We’ve all heard the countless reasons Americans don’t like the church. Bookstores are full of writings that critique the church and talk about why people have left the pews.
“There’s really nothing out there that we could see that really affirmed the local church,” Ted Kluck, a lay member of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Mich., told The Christian Post.
His pastor, Kevin DeYoung, has read the books and seen the reports and laments the growing movement of having God without the church.
“I see the church derided with mockery and scorn. I see critics exaggerating her weaknesses and incapable of affirming any of her strengths,” DeYoung says. “I see many leaving the church instead of loving her for better or for worse. I see lots of my peers who have 20/20 vision for the church’s failings, but are nearsighted to their own pride, self-importance, and mutual self-congratulation.”
In a rare move, Kluck and DeYoung have put out a book that offers reasons why they love the church – church not as plural for Christian, as most people seem to define it, but as the institution.
As DeYoung writes in Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion, “Increasingly, we hear glowing talk of a churchless Christianity. ...These days, spirituality is hot; religion is not. Community is hip, but the church is lame.”
But while non-Christians are liking Jesus and not the church and Christians are being told they can do fine with God apart from the church, the authors are urging them to give church another chance.
“We don’t want Christians to give up on the church,” DeYoung says.
Considering most are familiar with why so many people are disillusioned with the church (i.e. they’re tired of the church’s failings; it’s filled with hypocritical and judgmental people), we’ll go straight into why the church is worth it and why it’s even essential in a believer’s life.
Firstly, Christ loves the church, DeYoung says in the beginning of the book. The church is the bride and also the body of Christ, as the Bible describes it.
“The church we love is as flawed and messed up as we are, but she’s Christ’s bride nonetheless,” the Reformed pastor writes. “And I might as well have a basement without a house or a head without a body as despise the wife my Savior loves.”
Another thing Christians must remember is that there will always be aspects of the church that are unpopular, including an objective moral order and a Gospel that is not only about love and grace but also judgment and repentance.
And too many times, churches have been too eager to be liked, DeYoung notes, whether it’s lusting after academic recognition or cultural validation.
“Being disliked by teenagers and twentysomethings is not our biggest problem,” he points out.
Kluck, who offers a lay person’s perspective in the book, also notes that rejection is going to be a part of the lives of believers.
“Not everybody is going to like us, or our message,” he says.
Still, Kluck wants people to go and experience church despite its unpalatable and sometimes imperfect packaging.
“There are some core things about churches that on the surface may not seem terribly entertaining, it may not have amazing coffee, the praise team might not be drop dead gorgeous and talented but as long as the preacher’s preaching passionate expositional sermons from the text, as long as the praise and worship is God-centered and authentic and real, as long as your church body is praying together, meeting one another’s needs, reaching out to the community, as long as those things are in place, those are signs of a great church,” he commented to The Christian Post.
ABOUT 1500 garden gnomes have been saved from the scrapheap after an 800-kilometre rescue mission.
The impressive collection of small cement people was left orphaned after the death of an elderly Cootamundra woman, with the new owners of her property not enamoured of the gnomes.
But a solicitor acting for the deceased estate in southern NSW contacted the Australian Gnome Convention seeking advice on how to dispose of the garden ornaments.
The convention, established by the Lower Blue Mountains Rotary Club, is held annually in Glenbrook, west of Sydney, and has become the spiritual home for Australia’s gnomes.
Convention organiser and “Gnome Master” David Cook said he did not hesitate in organising the rescue party when contacted about the homeless little folk.
“We didn’t want to see them put in a skip and taken to the tip and all smashed up,” Mr Cook said.
Ranging from two-centimetre fridge magnets to 1.5m-high mega-gnomes, the garden fixtures have suffered a degree of wear and tear.
“They had been there for a number of years,” Mr Cook said.
“They were all faded. Their red hats were no longer red and all that sort of stuff.”
The gnomes’ previous owner lived alone and was known for having a small number of the statues in her front yard, but few locals knew the full extent of her backyard collection.
“She had no more than half a dozen gnomes out the front, but no one suspected she had a whole bevy out the back,” said Bill Price, a Cootamundra Rotarian.
The four-member rescue team joined with Cootamundra locals on Saturday, working for almost four hours to load “every square inch” of two vehicles and a trailer.
The gnomes will be fostered out to various locations across the Blue Mountains but will be reunited next Australia Day for the sixth annual Australian Gnome Convention.
Mr Cook came up with the idea for the convention as one of the Australia Day activities organised by the Rotary club each year.
It started off with about 100 gnomes in its first year and has grown to attract more than 1,000, with some travelling from overseas to attend.
