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More than Dreams

2007-07-23T11:59:00.000+10:00

A fantastic little DVD has landed on my desk this morning, and I've been absolutely blown away by it.

More than Dreams is a collection of stories from five people who converted from Islam to Christianity. These people were searching for answers and discovered the truth about our amazing God. Their journeys to faith are told through testimonies and dramatisations, with a sum-up at the end of each story and a challenge for the viewer to accept God into their lives. Each story is about 30-45 minutes long and narrated in the person's native language with English subtitles. The production values are top quality, and the acting is pretty good too. But most importantly the stories themselves are moving, heartfelt and potentially life-changing.

Samuel Green (the man behind the Engaging with Islam training course) has organised for AFES to distribute More Than Dreams. We've got a huge stack of these DVDs for sale and although this sounds like a dodgy sales pitch, you won't believe the price - only $3.00! Seriously, I would pay five times that and think it was a good deal, but Samuel has insisted we keep the price low so that many people will buy multiple copies and hand them out to Muslims they come into contact with. He even says, "I would love people to start giving them to Muslim taxi drivers" - and at $3.00 a pop, why not?!

Buy a copy (buy ten!) and watch it - once you see it, you will want to share it with everyone. For a taste of what's on the DVD, check out the trailer below. To order, download this order form.

For more information about More than Dreams, go to their website.

World Assembly - day 8

2007-07-19T11:12:00.000+10:00

Today is the final day of the conference. Not a lot of energy left for meeting more new people but a good opportunity to consolidate the conversations that have happened over the last week. We started the day at 6am as usual but did not make it to the prayer meeting at the other site as we were packing our bags for tomorrow's departure. We spend the whole day at the conference site and do not return until after the night meeting.

This morning's talk was in Spanish by Ziel Machado on Luke 24. I think I am a bit tired so did not get much out of it. We finished with our small group after this and spent time reflecting on what God has been saying to us at the World Assembly and then what action we will take as a result.

I think seeing the global relationships we have and how we can learn from each other is important. The network of Christians throughout the world is unique and our unity in Christ is not able to be replicated by any human organisation or effort. I think I need to help the students in Australia see that they are part of a big family of like-minded students around the world. We have a very local focus.

The regional meeting was probably the most meaningful meeting of today. Being part of the Pacific region is strange, as we don't really have a region that works together at the moment. It is comprised of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and PNG. Richard has offered to host the Regional Conference in Australia. We'll need to adapt our NTE considerably for that year to accommodate the needs and requirements of the other countries, so that they do not feel they have just been added to an Australian conference. Lots to think about.

We are having the final session tonight and the induction formally of Daniel Bourdanné as IFES General Secretary.

Howard Spencer

World Assembly - day 7 (no day 6!)

2007-07-19T10:55:00.000+10:00

Started the day with a fantastic talk by the French man, Jacques Buchhold. It was by far the best biblical exegesis we have had all conference. It was from Luke 10:1-24 and he had some amazing insights that I had never heard or noticed before. There was genuine excitement in our small group discussion as this has been the best Bible talk since we arrived. It is interesting having the biblical exposition as such a big deal in IFES, as so little of it has actually have happened in the conference time. Some of this has been disguised, as the Bible readings have been done creatively by actors each day. It is interesting but loses some of the impact that it is the Bible being read.

The staffworker from Hong Kong, who is in my small group, asked if she could have lunch with me to ask more about NTE. It was a really worthwhile time as she is responsible for training and was keen to hear what training we do. Of course, she has been invited to NTE and said she and some others from Hong Kong might come.

After lunch we had forums. The one I went to was Advancing Student Ministry through Short Term Mission. It was not what I expected, but still was helpful. It presented the idea that as students are moving around the world to study in different countries, either for one year or a full course, they should be looking at how they can strengthen or start student groups in countries that are weak. This worked in most of the post-communist countries where the present student groups were started by visiting students of short term teams visiting and finding Christians, or witnessing and leaving Christian students to form groups. I think we probably do need to think more deliberately and train those who are doing overseas study to see the purpose for studying overseas as being for the gospel. This as an opportunity not just for the experience or education, but as God's gift to them to take the gospel to a place where it might not exist or the student groups are weak and need encouragment or training in ministry.

For dinner I had an appointment with the South African General Secretary and one of his board members. Their movement is struggling, and churches are now doing student work on campuses and drawing the students. Our time sharing what AFES has done and how we work gave them new things to think about. The General Secretary had met Fritz from YMCA (who visited us in Australia recently) and they got on well; I encouraged them to sit down together and talk as there could be a good spirit of cooperation if they can work things out better. They too are keen to come to NTE and build up our relationships. I can't stop inviting people!

After dinner we had an official farewell for Lindsay Brown; it was a fitting tribute to a great man who has done so much for the spread of the gospel in the student world. There where speeches and gifts and Martin Lloyd Jones' daughter got up and gave a bit of history of the beginnings of IFES. Very interesting and funny. Stacey Woods' widow Yvonne was also there, 92 years old, and she had some memories of the beginning of the movement 60 years ago. Our connection with IFES is really important and Australians have always had quite an influence in its circles internationally. There is usually some comment about our pioneering nature; that's probably a polite way of saying something about the Australian manner!

After the evening session there was an enormous cake with flags from every country for the 60th anniversary. We were off on the first bus back to bed as usual. Too many conversations during the day to have more at night!

Howard Spencer

World Assembly - day 5

2007-07-19T09:56:00.000+10:00

It is amazing how each day you meet people you have never seen before from amazing countries you hardly knew existed. God's church is so diverse and exciting but we are so unified in Christ. Each day the new member movements are introduced from the platform. The way God has opened up those difficult countries is truly amazing and the way he has called workers to take the gospel to students there is unbelievable.

