If you can start the day without a cigarette,
If you can start the day without caffeine,
If you can get going without pep pills,
If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,
If you can overlook it when those you love take it out on you when, through no fault of yours, something goes wrong,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can ignore a friend's limited education and never correct him,
If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend,
If you can face the world without lies and deceit,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
If you can honestly say that deep in your heart you have no prejudice against creed, color, religion or politics,
Then, my friend, you are almost as good as your dog.
-Author unknown
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Christianity's Real Record
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GregKoukl/
2006/11/21/christianitys_real_record
Ever had the Crusades held up as a reason not to believe? Christians have done a lot of evil in the past, right? Atheists are much more tolerant and peace-loving than religious people...?
Well that's a claim that's taken for granted by many but it needs to be explored...this article does it well.
2006/11/21/christianitys_real_record
Ever had the Crusades held up as a reason not to believe? Christians have done a lot of evil in the past, right? Atheists are much more tolerant and peace-loving than religious people...?
Well that's a claim that's taken for granted by many but it needs to be explored...this article does it well.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Wright challenges conservatives, liberals
http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/17941.htm
Bishop N.T. Wright spends a good deal of time explaining to admirers that they misunderstand him.
To those impressed by his rigorous, evangelically-inclined biblical scholarship, he must explain that "conservative" convictions regarding the interpretation of Scripture do not, in his case, translate into support for the foreign policy of President George W. Bush.
"I often meet people in this country who tell me, 'I love your books on Jesus. I really enjoy your work on Paul. But how can you criticize our president because God has raised him up to bring justice to the world?'" says Wright, the prolific author who is also the Bishop of Durham.
In his most recent book, Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense, Wright is dealing with Christianity at its most elemental.
Bishop N.T. Wright spends a good deal of time explaining to admirers that they misunderstand him.
To those impressed by his rigorous, evangelically-inclined biblical scholarship, he must explain that "conservative" convictions regarding the interpretation of Scripture do not, in his case, translate into support for the foreign policy of President George W. Bush.
"I often meet people in this country who tell me, 'I love your books on Jesus. I really enjoy your work on Paul. But how can you criticize our president because God has raised him up to bring justice to the world?'" says Wright, the prolific author who is also the Bishop of Durham.
In his most recent book, Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense, Wright is dealing with Christianity at its most elemental.
Friday, July 07, 2006
The Gospel of Superman
http://www.pastors.com/article.asp?ArtID=9560
A great article with a succinct summary of the deliberate parallels in the Superman Returns movie with the life and story of Jesus Christ. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE AND DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE PLOT! LOTS OF SPOILERS!!!
A great article with a succinct summary of the deliberate parallels in the Superman Returns movie with the life and story of Jesus Christ. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE AND DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE PLOT! LOTS OF SPOILERS!!!
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Are you responsible?
Learner Permit Practice Test
As followers of Jesus, it seems pretty reasonable that we should take mature responsibility in all things in life, to do them well and wisely with consideration for others - loving our neighbours as ourselves.
This includes how safely and competently we drive!
So out of love for your neighbours, I challenge you to take this test - and if you don't get more than 20 questions right, book yourself in for some driver training.
For the record, I got 31 out of 32 - the one question I got wrong because I erred on the side of caution :-)
What did you get?
As followers of Jesus, it seems pretty reasonable that we should take mature responsibility in all things in life, to do them well and wisely with consideration for others - loving our neighbours as ourselves.
This includes how safely and competently we drive!
So out of love for your neighbours, I challenge you to take this test - and if you don't get more than 20 questions right, book yourself in for some driver training.
For the record, I got 31 out of 32 - the one question I got wrong because I erred on the side of caution :-)
What did you get?
Sunday, June 04, 2006
God by the Numbers
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/003/26.44.html
A succinct overview of some of the compelling mathematical evidence for the existence of God...
