Input – what we’re taking in

New ‘toys’ are great, aren’t they?

Having recently acquired an iPad, I know how much I enjoy experiencing the joys of new technology.

Australians have always been amongst the earliest adopters of new technology and this characteristic continues. Recent research* has shown that 3 in 4 households with under 18s have mp3 players (72.1%) and more than half (58.1%) have wireless internet in their home, allowing the internet to easily be accessed from multiple entertainment devices concurrently. More than one third (34.9%) have Pay TV, which no doubt adds to the almost 3 hour TV viewing average of Australians. The iPhone and iTouch are now in almost 1 in 4 Australian households with under 18s (24.4%). Digital radio, the newest technological format of entertainment has already found a place in more than 1 in 10 households (11%).

We are continually bombarded with images, music and movies from a wide variety of sources.

We know the things we watch and listen to can impact us. In many instances in the Bible we see people who limit the things they see to keep themselves holy. For example King David in Psalm 101:3 states ‘I will set before my eyes no vile thing.’ Job, a man who overcame great hardship through trusting in God said ‘I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl.’ (Job 31:1) It’s clear Job realised the affect the things we see can have on the things we do.

Paul instructs Christians to think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). In Romans 12:2 he says ‘do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.’

We are called to live, not as a result of our culture, or standards created by the people around us, but based on the way that God wants us to. By immersing ourselves in God’s Word we can learn what this looks likes and find a good pattern to base our lives on.

That’s what’s on my mind.

What do you think?

To make a comment, click the speech bubble to the right of the title of the post (above).

*McCrindle Research Pty Ltd, The Heart of Australia, p 27

Worldly authorities and the Christian

As we approach the federal election, have you thought much about how a Christian should live in relation to those in charge of our society? What should be our interest in policies, politics, the people governing our country? Does the Bible inform us on these questions?

The New Testament teaches that Christians should submit themselves to the governing authorities. Why? The authorities exist because they’ve been established by God. This means that if we rebel against the governing authority, we are rebelling against what God has instituted (Romans 13:1-2). Further, Christians are told that we should submit ourselves – for God’s sake – to every authority instituted among people. We should show proper respect to everyone, including those in charge of our country (1 Peter 3:13-17).

It would seem that the only exception to this requirement is if the governing authorities forbid what God requires or require what God forbids. That’s why the early Christians continued to speak about what they have seen and heard, and spread the news about Jesus, despite being ordered not to and imprisoned for doing so (Acts 4:18-31; 5:17-29).

So, are we to just passively submit to those in authority? Or are we to take action in some way? The Bible teaches that we are to pray for all those in authority over us, with requests, intercession and thanksgiving (1 Timothy 2:1-4). We are also, perhaps, to watch over governments and ensure that they fulfil the role which God has given to them – to punish those who do wrong and commend those who do right (1 Peter 2:13-14).

That’s what’s on my mind.

What do you think?

To make a comment, click the speech bubble to the right of the title of the post (above).

Refugees – today’s poor and oppressed

How are we, as Christians, to think about refugees? And more than just think – what should our attitude and actions be? How does the Bible inform our thinking on this issue?
Dictionary.com defines the term ‘refugee’ as “an individual seeking refuge or asylum; especially: an individual who has left his or her native country and is unwilling or unable to return to it because of persecution or fear of persecution (as because of race, religion, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion).”

By this definition, it’s interesting to note that Jesus himself was a refugee! Matthew 2:13-23 records how when Jesus was a child, his family had to flee to Egypt because Herod was searching for Jesus to kill him. His family stayed in Egypt until the government changed (that is, until King Herod died), and settled in Nazareth in Galilee (rather than in Judea) to avoid Herod’s son Archelaus.

Not only does the Bible show us that Jesus and his family were themselves refugees, it has a great deal to say about those who are poor, oppressed, and in a foreign country. God’s people, the Israelites, were not to mistreat or oppress foreigners (Zechariah 7:10). Rather, they were to treat foreigners as themselves; to love them, and give them food and clothing, and ensure that they were not deprived of justice. God himself loves the foreigner, and his people are to do likewise (Leviticus 19: 33-34; Deuteronomy 10: 17-19; 24:17).

The Bible is clear on the way God wants his people to act, ‘This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place’ (Jeremiah 22:3).

When we are faced with the issues of boat people, asylum seekers, and refugees, how does the Bible’s teaching influence us? That’s what’s on my mind.

What do you think?

To make a comment, click the speech bubble to the right of the title of the post (above).

What about those who have not heard?

As Christians, we know how to come into a right relationship with God – whoever believes in Jesus has eternal life. However, the Bible is also clear that whoever rejects Jesus will not see life, because God’s wrath remains on him (John 3:36; also 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10).

But what about those who never hear the good news about Jesus? Can they be saved without knowing Jesus?

Can people come to know God from what is seen in our world? We all know how a beautiful sunset, or a perfect wave crashing to shore, or the still silent bush at sunrise can tug at our hearts – and the Bible tells us that God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – can be clearly seen and understood from what has been made (Romans 1:19-20).

People can see creation, and realise that there is a God – but do they? According to the Bible, they don’t. This passage goes on to say that even though people can see God in creation, they still refuse to respond to him as God – they don’t glorify him, or thank him (Romans 1:21).

The Bible says that God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done’ (Romans 2:6). In Revelation, the apostle John has a vision of the future judgement – all people standing before God’s throne, being judged by God according to what was written in the book, i.e. by what they had done (Revelation 20:12).

The problem is that ‘there is no one righteous, not even one… all have turned away… there is no one who does good, not even one’ (Romans 3:10-12). We all need saving; and this is the very reason Jesus came into the world – to die for our sins. We are told that ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’ (Romans 10:13), so clearly, the teaching of the Bible is that all people need to hear about Jesus to be saved, since they cannot believe in him if they haven’t heard about him (Romans 10:14-17).

That’s what’s on my mind.

What do you think?

Ethics and Special Religious Education (SRE) in Schools

Ethics are defined as a system of moral principles, and as such, are very important to be taught to children. Western ethics, our moral principles, have developed out of a Christian context. The Bible teaches much about how people should live in relationship to our society.

Foundational concepts are found in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) and the moral standards set forth in these commands were applied by Jesus to Christians in the New Testament, where he fills out their meaning (Matthew 5:17-48).

Yet can these good moral principles from the Bible, or any ethics system based on them, be taught or sustained without the truth about Jesus and God’s enabling forming the foundation? The bar set by the Ten Commandments is high; Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount only sets the bar even higher, as he takes laws such as ‘do not murder’ and fills it out to include anger against others (Matthew 5:21-22).

The reality of the Christian life is that whilst we seek to live out the moral principles and ethics which Jesus commands of us, we also live in an acknowledgement that we are unable to do so perfectly. (Romans 3:23; Romans 7:10-11, 21-25; Romans 8:1-4). We rely on God’s strength and enabling to live in a way which is right and true towards others (Galatians 5:16-26).

Good moral principles and a system of ethics are important to teach children; but a more holistic and beneficial approach is surely to teach these ethics with the reference to a loving and perfect God, who does not just give us the standards to live by, but enables us to do so. That’s what’s on my mind.

What do you think?

To make a comment, click the speech bubble to the right of the title of the post (above).