Today we had a testimony from an Albanian woman who went to Turkey. She found this difficult as the Turkish killed 1.5 million Albanians during the war and every Albanian is brought up to hate and despise the Turks. She helped set up an internet cafe in the Turkish capital and talked to the students who came there. One guy listened, read the Bible and believed, but did not become a Christian or he would have immediately failed his university degree. He went to America to study further and went to see this woman's parents. Fireworks were expected, as her mother hated the Turks with a vengeance. They met and talked and he apologised to her mother on behalf of the Turkish people for the genocide. The woman's mother was so shocked that she accepted the apology! What an amazing reconciliation the gospel brought to this man's life. He is now the first and only Christian Turkish national student worker in the whole country.

Today being Sunday, we all had communion together. It was particularly significant with people from so many nations, big and small, all meeting under the lordship of Christ, recognising his death for all and the unity and reconciliation that has been brought between God and our fellow people, many of whom would normally be enemies.

The afternoon and evening was six hours of workshopping the vision for IFES for the next four years. We were in the massive gym in small groups of six, comprising people from different regions. I was with people from America, UK, South Africa, Barbados, Singapore and Central Europe. We had a really great time meeting each other and working through the material as directed. This whole process was done with 600 delegates at once, directed by a brilliant Chinese consultant whose job is to help big corporations sort out what they are doing and what vision and focus they should have for the future. She was extremely well prepared with questions, tasks, DVD presentations, discussions, all done in English, French and Spanish in different sections of the room and comments allocated from all sections of the audience, via the translator.

Did I tell you the very clever way they do the translation? They gave us cheap little radios that you hang around your neck, like an iPod. Each language has a different frequency and you can tap into the frequency for the translation. Very simple and effective. The translators are very good and must be exhausted. It is like the UN. There are still a lot of other languages that are not translated and the poor Japanese are wiped out each day from concentrating so hard on the English. I guess it is the same for other minorities who are not strong on English. The Spanish speakers are very LOUD and they are so boisterous even on the bus as we drag our guts to bed! There are so many French speakers, many of whom have absolutely no English, including the many black people, either from Africa or the Caribbean, who make up at least one third of the conference. It is such a wonderful world.

Richard and I had dinner last night with the Mexicans who are really warm to us due to the Fletchers' work in Mexico city and the time I spent with David in Urbana. Every day the spin off from attending Urbana has massive advantages. The connections and contacts made there are reinforced and renewed here. Richard is finding the same from his time in Germany for the General Secretaries' consultation. The network of relationships is so incredibly important and although it is exhausting, we have to just keep going - it is so important.

Our connections in the IFES world are quite staggering considering what a small country we are, but the quality of those who have gone with CMS to work with IFES groups has created a larger presence. Compared to many groups we are blessed with a strong organisation and a model of student work that is effective when many are still using the model of travelling secretaries over a dozen campuses.

Talking with David and Blas Lopez (the new General Secretary for Mexico) was useful as they want to develop a closer relationship with Australia and are happy to have more student workers like the Fletchers. We have invited them to NTE (along with half of World Assembly!) to get to know us better.

Howard Spencer

World Assembly - day 4

2007-07-19T09:02:00.000+10:00

Last night we had a moving and powerful presentation by woman from Uganda on a response to HIV/AIDS. She was an extremely articulate speaker who spoke with great insight and emotion. At the end there was no applause just reverend silence. How do you respond to broken and destroyed lives of people who God made and loves? We need to have our hearts broken in order to empathise or even care for those suffering around us.

The talk this morning was really good about the importance, even essential role, of inductive small group Bible studies. It is great to see that groups are being encouraged to keep Bible study as central to the movement.

The days are very full. I was having trouble keeping awake as it is all so full on that you really do not get much of a break in the program. We make appointments with those we want to talk to over meals. It is like a dance card and most meals on most days are booked with someone. All very encouraging but exhausting, especially when English is not the first language.

In the afternoon each country set up an 'embassy' based on their region and had to present something of their work. We were with the Pacific Region (NZ, Fiji, PNG and Australia). The NZers (there are eight of them, including four students) gave their presentation first, then the Australians and then the Fijians in three different half hour blocks. All the visitors or delegates moved to a different presentation each half hour. The AFES wallplanners were a big hit; we had everyone folding them to give away and I stood in the corridor encouraging people to come to the South Pacific and having something to give away was a big drawcard.

In the night we had a talk from Becky Pippert, author of Out of the Salt Shaker. She was very entertaining with lots of funny stories to illustrate her point. She spoke well but was sticking closely to her notes and at one stage got so emotional she could not talk. When she recovered she said at least the translators got a break!

So it was another long day and night! Could not wait to get to bed. During the bus trip back to our college I sat next to a French man who turned out to be one of the keynote speakers. His name is Jacques Buchhold - he is the Professor of NT at the Theological College of Waus-sur-Seine in France and helps with the GBU in France. It was such an encouragement to talk to him (in English!) about the growth in enrolments at his theological college. They have 95 French students studying and the churches want more pastors. There has been a rapid growth in planting of evangelical churches in the last 50 years in France, but not enough pastors to lead them. He knows all our Australian friends and was such a humble and godly man. Such a privilige meeting these great men of God.

Howard Spencer

World Assembly - day 3

2007-07-18T11:51:00.000+10:00

Day 3
This is the third day of the conference and the pace is still constant. Slept until 5am this morning so our body clocks are getting better each day. The day starts with a prayer meeting at 7am so we need to leave our college after breakfast by 6.45am on the bus.

Today was an interesting prayer meeting. Besides the usual mix of languages and English accents and different prayers today we had a prophesy prayer. The previous IFES General Secretary was present and when we broke up into small groups to pray at the end he was in a group with a fellow from Turkey. Apparently, last World Assembly they had a word to pray specifically for a student ministry to happen in Turkey and here was the first and only staffworker for Turkey in our prayer time today. Praise God.

