Tag: snippety

I’m considering doing these #snippety posts a little more often. But keen to gauge how useful they are. Not as many people click through to them, but I think it has the potential to be useful. So if you are a regular reader of this blog, a friend who has happened to click through this time or someone random who got here looking for pictures of cats… What do you think of a regular blog post like this with a variety of snippets from around the web with links to read the whole article? Feel free to leave a comment or contact me with any thoughts.

My pick of the links below is the first one. I have blogged a bunch of times on homosexuality and also linked out to relevant articles in these #snippety posts. Not because it’s my hobby horse, but because it’s an active issue that I am working out how to help young people navigate. Christians don’t believe that homosexuality is any worse than any other sin. But the article makes the point that it is an active issue in the way that it is being “celebrated by our larger society with pioneering excitement”. There are typically two camps in the debate, those who celebrate it and those who hate it. The author wants to suggest that Christians have the opportunity to say you’re wrong but you’re loved. i.e. Being able to disagree without being a jerk. Anyway, have a read and let me know what you think!

See below for the snips:

Continue reading “#SNIPPETY // WHY #HOMOSEXUALITY IS NOT LIKE OTHER SINS + A SNAPSHOT OF CHURCH ATTENDANCE IN AUSTRALIA + #GREED + MONSTER MYTH + #THEROYALS”

ABC Religion & Ethics has a feast of thought-provoking articles in time for Easter 2014. These articles are great ones for believers and sceptics alike. Read them. Share them.

See below for the snippets:

Continue reading “#SNIPPETY // THOUGHT-PROVOKING #EASTER ARTICLES FROM @ABCRELIGION”

Welcome to a bumper issue of #SNIPPETY! A variety of links to check out including: a prayer for our growing children; a Free Book from Matt Chandler; how to plan for a productive day tomorrow; and if you don’t speak Italia, a soccer goal scored from 70 metres!

The article on Wheaton students protesting Rossaria Butterfield is interesting. Basically students at Wheaton – an evangelical college in Illinois – protested a guest speaker who had turned from a lesbian lifestyle when she started following Jesus. Denny Burk points out the generational shift taking place with young people connected to evangelical churches being influenced by culture in their understanding of homosexuality being a valid story for Christians. I think Christians need to be equipped to lovingly hold firm to what the Bible teaches on sex and relationships.

See below for the snippets:

Continue reading “#SNIPPETY // #ASYLUMSEEKER #JESUS + PERSECUTION + STUDENTS PROTEST EX-LESBIAN + FREE @MATTCHANDLER74 BOOK + MORE!”

It’s been a while since the last #SNIPPETY post! But we’re back and I’m hoping to post some snippets of other online content at least once a week. But not making any promises!

Who gambles the most? (see the info graphic)

Australians gamble (and lose) more than anyone else on a per-person basis, according to H2 Gambling Capital (H2GC), a British consultancy. The biggest chunk of this is spent on video poker machines…

Jesus At The Bottom of The Ocean

This statue reminds me that Jesus came down into the pressurized abyss of our lives, that he moved towards the deepest, darkest, neediest places. I don’t know the unique make up of your story, sin, and mess, but whatever is down there know that Jesus’ passion is to deal with your abyss. He came to know you and love you in the deep dark sea of your struggle.

Russell Brand: my life without drugs

Without these fellowships I would take drugs. Because, even now, the condition persists. Drugs and alcohol are not my problem, reality is my problem, drugs and alcohol are my solution.

Sermons over 30 minutes? Rookie preacher, you’d better have a good reason!

Either way, you don’t know as much as you think you know. Therefore to preach long sermons will tend to take your sermon into the land of the ‘hobby-horse’. When we’re drawing on a limited pool of knowledge (whether exegetical or practical), we tend to default into speaking about the things that we feel most familiar with and passionate about. Now that’s all fine and good for us, but it may have nothing to do with the text or with the people you’re preaching to! That’s called a ‘hobby-horse’.

A gay person and me

Let’s be friends so we can talk about this stuff.

Comments welcome…

This week’s bunch of snippets have short extracts without any commentary from me. If you read only one article, check out the one on Generation Y and unhappiness. Why? Short answer: Baby Boomers. Feel free to interact with the mash in the comments.

How to Find the Time for That Important Project

Accept reality. You only have 168 hours a week—the same as everyone else, including presidents, captains of industry, and the homeless man you passed on the way to work. Time is finite. You can’t borrow, beg, or steal more of it.

Starting and finishing that important project is not about time management as much as it is about priority management. It’s not so much about efficiency as it is about courage.

The question is this: How important is this project compared to everything else in your life?

Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy

For those hiring members of Gen Y, Harvey suggests asking the interview question, “Do you feel you are generally superior to your coworkers/classmates/etc., and if so, why?” He says that “if the candidate answers yes to the first part but struggles with the ‘why,’ there may be an entitlement issue. This is because entitlement perceptions are often based on an unfounded sense of superiority and deservingness. They’ve been led to believe, perhaps through overzealous self-esteem building exercises in their youth, that they are somehow special but often lack any real justification for this belief.”

Continue reading “#SNIPPETY // Priority Management + Gen Y Are Unhappy + Indigenous Bible + Evangelism + Discipleship + Expository Preaching”

Happy Australian Federal Election Day! I thought I’d share a few snippets of other posts I’ve been reading related to a number of political hot topics. Regardless of what happens later today; it is incredible to live in a country where it’s very, very, very unlikely that there will be any riots or other post election loss mayhem. Remember last Federal election resulting in a hung parliament? Remember the anarchy that broke out during the 10 (give or take) days that we didn’t have a government? Nup. Me neither. Whoever wins, I’ll be praying for “all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” (1 Timothy 2:2). Feel free to interact with the mash in the comments.

>> Shellfish, slavery and same-sex marriage: How not to read the Bible
I have and linked to a number of articles and written my own brief response to Kevin Rudd’s appearance on Q&A earlier in the week. This article by the new Anglican Archbishop of Sydney – Glenn Davies – is excellent in how to read the bible in context.

>> Why the “Rudd as Theologian” Affair Is So Important. And so Dangerous.
David Ould has linked to a second video from Rudd on the Bible. Here is a quote from Ould’s post: “More importantly still we should note the increasing contempt with which he speaks about the Bible. This is not simply Rudd saying that certain sections of the Bible ought to be discarded, this is Rudd communicating in tone and manner (whether he likes it or not) that the Bible itself is ridiculous and that those who hold to a consistent view of the Bible are ridiculous.”

Continue reading “#SNIPPETY // Religion + Politics + Shellfish + Slavery + Same-Sex Marriage + Ice-Cream + Manure + Foreign Aid”