Ariah Park Baptist Church

What we're up to November 2011

2011-10-31T10:30:00.000+11:00

Mon 30th (Oct) 7pm ~ APCAT meeting
Tues 1st 8pm ~ Men't Bible Study at Col's house
Sun 6th 9:30am ~ Sunday School
10:30am ~ Communion Service
Wed 9th 10am ~ KYB - town
8pm ~ KYB - Tara
Thurs 10th 7:30pm ~ KYB - Amy's
Sun 13th 9:30am ~ Sunday School
10:30am ~ Sunday School Presentation Service
Tues 15th 8pm ~ Men's Bible Study at Col's
Thurs 17th 8pm ~ Deacon's meeting - venue tbc
Sat 19th 7:30am ~ Temora Christian Men's Breakfast ~ Chapel on the Hill
Sun 20th 9:30am ~ Sunday School
10:30am ~ Worship Service
Wed 23rd 10am ~ KYB -town
8pm ~ KYB- Tara
Thurs 24th 7:30pm ~ KYB - Amy's
Sun 27th 9:30am ~ Sunday School
10:30am ~ Worship Service
Tues 29th 8pm ~ Men's Bible Study - Peter's
Sun 4th (Dec) 9:30am ~ Sunday School - last day
10:30am ~ Sunday School Christmas Service
5:30pm ~ Family Picnic/ BBQ at Lake Arbortree

What we're up to October 2011

2011-10-10T10:07:00.000+11:00

Sun 2nd: 10:30am ~ Communion Service
Sun 9th: 10:30am ~ Morning Worship ~ David Finch preaching
Wed 12th: 10am ~ KYB town
8pm ~ KYB Tara
Sat 15th: 7:30am ~ Temora's Men's Breakfast ~ Catholic School
Sun 16th: 9:30am ~ Sunday School resumes
10:30am ~ Morning Worship
Thurs 20th: 7:30pm ~ Deacon's meeting ~ venue tbc
Sat 22nd: 2pm ~ Rachel Bennett's wedding at church
Sun 23rd: 9:30am ~ Sunday School
10:30am ~ Morning Worship
12pm ~ Music meeting (bring lunch)
2pm ~ Quarterly Business Meeting
Tues 25th: Men's Bible Study ~ Peter Harper's
Wed 26th: 10am ~ KYB town
8pm ~ KYB Tara
Sun 30th: 9:30am ~ Sunday School
10:30am ~ Morning Worship
Mon 31st: 7pm ~ APCAT committee meeting at Catholic hall.

Who are we?

2011-10-07T16:05:00.001+11:00

Ariah Park Baptist Church is a rural, multi-generation congregation of believers. Attendance is generally between 40 to 60 people each week.

We are a member of the Baptist Churches of New South Wales. Although we are conservative Baptists we do welcome a significant number of worshipers from various other denominations.

Ariah Park Baptist Church has a variety of ministries including Sunday School, both Primary & High School Youth groups, Men's Bible Study & Women's KYB groups. We also run various annual events such as "Guess who's coming to dinner?" and "Church in the bush". Invitations are extended to the whole community for all activities & these are well attended by people from both the church & the wider Christian family.

Our church also plays an integral part in the chaplaincy of the local Central School with both chaplains being members of our church . We also include some dedicated Scripture teachers who do a wonderful job teaching the local children about the Lord.

We join together each week as a part of the family of God to study the Word of God & grow together.

We would love to welcome you!

Welcome Steve & Kaye Shooter

2011-09-21T10:28:00.001+10:00

After 12 months without a pastor Ariah Park Baptist Church is pleased to welcome Pastor Steve Shooter (& his wife Kaye) to the position of full time pastor.

Steve initially trained as a dentist until he felt called into the ministry. He held many pastoral positions within various churches throughout Australia. Steve & Kaye also spent some time in Africa as missionaries as well as working for SIM in the Sydney office. Steve & Kaye feel called to rural ministry in NSW & we are so blessed to have them come to Ariah Park. We look forward to learning from their wisdom & leadership throughout the coming years!

What we're up to September 2011

2011-09-18T17:11:00.001+10:00

The church has numerous activities this September:
Thurs 1st 6pm CWCI dinner ~ Temora
Sun 4th 9:30am Sunday School ~ Father's day
10:30am Communion Service
Fri 9th 7:30 pm Youth Groups
Fri 9th-Sun 11th Ladies off to Katoomba Convention
Sun 11th 9:30am Sunday School
10:30am Morning Worship
Tues 13th 8pm Men's Bible Study ~Col's
Wed 14th 10am KYB ~ Town
8pm KYB ~Tara
Thurs 15th 7:30pm Deacon's meeting at the manse.
Sat 17th 7:30am Temora Christian Men's Breakfast ~ Presbyterian Church
6pm Men's Shed Outreach at Luke's
Sun 18th 9:30pm Sunday School
10:30pm Morning Worship
Wed 21st Visit by Don & Shirley Nichols and team
Fri 23rd 7:30pm Youth Groups
Sun 25th 10:30pm Morning Worship
Tues 27th 8pm Men's Bible Study ~ Col's

All are welcome & we would love to see you there!

Grey Areas?

2010-05-18T12:03:00.005+10:00

The issue of grey areas in the Bible came up the other day.

Some of the grey areas that are talked about are of our own making. We want grey.

Spurgeon has something to say about truth and doubt that is still very relevant today

Some persons appear to think that a state of doubt is the very best which
we can possibly reach. They are very wise and highly cultured individuals, and
they imagine that by their advanced judgments nothing in the world can be
regarded as assuredly true.
Some of the broad church school would seem to believe that no doctrine in the Bible is worth dying for, or worth anybody's losing over and above a halfpenny for. They do not feel sure of any doctrine: it may be true, and there is a good deal to be said for it, but then a good deal may be said on the other side, and you must hold your mind "receptive," and be ready to accept "new truth."
Some Robinson or other said something about new truth, as if there ever could be such a thing, and, under cover of his probably misinterpreted speech, like chameleons, they are always taking their clue from the particular light that
falls upon them. They have no light in themselves and no truth which they
hold to be vital.
Such people cannot understand this confidence, but the
veriest babes in the family of faith know what it means. Here are certain
things which God has taught me; I believe them and am sure about them.
"Dogmatical," says one.
Exactly so; call it what you like, but we are bold to confess that there remains no doubt to us after God has spoken. The question is solved by God's word; the doubt is laid to sleep for ever by the witness of the Holy Spirit.Oh, to know the grand truths of the gospel, and to know them infallibly.
For instance, the grand doctrine of the substitutionary sacrifice of the Son of God—to know it and hold it and say, "Let others question and quibble, but I must believe it; it is my only hope, it is all my salvation. I stake my soul upon it: if that be not true then am I lost." And so with regard to all the other grand truths of revelation, the thing is to know them and grasp them firmly.
There must be leverage if we would move men, and to have a leverage you must have a fixed point. There must be certain undoubted truths about which you can sing, "O God, my heart is fixed; my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise "—things which you perceive to be plainly taught in the Scriptures—things brought home by the
power of the Holy Spirit.

Another Kids Club Video

2010-04-09T09:13:00.001+10:00

Second Kids Club video slideshow (Thursday's photos)

Kids Club Video

2010-04-08T17:53:00.000+10:00

Thanks to all who made it a huge success!

Some Sad News

2010-03-18T11:27:00.004+11:00

The news has got around, I guess, but for those who want to know, this is the text of the announcement I made last Sunday 14 March.

Although we know this is the right time, it still grieves us. In a funny mixed up way we are both sad and happy that leaving is so difficult.

I have one last announcement to make.

An announcement of some
importance, one that I find very difficult to make.

After eight
years of learning and growing, of some mistakes and some lessons, of many
successes and many positive experiecnes and significant friendships, Meredith
and I believe that this is the right time for us to leave Ariah Park and
prrepare ourselves for new ministry opportunities.

We believe that
though we will miss this church dearly, there is much that has been achieved and
that there may be someone better able to achieve what needs to be done in this
church in the next decade.

We believe that the church may be
invigourated by fresh leadership.
We believe that the time is right for our
family to pursue other options
And we are painfully aware that although it is
not easy to leave, and we perhaps did not expect to, nonetheless every ministry
ends, it is wonderful for ours to finish here with such sadness at leaving and
such fondness for all who remain.

At the end of May we intend to
pack out family up and spend some time on the road learning from other churches
and pastors. We will travel around Australia to experience a wide range of
ministry situations. We will spend some time reflecting on our time here
and the mistakes we have made and the successes we have had. Seeking to
learn from the stresses we have experienced and the joys we will treasure.
We will spend some time reflecting on what types of ministry we are gifted for
and more importantly what kinds of ministry we may be able to cope with.
In particular, God has laid on my heart a concern for the indigenous people of
Australia and a concern for church planting.

At the end of the year
we hope to embark on a new ministry opportunity, but at this stage we have no
definite plans and are trusting that God will both equip us and lead us to a
ministry experience as wonderful as this one has been.
We trust that
God will guide you all under the leadership of a fine diaconate into the road
ahead, and we trust that God will continue to bless you all and keep you all in
the Lord Jesus Christ until he returns.

Because there are so many people that we care about so much we plan to give everyone a chance to say goodbye, we're thinking of having everyone over for lunch after church (not all at once) look out for your invitation.

Our confident prayer is that Ariah Park Baptist Church will go on in faith and service, firmly founded in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Repentence is not...

2010-02-04T15:43:00.005+11:00

There is a profanity at the end of this short clip, but it reveals the attitude of the speaker.

It's worth noting for anyone else who doesn't speak Latin that mea culpa is an admission of guilt, "I'm guilty". You can see 'me' in the first word and our English culpable comes from the second word.

Will the public perceive you in a new light?

Mel answers,

"I certainly hope so, it is a while back, and you know, I've done all the
necessary mea culpas, so let's move on, dude."

Repentence is not saying or doing something in order to get people off your back.

Church Fashions

2010-02-02T11:05:00.003+11:00

If you don't dress like this then you are really not good enough to belong to our club.

NOT!

The Snack

2010-01-28T16:13:00.005+11:00

Sure it's no good for you,
but at least it's easy to swallow.

Lets See How Far We Can Go With This

2010-01-28T14:49:00.006+11:00

'Qualified tradesman' discriminates against unqualified tradesmen
'Licensed Pilot' discriminates against unlicensed pilots
'Competent Surgeon' discriminates against incompetent surgeons

See the article. You won't beleive it.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/reliable-worker-ad-discriminates-against-the-unreliable-20100128-mzt4.html

Style verses Substance

2010-01-15T10:37:00.006+11:00

Over the holidays I read Frank Abagnale's autobiography, Catch Me If You Can

A very interesting read. Amazing what he got away with and how brilliant and broken he was. That's another story.

At the end of the book there were some Q&As, particularly about the recent film. I found some of the answers very revealing.

Let's contrast some of Abagnale's answers:

I spent a great deal of time with Leonardo. I visited with him at his home, and we went over in great detail my past, my habits, my likes and dislikes, even my mannerisms. He truly studied who I was and who I am. He was fun to be with and a great host.

Hollywood takes its craft seriously, there's a professionalism and realism that Hollywood works very hard to achieve. "I want to be Frank Abagnale"

But look at these answers taken from a few different questions:

From the first time I met Steven Spielberg, he explained to me that it is
impossible to take five years of one's life and put it into a two-hour film
without taking out some details. When the filming was completed in May 2002, I
felt that it was approximately eighty-percent accurate. They changed my family
structure, took out some of the impersonations, omitted prison time I served in
Sweden and my escape from federal custody, as well as changed the times and
locations of certain events.
I don't want to knock the movie, because, after all, it is just a movie. The character of my father, played by the great actor Christopher Walken, is not really much like my real father. My father was honest as the day is long, didn't have much of an ego, and was a hard worker. My parents' divorce was extremely difficult for my father, but he was always a great dad to me. My mother did remarry some twenty years after the divorce; however, she had no children from that marriage.

The atmosphere, the feel, the character is important, must be just right. But the facts are changeable. A director can change dates, times and events. The screenplay can change motivations, shaping forces, relationships, even the character of the father- if it makes a better story.

That's the flaw of Hollywood. Getting 'the feel' right is fundamental but the facts are flexible. Atmosphere trumps accuracy.

So with conscious changes made, with the motivations and relationships adjusted for a better story the film is still marketed as, "The true story of a real fake" How far below 80% accurate do we have to go before we say, "Based on a true story." I wonder what relationship between the facts and the film is designated by "inspired by..."

Because of the professionalism in the actors portrayal, the expertise of the setmakers and wardrobe, the cleverness of directors and all involved, because of the admirable Hollywood professionalism in craft the viewer walks away thinking/feeling, "I know that Frank Abagnale." But they don't. They are misled about what motivated him. They are misled about this being a "true story". They have watched a very plausible reinvention.

We need to remember that whenever we watch TV, movies, or even read a book. That ain't the real story.

But as Christians we need to be aware that Hollywood is not alone in this.

The whole world does it.

Have you noticed that in politics Style is more important than substance. (Bill Clinton vs George Bush is a good example). The research suggests it's true in the law courts as well. Good looking people get less convictions and lighter sentences. Why do you think every defendant appears in a suit?

And so the applicable warning to the church is that we need to be careful of this effect too.

So often in "religious" circles charisma seems to be how we judge people rather than content. "He's a nice guy." "He's a very gentle and humble man." etc etc. Never mind that what he teaches leads people astray and Jesus would have put a millstone around his neck and chucked him in the ocean for it. (Mark 9:42)

Pastors, teachers, Christians: You have the truth. Make sure you put the best clothes on it. Be a nice guy, humble, godly, caring, get the "atmosphere" right.

Christians, search committees, followers: Make sure you look past the new suit and find what the truth within is. Does this pastor teach the Bible? Does he believe it? Does he believe the gospel will save this wicked generation or is his hope in marketing or strategies or methods?

A good Christian needs both good character and good doctrine, but the error of our age is to overlook doctrine and be fooled by charisma.

Christians and Climate Change

2009-12-22T12:29:00.007+11:00

It can be activists from within the church or from without, but sometimes there can be a sense of frustration that Christians do not express the urgency and importance with which others view environmental and climate issues. 'Christian' and 'conservative' can seem to have little to do with 'conservation' to many.

Let me suggest some reasons why Christians do not seem to take up this cause as readily as other folk.

Motivation
No sense of Angst
For all the talk of science, the climate change movement is driven by emotion. The call is to act now, not to study more. When a hurricane strikes a city, or a drought is prolonged, the secular mind seeks an explanation. For most of the last century the modernist era has been characterised by a scientific optimism, "We can understand everything. We can fix anything." Continued natural disasters, brought into the lounge room by modern technology and somehow more real in our global village, smash this scientific hubris and leave the contemporary person looking for an explanation. Climate change is an explanation that fits many of the preconceptions of this age.

