Your new neighbour moved in last week. Yesterday you had a ‘welcome chat’ over the fence; seems like a reasonable sort of family, not Christian but well-meaning all the same. The kids seemed polite, and the mum was really interested in the local scene; shops, parks, schools… You re-run a section of the conversation in… Continue reading Talking to your neighbour about school
Something I read this week: For you to experience God’s sufficiency in crisis, you must be learning to experience it each day. If you aren’t learning to depend on Him as your refuge, to draw on Him as your resource, and to defer to Him as your Ruler when things are going smoothly, you won’t… Continue reading Reformation 500!
One evening an old man told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two “wolves” inside us all. One is dark or evil, it is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other… Continue reading Battle between two wolves inside us all
Our Parliament in Canberra is discussing the bill to legalise same sex marriage, as well as a number of proposed amendments. Two good speeches which are worth listening to or reading: Mr. Andrew Hastie, MP of Canning, WA. Mr. Scott Morrison, MP for Cook, NSW and Treasurer.
Isn’t Facebook about keeping families, friends and acquaintances in touch with each other no matter where they are in the world? That may be what appears to be the goal, and many social networks would like us to believe that. However, there is a more sinister side to social networks and that involves using human… Continue reading The conflict between social networks and parents
The one article after the other is being published about the ‘mess’ federal politics is in here in Australia. Granted, there is quite a bit going on, with PM Turnbull forced into appointing a Royal Commission, the discontent about the whole way he is dealing with ‘religious protection’ amendments to the Same Sex Marriage bill,… Continue reading The decline and fall of political culture
The Chinese government recently signed off new regulations to tighten its iron grip over the country. Although the regulations are due to come into effect in February 2018, authorities in some provinces are already enforcing them. The government claims the new regulations are to stop religious extremism, unrest, disturbances and violence. However, it’s actually about… Continue reading Chinese churches likely to suffer more
Daily we are swamped with news or what passes as news. It’s a like continuous tropical deluge. There’s something to suit every taste. A weekend newspaper or a single news website can keep you occupied for hours. It is very easy to be a passive follower of the news, by letting it wash over you… Continue reading Which news is important?
For many years, we have been hearing stories from Pakistan of Christians being falsely accused based on blasphemy laws in Pakistan. If you had a business conflict with someone and he happened to be Christian, just accuse him of blasphemy and you were guaranteed of his demise. If you don’t like your Christian neighbour, or… Continue reading Pakistan: Misuse of the blasphemy law
Another article about democracy. For centuries already we consider democracy as the most desirable form of government. However, more and more we discover that also democracy doesn’t escape the problems which plague other forms of government. We see that those who are in power, whether they are democratically elected or not, almost always get corrupted… Continue reading Scientists vs. democracy
Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.… This is… Continue reading Democracy on its way out?
Rejoicing, recounting, remembering, reflecting! What an evening it was! The convention centre in Perth was packed with 2300 voices praising God in song and words! I don’t think I ever heard that many voices at once singing in unison from the psalms and hymns: Come thank the LORD, his goodness praising (Psalm 118), O LORD… Continue reading Celebrating 60 years of reformed education
There is hardly any government that does not borrow money to finance its desires. It is not done today, to increase taxes. In a democracy, increasing taxes almost certainly is political suicide. Instead of staying within its means, the government often decides to borrow money. Easy, of course. Keep everyone happy. The problem? The next… Continue reading Should the government guarantee higher taxes for your children in return for lower taxes for you?
Lots of stories go around on the internet, on Facebook and other social media, or are being forwarded by email, preferably to all the contacts in your address book. Those articles, which speak about dreadful things government authorities and other organisations are doing, whether it is in the USA or in our own country or… Continue reading Outraged all the time: why Christians can’t be
Reformed Perspective runs an interesting article written by Rob Slane, about a discovery by scientists at Princeton University. These scientists published findings which could forever change the way we think about biological sex. Until now, it had been assumed that the sex of a person was determined by how a person felt. But now researchers… Continue reading Princeton scientists announce discovery of “sex chromosome”
ARPA Australia reports some other marriage-related news: • The WA Education Minister, Sue Ellery, has backed the board of John Forrest Secondary College for writing a letter to tennis legend Margaret Court in which they told her she could no longer be a tennis mentor and role model for students because her views “concerning family… Continue reading Marriage under attack
With same-sex marriage set to be legalised, there is still no consensus on how religious freedom will be protected. Some conservative politicians (including Mathias Cormann and Peter Dutton) are pushing for religious freedoms to be protected in separate legislation and debated next year. A second group (including Matt Canavan, Scott Morrison, Eric Abetz and Andrew… Continue reading No consensus on protection of religious freedoms
As was predicted, the legalization of same-sex-marriage (which still has to happen) will not be the end of the crusade of the gay-movement against Christianity. Now they are going after the faith-based schools. Australians are not allowed to have different opinions than theirs, and what is the best way to change the opinions of future… Continue reading WA: Faith-based schools under threat
(Reported by ARPA Australia) Victoria will become Australia’s first state to legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide, with a bill passing the state’s upper house 22 votes to 18 after a marathon 28-hour sitting. From 2019, Victorians who are deemed to be terminally ill with a life expectancy of less than six months will be able… Continue reading Euthanasia in Victoria, not in NSW
The ABC (20 October 2017) reports that Victoria’s controversial voluntary euthanasia legislation was passed in the Lower House of Parliament 47 votes to 37. The Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill will now go to the Upper House. The ABC states: “In most cases — estimated to be about 150 a year — the lethal dose would… Continue reading Surprising Responses to Euthanasia Bill
