MOST parents who are worried that their children spend a lot of time on social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace can relax.
A new study has found that it is well-adjusted young people who are more likely to use social networking.
Well, that is the conclusion from the USA. Is it true of Oz?
Speaking as a very part time social networker: I hope it is!
See full article: Nicky Phillips, The Age, 27 January 2010, Social networking for well adjusted: study
A front page article in our State’s major newspaper today illustrates some of the challenges of following Jesus in today’s Tasmania.
Newspaper article here, Anger at ‘happy clappers’. Some brief notes:
1. We live in challenging times. Making the Good news of Jesus Christ relevant to the diverse people and cultures of our State requires a diversity of worship and relational styles. We need to add new relevant ways of worship and fellowship while retaining the traditional for those who are nurtured by the traditional. Both are needed. One is not more Anglican than another. Change is hard. We pray, love and labour. We labour, love and pray.
2. We suffer from a lack of healthy relationship between people. We live in a faceless world and I note with a heavy heart the varied comments, and the unfairness of anonymity both of the unattributed and pejorative definition of ‘happy clappers’ in the newspaper article and in the online comments on the article that the facelessness of the web can bring. Let us speak ‘face to face’ in love and holding difference in respect and hospitality.
3. We need some of our best to be ordained. Given the demands of the leadership challenge to relate Christ to culture, we need some of our best to be called of God to commit to Christian ministry and ordination; to a discipleship that is very public and therefore open to comment both fair and unfair. May God raise up such men and women, young and old, to ordination and such public Christian roles.
4. We must pray for those called to be ‘public Christians’. At the recent ordination retreat I spoke with the ordinands of the joys and sorrows, blessings and challenges, of becoming a very ‘public Christian’ as a result of ordination as a deacon, priest or bishop in the Church. Please pray, seeking the Holy Spirit’s strengthening and wisdom for those who have responded to God’s call on their lives to become ‘public Christians’.
Yesterday’s dedication of the extensions to the St Stephen’s Smithton church building was a fantastic celebration of God’s goodness and the fruition of the dreams and labour of God’s people. As I have said so often, Good facilities facilitate good ministry.
The extensions are both beautifully finished and much bigger than I had imagined. The extension of the worship area will allow about an extra 100 seats and as a multi-purpose area it also allows seating at 6 round tables that can be literally rolled out when needed from storage and are just the right size for 6 to 8 people for enjoying conversation. The view over the valley to the distant hills and sea are, well, North West Tasmania – just so splendidly scenic! Kitchenette, loos, indoor staircase to access the lower level where a matching finely finished room plus office, allows further activities.
Picking up on Rob Stanley’s comments, [happy birthday, by the way, to Rob today 🙂 ] on the diocesan website a few weeks ago,
A great encouragement by way of a letter from Jenny Poke as the Parish get excited about the January 23 opening of new facilities at St Stephen’s Smithton. I think it is a great encouragement for every church trusting God and pushing their own boundaries with exciting and challenging new ministries. Jenny writes:
“Far from being a small sleepy town in a parish in decline and devoid of young people, Circular Head Parish, it seems, is thriving. The introduction of a contemporary worship team a few years ago, has seen the whole parish flourish, with young children, adults and elderly all joining in worship together. The Circular Head parish caters for all ages. Two contemporary services are held each month which caters for families. These are Bop with God and ½ Eleven. Regular Holy Communion and Morning Prayer services are also held throughout the Parish. Two years ago it was decided that our buildings at Smithton needed renovation to support the new ministry programs. This included a large dining room, kitchen and toilets at the rear of the church, and an office and another large room downstairs to cater for our youth group activities.
A special service to open this project is planned for Saturday 23 January 2010, commencing at 11am and followed by lunch. A warm welcome is extended to join in with us at Smithton on this special day.
“It is exciting to see God’s amazing work, as such a wide range of people accept and help each of our diverse ministries work in Circular Head.”
PTL! 🙂 [Rob]
So exciting! So encouraging!
This great news might lead you to do one of two things (or possibly both):
1. Get on your knees and thank God for his great delivery of providence upon his people in Circular Head Parish, and for the faith and trust that He has built up in His family there.
