of less than a year a number of prominent Australians have left this world for that which lies beyond. Steve Irwin, noted for his contribution to conservation and wildlife, Peter Brock, Australian car racing legend, and now, Billy Thorpe, Australian rock icon, best known as the leading figure of Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs.

      Each departure has brought a mixture of shock, disbelief and grief to people across Australia, and to varying degrees worldwide. The last of the three, Billy Thorpe, is an interesting study. A man who according to many accounts, and his own writings, in both the musical and literary sense, was on a spiritual search. Did Billy Thorpe find God? We may never know, but he was certainly a man possessed by the knowledge that there is more to this earthly life.

      Much has been written about Billy Thorpe in recent days. His funeral, attended by famous celebrities ranging from Bryan Brown, Olivia Newton-John and Jack Thompson, to musicians such as Max Merritt, Normie Rowe, and Col Joye paid tribute to his impact on the Australian music scene and to Billy Thorpe as a man. Friends noted that Billy Thorpe was on a lifelong spiritual search without elaborating regarding whether or not he had found what he was looking for.

     RUSSELL STUBBINGS reflects on the Australian view of the afterlife... | more... |

SIGNS OF A CULTURE IN DECAY

Much has been written about the moral decay of western culture. It hasn't just been in recent years either. For many years, people have decried the decadence and hypocrisy of our affluent, individualistic western culture. Mahatma Gandhi was once asked what he thought of western civilisation. He replied, “I think it would be a great idea”. In the 21st century, nothing seems to have changed. We are as self-interested as ever, we have never been richer and we have never been so unhappy. We are still a culture in decay.

      In June last year, the New Economics Foundation produced the 'Happy Planet Index', a measure that addresses the relative success or failure of countries in supporting a good life for their citizens, while respecting the environmental resource limits upon which all our lives depend. Of the 178 countries included in the report, none of the wealthy G8 countries ranked in the top 60. The best was Italy which ranked 66th. Australia ranked 139th. We need not be surprised when we such a ranking. Consider some of the following indicators that our culture is in a serious mess.

    Amid the signs of a "culture in decay", NILS VON KALM finds that all you need is love... | more... |

ENTERING THE 'PROMISED LAND'

Late one night recently, The Lord rebuked me for a case of spiritual pride.

      God does miraculous things in our lives - rescues us from bondage. But that is not all that he wants to do in us and through us: He then wishes for us to walk into freedom; to claim our spiritual and even worldly promised land(s).

      We often speak of how the Jewish nation was miraculously rescued out of bondage to the Egyptians, and then we can read the frustrating history of how they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years; before finally entering their Promised Land.

      And I must confess that there have been times when I have scoffed and even joked about the length of time that it took the “chosen ones” to get to the point of spiritual maturity and righteousness, to be permitted to walk in and claim their destiny.

     NICK HODGSON goes jogging and learns a lesson about dying to self... | more... |

COSMIC RENEWAL - WATER, WATER, WATER

Where has the rain gone? Victorians started 2007 with the introduction of stage three water restrictions. Similar restrictions are currently enforced in Sydney (level three) and Brisbane (level four). In many parts of Australia people are enduring much tougher water restrictions and indeed experiencing a severe drought.

      Interestingly, Melbournians just had their city’s coldest Christmas day on record, which came with rain, hail, and snow in the mountains. Yet it was seen as the best Christmas gift for eastern Victorians as they battled a prolonged bushfire, which was in turn a result of extremely dry weather.

      According to the Bureau of Meteorology, 2006 was the second driest year for south-eastern Australia, and the nation’s average temperature had risen by 0.9 degrees Celcius since 1910 - presumably a significant change for the earth’s delicate climate system.

     SIU FUNG WU goes below the surface in a look at Australia's water crisis... | more... |

LIVING IN A 'MICROCHIP CULTURE'

Shoppers could soon pay for goods using a microchip implanted under the skin, according to a report in The Times newspaper in the UK recently.
      The idea, says the report, is already catching on with today’s iPod generation, with one study showing that one in 10 teenagers and one in 20 adults already willing to have a microchip implanted to pay shop bills and help to prevent identity fraud.
      The VIP Baja Beach Club in Barcelona already uses implanted human body chips to identify its exclusive clientele - ostensibly because wearing bikinis and shorts leaves nowhere to carry wallets and purses. Members use the chip to gain access and to pay for services.

    MAL FLETCHER says while 'digital money' has its advantages, there are serious implications for our freedom and privacy... | more... |

CALLING TIME ON BOYS BEHAVING BADLY

As an Australian Rules Football enthusiast (that’s the one where highly skilled players attempt to kick goals with an oval ball for those who prefer lesser sporting endeavours) I am suffering with major internal conflict.

