Greed or Prudence - a fine line

Recently the Sydney Anglican Church lost $160 million when it sold shares at market bottom. This loss was exaserbated through gearing (borrowing money to invest). Were the church leaders responsible for these actions being prudent in trying to make more money for ministry projects or were they greedy? When I say 'greedy' I don't mean for themselves personally but maybe 'greedy' to fast track the expansion of Christian programs through 'easy' investment money? There's a fine line between prudence and greed.

God knows which side of the prudence or greed line our decisions fall. He knows ultimately whether we are looking to money as the ultimate power in this world or to Him. The apostle Paul says in Romans 2:16 "This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares."

Many people havel learnt hard lessons in the past twelve months. 1. Markets go down as well as up. 2. Money is a god who can let you down. 3. Maybe I was more greedy than prudent.

The 'crash' has been a good time of self examination for organisations and well as for individuals.

Where is our moral compass when it comes to pedophilia?

The media reporting of the unhappy residents of Ryde protesting about convicted pedophile Dennis Ferguson setting up home in their suburb has raised many interesting ethical issues. For example: 1. Should society forgive Dennis Ferugson? He's done his time and paid his dues. Why is pedophilia the unforgivable sin and where does the moral basis to make this decision come from? What about our moral failings? 2. Is morality relative to time and culture? 50 years ago homosexuality was considered a sin and a crime, but today it's just a lifestyle choice. Maybe in 50 years time pedophilia will be accepted as OK as moral values become more liberal. Are there such things as 'moral absolutes' that are wrong in every generation? And who decides? 3. Are humans good and able to improve? Is it possible to rehabilitate a pedophile? Or are we slaves to our foibles and unable to change? The Bible's view is that God is the ultimate determiner of good and evil. He made us and he makes the rules of what is right and wrong (see Genesis 1-3). So there are absolutes in every generation. Secondly the Bible teaches that "all have sinned" (Romans 3:23) and "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). In the eyes of a Holy God, pedophilia is no worse than lusting in your heart after someone elses husband or wife (Mark 7:20-23). Thirdly, the Bible recognises the reality that people are slaves to sin (Romans 7:14). Yes we should be worried about someone with a history of pedophilia living in our suburb. But the Bible also gives hope that we can be freed from the power of sin through Jesus Christ (Romans 7:24-25). So if you're looking for some moral certainty, some real forgiveness for your sins and some power to overcome evil desires, read the Bible and find our more about Jesus Christ. The Bible is our compass guiding us on hard ethical issues and showing the path to being in right standing with our holy maker.

Should we worry about politicians private lives?

I heard a NSW Greens senator on radio 702 yesterday commenting on the Della Bosca affair. She dragged out the old line that a politicians private life has nothing do with how they perform their public duties and that it's none of our business what goes on behind closed doors.

But the Sydney Morning Herald today quoted the woman involved in the affair (Kate) as saying: ''If he is capable of lying to his wife and children … why wouldn't he do that in other aspects of his career?''

The logic is inescapable!

One of my most embarrassing moments

As the main organiser of our group of 30 going to the Engage conference last weekend I made a point of getting to the YHA early. We paid extra to have our own private lounge and kitchen area. As I stood in the spacious lounge and dining area by myself, the guy from the YHA came in and started setting up breakfast, laying out the breakfast cereals on a table in the dining area. As he was plugging in the toasters he warned me not to burn toast. Apparently a group staying there recently had set off the smoke alarms which meant that the YHA had to be evacuated until the fire brigade could arrive and turn off the alarm. 10 minutes after receiving this warning ........ have a guess what happened?

Yes, you guessed it. I was in the kitchen microwaving my soup, with toast cooking in the dining area, when suddenly the alarm went off with a loud 'whooping sound' and the entire YHA had to be evacuated. I stood sheepishly out the front of the YHA in the crowd. It seemed an eternity until the fire trucks arrived to deal with my disaster of smoky toast.

As I stood in the crowd I thought .... "should I yell out ..... its OK everyone..... everything's fine, I only burnt the toast. ..... but I didn't. I kept quiet and just wanted to shrink into a crack in the pavement and disappear.

This goes down as one of my most embarrassing moments! Please don't tell anyone.

Sports Doctor on "Living Well in the 21st Century"

Last night (Tuesday 4 August) a dozen of us met over dinner in the Sydney CBD to hear Sports Doctor John Best speak on "Living Well in the 21st Century -physically, mentally and spiritually". Some good tips and challenges. Have a listen to the 6 minute audio file.

