Bible reading stats show Christian neglect God’s word… here’s some keen readers to encourage you

THE STATS

• Less than 2 of every 10 Christians are engaging with the Word of God on a daily basis.
• 4% of 13-24 year olds read the Bible very frequently, 15-20% occasionally, and 70% never.
• Of those young people who attend church, more than half read the Bible only occasionally or never. 29%  of those who see religious faith as important in daily life never read the Bible.
• It is very likely that young people who read the Bible have friends or parents who also read the Bible.
Sources: Hughes, P. & Pickering, C. (2010). Bible Engagement among Young Australians: Patterns and Social Drivers. Unpublished research report initiated by Bible Society and other partners; GSI Report February 2011, NCLS 2006; and the Milk to Meat Bible Engagement Report

Welcoming refugees with a BBQ

Joshua Maule

Asylum seekers who are eventually granted protection visas often know little more about Australia than the controversies they've gleaned from the media. And let's face it, there is very little there to encourage them.

But a group of Christians and concerned advocates have been hosting "Welcome Parties" and donating musical instruments as a way of extending kindness to refugees and asylum seekers who arrive on our shores.

Government doubles your money if you give to Somalia appeals

The Federal Government has announced that it will match donations to aid agencies running appeals for the Horn of Africa. At a recent World Vision forum it was stated that 700,000 people face death in the next six months as the famine continues.

Church discipline case over - leaders cleared

John Sandeman

A long-running legal saga centred on a local church minister telling a middle-aged man that he was discomforting the church’s young women by hanging around with them, is over.

Management consultant Bruce Haddon was refused leave to appeal in a defamation case he brought against Dominic Steele, minister at Village Church Annandale, and Evan Batten TV news reporter, a member of the Parish Council.

Mates

KARL FAASE
ON BLOKES

The great Australian poet Henry Lawson once said, “The greatest pleasure I’ve ever known was when my eyes met the eyes of a mate across two foaming glasses of beer”.  Perhaps Lawson should have got out a bit more, but at least he recognised that mates and friendship are really important. They change our perspective and make life that little bit easier for us.

Meeting Muslims in Melbourne

Sophie Gyles
Hundreds of people have been attending Muslim-Christian dialogues during two months of concentrated outreach in Melbourne.
Bernie Power, from the Islamic Centre at the Melbourne School of Theology, and seasoned debater Sam Green, who works with AFES Tasmania, have been speaking alongside Islamic scholars at university campuses and churches.

Preachers turn around on Social Justice

John Sandeman

Preachers usually ask other people to repent. But two well-known Australian preachers publically announced their repentance at a World Vision forum last month.
“I used to preach that every dollar you give to the poor is a dollar less you can give for evangelism. So why would you do it?” John Dickson told the meeting at Kirkplace Church Sydney. “I really preached that. I had to repent.”
“I was preaching lies. There was nothing about the poor in my first four or five books.”

Social justice and a giant dunny

Philip Chan

The topic of poo is not usual dinner table conversation for Christians, and certainly taboo during a meeting with a politician. But for  two days this week – and to the horror of etiquette experts – that’s exactly what I have been discussing with the leaders of our country, along with 300 other Christians.

Marjorie’s hundred years of service.

Eternity was hoping that we could publish Marjorie Deasey's testimony to mark her 100th Birthday. God called her home just a little sooner. But her story records a great life of missionary service.

Saved by a smile

Karen Barnes

The mission field is as close as your neighbour. This is the testimony of how God used the smile of one woman to change another’s life.

DEBATE: Has Rob Bell cooled the fires of Hell?

Every couple of years, one book sets off a firestorm among Christians: this year it is a book about Hell appropriately enough. Rob Bell’s Love Wins has been a best seller off the back of protests by conservative Christians. John Piper, recently in Australia for Oxygen conference tweeted “farewell Rob Bell” drumming him out of evangelical Christianity

Who opens a Bible and hides it under an iPad?

COMMENT Joshua Maule

I've searched the Bible long and hard and still have not found a reason for Christians to look markedly different to others. Physically, I mean. While the church gives mixed signals on this issue - jangling with accessories in some parts and seeming trapped in 60s elsewhere - there's certainly nothing in God's word calling us to wear crosses, certain hair, or peculiar garb. If anything Jesus warns against those who "like to walk around in long robes".

But until recently there was one fail-proof way of knowing someone on the train or in the local cafe was a follower of Jesus. Their Bible.

And Man Created God

Dr David Wilson of Sophia Think Tank reflects on a new book on how man tries to remake God.

A school chaplain recently told me that Atheism is considered to be the ‘new cool’ amongst students she works with.  At the Book Launch of Robert Banks’ latest book ‘And Man Created God’ we learned that Atheism is not new and it’s not cool.

There were around 50 people gathered in the beauty of Collins St Baptist Church in Melbourne to help Ethos (the Evangelical Alliance Centre for Ethics and Society) launch this excellent piece of scholarly writing that looks seriously at how ideas about God have emerged and the conclusion that in fact many of our ‘God concepts’ are man-made.  As the blurb on the back cover notes ‘(his) conclusions are surprising for believers and non-believers alike: for whether or not you believe in God, your concept of God may need to be revised.’

Churches join with Unions in new Alliance

Church leaders rubbed shoulders with union leaders at the launch of a new movement for Social Justice this week. The Catholic church, the Uniting church and individual congregations such as Imagine Church (Hope St Baptist ) have joined to launch the “Sydney Alliance”.

On Channel 7 Sunday Night: Jesus of Kingaroy

Millions of Australians will meet a man who says he is Jesus on Channel 7 on Sunday Night. The reporter for the "Sunday Night" programme will be David Millikan who gives Eternity readers a heads up.