Article by Derek Rishmawy

"The Barna Group released a new poll last week in which the proposed question was: “Are Christians more like Jesus or the Pharisees?” Christians get accused of hypocrisy all the time, so why not see if there’s some statistical evidence to back up the claim?

According to the Christian Post:

    "The findings were derived from 1,008 telephone interviews of which 718 respondents self-identified as Christian from Nov. 11 until Nov. 18, 2012. Respondents who identified themselves as Christian were asked 20 questions, ten of which compared their responses to Jesus’ actions and attitudes and ten of which compared their responses to the Pharisees of the New Testament.".....

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Redefining Personhood

Daniel Farrugia, 2nd May 2013

"What defines a “you”?

Ultimately, the discussion regarding the rights and wrongs of abortion hangs on two questions:

    Do persons have the right to life?
    What defines a person?

The first question is actually more complicated than you think, and your gut reflex answer, if you’re reading this in a Western context, will actually be influenced by centuries of cultural conditioning that has its roots in Christianity. But that’s another post on its own, and this one is already longer than I’d hoped. But the second… well, do they look like a human being? Do they act a certain way? Possess certain qualities of thought and reaction that differentiate them from animals? Do they possess a particular genome? All of these definitions have their own problems, and I could give examples to prick holes in all of them, as I’m sure the careful reader could. Do they possess a human soul? At present, not a measurable quality, so not really helpful in this discussion unless you can be sure when it occurs. I recall a teacher at school, who justified abortion prior to the formation of a particular neural region in the developing foetus, as prior to this there was no nervous activity. I personally disagree with all of these, as the only person who has a right to define what a human being is, is our maker....."

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The front page article on today's mX (you know the little tabloid that is littered over Metro's trains each afternoon) discussed how “half of all pregnancies in Australia aren't planned, with young women sticking with the most unreliable forms of contraception”. The article goes on to state that the contraceptive pill and condoms were the preferable method of preventing pregnancy for women aged 18 to 23 yet women should be considering impants and Intra Uterine Devices as they are a more complete protection against getting pregnant.

But let us explore this so-called “more effective” method of using intrauterine devices. Here is a short introduction into how this contraceptive device works:

There are many promises in the New Testament that Christians will face persecution. Paul tells his readers if they follow his example they will be risking much:

“You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

2 Timothy 3:12 - 13 (ESV)

In this message to Timothy we glimpse how much this apostle has had to face in his ministry and travels for the sake of the Gospel. Yet he shows a nonchalant attitude about his suffering because “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”. Paul expected great hardship because of his affiliation with what was perceived as a sect of Judaism. Not only did he expect it but anyone who followed his example should anticipate persecution. But Paul saw the bigger picture and recognised that God is provident in every situation that he had been led into.

This Sunday we will be celebrating Mothers Day. It will be the 104^th anniversary of the first occasion when Anna Jarvis decided to honour her deceased mother. Since then this day has undergone serious commercialisation at the hands of various companies who have profited from the extra sales of gifts and cards, as is their way.

This Mothers Day we get some other new attachments since its commencement. Popular US magazine The New Yorker has decided to go for a more “enlightened” take on Mothers Day on the cover of its latest magazine.

Emily Timbor, over at Huffington Post, would have you believe that Christians have been misinterpreting John 15, which reads:

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

John 15:18-19 (ESV)

Timbor argues that Christians are playing the victim card by employing this verse and delighting in the hate they are receiving. She says the “world” referred to in this verse is actually in reference to the religious leaders and the Roman Government. I'll let Timbor elaborate herself:

“When you dive into that Barna Group study, or really any study that's come out in the past 50 years about the world's view of Christianity, you'll see that Christians aren't being hated because of the radical, faithful way they're following Christ. They're being hated because they've spent 2,000 years telling the world what Christ died for, but then doing the opposite. Often in His name.

It's time that Christians stop accepting this label of "hated" as a badge of pride, and start viewing it as a warning. It shouldn't be a chink in our armor against darkness. It should be a call to cause us to examine the weakness we have before we go into battle. Because it's true that if we're following Christ, we'll be hated. But it's important to pay attention to just who will be hating us -- and why.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/emily-timbol/christians-arent-right-just-because-the-world-hates-them_b_3215031.html?utm_hp_ref=religion

I was on the train home from the city on the weekend and I was reading James White's new book What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Qur'an. From what I've read so far this is probably the go-to book I'd recommend for Christians to start understanding Islam and interacting with Muslims.

An older gentleman sitting in the seat across from me decided to take an interest in the book I was reading. After slowly observing the cover for a couple of minutes he started talking to me about how important it is for somebody of one particular religion to properly understand other religions. I totally agree with these sentiments, as does James White:

“Lecturing on [Islam] over the past few years, in Western countries I frequently have asked how many have read the Qur'an. Rarely do more than two or three hands go up and often none at all. If I were to pose the parallel question in an Islamic context – how many Muslims have read the Bible – the numbers would be virtually the same. Generally, our two communities are abysmally ignorant of the other's sacred texts, so we tend to talk right past each other, assuming nonexistent commonalities of language and definition, which makes for dangerous scenarios (as the headlines bear out).

This is a situation Christians must labor to change, so that we who are commanded to bring the message of the gospel to all can obey our Lord's mandate with reference to the Muslim people. It is my hope that with the material in this book, you will be encouraged to engage in open and frank dialogue with Muslims, who regularly are eager to do likewise.”

What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Qur'an, pg 14

When humanity was in its infancy the many came together on the plains of Shinar and said “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:4 ESV). But God saw the wickedness and desires in these people's hearts and did the very thing they were afraid of, he dispersed them over the face of the whole earth.

This desire to be like God persists with us to this very day. While watching the new Iron Man film I was struck with just how much our media is saturated in presenting our heroes in a god-like sheen. This film features Tony Stark in his fourth outing (Iron Man 1 & 2 and The Avengers) and it is, far and away, the boldest. While he is certainly not fighting invading aliens, Stark has to deal with antagonists who seemingly can't be killed. Yet, as we go through this narrative from the eyes of Stark, we are given the impression that he too is impervious to death.

Proponents of pushing same-sex marriage are getting impatient. It appears that the conventional methods of undermining marriage, namely parliament and the courts, are going to fail them here in Australia for the time being. Instead, the idea of having a referendum on the issue has entered the fray. And it has done so from a very unlikely source. Independent MP Tony Windsor raised the suggestion to the press again this week. This is an interesting tactic by Windsor who is almost-surely out of office come September. Perhaps it is a last gasp attempt to sway voters to him?

Labor's Finance Minister, Penny Wong, doesn't like this idea. As a lesbian her note of caution is telling. The steps it takes to get a referendum passed are strenuous and, even if a majority of Australians voted for the referendum it would still likely face the same fate as the majority of attempts to change our Constitution.

This whole discussion raises a very sick reality. No longer do some people pushing same-sex marriage believe that it should be the role of parliamentarians to decide the role of marriage but many now believe it is completely appropriate for marriage to be determined by a general consensus in the population.