Bishop John

The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia is similar to national parliament of Australia except for its quite limited authorities and resources. It is a very loose federation of the 23 dioceses, meets every 3 years and started yesterday in Melbourne. Tasmania has seven representatives and we are all here happy and smiling.

Introduction to the General Synod is here.

Presidential Address by Primate is here.  The Media Release summarizing his appeal for unity is here.

The Melbourne Anglican is providing good coverage here.

Bishop Rob Forsyth’s pre-synod reflection, Minefields at this General Synod?, is here.

One of the best parts of General Synod is meeting with friends. It was just so great to give my still young Youth Minister from Glen Waverley a BIG hug 🙂 Thanks Dale who s a Bendigo Diocese clergy representative and Rural Dean in that Diocese.

Very helpful sermon (from Psalm 23:4) by the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen at the funeral of Detective Constable Bill Crews.

The public and private grief over the death of Detective Constable Bill Crews has been extraordinary and yet understandable. The circumstances, as we now know, are doubly tragic, and we all anguish over that. Furthermore, the young man came from a family which is distinguished by years of public service. The police uniform hides individuality, but when we see the individual, as we do here, he turns out to be one of us. We grieve with and for his family. But we grieve as a community, because Bill’s life was so rich in promise and he so clearly belonged to all of us. He could have been anyone’s son, brother, husband, father.

The service of the community through police work is never easy. Police encounter more than their fair share of cynicism, and even abuse. But today the members of our Police Force can see that there is in the community a deep respect for you and an appreciation that your work is difficult and can be highly dangerous. We wish to thank you for what you do. Sometimes, indeed, it takes you in to very dark places, yes, into the valley of the shadow of death.

That is where God’s word, the Bible, takes us this morning. There is no point smiling and striking a note of false comfort and psuedo cheerfulness. The Bible is the most realistic of all books. It knows death and it speaks to us about death, its horrors, its pain and our fear. It tells us that God never intended it to be like this, but death is the product of the way we ignore God and push him out of our lives. We can’t beat death; it is too strong for any one of us; whether it comes too early as in this case, or much later, it does come for us all. And it reminds us of our weakness and our failures.

Read the rest of Dr Peter Jensen’s sermon here.

 Micah Challenge Australia is a global campaign of Christians who speak out against poverty and injustice. Their goal is see global poverty halved by 2015, for “God wants us to act in response to injustice.”

They are asking for Churches and Christians in Australia to set aside Sunday 10 October 2010 (10.10.10) to PRAY, PROMISE and ACT against poverty.

They suggest that the following Global Prayer can be used:

O Lord, our great and awesome God, loyal to your promise of love and faithful to all who honour and obey you, hear our prayer. We pray for those who live in poverty, we cry out for those who are denied justice and we weep for all who are suffering.
We confess that we have not always obeyed you. We have neglected your commands and have ignored your call for justice. We have been guided by self-interest and lived in spiritual poverty. Forgive us.
We remember your promises to fill the hungry with good things, to redeem the land by your mighty hand and to restore peace.
Father God, help us always to proclaim your justice and mercy with humility, so that, by the power of your Spirit, we can rid the world of the sin of extreme poverty.
As part of your global church, we stand with millions who praise and worship you. May our words and deeds declare your perfect goodness, love and righteousness to both the powerful and the powerless so that your Kingdom may come on earth as it is in heaven.
Amen

For more information on how to register your Church for 10.10.10 Save the Date! and to download resources, see here.

Now it’s the turn of an Aussie atheist lawyer to burn other people’s sacred books. May God have mercy on our impoverished world.

A number of conclusions:

1. A university education is insufficient proof of being educated. 
2. Some people are simply stupid and insensitive. 
3. Can we all be tempted to imbecility by 15 minutes of fame?
4. Lawyers . . . 
5. Will we ever learn to live together in harmony? 

A Queensland university lawyer videoed himself apparently smoking joints made with pages of the Bible and the Koran.

In the clip, entitled Bible or Koran – which burns best?, the professed atheist says burning religious books is no big deal and people need to get over it. . . . the Bible and the Koran are “just books”.

“With respect to books like the Bible and the Koran, whatever, just get over it,” he says.

“That said, I don’t think (burning the Bible and the Koran) is completely appropriate unless it’s done for a good purpose, which I’ve done (by smoking them) today.”

He defended the stunt, saying basic freedoms, such as freedom of speech, should not be threatened simply because someone might be offended.

Article, Bible and Koran smoking lawyer on leave.

  Some (mixed) good news from THE AGE today (September 10, 2010 – 8:37am); 

 The evangelical Christian pastor from Florida who was threatening to burn copies of the Koran on Saturday’s ninth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks has abandoned his plan. 

 Pastor Terry Jones (Evangelical Christian Pastor from Florida) has abandoned his plan to burn copies of the Koran on Saturday’s ninth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks, but Imam Abdul Ruaf has stated that the Mosque and Muslim Culture centre, two blocks from Ground Zero, will not be relocated. 

 The plan to burn 200 copies of the Koran at the Gainesville site of the Dove World Outreach Centre had provoked worldwide condemnation and a sharp rebuke from President Barack Obama who on Thursday called on the pastor to abandon his “destructive act” that could cause “serious violence” for American troops in Afghanistan. 

 Pastor Jones said that he only made this decision because he had received assurances the site of the planned mosque and Muslim culture centre would be relocated. He told a news conference that he had “clinched a deal” with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf (head of the mosque planning group) and that the Imam’s willingness to relocate the mosque as a “sign from God” that had allowed him to cancel the Koran burning. 

 Mr Abdul Rauf said in a statement that he had not spoken to the pastor,    

 I am glad that Pastor Jones has decided not to burn any Korans…however; I have not spoken to Pastor Jones. I am surprised by [the] announcement. We are not going to toy with our religion or any other. Nor are we going to barter. We are here to extend our hands to build our hands to build peace and harmony. 

 Mr Jones said he had agreed to meet with the Imam on Saturday to discuss the relocation, but the imam said 

 he could not withdraw the plan because that would embolden radicals of all faiths and create security risks for the US and Americans abroad. If we move from that location, the story will be that the radicals have taken over the discourse…the headlines in the Muslim world will be that Islam is under attack. And I’m less concerned about the radicals in America than I am about the radicals in the Muslim world. 

 Sadly, since Pastor Terry Jones has said that he will not burn Korans on Saturday, another minister, Reverend Bob Old of Disciples of Christ Tennessee, plans to burn a copy of the holy Koran to mark the anniversary of September 11. He said that he intends to set fire to a Koran at his home and post a video of the burning Muslim holy book online. He says of Muslims, 

 If they want to have their religion, they can have it somewhere else…I believe that other religions are a threat to our faith and our beliefs.  

 Other Tennessee religious leaders have denounced his plans calling him crazy and a nut, and that they were sorry that anyone who names the name of Christ would do this. 

 Amir Arain, spokesman for the Islamic Centre of Nashville said that 

 he hoped Reverend Old would change his mind before Saturday…We will pray that God gives him wisdom. 

 Please join with me in praying that this minister does indeed see reason like Pastor Jones. 

 Read Mosque deal denied as evangelist abandons Koran bonfire, here , Another US minister plans Koran burning, here, and other related articles here.

 See earlier 9/11anniversary: a time to grow not destroy  and the reasons why I teach a seminar on Islam, Bishop teaches Islam?