No feeling of Guilt
Western culture has largely given in to consumerism, hedonism, and materialism. Consider this: our information networks are funded by advertising. Our media exists by selling things. Consumerism is a cancer with its tendrils intertwined in the very nerves of our culture. We want these things but part of us knows that much of it is rubbish and most of it unnecessary. (would it be fair to say the mascot of our times is the toy from the McDonalds happy meal) So we have a lingering sense of guilt at these things and no way to express that guilt. No way to opt out of the consumerism and corporate treadmill. The green movement does seem to offer an alternative, or at least a salve to our conscience. Christians do not share this guilt in the same way as Christians stand apart from the culture of consumerism and hedonism. Christians also have effective ways to express guilt through repentance and transform their own and others' lives.

(Consider how much blaming and guilt was a part of the recent Copenhagen conference)

No desperation
For many folk there is a real fear that earth, our home, may be destroyed by climate change. Words like 'destroyed' and 'unliveable' are used repeatedly. Such destruction is a disaster because the materialist has no other home. The materialist must back away from death hissing and spitting for he has no other life. The Christian, however, does not feel the same sense of attachment to this earth. Christians know the earth is no true home, Our world is cursed and in an epileptic fit it rolls and crushes us as we live on its back. We are strangers wandering through this land, and Christians look forward to a new earth (both continuous and discontinuous to this one) in which the troubles of this earth will be healed. But more importantly we know this world rests in God's hands and our lives are in his will. Knowing the creator for the kind and merciful benefactor he is, we are more at rest in his world.

Perspective
Human Wisdom has limitations
Christians are not surprised to find things outside our explanation. Modernists believed that science could fix everything. This is a hubris which has begun to erode (consider chaos theory and weather prediction). Panic has replaced this confidence. But Christians are less confident of the ability of mankind to fix the problems in the world (droughts, storms, floods). Rather like the government borrowing money to fix the credit crisis precipitated by their intervention, we have seen that often the solution causes a new and worse problem. Is an ETS that taxes only the people who actually make things and throws money at the African leader who yells the loudest actually going to be a positive change? Christians are also less sure of the ability of mankind to so drastically affect the world. Does anybody know the actual concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? How significant it is in the atmosphere. 0.038%. Less than a twentieth of one percent.

Distrust of the Main Stream Media
The main stream media is driven by advertising and by ideology. Advertising is derived from ratings. Ratings are achieved through dramatisation and sensation, rather than information alone. Christians have been on the receiving end of the media's shaping, editing and misrepresentation of information in order to present the best story. There are well worn storylines that a busy schedule forces harried reporters to rehash. The Tennant from Hell, The Heartless Conman, The Hypocritical Christian, The Climate Catastrophe. We all use clichés. But because Christians have known the facts and seen stories bundled into these shapes, they have a more pronounced distrust of the media than the man in the street. Because Christians come from a different ideology than the media which tends to be leftist, secularist, hedonist and materialist (consumerist) we see more clearly when a hatchet job has been done on the facts. Christians are less likely to swallow the media portrayal that !CLIMATE CHANGE IS MAN MADE AND DISASTROUS! and more inclined to do some research and read alternative sources. Yes, the average Christians has probably thought and read more about climate change than your average man in the street.

Suspicious of the World
Christians are aware that they do not see things in the same way as the rest of the world. We are aware that because we are called out of the world we no longer belong here, even though we still sojourn here. We are conscious of the anti-Christian rampages of some prominent scientists of recent times. The media and academics have taken to painting science and religion as enemies, is it little wonder that Christians begin to believe it. We have also seen the failure of science over recent years, we have more things, but more problems than ever before. And so Christians take a more wait and see attitude to scientific results. This is particularly appropriate when talking about a system as large and complicated as the atmosphere.

People Are more important than things
Christians cannot agree with many of the tenets of the environmental movement. While we feel for the dancing bears, we cannot see it nearly as important as the starving child in Bolivia. A central Christian conviction is that mankind carries the image of God in a way that animals do not. Man is the pinnacle of creation, we do not apologise for this. We do believe that man has a shepherding role over creation, to care and farm as he uses the materials of creation. But we cannot agree that a boy and a pig are equal in value. The misanthropic (man hating) bias of the green movement makes Christians cautious about jumping on the bandwagon. Is forced abortion a solution to climate change? No it's murder. But the climate extremists talk about such measures (obliquely), until these genocidal ideologues are shouted down and cast out of the environmental movement, for example, Christians will be wary of joining in.

Aware of the Superstitions
Believing in the true God and informed by his word, Christians are more able to penetrate the false religions and superstitions of the secularist. A secularist will happily talk about Gaia. A Christian will stumble, aware that Gaia is a goddess, that some greenies actually do mean that the earth is a living being who will actually be stirred to anger and purge herself of the plague of man in her wrath. For many environmentalist the earth is not a complex system, a huge garden spaceship, but a living being, a goddess. The pantheism and pop spiritualism that influences the environmental movement is seen for the cheap costume jewellery that is by the Bible reading Christian.

Answers
We Know the Solution
Supposing the conferences were actually to achieve something (other than posturing) and the taxes and schemes and protocols actually repaired whatever environmental damage has been done. People would still be knifed in the streets, taking drugs in their bedroom, walking out of their relationships. The world is damaged by sin, by it's rebellion against God. There will always be bad things happening because it's broken. We broke it. But Christians know what the solution is. God is fixing it. Jesus entered our suffering to end our suffering. We know God will fix all the troubles of the world when Jesus returns. The mudslides, the volcanos, the floods the droughts, the violence, the war.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer to all the problems of the world, problems no carbon capping agreement can begin to address. Because we know the ultimate causes and the ultimate answers to the world's problems Christians are less enthusiastic about man made solutions that come from movement that do not even understand the basis of the problem.

We Are Already Part of the Solution
Christians are against consumerism. Christians live a creed which abhors greed, selfishness, destructiveness and naked individualism. Christians do not live by the, "Just doing my job." "As long as I make a buck" mantra that motivates so many of the cogs in the consumer machine. Instead Christians seek to give glory to God in how they live. Thanking him for his provision in the bountiful earth, but aware of the needs of others and less caught up with the trappings of status, culture and hedonism that fuels the consumption of the earth's resources. Christians are not going to make as much noise as environmentalists, but Christians already reduce (against greed) reuse (frugal and giving) and recycle (good shepherds). Christians give more to charities, do more as volunteers, and destroy less as consumers.
Christians know Jesus has brought God's love and peace into the world to restore it and Christians are already spreading that love and peace and harmony in the world. We are part of the solution, not the problem.

Conclusion
I think you begin to see that more than just explaining why Christians are slow to jump on the latest media trends and hot spots, I am advocating such a position. Christians indeed should be cautious. What need have we to follow the latest trends of media inflamed pop science when we have the eternal perspectives of God to consider. Better to wait and see and assist when the science actually has come to a reasoned and seasoned verdict, and in the mean time offer our solutions from the Scriptures and the character of God (that will be remarkably like what science comes up with when the main stream media spotlight moves onto the next hot topic and science is left alone to actually do science rather than sound bytes.)

Family Tips

2009-10-16T13:06:00.004+11:00

I found some useful tips on strengthening families.

Follow the links:

http://solapanel.org/article/ideas_for_strengthening_families_part_3/#more

http://solapanel.org/article/ideas_for_strengthening_families_part_2/

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2007/09/29/questions-for-kids/

Families are the frontline.

We need to keep thinking and working at it.

God Bless,
Michael

Jesus All About Life - The Ad

2009-09-30T12:34:00.002+10:00

Here is the ad, on youtube.

Hopefully you'll see it on TV soon. Hopefully it will raise questions about life.

Jesus has the answers.

Message Balloons

2009-09-22T13:37:00.004+10:00

Our Youth Group and our Sunday School sent up Message Balloons.

We had some left over helium, and we thought why not.

If you received one of our balloons please leave a comment below. Tell us your first name and the nearest town to where you found the message. We'll put your name on the map.

Thanks for your help

Here's where Ariah Park is:

Bullhorn Evangelism

2009-08-14T14:00:00.008+10:00

And while we're on the subject.

What's wrong with Bullhorn evangelism?

Please leave a comment below with your thoughts...

Why Share Your Faith

2009-08-14T13:54:00.002+10:00

A couple of videos I came across whikle trying to fidn something:

And this one from someone who is definitely not a Christian but still presents an interesting idea:

Statistics: An Arrow in the Devil's Quiver?

2009-08-10T09:33:00.013+10:00

We know the old saw, "Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics".

And yet we all use statistics because they tell a truth. They do tell us something about whatever is being measured. The problem is that they can't tell us everything. And that means they can be used to hide things.

Which brings us to the other old saw, "The best lie has half a truth in it." That's statistics all over.

I felt it useful to use some statistics in the sermon on Sunday.

But we have to remember that a single statistic doesn't tell the whole story.

Let me give you two examples:

1:
I noted that the Baptist Union of NSW & ACT is growing, but by an amount less than population growth. That means in "real terms" Baptists are in decline.

But that's not the whole story.

Australian population growth is by immigration. That is, Australia is not replacing itself either. Moreover immigration is mostly from "non Christian" backgrounds. eg Buddhist is the fastest growing religion in Australia, but almost entirely by immigration. So Baptists aren't doing too badly, we are growing better than the population is.

2:
I noted that, among others, Anglicans are in decline, around the country by 2% ( or some such).

This is not the whole story either.

This 2% (from memory) hides two very different trends. In the Sydney diocese there is strong growth, which offsets the strong decline throughout the rest of the state (more or less). There could be a number of reasons for this. Sydney is younger other areas are older. (I know there are exceptions- you guys at Armidale are great) Churches that are heavily represented in the older demographic are going to decline because that sector of the population are reaching the end of their lives. The church is declining because the demographic they are based in is declining.

So a statistic can tell you something but it can also deceive you about what's really going on too.

You have to question statistics and find out what's really going on. You also need to be careful of people who base their whole argument on statistics. It must only be one link in the chain of logic.

Also we must never, never let statistics or trends or facts or figures distract us from the deep truths of Scripture. Statistical studies may alert us to a worrying trend, but we must turn to Scripture to make sense of this trend. In fact we need to be saturated in Scripture in order to know what questions to ask to derive statistics.

Let me show you what I mean.

You could look at that original Baptist quote and be deflated - Baptists are in trouble. Some people will be stirred to action, some will be discouraged and depressed- to inaction.

A proper reading might be encouraging and challenging. We are holding our own and growing in population growth, be encouraged. But the mission field is coming to our back yard, who is being raised up to meet that challenge?

The biggest factor in the Sydney/Not Sydney disparity is that Sydney is evangelical and active. Most of the rest of the state is more liberal or high church and far less active. This is why Sydney is growing - they love the gospel, the live the gospel, they preach the gospel.

So be careful with statistics, ask how reliable they are, find out what was really measured, don't let them become 'gospel'

What will happen when the older demographic is gone and only the growing group is left?

Who knows?

I'll trust God and wait and see, I'll also be obedient to his call while I wait.

Michael Hutton,

Ariah Park Baptist Church

Rise Youth Camp

2009-08-06T12:14:00.004+10:00

The church recently released me to speak at a youth camp at Wedderburn Christian Campsite.

It's a great place and Lyndon (an old friend) is doing a great job. http://www.wedderburn.org.au/

Here is the 4 min summary of the camp, just so as people can see what went on.

It was a great privilege to be there and the talks were well received. Thank you for your prayers.

God Bless,
Michael

Fireproof: The Movie

2009-07-13T12:12:00.009+10:00

Our church is screening the movie Fireproof.

Friday 24 July
7:30 pm
Ariah Park Community Hall

This movie is a challenging, inspirational film, of Cinema quality, that seeks to help peopel discover the attitudes that make their marriages work. It is a Christian film and that Christian context is clearly visible.

Below are some useful links

The movie trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5lSu6GkC2k

Fireproof on imdb:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1129423/

Fireproof on wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireproof_(film))

Fireproof homepage

http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/

Yidda Church Pews

2009-06-26T16:54:00.005+10:00

A few people have expressed interest in the pews from Yidda.

This seems to be the best way to get some info to the ones who are a bit far away.

These pews came from Yidda Baptist church, which was built in about 1912.

We are selling the pews because they've been in the shed for 20 years and because we are in the middle of some building projects.

The pews are 7'1" long, 3' high and 16" wide.

There are two of them, as shown here.

Here are some more photos

The first one is in good condition. You can see we are using it. Notice that the base of the end has some timber chipped away (from dragging along the floor at some point?) Also the surface does have some marks and discolourations from wear and use.

The second pew in the shed is not in as good condition. The back rest is bent. This has loosened all the joints. There is also a stain of some kind on the seat. It will need some work, but it will come together.

We are looking for $500 each for these pews, in a little while if no locals are interested (we want to give peopel with connections to Yidda a chance to get in first) we will look at putting the pews on ebay or something like that.

Building Plans and Timing

2009-04-21T13:33:00.008+10:00

Subject to approval from a member's meeting Don and Shirley look like doing the work in the middle of May:

we're looking at hoping to arrive to you Wednesday 13th May, when we'll organise materials etc, & then the actual major work to start the following Monday 18th May.

This is very good timing (better than early May)

Please keep praying that our church would decide on this with wisdom, faithfulness, love and vision.

At the deacons Meeting Wednesday 22, we'll make a final decision on the timing of the meeting and the wording of a motion to the meeting.

God bless,

Michael

Kids Club Preparation

2009-04-14T20:17:00.003+10:00

How has God blessed us?

Talented Artists

Enthusiastic Organisers

Heaps of leaders

Heaps of helpers

Ready to Go!

Carpet

2009-04-12T12:05:00.009+10:00

The current plan is to lift up and relay the carpet.

We need to find out whether this will work.

If someone might contact Chris Mannion, we could find out.

An Alternative

Doing a quick search I found carpet squares for Auction on Allbids.

http://www.allbids.com.au/Buy/?T=9%2E15%2DSquare%2DMeters%2Dof%2DLoop%2DPile%2DCarpet%2DTiles&ID=298009

All 11 lots would cover our requirements.

They seem to be going at a fraction of the cost. The cheapest carpet I have found is $10 per metre. I am the winning bidder at present at $18 fro 40 m square

The issues to cover with these carpet squares are:

Do we like the colour?

Do carpet squares work in the aisle of a church (traffic)

Will carpet squares work on stairs and up the front

Can we find the est. $500 to buy them.