2. Pray that God will do this in your Parish… wherever you are… For the sake of the Gospel and for the glory of God.
Indeed, we have a wonderful God!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Major Nidal M. Hasan’s Jihad Seminar Explained by Mark Durie is a thorough and fair analsis of Major Hasan’s thinking. The conclusion in part,
It is essential to grasp that the views which Major Hasan describes in his seminar are not obscure, extreme or marginal. They are integral to Islamic tradition and the Koran’s teachings on warfare and justice. These views can also be corroborated from the great Koranic commentaries of the past 14 centuries. The presentation is also informed and judicious in its use of sources: Major Hasan cites all the right verses for the points he makes. Moreover his presentation is transparent and truthful.
All in all these powerpoint slides suggest a heart-felt plea, in which Major Hasan requests, with clarity and consistency, that a Muslim in the military not be asked to serve in a context where he or she will have to fight against ‘fellow Muslims’, particularly if the war is regarded by Muslims as an unjust one. To do this is to force them to choose between hell and mutiny.
This is not the voice of someone consumed by hatred or malice. It does however speak of someone who has become trapped by their worldview, and is, with terrifying conviction and clarity of mind, contemplating what it would mean to take the lives of his fellow soldiers, driven on by the inescapable logic of deeply held religious beliefs.
It is high time that the US Military paid adequate attention to such beliefs, resisting the temptation to ignore them in the name of political correctness.
See my earlier post referring to Mark Durie’s research re Major Hasan’s Islamic dilemma.
Incredulous! Dumbfounded! Bewildered! Frustrated! Angry! Pleading! Somebody, please tell me it’s not true!
All of the above describe my reaction to the terrible news that Bible verses are inscribed on the sights of combat rifles. The verses refer to Jesus as the light and I guess reference the sights giving ‘light’ so that they can target their enemy soldiers day or night. But this refers to ‘light’ which enables killing whereas Jesus Christ is ‘The Light of the world’ who brings life and the light of justice and healthy relationships. Jesus brings life not death.
And, if the manufacturer’s purpose in inscribing the verses is evangelism: how is the shooter being evangelised? Is the shooter being evangelised to follow Jesus as the One with the power to end life? God forbid! Jesus is the power to give life; to give life twice over: in creation and in resurrection. For crying out loud: Bible verses on combat rifles is not evangelism!
And what of the linking of this weapon to a nation-state at war? Worse for us Christians is that this deepens the oft heard but mistaken idea that The West is Christian and Christianity is a Western religion. I have just finished reading a rebuttal of this idea by Lamin Sanneh in his Whose Religion is Christianity? The Gospel Beyond the West. The fact that this combat rifle with its biblical inscription so perversely applied, is both manufactured and used by the most powerful Western nation-state in fighting a war in Islamic lands aids the misconception Christianity = The West. Lamentably, the idea (and practice) of wars of religion are fuelled by such travesty. See excellent comment re the danger of misconception of Christian crusaders by Mikey Weinstein in the excerpt below.
On the basis of all of this, I plead with the manufacturer, Trijion, to remove the Bible verses from combat rifle sights and withdraw those in circulation as soon as possible.
Some excerpts follow but see theage.com.au (January 20,2010 – 7:33 am) full article US troops use combat rifles bearing Bible verses.
A US Marine on patrol in Iraq and, inset, the Trijicon Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight.
Combat rifle sights used by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan carry references to Bible verses, stoking concerns about whether the inscriptions break a government rule that bars proselytising by American troops. Military officials said the citations do not violate the ban and they will not stop using the telescoping sights, which allow troops to pinpoint the enemy day or night. The contractor that makes the equipment, Trijicon, said the US military has been a customer since 1995 and the company has never received any complaints about the Scripture citations. . . . The inscriptions are subtle and appear in raised lettering at the end of the stock number. Markings on the Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight, which is standard issue to US special operations forces, include “JN8:12,” a reference to John 8:12: “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”‘ . . . . The Trijicon Reflex sight is stamped with 2COR4:6, a reference to part of the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”
Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, says the biblically inscribed sights could give the Taliban and other enemy forces a propaganda tool: that American troops are Christian crusaders invading Muslim countries.
I don’t have to wonder for a nanosecond how the American public would react if citations from the Koran were being inscribed onto these US armed forces gun sights instead of New Testament citations,” Weinstein said. The foundation is a nonprofit watchdog group opposed to religious favouritism within the military.