"Today, numbers from astronomy, biology, and theoretical mathematics point to a rational mind behind the universe. To be sure, they do not point to the personal God of the Bible as such. Yet they are not inimical to the biblical God, either. The apostle John prepared the way for this conclusion when he used the word for logic, reason, and rationality—logos—to describe Christ at the beginning of his Gospel: "In the beginning was the logos, and the logos was with God, and the logos was God." When we think logically, which is the goal of mathematics, we are led to think of God."
A succinct overview of some of the compelling mathematical evidence for the existence of God...
"Today, numbers from astronomy, biology, and theoretical mathematics point to a rational mind behind the universe. To be sure, they do not point to the personal God of the Bible as such. Yet they are not inimical to the biblical God, either. The apostle John prepared the way for this conclusion when he used the word for logic, reason, and rationality—logos—to describe Christ at the beginning of his Gospel: "In the beginning was the logos, and the logos was with God, and the logos was God." When we think logically, which is the goal of mathematics, we are led to think of God."
Ex-Atheist Alistair McGrath responds to Richard "faith is a virus" Dawkins
http://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/faraday/CIS/mcgrath/lecture.html
Complex but worthwhile read...
"Dawkins writes with erudition and sophistication on issues of evolutionary biology, clearly having mastered the intricacies of his field and its vast research literature. Yet when he comes to deal with anything to do with God, we seem to enter into a different world. Careful evidence-based reasoning seems to be left behind, and be displaced by rather heated, enthusiastic overstatements, spiced up with some striking oversimplifications and more than an occasional misrepresentation (accidental, I can only assume) to make some superficially plausible points. Most fundamentally, Dawkins fails to demonstrate the scientific necessity of atheism. Paradoxically, atheism itself emerges as a faith, possessed of a remarkable degree of conceptual isomorphism to theism."
Complex but worthwhile read...
"Dawkins writes with erudition and sophistication on issues of evolutionary biology, clearly having mastered the intricacies of his field and its vast research literature. Yet when he comes to deal with anything to do with God, we seem to enter into a different world. Careful evidence-based reasoning seems to be left behind, and be displaced by rather heated, enthusiastic overstatements, spiced up with some striking oversimplifications and more than an occasional misrepresentation (accidental, I can only assume) to make some superficially plausible points. Most fundamentally, Dawkins fails to demonstrate the scientific necessity of atheism. Paradoxically, atheism itself emerges as a faith, possessed of a remarkable degree of conceptual isomorphism to theism."
The Conservative Humanist
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/004/24.42.html
This article made me think...
"The Incarnation is a heavenly declaration that humanity—both flesh and spirit—matters. Humanity matters because what God creates, becomes, and is seeking to redeem cannot escape our fascination."
"True humanism will vigorously resist the marketing culture that sees people as consumers to be sold to rather than served. A counter sexual revolution will exchange the pursuit of individual satisfaction for the celebration of lifelong, other-focused physical, emotional, and spiritual communion. Children will be conceived not as means to their parents' fulfillment, but as persons who make profound claims upon their parents for love, education, and protection."
This article made me think...
"The Incarnation is a heavenly declaration that humanity—both flesh and spirit—matters. Humanity matters because what God creates, becomes, and is seeking to redeem cannot escape our fascination."
"True humanism will vigorously resist the marketing culture that sees people as consumers to be sold to rather than served. A counter sexual revolution will exchange the pursuit of individual satisfaction for the celebration of lifelong, other-focused physical, emotional, and spiritual communion. Children will be conceived not as means to their parents' fulfillment, but as persons who make profound claims upon their parents for love, education, and protection."
Friday, June 02, 2006
NT Wright talks about the Church
“According to the early Christians, the church doesn’t exist in order to provide a place where people can pursue their private spiritual agendas and develop their own spiritual potential.
Nor does it exist in order to provide a safe haven in which people can hide from the wicked world and ensure that they themselves arrive safely at an otherworldly destination.
Private spiritual growth and ultimate salvation come rather as the byproducts of the main, central, overarching purpose for which God has called and is calling us.