This prompted the previous General Secretary to tell everyone that God had put on his heart to pray for two other countries. He brought a 'prophetic' prayer for a student group in North Korea - the South Korean delegate was in my group and was blown away. The other area he wanted us to pray for was for a group to form in Saudi Arabia. This brought a gasp! He encouraged us to join in prayer immediately for these two countries.

People joined hands and started to pray. The Botswanan woman next to me grabbed my hand and it shot up to the sky and the praying started! Everyone was praying fervently in their own languages and it was a very powerful time. I prayed especially for Saudi Arabia and the devil copped a hiding this morning in both those place going on the volume and energy or the prayers! I left the room feeling like a vacuum had sucked the marrow out of my bones and a tension headache which took two cups of coffee to move. A very powerful time of intersession for the gospel in those countries. Another nice thing that happened was that one of the women in our small prayer group prayed in Swahili! It was like we were back in Tanzania, and a real treat as we could understand it all (as opposed to the Spanish and French prayers).

The members in my small group are from Atlanta, Detroit, Hong Kong, Canada, AUE, Trinidad, Malaysia, Lebanon. It’s reminded me that AFES is really blessed in terms of staff numbers and students involved compared to many other movements. Many are struggling with few staff. It seems that the travelling secretary model is still there which appears not to produce much growth.

They held a special lunch for the women today, with beautiful tablecloths, flowers, silver settings etc. The men were not invited and we ate as usual in the gym. It was remarkably quiet! Trish [Howard’s wife] said that they asked the spouses of staffworkers to stand up and made mention as to how important their role was and affirmed them. This was really positive and Trish said it was very helpful.

I had lunch with Mosley Noah, the General Secretary from PNG. Yes, they there really is one! He is really interested in coming to NTE as he is struggling to know how to train his students. They do a lot of evangelism and many are becoming Christians but they do not know how to teach them the Bible well and this is causing problems. This is the first time he has ever been out of PNG and he’s a bit shell-shocked. I often see him just standing alone and staring. We are continually commenting on how different it is in Canada, yet it is not that different to Australia - so it must be very overwhelming for him.

I also spoke to Emmanuel, the General Secretary of Ghana. He is quite young and travels around to four campuses. They have big issues with denominations competing for the students on campus and setting up their own groups, particularly the Pentecostals who are big and active. It is a source of tension as the students move between groups. The corruption of the country and the moral values of the Christian students are other issues he asked for prayer.

We are heading off now to the night meeting. Tomorrow is Canada day where host families and others will come and we have a South Pacific display to set up and AFES wallplanners to give away. Will send this now as I know we will be exhausted again tonight. It is really draining meeting, talking and praying with so many people.

Howard Spencer

World Assembly - day 2

2007-07-17T11:49:00.000+10:00

Day 2
We had a talk by Ziel Machado from Brazil. It was very different for us as it was all in Spanish and the English speakers needed the translation service, so today the English speakers had to do what all the other languages have to do every day. It was an interesting experience to be in their shoes.

In the evening we had Antoine Rutayisire, the General Secretary from Rwanda. He spoke of reconciliation mixed with stories of the genocide and the anger, pain and hatred that has caused and how only the cross of Christ is able to bring healing and true reconciliation. As you would expect he had some amazing stories but all point to the power of God through the cross of Christ. I found it very challenging and glorifying to God.

It was also good to hear an African preach again. I had forgotten how cultural preaching is and how much our preaching style in Australia reflects our theological and cultural way of expressing the gospel. There are so many people here that are so different to Australia, but the unity in Christ predominates despite the sometimes vast differences in worldview and expressions.

Howard Spencer

World Assembly

2007-07-16T11:24:00.000+10:00

A team of intrepid travellers from AFES has journeyed to Canada for the IFES World Assembly, a major event held every four years involving representatives from all the IFES groups around the world. They're pictured left, doing a little bit of sight-seeing at Niagara Falls before the World Assembly started - from left to right that's Trish Spencer, Howard Spencer, Tim Thorburn, Richard Chin, Chris Rowe and Tracey Gowing.

Howard has been keeping us up to date with some very encouraging reports, so I thought I'd share them with you over the next couple of days. Please keep the team and the World Assembly in your prayers. It continues this week and wraps up on July 19.

Day 1
There are so many heavy names here. Samuel Escobar, Lindsay Brown, the General Secretaries from movements all around the world, a video message from John Stott and many others. I think there are about 700 here but some are still trying to get visas to enter Canada. An Australian passport is such a major advantage that we just so easily take for granted.

The opening session had a brilliant DVD which showed all the countries by name as they joined IFES with the year accompanied to music. AFES came up first with our logo large and bold. It was a bit of a shock to be first! Then as the years went by more and more countries joined. It was very humbling to see how God has been working among the nations with the gospel taking root in each country to the ends of the earth. When it got to 2007 and the names of those affiliating this year there was spontaneous applause. Very moving and brought tears of thankfulness to God for his great mission in our world.

We had the usual welcome speeches and Lindsay Brown (outgoing General Secretary) gave a short Bible exposition. We closed by singing How Great Thou Art in English, then French then Spanish and finally finished with everyone singing the chorus in their own language at the same time. It was very moving to be all singing to our great God in all the tongues of the earth. What a mighty God we serve!

Howard Spencer

Book review: A Mind for God

2007-07-12T13:35:00.000+10:00

A Mind for God
by James Emery White IVP Books: Downers Grove, Illinois 2006

Every so often someone writes a book about how Christians are to think Christianly. In the past we have seen the likes of Harry Blamires’s The Christian Mind (London: SPCK. 1963) or James Sire’s Habits of the Mind (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP. 2000). One of the latest is James Emery White’s book, A Mind For God.

White’s book is not quite like the others in that he is not seeking to outline what a Christian mind should look like. It is more of a motivational book to help to improve your Christian mind, to inspire you to read and meditate.