I wonder... Since the carpet is getting frayed and unsafe, are there any young families in the church who will be using the carpet for the next 30 years (30 years since the last lot went in) who might think it worthwhile investing $100 or $200 or so in carpet. I know times are tough, but it's worth asking.

I put a bid on the three lost ending Monday night. I won them for $17 each. At this rate we can recarpet the church for approx $220.

If the squares are usable.

If we like the idea of squares.

If we like the colour.

Karina Padovan

Karina has had a look at the carpet, a couple of tiles have some wear, a couple have odd pieces cut out to fit a room etc. They all look to be in good condition. The colour is nice (with a fleck). The rubber backing is intact and not damaged. They seem to sit well (no bending or lifting evident).

Karina (bless her) will pick these up and bring them to Luke's on Thursday (with Ben) or Sunday (with herself) so we might get to have a look at them.

Unfortunately the auction will be over by then.

Chris Mannion

Chris Mannion said carpet tiles are suitable for the church. These ones might be a bit thin, so that the floorboards might show through. He suggested hardboard might be necessary underneath - but this would create a termite problem. He is happy to have a look if we can get one to him. The tiles will have to be cut to fit the stairs.

Cost Estimates

2009-04-12T10:02:00.002+10:00

Building Plans Update
Sunday 12 April 2009

Tentative Cost Estimate

Flooring
Floorboards $1025.70
Framing $70
Misc $160
Gift $500
Total $1,760. (approx)

Sound System
Sockets and Cables $150

Total $1,900

Estimates based on first tier of flooring being reused (lowered)
Other tiers remain intact with false floor laid over.
Estimate assumes framing of room walls is reusable.

Floorboards

Cypress floorboards are the most significant cost

Second hand Cypress floorboards in good quality could be used to lower the cost.

Does anybody have an disused farmhouse from which we could remove flooring?

Talk to Michael.

Alteration Discussion

2009-04-05T08:17:00.005+10:00

Here is the opportunity to post your comments, ask your questions, get things cleared up or aired out.

The aim is to keep unity, so make sure you ask that question or raise that concern. We need to move on this (or not) TOGETHER.

I found this quote which may be a helpful guideline for how we think and talk about this.

In your building planning process, the three foundational elements are:
1. Knowing it is the vision and timing of God to build.
2. Understanding what you need to build, and why.
3. Knowing what you can afford to build and how to pay for it.

Stephen Anderson
Preparing to Build, AMI, 2006, p. 19.

My (Michael) first Questions are:

How much is this going to cost?

How long is it going to take?

How much work do we need to contribute?

What are the hidden things that will crop up?

Please post any further questions in the comments or ring or email Michael and I can post them.

The Proposal Itself

2009-04-05T07:51:00.005+10:00

These are the basics of the proposal:

Remove the two rooms in the front of the church.

Level and widen the front two tiers into one stage.

Drop the third tier to floor level to increase congregational space.

Practicals:

Removing the rooms is easy. Matching the paint will be the tricky part.

Dropping the third tier involves adjusting one or two rows of piers underneath (concrete filled kero tins)

Leveling the stage will be done by building a false floor on top of the existing floor. This is easy, but will require timber.

The carpet will be lifted, and relaid over the new floor surface.

While we are doing this it would be good to lay sound system cables under the floor so that we can eliminate the tangle of cords.

WHY DO THIS?

There are many days when we do not fit. Particularly when a few families come. Families are the most successful part of our ministry at the moment. We need to make space for them.

At present, our front pew starts exactly in the middle of the building.

(Have you noticed that the week after a very full week, the church is usually quite empty - if it is too hard for people to enjoy church they are less likely to come again)

The kids don't fit up the front for kids talks on a normal Sunday now.

The musicians are scattered across the front of the church, a level stage would give flexibility for musicians, speakers, dramas, presentations etc

DISADVANTAGES
It's all a bit of a rush, we need to be very careful to listen to all opinions and make a godly decision

There's not a lot of energy aroudn at the moment, is it bad timing?

Do we have the money for it?

There is some concern that it will make the front of the church look like the inside of a barn.

Church Alteration Proposal

2009-04-05T07:32:00.007+10:00

An opportunity has arisen for the church to do some alterations to the front stage of the interior of the church building.

It's not so long ago since the front was set up (1981?)

And we've already done plenty of things (Endeavour Hall below)

Why do we want to think about this now?

The opportunity has come up.

Don and Shirley Nichols are travelling maintenance workers who have a ministry to Baptist Churches, mostly in NSW. They recently put some storage cupboards in for Griffith Baptist Church, Kevin Webb is happy with the work, no problems.

Saturday 4th April Don had a look around the church. What Damien was thinking of on the back of the Sunday School Hall wouldn't work out. So they went inside.

We looked at removing those two rooms and levelling the floors. They think it's do-able for quite a reasonable price (They are a ministry who doesn't ask payment but accepts gifts) They are thinking of coming back in May, early, mid or late May. (Depending on the birth of a grandchild)

I believe this is the kind of decision that needs the members behind it. But unfortunately it's an opportunity that has popped up that hasn't given us a lot of time to prepare.

So I think we need an extra members meeting fairly soon. It would be very good to kick all the ideas around before then.

This is something we talked about in May 2008, but did not proceed with because of money, basically. As I (Michael) reflect, I can't help wondering if God has fixed that problem for us.

This is what we recorded from the May meeting

Discussion took place regarding possible alterations to the front interior of
the church, so as to make more room for the musicians and congregation. No
decisions taken. To be further looked into and report prepared for the next
meeting.

I have suggested Sunday 19 April to have a members meeting after the Sunday service. This will depend on getting the information discussed enough between now and then.

We want to hear all the objections and problems that might arise.

The next post will outline the proposal.

The following post will give us a place to kick the questions around.

Sermons

2009-03-31T21:04:00.002+11:00

The last couple of sermons are downloadable now.

2009 Sermons

Happiness

2009-03-31T09:20:00.004+11:00

I came across a very good little article on happiness

at the Sola Panel.

Well worth reading, thinking and praying on.

Is 'Waiting On The Lord' Biblical?

2009-03-14T12:35:00.005+11:00

A young feller from another place sent me this question:

My name is ***** ********* and I attend the ******* Church. I pray by the grace of God that you might be able to help me with some queries.I am having an issue with some doctrine at my church in regarding to 'waiting on the Lord.'

It seems crass, but I have sought you out because my pastor has asked me to widen my circle of influence, away from **** ********* (Our AFES staff worker). Now don't stress, I highly regard **** and it's with his advice that I send this email to you, and for his relationships with our church.

We were in a bible study at church on prayer. We were given testimonies from people who had had experience in prayer - whilst waiting on the Lord. Now after this time were split into groups and asked to pray then wait, and see what the Lord would say to us. We were requested to share with the groups what voices/thoughts may have come into our head and told that it's okay to be wrong. From here I got really frustrated and left, but others hit the town seeking these thoughts they had, i.e. a chair at maccas.

Now from what I understand there are no examples of this in the bible, and if there are examples of being still or waiting on the lord, in context these do not mean to sit and wait for voices or extra biblical revelation. I also know that there are serious implications in the bible for false prophets.

There is so much more I can say but to keep it brief I and my mate mike are in dialogue with the pastor in charge. He feels sorry that we can't see his side and says we can't discount people's positive experiences.

So in essence I was wondering what your thoughts are and how I should continue to approach this situation. I am really scared for the doctrine and theology of our church and the Baptist church in Victoria, as we seem to be abandoning what is our core and that is the bible.

Please pray for me and my church family that we would place what the bible says at the front of all issues. I would love to hear your thoughts on this issue.

Yours in Christ
****** *********

This was my response:

****,

I'll spend a minute or two responding to your question. I know **** ******* from ******, from a few years ago. As far as I am concerned he is a good guy. He studied at ***** so that would indicate to me that he is well trained also.

But about the issue. Waiting on the Lord

This question reminds me of back when I was at uni, leading a small group. One of the fellers in my group told me about how when he lay down in bed at night all sorts of ideas came into his head. He wanted to know whether this might be the spirit talking to him.
I didn't say the first thing that came to my mind, "It's probably just the blood rushing to your head." However, I think that possibility touches on the key issue here.

I think the issue in what you describe is when we are so thirsty for direction from God that we spiritualise normal creation processes. I often have lots of ideas when I go to bed. That's when I construct all the novels I'm never going to write. I'm prepared to let God speak to me through those ideas, but I recognise that some of them are just plain weird- the meanderings of a tired brain idling out of gear.

So I told my friend that God may speak to you through that, but not to expect that he always will, instead to test everything against the Word of God.

I would suggest the same answer to you regarding waiting on the Lord, as you describe it.

Quiet is a good spiritual discipline. But we have to recognise that all sorts of natural (and fallen) processes go on in the human head when we attempt to isolate outside stimuli. It can be good, it can be time wasted and it can also be unhealthy. I don't think it is always, or necessarily, going to connect you with the Holy Spirit. There is no method or ritual or practice that will always produce an 'experience' of the Holy Spirit. From my understanding of the sovereignty and independence of God any process that always delivers a particular experience is more likely to be natural (part of how we are created) than spiritual. That is probably my bias showing through there.

From a brief survey of Scriptures, there is a bit of talk about waiting for the Lord, but I didn't find anything about waiting on the Lord. (just a quick computer search for the phrase in the NIV)

Waiting for the Lord in the Old Testament seems to be more about waiting for the Lord to act. Going about your day by day, week by week business in faith, trusting that God will save his people. So I suspect that the Scriptural warrant for this kind of practice is minimal. It's certainly not obvious to me.

One interesting verse that pops up is Psalm 130:5:

"I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope."

Waiting for the Lord is the obedience that comes from trusting in God's word.

So I would suggest that there is nothing wrong with waiting on the Lord as a spiritual discipline if it is submitted to the Scriptures. I would not encourage anyone to participate in the activity you have described because the framework and context it is put in seems inadequate. It seems to me too much is made of the random thoughts that come into your head, and not enough godly Biblical discernment is used to filter and test those thoughts.

Also, in opposition to your pastor, I say that the Scriptures should always trump experience. Experience should never be used as a counter to the teaching of the Sciptures but always submitted and sifted, even understood, through the teaching of the Scriptures.

And, if it's OK to be wrong, it's probably not from God. If it's also not a source of revelation/inspiration/motivation that can be relied upon, it's not God's revelation. It's not from God (although again God might use it, much as he might use parents to teach one Christian, but another Christian has to mature in godliness without parental support).

If you come to the conclusion that your pastor is not teaching/leading well you have a number of options. You can stick it out, you never know how long he will stay. You can try to get him to change, which is unlikely, but possible. You can try to kick him out, this is hard for a young feller to do, and very painful. You can leave and go to another church, which is easiest, but not necessarily best. Which you do is really between you and God, but don't do anything without some prayer and study of the Scripture and talk to other wiser Christians who know the situation better than I do.

Whatever you do, let me encourage you to stand firm in the faith, do not let pride or arrogance lead your steps. Speak the truth with love (never in anger or frustration - ask yourslef is love for this person or others motivating me now). Ensure that you are trusting and walking with the Lord in repentance and faith, not only getting doctrine right. And if you love the Baptist church, as I do, stay in the Baptist system and encourage and build up others to love the Scriptures.

You may be worried about the state of the Church, but it is not our church and it is not our job to make it pure and spotless, we are called to be faithful to our Lord and he will look after the rest. He may use you to reform, but in obedience to him. (Also the church has been in much worse states than this before now - God is faithful)

Well, I hope this has been helpful, if in a rushed and disjointed way.

God Bless,
Michael Hutton
Ariah Park Baptist Church

The Shack Review: Chapter 11

2009-02-27T10:45:00.001+11:00

An Evangelical Review of The Shack

The Shack Review: Chapter 11

Powerfully Illustrates God's Love
The climax of this chapter is a powerfully emotive and convincing illustration of God's love and mercy. When Mack in tears volunteers to trade his life for his daughters, Young puts us in touch with God's powerful love. This is a worthwhile illustration.

Woefully Misunderstands God's Judgement
Unfortunately this one useful illustration is swamped by a flood of falsehood and inaccuracy. God's judgement is completely misunderstood and misrepresented in this chapter. When the supermodel Judge Judy (who is she, and why is she there?) mentions judgement Mack begins to remember all his own sins. This is where God wants him so that he may start to work with him. Humble, penitent, ready to repent and believe. But Young then turns it around and has Mack judge God. This was no surprise for me, I knew it was going there. The philosophies of the enlightenment and post-modern movement would have man judge God. Young betrays his closer alignment to contemporary worldly philosophy than to Scripture here.

P 155. Young equates parental responses to their children's misbehaviour with the parents own insecurities and weaknesses (embarrassment). He separates discipline and love, when in fact the Bible tells us that parents discipline out of love, just as God the Father does.

This chapter equates being "judgemental" and discriminatory with the ability to judge. No doubt Young is aiming to get his readers to question their own prejudices and bigotries, but this was not a helpful way to do it. There is a proper place for judging, and it has little to do with prejudice.

"For him, it wasn't about their performance; it was about his love for them." P163
This simple statement overlooks that performance affects love. And performance comes out of relationship. God doesn't punish people because they do bad things. God punishes people because they reject him. That they do bad things is the consequence and proof of their rejection. So it's not as simple as just loving them. That God loves us doesn't mean he cannot judge us, because we still have the broken relationship.

A small thing, the judge agrees with Mack that Missy was innocent. (p164) Now this is a very popular notion, we all love our children and they are so cute and defenceless, and God has given us this urge to protect them, but they are not innocent. No representative of God should agree with that worldly fallacy.

Supermodel judge Judy tells Mack that God has given us our independence in love, this contrasts sharply with Romans 2 which tell us God gives us over to what we want (sin) as a punishment for our rebellion.

With regard to Missy's abduction and murder, the judge tells Mack that "This was no plan of Papa's" This doesn't line up well with what the Bible teaches with the sovereignty of God. There is a popular solution to the problem of God and evil that more and more Christians are using which is, God didn't intend it to happen, it's not hid fault. God is powerless to stop suffering. This is so so so unbiblical. In that simple sentence Young opens the door to that terrible heresy.

Back to the Bible

Read Romans 9:19-25

What is Paul's answer to those who question his righteousness?

Note how this is in harmony with God's response to Job in chapter 38

Read Romans 2

What is the root problem that God is judging in all mankind?

Note that God's anger is personal because our rebellion is personal

Read Romans 8:18-27

Is the suffering of the world inside or outside God's will?

Pray

· Thank God for his righteous judgement. Ask God that you might grow to hate sin as much as he does.
· Think about those you love, who as far as you know, stand under God's judgement. Pray for them.

(To see all the reviews, click on the 'The Shack' label at the bottom of this post.)