The purpose is clearly stated in various places in the New Testament: that through the church God will announce to the wider world that he is indeed its wise, loving, and just creator: that through Jesus he has defeated the powers that corrupt and enslave it; and that by his Spirit he is at work to heal and renew it.”
Nor does it exist in order to provide a safe haven in which people can hide from the wicked world and ensure that they themselves arrive safely at an otherworldly destination.
Private spiritual growth and ultimate salvation come rather as the byproducts of the main, central, overarching purpose for which God has called and is calling us.
The purpose is clearly stated in various places in the New Testament: that through the church God will announce to the wider world that he is indeed its wise, loving, and just creator: that through Jesus he has defeated the powers that corrupt and enslave it; and that by his Spirit he is at work to heal and renew it.”
The Suspension of Disbelief
An article from 2005 that someone emailed me - caught my eye and thought I'd share it. Thoughts?
The suspension of disbelief
By Barney Zwartz
religion editor 'The Age' Melbourne.
July 2, 2005
The Sea of Atheism
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furl'd.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating . . .
So might Victorian poet Matthew Arnold put it if he were writing Dover Beach today (with less regret, but unhappier scan), if English theologian Alister McGrath is as percipient as he seems to be.
McGrath contends atheism was relevant and important for 200 years, but is now weary, frail and tediously eking out its last days as a significant philosophy, slain by postmodernism and resurgent spirituality. And religion of all sorts is triumphantly advancing everywhere except Western Europe.
"Atheism is in trouble," says McGrath - a former atheist, now professor of historical theology at Oxford University, and author of The Twilight of Atheism (2004) - who was in Melbourne this week to address a conference of Bible colleges.
"Really its golden age is from 1789 and the fall of the Bastille to 1989 and the fall of the Berlin wall," he says.
Once a perfect religion for the Enlightenment and for modernism, he believes it has lost its cutting edge and is losing numbers, despite the efforts of such atheist evangelists as the scientist Richard Dawkins.
Islam has replaced it as the most trenchant critic of Christianity. Young postmodernists think the question of God is too important to be dismissed and are genuinely open to the spiritual. "Atheism seems far too cut and dried, far too certain, in an age which is very conscious of the ambiguity of life," McGrath says.
There have always been atheists, he says, and always will be. But as a movement, it began bright with promise as a key part of the Enlightenment project seeking to give people autonomy from an alleged transcendent divinity. It gained relevance because of the disproportionate power of the church. "So atheism was seen as a liberator, which would set people free from the tyranny of the institutional church."
Did it work? "It certainly did," McGrath says. " If you look at William Wordsworth writing in 1804, just after the French Revolution, he is saying 'to be alive at such an exciting time is great, but to be young is incredible because I'm going to be part of this new era that's opening up'.
Wordsworth wasn't alone. In the writings of that time it's difficult to miss the sense of optimism and excitement."
Atheism's high point was in the 1920s when many people felt that the Soviet Union, the first atheist state, was reforming everything. "It was very plausible," McGrath says. "Now we look back and say they were simplistic and gullible, but at that time it was seen as the way the future was going to be.
"In the 1960s there was a sense that radical change was just ahead and we were looking at a world without religion. John Lennon's song Imagine came out in 1971 and captured the cultural mood that religion was passe, irrelevant, outmoded and wasn't going to be there in the future at all."
McGrath can't identify what changed but says the fall of the Berlin Wall symbolised the oppression of state atheism. "You watch the delight of people as they broke it down and you realise that they felt liberated. So what's gone wrong, that a movement that was a liberator in 1789 is an oppressor in 1989?"
First, he suggests, it became tedious. When it was new it was exciting, but ideas can pass their sell-by date. People thought this had happened to Christianity, but it has rediscovered old ways of faith and invented new ways.
Christianity has had a new injection of energy, McGrath contends. In Africa, Asia and Latin America it is booming, both in old forms (Catholics) and in new ones (Pentecostals).