The gnomes will be fostered out to various locations across the Blue Mountains but will be reunited next Australia Day for the sixth annual Australian Gnome Convention.
If only fostered out children could be so lovingly looked after.
What’s that old familial proverb ? - “A house is not a home - until it has a gnome”.
Since gnomes have come out and into the world of work they have found many new employment opportunities. A spokesman from Macdonalds said “ We like to employ gnomes because they have a good sense of humour and they make the burgers look bigger”.
Teenage boys find $100,000 while fishing, decides to hand it in to police - News.com.au 21 September 2009
AS FAR as big catches go, they don’t get much bigger.
Two teenage brothers fishing in a creek near a town west of Lismore discovered $100,000 cash in a bag on the creek bank - and handed it in to police.
The boys’ mother said she was proud of her sons and confident they’d done the right thing. In a case giving “the one that got away” a whole new meaning, she admitted the family had agonised over the dilemma before deciding to do the right thing.
“I wrestled with it, to be honest,” she told The Daily Telegraph. “It was a very hard decision but one of my boys said, ‘We were sweet before and we’re sweet now’. I thought that was the most divine thing to hear.”
She said she knew they had made the right decision after they visited police in Lismore on Saturday to hand over the cash.
“They (the boys) are so relieved it’s gone,” she said. “It’s a weight off their shoulders.”
Miles of Adelaide Tuntable Creek runs through a small valley in northern NSW, near the notorious drug den of Nimbin, lending a sinister air to exactly what the money was for.
The cash, concealed in plastic bags, may have washed downstream during heavy flooding earlier in the year. The matter is now the subject of a police investigation.
A NSW Police spokesman said if the money was unclaimed, the family could make an application to the courts to keep it.
But if it was determined the money was the proceeds of crime, it would be confiscated by the state Government.
’‘I would love to accept it back,’’ said the boys’ mother. ‘’(But) if it was dirty money, I don’t want anything to do with it. I really want them (my boys) to be proud they’re not part of that culture.’’
News of the discovery is sure to have the tiny community of Tuntable Creek, which boasts a primary school and not much else, awash with gossip.
Sex: the Bible says go for it - BARNEY ZWARTZ July 26, 2010
Author Melinda Tankard Reist says girls live in a pornified world. Photo: Simon O’Dwyer
WOMEN’S and girls’ magazines are full of advice on better sex, from how to catch and hold your man down to detailed instructions on sexual techniques. Now it seems the oldest written recipe, the Bible’s, might be the best.
Neuroscientific studies suggest that ‘‘life-long heterosexual monogamy’’ is most likely to provide both sexual satisfaction and excitement, a Melbourne conference heard at the weekend.
While women’s activist Melinda Tankard Reist complained that Dolly magazine, aimed at 10 to 13-year-old girls, provided instructions on oral and anal sex without any context or warnings, Sydney University sexologist Patricia Weerakoon said biblical sexual ethics were healthy and life-affirming.
In a joint paper with her son, Sydney Presbyterian minister Kamal Weerakoon, she said non-religious people expected the church to be fearful, ignorant, defensive, repressed and hypocritical with only one message about sex: don’t do it.
But a biblical understanding of sex was deeply positive - ‘‘do it, God made us for it’’ - while also being honest about human imperfections and limitations.
Mr Weerakoon told the national conference on religion in the public square that neuroscientists working in sexology - which studies gender and sexuality - showed that sexual activity had three stages: lust, love and bonding.
Each stage had its own particular hormones, including ‘‘feel-good’’ at the second stage, and ‘‘cuddle’’ hormones at the third.
In the lust or desire stage, the dominant hormone was testosterone. In the second stage, involving attraction to a specific person, the ‘‘feel-good’’ hormones of dopamine, serotonin and adrenalin came into play.
In the third stage, of long-term bonding, the ‘‘cuddle hormones’’ or oxytocin and vasopressin, played a bigger role.
’‘Biologically, we are wired to desire sex, to fall in love with the person we desire sex with, and for that love to develop into deep attachment. Our bodies are wired to operate best with one sexual partner for life,’’ he said. ‘‘Both academia and pop culture assume that biblical, Christian sexual ethics are at best outdated and irrelevant, and at worst repressive and harmful. We are seen as legalist, repressed, hypocritical killjoys who spend all our time trying to stop everyone from having a good time.’‘
But a biblical sexual anthropology and ethic was the church’s gift to the world, he said. ‘‘Christians should be out and proud.’‘
Ms Tankard Reist told the conference that despite talk of ‘‘girl power’‘, girls lived in a pornified world, bombarded with sexual imagery before they were psychologically ready. Parents had to object when they saw T-shirts for pre-teens proclaiming ‘‘It’s not rape if you shout ‘surprise’‘’ or ‘‘Save a virgin. Do me instead’‘.
