Yesterday

Yesterday began with this disturbing story.

Australian couple fight to choose sex of baby
An Australian couple with three sons who are desperate for a daughter have launched a legal bid to be allowed to choose the sex of their next child, according to a report.

The couple, whose daughter recently died shortly after birth, have already aborted twin boys because they want a girl, they told Melbourne's Herald-Sun newspaper.

It was at the back of my mind all day, and then, shortly before going to bed I saw this beautiful video:

A great man everyone should know

Have you ever heard of Polycarp? This short video tells his story. Some of it may be legendary, but it is certainly true that he was burnt at the stake for his faith in Christ.

Polycarp (70-155) was a disciple of the apostle John, who is said to have appointed him bishop of Smyrna. Late in life he was arrested as the leader of what was mistakenly thought to be a dangerous cult. A Roman proconsul offered to set him free if he would simply say Caesar is Lord and offer a small pinch of incense to Caesar's statue.

Although he knew that refusal would mean torture and death Polycarp responded with this now-famous reply:

Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and He never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?

Polycarp willingly died as a Christian martyr because he was persuaded that Jesus really did rise from the dead and was seen by John and the other apostles Polycarp had met.

Polycarp's life and death provides an inspirational example for all Christians. He gave his earthly life for Christ, and in the midst of his sacrifice, he gained eternal life.

Ruins of Smyrna

Throughout 2011, we will be sharing more stories of great Christians everyone should know. Please come back for our next entry.

More About The Seven Deadly Sins

Someone asked me whether our pastor is speaking about The Seven Deadly Sins so that we can try them all out! I think he is aware that we are all sinners and don't have to be encouraged to experiment.

In a previous post, I shared some links to helpful articles about the historical background to these sins.

Do you prefer to listen to a talk, read the manuscript or do both? Our pastor, Rodney Macready, gives you the choice on our Current Series page.

He has a sense of humour, as can be seen from the two topics he spoke on, immediately after Christmas: gluttony and sloth. This might not make as much sense to our northern friends, but in Australia, after Christmas in a hot country, it is hard to be enthusiastic about work. And we do enjoy our food.

Pastor Macready points out that feasting and celebrating are not wrong in his talk on gluttony and in his talk on sloth, he tells us that there is a place for rest.
I particularly enjoyed the talk on sloth, which reminds us that busyness in the wrong things can be just as slothful as doing nothing at all.

Digging Deeper

In a previous post, I referred to Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris and shared a fun video of the first few lines of the book and also a link to the first chapter.

This morning I have been enjoying reading the second chapter, provided by Westminster Theological Seminary bookstore. In this extract, he explains how he became interested in theology and why we should be, too.

Joshua has a lot of thought-provoking things to say. I think that the book would be accessible to many people and I hope that lots of young Australian Christians will read it.

The Seven Deadly Sins

Our senior minister, Rodney Macready, has been running an occasional series on The Seven Deadly Sins, between other series on Bible books.

It is an interesting subject to consider. There are several attempts to make light of these sins in various places on the internet: I don't think I'd be wise to direct you to those sites!

One of the rather flippant sites does feature an interesting list of Mahatma Gandhi's own personal list of traits he believed to be most spiritually perilous to humanity:

* Wealth without Work
* Pleasure without Conscience
* Science without Humanity
* Knowledge without Character
* Politics without Principle
* Commerce without Morality
* Worship without Sacrifice

The current article in Wikipedia is worth reading, as are the articles at All About God.

This short article defines the standard list of sins as it has come down to us through society and literature, and then cites the passage in Proverbs chapter 6 about the seven things the Bible says that God hates.

There is also a more in depth article which gives some historical background and a description of what the Bible means by sin and what God has done in Christ to take away our sin.

Why study the Bible?

This clever video explains why it is worth studying the Bible and maybe even going to Bible college.

If it whets your appetite, you would probably enjoy reading Dug Down Deep.

Here is the first chapter. (If you want to read what he says, and not all the introductory palaver, scroll to page 14!)

Putting Santa in his rightful place.

A great photo snapped by Trevor Cairney, Louise Blencowe's father, illustrating the truth of John 1:14 which tells us that God's Word (Jesus) became flesh, and pitched his tent among us. It's as if God came down to earth and pitched a tent in our front yard.

I also like the place given to Santa in this family's front yard!