Pentecostalism thrives in areas where Marxism flourished because it combines the spiritual and social. "You see this in the Philippines, in the big cities of Latin America. In London, Pentecostal churches are establishing themselves among immigrant communities but are beginning to draw in traditional British people as well."
Religion also offers a sense of belonging that atheism can't. Atheists create organisations but not communities, unlike the church, McGrath says. "In recent years people have tended to belong first, then come to believe, inverting the traditional order. It's a very significant measure of the fragmentation of the culture. They see a community, the church, and they decide to get involved because they want to belong somewhere, and as they join this community they begin to absorb its ideas and values."
Atheism also turned out to have as many frauds, psychopaths and careerists as traditional religions. This suggests such people are endemic to humanity rather than the preserve of religion. The likes of Stalin and American Atheists founder Madalyn Murray O'Hair ("the Billy Graham of atheists", but with considerably less probity) helped reduce its appeal.
One of history's ironies is that Russia, the great hope of atheists, became the triumph for Christians. Seven decades of persecution could not destroy the church, and now it is resurgent. "Russia points to the intrinsic resilience of religion. You've got to be very careful about suggesting it's going to die out." Unlike atheism.
The suspension of disbelief
By Barney Zwartz
religion editor 'The Age' Melbourne.
July 2, 2005
The Sea of Atheism
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furl'd.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating . . .
So might Victorian poet Matthew Arnold put it if he were writing Dover Beach today (with less regret, but unhappier scan), if English theologian Alister McGrath is as percipient as he seems to be.
McGrath contends atheism was relevant and important for 200 years, but is now weary, frail and tediously eking out its last days as a significant philosophy, slain by postmodernism and resurgent spirituality. And religion of all sorts is triumphantly advancing everywhere except Western Europe.
"Atheism is in trouble," says McGrath - a former atheist, now professor of historical theology at Oxford University, and author of The Twilight of Atheism (2004) - who was in Melbourne this week to address a conference of Bible colleges.
"Really its golden age is from 1789 and the fall of the Bastille to 1989 and the fall of the Berlin wall," he says.
Once a perfect religion for the Enlightenment and for modernism, he believes it has lost its cutting edge and is losing numbers, despite the efforts of such atheist evangelists as the scientist Richard Dawkins.
Islam has replaced it as the most trenchant critic of Christianity. Young postmodernists think the question of God is too important to be dismissed and are genuinely open to the spiritual. "Atheism seems far too cut and dried, far too certain, in an age which is very conscious of the ambiguity of life," McGrath says.
There have always been atheists, he says, and always will be. But as a movement, it began bright with promise as a key part of the Enlightenment project seeking to give people autonomy from an alleged transcendent divinity. It gained relevance because of the disproportionate power of the church. "So atheism was seen as a liberator, which would set people free from the tyranny of the institutional church."
Did it work? "It certainly did," McGrath says. " If you look at William Wordsworth writing in 1804, just after the French Revolution, he is saying 'to be alive at such an exciting time is great, but to be young is incredible because I'm going to be part of this new era that's opening up'.
Wordsworth wasn't alone. In the writings of that time it's difficult to miss the sense of optimism and excitement."
Atheism's high point was in the 1920s when many people felt that the Soviet Union, the first atheist state, was reforming everything. "It was very plausible," McGrath says. "Now we look back and say they were simplistic and gullible, but at that time it was seen as the way the future was going to be.
"In the 1960s there was a sense that radical change was just ahead and we were looking at a world without religion. John Lennon's song Imagine came out in 1971 and captured the cultural mood that religion was passe, irrelevant, outmoded and wasn't going to be there in the future at all."
McGrath can't identify what changed but says the fall of the Berlin Wall symbolised the oppression of state atheism. "You watch the delight of people as they broke it down and you realise that they felt liberated. So what's gone wrong, that a movement that was a liberator in 1789 is an oppressor in 1989?"
