'Dear Westboro Baptist Church'

I was updating my video bar to reflect some of the footage taken of the National Day of mourning service when the YouTube link I've posted below poped up in the search. I wonder what you make of it. I'm kinda scared and a little bit freaked out by it, no wonder I saw no sign of Westboro Baptist Church at the service. This cute little animated puppet is one scarey dude. Have you seen Child's Play with little Chucky?

Seriously though, how helpful do you think this is? I link this post back to my post on foolish compassion. Sure we don't agree with the inhumane and outrageous views of a small minority that call themselves Christians yet hate everyone. There is something seriously wrong here and I mean some serious pshchological issues going on there with Fred Phelps and his followers.

It's interesting that I note within myself that I think I was more fired up about 'Pastor Danny's' comments from 'Catching the Fire Ministries' than I am by Fred Phelps. I just find it hard to take that guy even remotely seriously but he explains the bushfires in Australia quite simply saying, 'God hates Australia'. Of course he links it to the film Heath Ledger stars in when he played a homosexual character, saying that Australia is full of fags and we deserve it. I know I used to get angry too but I just can't take this guy seriously enough to get angry with him anymore.

Back to this video link however. What disturbs me is the assumption of attack by Australians and the condoning of violence against anyone who aligns with this thinking. We are Australian and we are better than that...I hope. Otherwise we may be just as bad as the people of the Westboro Baptist Church.

Remember the words of Jesus to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. These are the actions I would hope we as Australians would aspire to over violence and revenge. Let's have a conversation about what that kind of love and compassion look like rather than ways in which we can hurt people who enrage us with their views and opinions.

Check the video and if you really want to see what the Westboro Baptist Church are saying you don't have to look far to find out.

Foolish Compassion

As everyone is well aware by now, the man charged with arson over the Churchhill fire is probably the most disliked person in Victoria. Here is yet another example of poor journalism, the court has ordered his identity be protected yet the media in all their wisdom pretty much hand him to the public on a silver platter guiding them to sites like facebook and myspace where his picture and details are in full view.

Greg Barnes who is a human rights lawyer has criticized the media saying not only have they hurt his opportunity of getting a fair trial and possibly destroying the investigation all together but he has been horrified at how this tragedy has brought out the worst in Australians. He said with every tragedy you get to see the best and the worst in human nature. While the best has been seen, yes we are seeing the worst with the reaction to accused arsonists with hateful threats of violence and suggestions on how we should treat such people.

Well I have a suggestion, how about we treat such people with compassion? I don’t mean we ignore the actions or even that they shouldn’t face justice, but no amount of revenge or hate will reverse or the circumstances or satisfy hurt and anger. Revenge is not justice, it’s just another crime.

I suggest compassion because it was to choice of Jesus to act with compassion towards people. Sure Jesus got angry at circumstances but never did he seek revenge. He urged his followers to do outrageous things like love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. Jesus’ sermon on the mount is probably the most famous yet outrageous sermon recorded in his ministry. It’s a mission statement for his ministry and his suggested way of life. While a natural reaction to anger and feelings of injustice is to react and get even, the Jesus model is quite the opposite.

Christians are called to stand for far reaching love, outrageous grace and foolish compassion. It may not make sense but it is the only alternative to a world of people who still insist of solving problems with revenge attacks, violence and getting even. In all of human history these methods we insist on are yet to be fruitful and work. So as a Christian, a follower of Jesus I join the voice of many who have gone before me and ask that you tune in to the values of the kingdom of God try a method that takes patience and understanding.

True compassion comes from a changed heart, one moved with pity for a person who finds themselves in a tragic place, either by their own doing or through some other circumstance. Have compassion and let the justice system determine the punishment.

Shalom Mark

Responses to the bushfires

I came across a post on Mark Connor's blog which I thought I'd direct you to. Mark is the senior pastor of Citylife Church on Melbourne. Certianly a more diplomatic and insightful response to the comments made by Catching the Fire Ministries. I recomend a read and look at his related posts about how to respond. Thanks Mark

Shalom
Mark

God is not angry!

I was talking with a colleague yesterday and reflecting that I have been sitting on this post for a couple of days now because I wanted to be as diplomatic and concise as possible in responding to some of the actions and speeches in relation to the bushfire's in Victoria. I nearly titled my post 'STOP IT!' which about sums up my cry as thoughtless and insensitive people do and say stupid things in the wake of the greatest natural tragedy on Australian soil. So I'll do my best.