The Shack Review: Chapter 10

2009-02-25T12:35:00.004+11:00

An Evangelical Review of The Shack

The Shack Review: Chapter 10

Submission
Young completely misrepresents the nature of the Godhead in this chapter. In trying to make submission more palatable he completely destroys its meaning. Submission is not a reversible word. Young redefines submission as something like acceptance or the modern meta-value respect. By submission he means acceptance of who you are and of your choices. This is not submission. Submission is yielding your will to the other. This is what Jesus (The Son) does to God (The Father). And this is what God calls us to do to him, and to the authorities he has put over us.

Accept and respect can be two-way words. I accept you the same way you accept me. But Submission is a one-way word. I submit to you in the same way you submit to me is logically impossible. I drive you while you drive me. NO, who's driving?

Power
I think Young redefines submission this way because he paints power and authority as evil in themselves. Certainly Young makes a convincing argument that power and authority have been put to devastating effect in world history, in individual lives. This is, in a sense, the central crisis of the book, the problem that needs resolution- Mack's pain grief and anger at Missy's fate. Let me agree, abuse of power or authority is always wrong, and has devastating consequences but Young goes too far.

Whereas Young makes authority and power necessarily evil, the Bible is rather more neutral about power and authority. Some examples of authority are good, some are bad. Power just is- you have it or you don't. Like any human characteristic or institution, they have been corrupted by sin, but are not evil in themselves. Sinful humans abuse authority, but authority is still ordained by God. What is important is how you use it. More about that in the Bible section below.

Back to the Bible

What do the following passages tell us about the relationships within the Godhead?

John 5:30; 6:38
1 Corinthians 15:24-28;
John 14:25-31; 16:5-16

What authorities has God ordained, and what should our response to them be?

Exodus 20:1-12;
Romans 13:1-7;
Hebrews 13:17
Ephesians 5:22-6:9

Read Matthew 20:20-28

How does Jesus command his disciples to wield their authority?

Is there anything wrong with authority wielded in this manner?

Pray

· Ask God to forgive you when your own independence or the pains of the past lead to an unwillingness to submit to God.
· Ask God to help you to trust him and to let your life rest in his hands.

Here is a decent article (a little technical) that works through the Bible thoroughly- http://www.scribd.com/doc/5119363/Eternal-Relationship-within-the-Trinity

(To see all the reviews, click on the 'The Shack' label at the bottom of this post.)

Dads n Lads, Abercrombie Caves February 2009

2009-02-23T14:36:00.002+11:00

Finally finished the highlights of the Dads n Lads trip to Abercrombie Caves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3_lk72CLjw

Sermons 2009

2009-02-23T06:52:00.014+11:00

We'll try to put a few of this years sermons up here.

These are a download from the free filesharing service mediafire. Left click on the links below and then you can downlaod from the page that comes up.

They do use advertising and some of that advertising is inappropriate, please let us know if it is an issue and we can stop using this service.

If you get a nasty ad (like I just did) hit the back button straight away, and then hit the forward button to come back to the download page, you should have a different ad.

The sound quality is still not the best. We are just going to have to live with it because our budget doesn't give us many options.

February 22 2009, Michael Hutton: Romans 1:18-32

March 1 2009, Michael Hutton: Romans 2:1-16
March 15 2009, Michael Hutton: Romans 3:1&2
March 22 2009, Michael Hutton: Romans 3:1-20
March 29 2009, Michael Hutton: Romans 3:21-31

August 30 2009, Michael Hutton: Romans 15:1-6 (Combined Service 30 August 2009)

Last years sermons (only two) can be found here.

Wickedness

2009-02-18T17:01:00.002+11:00

Here's a couple of interesting articles relevant to Sunday's sermon:

The first, about how our society is embracing adultery, as seen by the increasingly positive light in which it is portrayed in the movies.

http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Changing-Views-of-Adultery-in-Film

The second a rebuttal to the false argument that religion is the cause of all evil.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1121/p09s01-coop.html

As anecdotal support to that second article I add this story that I heard first hand from someone who lived in Northern Ireland for a numebr of years.

She tells the story of a friend walking home from the train station who was stopped by a group of likely lads with the question, "Are you Catholic or Protestant?"

There was no way way to tell which answer would earn him a kickin'. So he answered, "Neither, I'm an atheist."

Without a pause the question was recast,

"But are you a Catholic atheist or a Protestant atheist."

Riverina Christian Convention

2009-01-25T08:33:00.012+11:00

Three families travelled down (or is it up) to Tumut for the day to spend time at the Riverina Christian Convention in Tumut.

Steve Gooch talked clearly about Jesus as a healer, but also the one who bears our iniquities. He made the interesting point that like the Leper in Matthew 8 we need to ask God and trust him, but not demand healing. It's up to God what happens.

Andrew Heard challenged us to think of true spirituality as being our life in Christ worked out in the practicalities of day to day life. For husbands loving wives more than self is what true spirituality looks like. For wives, yielding their will to the husband is what true spirituality looks like. This is all about trust (obviously) trusting each other and trusting God also.

We had a lot to think about as parents too.

Andrew suggested several ways to embitter your kids:

* overprotection

* favouritism

* unrealistic achievement goals

* overindulgence

* discouragement (and lack of understanding)

* failing to sacrifice for them (they are an interruption to you)

* failing to let them grow up (let them be kids)

* neglect (and lack of consistent discipline)

* abuse (of any kind)

Before we came home we had a short dip in the creek for a couple of hours and some of us stopped for tea in Coolamon.

We all wondered if next year we should go down and camp for the whole weekend??

Ten Tips #8: Good Parenting Isn't About the Kids

2009-01-25T08:23:00.006+11:00

Good parenting is not about the kids, it's about the parents.

All parents have experienced it, in one form or another. The acutely embarrassing question said out loud in wide eyed innocence, "That man smells funny." The monster tantrum in public. The Principal's office revelation.

All of us will sooner or later experience that terrible public embarrassment when our children do something we would never have imagined. It might seem like all we can do is stand there dumbstruck while our toes curl in embarrassment.

But I want to suggest that you can't look at what the kids do to work out whether someone is a good parent. Kids are all so different, and they vary so much from day to day and hour to hour, and they all have different triggers and different propensities.

No you should never say I'm a bad parent because little Johnny has just… whatever.

What makes you a good parent or a bad parent is what you do about it, and why.

So little Johnny just... so what? The question is what are you going to do about it.

A bad parent ignores the tantrum because it's too embarrassing to deal with. A good parent might ignore the tantrum because that's the deliberate strategy we are trying at the moment.

Bad parents will respond out of that embarrassment, or out of anger, or annoyance or frustration. Alternatively, bad parents might not respond because they are too tired or lazy or over their heads.

We will all be bad parents at individual points in our parenting career.

But good parents will through consistent and calm discipline, enforcing consequences and simple and reasoned instruction and love and praise seek to respond to our children's speed bumps in the road to adulthood helping them to understand and appreciate and develop better behaviours and better ways of dealing with smelly men, or shopping centre frustration or playground annoyances.

There are no good children, there are only children learning to be well developed mature adults.

Ariah Park Christmas Pageant 2008

2008-12-24T11:08:00.000+11:00

After the Holidays - COmign Soon - video highlights from the Christmas Pageant.

Technical difficulties - the video is not up yet.

Thanks to everyone who took part or helped or cooked supper or made a costume or came along.

Michael's 5 minute talk is also here if you want to see it.

Sorry technical difficulties and not enough time to sort it before holidays.

God Bless,
Michael

Sunday School Christmas Party December 7 2008

2008-12-08T18:49:00.003+11:00

Why do Christians Worship on Sunday?

2008-12-01T12:44:00.005+11:00

Recently I received a pamphlet in the mail, sent anonymously, entitled Rome's Challenge: Why do Protestants Keep Sunday?

It makes the case that Protestants are disobedient to the Scriptures they claim to follow if they do not keep the Sabbath on Saturday. Roman Catholics, it seems, lean on the church's authority to legitimise a similar practice.

This is a brief response.

The pamphlet is written in a mocking style. I assume this is a feature of newspaper editorial in the late 19th century when the original articles were written.

The first page sets out the case for Saturday worship, noting that this is the practice of the Seventh-day Adventists, the command of the Old and New Testaments, the practice of the Israelites for thousands of years and "the teaching and practice of the Son of God whilst on earth." (p. 2)

Already I find that I cannot agree with the conclusions of this publication. Was Sabbath observance the teaching and practice of the Lord Jesus? Did he not say, "For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:8) and “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath? (Mark 2:27) Was he not called a law breaker by the Jewish leaders of the day? (Mark 2:24; Mark 7:5; John 5:18;) 'Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” ' (John 9:16)

So in what sense did Jesus teach and practice the Sabbath?

I would argue that Jesus did in fact keep the Sabbath, but not in the fashion of the Jews of the day, but rather in the Spirit and in truth, and according to his unique relationship with God the Father and to the Created order. It is clear, however, that in Jesus teaching Sabbath keeping was of lesser importance than right relationship with God. Jesus teaching and practice also show that Sabbath keeping was not a necessary requirement of right relationship with God, at least, not as practiced by the Jewish leaders of the day.

Turning Back to the pamphlet I read through a few paragraphs misunderstanding (or misrepresenting) the subject matter of protestant pulpits, before I come to this assertion, "…in the pages of the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles, and the Apocalypse, not the vestige of an act canceling the Saturday arrangement can be found." (p. 4)

I wonder, then, what the author of the editorial makes of the Apostle Paul's message in Colossians 2. Writing, perhaps to a predominantly Gentile church, the apostle Paul makes it clear that Sabbath observance is not necessary for the Christian. Rather Sabbath observance is a shadow of the reality in Christ. Christian worship is about Christ. In Christ the Christian is free to worship unbound by the regulations of the Old Testament law. (see also Galatians 4:10).
The pamphlet author's assertions are directly contradicted by the words of the New Testament. I will put the pamphlet down and read no further. It will be of greater profit to research this issue from the Scriptures alone.

As the Apostle's missionary journeys bore fruit amongst increasing numbers of Gentiles, Sabbath worship became less natural for the church as it becomes predominantly Gentile.

It is no surprise, then, that we read of the Apostle John speaking of 'The Lord's Day' (Revelation 1:10) and no wonder that the church is soon meeting and now continues to meet on the Lord's day, the resurrection day.

We see further corroboration, in the pages of the New Testament, that Christians may meet on the Lord's Day, in the Jerusalem Apostles' letter to the Gentile believers. After the issue of circumcision has come to a head, after God shows to Peter and the Apostles that he is moving amongst even the gentiles, the Jerusalem council meets to work out the terms under which Jewish believers can have fellowship with Gentile believers. Do the Gentiles have to observe the Law? The apostles' answer is a resounding 'No.'

What burdens do the apostles place on the gentile believers? What observances, what practices to avoid? No the gentiles do not have to be circumcised, to become Jews. They do not have to observe the Sabbath, but they are asked to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, meat from strangled animals and sexual immorality.

This is the extent to which the Apostle's, in Scripture, under the direction of the Spirit and in response to the work of God are prepared to extend Jewish custom and law onto Gentile believers.

The Protestant, Bible believing, Christian can worship freely on a Sunday because the Christian is free to worship in Christ on any day. Worshipping in Christ is all that matters. To be sure there are many Jewish believers who continue to worship Christ on the Sabbath. God bless them, they are free to do so. Those Adventists who are in Christ are free to worship on the Sabbath also, if it is their want, just as the Baptist or Presbyterian is also free to worship on the Sunday, if that is his custom.

The Shack Review: Chapter 9

2008-11-21T11:35:00.004+11:00

An Evangelical Review of The Shack

The Shack Review: Chapter 9

Rebellion and Good and Evil
This was a very good chapter. . Young cleverly pinpoints the troubles in our world as consequences of our rebellion against God. He powerfully presents the argument that when we are in rebellion against God we lose the ability and the right to make judgements of right and wrong.

This chapter is worth reading, it's a shame you have to read the rest of the book for it to make sense.

Back to the Bible

Read Romans 9:1-29

What is the objection that Paul is addressing?

How do verses 19-21 reflect on the topic of this chapter?

Pray

• Ask God to forgive you for your lack of trust in him, your doubting his goodness.
• Ask God to help you to trust and to let your life rest in his hands.

(To see all the reviews, click on the 'The Shack' label at the bottom of this post.)

The Shack Review: Chapter 8

2008-11-19T12:32:00.003+11:00

An Evangelical Review of The Shack

The Shack Review: Chapter 8

Love and Anger
Young makes the case that all this wrath of God stuff is overdone by Christians. That God is only angry with people because they are hurting themselves. And that God really still loves those he is angry with, in fact his anger is just an expression of his love.
Again this is not what the Bible teaches. This misunderstanding flows out of attempts to make God's justice palatable (God only wants what's best for you, God is angry because sin makes such a mess of his perfect world.). This false idea comes out of stupid sayings like, "God hates the sin but loves the sinner."

Let's get it straight. God is a holy God, a just God, a jealous God. God hates sin. God hates sinners. God loves the world and rescues sinners, by making them not sinners - holy. We could say God hates sinners (in his holiness) and he loves sinners (in his mercy) at the same time. If sinners repent in faith, God's hate is removed and his love remains on them. If sinners refuse to repent and believe before they meet judgement then his anger remains on them but not his love.
About sin Young writes, "It's not my purpose to punish it; it's my joy to cure it." He would have been much closer to truth with, "It is my purpose to punish it and it is my joy to cure it."
Young is leaning heavily toward the heresy called universalism.
If you are brave and/or willing to be convicted read this article.

Chaos in the Trinity
Young writes, "Well, I know that you are one and all, and that there are three of you. But you respond with such graciousness to each other. Isn't one of you more the boss than the other two?"
He makes the false assumption that if there is a boss in the trinity that God can no longer be gracious within himself. Yet Jesus emphatically and repeatedly spoke of his submission to the father. We should know this is not a problem because he also demonstrated that leadership is about service, about love. God the Father sends his Son, whose purpose is to glorify the Father, the Son sends the Spirit whose purpose is to glorify the Son. But This is all still in essential unity, graciousness and love.

Anti-Authority
Leading on from the 'unity' of the trinity Young has 'God' saying that all human authority is sinful and unhelpful and not what God intended. Again this is a major departure from what the Bible teaches. Although Jesus was critical of worldly authority, he commended his disciples still to have authority but to wield it differently to the gentiles, that is, in loving service.

Some Good Stuff
The last couple of pages of this chapter contain some good thoughts. The importance of God's love. God's sovereignty turning our evil choices into Good. God allowing pain and even submitting to suffering in order to redeem his creation.
Perhaps Young obscures God's sovereignty and makes as if our choices overrule God's. This is only a hint, so we'll see what develops before we comment.

