Phil & Louise have gone to visit Dave, Ash and the family in Mongolia. Here’s some footage of where Dave works, what the churches in Mongolia are doing, and some of the students studying there.

It might surprise you that I’ve never really had a desire to play the harp. And I feel a little bit self-conscious in white. And while I recently enjoyed Mamma Mia, I’m glad life isn’t a musical and I don’t have to constantly sing. Generally this doesn’t pose a problem for me. But if you believe the picture many people have painted of heaven, I’m going to be pretty bored for a heck of a long time.
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No-one wants to be poor. No one wants to struggle each day not knowing whether they’re going to be able to feed themselves and their family. In fact, even if people are happy not to be millionaires, they’d appreciate a comfortable life, enjoying the material enjoyments this world has to offer. In Christian circles, the idea of a “Prosperity Gospel” has caught on – particularly in the Western World. That is, that God wants to bless His people, and that this blessing takes the form of wealth, prosperity and comfort. But while the premise is true – God does want to bless His people – the application of that premise is a long way from the New Testament.

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You might have been working through the Leviticus series and thinking that we’re drawing a pretty long bow reading Jesus back into it. Sure, the book of Hebrews seems convinced that he is both the perfect sacrifice, and the great High Priest – but what about the rest of the New Testament? Well, the New Testament has plenty to say about Christ and how he fulfils the Old Testament. In fact, Jesus accuses the Jews of knowing the Old Testament inside out, but entirely missing where they were leading – to him (John 5:39). Let’s pull back from Leviticus a little bit then, and have a look at three helpful classifications when considering who Jesus is, what he did, and what he’s doing now.

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I really like steak. And I especially like it when it’s just stopped moo-ing.Seared on the outside, but a nice red-ish pink on the inside. But the question I have from Leviticus 19:26 is – if there are still traces of blood in my steak, am I being disobedient to God? “Of course not” we say. “It’s a steak – eat it how you want!” What about the command a few verses before that, where God tells His people not to wear clothing woven of two kinds of material as in Lev 19:20? Again, of course we ignore that one.

What about Leviticus 19:18 – “Love your neighbour as yourself.”  Can I ignore that one as well?

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Most people treat the Old Testament like an awkward relative. With love, respect, but best done from a distance. And if that’s how we treat the Old Testament in general, then Leviticus would be the uncle we never hope to hear from. But it shouldn’t be! Surely the book that gave us “love your neighbour as yourself” (Lev 19:18) deserves a bit more of our time. Well, to try to whet your taste buds for the nuggets of gold Leviticus has to offer, here’s 3 tasty morsels.

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If you missed the Courier Mail on August 11, then you wouldn’t have seen the attached article on Church 4 Kids which we’re running at Clayfield, Eatons Hill, mpc and Wilston.

If you’ve been pondering the pros and cons of the Federal Government’s child-abuse crackdown in the Northern Territory, Gordon Cheng offered the following biblical perspective in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph…

RESPONSES to recent governments¿ action on child abuse, paedophilia, drunkenness, incest and pornography in remote Aboriginal communities in the Territory have been varied. Some have also been stupid. Read the rest of this entry »

If you watch the newslinks in the left hand column of this page, you may have seen this quote from an address by Sydney Anglican Archibishop Peter Jensen. Do you agree?
“… It seems to me, however, that there are two areas in which the Christian perspective is being challenged far more deeply that by books of atheism. In both these area we as Christians should have something to contribute. The first is the fixation of many in our community with economic well-being and the impact that this is having on relational life. Put simply we are working too hard and neglecting the things which matter for human contentment and well being. Furthermore, work patterns are showing an increasing tendency to neglect the need for shared family time – and shared time for worship. The unresting and frantic pace of life gives far too little time for rest and fellowship. The absolute necessity for two incomes means that those who would prefer to give their personal attention to full-time child-rearing at a crucial moment in the child’s life find it impossible to do so. If this country in fact derives its values from the Judeo-Christian tradition, it is startling and dismaying to see that tradition of the value of relationships and the proper rhythm of work and rest succumb to an officially sanctioned greed for more…”

The ‘new atheists’ are getting plenty of media coverage! Everywhere you look, anti-God gurus like Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) and Christopher Hitchens (God is Not Great – How Religion Poisions Everything) are creating a media storm – both books are best sellers, Dawkins is generating record ratings for ABC’s Compass program with his two week series, and reviews of Hitchens’ ‘brilliant, devastating and…crass’ God is Not Great have dominated the columns of The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald over the past two weeks. Read the rest of this entry »