First, he suggests, it became tedious. When it was new it was exciting, but ideas can pass their sell-by date. People thought this had happened to Christianity, but it has rediscovered old ways of faith and invented new ways.
Christianity has had a new injection of energy, McGrath contends. In Africa, Asia and Latin America it is booming, both in old forms (Catholics) and in new ones (Pentecostals).
Pentecostalism thrives in areas where Marxism flourished because it combines the spiritual and social. "You see this in the Philippines, in the big cities of Latin America. In London, Pentecostal churches are establishing themselves among immigrant communities but are beginning to draw in traditional British people as well."
Religion also offers a sense of belonging that atheism can't. Atheists create organisations but not communities, unlike the church, McGrath says. "In recent years people have tended to belong first, then come to believe, inverting the traditional order. It's a very significant measure of the fragmentation of the culture. They see a community, the church, and they decide to get involved because they want to belong somewhere, and as they join this community they begin to absorb its ideas and values."
Atheism also turned out to have as many frauds, psychopaths and careerists as traditional religions. This suggests such people are endemic to humanity rather than the preserve of religion. The likes of Stalin and American Atheists founder Madalyn Murray O'Hair ("the Billy Graham of atheists", but with considerably less probity) helped reduce its appeal.
One of history's ironies is that Russia, the great hope of atheists, became the triumph for Christians. Seven decades of persecution could not destroy the church, and now it is resurgent. "Russia points to the intrinsic resilience of religion. You've got to be very careful about suggesting it's going to die out." Unlike atheism.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Sojourners Magazine
http://www.sojo.net/
Recommended by Justin: "It is a Christian mag with a strong emphasis on politics, social justice and environmental issues (the tag line on their website is Sojouners - faith, politics, culture). A major contributor is Jim Wallis, who was out here a couple of weeks ago promoting a book he has written God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It."
Recommended by Justin: "It is a Christian mag with a strong emphasis on politics, social justice and environmental issues (the tag line on their website is Sojouners - faith, politics, culture). A major contributor is Jim Wallis, who was out here a couple of weeks ago promoting a book he has written God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It."
Monday, May 15, 2006
Comparing churches?
7 Ways to Rate Your Church
This article takes a look at some aspects of churches that affect how people experience them. What do you think this means for us in Hawthorn? Some things we could learn here? Or completely irrelevant?
This article takes a look at some aspects of churches that affect how people experience them. What do you think this means for us in Hawthorn? Some things we could learn here? Or completely irrelevant?
Surviving Abundance
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/002/18.59.html
This was a challenging article for me to read...does this ring true with you? How has living in a situation of extreme financial wealth compared with most of the planet affected the way you live your life?
This was a challenging article for me to read...does this ring true with you? How has living in a situation of extreme financial wealth compared with most of the planet affected the way you live your life?
Creating Sustainability
What is Australia's global footprint? Actually, we come out quite well - we're not needing more landmass than we have, unlike say, ooh, the USA - easy target :) But it brings an interesting question - what are YOU actively doing to reduce your level of devastation on God's creation?
The Jesus Creed
Pinched from Signposts.org.au
What do you think of this? We don't have a formal consitution at HWBC - does that mean we can't have a creed either?
The Jesus Creed
This creed was originally shared at the Emergent Convention, Nashville, May 2004.
By Brian McLaren
We have confidence in Jesus
Who healed the sick, the blind, and the paralyzed.
And even raised the dead.
He cast out evil powers and
Confronted corrupt leaders.
He cleansed the temple.
He favored the poor.
He turned water into wine,
Walked on water, calmed storms.
He died for the sins of the world,
Rose from the dead, and ascended to the Father,
Sent the Holy Spirit.
We have confidence in Jesus
Who taught in word and example,
Sign and wonder.
He preached parables of the kingdom of God
On hillsides, from boats, in the temple, in homes,
At banquets and parties, along the road, on beaches, in towns,
By day and by night.
