There has been much press of late about the allegations surrounding child sexual abuse in the Australian Catholic Church with some now calling for a Royal Commission.
So – I wanted to ask you what you think. That’s what this quick poll is all about. Just select one of the options, and you’ll be able to see which way the polling is headed.
At least 80% of the prayer requests we receive here at Christianityworks ask us to pray for people’s families. Please pray for my son, or my wife, or my daughter or my husband, or my aunty, or my cousins, or….
That tells me something. It tells me that people care deeply about their families. As difficult and as strife torn as many families are, they really matter to us.
An article in this morning’s Australian Newspaper – You’d Better Sleep On It – outlines some important research on the significant impact of inadequate sleep on our sense of well being. Seems that there’s a very strong correlation between the two. So – if you’re not getting enough sleep, don’t be surprised if you don’t feel on top of the world.
But … there’s another form of regeneration – spiritual regeneration – that we need on a daily basis as well. And as it turns out, most of us are missing out on that as well!
I think that sometimes, we take ourselves for granted. We don’t really realise how incredible we are. And not just ourselves … we also take others for granted.
So, here are a couple of amazing facts about each one of us that you may not know? Totally amazing:
In a few weeks, all the hoopla that once was the London Olympics will be but a dim, distant memory. It’s back to the grind for all of us after a welcome distraction. We may give the stunning gold-medal performances of some, a passing thought from time to time, but … you know how it goes.
So would it surprise you to know that for anyone who calls themselves a Christ-follower, there is a call in God’s Word to be, in effect, a “gold medal Christian”?
Well, my last blog post – Why I Don’t Believe in Tithing – certainly set the cat amongst the pigeons, with some lively discussion to and fro – which is awesome. Some people of course remain unconvinced – they see tithing as an important part of being a Christian.
I don’t, because I believe that grace opens the door to a whole new level of giving. A “New Covenant” alternative if you like, to the legalism of the tithe. Here’s what I’m talking about …
When I told people at my church that this Sunday, I was going to preach a message called “Why I Don’t Believe in Tithing” – well, you can imagine! A few people were a bit twitchy about that.
But the long and the short of it is that I don’t believe in tithing. At least not the sort of tithing that much of the church teaches us about. Here’s why:
It’s not often that I endorse someone else’s book … but yet every now and then along comes a book that’s just one out of the box!
The MICI Message by Janelle Maree is one of those. It’s been written specifically to help one of the most vulnerable groups in our society – young women – to discover who they really are. (Made In Christ’s Image – MICI – which is also the name of Janelle’s free, quarterly eMag).
But … it’s not just for young women. It’s a brilliant read for all of us. So I highly, highly recommend it.
You expect a bit of death and carnage when you go to see a Batman movie – but on the screen, not in the seats and on the floor of the cinema. Who would ever have thought – these people were on a great night out. 12 murdered. Some 60 injured. Lives lost. Families torn apart. Grieving fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, children …
It’s not every day that you get to meet one of your heroes in life, but these last couple of days in Nairobi, I’ve been spending my time with one of the great heroes in my life. And the chances are very much that unless you’ve heard me mention his name, you won’t know him.
In fact to most people he’s a complete unknown. So spend a few minutes reading his story, because I believe that each one of us – unknowns though we may be – has the capacity to be … a hero!
Well the hot topic around Australia at the moment is that of same-sex marriage which is due to be debated in the Federal Parliament at the behest of the Green party. So is it an inevitability? And how well is the church handling the debate?
Here’s my take …
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