      Everything I love about the sport is still there: the skill, speed, bumps, tackles, agility, high marks, courage, camaraderie, the smell of Dencorub, the atmosphere of a big crowd, remarkable goals that seem to defy physical laws, yet something is amiss.

     Over the past few years I have become increasingly disturbed by the boorish, rude, arrogant, and inappropriate behaviour modeled by our so called elite footballers, and those at local league levels who seem to follow suit. A number of high profile recent cases in both Australia and overseas come to mind - many involving drink-driving or violence - which typify the disturbing behaviour of many so-called stars.

     RUSSELL STUBBINGS argues that it's time for sports organisations at all levels to blow the whistle on poor behaviour on and off the field... | more... |

THE CHRISTIAN VOTE

There is no doubt that Christians are increasingly keen to influence Australian politics today. This is especially so among evangelical and Pentecostal Christians. Within my own small circle of friends, I have met three Christians running for seats in the Victorian state election in November. Their courage and passion are commendable and demand our prayers.
       The recent enthusiasm to influence government policies has prompted me to reflect on how Christians should vote in the present political environment. In the following I will argue that the motivation of voting for Christian political candidates must go beyond their making a stand on certain moral issues. Christians in politics find themselves in a position to bear witness to the character of God and the values of His kingdom. In our voting, we need to prayerfully select those whose lives and policies truly reflect God’s justice and mercy.

     SIU FUNG WU argues that the decision to vote for a Christian politician should be about more than just their stand on "certain moral issues"... | more... |

THE DANGERS OF ALCOHOL

One of the traditional activities of Wesley Mission over the centuries has been opposition to alcohol. An irony has emerged in the fight against alcohol: on the one hand, there has been a greater acceptance of it among the churches, while on the other hand there has been growing scientific concern about its dangers!

      I recently took part in Alcohol Awareness Week, a national initiative to alert people to the dangers of alcohol. I chair the NSW network that coordinates some of the events. The network is an ad hoc grouping of churches and other organisations that support a total abstinence policy on alcohol.

      The network has this total abstinence policy, first, because it believes that alcohol is a dangerous drug. It is far more dangerous than the government’s official “harm minimisation” approach suggests - and so it should be treated as such.

     Dr KEITH SUTER says there needs to be a rethink on how we approach alcohol... | more... |

THE EMERGING CHURCH - GROWING MISSIONAL CHURCHES IN AUSTRALIA TODAY

When Bob Dylan lyrically commented on the changing times back in 1963, little did he know the extent of the social and cultural change which would follow. Today we are faced with rapid change, both locally and globally. It is the rapidly changing times in which we live which makes Christian mission in Australia a unique challenge fraught with many difficulties and obstacles, and yet, at the same time, many possibilities and rewards.

      The Problem: Marginalization of the Church
      In postmodern, secular society the church has been marginalized, no longer enjoying the influence it once had. For many Australians the church is regarded as irrelevant and even obsolete - an attitude that brings church planting into the realm of missionary activity. For those in Australia who seek to grow the Kingdom of God, a deliberate missionary strategy is needed in order to impact the local community, restore the relevancy of the church, and rekindle interest in the Christian faith. As evangelistic, mission-minded believers we need to see ourselves as missionaries working in cross-cultural contexts, immersed in communities where people are largely unchurched and show little interest in Christianity.

     RUSSELL STUBBINGS takes a look at "incarnational ministry"... | more... |

CELEBRATING FATHER'S DAY

Well, well, well, it's that time of year again. Father's Day is next Sunday, 3rd September, here in Australia. We all know that Father's Day is close because of all the adverts for tools coming on our television and filling our mailbox.

    How did it all start?

    It actually started with a woman. Sonora Louise Smart Dodd, first conceived the idea of a Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon. Mother's Day was first celebrated by the ancient Greeks and then again in 17th century England as "Mothering Sunday". In the US, Anne Jarvis revitalised the concept during the American Civil War and it was eventually officially made a holiday in the early 1900s.

     WARWICK MARSH takes a look at the origins of Father's Day ... | more... |

WHAT WOULD JESUS SAY TO AN AIRPORT TERRORIST?

Terrorism is the use of violence or the threat of violence to coerce or manipulate people's behaviour.

      The history of terrorism over the past 20 years reads like a medieval horror story gone wrong. There's a long list of terrorist actions, but some caught our attention in a very big way.

      Like the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland where 270 people lost their lives (21st December). And the 1995 bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, which left 168 people dead and hundreds more injured (19th April).

