Multicultural Ministry Matters

Macquarie Anglican Churches ("MAC") have decided to be public about sex. During March, they're hosting MAC Whoopee : four talks on God and sex. Session 1: The Chemical Conspiracy of Love and Desire - how God wired us for a good time. Session 2: Making Whoopee - how to have healthy, heavenly sex, the way God intended us to. Session 3: Whoopee and the Wiggles: Talking about sex to the kids. Session 4: Aging disgracefully: good sex for those who are - uh - more mature than the rest of us. And the speaker of course will be none other than Dr Pat - better known to me as "Mum". MAC is using this to open their Connect 09 program.

I WANT THIS NUMBERPLATE! Forget the car – I just want the numberplate!

One of Australia's worst natural disasters ever The Victorian bushfires are one of Australia’s worst ever natural disasters. They were so fierce, scientists estimate they expelled up to 80,000 kilowatts per meter of heat just on the first day they burned. This is the same energy as 500 atomic bombs of the kind that landed on Hiroshima. The official death toll so far is 181. But it’s expected to reach 300, as investigators get to properly search places that are off-limits at the moment because it’s still too dangerous to go in. Is the earth telling us something? Maybe we need better management. There’s a system where bushfire alerts can be sent to mobile phones. It was available in 2005. But it wasn’t implemented because government agencies have been arguing about who should pay for it. Oops. And maybe we need bigger buffers between built-up areas and the bush. Is that what the earth’s trying to tell us? We need to manage it better? Maybe this is Mother Earth’s way of punishing us f...

Some of my international friends have asked me about the Victorian bushfires. Here's some news. * * * * * On Saturday 7 Feb, a series of bushfires began burning all over the state of Victoria. They were incredibly savage for two reasons: a heat-wave had hit the area the previous week, making the whole area tinder dry; and a change moved through with wind gusts reaching hurricane force levels up to 120km/h. The fires were so fierce, scientists estimate they expelled up to 80,000 kilowatts per meter of heat on that Saturday alone. This equals about 500 of the atomic bombs which landed on Hiroshima. The official death toll so far is 181. But it’s expected to reach 300, as investigators get to properly search places that are off-limits at the moment because it’s still too dangerous to go in. In Marysville, eight are confirmed dead, but it’s expected to reach 100—one fifth of the town’s population. At least 35 people died in the Kinglake fire. At least one of the fires may have been del...

I got this idea from Bible study last week. I’m trying to come up with a series based on Biblical or theological words that start with F. Here's what I got so far - can anyone suggest some more? Faith; Forgiveness; Fellowship; Father; Family; Freedom; Fundamentalism (the real F word!) Foundationalism? (Okay, only a philosopher or theologian would understand the significance of that one...) Fruitfulness / Fruit of the Spirit; Fear of God; Food, Feast (eschatological banquet; Lord’s Supper).

Were there no sin, there would be no war. Were there no world sin, there would be no world war. War makes at least one contribution to human salvation—it is sin’s apocalypse. It reveals the greatness and the awfulness of evil, and corrects that light and easy conception of it which had come to mark culture and belittle redemption. This war’s revelation of human wickedness may perhaps do something to relieve us of a comely and aesthetic type of religion which is rounded, not on a salvation, but on the divine excellence of that glorious creature man, and on the facilities for his evolution. It may recall us to the estimate of him presented by the very existence of Christianity as a religion, which declares his one need to be redemption. P. T. Forsyth, The Justification of God , Adelaide: New Creation Publications, 1988 [London, Independent Press, 1917], page 19. The demonic is absolutely essential in understanding Jesus’ interpretation of the picture of sin and of humanity’s need for the...

Truth (noun): The state or quality of being loyal to someone or something - faithfulness, fidelity; Conformity to fact or reality - correctness, accuracy; That which is real, in a deeper sense; spiritual or ‘genuine’ reality; Something acknowledged to be true; an axiom, or generally accepted statement. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission ("TRC") was set up in South Africa to assist the country's transition from apartheid to a full, free democracy. Both victims of apartheid, and perpetrators of atrocities from both sides, could give testimony. Perpetrators of violence could also request amnesty from prosecution. The aim of the Commission was to create an environment where people felt safe to admit what they had actually done. Hopefully, by doing so, the whole country could own up to its past, come together, and move forward. Among those granted amnesty were the perpetrators of the St James' Church Massacre . Prime Minister Rudd's Apology to the stolen genera...

Oh what a tangled web we weave When first we practice to deceive; But when you've practiced quite a bit, You really get quite good at it. Nicholas Elliott, retired agent of the Secret Intelligence Service - better known as MI6. He blew Kim Philby as being a Soviet spy, causing Philby to escape to the USSR. Elliott worked under Philby in MI6, and initially defended Philby when he was under suspicion of being a Soviet double agent. Elliott's affection for Philby was matched only by his disgust when he learned the truth about his friend and mentor.

Tiger Tanaka, head of the Japanese Secret Service, and, according to Dikko Henderson , a ‘ bludger ’, reflects on Japanese military strategy in WW2: ‘My dear Commander [Bond]. You were lucky that we struck at Pearl Harbour rather than at Australia. Can you doubt that we would have occupied that country and New Zealand if we had done otherwise? These are big and important land spaces, insufficiently developed. You could not have defended them. […] Personally, I have never understood the strategy behind Pearl Harbour. Did we wish to conquer America? The supply lines were too long. But Australia and New Zealand were ripe for the plucking.’ Ian Fleming, You Only Live Twice (Penguin, 1964): 47.

Richard “Dikko” Henderson, Australian diplomat in Japan, loses his temper when he discovers he’s been wire-tapped by the Japanese secret service: The huge right fist crashed into the left palm with the noise of a .45 pistol shot. The great square face of the Australian turned almost purple and the veins stood out on the grizzled temples. With controlled violence, but almost under his breath, he intoned savagely: I bludge, Thou bludgest, He bludges, We bludge, You bludge, They all bludge. […] ‘This is the great Australian insult. You can use it anyways.’ He raised his voice. ‘But in general it means a worthless pervert, ponce, scoundrel, liar, traitor and rogue—with no redeeming feature. And I hope your stewed seaweed sticks in your gullet at breakfast tomorrow when you know what I think of you.’ Ian Fleming, You Only Live Twice (Penguin, 1964): 32-33.