Having said that I am so comforted and encouraged by the thousands upon thousands of people making so many sacrifices to help, donate, sit with, talk to, comfort and encourage the victims of the fires. Being a former CFS member myself I am still astounded at the amount of volunteers who would give up so much of their time day and night, to put their lives on the line in the hope of saving others.

But back to the title of this blog. I was appalled to come across the article in The Age that reflected on Pastor Danny's words as he presumes to speak on behalf of God, "'My wrath is about to be released upon Australia, in particular Victoria, for approving the slaughter of the innocent children in the womb,now call on My people to repent and pray". Yes thoughtless and insensitive is my thought too. Pastor Danny from Catching the Fire Ministries, probably thinks he's doing a noble thing...I don't know, how do you get into the mind of a heartless comment like that. I went to the CFM website to see they have the full prophecy and response displayed on their front news page. I can't stomach it enough to actually post the link here. But they actually have the audacity to write in the first couple of paragraphs about the resources they're gathering to contribute to the relief effort, then they go on to explain that Victorians have brought this tragedy on themselves and that this is God's wrath, then they finish by saying, 'May God bless Australia with His rains of mercy.' So which is it Danny, is God condemning Australia or blessing Australia? GOD IS NOT ANGRY! I refrained from posting a comment on their site but I felt like saying, 'don't be surprised if the victims of the fires throw your donations back in your face.'

I can't even begin to imagine the damage this does to the great work christian organizations like the Salvation Army are trying to achieve through the grace and love of God. Yes that's the kind of God I know, gracious and loving, any kind of reflection that God is vindictive and vengeful is a very poor theology and insensitive. Stop it!

There are dozens and dozens of churches and christian denominations that have pulled together for the greater good in order to provide unified support for the tragedy that is still unfolding. This is God's intention and how God's mercy, love and grace is being expressed, through the common unity and love that Christians normally divided by difference of opinion can work together to express the love of the one true God who only wants to love us and be in relationship with us, not vindicate and destroy us. I feel like I need to apologize for those rouge insensitive theologies that do not represent the majority.

(I know I do not speak for everyone, these are my thoughts and opinions because this is my blog and I do not pretend to represent anyone other than myself. I say this because I know friends of mine who I love will take up issue with some of the things I am saying here. Happy to chat if you want).

I understand that some people have more literal views and alternative interpretations of the biblical texts and well, that might be a whole other conversation. I am normally very tolerant of theological difference and textual interpretation and often sit at tables in cafes over coffee with various colleagues and friends entering into respectful debate and dialogue over such issues. But I guess you've realized by now that Danny's comments have disturbed me . They are divisive and hurtful in an already divided and hurting context. This is not God's doing or a result of God's favour being lifted from Australia. this is the result of some twisted human act in using free choice to light a match and watch things burn. It's disgusting and we can't imagine why someone would do such a thing. Any God who would actively or deliberately allow such a thing, I really want nothing to do with. As my Old testament lecture would say 'God suffers with the suffering people'.

It's time now for the people of God to work together and show the world what God really looks like in response to a devastated people. A God who comforts the afflicted, brings hope to those who mourn, brings release to the oppressed, and proclaims Good News (funny that sounds a lot like the Jesus of the Gospels I read about).

As a footnote to all of this I'm still trying to reconcile other unbelievable news I am hearing in relation to the fires. I cannot comprehend the thought of looters going into devastated areas and helping themselves to other peoples' property. It's stealing! STOP IT! Have a heart.

And to some of my friends who have been cynical of the news coverage and the stories being aired. Stop it! Give it a break guys and let the nation grieve in the best way they know how. Yes you'll miss some of your precious programs on TV while many victims miss their precious loved ones they'll never see again. We all feel the need to identify with those who have lost, and we need the stories of hope. I know what it's like to fight large and devastating fires and stand helplessly 100 metres away from the 100+ foot flames of an out of control inferno with your heart in you mouth and your fellow crew members scrambling to do what they can. Holding the fire hose and pointing it in the general direction as it pales to insignificance, the radiant heat burns your face and you realize the limits we have to control such a monster. I know what it's like to be evacuated from a home while flames enter your property threatening to take everything (my family and I were fortunate).

As a gathered nation we mourn the tragic loss of life and the devastation of communities and we look to a God of comfort and hope as we imagine what kind of future could possibly lie ahead as come consider the possibility of rebuilding their lives.

