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<channel>
	<title>The Briefing</title>
	
	<link>http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing</link>
	<description>challenging convictions, encouraging ministry</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Sat, 18 May 2013 01:25:39 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en-US</language>
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		<title>Beg to give</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheBriefing/~3/MoZlGjPrJlY/</link>
		<comments>http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2013/05/beg-to-give/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 07:42:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Church]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Giving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grace]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/?p=22458</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[Because ministers are the recipients of congregational giving they are hesitant to raise the issue of money. It is a hesitancy felt by both the congregation and the clergy.

Some ministers are concerned about church budget and press the issue too often and too hard. Others feel the apparent...<br/>
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		<feedburner:origLink>http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2013/05/beg-to-give/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>God’s gifts in suffering (3) Suffering tests and refines our faith</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheBriefing/~3/1Gws_T6nOBw/</link>
		<comments>http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2013/05/gods-gifts-in-suffering-3-suffering-tests-and-refines-our-faith/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 23:00:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Suffering]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Faith]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[suffering]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/?p=22293</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[I’m no Job. The words I used to sing so blithely, with such theoretical appreciation of their beauty, such bland conviction that I’d sing them whatever came—“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21)—don’t, apparently, spring to my lips when suffering...<br/>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		<feedburner:origLink>http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2013/05/gods-gifts-in-suffering-3-suffering-tests-and-refines-our-faith/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>Exodus 3:14-15</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheBriefing/~3/8evkjP0_QyE/</link>
		<comments>http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2013/05/exodus-314-15/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 May 2013 22:00:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Bible brief]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bible insights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Language]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/?p=21973</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[For most of us, our names have particular significance and meaning, but aren’t all that descriptive. For example, my namesake is the prophet Samuel of the Old Testament, but my parents didn’t call me Sam because of any special divine intervention. My daughter is named after one of our very good...<br/>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		<feedburner:origLink>http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2013/05/exodus-314-15/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>Time for a tat?</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheBriefing/~3/UhI_7SsNxNs/</link>
		<comments>http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2013/05/time-for-a-tat/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 12 May 2013 22:00:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Contentment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sin in the life of the minister]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/?p=22004</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[I’ve been wondering: should I get a tattoo? At this moment, it seems like a pretty important question to me. I’m pretty sure it’s a question for others too. I’m a church pastor, and I’ve just entered my fortieth year of life. And my question is specifically for those who are also pastors (or...<br/>
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		<slash:comments>16</slash:comments>
		<feedburner:origLink>http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2013/05/time-for-a-tat/</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>What separates us from the Bible?</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheBriefing/~3/sT9c4VUVUVY/</link>
		<comments>http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2013/05/what-separates-us-from-the-bible/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 May 2013 23:58:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Bible insights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/?p=22309</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[I was suggesting last week that the Bible is not written from an alien, different world, but addresses the world we live in. But there is something that stands as a divide between us and the Bible; something that prevents us from grasping hold of the Scriptures and applying them rightly to our...<br/>
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		<item>
		<title>→ Six tips from an atheist on talking with non-Christians</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheBriefing/~3/nF1EDb5lLFo/can-christians-and-atheists-be-friends-this-atheists-thinks-so.aspx</link>
		<comments>http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2013/05/six-tips-from-an-atheist-on-talking-with-non-christians/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2013 09:25:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Atheism]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/?p=22288</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[Chris Stedman is an atheist, an ex-evangelical, and an assistant chaplain at Harvard. He&#8217;s written some advice to Christians who are wanting to talk constructively with atheists about faith:

  (more…)<br/>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		<feedburner:origLink>http://www.qideas.org/blog/can-christians-and-atheists-be-friends-this-atheists-thinks-so.aspx</feedburner:origLink></item>
		<item>
		<title>Your church is too small</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheBriefing/~3/-e9-XQgYEbk/</link>
		<comments>http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2013/05/your-church-is-too-small/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 05 May 2013 22:00:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[*Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Church]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Materialism and prosperity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pentecostalism]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/?p=21980</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[Deep darkness is punctuated by the flash of a thousand cameras; rumbling bass rattles through my bones. Throughout the arena I can hear the burbling, surging, building crescendo of music ready to erupt—and then, with a synthesizer burst, lights erupt throughout the stadium, only to be extinguished...<br/>
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		<item>
		<title>Bookstall on Holiness</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheBriefing/~3/FvotnP9Spzw/</link>
		<comments>http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2013/05/bookstall-on-holiness/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 May 2013 20:00:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Book Review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Holiness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Holy Spirit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sanctification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/?p=22278</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[I&#8217;m compiling a reading list for the bookstall on our church conference (camp, house party or whatever you call it!) on the topic of holiness and santification.  (more…)<br/>
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		<item>
		<title>Opposing Euthanasia</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheBriefing/~3/ZhE3ChBb3OQ/</link>
		<comments>http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2013/05/opposing-euthanasia/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 May 2013 11:48:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Death]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ethics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Euthanasia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Action]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Suffering]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/?p=22283</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[Euthanasia is being pushed again in NSW. There&#8217;s a lot more that could be said, but here&#8217;s what I&#8217;m sending to my local MPs&#8230;  (more…)<br/>
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		<item>
		<title>Editorial: Critical Thinking</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheBriefing/~3/UJrEjC0RLmc/</link>
		<comments>http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2013/05/editorial-critical-thinking/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 Apr 2013 22:00:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator />
				<category><![CDATA[Disagreement among Christians]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/?p=21966</guid>
		
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[To be frank, putting this issue together was tough. That’s largely because the main article, written by yours truly, is in places fairly critical of others and their ministry—with good reason, mind you, but the point still stands. Despite what you might think, calling others out is not something...<br/>
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