See Evangelism is not proselytism and Obama speaks peace to the Muslim world.
Media Release from the Archdiocese of Hobart, 20 January 2010
A Mass will be held at St Mary’s Cathedral this Friday evening to pray for those who have suffered so greatly in the Haitian earthquake.
Father Brian Nichols said the Mass will allow Tasmanians to offer prayers for those who have lost their lives, their homes and their livelihoods in the worst disaster the world has experienced in recent times.
In Haiti, the whole country is devastated with thousands killed or injured on a scale equivalent to the 2004 Asian tsunami.
It is very appropriate we provide this support through prayer and donations for those who are suffering so greatly in the Caribbean nation.
The Mass will commence at 7:00pm Friday 22nd January at St Mary’s Cathedral, Harrington Street, Hobart. All members of the Tasmanian community are invited and a collection for the victims of the Haitian earthquake will be taken up during the Mass and forwarded to Haiti through Caritas Australia’s Haiti Emergency Response Appeal.
Further details can be obtained from the Parish Office on 6234 4463.
You can rely on some people: rely on some for good and some for ill and some for ignorance and arrogance a la Pat Robertson. His comments on God’s judgement on Haiti have been widely reported. I appreciate the rejection of his views by American Christians and Albert Mohler’s ‘unanswerable questions’, see following excerpt,
Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church of Dallas called Robertson arrogant during an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Thursday.
“It is absolute arrogance to try to interpret any of God’s actions as a judgment against this person or that person,” the Southern Baptist minister said. “Our duty as Christians is to try to help these people pray for these people and to help them.”
Similarly, Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, responded to Robertson’s “embarrassing” remarks by highlighting the “Theological arrogance matched to ignorance.”
In a commentary posted Thursday, Mohler acknowledged that Haiti has a well-known history of the occult, voodoo, and sorcery. He also said he agrees that God does and will judge the nations and has sovereign power over everything.
But the highly respected evangelical scholar said “we have no right to claim that we know why a disaster like the earthquake in Haiti happened at just that place and at just that moment.”
“We can trace the effects of a drunk driver to a car accident, but we cannot trace the effects of voodoo to an earthquake – at least not so directly,” Mohler contended.
“Will God judge Haiti for its spiritual darkness? Of course,” he added. But humans cannot claim to understand the judgment of God.
To illustrate his point, Mohler brought out a series of unanswerable questions.
“Why did no earthquake shake Nazi Germany? Why did no tsunami swallow up the killing fields of Cambodia? Why did Hurricane Katrina destroy far more evangelical churches than casinos? Why do so many murderous dictators live to old age while many missionaries die young?” he posed.
Mohler argued that instead of asking if God hates Haiti, people should simply say that God hates sin and know that individual sinners and nations will be punished.
“[T]he earthquake reminds us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only real message of hope. The cross of Christ declares that Jesus loves Haiti – and the Haitian people are the objects of his love,” Mohler concluded. “Christ would have us show the Haitian nation his love, and share his Gospel. In the midst of this unspeakable tragedy, Christ would have us rush to aid the suffering people of Haiti, and rush to tell the Haitian people of his love, his cross, and salvation in his name alone.”
See full Christian Post article, Robertson chided for ‘Arrogance’, ‘Ignorance’ Behind Haiti Curse Remark.
Yesterday, at the Prime Minister’s Australia Day Address in Hobart, I took the opportunity to thank him and his government for increasing aid to earthquake ravaged Haiti. With the many demands on his Government the temptation is to only look after our own Australian family. I am delighted that his Government expresses the generous heart of Australia to our Caribbean neighbours.
An excerpt from yesterday’s Media release by Minister for Foreign Affairs, Stephen Smith follows,
Australia increases emergency assistance to Haiti – AA 03/10 19 January 2010
Over the last few days it has become clear that the situation in Haiti is dire and as more devastation is discovered outside Port au Prince, the scale of the disaster is increasing.
In response to this and to the United Nation’s Flash Appeal launched on the weekend, Australia will provide an additional $5 million to meet urgent and emergency humanitarian needs such as food, water and sanitation, shelter and medical assistance.
The additional assistance in this immediate response phase will include:
- – $3 million to The World Food Programme
- – $1 million to Australian Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), and
- – $1 million to the Office of Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Australia’s assistance package, now totalling $15 million, comprises $10 million for immediate humanitarian needs and $5 million for long-term reconstruction assistance following UN assessments of the requirements. . . . .