Our gathering of churches here in the Adelaide hills where i am in ministry remember all too well what Ash Wednesday was like 26 years ago. Each church here (including the one with which I am in ministry) is responding in various ways. find out how at www.mhicc.wordpress.com

Give blood www.donateblood.com.au

Think about volunteering with a work party www.govolunteer.org.au They'll need help with the clean up in the second half of the year

We'll be posting updates on our site as to how we are responding at www.blackwoodcc.org.au

And of course give money www.redcross.org.au

Shalom
Mark

Are we in control?

Did you know that more than two thirds of the world population live under impoverished conditions? Yet we still refer to them as the third world rather than the 2 thirds world. Impoverished means they suffer from a lack of access to meeting basic needs. Lack of basic health care (malnutrition, dehydration, death from common curable diseases), insufficient supply of clean drinking water, lack of education, lack of community sustainability and housing due to civil war, genocide and climate...and that's not even scratching the surface.

By 2015, the year the UN have committed to halving the effect of contributing factors to world poverty, it is predicted that about three quarters of the wold population will suffer from lack of sustainable living and about a quarter of the world population will live in urban slums.

Statistics are disturbing, but maybe they are not disturbing us enough. I just came across a website with an 'Earth Clock' on it. Check it out. It's scary to see all those numbers changing so rapidly. I don't know how they do it but it calculates population growth in real time. It also calculates incidents of malnutrition, HIV/aids and cancer. You can see how many species have become and are becoming extinct, deforestation and desertification statistics and more. You can look at an annual view to what the stats say for a single day. You can even click on 'NOW' and watch the numbers run and see what happens within one minute.

Now here's the part I find most disturbing. I clicked on a link that predicts population growth for as far into the future as you want to look. it starts at 10 years and you can see we've added another billion people to our population. Then if you click on the up down arrows you can go into the future one year at a time to see how huge our population is really predicted to grow. I was curious so I did. I was heading up to 50 years from now and noticed the population growth rate slowing significantly, then at the 50 year mark it peaks at nearly 8.8 billion people. The next part isn't so exciting as from then on the population begins to shrink. So if this prediction is correct we will see a negative population growth rate within our lifetime, well before the turn of the century.
In 300 years time the entire world population size is predicted to shrink to the population size of New South Wales and in 330 years time the size of South Australia's current population. In 500 years from now there will be one person left on earth. That person will last 7 years then gone. Interesting conspiracy theory? Is there maybe some element of truth to population decline and if so what is the cause? The rapture? Is Christ coming back again in 50 years and then begin to cart us off in groups over the next 450 years? What does that say about the poor one left behind? Are we going to finally tip nature over the edge with our relentless unapologetic consumption of our resources?

We don't know what the future looks like, we can predict it and we can't control it. But we can learn a few things from our past. Our history tells a story we can learn from and learning is pointless if we don;t change. So you tell me, what does our future look like?

Shalom Mark

Sponsor a Child, it's not a scam

Recently I heard about a documentary that was screened on TV that painted a fairly dark picture of World Vision child sponsorship. My understanding of the documentary is sketchy since i didn't see it but I certainly had a few concerned members of my congregation tell me all about it.

A brief summary is someone who was sponsoring a child through World Vision for a couple of years thought they would go and visit the child in whatever country they were living in. The person was surprised and disappointed that their child wasn't excelling as much as they had expected and from my understanding was considering pulling their sponsorship as a result. I've heard other stories like this where people have told me they are going to cease sponsorship because the organization they sponsor through either spends it all on administration or doesn't do what the sponsor expects they are going to do with it.

I want to say clearly from the start, particularly for those who have come to me with concerns, do not pull your support, it's not some scam. And for those who are not sponsoring a child or community I hope this post will encourage you to do so. My previous post is a part response to this so check the tags below to find other posts.

Not only do I do some volunteer work with World vision but I also work with other similar organizations who are doing as much as they can to alleviate the crisis of poverty half our world faces. Verity and I not only give financially through sponsorship and other means but we have also seen with our very eyes the changes that can come about in communities because of our support.

In our western way of thinking we do something like sponsor a child so we can have a personal connection with an individual. because the problem of poverty is so big we think we can focus our attention on just one person and see that one be lifted up, fed, immunized and educated. What we don't understand is that the rest of the world don't think like us. You see they have a greater understanding of community well being and equal distribution of wealth than we do. I have learnt a lot from my work with Africans in particular, they just do life differently and there is something valuable we can learn from this.

For instance it would be unethical for me to expect that the child I sponsor would get a better life than his or her neighbour or class mate just because they have a sponsor and other don't. While my sponsor child will get the basics they need (that they wouldn't otherwise if I were not a sponsor) some of the money I give will also go into the community to make it a better place for all, not just one person. It's hard for westerners to understand because we are used to looking out for number one. Do we really care about our neighbours? In many communities that these organizations support, one individual in the community cannot sit by and watch another suffer. It's just the way they are geared. If they are to benefit from something then it's a natural response for them to share the wealth.

