Month: April 2018
Gun Control in the U.S. and Australia
There is an interesting article over at The Unshackled this afternoon about the results of Australia’s gun control laws.
It is often claimed that there have been no mass shootings in Australia since John Howard brought in tougher regulations in 1996 following the Port Arthur massacre. Except that isn’t true, unless you change the definition of “mass shooting” to fit the story you want to tell.
Here is the graph I found interesting:
From the graph, which covers all gun deaths per 100,000 population, Australia’s gun death rate was already in decline a decade before the laws passed and, apart from a drop after 1996, the gun laws have probably made no long term difference.
In the U.S. there was a drop from 15 deaths per 100,000 in 1992 to 10 in 1999 where it has stayed at since.
The biggest cause of gun deaths in the United States is actually black on black gang related deaths in inner city areas. No amount of gun control legislation will fix that problem, which is an ugly mix of long term poverty, poor education and poor public housing policies.
Today’s Sermon
Today’s Bible Verse and
Israel Folau, heaven and free speech
From The Centre For Independent Studies, a defence of free speech in Australia.
Right to speak threatened
13 APRIL 2018 | IDEAS@THECENTRE
Enjoy speaking your mind and sharing your views while you can. The rights to freedom of speech, conscience, and religious belief look set to disappear very soon from Australia.
And it will certainly happen if the corporate guardians of public morality have their way following the grilling given to Wallabies superstar Israel Folau who is a devout, conservative Christian.
Falou holds some very traditional Christian beliefs about sin, heaven and hell, and homosexuality. He expressed his view that gay people should repent in this life to avoid being sent to hell.
You can agree or disagree with Izzy. But either way, if Australia is a genuinely free country, he should be free to express his genuinely held religious beliefs.
And if we are a genuinely tolerant country, we will let Izzy say what he thinks even though many of us may strongly disagree with what he says. Remember: tolerating views you agree with is easy.
We often confuse tolerance with ‘respect’. But real tolerance means putting up with the opinions of others that you think are simply wrong — or even abhorrent and repellent.
After all, we clearly expect Izzy to tolerate all the views bluntly expressed by his many critics, including corporate sponsors such as Qantas and ASICS, who accuse him of homophobia, and worse.
Obviously, when he answered the Instagram question, Izzy wasn’t representing the views of Rugby Australia, or ASIC, or Qantas. Only a fool would have failed to see they were his personal views.
Yet now there appears to be a concerted push to silence Izzy and force him to keep his religious beliefs to himself. But why should he keep quiet?
Freedom of speech means sometimes people will say things that others find disagreeable. And if we truly value such freedom, we will stop trying to silence those who offend us.
We are gradually, but inexorably, tipping towards a new kind of totalitarianism where any controversial or awkward opinion is silenced, and all dissent is crushed into submission.
Now is the time to stop this dangerous slide towards tyranny and intolerance. If we delay too long, it will be too late for us, and we will all be muzzled for good.
This is an edited extract of a piece written for the Daily Telegraph.
Reflection on Luke 24:35-49
Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+24.35-49
Scripture
“And I will send the Holy Spirit just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”
Observation
Resurrection evening.
The two disciples from Emmaus tell the other disciples of their meeting with the risen Lord on their way home. While they are still talking, Jesus suddenly appears. The entire group is afraid because they think it is a ghost.
“Why are you afraid?” asks Jesus. He invites them to touch Him to see that He is real. He eats some fish so that they can see He is not a ghost.
Jesus then teaches them about how the Scriptures had spoken of His death and resurrection and the forgiveness that He would bring.
He tells them to wait in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills them with heavenly power.
Application
Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would fill them with the power from heaven. These were ordinary men and women who would soon be filled with the Spirit. It must have been hard for them to grasp what this meant for them.
Jesus tells them not to leave the city until they are filled with the Holy Spirit. One problem with the church today is that we are too dependent on our own plans and our own wisdom, and not dependent enough on the Holy Spirit.
We need the Spirit’s power to achieve His plans for us. Jesus tells us to wait for the Spirit to come. We must seek His guidance, His wisdom and His power.
When He fills us, then it is time to go and witness to the grace and love of Jesus, even to the ends of the earth. It is the Holy Spirit dwelling in us that makes it possible to take the gospel everywhere we go.
Prayer
Holy Spirit come and show me your plans for my life. Fill me with the power of heaven to live and witness for you. Amen.
Today’s Bible Verse
Reflection on Acts 3:12-19
Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+3.12-19
Scripture
“You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact!”
Observation
Peter heals a crippled beggar in the Temple precinct. A crowd gathers as they see the man standing, walking and praising God.
Peter addresses the crowd, asking why they are surprised by this. It is not the goodness of the disciples, but the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who healed him. The Jesus whom they rejected and killed, the author of life, is now risen from the dead.
The people killed Jesus in ignorance, but now God requires them to repent and turn to God so that their sins will be wiped away.
Application
We are all guilty of killing Jesus, the author of life. All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. We all need forgiveness and cleansing from our sins.
Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, every sin is taken care of. All is forgiven, if only we will accept it.
Jesus is the author of life, and so He is still alive. Death could not hold Him down. He shares His life with us so we know He will raise us to eternal life. This is the promise of Easter.
We can be sure that the resurrection is real because there were so many witnesses to the fact. They might have made it up, but so many of these witnesses died for what they believed. They were tortured and put to death, but not one of them ever confessed to a fake resurrection.
Jesus is alive, and because of Him, we will live for ever.
Prayer
Thank you Lord for the promise of Easter. You are the author of life and you have defeated death for ever. Hallelujah!
Today’s Bible Verse
Today’s Bible Verse
New Life Narrabri 