’‘The standard you walk past is the standard you set,’’ she said.
Kamal taught me Strand 1 in KYLC (now called NextGen). Good one!
BURGER KING confirmed on September 2nd that 3G Capital, a New York-based private-equity firm, was offering to buy it, at a price valuing the company at around $4 billion. BK’s management have accepted the bid. Something needed to be (well) done at the fast-food firm. Despite its slogan, “Have It Your Way”, BK has not been having it its own way in the long-running “burger wars”. The jury may still be out on whether BK or McDonald’s serves up the best fries, but when it comes to popularity with stockmarket investors, the maker of the Big Mac has supersized its lead in the past two years.
Recession has favoured McDonald’s over BK, whose share price has halved since the economy was flame-grilled in the summer of 2008. The happy meals have been enjoyed by investors in McDonald’s, whose share price has risen during this period, reaching an all-time high in August. Same-store sales at BK have fallen for five successive quarters. Why has McDonald’s been eating its lunch? Among other things, BK has always had a higher proportion of sales to younger men, who have been hit especially hard by the recession, while McDonald’s has been broadening its appeal for several years with initiatives like serving relatively healthy salads and decent coffee. BK has struggled to follow suit, while having to contend with shareholders’ anger as the rising cost of beef and other ingredients hit profits. It may also have cannibalised its existing sales by offering value meals that were a bit too irresistible.
BK has got used to changes in ownership. For much of the time it struggled as it went from being part of Pillsbury, a food company, to Grand Metropolitan, a British conglomerate, then to Diageo, a drinks giant. In 2002 it was sold to a consortium of private-equity investors: TPG, Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs. They did a decent job, improving sales with better marketing, including reviving the “Have It Your Way” slogan. They also helped to turn around the most troubled of the franchisees who operate the vast majority of the 12,000-plus Burger King restaurants in 73 countries. The firm’s bosses may now hope that returning BK to private ownership will protect it from the short-term pressures of the stockmarket while it figures out and invests in a new strategy to beat Mickey D.
Assuming things go to plan and Burger King does go private, it will be part of a trend for the private-equity industry—now that some of the bigger firms have rediscovered their appetite for deals—to gobble up companies that had been taken public during the bubble years but which are now trading cheaply. TPG, Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs still own a sizeable stake in BK, despite listing it on the New York Stock Exchange in 2006, so they might have considered buying back the remaining shares themselves. Instead, they have decided to sell out to another private-equity outfit. Burger King servers may or may not appreciate the irony, but the act of passing a company from one private-equity firm to another is known in the business as “flipping”.
NSW Liberals offer kids free trips to the zoo ahead of March state election
From: AAP February 28, 2011 10:18AM
CHILDREN from disadvantaged schools in western Sydney will get free VIP trips to the zoo under a New South Wales Coalition government.
Youngsters will be invited to pack their trunks and say goodbye to the city for a couple of days under the Opposition’s left-field plan.
The $400,000 scheme has been designed to tear children away from their computers and televisions and boost visitor numbers at Taronga Western Plains Zoo, in the state’s central west.
The Dubbo zoo, home to rare black rhinos, giraffes, elephants and bongos, has suffered a 10 per cent drop in visitors in the last five years, opposition environment spokeswoman Catherine Cusack says.
The Coalition has promised to give 3300 Year 8 schoolchildren, their teachers and other supervisors free entry to the zoo and a $50 accommodation and meals allowance, if it wins power at the state election on March 26.
Groups will also get free rail travel to and from the zoo.
Only western Sydney schools are initially being offered the trips because children living in more central parts of the city have ready access to Taronga Zoo in Mosman, Ms Cusack said.
However the plan could be extended if it was a success, she said.
“As studies tell us children spend an ever-increasing amount of time watching TV and playing computer games, visiting the zoo at Dubbo is a wonderful way to share with them the beauty of our wildlife and the great outdoors,” Ms Cusack said in a statement.
Yes I agree Arthur. This is indeed a great idea that will benefit children from disadvantaged schools in western Sydney whose families often aren’t able to take holidays out west. The educational benefits from these outings will have long lasting outcomes - opening up these kids to the wider world and the wonders of God’s creation as seen in the animal kingdom.
The cost for a family outing to Taronga Zoo can be prohibitive for those on low or set incomes - so making this Dubbo Zoo experience available to ‘disadvantaged’ children will be beneficial to all.
And the Western Plains Zoo and other businesses in Dubbo would benefit from the extra income that this project would generate. It definitely is a win-win result. What a great educational experience it will be for year 8 students !