Verity and I sponsored an individual (and still do) in Bangkok. We later found out from the organization that that individual was giving everything to the people in his community before himself. I got a buzz out of knowing that we now support an entire community. We also gave a significant donation to a project in this community. I have no idea how the project went or if the money even went to that project. When I bought a goat through the TEAR gift cards I found out that my money might not actually buy a goat but it will go towards some kind of sustainable living project TEAR are involved with in that community.

The point of my giving is not for my own gratification, or so I can get constant reports to see what they are doing with 'my money'. No that's not the point, first of all the attitude we must have to money we earn and give is, it's not mine in belongs to God from the start. secondly I give in faith, it doesn't matter where it goes, I trust these organizations to do what they need to do to empower these communities.

I do not speak of behalf of World Vision in this post but I speak as an individual who wants to re butt the complaints and encourage everyone to sponsor a child or a community. The more children that are sponsored in a community, the better off the children will be and the better off that community will be. I hope that clears up any doubt people have about this issue. These organizations are not stockpiling your money so their staff can get rich, they really are changing the world.

Shalom
Mark

It's all relative

Well, tonight Paris Hilton will appear at the much talked about New Year Eve party in Sydney. I'm not sure what disturbs me the most, the amount she is being paid to appear at the party, or the shallow entertainment news reports of her visit, anticipating how the night will unfold.

But the news item that seems to have caught the public eye this past 24 hours is Paris' $5000 spending spree on clothes in Melbourne yesterday. It was significant enough to attract comment from Tim Costello on how else that money could be spent. Many people say 'get over it, it's her money let her do what she likes'. Yet it's that attitude exactly that keeps the world stuck in this impoverished cycle of the rich who continue to be out of touch and acknowledge no real responsibility towards the poor whose choices are limited to basic survival.

You might say, 'well it's all relative', $5000 is nothing to a rich girl like Paris, but for someone whose income is less than $5000 a year and has to feed and look after a family, it's everything. So Paris' excuse is, she already does her fair share of charity work, but I say it's obviously not enough while people are still homeless, starving and dying preventable deaths from disease.

This is where community living back in the days of the newly established nation of Israel had great benefit for all. Those who earned more gave more and in theory, no-one was in need. It's called the equal distribution of wealth. Call me an idealist, but I don't think we are going to see poverty become history in our lifetime while we continue to idolize selfish brats with too much money than they know what to do with.

I heard Tim Costello comment on the world financial crisis recently and he said it's not a financial crisis, it's an ethical crisis. I agree. The greed of the greedy reached tipping point and this is the result of too many people trying to make an easy buck. Seriously we need to ask ourselves, whether we are investors, consumers, developers, whatever...are the financial choices I make ethical choices. For the everyday consumer go to www.ethical.org and test it out. When you invest or make a purchase are you asking yourself the right questions like, how does my choice affect the person at the other end of the line? The producer, the grower, the maker. My wife Verity has written a song in response to this ethical consumerism dilemma. Visit her website www.verityskye.com and if the song isn't already added, ask her to add it. It's powerful.

In response to Paris Hilton's spending spree Tim Costello reminded people that $5000 would be enough to help sustain an entire village! Verity and I support a slum community in Bangkok through UNOH. In the new year we are extending our financial focus to supporting communities in Africa. For the past few of years we've been making conscious ethical and fairtrade choices about every product we buy. We don't earn millions of dollars but we know we reside comfortably in within the richest 10% of people in the world. Our wealth can be distributed and help so many if only we are willing. It's all relative I guess.

It's not about 'doing our bit for charity', so I can sneak through life without a guilty conscience. it's about having a heart for the suffering people of our world and believing against all the odds and negativity that I too can contribute what I can to make a difference so that all the people of the world may enjoy life, not just me. Verity and I and both our families got a real buzz out of giving all kinds of gifts to each other from TEAR, Wolrd Vision, Oxfam and COCOA this year knowing that our gift was a life changing gift for someone in an impoverished community. I bought my Nana a card from Oxfam that had this title on the front, 'More power to granny'. My gift helps financially resource a group of indigenous Australian women elders provide support, education and encouragement to the indigenous youth so they might learn their customs and language and become future leaders in Australia.

This new year forget the self indulgent new years resolutions, make a commitment to change the world. You'll feel so much better for it and make a difference at the same time.

Shalom
Mark