There are two great things about this book. Firstly, it is short and easy to read which means you are likely to read more. The other great thing is the lists of books at the back. As Ecclesiastes says, “Of making many books there is no end” (12:12). But not all the books out there are worthwhile, not to mention the variable quality of websites being published. The lists of books in A Mind For God help the discerning reader work out which books and websites are worth their time and helpful for developing the Christian mind. The book is worth it for these lists alone!

Peter Hughes

The a-word - taboo or not taboo?

2007-07-05T12:53:00.000+10:00

Go on, I dare you, say the a-word - Opinion - smh.com.au

I was quite perplexed while reading this recent opinion piece by Josephine Tovey in the Sydney Morning Herald. Tovey wants to know why the upcoming comedy Knocked Up, which deals with a woman falling pregnant after a one night stand, doesn't discuss abortion as an option. She says,

In reality, most women would at least consider an abortion.

Yet the female protagonist of the film, Alison (Katherine Heigl), doesn't even entertain the possibility of terminating the pregnancy, and the a-word doesn't make it into the script.

I haven't seen the film, and from the little publicity I have seen it doesn't look like my kinda movie, but still - why should it be an automatic assumption that the woman would want to terminate her pregnancy? True, the conception has occurred under less than ideal circumstances. In fact, the whole premise of the movie says some really sad things about how our world views sex, relationships and conception - so far away from what our amazing God intended.

But is it true that all women, "in reality", would consider an abortion under these circumstances? Or would it just be all women with Tovey's worldview?

who's really countering the culture?

2007-06-27T11:19:00.001+10:00

I was away in Katoomba last week on a writing retreat. Katoomba is a great little mountain town about 90 minutes out of Sydney, and lots of 'alternative' and creative types live in the area. Last Saturday, they held the Winter Magic Festival in the main street, featuring music, market stalls and a big parade of local groups. It was loud, fun and vibrant and a great thing to be a part of on a sunny winter Saturday.

But as the long parade surged up the street, it dawned on us that there was no obvious display of Christian participation - well not that my mum and I could see. Amongst the revellers there were big banners with suns painted on them for the winter solstice; a local school group dancing around a big dragon they had made; a belly-dancing group; the Pagan Association; and a long segment of Chinese Falun Dafa protestors/demonstrators... but no church groups, even though the parade passed by three big churches on the main street.

Yet they were there. St Hilda's Anglican was running a great art exhibition out the front of the church, face painting by the youth leaders, music performances in the church itself, and were offering free tea and coffee as well as a chat to passers-by. I wonder how many of the visitors to the Festival actually noticed the church was there at all amidst the witches and fairies and drummers in the street outside.

How do you stand out in a situation like that? How hard is it to stand up in a context where so many have deliberately turned from Christ and where you have a very real chance of being ridiculed or persecuted? Not unlike evangelising on our uni campuses, I think.

I went to church at St Hilda's the day after the festival and the parishioners were excited about the estimated hundreds of people they had spoken to. They prayed that those people would be moved to think about their relationships with Christ. I'm sure most of the alt-types and avowed pagans outside thought they were the ones going against the mainstream, but to me, it was obvious who was really being counter-cultural in that context.

I pray that God would always give us the courage to be counter-cultural, to show hospitality and Christ's love to everyone, no matter what subculture they come from.

change is afoot!

2007-06-27T11:01:00.000+10:00

Sorry about the intermittent blogging over the last few weeks. We've been busy at staff conference, but also in working on our new and improved AFES main website! I'm really looking forward to it going live in the next couple of weeks, and hopefully it will help people keep connected with the work of AFES around Australia.

More soon...

Fellow workers

2007-06-13T14:08:00.000+10:00

Just a quick post this week (and a little late - sorry!) - please pray for the AFES staff. This week all the senior staff have gathered together at Stanwell Tops (between Sydney and Wollongong) for the Senior Staff Conference. This is a time when they will sit under God's word, catch up with one another, hear seminars on things that will affect their work (like codes of conduct), and recharge. The senior staff will head back to their homes and families on Friday. Then on the weekend the ministry apprentices will take over the campsite and have a great weekend of ministry training.

While mid-year breaks are important for students, they are no less important for the staff! Pray that they would indeed be refreshed and challenged by God's word during this time away, and that they would be able to return to their campuses with renewed inspiration, encouragement and vigour to continue in this work God has set aside for them to do.

Film Review: Amazing Grace

2007-06-04T16:33:00.000+10:00

Amazing Grace
Director: Michael Apted
Cast: Ioan Gruffudd, Romola Garai, Benedict Cumberbatch, Albert Finney, Michael Gambon, Rufus Sewell, Youssou N’Dour, Ciaran Hinds, Nicholas Farrell, Stephen Campbell Moore, Nicholas Day
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 118 minutes
Censor's rating: TBA
Release Date: 26 July 2007

In the era of the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, the Madness of King George, and with most of the population permanently drunk on cheap gin, William Wilberforce, a 21 year old student at Cambridge University, got himself elected to the British Parliament. Unlike most student politicians, Wilberforce went on to have a remarkable career.

Amazing Grace, from director Michael Apted, is a new film that follows Wilberforce’s struggle to pass legislation through Parliament that would forever abolish the trade in African slaves.
It’s a great story, but it's worth me filling you in on some of the historical events before you get dazzled by the silver screen.

On the 12 May 1789 Wilberforce stood to make his first major speech on the subject of Abolition in the House of Commons. The speech drew heavily on work done by one Thomas Clarkson who had gathered evidence of the appalling conditions in which slaves were carried through the Middle Passage - the journey from Africa to the West Indies.

Clarkson, Wilberforce, and others of the Abolitionist movement ran one of the first great grass-roots political campaigns. Clarkson travelled with his evidence and stories, holding public meeting to gather support. Pamphlets were printed and even little supporters' buttons were made. The result was that the punters were all for it, but the King, who controlled the Parliament, was strongly against. The King and his supporters argued that abolition of the slave trade would lead to economic ruin.

