Holy Discontent - Bill Hybels - Book Review

Bill Hybels presents an easy to read book about holy discontentedness. Ever watched a video about human trafficking and felt anger inside, or visited a 'boring' church and felt like God stirred something of frustration within you?
In Holy Discontent Hybels argues well and simply that the one thing that wrecks you, the one thing that keeps you up at night, is most likely YOUR holy discontent. This one thing is most likely the issue that you will spend the rest of your life focused upon.

What are some of the possible holy discontents?
* Poverty
* Faithless churches
* Poorly managed businesses
* Human Trafficking
* Gender inequality
* Poor leadership
* Fairtrade Products - lack of ethical business practices
* Worship music in church that sends even the most extravert asleep!

Fuel the fire that ignites personal vision - Thanks Bill.

What's your holy discontent?

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Australian Catholic Priest Jailed for Sex Charges

Another Priest falls from public grace. An Australian Catholic Priest, has been sentenced to nearly 20 years jail for sexual abuse and sex attacks on 25 children. The abuse happened on boys in New South Wales between 1968 - 1986.

John Denham will serve a minimum of 13 years in jail. When you speak to the average Aussie about these kinds of things, you hear that 'There is no forgiveness' and 'This is why I hate organised religion,' 'We put our trust in these people'. I recall something of the words of Jesus about putting a millstone around someone's neck if they should ever let a young one be hurt or abused.

So what is the response from the Christian community? We cannot excuse the actions of this Catholic Priest. We cannot tiptoe around trying to protect the image of Christianity while all the more ignoring the covering up abuse and neglect. Conversely, to label all Priests/Ministers as pathetic, or dump ALL of religion down the gurgler because of the actions of this man, (and others) I believe is over the top. It does give you questions about hypocrisy in the Christian faith, sure. It raises questions about WHO Jesus was, and WHAT he would have done had he known about this situation.

In defence of the Christian faith (not in defence of this man), we may hear a story of a school teacher who has a sexual relationship with a student. The teacher is reprimanded with jail time, and the public are disgraced. The point I want to make is this: We do not then, up and leave the education system, and throw out education with the bath water and vow never to enter a school again. No. We are disgusted by the actions on this teacher, and we recognise there are many other teachers out there with integrity, passion and leadership, who make a great difference in the lives of young people.

Please feel free to comment - let out the frustrations! I tell you - I hate it. I hate how it wrecks young people's lives and how it damages families. I am annoyed by the image that is portrayed about who Jesus was and is, and how this one Catholic Priest breaks and steals away the reality of the nature of a loving and caring God who wants us all of his children to faithfully follow Jesus.

You'll find more at BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10485407.stm

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Should Australia vote for an Atheistic Prime Minister?

Should Australia vote for a Atheistic Prime Minister? This is the big question around the Christian community in Australia. Two sides of the argument exist:
1. Some would argue that we need to separate Church and State, and so whether a Prime Minister is a Christian, Buddhist, Humanist or Secularist is irrelevant, as they make policies that are not affected by personally held belief systems.
2. Others would argue that any Prime Minister or politician makes policy decisions that, deep down, are affected by the belief system of that politician. Therefore, a Christian is desirable within the political arena in Australia, because that leader would make policy decisions that would not contradict the foundational beliefs of Judeo-Christian religion.

Well, this is a blog, so I will give my personal opinion. You can of course, make your own constructive comments below. If I had the choice to vote between someone who holds to my belief system, and someone who doesn't then I would choose someone who does. If there is someone who I believe will make good policy decisions, that will not contradict my Christian beliefs then that is the person I would vote for. If the policy thrusted upon the Australian government, was Religious Freedom of Speech, or Abortion Laws, or Same-sex Marriages, or even Immigration policies and rights of International Students, then someone who upholds the values of the Kingdom of God I would prefer.

Now, does this mean, this is necessarily Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott? Well, that's up for debate. I don't know where he sits with many policies, because he just spends his time 'bagging out' the Australian Labor Party. Would he uphold Christian values and ideals?

So what about the Australian Labor Party. I will say it bluntly. I am not keen on voting for Julia Gillard who is a professed Atheist. This relates obviously to believing in point 2 mentioned earlier. If you profess to hold to point 1, then you have a wider choice.

So in the next Federal Election, should Australia vote for a Atheistic Prime Minister?

Some links worth reading:
* http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia/stories/201007/s2941974.htm
* http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/julia-gillard-risks-christian-vote-with-doubts-on-god/story-e6frg6nf-1225885897505
* http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=22182



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