Back to the Bible

Read Romans 1:18-32, Ephesians 5:1-7, Proverbs 6:16-19, John 3:36

How does this differ from what Young says?

Read Matthew 22:15-22, Romans 13:1-7, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13

What is the Christian attitude to earthly authority?

Pray

· Think specifically about your sinfulness. Specifically pray a prayer of repentance and commit yourself to obedience to God.
(To see all the reviews, click on the 'The Shack' label at the bottom of this post.)

The Shack Review: Chapter 7

2008-11-18T13:14:00.002+11:00

An Evangelical Review of The Shack

The Shack Review: Chapter 7

The Limited God
In a human being, loving others often limits us. There is a cost in time or tiredness, money or energy, opportunity or emotional energy to minister to another person. Young extends this finiteness of ours to God. In the last chapter he talked about it and in this chapter he makes it a willing limitation that God takes on. In the context of talking to God, Young states that God deliberately pretends not to know anything until we tell him. While this is an answer to the mystery of prayer, it is the wrong one. The Bible explicitly teaches that God knows what we need and what we pray before we say it.
God is love, and he is holy, and he is judge and he is creator, and he is all these things without limiting himself.

The Trite Trinity
The trite trinity is back with the new age touchy feely devotions. In the Bible the picture we get of Jesus' relationship with the father was loving obedience, not touchy feely self esteem sessions.

Jesus
Young pretty much gets the second half of this chapter right. His main points are pretty good. Jesus was a pretty ordinary looking bloke (that's in Scripture) not the striking figure we always put in the movies. Unfortunately his chosen metaphor of meeting God in a shack forces Young to make his trinity anachronistic. The Jesus we meet in this chapter is kind of consistent with the Jesus we are presented in the Scriptures. We know, however, that Jesus has ascended and is seated at the right hand of the father in glory. So the incarnate human Jesus in this chapter is not Jesus as he is now. He is the new man, the immortal man, the God-Man and so there would still be a great disjunction between us and him, although we will become like him when the faithful are taken to glory.

Back to the Bible

Read Romans 3:21-26

Did God change his character or fulfil his character in justifying us through Jesus?

What essential aspect of the Father's character is missing so far in Young's portrayal?

Read Exodus 34:4-7

Memorise verses 6-7 as a good reminder of what God says he is like.

Pray

· Thank God for the glorious gift of the Lord Jesus Christ and praise him for his justice, holiness, greatness, mercy and love.

(To see all the reviews, click on the 'The Shack' label at the bottom of this post.)

The Shack Review: Chapter 6

2008-11-17T15:38:00.002+11:00

An Evangelical Review of The Shack

The Shack Review: Chapter 6

Woops, there goes the baby!

Young seems determined to break all stereotypes about God. In the process he contradicts essential truths about God, perhaps, entirely because they are conventional.

In this chapter I wonder if a lurking antipathy toward the church comes out in Young's work. The type of music God listens to seems deliberately chosen to shock and stretch the sensibilities. (Either that or to make God 'hip') References to Mormons as the archetypal church doers make me wonder how much Young knows about what a Christian really is.

And so my list of troubling statements in the book grows.

The Trite Trinity
As I read the opening pages of this chapter, to me, Young's trinity becomes trite. Young's Big Mamma Papa stops at the doorway to give Jesus a kiss. The loitering Jesus exclaims, "Isn't she great!" and laughs, "She's a riot!" While this is homey and relatable, it lacks the vigour and power of the Biblical images. Where is the Glorified One, the lamb that was slain, the King on the great throne, the Lord of hosts, The Shining light of dawn …?

The Funky Father
I would be entirely happy for God the Father to be listening to any kind of music, to take joy in the offerings of his creation. But the manner in which this music is praised is unbecoming. The musicians are praised for their vinegar and fizz, their anger, their showing off and spouting off. While a God that surprises us is great, it is true, God cannot be pinned down by our tastes. But what God will treasure in the music he listens to will not be the immaturity and selfishness of the musicians, but their faith and their wish to honour God. Young's God would have these as the fruit of the Spirit: vinegar, fizz, anger, showing off and spouting off.

The Great Gulf
The great gulf between God and man is God's fault, almost.

"Mack I'm so sorry." Tears began to trail down her cheeks. "I know what a great gulf this has put between us." A few paragraphs later,
"That's why you're here, Mack," she continued. "I want to heal the wound that has grown inside you, and between us."

In Young's scheme the great gulf between God and man is our injury at our suffering in this world. In the apology does Papa accept some responsibility for that? I hope this will be made clear later. This is outrageous. The great gulf between God and man is the sin of man, mankind's rebellion. What God would want from Mack is to know why his suffering made it OK to kill his father. The great gulf between God and man is our sin. Yes, God weeps over our suffering in the world, but he holds each one of us accountable for our part in that.

Mix'n'Match God
Young writes, "Mackenzie, I am neither male nor female, even though both genders are derived from my nature. If I choose to appear to you as a man or a woman, it's because I love you. For me to appear to you as a woman and suggest that you call me Papa is simply to mix metaphors, to help you keep from falling so easily back into your religious conditioning'

Young feels free to recast God the Father as Big Mama. His justification for this is to assert that all we know about God is metaphor. He is suggesting that the words don't really mean what they mean. Father doesn't really mean father. Father does not describe anything essential about the nature of God. This is utter rubbish. Yes God transcends human sexuality. We do not think of God as a 'he' in the way we think of my brother as a 'he'. Yet God consistently chooses to reveal himself in male terms, with male images, male nouns and male pronouns. God is not the Queen of Queens. Not our heavenly mother.

Our created sexuality, our ability to relate is derived from God's relational nature. And in the context of that God chooses to reveal himself and his nature as God the Father, the Son and the Spirit. Not very politically correct, I know. But God's like that, full of surprises -- isn't he great (as in magnificent and beyond us).

The difference between a Father and a Mother is not just a matter of terminology. Labelling a mother figure a Father does not make her a father (it makes you confused). In this papa there is no Father left, it is all Mother. Young has chosen to drastically change the nature of God while pretending God was always like that. Young completely recreates the picture of God in Christianity and he does this by either ignoring or completely misinterpreting the majority of Scripture.

Where does this literary freedom of Young's end. God reveals himself as our Father, but we can decide that he's not really a father. He calls himself our creator, can we say he means he was more of a mechanic fine tuning the evolutionary mechanism? God calls himself our Judge, what he really means is he wants each of us to be the best we can, he is really a kind of spiritual coach. If we take leave to reinterpret or ignore scripture we have left the narrow road and are wandering in our own direction. It will be more comfortable, it will be fun, but it's the straight wide road. You know where that wide easy road goes, or is that a metaphor too?

The greatest failing of Young's trinity is how his efforts to enrich the holy God end up beggaring his theology. Young is definitely pastoral. He struggles with and it seems to me rejects the omnipotent Father figure. And yet he leaves his Mack much poorer not richer. He rationalises his Big Mama Papa by stating that Mack could not accept a father figure after his experience with an earthly father. So God takes a motherly figure suffused with warmth and affection. Could Not the Father God have created the same feelings in Mack. Yes, knowledge of the true Father transcends out experiences of earthly fathers. But no, instead of correcting and restoring Mack's image of a father, Young abandons fatherhood and leaves Mack all the poorer for having no loving Father, earthly or heavenly.

Modern Modalism
Young blurs the trinity. In the Shack the three persons of the one God have become interchangeable. God the Father And the Holy Spirit take on flesh - where in the Bible does that happen? God the Father has nail pierced wrists. This is an old, old heresy and it's modern clothes don't make it any less wrong. The distinctions between the trinity are lost and God just slides between forms as appropriate. This heresy is akin to an old one called modalism. Click on the link to read more about it. Young's version is slightly weirder in that the three still exist separately, but the modalism is revealed in the papa's nail-scarred hands and in phrases like "We were there together."

The Empty Christ
Young also buys into the modern heresy called Kenotic Theology. Young states that Jesus did not have the attributes and power of God when he was in human form. Many find this theory comforting because it reduces Christ to a mere human being (in effect Jesus is no longer fully God) but it is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus did what he did because he was God. To think about how Jesus could be fully God and fully man read about the hypostatic union

Young's criticism of others applies to himself:

"Yes, but not exactly. At least not in the way you're thinking. Mackenzie, I am what some would say 'holy, and wholly other than you.' The problem is that many folks try to grasp some sense of who I am by taking the best version of themselves, projecting that to the nth degree, factoring in all the goodness they can perceive, which often isn't much, and then call that God. And while it may seem like a noble effort, the truth is that it falls pitifully short of who I really am. I'm not merely the best version of you that you can think of. I am far more than that, above and beyond all that you can ask or think.'

If God is so far above us, how do we find out what he is like?

We accept what he tells himself about himself. We accept his revelation in Jesus Christ. We go back to the Bible. Do that with me now below.

Back to the Bible

Read Isaiah 6,

What is missing from Mack's encounter with God?

Read Genesis 1:26

Think about what it might be that we get from God that makes us in his image.

In what way is it significant then, that God consistently chooses to reveal himself as Father and King?

Read Matthew 7:7-12, (Matthew 6:5-15) and Ephesians 3:14-15

In what ways is God a father in the way our earthly father's are fathers.

In what ways is God different to our earthly fathers?

Is the idea of God as a Father essential or negotiable?

How much leeway do we have to fiddle around with statements like this, "for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live;" (1 Corinthians 8:6)

Read Mark 4:35-41 and Mark 2:1-12

Notice in both passages that the question raised by the miracle is "Who is this?"

In each passage, what is the answer to the question, 'Who is this?'

What does this tell us about the basis by which Jesus did the miracles?
(notice that Jesus explicitly makes the connection between being God and doing this miracle)

Teaser

Read Revelation 4, Luke2:8-15, Galatians 5:22-26, Psalm 19

Try to imagine what kind of earthly music God would listen to.

Pray

· Pray that God might help you to appreciate his majesty and glory.
· Pray that God's spirit may give you the courage to humble yourself and submit to him.
· Pray that you might be granted the wisdom to identify and resist the false ideas about God that our world feeds us constantly.

(To see all the reviews, click on the 'The Shack label at the bottom of this post.)

The Shack Review: Chapter 5

2008-11-12T17:26:00.000+11:00

An Evangelical Review of The Shack

The Shack Review: Chapter 5

As Mack works out what he thinks about the note and whether he goes to the shack, he says this to his friend, "I guess part of me would like to believe that God would care enough about me to send a note."

In this Young is right and wrong. God is not really in the habit of sending notes. I would suggest God cares more than to send a note. When you care more than that you come in person.

God in Bodies?

Now we are going to have to cut Young a bit of slack. He is writing an allegory, a parable, whatever you want to call it. So he is using a metaphor. Whenever you use a metaphor to talk about God there are going to be problems. You cannot describe the infinite with the finite.
So one problem that is immediately obvious is that he makes God into three discrete persons. But God is one. He gives the Father and the Spirit a physical body, makes them seem much like normal people. This is the weakness of his metaphor. His metaphor is wildly inaccurate here. But as long as we remember that it is a metaphor it shouldn't be much of a problem. When you look through a camera at a layered scene, some part is in focus but the other parts are always out of focus. If you focus on the other part the first moves out of focus. A metaphor of God works like that. Some part is always out of focus because God can't fit in the frame. So Young's metaphor is out of focus here. As long as the bits he is focusing on are captured accurately, we can move on.

God as a Woman?

There is a much greater problem which, unfortunately, is much less obvious. God's perfume is a big problem. Papa's perfume was the same as Mack's mother's. Papa, God the Father is a woman. Young has turned the father figure of God into a mother figure. This is a big problem. I know, I know, the Father-God of the Bible is portrayed with some feminine characteristics. The tender motherly protectiveness of a hen is one of them. But there is a big difference between portraying a balanced masculinity with some 'feminine' characteristics and erasing the masculinity and portraying it as femininity. It is as stark as the difference between having a tender-hearted father and only having two mothers.
So there are huge theological problems here. I tend to think that the metaphor is broken. Young has stopped portraying God and is now portraying something else. Some other god, a made up god. An idol. One loosely based on the Christian traditions, to be sure, much as JW's and Mormons are, but a blasphemous heresy, just as they are. Young has stretched the metaphor and it has snapped. The image he is painting and the reality behind it no longer meet in the middle. The whole metaphor is out of focus.

That's what I'm tempted to say. But at the end of Chapter Five I have only just met Papa etc. I might just read a bit further and see if he can make it work.

One of my biggest concerns about this is that our society has lost all models of truly godly masculinity. A robust masculinity that can be tender and gentle. Young chooses the easy path of depicting God as a tender woman, when the harder path of depicting God as a credible tender man would have been so much more beneficial to our society and our church. For more on this issue check out Doug Wilson's post on this at Blog and Mablog

Back to the Bible

Read John 3:16 again.

Can you think of any greater way for God to show he cares for people?

Read John 4:1-26 and Acts 17:22-32

What is God like, and how important is it to get that right?

Pray

Pray that God may fill you with wonder and thirst for the God who is infinitely beyond us who reveals himself to us clearly in Christ.

The Shack Review: Chapter 4

2008-11-11T18:09:00.003+11:00

An Evangelical Review of The Shack

The Shack Review: Chapter 4

Young continues to weave his story, in this chapter we see the tragedy unfold. We follow Mack into his helplessness and grief. We know things like this happen and Young takes us into the world of someone it happened to. In this chapter we confront the reality of evil and suffering and start to wonder how we would respond.

In this chapter Young makes explicit the idea that the original note comes from God. Perhaps the weakest part of the chapter, he seems to struggle a little to bolster up the idea that God might send a man a letter. In his attempts to make a letter form God credible he unfortunately chooses to denigrate the Scriptures. He paints a Bible based Christianity as academic, authoritarian and dead, which is a terrible shame and a great foolishness, since the Bible has been the great anchor and central pillar of Christianity for two thousand years. It is the only sure standard by which we can test whether this new idea or that new way is truly from God.

The opposite of Young's implication is true - without the Scriptural witness to the historical Christ there is no true Christianity, no living faith, no saving faith.

Back to the Bible

Read Hebrews 1:1-4

Think about why what we have now is better than what the 'ancients' had when they had 'direct communication with God'

Pray
Thank God that he does not remain distant but has come to meet and save us in Christ.

(To see all the reviews, click on the 'The Shack' label at the bottom of this post.)

The Shack Review: Chapter 3

2008-11-11T18:02:00.000+11:00

An evangelical Review of the Shack

The Shack Review: Chapter 3

Young really is a very good writer.

The story continues to grow. Although there are a few subtle intimations of the coming tragedy (Missy's connection to the Indian princess story, the continuing focus on Missy's endearing nature). This chapter serves to create a lull before the storm and also to heighten the horror of the event when it comes. The false alarm in this chapter also enhances the development of story tension while the cliff-hanger hint in the last sentence keeps the pages turning.

