One of the reasons Churches exist is to connect with the communities in which they are situated. Over the past few months, we at Merrylands Baptist Church, have been working hard on an idea that will seek to better connect us with the community of Holroyd, and seek to serve the 9,5000 Youth that are in our area.
For many youth, Friday night is a night where all that seems to be available is partying, roaming the streets in search of something to do, or staying at home. What we are in the process of planning, is giving the youth something to do – something that is safe, fun, and productive, that will help to connect them to more people in the community, help foster their creativity, as well as to provide support for the challenges that life bring.
Starting at the beginning of next year (2011), we hope to open up a Drop-In centre that will seek to fill this need in the community. What we hope to be able to provide fun activities such as Playstations/Wii’s/Xboxes set up on a big screen/projector for multiplayer action, tabletennis and foosball tables, and various other fun activities that will appeal to the Youth in the community. Further, we hope to provide a free meal once a month, as well as bring someone in at times to teach activities such as R&B, Hip Hop, Art, Cooking etc, and finally have the youth within the community perform in their bands, so that the skills and creativity of all those involved will be fostered.
Whilst we are a Christian not-for-profit organisation, the idea behind this project is to be a community service that will welcome people of all nationalities and religious beliefs.
The more and more I think about, and plan for, this community project, the reality hits that we need support in this great project. Support through the provision of finances and products is one of the greatest needs we have at the moment. To get a project like this off the ground, we need money to make it happen, and we need products like game consoles and the other items mentioned previously.
Please consider supporting this project. If you are part of an organisation that has money or products available to support community projects then please talk with those in your organisation who makes these sorts of decisions, or feel free to contact me at chris.hall@merrylandsbaptist.org.au
Together we can serve the youth in the community.
Disclaimer: The blog entries on this website represent the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views of this Church.
Well this morning the Socceroos did us proud and won against Serbia 2-1. Unfortunately Germany also won, ending our tour of the FIFA World Cup. However, this news will be much overlooked with our Government in chaos.
Last night work came out that Kevin Rudd’s position as Prime Minister was soon to be challenged, as support was gained for Julia Gillard. Well 9am today, Rudd, Gillard, and the caucus met to determine the fate of Rudd’s position, and the state of the Government. The result being, Rudd stepping down, and Gillard being sworn in as the first female Prime Minister in Australia.
I must admit, as I watch this unfold, I wonder how we got to this point. How do we get to the point where the Labor party will not support it’s own leader, and instead turn and stab him in the back. Now I am not saying whether I support Labor or Liberal – it isn’t about that. What this is about is the devastation we now see as politics has taken its turn for the worst.
So what can we do with this news? Well the Bible is quite clear when it comes to those in leadership over us – we must pray (see 1 Timothy 2:1-2). We must pray not only for the events that have transpired this morning, but also for the future of the government, that they will be able to bring us out of this chaos and lead us strongly into the future, that they will listen to God’s direction, and that more importantly they will be drawn closer to Him who never turns His back on us.
They say change is as good as a holiday. Well holidays can be pretty good, and only time will tell whether this is really in the best interest of Australia.
Disclaimer: The blog entries on this website represent the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views of this Church.
“Australia's broadband may be behind Japan's, and that, of course, 'needs to change' but so many countries are behind Australia in health care, democracy, safety, standards of living... Maybe we could change our policies on international aid and refugees rather than fix our ability to be able to check Facebook and download crap on YouTube really fast...”
Last night, logging on to Facebook, I was confronted with a status update from a friend, which helped put things in a bit of perspective (quoted above). I don’t know about you, but I remember the days of the dial-up modem; where downloads seemed to take forever. But we didn’t know anything different, so we just put up with it, and to be completely honest, it seemed to work fine at the time. Then came ADSL, and then ADSL2+, with speeds pushing up higher and higher, but it seemed the higher the speeds rose, the more complaints there were by many who couldn’t reach such high speeds.
For me, I am lucky that I have relatively quick Internet access – certainly much faster than it was 10 years ago. Yes I can complain that it is nowhere near that of countries such as Japan, and South Korea, but lets put things in perspective a bit.
When it comes to things that are more important, such as health care, safety, good standards of living, democracy, freedom of speech, education, access to welfare and government assistance, clean drinking water, and many other things we simply take for granted, Australia is certainly towering above many other countries in the world. People all over the world live in severe poverty, are forced to work for, and live on, less than $US2 a day, they drink polluted and disease filled water, and most children don’t even live to see their 5th birthday. For these people, the speed of the Internet is the least of their worries – their worries are trying to live through each and every minute of every day.