Jesus sins in the suburbs
by Damien Murphy ( 25 days to go - page 7 today’s SMH ) March 1, 2011
David Elliott has been praying for years to achieve his dream of becoming a parliamentarian. He was a press secretary to one former Liberal leader, Peter Collins, and was the man who (as an executive with the Australian Hotels Association) handed another former Liberal leader, John Brogden, the beer that ended his political career. Elliott’s political aspirations were twice thwarted by Liberal internal factional brawling, but he has now won preselection for Baulkham Hills.
But last week when he started campaigning, his proud wife, Nicole, who works at the local Catholic school, Our Lady of the Rosary, was so excited she took her eye off the job. Preparing the parish newsletter, she sought Google’s divine intercession and downloaded an image of Jesus Christ. However, she failed to notice He was not only smoking but holding a can of Budweiser beer.
Her fellow parishioners did notice, however, and blamed her lapse on the fact she is married to an Anglican. ’‘I fear I’ve lost the Catholic vote,’’ Elliott lamented.
British baby girl brought back to life after being frozen for three days
From:NewsCore March 03, 2011
A STILLBORN baby was brought back from the “dead” after doctors froze her body for three days, British media reported today.
The drama began when medical staff at the Peterborough District Hospital in east England realised that Rachel Claxton’s placenta had ruptured during labor last year.
This had restricted baby Ella’s oxygen and blood supply, with doctors working for 25 minutes to revive her before they detected a heartbeat, Metro newspaper reported.
With fears her brain would be damaged, Ella was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, where her body temperature was lowered to below the level at which hypothermia occurs.
Her father, Jason Anderson, 33, said: “I laid my hand on her head and she was ice-cold to the touch.”
The pioneering procedure protects against brain damage by forcing the organ to repair itself, according to The Sun.
After three days, Ella’s temperature was gradually returned to normal and the miracle tot was allowed home only eight days later. Although she still needs physiotherapy her brain function is normal.
The amazing story has emerged now because Rachel Claxton, 32, is campaigning for the technology used on her daughter to be more widely available on the National Health Service.
“She’s [Ella] our little miracle and every day she gives us new hope,” she said.
In an era when so much talk is around of abortion rights and the need for euthanasia laws, it is wonderful to read of ‘pioneering’ efforts like this that celebrate the importance of life - and the great work and energy that went into saving one little girl. source
[null]Romney hopes to win two more US statesSydney Morning Herald[{}]AP Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney, looking to extend his winning streak in the race for the US presidential nomination, has focused on abortion, religious freedom and gay marriage in an intensified effort to win over social conservatives as ...
[null]Romney hopes to win two more US statesSydney Morning Herald[{}]AP Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney, looking to extend his winning streak in the race for the US presidential nomination, has focused on abortion, religious freedom and gay marriage in an intensified effort to win over social conservatives as ...
[null]Political Geography: MinnesotaNew York Times (blog)[{}]The area, dotted with megachurches, is predominately exurban and has a significant evangelical community. It is probably the most reliably Republican of all Minnesota's congressional districts. The Second Congressional District, is comprised of seven ...
[null]Political Geography: ColoradoNew York Times (blog)[{}]This is the heartland of Colorado's evangelical community. Focus on the Family is based here. In 2008, among the state's most heavily populated counties, Mike Huckabee did best in El Paso County and, to the south, Pueblo County.and more»
Political Geography: Colorado New York Times (blog) This is the heartland of Colorado's evangelical community. Focus on the Family is based here. In 2008, among the state's most heavily populated counties, Mike Huckabee did best in El Paso County and, to the south, Pueblo County.
[null]How Bob Crow became the voice of reasonTelegraph.co.uk (blog)[{}]Or the similarly "independent" inquiry into euthanasia that was funded by two of its leading advocates (Bernard Lewis and Sir Terry Pratchett) and chaired by a third (Lord Falconer), yet generally reported as an unbiased study.
How Bob Crow became the voice of reason Telegraph.co.uk (blog) Or the similarly "independent" inquiry into euthanasia that was funded by two of its leading advocates (Bernard Lewis and Sir Terry Pratchett) and chaired by a third (Lord Falconer), yet generally reported as an unbiased study.
[null]Heavy lies the head with Kevin in townThe Australian[{}]Her rallying call set off a fleeting vibe of bipartisanship at St Paul's Anglican Church in Manuka yesterday, but the spirit did not last beyond the return ComCar journey to The Hill. "Make my day," Dirty Tony told his colleagues in their partyroom ...
[null]Hating bankers a global sportThe Australian[{}]Such rare political consensus on who to blame was sanctified by Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who in his Christmas Day sermon denounced "financial speculation" for the disintegration of British society. Along with a formidable cast of ...
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