Help me with my guilt

When I received Kevin's text cancelling our lunchtime appointment I was disappointed. Meeting people at lunchtime is my 'prime time' and I feel guilty when I'm not making the most of the lunchtime slots. Then I looked out my office window ....... saw what a beautiful day is was and thought ........... "I'm going to get out there and enjoy the day". So I left the dark shadows of the city buildings and winter suits, crossed Elizabeth and Macquarie Streets and burst out into the sunshine and into the land of shorts and t-shirts; through the Domain, around Mrs Macquarie's chair and back through the Botanical Gardens. Many, many people were out enjoying God's good creation (see video). Sydney is a great city to work in, especially if you're able to get out occasionally to enjoy the harbour foreshore. Why don't you try it sometime. Call me and I'll walk with you. Then I can enjoy the beautiful harbour foreshore, talk with you .... and not feel so guilty.

Comparing Michael Jackson to Jesus Christ

Same
1. Both destined to become more famous after their deaths than while living.
2. Both misunderstood and ostracised while they lived. In Mark 3:21 JC's family came to take him home because they thought he was "out of his mind". The media branded MJ as "Wacko Jacko".
3. Both claimed to be innocent when charges were brought against them (MJ for child molestation, JC for blasphemy - both seen as the worst category of crimes in their day).
4. Both 'living on' after their deaths. MJ through archives of unreleased songs and video footage. Jesus Christ through a physical resurrection (John 20:21-31).

Different
1. MJ will be forgotten in 50 years time. JC has been popular for 2000 years.
2. MJ died from drugs. JC died for the sins of others (Mark 10:45).
3. MJ's comeback tour will never happen. JC's comeback tour is a certainty (Acts 1:1-11).

The Spiritual side of Transformers 2 Movie

Warning: If you plan to see the movie 'Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen' and don't want to know part of the ending then DON'T read on.

I went to the movies yesterday to watch Transformers 2 - Revenge of the Fallen with my son Simon. I was going for his sake of course ;) The movie was fast and furious for most of the 2 1/2 hours of fast cars, fast planes and fast robots ..... except ...... when the human star of the movie Sam (Shia LaBeouf) is killed by an exploding misile while running to save the day. CPR fails to revive him and he is given up as dead. That is until the next scene where we are taken into ... Transformer heaven. Here the 'Ancient of Days' of Transformers declares to Sam that it has always been Sam's destiny to be a great leader and to save the day and that he must go back. Whoosh!! Sam's 'dead' body jerks, his eyes open and he's back on the battlefield, full of life and vitality. A little later the leader of the Autobots (good Transformers) Optimus Prime, the only hope of winning the battle, is resurrected by a magical key.

I find it amazing that in a movie where science and technology are 'God' the movie writers still feel the need to inject a spiritual dimension - a greater Spiritual power, beyond this world which controls peoples' destinies, life and death. Is it just that we can't cope living in a mechanistic world where this world is all there is and where death has the final say (c/c to 1 Corinthians 15).

You know you're middle aged when ....

... all you think about is .... food!

The food that you'd like to be eating but you can't because you're on a diet.

or/ The food you're feeling guilty about because you did eat it.

One Bible verse which says it all

Romans 6:23.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Note:
1. The contrasting symmetry of ideas.
2. What is it that makes a positive difference to the right hand side? ie. How do you receive the gift of God?
3. You could put a horizontal line through 'sin' and 'God' in the diagram below when explaining how Jesus' died to pay for our sin. ie. God suffered for us.



Question: Have you received the gift of God? Would you like to receive it now?

Could you learn this verse and diagram as an easy way of explaining the Bible's main message and the difference Jesus makes? Pass it on!

Gambling vs Contentment

As I'm coming back into my work building from lunch today I have to avoid the queue of people lining up to get their Lotto forms in before the Tuesday night draw (see photo). I did some research and found out that the chances of winning Lotto are one in eight million (while the chance of your marriage failing is 2.3 to 1). We live in a gambling obsessed society. I've noticed the increased profile of sports betting on the TV recently. I'm sure if people put their money into an interest bearing account instead of spending it on lottery tickets, pokies, the T.A.B. etc. they would have quite a sizable amount after 20 years *1. Why do we gamble so much in this wealthy country of ours? I think its because we are not a very thankful nation. We take for granted the good things we already have and want more and more (the advertising industry doesn't help this). Maybe if we started more sentences with "I thank God that ..." perhaps we would be more content with the good things we already have. Why don't you give it a go over the next few days and see if it changes your perspective on life.

*1 Australians gamble $16 billion per year. This equates to $1194 per adult head of population. Invested over 20 years at 3% = $33,000.