In April 1791, Wilberforce introduced the first Parliamentary Bill to abolish the slave trade, which was easily defeated by 163 votes to 88. This began one of the most determined and protracted Parliamentary battles ever seen. In every subsequent session of Parliament from that year through to 1807, Wilberforce introduced his motion to abolish the slave trade. They’d knock him down and he’d get right back up again.

Things might have been considerably smoother if there hadn’t been a raging war with France. For most people (other than Africans rotting in stinking ships) the abolition of slavery wasn’t top of the shopping list. However, the mood began to change during the first years of the 19th Century.

The Abolitionists got smarter as well, in 1806 they introduced a Bill that legally allowed British privateers (pirates) to hijack any ships involved in the slave trade who were flying an American flag. The legislation was couched in terms that suggested its intent was to cripple the French Colonies in the Americas, and do the nasty and newly independent Americans a bit of harm as well. The plan was dreamed up by maritime lawyer James Stephen who knew full well that the vast majority of British slave ships were flying the American flag once they left British waters in order to avoid trouble with the French and Americans at the other end.

The Abolitionists organised the bill to be presented by an MP who was not associated with their cause, and to do it at a time when the majority of MPs were out of the House. The Foreign Slave Trade Act sailed through on smooth waters. And by doing so, they had managed to effectively prohibite two-thirds of the British slave trade, being “… cunning as serpents, innocent as doves.”

From that point on the tide was with the Abolitionist Movement. The following year (1807), knowing that the King had withdrawn his opposition, the Bill was reintroduced into the House of Commons and was carried by 283 votes to 16. The whole House rose to their feet to applaud Wilberforce. And William, who had carried on the fight for 20 years, sat there and wept.
The King signed the Bill into law on the 25 March, 1807.

That’s the story, what about the film?

To be honest, Amazing Grace would be a fantastic two part Sunday night feature on the ABC. It feels more like something churned out by the BBC period-piece Dickens/Austen mill, than a big screen affair.

The film opens with a fairly shameless ploy: Wilberforce’s carriage pulls up beside two (appropriately ugly) men who are beating a horse to death. Although Wilberforce is clearly ill, he is unable to turn away from the suffering of the horse and intervenes to stop the men…we get the point. Wilberforce is the champion of the oppressed.

And so you are introduced to the greatest flaw in the film; it has a real penchant for cheese. I suppose it’s understandable - when you’re telling the story of a truly heroic person it’s easy to touch it up with a golden dinner plate behind the head and plenty of mozzarella. But the fact is, really great people just seem greater when you tell their story warts and all.

It’s definitely not all bad; the power of Wilberforce’s story overwhelms the defects in the storytelling. And there are some genuinely poignant moments: when Wilberforce boards a slave ship for the first time and is overcome by the smell; or when John Newton breaks down and confesses that he still hears the voices of the twenty thousand slaves he transported to the West Indies. Of course, it's hard not to give a little cheer at the end when the House of Commons gives Wilberforce a standing ovation as the Bill to Abolish the Slave Trade finally passes into law (there may or may not have been a piece of dirt in my eye at that point).

Another great positive is that the film doesn’t paper over Wilberforce’s Christian hope or minimise this as the central motivation for his determination to end the slave trade. This means that the best reason to see this film is this: to go away afterwards and have a good think about how, when the gospel transforms individual minds, it also begins to transform societies. Wilberforce was not a limp-wristed 'social gospel' hippy, he was not even one of those who argue that we can best commend the gospel through acts of service. No, Wilberforce was a gospel-through-and-through-man. God’s word was at the centre of his life. As his mind was transformed by the words of God, his behaviour in the world was transformed to match. And that meant not sitting around while Africans rotted and died in stinking ships. Wilberforce simply didn’t know how to live with the comfortable gap between belief and action.

So for all its flaws, go see Amazing Grace, and pray that God would give us more people like William Wilberforce.

Dan Anderson

E-vangelism?

2007-05-21T06:44:00.000+10:00

Last week a friend emailed this visual representation of online communities he found on XKCD – a map with the geographic areas representing size of community membership. It sucked me in just as a graphic tool. But it also raised a few questions:

- Can anyone have genuine “community” online?
- If so, where is the Christian mission to these e-nations? Are Christians reaching the unchurched through You Tube, Wikipedia, Second Life etc?
- Who are the e-vangelists reaching students for Christ?
- How can we better harness Christian geek on campuses for the sake of the gospel?

Love your thoughts.

How many hands do you have?

2007-05-14T09:50:00.000+10:00

I’ve been recently working through the talks from the 2006 Desiring God National Conference, on the theme: Above All Earthly Powers: The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World. And I’ve just hit Mark Driscoll’s talk on “The Supremacy of Christ and the Church in a Postmodern World”. He makes the simple point that our view of Jesus (= Christology) shapes the way we think about mission (= missiology).

Reformed evangelicals (he puts himself in this "team") tend to over-emphasise the divinity of Jesus and his exaltation. This is reflected in our focus on contending for timeless truth (eg. Jude 3), rather than contextualising the gospel through timely ministry (eg. 1 Cor 9:19-23). In other words, we are so consumed by sniffing out heresy (like rabid dogs!), that we forget to be all things to all people in order to actually win some for Jesus. We have a "glorious gospel, but it is hidden under a big bushel"!

Liberal / emergent Christians, on the other hand, tend to over-emphasise the humanity of Jesus and his incarnation. So when it comes to mission they focus on contextualising the gospel, without ever contending for the gospel. They are so keen to reach out to their culture that they become indistinguishable from that culture. And they end up selling out the gospel and creating a new type of Christian: ie. a non-Christian.

Admittedly, Mark caricatures both sides, but his basic point is sound. Just like Jesus and Paul (and Calvin), we need to both contend and contextualise.