Back in 2000, all the countries a part of the United Nations signed an agreement to halve world poverty by 2015, through the Millennium Development Goals. This involves every country giving only a measly 0.7% of its Gross National Income (GNI). Whilst Australia signed this agreement, it has fallen far short of this, and in 2009-2010 Australia’s aid commitment stands at only 0.34%, with a commitment to increase that to 0.5% by 2015-16. Even if they reach the 0.5% target by 2015, this is still far short to the original commitment of 0.7%. For a wealthy country such as ours, this should easily be achievable, and many other countries are already giving 0.7% or more.
I wonder what would happen if we were to stop any plans of further improving our Internet access, and instead direct all that extra money into international aid. I can imagine that it would make the government very unpopular. Why? Because the reality is that many people are so selfish, or uninformed, that they would prefer over a billion people go without access to clean food and water, so that they can download more pirated movies quicker, or access Facebook and YouTube more instantaneously than they already can.
Let’s make our measuring sticks not about how fast my Internet connection is compared to yours, but instead about what we can do to help the rest of the world to continue living, and to see themselves come out of poverty. Then, once the problem of poverty is solved, maybe then we can start making such a big fuss about the speed of our Internet.
Each year more than 9 million children die before they reach their 5th birthday. These children die mostly from easily preventable causes such as diarrhea, malaria and pneumonia. Every minute in a low income country a woman dies in child birth, and 1 in 10 children die before age 5 – in Australia this figure is 1 in 167.
Julie Owens, M.P. (Parramatta) was a special guest at a “Survive Past 5” Birthday Party in May. This event was hosted by the Catalyst Group of Merrylands Baptist Church to raise awareness of the more than 9 million children who die each year before their 5th birthday.
Even though there was fun and laughter, at this event, the games and skits delivered sobering and sad facts.
Julie accepted 2 gift bags and agreed to deliver them personally to the Hon Stephen Smith, M.P., the Minister for Foreign Affairs. One bag contained a baby’s jumpsuit (pictured) with 67 tags attached – the jumpsuit represents a child under 5 and each tag represents a child who died in the last 4 minutes. The second bag contained 67 handmade birthday cards with a difference. These cards ask the Minister to allocate $1 in every 4 aid dollars to improving health care in developing countries by the 2011-2012 budget as Australia is still not contributing our fair share to the global effort needed to prevent child deaths and achieve the desired outcome of the Millenium Development Goals. These 8 goals were agreed to in 2000 by the developed nations of the world with the aim of halving global poverty by 2015. Goal 4 is to reduce child mortality (cut infant deaths by 2/3) and goal 5 aims to improve maternal health and thereby reduce by ¾ the proportion of women dying in child birth.
Together we can make a difference.
Disclaimer: The blog entries on this website represent the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views of this Church.
The name “Orangutan” means “man of the forest”, in the Malay language, and if you were to see these amazing animals, then you would understand why. These apes are said to have the same intelligence level as that of a 5 or 6 year old child.
However, there is a sad reality that we are coming to, and that is that these amazing animals are being killed, and we are all responsible. 85% of Palm Oil, which is an oil used extensively in much of the food we eat, comes from Malaysia and Indonesia, the home of the Orangutan, and it is estimated that Palm Oil is responsible for killing around 50 Orangutans each week (that’s 2,600 each year). How is Palm Oil responsible? In SE Asia alone, the equivalent of 300 football fields of forest are cut down and destroyed EVERY HOUR, in order to make way for Palm Oil plantations to be produced. Slowly these Orangutans are losing their homes, and if we don’t act now, we may lose this species altogether.
The difficult thing is that Palm Oil is not listed as an ingredient on any of our food products; it is simply labeled as Vegetable Oil. So the only sure way, at the moment, to avoid purchasing products with Palm Oil is to boycott all products that use Vegetable Oil (some of which don’t actually contain Palm Oil).
The good news is that some companies are seeing the importance in not using Palm Oil. KFC and Cadbury have both committed to removing Palm Oil from all of their products, and instead switching to another oil, which is much better for the environment and animals. However, more action needs to be taken. A Campaign is currently running to enforce the labeling of products that have Palm Oil, so that way the consumer has the choice whether to purchase that product, or not.
Whilst I find it hard to believe any normal human being would be ok with this level of deforestation, which will eventually result in the extinction of the Orangutans, I believe that we, as Christians, have an even greater need and desire to fight to stop this.
When God created the world, in Genesis 1, he deemed everything he created to be good. Following that humanity were issued the command to look after the world, and to care for it – a command that was issued again to Noah and the generations to come, after the Great Flood in Genesis 9.