In November 2009, Australia announced a $60 million development assistance package which will include support to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency. . . . .
The full Media Release here
Please continue in prayer for Haiti and for the continuing generosity of the people of Australia both individually and through our Government.
PS The most ‘Australian moment’ of the Prime Minister’s Address was his leading us in singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to our Premier, David Bartlett. I, for one, found this to be an unexpected moment of solidarity and poignancy with our beleaguered Premier, as we joined in singing the simplest of songs celebrating the gift of life amidst our common humanity and community life.
This followed the PM’s extolling gum boot throwing (an Olympic Games event?) and ‘dummy spitting’ (indicating that Canberra politician entrants would be strong contenders).
This was on a somewhat different note to somber news from Haiti and the life-saving aid needed there.
Life is complex, to be lived in community by communities.
Shalom.
The ABC TV program, Compass, aired a repeat of Apocalypse Now? on Sunday night. Read the complete program transcript here.
Ron Weinland, American Pentecostal pastor and self-proclaimed prophet, stated last year (2009) that he believes that he’s been sent by God to announce the end of the world in 3 years time! He goes on to say; Yes we are living in the end time. However it isn’t like a lot of people interpret it, they believe it’s the end of the world. It’s not the end of the world, it’s just the end of a particular age for mankind. He uses biblical material to show that the 6000 years of human rule of the earth is at its end. He also uses numbers and prophecies from the book of Revelation to show that he believes current events herald the end times.
The programs poses the question, Is he alone in his apocalyptic thinking? Do climate change, acts of terrorism, wars and natural disasters add fuel to this apocalyptic fire?
The idea of world catastrophe is very present in the mind of many people, and particularly the church, because the church has texts that talk about the end of the world. – Dr John Dickson (Biblical Scholar)
We like to know what’s going on, and when we don’t, that generates uncertainty and anxiety. So apocalyptic thinking can help to relieve that and therefore can be very attractive. – Susan Tanner (Psychologist)
As a literature scholar I am really keen on people understanding the nature of literature. The bible is a book. The bible has to be understood as the kind of literature it is. And it’s apocalyptic literature, it’s exciting, it’s full of symbolism, it’s telling a grand, wonderful story, but it’s not meant to give us a running sheet for the future. It gives us a way to imagine what the future entails. But it doesn’t tell us the who, the where and the how. – Greg Clarke (Literary Academic)
Speculation, Is it the end of the world? is also fuelled by the Mayan Calendar which finishes in the winter solstice of 21 December 2012. Joseph Robert Jochmans writes of the Mayan Calendar,
Both the Hopis and Mayans recognize that we are approaching the end of a World Age… In both cases, however, the Hopi and Mayan elders do not prophesy that everything will come to an end. Rather, this is a time of transition from one World Age into another. The message they give concerns our making a choice of how we enter the future ahead. Our moving through with either resistance or acceptance will determine whether the transition will happen with cataclysmic changes or gradual peace and tranquility. The same theme can be found reflected in the prophecies of many other Native American visionaries from Black Elk to Sun Bear.”
Various Books have been written about it, 2012: The Bible And The End Of The World (by Mark Hitchcock) and 2012: Is This The End? (by Lloyd Hilderbrand), as well as the recent movie release, 2012.
As for me, I like to refer to ‘The Book’, The Bible for my guidance and what Jesus said about the last days,
But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Matthew 24:36,37,42-44
I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 2 Timothy 4:1-4
This response is mine. It is not as simple as planning for ‘Apocalypse 2012’! I am to get on with building the kingdom of God and to trust in Christ until he returns or I go to be with him.
You and/or your parish or agency can assist the response to the disaster in Haiti via prayer and financially –
Two Anglican organisations sponsoring appeals are:
ABM – http://www.abmission.org/news/view?id=c20f1707ec71052acdad9ed13ab23100&key=Jyfuax
Anglicord – http://www.anglicord.org.au/current.html
also, World Vision (I am a director, hence the required declaration of my interest – hopefully my heartfelt interest and passion for the poor!) – http://www.worldvision.com.au/Media/PressReleases/10-01-16/Amazing_Aussie_response_to_earthquake_appeal_as_relief_effort_gathers_pace.aspx