We need two hands:

1 - One closed hand holding onto the eternal truths of the Bible and fighting for them (for the exaltation of Jesus and his glory)
2 – One open hand that seeks to appropriately communicate that gospel to people where they are at (like Jesus in his incarnation becoming one of us)

Mark Driscoll is often funny, sometimes controversial, but always passionate for people to hear the gospel of Jesus. Worth a listen.

Film Review: Sunshine

2007-05-07T13:30:00.000+10:00

Starring: Rose Byrne, Chris Curtis, Chris Evans, Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Rated: M (for some swearing + violence)
Released: May 2007

Science fiction: the best of genres, the worst of genres. Sunshine could’ve gone either way. Thankfully, the proverbial coin landed on the Alien(s) side, rather than the Armageddon side. Indeed, director Danny Boyle has created one of the better sci-fi films of recent years: a tense, character-driven thriller detailing the mission of the Icharus-II to kickstart a dying sun. The acting (especially from Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Michelle Yeoh) is solid, the design flawless and the cinematography breathtaking. Nevertheless, the major weakness of the film is its script. It can’t decide whether to be an examination of the internal conflict between crew-members (which could’ve been great), or a showdown between the crew and some external menace (which could’ve been great). So the gears crunch as the plot-lines switch, ending in a half-baked conclusion.

Nevertheless, it left me with a couple of things to reflect on. The first was the nature of substitutionary sacrifice (which is a still massive theme in our so called ‘post-Christian’ culture). As the crew slowly die in order to reignite the sun and preserve the future of humanity, it’s hard to not think about Jesus, who went to the cross, not as a victim, but as a God/man on mission: the one who didn’t save himself, in order to save the world.

The second reflection was on the power of the sun and our reliance on it. In the opening scene as Chris Curtis’ character gazes on the sun through a filtered window, the computer reminds him that at 56 million miles away, he can only look at the sun at 3.1% strength for 30 seconds, otherwise his retinas will be permanently burnt out. This sun, so overwhelming to us, is just a dot on the divine radar. How much greater is Jesus (the Son), the creator of our whole universe, than this tiny star (the sun). And how incredible is it that this Jesus came as the light into the darkness of our world, that we could gaze upon God for all eternity, rather than dying in an instant for our sin.

“God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” – 2 Cor 4:6.

April roundup

2007-04-30T11:05:00.000+10:00

On the last Monday of every month, we're going to feature bits and pieces from the netiverse that we think are worth checking out. Here are some things that have popped up for me lately:

Clearing the air - Christians on climate change (source: sydneyanglicans.net) - how should Christians view the environment?
Matthias Media 2007 Resource Guide - newly released and packed full of Matthias Media's excellent resources
Desiring God - God-centered resources from the ministry of John Piper (there is so much gold on this site, especially in the Resource Library...you could spend weeks just listening to it all. Might be good for dipping into from time to time...)

And for a bit of Monday music, check out this clip of Live in Me from Garage Hymnal.

Film Review: Becoming Jane

2007-04-26T15:40:00.000+10:00

Starring: Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, James Cromwell, Julie Walters, Maggie Smith
Directed by Julian Jarrold
Rated PG
Released March 2007

Jane Austen is not to everyone’s taste; personally, I railed against studying her at school. But years later, when I read Pride and Prejudice of my own accord and not because I was forced to by a school curriculum, something clicked and I finally got it. Her writing crackles with subtle irony and incisive wit, has endeared her to countless girls and women (and even some men!), and her popularity has led to the BBC and Hollywood’s many adaptations of her well-loved books.

So it is in some ways inevitable that eventually the lens would turn to focus on Jane herself.

Continue reading...

conference fever

2007-04-23T15:59:00.000+10:00

My name is Rebecca, and I’m a conference addict.

There seems to be a never-ending stream of conferences and expos on every conceivable topic occurring throughout the year. Whether you’re into food, books, cars, boats, weddings or travel, there should be an expo or festival for you. If you want to learn more about technology, economics, medicine or a myriad other disciplines, there is likely to be a symposium or conference coming your way.

But my particular drug of choice, if you’ll excuse the phrase, is the Christian conference.

Christian conferences are times where you can totally immerse yourself in God’s word, wrestle with challenging teaching, and stretch your brain a bit. You make lasting friendships and get a taste of what it means to live in Christian community – the benefits of spending a weekend or a week completely surrounded by other Christians are not to be underestimated!

Christian conferences should also inspire and refresh us to do God’s work. We hear about how he wants us to live, about how other people around the world are living in the light of God’s amazing grace, and as a result we can’t help but respond. Spending a week realigning ourselves with God and his plans for our lives can bear marvellous fruit not only in our own lives, but in our campus fellowships and our church groups as well.

I’ve spent the day designing the brochure for National Training Event, our annual conference held in December (excuse the website it's in the middle of a redesign). I love NTE, and I don’t even experience it in the same way that students do (as I’m usually working behind the scenes). But no matter how stressed or tired I am, by the time I get to Canberra and walk into the main meeting with a thousand other people, singing praises to God and hearing some fantastic teaching, I am so grateful that I’ve been given the opportunity to be there.

The next Christian conferences in the uni year are the mid-year conferences, in July - most campuses run some kind of MYC during the mid-year break. For many, these are life-changing events; I keep hearing wonderful stories of people being converted during MYC, and am starting to regret that I never went on one when I was at uni.

So it’s admission time. Are you a conference junkie too?

A consuming fire

2007-04-16T13:33:00.000+10:00

"So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him.” But the people didn’t answer him a word."
1 Kings 18:20-21 HCSB

You know the story: Elijah challenges the prophets of the false God Baal to a contest. It’s a contest to prove which God really is the authority in Israel. Is it Baal or Yahweh?

The contestants face only one challenge - to light a fire under a pile of wood on which has been placed slain animal as an offering. Surely that's a pretty easy miracle for a healthy god. Not only that, it’s in the god’s own interest to do it. Burnt sacrifices are what gods are all about. To the pagan mind, the smoke from the burnt offering is the food off which the gods live.

