27 Million is part of the A21 Campaign. Find out more about it here.
Why are we surprised when awkward people can sing?
Paul Potts, Susan Boyle, Michael Collings and now Jonathan Antoine. Click here to watch his recent audition for Britain’s Got Talent with signing partner Charlotte.
I’m glad that he said he wouldn’t ditch the other half of his duo.
Hayden Calnin // Summer
Check out more amazing live acts at LARGE NOISES.
Concerns about Kony 2012
In the last 24 hours the Invisible Children KONY 2012 campaign has gone gangbusters. Social media unleashed. Lots of hits. Lots of awareness raised. Very easy to be caught up with helping to spread this cause. It’s encouraging to see young people long for justice.
I’ve read a number of concerns that have been raised about the campaign.
Matt Anslow, who works for TEAR, has a comprehensive post with some of his concerns. I haven’t checked them, but the bottom of his post has links to a stack of other articles.
Graham Stanton – who alerted me to Matt’s article – has posted a few helpful reflections this evening. Check them on his tumblr page.
KONY 2012
Persecution in Iran | Youcef Nadarkhani Execution Imminent
This blog post is written by Brad Konemann from Thirteen Three.
Iranian authorities have made their decision: Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani will be executed for his Christian faith.
Nadarkhani was arrested in October 2009 and sentenced to death for apostasy. Despite widespread international media coverage and concern, it appears the execution will go ahead.
The White House released this statement concerning Pastor Youcef on Thursday 23 February:
The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms reports that Iranian authorities reaffirmed a death sentence for Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani for the sole reason of his refusal to recant his Christian faith…The United States renews its calls for people of conscience and governments around the world to reach out to Iranian authorities and demand Pastor Nadarkhani’s immediate release.
The execution could be carried out at any time without prior notice.
Please pray for our brother in Christ who continues to stand boldly for the Lord.
Prayer Points
- Please pray that God will intervene in this case and bring justice.
- Ask the Lord to strengthen Youcef and his family.
- Thank the Lord for Youcef’s faithfulness to Christ.
- Pray that Youcef’s testimony will be an encouragement to other believers in Iran to speak the Word of God boldly and fearlessly.
MATT CORBY // BROTHER // SIN IS SERIOUS
Matt Corby’s song, Brother, has been buzzing around my head for the last couple of weeks. Serious themes; powerful performance. Here is a live version filmed at a recent Secret Garden Show in Rooty Hill (filmed by a young fella I know). Language Warning MA15+
My friend Jeremiah has a good blog post reflecting on how the song helps to demonstrate the nature of sin. Here’s a snippet:
We like to think of sin as minor, technical and inconsequential. In fact the whole notion of sin often as regarded as old fashioned and prudish. But Corby shows us that sin is just the opposite. It’s serious. It’s relational. It has real, painful consequences that we cannot escape. Consider the most painful moments of your life. Have they not involved others wronging you in some way? Or perhaps you were the perpetrator?