      During the 1990s, authorities around the world began to identify a new breed of terrorist. These people were not necessarily poor or oppressed. They were often well educated and sometimes wealthy.

  MAL FLETCHER looks at how Jesus would view terrorism... | more... |

JUSTICE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ABSOLUTES

The renowned British statesman Benjamin Disraeli once declared that “Justice is truth in action!”. I believe it was Eric Pement of Jesus People USA who penned “There can be not justice without truth and there can be no truth without absolutes!”

      If these statements are in anyway accurate, then we are faced with a serious problem in our postmodern culture. Why? Because 'justice', the universal cry of all hearts believed to be unjustly treated, cannot be delivered in a relativist environment.

      For justice to be dispensed it must be the product of and founded on truth, but as we see for truth to be such, it must be predicated on absolutes. Ravi Zacharias defines truth as follows: "A property assigned to an assertion, which corresponds with reality as it is." This property and assertion must be truth, must be so for all people at all times. However, who is it that puts legs on this thing? Who is it that determines ultimate absolutes? Man? Which human being or group could be trusted or believed to produce such a thing?

  In part two, SHANE VARCOE explores the relationship between truth and justice... | more... |

A TRUTH TO DIE FOR?

I believe it was Martin Luther King Jr who said "Until a man has found something to die for, he cannot really live."

      The difficulty with this proposition in a relativism satiated post-modern age, spawned only from the metaphorical parents of 'no constraints on self' and 'unprecedented prosperity', is that we have trouble choosing which 'truth' to subscribe to.

      Many delude themselves that we have successfully demolished absolutes, and therefore we have before us a veritable 'smorgasbord' of theosophical options - all now equally valid. So what criteria do we use in our selection of this ultimate investment? And, in the First World West, with the sociological DNA of comfort, ease and the 'self' first’, is any lucidity really possible?

  In part one of a two part essay, SHANE VARCOE explores the meaning of truth... | more... |

COLLISION COURSE: CONSUMER CULTURE AND CHRISTIANITY

We live in an era of great paradox. Prosperity and wealth on the one hand, poverty and severe lack on the other. The Western world in particular is marked by a continual quest for accumulating material possessions, money and wealth. One only needs to scan the shelves of any book store to be convinced of our obsession with becoming rich. Church leaders inform us that we need more money and need to orient our thoughts towards accumulating wealth. But is this merely a reflection of the culture in which we live or a Biblical mandate? Do we have a God-given right to dream of wealth and riches, even if it does mean we can then “bless others”?

      Those of us who belong to the community of God need to seriously consider our response to this message of consumerism and wealth. What does the Bible teach us about money, materialism and consumerism? It is easy to blindly accept what we hear and see, and sometimes we can fall victim to the subtle infiltration of worldly values and attitudes into the church. As a counter-cultural movement, the church must firstly be aware of the gods of the age, and secondly resist their entry into the very culture and fabric of the church.

   RUSSELL STUBBINGS explains why the church should be resisting 'consumer culture'... | more... |

WILL BEING COOL SAVE THE CHURCH IN A 'POST- CHRISTIAN' CULTURE?

I am lounging back in my chair as I sip my coffee with my friend and fellow follower of Jesus. Our lunch is taking place in one of Melbourne’s hip inner city latte zones. We are discussing ministry over some Moroccan food. In this cool neighborhood, we do not look out of place, no way! These two pastors look the part! We look nothing like the Ned Flanders cliched image that most non-Christians have of Christians. We have managed to achieve that level of careful dressing so as to be stylish without really trying. “Yeah, these two men of God feel right at home in this cool world.”

      But then everything goes wrong. One of the hip natives of this 'land of cool' plants himself next to us and orders lunch. No stress - our cultural signals will not give away our status as believers in Jesus. Everything is going well until my friend drops the J- BOMB.

   MARK SAYERS looks at whether churches should be trying to be 'cool' ... | more... |

ADULTESCENCE! HOW THE YOUTHIFICATION OF OUR CULTURE CHANGES EVERYTHING FOR CHRISTIAN LEADERS

We are turning into a massive youth culture. A society in which being young is an attitude, not an age. Overall this social wave is going to radically affect how we run and structure our congregations. Planning how we respond now is key for the life and sustainability of many of our churches. But I hear you asking, ‘What has happened to the whole concept of young people growing up getting married, getting a real job and a hair cut when they hit their 20s?’ Welcome to the world of the twixter. In Japan they are called 'freeters', in other countries ‘Peter Pans’, and they are changing our culture.