Elijah lets the Baalites go first, they prance around and shout and call upon Baal to Act and light that fire….

Continue reading...

You are what you eat

2007-04-13T08:43:00.000+10:00

As we head into another weekend and the end of uni break for many of us, it's worth thinking about how we use our down time and what we put into our heads.

How do you like to chill out? I'm a big fan of the movie marathon, myself, hanging out with a bunch of friends, lots of yummy food and lots of fun DVDs. But when I actually think about it a bit more carefully, I realise my media consumption is a pretty haphazard affair, and I imagine most of you are the same...

We listen to the radio in the car or watch Video Hits on a Saturday morning and get caught up in an infectious beat long before we realise what the song is actually saying (oh that's happened to me so many times!). We watch our favourite show on TV every week without wondering too closely what kind of worldview it's holding up. We flick through the latest issue of a glossy mag without realising that we've been sucked into the cult of celebrity and gossip.

It might be a little confronting for some of us to analyse our media consumption habits, after all, we ingest so much without really thinking about it. Along this line, I thought it was worth sharing an excerpt from a recent Boundless article by Carolyn McCulley:

Have you ever walked into the kitchen with nothing on your mind except the project you're working on? You're not even hungry, but there on the counter is a luscious, sugary treat. One glance and your defenses crumble. Desire that was previously dormant is now in a five-alarm frenzy.

What we gaze upon affects our desires.

When I was younger, I had a housemate who never wanted to watch romantic comedies with me. Not just the R-rated flesh-fests, but even the classic British period pieces. She preferred science fiction or adventure movies. I was initially surprised by her preferences — after all, what's a girly evening at home without someone getting the guy?! But Susan had discerned that after watching romantic comedies, she felt a gray cloud of discontentment muffling her passion for God.

There was nothing wrong with these movies themselves, but Susan wisely gauged her heart and realized that this optional activity had a negative spiritual effect on her. So she stopped watching. Her peace before God was more important.

As a big media consumer, I know this is an area where I have to be really careful - and I'm not always successful! I'm certainly not saying that the only way to live is in a cone of silence, cut off from all external stimuli. I think the key here is to be intentional consumers, to be aware of the hidden agendas and hooks, to be aware of guarding our hearts and knowing what is helpful for our Christian growth and what is not.

Remember, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:23 "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive.

Controversial Claims...

2007-04-09T09:47:00.000+10:00

The Tomb of Jesus has been found. Shock, horror. Even more controversially, in it is found evidence that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a son – named Judah...

Taking it easy on the second day of the uni year, drinking coffee at home until 11, this wonderful farce of a news story graced the channel 10 and 7 news headlines in their morning news. The claims were 'controversial', 'shocking', 'supported by DNA evidence', and promoted by director James Cameron. To begin with, I must admit that I don't believe it for a second – the only thing that the archaeologists claim to have done is unearthed a tomb in Jerusalem that may be first century, contains ossuaries (bone-coffin thingies) with inscriptions indicating that they contain a family with the names Joseph, Maria (Mary), Judah and a name that could possibly be Jesus (Joshua), but it might be something else. Now, this in itself proves nothing. As has been pointed out by the historical community, these are common names, and it is unlikely that Jesus' family would have had a tomb in Jerusalem.

But what I found more interesting was the fact that they stated that the claim 'that Jesus was married and had a son' was more controversial than the simple fact that he was buried to begin with – Christians have always stated that Jesus is not dead.

In fact, as a Christian, I find the claim that Jesus was married a red herring. I see no reason to believe it – I just don't think the evidence leads me that way – but it hardly forms a crucial basis for my faith. On the other hand, the claim that Jesus died and rose again is really the basis of Christianity, to quote Paul in 1 Corinthians 15: “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. [...] And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”

For a Christian, it is Jesus' death that frees us from our guilt. It is Jesus' resurrection that shows us that his death was effective, and gives us confidence that God will raise us up when our last day comes. If Jesus is still just dead and buried, then trusting in him is pointless, as he was at best an ineffective moral leader, who died in tragic circumstances. If on the other hand he has defeated death, then it is reasonable to listen to him and do what he says.

Claiming to have found 'the tomb of Jesus' is obviously just a publicity stunt. But the controversy is not over whether he was married and had a son, but over whether he is in fact just another dead teacher or whether he is the risen Lord that we should follow. But then, I suppose one shouldn't expect accuracy from our wonderful media.

Sam Cohen - University of Adelaide

for more information and background on this topic, download this article by Andrew Cameron from the Social Issues Executive in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney.

Prayer and Easter

2007-04-04T08:59:00.000+10:00

In the lead up to Easter, I’ve been looking through the gospel accounts of Jesus praying at Gethsemane. I was struck by the incredible humility and devotion Jesus shows in this amazing prayer, and how he pours his entire body and soul into the act of crying out to God.

It is a mindbogglingly awful time; Jesus knows that he is about to be betrayed by someone close to him, he is about to undergo severe physical distress, and worst of all, he is about to be cut off from his Father, to be punished for the sins of the entire world. He knows how hard this is going to be. Mark’s gospel tells us Jesus is deeply distressed and troubled, overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death (Mk 14:32-33). His response to this agony is to bring it all to God in prayer.

This isn’t just a light prayer, or the kind of prayer where your mind wanders off halfway through (though I doubt Jesus’ prayers were ever like that!). Jesus prays with every fibre of his being, to the point where “his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground” (Lk 22:44).

At first he has the most human of responses to the situation – he prays that God would remove the impending punishment. I don’t imagine that this was an easy thing to pray for Jesus, who trusted his Father completely, even though we can sympathise with the gut response of
“Please don’t make me do it!” But even in the midst of that cry, Jesus acknowledges God’s sovereignty – “everything is possible for you.”