The Shack Review: Chapter 2

2008-11-11T17:27:00.000+11:00

Young skilfully and powerfully portrays the effect of the great sadness on Mack. Details are slowly revealed, increasing reader empathy but still allowing tension to remain.

The Truth Issue
My truth issues return. To compare the death of Jesus with its historical records and written, verifiable prophecies to an Indian legend and reach the same conclusion does a grave injustice to the historical veracity of the New Testament. Again it seems that Young is infected with the post-modern philosophy, "if it means something to you then it's true for you."

Undeveloped Issues

We see in Mack's hatred of the name papa some effects of his brutal upbringing. But these effects are not really consistent. Mack's violent upbringing in a harsh parody of Christianity and his murderous rejection of that situation would not leave the well balanced and compassionate person we are meeting here. He remains kinda just quietly distant from God, seeming to still believe, in some fashion, the Christian truths. A man from his supposed background would find that middle ground untenable. He would almost be compelled to either reject Christianity entire or work through the issues and embrace a healthy, active, authentic Christianity.

The Shack Review: Chapter 1

2008-11-11T17:20:00.001+11:00

The Shack, Chapter 1,

Young starts to weave in some detail into the mysterious background he welcomed us into in the foreword. The Great Sadness starts to take shape a little and Mack becomes more known to us. There are, however, still mysteries to be unravelled in future chapters. In particular where the note came from and more importantly, why it affects him so.

Young has begun to deliver what he promised in the foreword. And easy to read, enjoyable journey of mystery and discovery with the character Mack.

My Hobby Horse

"Nature has intervened…" p. 15

Why does Nature have a capital N. It is fair literary practice for an author to use anthropomorphisms, but a Christian is unable to personify nature. It is nature, not Nature, but speaking even more clearly one would say "Sovereignty has intervened…". If Young's target audience is non-Christians or fringe Christians, nature might be more comfortable than Sovereignty, but he should still say, "nature had intervened…" Nature is nature- a system under God's direction (a part of creation) not Nature- a force or personality with volition or influence of its own.

The Shack Review: Forward

2008-11-11T17:05:00.000+11:00

On setting the scene

Young starts this tale in a meandering folksy way that is endearing without becoming trite. Enough hints are dropped to call forth the reader's curiosity and make this a successful introduction that sets the scene well and draws the reader into the story.

On Alcoholic Elders
I must admit I was a little dismayed to see the evil hypocritical church elder pop up in the foreword. I am sure that people like this have existed, but I have never met, seen, nor heard of one in real life. They are overpopulated, however, in the secular media. It is the want of the secular author to paint every Christian as a screaming hypocrite. Fortunately this is just not the case. I am a little saddened that an ostensibly Christian author should resort to this slanderous plot device.

"For almost two days, tied to the big oak at the back of the house, he was beaten with a belt and Bible verses every time his dad woke from a stupor and put down his bottle." p. 8

In my experience it just doesn't work that way. There is no church youth leader who would not take seriously the tears of the helpless son and simply tattle tail on him to his abusive father. There are no Bible passages that justify tying your son to a tree and beating him half to death. There are no Bible verses to quote in that situation. And the more that a Christian quotes Bible passages the more gentle and loving they are inclined to be, in my experience.

The only reason I can see to include a plot device like this in a Christian book is to make a bridge to those who do see the church like this. In which case Young leaves himself some work to do later in communicating what the real church is like.

On the Truth
The last part of the foreword in which Young meanders around the truth was also disappointing. It seems he is trying to assert some truthfulness to his story without actually out and out saying it. And unfortunately the casualty is the concept of truth. Young would have been far better to let this well alone. This end of the foreword is reminiscent of the tactic of The Da Vinci Code which deliberately sets out to blur the boundary between truth and fiction in order to add controversy to a dry novel.

Young asserts a truthfulness in order to reinforce the importance of his work. However, his disclaimers undo that claim to truthfulness and Young ends up resonating with the post-modern claim that if it seems true or useful or significant to you then it is true enough. Christians have real truth to offer and need to be careful of allowing short term goals to undermine our allegiance to and defence of that absolute, ultimate, unchanging truth that is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It would have been better to clearly assert either that this is a fiction (but let it talk to you as it will) or that this is a true account (so you better listen). Far better, in my opinion, would have been to just leave it alone and let the story speak for itself.

Intro To The Shack Review

2008-11-11T17:00:00.000+11:00

Someone asked me what I think of The Shack.

I have heard only a little bit about it, some positive, some of concern. I have decided to review the book a chapter at a time and then maybe present a summary.

I have an inkling of what I am going to end up saying, based on the little I have heard, so in preparation for that I have decided to add a bit of a Bible reading at the end of each chapter review.

If anybody wants to think further about the issues raised in the book, (or the tangents the book sent my mind in) those readings may help direct your thoughts.

God Bless,
Michael

(To see all the reviews, click on the 'The Shack' label at the bottom of this post.)

Sunday School Presentation

2008-11-10T09:29:00.002+11:00

Ten Tips #3: Raising Adults

2008-11-09T15:32:00.004+11:00

What is the goal of parenting? Raising good children? Training obedient children? No.

We are not raising children, we are raising adults.

When our children grow up we want them to be mature, resilient, reasonably independent adults, not children.

"Discipline should be future-orientated and forward-looking."
Andreas Kostenberger

You can probably think of a parent, a bad example of a parent who actually wanted that dependence to continue forever, and so has raised insecure dependent adults, adults who are still children.

That's the extreme case, but something we are all susceptible to.

When we
* Do it myself it's easier
* Rely on "Because I said so."
* Can't deal with our kids moving to different stages of life

We are in danger of stifling their growth toward maturity.

As Christian parents our goal is mature, faithful, godly adults. Anything less falls short of the mark.

How do we work toward this goal?

Encourage them to pray.
Give them responsibility.
Encourage them to try on their own.
Explain as well as ask and order.
Work out how you are going to hand over responsibility and independence.
(feel free to leave other ideas in the comments)

"The goal of parenting is to work yourself out of a job. The goal of parenting is to send young adults out into the world who are prepared to live as God’s children and as salt and light in a corrupt and broken world."

Paul David Tripp
Age of Opportunity, P&R Publishing, 1997, p. 192-193, Used by Permission.

School Leavers Dinner

2008-11-09T09:30:00.005+11:00

The Girls Bible Study were taken out for tea for our School Leavers Dinner.

It really is a shame you can't see the two handsome French waiters, Pierre and Louis, who served the girls with pizazz, panache and aplomb.

But you can see they had a great time. Corinne, the chef, did a great job.

After the meal, Bronny gave a great talk on being a Christian when you leave home - at work at uni or wherever. Her five tips were:

1. Let people know you are a Christian - it only makes it easier
2. Join a church or fellowship - it is very encouraging and supportive
3. Expect persecution - some people will give you a hard time for being a Christian
4. Don't go out with a non-Christian - it only brings trouble
5. Make God number one - he is the secret to a fulfilling life

It's Not Only The Preacher's Job

2008-11-04T15:17:00.003+11:00

Preparing for sermons, that's probably a new idea if you are not a preacher.

Here is a really interesting article

How Can You Stop Sermons Being Boring?

Ten Tips For Christian Parents #2

2008-11-02T19:38:00.006+11:00

Be Deliberate

Think ahead

The boy scouts had the motto - be prepared. Haven't your kids made you wish that you were ready for some of their surprises.

Whether it was in the aisle at the supermarket, "Mum, how do babies get in the mummy's tummy"

Or perhaps the bombshell dropped in the middle of a parent principal conference.

Maybe the public temper tantrum that you just didn't know how to deal with.

Whatever it is and whenever it happens our kids have lots of shocks, surprises and ambushes in store for us plodding along parents.

That's why it's so important to be prepared. To be deliberate in our parenting. To think about how to be better parents.

What do I mean? I mean things like:

• Decide on consequences for behaviours before they happen.

• Read a book on parenting and think about how to be a better father or mother.

• Plan how to deal with the big issues that are going to come up (sex, teenage rebellion of some sort, slamming the doors, first boyfriend, staying out past agreed time, lying to you about something, etc)

• Plan meaningful time with your kids where you talk about big issues.

• Analyse your children as individuals and think about whether their needs are being met.

• Discuss with other parents and try new ideas for getting your kids involved in family life.

The biggest advantage of being thoughtful deliberate parents is that it helps you to avoid emotional or reactionary discipline and responses to your children. If you have already decide how to respond to that behaviour it's a lot easier to deal with when you are a) tired, b) annoyed, c) exasperated, d) all of the above.

"Your focus can be sharpened by the realization that discipline is not you working on your agenda, venting your wrath toward your children; it is you coming as God’s representative, bringing the reproofs of life to your son or your daughter. You only muddy the waters when the bottom line in discipline is your displeasure over their behavior, rather than God’s displeasure with rebellion against His ordained authority."

Tedd Tripp
Shepherding a Child’s Heart, Shepherd Press, 1995, p. 52.

Summary Page

Matthew Bowls a 7

2008-11-01T12:26:00.010+11:00

Ben's Gutter Ball

Laura's Sneaky Seven

Ben's Better Bowl

Bowling With the JYG

2008-11-01T09:11:00.026+11:00

We arrived at Mcdonalds like a band of locusts. All jumping in different directions, consuming anything and everything and leaving destruction in our wake.

Adam Ferg bowls a 'flipper'

Ten Tips for Christian Parents #1

2008-10-26T11:00:00.002+11:00

Leave Some Space.

Leave some space in your day.
Leave some space in your week.
Leave some space in your year.

You don't need to be doing something all the time. Don't give every single after-school to an activity. A free afternoon gives you space to cope with the unexpected or catch up with the overload. Remember too, that 'quality time' often can't be planned. It happens when it happens and often in the spaces between activities. When your kid wants to tell you something important, they will need some space where you can devote your whole concentration to them.

In order to keep some space in your life, you will need to learn to say no to some things. You will need to remind yourself that little Johnny will not be stunted if he doesn't partake in every activity under the sun. But he will be if he can't get any time to wrestle on the floor with dad or talk about things with mum.

Being a family is more important than being busy

Summary

Ten Tips for Christian Parents, Summary.

2008-10-26T10:55:00.005+11:00

Ten Tips for Christian Parents is a little spot in the Sunday service over the next twelve or so weeks. I thought I'd post the basics of the series on the blog for anybody who misses a week but is still interested.

This summary post will be updated with links as the posts are made.

#1 Leave Some Space

#2 Be Deliberate

Riley James Foster (Dedication Sunday 19 October 2008)

2008-10-19T12:56:00.007+11:00

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."

Jeremiah 29:11-14

God's plans are not our plans. Being a Christian is about not about doing it "my way" but God's way. For Christian parents it's also about bringing up our children God's way.

God's better way is for us to have fellowship with him as well as all the stuff we want, whereas, mostly, we just want to have the stuff.

CS Lewis put it like this,

"Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

Bike Ride (Church Camp 2008)

2008-10-12T13:35:00.007+11:00

On saturday afternoon of the church camp a number of us went for a bike ride around Lake Burley Griffin.

There were two divisions in the competition, serious riders (Lance Armstrong, Peter Harper etc) and coffee sippers. Here are just a few of the photos

Amanda 'Rockstar' Bishop

2008-10-11T17:43:00.004+11:00

Amanda didn't know what scenario was behind the door when she was given a guitar and pushed through. She did well, and Julia did the part so well we gave her a drug test after the show.

A Fairy Tale

2008-10-11T13:45:00.002+11:00

Meredith organised the kids to do this drama. They really got into it.

Some Antics from the Church Camp

2008-10-10T22:10:00.005+11:00

Max walked through the door not knowing what scenario was on the other side. He did alright I think.

Absent Fathers

2008-10-10T09:12:00.006+11:00

You don't have to be absent to be absent.

There's a tragic story of a 16 year old girl who fell off a cliff while drunk with friends. The details are here on the SMH site.

We sympathise with the friends and the family, this is a terrible tragedy. No parent is able to imagine how this family feels because our minds shy away from the thought. I can't make myself think about how I would feel if this were one of my princesses.

But there are some hard lessons to be learned from this tragedy. The one thing Jesus says about the reason for tragedies is that they are there for us to learn from (Luke 13:1-5). (In fact, are a call to turn back from our bad behaviour)

I can see two lessons here.

Number One
Fathers are so important. A father is there to lead, to protect, to discipline, to teach and to guard his family. Every father is a soldier on guard duty, protecting his family from harm 24 hours a day. Every father is a general leading his family through a war zone. Make no mistake, that's what it's like. Your children are new recruits who think they can handle anything, but there are many enemies out there. Con artists and financial crooks (this can include bosses), drug dealers (include some 'friends' in this category), sexual predators (the less obvious but more common legal variety is actually a more likely danger) and a whole assortment of low level but constant bad influences.
Unfortunately many fathers are missing in action.

Number Two
There has to be consequences. Nobody listens to words. Do you remember when you listened most at school? When you had the teacher who would keep you in if you didn't. As long as you just speak to your kids about their bad behaviour you can expect them to continue in it. There has to be a consequence. Positive and negative consequences provide the incentive to do the right thing and the incentive to not do the wrong thing.

It's too late to tell this poor father, and people outside the situation need to be careful because they don't know the full story, but this is just not good enough.

Her distraught father, Robin Armson, today said his "English rose" had been partying and drinking with friends all evening, as she regularly did.

"They'll be drinking like teenagers do, they were 'Bondi girls'. Cody grew up in Bondi," Mr Armson, who was born in England, said.

"I spoke to her quite a bit about it a couple of months ago to ease up a bit, [saying] 'Dad's really worried', but she's had that many friends she couldn't get grounded for a couple of hours.
"She was always out or organising something."

A Father needs to be teaching and training his kids to be responsible adults.

A 16 year old should not be out drinking, unsupervised, let alone regularly and all evening.
And if a father can't get his daughter (or son) to follow his guidelines then he needs to take whatever action is necessary to keep her from this behaviour that is a road to destruction.

Another Good Link

2008-09-26T14:16:00.002+10:00

Another good link that relates to our reading of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diKEZb9_M8Q

Lee Strobel on Youtube.

Every Eye

2008-09-24T18:06:00.002+10:00

There's a good flash presentation that it is worth linking to as we are looking at 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 this Sunday.

http://www.lifetalk.net/Movies/ee.html

David and Jonathan (Church In The Bush 2008)

2008-09-08T12:17:00.007+10:00

Another state of the art performance. This performance, a tour de force of high drama, also used state of the art CGI special effects (city-slicker generated illusions)

Leah narrates the story while some tourist gets in the shot and ruins the take.