      Twixters are young adults who range in age from late teens to mid 30s. They move from job to job, see themselves as part of youth culture. Romantic and sexual relationships to them are fluid and non-binding, except when it comes to their connections with their parents, with whom often they share a co- dependant relationship. They spend most of their money on music, fashion, travel and entertainment. Their peers are everything to them, and if they are going to get married at all, they will do it late. For most twixters marriage and children change very little of their desire to be part of youth culture.

   MARK SAYERS takes a look at the ramifications of a trend in which young adults are staying younger, longer... | more... |

COMPETING PRIORITIES? EVANGELISM, HOLY LIVING AND SERVING THE POOR

The Micah Challenge campaign had a good year in 2005. It called on the government for more and better aid, trade justice, and debt relief, for the poor countries in our world. Although there is a long way to go in eliminating global poverty - where a staggering 30,000 children die of poverty-related causes each day - the Australian Government’s announcement of a $1.5 billion increase in overseas aid by 2010 is very encouraging.

      While many churches have enthusiastically supported the campaign, it is fair to say that global poverty is still not a high priority in most of our local churches.

      Interestingly, in a recent web article in Christianity Today, Rick Warren, author of Purpose Driven Life, honestly confesses that he has previously missed the over 2000 scriptural references to the poor. This kind of oversight explains why issues of aid, trade and debt, are not high in the pastor’s priorities.

    In an article first published in Soundings, SIU FUNG WU argues Christians should adopt a holistic approach when it comes to balancing evangelism, holy living and helping the poor... | more... |

CAN THE RICH BE POOR? RECOGNISING OUR BLIND SPOTS

It is encouraging to see the recent interest in fighting global poverty. Both Nicky Gumbel (the Alpha Chaplain) and Rick Warren (author of Purpose Driven Life) openly support the Make Poverty History campaign.

      In Australia, Micah Challenge led the way in urging the Prime Minister to increase our overseas aid budget, and he announced recently a $1.5 billion increase in our aid level by 2010.

      Such compassion for the poor is heartening. The church is heeding the call of the Scriptures to be generous and speak up for the poor. Yet the Gospel demands us to go beyond generosity. Perhaps we should stretch our understanding of poverty further, and the best place to start is to find out where our blind spots are.

    SIU FUNG WU takes a look at identifying and avoiding our blind spots when it comes to global poverty... | more... |

WHAT MAKES A GOOD AID WORKER?

So what makes a good aid worker or development professional? I think it comes down to these main five things: a passionate heart, good relationships, clear objectives, appropriate skills, and being a reflective practitioner.

      In order to do this work there’s got to be some fire in your belly. There needs to be some pulsating, vibrant force which drives you along. This can be a mixture of things - for some it’s the heart of compassion; for others it’s a strong sense of social justice; for many Christians it’s a calling from God to reach out to others. Ideally of course, for believers at least, it should be a combination of all these.

      In one real sense, success in the field is all about relationships. Being an aid worker will force you into a multitude of new relationships. The biggest challenge often relates to your workmates - both national and expatriate! How do you also meaningfully identify and empathise with those you’re there to help? 
      CHRIS PIPER poses the question of what qualities are needed in an aid worker... | more... |

AN INDIVIDUAL LIFE?

“I’m an individual, you can’t fool me!” - Mark "Jacko" Jackson.

     I grew up in a family. I had a mum and a dad and three brothers. I was very fortunate with my education that I journeyed through primary and secondary education with the same group of peers. I lived in a small town where it seemed everyone helped this young person grow up. Scout leaders, church leaders, bosses of part-time jobs. Relationships were forged with not just people my age but older people and younger people, people with kids, grandmas and grandpas, rich and poor. It was a complex soup of humanity jumbled together in one bowl and I drank it up gleefully.

   ADAM KELSALL reflects on what it means to be an individual... |more...|

SHANE VARCOE takes a look behind the words dogma and karma... | more... |

SIMON CAREY HOLT wonders what heaven is like... | more... |

NICK HODGSON takes a look at the cost of sin... | more... |

 SIMON CAREY HOLT discovers Bibleman... | more... |

  JO HOPPING takes a look at the issue of suffering... | more... |
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TANYA BENNETTS writes of a new move to combat the AIDS epidemic in South Africa... | more... |

ADAM KELSALL relates a meaty parable... |more...|

ADAM KELSALL goes in search of a 'true' narrative... |more...|

ADAM KELSALL takes a look at how our horizons can limit us... |more...|

ADAM KELSALL reflects on the journey of life... |more...|

CAROLE ADAMS writes of how she saw her purpose in a cross-stitch... | more... |

The consumption of humanity? ADAM KELSALL questions a consumer mentality...

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   NICK HODGSON puts a new spin on the Christian saying What Would Jesus Do? (WWJD)... | more... |