He taught the way of love for God and neighbor,
For stranger and enemy, for outcast and alien.
We have confidence in Jesus,
Who called disciples, led them,
Gave them new names and new purpose
And sent them out to preach good news.
He washed their feet as a servant.
He walked with them, ate with them,
Called them friends,
Rebuked them, encouraged them,
Promised to leave and then return,
And promised to be with them always.
He taught them to pray.
He rose early to pray, stole away to desolate places,
Fasted and faced agonizing temptations,
Wept in a garden,
And prayed, “Not my will but your will be done.”
He rejoiced, he sang, he feasted, he wept.
We have confidence in Jesus,
So we follow him, learn his ways,
Seek to obey his teaching and live by his example.
We walk with him, walk in him, abide in him,
As a branch in a vine.
We have not seen him, but we love him.
His words are to us words of life eternal,
And to know him is to know the true and living God.
We do not see him now, but we have confidence in Jesus.
Amen.”
What do you think of this? We don't have a formal consitution at HWBC - does that mean we can't have a creed either?
The Jesus Creed
This creed was originally shared at the Emergent Convention, Nashville, May 2004.
By Brian McLaren
We have confidence in Jesus
Who healed the sick, the blind, and the paralyzed.
And even raised the dead.
He cast out evil powers and
Confronted corrupt leaders.
He cleansed the temple.
He favored the poor.
He turned water into wine,
Walked on water, calmed storms.
He died for the sins of the world,
Rose from the dead, and ascended to the Father,
Sent the Holy Spirit.
We have confidence in Jesus
Who taught in word and example,
Sign and wonder.
He preached parables of the kingdom of God
On hillsides, from boats, in the temple, in homes,
At banquets and parties, along the road, on beaches, in towns,
By day and by night.
He taught the way of love for God and neighbor,
For stranger and enemy, for outcast and alien.
We have confidence in Jesus,
Who called disciples, led them,
Gave them new names and new purpose
And sent them out to preach good news.
He washed their feet as a servant.
He walked with them, ate with them,
Called them friends,
Rebuked them, encouraged them,
Promised to leave and then return,
And promised to be with them always.
He taught them to pray.
He rose early to pray, stole away to desolate places,
Fasted and faced agonizing temptations,
Wept in a garden,
And prayed, “Not my will but your will be done.”
He rejoiced, he sang, he feasted, he wept.
We have confidence in Jesus,
So we follow him, learn his ways,
Seek to obey his teaching and live by his example.
We walk with him, walk in him, abide in him,
As a branch in a vine.
We have not seen him, but we love him.
His words are to us words of life eternal,
And to know him is to know the true and living God.
We do not see him now, but we have confidence in Jesus.
Amen.”
Sunday, May 14, 2006
NT Wright and The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code
"Brown’s achievement, in fact, is so spectacular that it is hard to begrudge him his newfound millions. He has taken a set of ideas and speculative historical reconstructions, each of which is highly implausible in itself, and by weaving them together has not only created an exciting if ultra-fanciful plot, despite his wooden and stereotyped characterizations, but has also made the several implausible elements appear for a moment as though they just might be true..."
"Brown’s achievement, in fact, is so spectacular that it is hard to begrudge him his newfound millions. He has taken a set of ideas and speculative historical reconstructions, each of which is highly implausible in itself, and by weaving them together has not only created an exciting if ultra-fanciful plot, despite his wooden and stereotyped characterizations, but has also made the several implausible elements appear for a moment as though they just might be true..."
Mystery Worshipping...
Mystery Worshippers Visit Australian and NZ Churches
This site tells you as much about the worshippers as the churches. An interesting read to get some angles on Christian life you may not have come across before...like people more concerned about the angle of an altar cloth than anything else in the church...
This site tells you as much about the worshippers as the churches. An interesting read to get some angles on Christian life you may not have come across before...like people more concerned about the angle of an altar cloth than anything else in the church...
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