So often I look around and I can see how poorly we have done in our task of looking after this world, but I want to say that it isn’t too late to make a difference, but it requires that we all take the responsibility of how we have neglected this world, and work to bring about change.
I encourage you to at least, watch the video below, sign the petition for the labeling of products with Palm Oil, and choose products that don’t contain Vegetable Oil. Lets put an end to the destruction of these rainforests, and the killing of the Orangutans.
As the days approach Christmas, more and more I am coming to realise that the meaning of Christmas is forever in danger of being pushed aside for other meanings we try and attach to it. As the shops stay open later, and are filled more than ever with people hungry to max out their credit cards, consumerism beings to take over from the meaning of Christmas. As there are fights over whether councils will display nativity scenes, more and more people are wanting to cut out the idea of a baby lying in a manger, altogether.
However, lately I have been confronted with the fact that it isn't only non-Christians that are pushing aside the real meaning of Christmas. Many Christians seem to be doing all they can to buy into the other 'ideas' of Christmas as much as non-Christians, and that is making me angry.
The other day I was listening to the radio station of Hope 103.2, and on came Michael W. Smith's song Christmas Day featuring Mandisa. Whilst I have several of Michael W. Smith's CD's, and have been quite impressed with his worship albums he has produced, I was shocked after hearing this Christmas song. What really shocked me was that part-way through the song a children's choir sing, "Make the cookies for old santa. Make a runway for his sleigh." What?? Why on earth does Santa even get mentioned in a Christmas song by a leading Christian Worship leader? Now I am not attacking parents who decide to tell their children about "Santa", but what I am doing is attacking this lie which has crept its way into the praises that we are meant to be lifting up to Christ - to the real meaning of Christmas.
However, the attack against the real meaning of Christmas doesn't end there. Even Hillsong Church continues this blatant lie in their Christmas Spectacular. For the advertisement of their Spectacular, it says this: "The Christmas Spectacular is always special. There will be live musical performances, dancing, special guests, and beautiful carols for all to sing, plus a visit from Santa!" In this description about the Christmas Spectacular, there is no mention of Christ, no mention of a baby in a manger, no mention of any nativity scene, and no mention that God has anything to do with Christmas. Instead, it mentions that there will be an appearance from Santa.
Sorry but I don't go to Church to see Santa. I don't go to Church to hear about a lie that we have all made up, and undoubtably know that it is a lie. I go to Church to hear about the God who came down here, as a baby, fixed His eyes upon the cross, and defeated death. Why? So that we might know Him and have a relationship with Him. Santa hasn't done anything for this world except caused us to take our eyes away from the real meaning of Christmas. Now I know that not all Christians are like this, and in fact I hope most Christians uphold the true meaning of Christmas, but whatever we do over Christmas lets be sure that we don't destroy the real meaning of CHRISTmas, and instead turn our eyes to the baby that is God.
Disclaimer: The blog entries on this website represent the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views of this Church.
With Christmas fast approaching, we are all busy running around making plans, and giving our Credit Cards a good workout with all the presents we are buying. However, year after year, presents are purchased which are continuing our selfish, consumer-driven lives. I heard recently that around $1billion is spent each year on presents that are either never used, or only used once.
This year, why not give a present that gives life? Whilst we are spoiling ourselves and others through the abundance of presents, why not instead turn to the majority of the world who cannot afford presents, or a special dinner - people who can barely afford enough food just to survive.
Organisations like Compassion and Tear offer present ideas that certainly will be thoroughly used and appreciated. For only $5 you can provide eyesore for someone in Bangladesh, or for only $11 you can provide an insecticide-treated net to protect children and their families from Malaria, which kills one million people each year.
Each of these gifts you buy, come with their own gift card, which you can then give to a friend or member of your family, to show them the gift you have bought for them.
What my wife and I do is we, instead of buying Christmas or Birthday cards, we often will buy cheaper Compassion or Tear gifts, and then use the cards that come with it as their Christmas or Birthday card - it ends up being a card that gives life.
So this Christmas, instead of contributing to the $1billion of unused presents, instead replace part of all of your present offerings, or even replace the Christmas Cards you were going to give, with something that will save the lives of millions of Children and families around the world.
The Great Commission presented to us in Matthew 28 is something that makes many of us cringe - it is a commission that calls us out of our comfort zone and gives us the responsibility for sharing the gospel to the ends of this earth.
Unfortunately, for many, sharing the gospel is a difficult task, as we have the fear of being rejected, of being persecuted, of not knowing how to respond to the questions and issues the other person raises and so on. That being said though, the Great Commission still exists, and God still asks us to be actively involved in His plans in the lives of those around us.
The real question, though, is "Is sharing the Gospel really that difficult?"