David and Jonathan make a covenant.

David is missing from the New Moon Festival. Notice the spear at Kings Saul's back (Orange Hat)

Merryl Streep plays Sylvia Pass playing David pretending to hunt for arrows. This performance won Merryl an oscar in the best cross gender performance category

David Spares Sauls' Life (Church In The Bush 2008)

2008-09-08T10:23:00.012+10:00

Shirley's group depicted David sparing the life of Saul, who had pursued him into the wilderness.

While some of the cast stumbled over the script Shirley stumbled over the rabbit hole. The worst Church in the Bush injury on record.

Fortunately she was able to sit back and takes it easy while the team practice the roles she had carefully prepared them.

David's merry men hide in the hills

Saul's crack troops pursue David into the wilderness. Notice the Cameo appearance of Damien Saleeby (The Castle etc) from the Sydney Studios.

David's Spies (played by Matthew Davey an actor well known for his heroic roles in many a world war II era movie) spy out Saul's camp.

David (Frog Veering) sneaks into the slumbering camp to steal the spear and jug.

Damien Harper, a method actor, would only produce an authentic snore by actually going to sleep.

Samuel Hears God (Church In The Bush 2008)

2008-09-08T09:55:00.009+10:00

Rod's group created a technically brilliant piece using light and sound and elaborate sets, superb stagecraft and good old know-how to bring to life the sad demise of the aged Eli.

Bob brings experience to lift the unsteady performance of the two young cherubs.

Samuel sleeps in the temple.

The archaic 'narrator style' gave this story a period credibility.

NO CHILDREN WERE HARMED DURING THE PRODUCTION OF THIS PERFORMANCE

Samuel rouses Eli from his slumber.

The Making of Samuel Hears

As Eli rises from slumber, notice the autocue in the background

The Making of Samuel Hears

The sound guy is happy with the production values.

David And Goliath (Church In The Bush 2008)

2008-09-08T09:29:00.013+10:00

Graham's group (under great pressure from an overbearing director) produced epic theatre bigger than Ben-Hur.

From the stunning direction to the gory special effects the production was first class.
The production also saw some of the best on stage taunting since church camp 2007 ('You need to have a shower' indeed.)

David visits his brothers after shearing his pink sheep.

Goliath and the Philistines taunt the Israelites. (Buster Davey portraying Goliath so perfectly surely must be worried about her acting career being typecast into the role of the thug, a role at which she seems to be such a natural)

David removes Goliaths Head (MA15+)

The Israelites pursue the terrified Philistines. (Some of the crowd were a bit nervous too.)

Director Graham Scorsese (The foreign looking guy with the funny hat and the big ego)

Sunday School Picnic Photos (3)

2008-09-08T08:41:00.003+10:00

Sunday School Picnic Photos (2)

2008-09-08T08:35:00.003+10:00

Sunday School Picnic 2008 (Part 1)

2008-09-08T07:51:00.007+10:00

Picnic Races

Sunday School Picnic was held on Saturday 6 September out at Rannock Tennis courts. Very pleased to have a bunch of Blacktown people with us and a heap of kids.

Everyone seemed to me to have a great time.

Here are some of the pics, there are some more, which you can get from Michael.

Thanks Corinne, Elaine, Noel, George and Gwen (and everyone else who helped)

The Only Thing You Have To Do

2008-08-31T10:30:00.002+10:00

Dave Freeman, the co-author of the book 100 Things to Do Before You Die has died.

At age 47 he fell over, banged his head, and died.

He was only half way through the list, apparently.

There is only one thing you have to do before you die.

It's not running with the bulls in Pamplona.

What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels."

Mark 8:36-38

"But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Luke 12:20

OK, if you haven't worked it out it's this, Get right with God.

That's the only thing you've gotta do.

If you never run with the bulls, it's not going to ruin your eternity.
If you never do voodoo it's not going to hoodoo heaven.

But if you are not right with God when you die. You are not right with God forever.

The Farmer's Creed

2008-08-25T10:21:00.003+10:00

Max sent me a copy of the Farmer's Creed.

There are some noble sentiments and truths in there and some worrying ideas too. Can you pick which is which?

I invite all the farmers out there to leave a comment (click on the word comments at the bottom of this entry and you get to make a comment)

Please let us know where you agree with this poem, and where you think it goes too far.

The Farmer's Creed

I believe a man’s greatest possession is his dignity and that no calling bestows this more abundantly than farming.

I believe hard work and honest sweat are the building blocks of a person’s character.

I believe that farming, despite its hardships and disappointments, is the most honest and honorable way a man can spend his days on this earth.

I believe farming nurtures the close family ties that make life rich in ways money can’t buy.

I believe my children are learning values that will last a lifetime and can be learned in no other way.

I believe farming provides education for life and that no other occupation teaches so much about birth, growth, and maturity in such a variety of ways.

I believe many of the best things in life are indeed free: the splendor of a sunrise, the rapture of wide open spaces, and the exhilarating sight of your land greening each spring.

I believe that true happiness comes from watching your crops ripen in the field, your children grow tall in the sun, your whole family feels the pride that springs from their shared experience.

I believe that by my toil I am giving more to the world than I am taking from it; an honor that does not come to all men.

I believe my life will be measured ultimately by what I have done for my fellow man, and by this standard I fear no judgement.

I believe when a man grows old and sums up his days, he should be able to stand tall and feel pride in the life he’s lived.

I believe in farming because it makes all this possible.

A Fairly Uneventful Bike Ride for The Junior Youth Group

2008-08-23T17:21:00.004+10:00

There are more photos. Some group photos and some individual photos. Email Michael at mahutton (at) aussieisp (dot) net (dot) au for a copy.

A Fairly Uneventful Bike Ride for the Junior Youth Group

But There Were A Few Interesting Things That Happened

And Some Interesting Characters Came Along

But There Were A Few Interesting Things That Happened

2008-08-23T16:48:00.010+10:00

There are more photos. Some group photos and some individual photos.

Email Michael at mahutton (at) aussieisp (dot) net (dot) au for a copy.

A Fairly Uneventful Bike Ride for the Junior Youth Group

But There Were A Few Interesting Things That Happened

And Some Interesting Characters Came Along

And Some Interesting Characters Came Along

2008-08-23T16:47:00.004+10:00

Who's the Pervert?

2008-08-22T10:13:00.006+10:00

New Zealand has a wonderful cultural event each year known as Boobs on Bikes.

I'm assuming that this title was chosen for it's accuracy. That is basically all it's about. A procession of porn stars on motorbikes bare their breasts as they proceed through the CBD of Auckland.

A few interesting things.

One
The whole show is organised by Steve Crow, a “porn tycoon” who uses the parade to promote his R18 Erotica Expo which is held in Auckland. You don't need the details.

Two
There were some protesters there making the link between pornography and sexual abuse. They were heckled by the crowd and even had things thrown at them.

Three
One man shouted at Mr Crow, asking him if he was a pervert.

Mr Crow replied he was not a pervert, he was comfortable with who he was and what he did, and it was the man on the sidewalk who was the pervert.

Isn't that amazing logic. If you are comfortable with who you are and what you do, you are not a pervert. Community standards do not matter, there is no objective morality, no obligation to others, no need to listen to the criticism of others.
Hitler, comfortable with who he was and what he did, must have actually been the national hero he thought he was.
Child molesters who are comfortable with who they are and what they do are not perverts. Only the ones uncomfortable with what they do should go to gaol.

What is scary is that Mr Crow is just applying the logic our world now lives by. What he says is outrageous but our courts and governments cannot stop it because it is how most Australians live now. But it is not how we Christians are to live.

We know that the human heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. (Jeremiah 17:9)

That is, we cannot trust our own feelings for a judgement of right and wrong. We will mislead ourselves if we trust our feelings. This is obvious to us in the extremes, like a porn star on a motorbike. An Austrian man who locks his children and grandchildren in a dungeon and abuses them.

That, as I understand it, is what pervert means. Someone who's sense of right and wrong is perverted. The real problem is that he is happy abusing women, destroying the sex lives of his readers in order to make megabucks. Mr Crow's defence is no defence at all, it's actually an indictment of himself.

But it is the truth of the deceitfulness of the human heart is also true in the little things and the day to day life of the man in the street. The common smutty affair goes on in a dream of justification (I deserve to be happy). The gossip tells herself it's just news or it's harmless, or even she deserves it. The tax cheat sleeps easily at night. The speeding motorist who runs over a pedestrian speeds away without stopping because his heart tells him to run for it. No, the human heart is deceitful and will lead us astray.

If you are honest you will admit with hindsight that there are things that you have done and things that you thought or said that seemed right at the time. But now you realise you were justifying yourself and really they were wrong, or at least disproportionate.
One example, yesterday I was cranky with the kids - because they were being really bad. But I realised after the third growl that I was cranky because I was tired. So I deliberately backed off. With hindsight I could see my reactions were disproportionate and unfair.

So, how do we know what is right? How do we do the right thing? By submitting to God, and reading the Bible and living by it.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 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. (Romans 12:1-2)

Four
Mr Crows reply shows just how bad our society (or parts of it) are getting. Mr Crow replied... and it was the man on the sidewalk who was the pervert.

If you don't agree with my sexual immorality, then you are the one who has the problem. You are the pervert.

They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. (1 Peter 4:4)

Human Rights for the Loudest Only

2008-08-21T08:04:00.006+10:00

The Age article celebrates the legal victory of the 'women's rights' activists with these words.

Ms Kirner said last night: "This is a fantastic achievement in the history of the rights of women in Victoria."

It seems a human right is only a right if you win it at at the expense of another human being.

This is just not a victory for women's rights.

There are 75 700 medicare funded abortions in Australia each year (as at 2004). At present to get an abortion you have to pretend it will ruin your life to have a baby. That is, you have to convince a doctor that carrying that baby to term will bring 'serious danger to the pregnant woman's life or to her physical or mental health.' Up to 75 700 women do this each year in Australia.

75 700 abortions each year. Half of them (roughly) female.

So there are 37 850 women, whose basic right to breathe is taken from them before they are born. What about the rights of these women?

Or are the rights of 37 850 women not as important because 37 850 men would also benefit? Is it only a women's right if it is exclusively a women's right?

This new law, this legal victory makes it easier to get an abortion. You don't have to pretend any more, you just have to say I don't want it, kill the thing.

Hooray for human rights!

Seeing is Believing, Or So I Hear.

2008-08-19T12:57:00.004+10:00

God is up for debate on the ABC, and is being promoted on the Sydney Morning Herald
Article

One of the debaters has his say in the Sydney Morning Herald in Another Article

This article is headed, Seeing is Believing.

The idea is that science sees things clearly, science is based on hands on observations, things we can see and prove but religion is in the realm of imagining.

I won't go into the use of computer modelling (all the global warming predictions and maps - simulated) in which there is no actual observation of the real world.

I won't go into modern astrophysics (a well respected diagram) where the greatest minds never even look at a telescope but sit and stare and scribble on a blackboard.

But let's ask, "How does science see things?'

When science looks at the stars it uses radio telescopes and infrared telescopes and creates a visual representation that we can see, that has no direct link to the reality. Yet we trust it to represent the reality. We can't see it, but we trust it.

When science looks a broken bone it uses an Xray machine or an MRI, and creates a representation (Image) of what the X ray reveals. This is not what it actually looks like. it represents what it is like in a two dimensional image. Yet we trust that that bone is not broken.

When Science studies microbiology we use electron microscopes to create representational images with false colours, because the biological functions are beyond our ability to see. Yet we trust it to detect what is there.

What we are seeing can't be seen, and yet we trust the tools to represent what is there.

When science studies the 1st century BC we call it history and use historical methods to study the historical records. When Science studies the question of God we can examine the gospels and the historical records of the New Testament. We can evaluate their data and use the objective tools of historical method to see what is there, and when the conclusion is that something remarkable happened in 1st Century Israel, that all these guys seem to be telling the truth, then, our response is...

Seeing is Believing.

Sunday 3 August 2008

2008-08-03T17:37:00.004+10:00

Isaiah Finch rocks out a few riffs during the kids song today.

Contact Us

2008-07-24T17:39:00.011+10:00

Pastor:
Reverend Steve Shooter

Street and Postal address:
Ariah Park Baptist Church
4 Reid St
Ariah Park, NSW 2665.

Phone:
02 6974 1044

Fax:
02 6974 1011

Pastor's email
skshooter@gmail.com

So What's Wrong With 'The Pope'

2008-07-22T22:03:00.004+10:00

Titles of the Pope

Forms of address
"Your Holiness"
"Holy Father"
"Il Papa"

Current Titles
Bishop of Rome
Vicar of Christ
Successor of the Prince of the Apostles
Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church
Primate of Italy
Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province
Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City
Servant of the Servants of God

Former Titles
Patriarch of the West (dropped 2006)
Vicar of the Apostolic See
Vicar of Peter

Jesus said
(in Matthew 23)

1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5 "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’
8 "But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

Some Sermons in MP3

2008-07-14T07:35:00.009+10:00

Sorry the sound quality is a little poor. We are just recording this with an MP3 player. When we get some sound system issues sorted the quality may improve.

2008 Sermons available:

13 July	'Off the rails'	1 Samuel 22	Graham Dyason	Mediafire Download
16 November	'Abortion'	Psalm 139	Michael Hutton	MP3 Download at MediaFire

Ten Commandments of Dating

2008-07-09T11:54:00.004+10:00

Wow!

Found this excellent article over on this site.

The Ten Commandments of Dating

It is an excellent article. Excellent.

Read it then read it again, then do it.

Even if you are not single, read it.

God Bless,
Michael

Bush Dance and Bonfire

2008-07-08T17:23:00.014+10:00

Sixty odd people gathered in Peter Harper's Shearing shed for a bush dance.

Friday 4 July

Four groups

Ariah Park High School Youth Group,

Junee Baptist Youth Group,

Griffith Baptist Youth Group, and

Clare from Leeton

The Ariah Park Bush Band took us through the Heel and Toe and the Progressive Barn Dance and even Stripped the Willow (which is all above board - trust me). We even had the chicken dance and the hokey pokey for the less nimble dancers.

Many thanks to the Bush band for an excellent performance.

Thanks also to Peter Harper for all the tidying up and to Kevin Harper for showing us how to sweep the board.

After the dance we went to the paddock and had a song fest around the bonfire.

We sang old time negro spirituals while Michael Hutton (Ariah Park) put together some of the background and meaning of each song.

Griffith had a twenty strong choir so Ariah Park and Junee joined forces to take them on in a battle of the choirs.

