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Just launched a new blog, Praying For Revival (prayingforrevival.wordpress.com)
In this sermon, Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones says:
“I am calling your attention to these two verses, and to the second in particular in order that we may consider together the great subject of revival, and of the need, the urgent need, of a revival in the Church of God at the present time. For I am persuaded that this is a very urgent matter.â€
I share the Doctor’s conviction that the church needs reviving. We need Holy Spirit power. Church attendence is falling, congregations are stale, secularism is on the rise… as we enter this post-Christian millenium, we must stop relying on our plans and theories and instead, depend on – plead for – the Holy Spirit.
So join me over there – as a reader or contributor.
I love this: the Sydney Morning Herald links to Wikileaks.org in an article breaking the news that people who link to it could be fined $11,000 a day.
Good stuff.
Just $2,941 (USD).
Any takers?
(h/t Simone)
Disappointingly, this is only for people in the US.
1. Get Kindle for iPhone, free.
2. Get the Bible (English Standard Version) for Kindle, free.
All done.
Just watched an incredible show: Compass – Billy Graham Down Under (click to watch it)
Oh, that God would again do such a work in our country! That He would raise up preachers like Billy to declare God’s free gift of forgiveness!
Pray for revival!
This is the feature picture at the moment on SydneyAnglicans.net:
How many unchurched men in NSW, do you think, would be comfortable in that picture?
How many would come to church after seeing it?
Just a thought….
“Dear Jesus, I pray for my chicken who we sent to the farm because he turned into a rooster, that he would have a good time…” — One of my Sunday School boys
And:
“… then we played the best game of twister ever… because, like, we’re all gymnasts…” – My little sister (who does gymnastics at national level)
Interesting article in todays Herald by Prof. Tom Frame:
Early interpreters of Darwin’s work were plainly ill-equipped to deal with the ramifications of this potentially devastating message. Since religion based its claim for God’s existence squarely on the evidence of design in nature, denial was one of the few options available.
It took more than 30 years for theology to perceive that evolution might, in fact, disclose an even more creative God, and that Darwin had actually paved the way for more profound theological thought….
- (Or, how God created your brain)
Fascinating cover story in this week’s New Scientist: Natural Born Believers. Read the full article there, but here’s a taste:
It turns out that human beings have a natural inclination for religious belief, especially during hard times. … It seems that our minds are finely tuned to believe in gods. … Religious ideas are common to all cultures: like language and music, they seem to be part of what it is to be human. …
The origin of religious belief is something of a mystery, but in recent years scientists have started to make suggestions. One leading idea is that religion is an evolutionary adaptation … [but] the benefits of holding such unfounded beliefs are questionable, in terms of evolutionary fitness. A belief in life after death, for example, is hardly compatible with surviving in the here-and-now and propagating your genes. Moreover, if there are adaptive advantages of religion, they do not explain its origin, but simply how it spread.
An alternative being put forward by Atran and others is that religion emerges as a natural by-product of the way the human mind works. … [1] Our brains have separate cognitive systems for dealing with living things – things with minds… – and inanimate objects. … [2] an overdeveloped sense of cause and effect which primes us to see purpose and design everywhere, even where there is none.
It’s a nice attempt….
Here’s mine:
- our minds are finely tuned to believe in God because He exists, and “has put eternity into man’s heart” (Ecc. 3:11),
- religous belief is common to all cultures because God exists and “his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made” (Rom 1:20)
- we see purpose and design everywhere, because everything we see is purposed and designed by “God who fulfills his purpose for me” (Psalm 57:2)
Though, I agree: “All the researchers involved stress that none of this says anything about the existence or otherwise of gods: as Barratt points out, whether or not a belief is true is independent of why people believe it.”
Interesting, though, isn’t it… that “children tend to spontaneously invent the concept of god without adult intervention”…
“Mars Hill counts four of the city’s top tattoo artists among its members … While other churches left people like Conklin feeling alienated, Mars Hill has made them its missionaries.”
How good is that! (It’s a good article, in the New York Times)
Merry Christmas from Tokyo! Christmas feels lacking without 40-degree days, the smell of bushfires in the air, the beach on boxing-day to try out new presents, sausages, carols on TV, hundreds of prawns and still more relatives. All the same, it’s good to be with family, and Tokyo Baptist Church sure knows how to party.
My gift to you: 5 remarkable links from all 5 corners of the interweb:
“As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God” - a remarkable article! Will be re-reading it again and again.
“Don’t Waste Your Sexuality” – a radically different way of thinking about sexuality. It makes sense to me – we say “I can do what I want, it’s my sexuality”, but in no other area of life does that attitude bring happiness. We are happiest in relationship; and, in relationship, happiest when each serves the other. Like the rest of life, our sexuality is not all about me.
Craig reviews NiteEV Live, with great insight from his experience as a muso
Dave offers his own review, plus a bunch of sweet pics taken on the night.
Finally, Penn (an atheist commedian, of Penn & Teller fame) talks about recieving a Bible. To my non-Christian friends – this is why I have a one-track mind. To my Christian friends – why is this the sternest, most urgent exhortation to evangelism I have ever heard?
How much do you have to hate someone to not tell them about eternal life?