In the mail today I received the December edition of The Briefing - a monthly publication put out by Matthias Media. In this edition is an article titled, "What do you say when …? Taxicab conversations." The whole idea of this article is to provide four simple examples of how a conversation with a Taxi-driver can turn into a discussion about Christ. Now these example conversations, to me, all seem a bit corny, but they do highlight how easy it is to turn an ordinary conversation into one about Christ and our faith.
Opportunities to share our faith and talk about Christ come up all the time in our lives. They come up through the events that are happening around us (e.g. a discussion around events such as 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina can easily turn into a discussion about hope), through sharing what we did over the weekend (e.g. by saying we went to Church), through talking with someone during a hard time (and offering to pray for them), through living a life that is different from the rest of the world, and so on.
What this article showed, and what my own experience has shown, is that opportunities present themselves time and time again, but our difficulty is in identifying how we can use each opportunity, and to put our fears aside and simply trust God to use us and our words.
Coming back to the original question of "Is sharing the Gospel really that difficult?" my answer to that has to be both a yes and a no. Yes it can be difficult as our minds work overtime as to what 'could' happen if they are negative towards us, but no it isn't difficult in that opportunities are always presenting themselves.
So the question we, in fact, should be asking ourselves is, "Are we prepared to be bold in taking those opportunities?"
Comment below on opportunities you have seen where you shared the gospel...
Disclaimer: The blog entries on this website represent the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views of this Church.
For those that know me, you know that I don't have any children of my own, but did you know that my wife and I have an Indonesian Child? No, he doesn't stay with us. No, we have never spoken to him. And no, we haven't ever seen him in real life. Our child is a child we sponsor through Compassion (www.compassion.com.au).
Today in the mail I surprisingly received a letter from him. I say 'surprisingly' because it is the third letter we have received from him within the last month (usually we get a letter every 3 or so months).
When I read these letters that come, there are two things that really stand out. Firstly, whilst he lives in severe poverty, and in many ways we would say he, and his family, is disadvantaged, our sponsor child is still a boy with dreams and aspirations. No matter what situation he is in, he still dreams about what could be, and strives towards these things. We, in the wealthy western world are often a people who get discouraged, who lack perseverance, and who lack a sense of vision. We live in a country that provides us with so many opportunities, where we can choose where we want to live, who we want to be, the career we want to have etc, but we are never satisfied - we are never content with what we have. My sponsor child is teaching me what it means to be content.
Finally, whilst the stress upon my sponsor child's family would be high, not once does he have anything bad to say about his family. Instead, all he can do is praise and love his family, and be eager to spend more time with them. In the letter I received today, he mentioned how he was on school holidays, and how he wanted to go away, but unfortunately couldn't due to a lack of money. However, his excitement in this letter is then turned to the fact that he can spend more time playing with his siblings. We, in the western world, are seeing more and more families being torn apart. There are more and more people who don't want to spend quality time with their parents, their partners, their brothers and sisters, their children. In fact, the busier we get in life often means that we spend even less time with our families. Now don't get me wrong - I love my family and I see them regularly, but it is still a challenge for many, in our individualistic world. My sponsor child is teaching me what it means to be involved in a family - to be joyful in spending time with them.
When I think about it, the $44 a month that it costs to help this boy, and his family, get enough food, receive education, and know about Christ, is not a sacrifice for me at all. After all, my mobile phone bill (just for me) costs me more than that per month. The money leaves our bank account almost unnoticed. But what I do notice though, is that for $44 a month I have a connection to a child living in Indonesia, who has none of the luxury items I have, and whom lives in severe poverty, and what I receive out of it is a new outlook on life. I see what it is like to live in such a desperate situation, but to still find joy in life. I see what it is like to have no money, but instead to have a close, loving family where they celebrate spending time together. I see what it is like to have nothing - to have no material blessings - but to still be able to praise our amazing Lord and Saviour for all he has given us.
For those of you who don't sponsor a child, the question is "Will you commit to it?" There are many organisations that provide Child Sponsorship (Compassion, World Vision, ChildFund, Salvation Army etc). Will you make that commitment to change a child's life forever?
Comment below on how God has been challenging you in this, or on your Child Sponsorship stories.
Disclaimer: The blog entries on this website represent the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views of this Church.
Catalyst (Global Justice)The Catalyst Group, which is a recent ministry of MBC, is an advocacy program, where we seek to obey God's call for us to "do justice." The concept is simple - change occurs when we speak out... + Read More
Fun in King ParkJoin us most Friday nights before Youth Group, in King Park, Merrylands, to just hang out, kick a soccerball or footy around, throw a frisbee, or just have a great time getting to know other youth.... + Read More
