- 64% of Australians identify as Christian
- In 1902, 97 per cent of the population professed to be Christian.
- Estimates up to 25% of Australians are atheist
- 18.7% stated No religion in 2006, while 11.2 stated left religion 'not stated'
the doctrine or belief that there is no God
They recommend an approach to sharing the gospel which “proclaims gladly and openly the uniqueness of the work of God in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ”, but which “forbears from making ultimate judgements about others, always preferring to leave that to the loving mercy of Christ.
“In this approach, sharing the gospel of salvation through Christ alone is not an exercise in the selling of a product in a competitive market place of religions or philosophies, it is proclamation.”
This view is echoed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in their foreword...
The crucifixion is apparently under review. In his doctoral thesis, newly graduated Swedish theologian Gunnar Samuelsson argues that the cross Jesus supposedly died on may not actually have been a cross. He explains in an interview with DRadio Wissen, a German station: 'the New Testament said that Jesus died some way on something called a staurus ... that's a Greek name for a cross or a pole or something ... I call it an execution device only to be [distinguished] from the common notion that it must be a cross, because it mustn't be a cross--it could be a pole, for instance, or a tree trunk, or something else.'
...the Bible has been misinterpreted as there are no explicit references the use of nails or to crucifixion - only that Jesus bore a 'staurus' towards Calvary which is not necessarily a cross but can also mean a 'pole'.
The Bible is full of logic, and we must never think of faith as something purely mystical. We do not just sit down in an armchair and expect marvelous things to happen to us. That is not Christian faith. Christian faith is essentially thinking.
That is the every essence of faith. Faith, if you like, can be defined like this: It is a man insisting upon thinking when everything seems determined to bludgeon and knock him down in an intellectual sense.
They assert that the surge of New Atheism is also a good thing because it is forcing discussion of religion back into university life. These attacks are happening largely in the academy, pushing the sacred back into the secular
Their belief is that in thoughtful, uninhibited discussion of the issues, the truth can and will emerge as it forces New Atheism to move from offense to defense. As Christians are able to press their worldview with the truth, New Atheism ideology will crumble.
But what must a pastor do? That’s the subject of this post.Kevin's points are:
In other words, let’s assume the first two C’s are in good shape (Character and Convictions). What is required by the third C–Competence?
In an accompanying article in The New York Times, Tara Parker Pope asked a chilling but revealing question: “Has the high-speed Internet made you impatient with slow-speed children?” Does that question not arrest you on the spot?
The research indicates that people who are highly invested in digital involvements are less empathetic, less attentive, less patient, and less able to remember something as basic as a conversation.
You're either going to go out like Judas or Jesus—that's how your life is going to end. You're going to go out like Jesus, faithful to the end, whatever the cost, or you're going to go out like Judas, prematurely, tragically, rebelliously, shamefully.
If you were going to get crucified, would you stop calling yourself a Christian?... Andrew replied, [and this is an amazing line] "I would not have preached the honor and glory of the cross if I feared the death of the cross."
We're in a day where we get a lot of come-and-see. There are free sermons on the Internet, classes, training, Christian music, radio stations, radio preachers, church events, mass crusades, services, small groups. It seems, Lord God, like there are more come-and-see opportunities than any people have ever been offered in the history of the world.... [But] I pray for the grace of the Holy Spirit on us as a people that we wouldn't just be a come-and-see people, that we'd be a go-and-die people.
I was stopped this past February in Heathrow airport when I was trying to go over to London to speak. I had been invited to preach there by Church of England Church, an established church in the UK in the middle of London. When I got to Heathrow, new laws had been passed. They wouldn’t let me in. I waited 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes, while they asked me more and more questions. What exactly would I be saying? Finally they let me in, but with cautions…
A lot of believers, as well as unbelievers, think that there is a great deal at stake in this whole business of religion. Given that so much is at stake, isn't it a little misguided to implore people to accept a Rodney-King-style political correctness: 'Can't we all just get along?'
Why not write a much shorter book that spoke directly to the Christians who walk in to be led every Sunday morning? Perhaps a book that would help them think more biblically about their responsibility as a worshiper of God, regardless of how they were being led. A book that leaders could give to members of their congregation.
Let me make a bold, but, I think, defensible assertion: we should approach the Scriptures with the same reverence we would have in approaching Christ.
I do not remember 99% of what I read, but if the 1% of each book or article I do remember is a life-changing insight, then I don’t begrudge the 99%.
Sullivan’s article argues that today’s younger evangelicals (the under-30s) are “expanding their mission” by being deeply concerned not with “fire-and-brimstone conservatism”... but with issues like global poverty, creation care, and inner-city education.
For the sake of moving this debate further along, let me suggest another reason many younger evangelicals might find social justice issues so attractive: it’s easy.
No one argues with the need to feed the hungry. But people are killed for the proclamation of the gospel.
George Whitefield, the 18th-century evangelist, gives this advice for those considering a call: “Ask yourselves again and again whether you would preach for Christ if you were sure to lay down your life for so doing? If you fear the displeasure of a man for doing your duty now, assure yourselves you are not yet thus minded.”The article also lists thoughts by Luther, John Newton, Charles Hodge and Robert L Dabney on the calling of a minister
When you take the time to listen to the Happiness experts, a repeated theme is the vital place of community.
We have bunkered down in private castles and the refuge of a controlled environment untrammelled by the muddy shoes of neighbourhood children. Remote controlled garage doors mean we don’t even have to risk a conversation with nearby residents before pulling down the shutters and retreating to our sanctuaries.
But there is lots of evidence that community is not only good for us, but we are longing for it.
An interesting article in the New York Times considers American’s faith in technology and the surprise we have when technology can’t immediately fix our problems.
Humans don’t do well when not in control.
Among other things, this catastrophe can remind us of where our faith ultimately needs to be: “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7).