It is the last part of Jesus’ prayer that really shows us his divinity, his love for and obedience to the Father: “Yet not what I will, but what you will.” He trusts God completely, and knows that he must bear the cross to reach the joy set before him (Heb 12:2). It also shows us that he is perfect man; his response is the exact opposite of Adam’s response when obedience was called for.

Let’s give thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ this Easter, for willingly enduring that cross, for giving us a way to the Father, and for making it possible for us to throw ourselves at God’s feet in prayer about every need we have, whether small or great.

A Catalogue of New Testament Prayers

2007-03-22T09:15:00.000+11:00

Stuck for what to pray?

Dave Martin (senior staffworker at Deakin University, Geelong) has kindly put together a catalogue of New Testament prayers for this edition of webSALT:

1 - Prayers for the spread of the gospel
2 - Prayers for preaching the gospel
3 - Prayers for greater understanding of the gospel
4 - Prayers for perseverance in believing the gospel
5 - Prayers for protection against gospel enemies
6 - Prayers for holy living in response to the gospel
7 - Other petitions and requests

Click HERE to download a PDF version of the catalogue.

Thanks Dave!

"Pray in the Spirit on all occassions with all kinds of prayers and requests" - Ephesians 6:18

pushed to pray

2007-03-08T14:36:00.000+11:00

Sometimes it can be hard to remember to pray. Even when we chat to friends and say to them "I'll pray for you", how often does that thought evaporate almost immediately? Or when we read through someone's prayer letter and focus more on the 'letter' part, rather than putting their prayer points on our lips?

And yet at other times, prayer is our only recourse! Sometimes all we can do is cry to God and pray desperately for our situation to be changed, for an attitude to be altered, for justice or healing or solace.

As some of you know, I'm a big fan of (over)sharing my personal situation with the world at large - and I'm not about to change! I've been quite unwell over the last few weeks (actually, it's almost turning into months...), and yet I feel that God sent this particular issue of Salt to me at just the right time. You see, in editing all the articles and doing other reading on the topic of prayer, my mind has been constantly turned towards talking to God.

Despite all the unwellness (and the boredom and depression that accompany it), working on this issue has given me some great insights and a rejuvenation of my prayer life. It has made me realise how little I actually do pray, and has prompted me to do something about it. And I find the more I talk to God, the more I want to talk to him, about everything. I feel comforted and consoled, and I understand that although it makes no sense to me, even this little hurdle in my life is part of his purpose.

Most of all, I've been so incredibly humbled and felt so grateful that I can call the creator of the universe 'Father' and that he listens to me when I talk to him. I just think that's wonderful.

What prompts you to pray? And how do you feel about talking to God?

DVD review: Children of Men

2007-03-07T11:17:00.000+11:00

Starring: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Rated MA
Out now on DVD

Language: Lots of swearing
Sex: Some nudity
Violence: Oh yeah! And very realistic!

To read the review, click here.

Top 5 books on prayer

2007-03-07T09:42:00.000+11:00

Top 5 lists are always a bit contentious, but here's my (tentative) top 5 books on prayer:

1. “A Call to Spiritual Reformation: priorities from Paul and his prayers” – Don Carson (Baker Books, 1992)

2. “Prayer and the Voice of God: listening to God’s living word will transform the way you pray” – Phillip Jensen + Tony Payne (Matthias Media, 2006)

3. “Praying: finding our way through duty to delight” - J. I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom (IVP, 2006)

4. “Prayer and the Knowledge of God” – Graeme Goldsworthy (IVP, 2003)

5. “The Message of Prayer” – Tim Chester (IVP, 2003)

Don’t agree? Let us know what has helped YOU to pray.

We all suck at prayer

2007-03-01T07:17:00.000+11:00

All theological students are super-godly-prayer-warriors, right?!

Wrong.

To my great relief, the more I spoke to my fellow scholars about prayer, the more I realised I wasn't the only one who sucked at it. Even with their heads in the Bible for hours each day and in the midst of thinking profound theological thoughts, they too tanked miserably when it came to carving out time for prayer.

But why? During one lecture, I decided to find out: an impromtu survey of why these "super-Christians" found it hard to pray. Here's the top 5 reasons:

I'm too undisciplined
I'm too busy
I'm too lazy
I'm too tired
I'm too sinful

I suspect reasons #1 - #4 all relate to some degree to #5, but regardless of the various answers, its good to be reminded we're all in the same boat here. We all suck at prayer.

Nevertheless, before we launch into a tirade about how we need to pray more and suggesting "10 top techniques for a super wonderful prayer life", it would be good to work a little harder at the root cause of why we don't pray.

I'd love to hear from you. Any suggestions?

Why do you find it hard to pray?

Prayer Points: NTE 06

2007-03-01T07:15:00.000+11:00

Please thank God for:

• NTE and for the 1075 uni students, staff and guests from around Australia and the world, who were challenged to see the gospel of Jesus go out to those living in darkness.
• The superb training we received from the Bible talks, in the Strand groups and various workshops run throughout the conference.
• The missions that followed in the wake of NTE, from Melbourne, Victoria to Townsville, Queensland.

Please pray that:

• The truths taught at NTE would continue to shape the students who heard them for the glory of God.
• God would work powerfully through the many talks, testimonies, and conversations that took place throughout the missions to see many won for Christ.
• Such enthusiasm to preach the gospel would continue to infect the AFES campus work in 2007.
• The message of Jesus would continue to see His kingdom grow in universities throughout Australia and to the ends of the earth.

SALT Autumn 2007 - out now!

2007-03-01T07:12:00.000+11:00

We want to make SALT the best resource it can be, in order to help you survive and thrive as a Christian at uni. But we need your help to do that!

Please give us your feedback on this issue of SALT. Tell us what was helpful, what could've been improved (be gentle!), and what you'd like to see in future issues.

And please keep praying that God will use SALT to impact the lives of many, encouraging them to proclaim Jesus on campuses around Australia.