We sang;

Griffith: Dem Bones (about the resurrection of the dead in Ezekiel 37)

AP/Junee: He's got the whole world (about the sovereignty of God)

Griffith: This little light of mine (about living for Christ in everything)

AP:Junee: Shut the door (about turning away from evil)

and finished with:

All: Oh When the Saints (about going to heaven)

The Griffith group was just too strong and beat the other group by half a point. See the trophy Victoria has in the photo below.

The Griffith mob then had a lack-of-sleepover in our hall and after a big breakfast got in the bus to head back home.

Many thanks to ll who helped and all who came. Hope you had as much fun as we did.

God Bless,
Michael Hutton

Our Sunday Service

2008-07-08T10:22:00.008+10:00

Our Service is every

Sunday at 10:30am.

We are a family of believers of mixed ages & various walks of life. Our common ground is that we Love the Lord & endeavor to serve him with our whole lives!

We encourage all ages to take part in the church service with various aspects geared towards different parts of our church family. We include a children's talk for the younger members & the occasional mission spot where we enjoy catching up on our missionaries' news.We include both traditional & modern music with a very talented group of musicians both young & old!

There is a creche available for children not yet at school, but school age children usually stay through the whole service.

We also run a Sunday School at 9:30am.

This is for children of all ages & we love visitors, so if you can only come once, please do!

The focus of our gathering is the preaching of the Bible, as we believe that the only way to know God is through His Word.

So, please join us on Sunday morning, and why not stay for a cuppa afterwards.

You are always very welcome!

God Bless You

July Bulletin (not well formatted)

2008-07-01T14:13:00.001+10:00

July 2008
Bulletin

Ariah Park Baptist Church
http://ariahparkbaptistchurch.blogspot.com/

Pastor: Michael Hutton
Phone: 6974 1044
Fax: 6974 1011

July
SUN 13 Baptist Church 10:30, No Sunday School
WED 16 Deacons Meeting, 8pm Huttons
SUN 20 Baptist Church 10:30, No Sunday School
SUN 27 Baptist Church 10:30, Sunday School 9:30
Members Meeting
Aug
SUN 3 Baptist Church 10:30, Sunday School 9:30
Guess Who's Coming To Dinner

Rosters

Date	Cleaning	Reading	Crèche	Supervision
13 July	Michael & Renae	Helen J	Renae D Emily D	Colin & Tracey
20 July	Greg & Doug	Warren	Tracey B Carolyn	Michael & Meredith
27 July	Tracey Buerkner	Shirley	Meredith Julia	Jamie & Tracey
3 Aug	Robert & Amy	Tracey H	Renata F Annette	Peter & Leah

The Lord's Supper, 3 August:
Max & Shirley to prepare, Rod and John to serve.

Notices from other bulletins
· Don't let worry kill you--let the church help.
· For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
· This afternoon there will be a meeting in the South and North ends of the church. Children will be baptized at both ends.

Bible Verse

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Hebrews 11:39-40

Prayer Points

Pray for
· Damien and Ray's safe return and the work to continue in PNG.
· Helen Judd recovering from a 'needle into a problem vertebrae under x-ray' on Wednesday 9th July.
· Continued rain and a good season.
· The marriage course to be of benefit to many.
· New mums in the fellowship and family.

Give thanks for
· Rain of recent weeks.
· Damien and Ray's 'adventures' and safe return.
· Michael Luke, Millar Dyason, Felicity Bennett, Archie Dewar (Fay Harpers 1st Grandson)

Quotes

Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying.

Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.
Martin Luther

Notices
Do you blog
Did you know the church has a new blog? Google 'Ariah Park Baptist Church' to find it. If you have a blog, please send a link to Michael (mahutton@aussieisp.net.au)

Guess Who's coming to Dinner August 3
Look forward to a warm welcome in the home of another member of our fellowship on Sunday August 3. Sign up as a host or a guest (or both) at the back of the church.

Annual Meeting 27 July
Could ministry leaders please submit a report to Gwen ASAP and definitely before July 20th. Email any good photos as well.

Associate Membership Available
Associate Membership is for people who belong to our fellowship but have not been baptised as a believer (ie adult) It allows you to vote on most matters at a members meeting. If you are interested talk to Michael or one of the deacons.

The Marriage Course. Based around supper, DVD input and private discussion, the marriage course is for all interested couples, of all ages and backgrounds. Starting in late July, the course is likely to run either on Sundays at 6pm-ish or Mondays at 8pm-ish. Contact Michael Hutton to express interest in a particular time.

KYB Restarts 23 July
Studying Joshua. Town KYB starts 10am, Tara KYB 8pm.

CWCI Function Friday 25 July
Heather Bolton speaking on The Race of Life. $20 for a Chinese smorgasbord. Tickets from open door

Taking the Heat out of an Argument

2008-07-01T11:17:00.008+10:00

I found these suggestions in an article by Megan Northrup. The rest of it wasn't particularly helpful. But these ideas are pretty good.

You want to get your point across, but then you want to be able to talk about it. Too often we get our point across but by the time we finish no one is listening.

Here are ways to soften your startup:

Complain but don't blame. Blaming leads to resentment, defensiveness and hostility. It's okay to say, "The yard is a mess. I'm really upset that it didn't get cleaned up." It's not okay to say, "The yard is a mess and it's all your fault for not cleaning it up when I told you to!"

Begin statements with "I" instead of "you." "I" statements are generally less critical and contemptuous. They tend to express feelings rather than accusations. Compare: "You are so lazy. Can't you do anything around here." vs. "I would appreciate it if you'd help me around the house more." And "You never listen to me." vs. "I feel like I'm being ignored."

Describe what is happening rather than judge. Instead of saying, "You never spend time with me anymore," try, "We don't seem to go out as much as we used to."

Be clear. Don't expect your partner to know what you're thinking. Instead of saying "Can you take the baby for once," try "Please change Timmy's clothes and get his bottle."

Be polite. Say "please," and "I would appreciate . . . ."

Don't store up frustrations. Talk about what's on your mind when the issue first comes up. It's hard to start up gently when you've been stewing over an issue and letting yourself grow more and more upset until you're ready to burst.

Our Ministries

2008-06-28T17:58:00.000+10:00

Youth Group
Bible Study
Sunday School

More info soon

What do we believe?

2008-06-27T09:56:00.004+10:00

Below is the statement of beliefs of the Baptist Churches of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. As it is a statement that had to go through the 1979 Assembly, it has a bit of the lowest common denominator about it. That is, it could say more, more clearly.

But as a general statement of beliefs, it'll do.

Statement Of Beliefs

The Nature and Unity of the Godhead
There is one God Who is eternal personal Spirit. He is infinite in power, wisdom, holiness and love. God is Triune in essential being and revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Deity and Humanity of Christ
Jesus Christ as the second Person of the Godhead is eternally one with God the Father of whose person and glory Jesus is the accurate expression. To become human He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, so that two whole and perfect natures, the nature of God and human nature, were united in one Person; truly God and truly human.

The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit as the third Person of the Trinity is eternally one with the Father and the Son yet He is sent by Them to achieve the divine purpose in the world and in the Church.

The Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures
The Scriptures, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, are the infallible Word of God. They were written by holy people of God inspired by the Holy Spirit and have supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.

The Sinfulness of People
People were made in the image of God and for fellowship with God. By transgression of God's command humankind fell from fellowship with God and their nature was corrupted. As a consequence all people are spiritually dead under Satan's dominion and control and subject to God's wrath and condemnation. Therefore, apart from God's grace, people are helpless and hopeless.

Christ's Atonement for Human Sin
In order to redeem people from the guilt, penalty and power of sin, Jesus Christ became human and died a sacrificial death as our representative substitute. By His resurrection, God's acceptance of His atoning death was demonstrated. This atonement is sufficient for the whole world, but effective only in those who received it. The sinner is justified and reconciled to God, not through any personal merit, but solely on the basis of God's gracious gift of salvation in Jesus Christ received through faith.

The Work of the Holy Spirit in Salvation
The ministry of the Holy Spirit is necessary for the acceptance of God's provision of salvation. The Holy Spirit convinces sinners of their sinfulness, leads them to personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and so brings them to spiritual birth as God's children and to fellowship in Christ. Working within the life of believers the Holy Spirit makes real the presence of Christ, witnesses to their relationship with God, leads into all truth, bestows gifts for effective service and produces graces for holy living.

The Church
The Church is the body of people whom God has separated from the world through faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. All regenerate persons are members of the universal Church of God which takes local form wherever groups of believers unite for worship, fellowship and service in accordance with scriptural principles. All believers are called to a priestly ministry in the offering of spiritual sacrifices and sent into the world to be witnesses. God calls individuals to positions of oversight and leadership or to special ministries. The Church recognises such by ordaining pastors, commissioning missionaries, appointing deacons and other leaders, following New Testament practice.

The Baptism of Believers Only by Immersion
Baptism is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a public declaration of a person's faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. In accordance with New Testament Scripture it should be administered only by total immersion which symbolises the believer's identification with Christ in death, burial and resurrection, the remission of sins and the believer's dedication of himself to God to live and walk in newness of life.

The Communion
The Lord's Supper is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus Christ instituted by Him to be celebrated with the elements of bread and wine by believers in Christ until the end of the age. It commemorates and declares our thanks for the Lord's substitutionary death. The celebration of the ordinance expresses our fellowship with and in the Lord Jesus Christ as members of the Body of which He is the Head.

The Return of the Lord Jesus Christ
At the end of this age, according to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in His glory to the earth. The full consummation of the Kingdom of God awaits His return.

The Resurrection of the Dead
At the end of the age, there is to be a resurrection both of the righteous and the unrighteous. After death people's bodies return to dust, but their spirits return immediately to God - the righteous to be with Him and the unrighteous to be reserved for the judgment.

Rewards and Punishments in a Future State
God has appointed a day of final judgement for the world. At that time Jesus Christ will judge every person and each will receive reward or punishment according to their deeds. Those judged righteous, in their resurrected and glorified bodies, will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment.

What's going on?

2008-06-27T09:56:00.002+10:00

Not Set in Stone
This is what we worked out earlier in the year. It will give you an idea of what is coming up, but watch out. Things may change.

The church calendar.
July
SUN 6 APCAT Combined Service, No S-School
SUN 13 Baptist Church 10:30, No Sunday School
WED 16 Deacons Meeting, 8pm Huttons
SUN 20 Baptist Church 10:30, No Sunday School
SUN 27 Baptist Church 10:30, Sunday School 9:30
Members Meeting

August
SUN 3 Baptist Church 10:30, Sunday School 9:30
Guess Who's coming to Dinner
FRI 8-10 ?Farmers Camp?
SUN 10 Baptist Church 10:30, Sunday School 9:30
SUN 17 Baptist Church 10:30, Sunday School 9:30
WED 20 Deacons Meeting, 8pm Huttons
SAT 23 Blacktown Visit & BBQ
SUN 24 Church in the Bush, No Sunday School
SUN 31 Baptist Church 10:30, Sunday School 9:30

September
SUN 7 Baptist Church 10:30, Sunday School 9:30
Ariah Park Show
FRI 12 Women's Convention
SUN 14 Baptist Church 10:30, Sunday School 9:30
THUR 18-20 Revive (Baptist Assembly)
SUN 21 Baptist Church 10:30, Sunday School 9:30
SUN 28 Baptist Church 10:30, No Sunday School

October
FRI 3-5 Church Camp, Greenhills, Canberra.
WED 8 Deacons Meeting, 8pm Huttons
SUN 12 Baptist Church 10:30, No Sunday School
SUN 19 Baptist Church 10:30, Sunday School 9:30
Members Meeting
SAT 25 Riverina Youth Day
SUN 26 Baptist Church 10:30, Sunday School 9:30

November
SUN 2 Baptist Church 10:30, Sunday School 9:30
SUN 9 SS Presentation 10:30, Sunday School 9:30
SUN 16 Baptist Church 10:30, Sunday School 9:30
WED 19 Deacons Meeting, 8pm Huttons
SUN 23 Baptist Church 10:30, Sunday School 9:30
SUN 30 Baptist Church 10:30, Sunday School 9:30

December
SUN 7 Baptist Church 10:30, Sunday School 9:30
SUN 14 Sunday School Christmas Service
WED 17 Deacons Meeting, 8pm Huttons
SUN 21 Baptist Church 10:30, No Sunday School
Carols in the Park
THUR 25 Christmas Day (BC)
SUN 28 Baptist Church 10:30, No Sunday School

Ariah Park Baptist Church

What we're up to November 2011

What we're up to October 2011

Who are we?

Welcome Steve & Kaye Shooter

What we're up to September 2011

Grey Areas?

Another Kids Club Video

Kids Club Video

Some Sad News

Repentence is not...

Church Fashions

The Snack

Lets See How Far We Can Go With This

Style verses Substance

Christians and Climate Change

Family Tips

Jesus All About Life - The Ad

Message Balloons

Bullhorn Evangelism

Why Share Your Faith

Statistics: An Arrow in the Devil's Quiver?

Rise Youth Camp

Fireproof: The Movie

Yidda Church Pews

Building Plans and Timing

Kids Club Preparation

Carpet

Cost Estimates

Alteration Discussion

The Proposal Itself

Church Alteration Proposal

Sermons

Happiness

Is 'Waiting On The Lord' Biblical?

The Shack Review: Chapter 11

The Shack Review: Chapter 10

Dads n Lads, Abercrombie Caves February 2009

Sermons 2009

Wickedness

Riverina Christian Convention

Ten Tips #8: Good Parenting Isn't About the Kids

Ariah Park Christmas Pageant 2008

Sunday School Christmas Party December 7 2008

Why do Christians Worship on Sunday?

The Shack Review: Chapter 9

The Shack Review: Chapter 8

The Shack Review: Chapter 7

The Shack Review: Chapter 6

More Links

The Shack Review: Chapter 5

The Shack Review: Chapter 4

The Shack Review: Chapter 3

The Shack Review: Chapter 2

The Shack Review: Chapter 1

The Shack Review: Forward

Intro To The Shack Review

Sunday School Presentation

Ten Tips #3: Raising Adults

School Leavers Dinner

It's Not Only The Preacher's Job

Ten Tips For Christian Parents #2

Matthew Bowls a 7

Bowling With the JYG

Ten Tips for Christian Parents #1

Ten Tips for Christian Parents, Summary.

Riley James Foster (Dedication Sunday 19 October 2008)

Bike Ride (Church Camp 2008)

Amanda 'Rockstar' Bishop

A Fairy Tale

Some Antics from the Church Camp

Absent Fathers

Another Good Link

Every Eye

David and Jonathan (Church In The Bush 2008)

David Spares Sauls' Life (Church In The Bush 2008)

Samuel Hears God (Church In The Bush 2008)

David And Goliath (Church In The Bush 2008)

Sunday School Picnic Photos (3)

Sunday School Picnic Photos (2)