Karen Beilharz / 4th July 2007
/ Training
I couldn't help notice that the earlybird deadline for The Faithful Writer conference is fast approaching. (Okay, it's a little over two weeks away but I am on leave for those two weeks and will be in no position to remind you then!)
This is a one-day conference we are running in conjunction with CASE for Christians interested in exploring the ministry potential of writing, paid or otherwise. I just updated the programme so you'll notice that, alongside Tony Payne, Greg Clarke and myself, we will be joined by Mark Hadley, Editor of Your.SydneyAnglicans.Net; Byron Smith, ministry assistant at All Souls Anglican Church in Leichhardt, and prodigious blogger; and Rebecca Jee, co-editor of Salt, the AFES magazine.
Don't forget to register! After 21st July the cost goes up to $90 ($75 for concession).
Ian Carmichael / 3rd July 2007
/ All around the world...
Those with an interest in US politics may find US presidential candidate Barack Obama's recent address of interest. In it he bears testimony to his own Christian conversion and the influence of his Christian faith on his politics.
Ian Carmichael / 1st July 2007
/ Bible insights
In Acts 3:26, speaking to the “men of Israel” (v. 12) on Solomon's portico, Peter makes this point:
God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.
What a different perspective on wickedness! The world loves to portray uprightness as boring, and those who promote it as wowsers and killjoys. “What a nightmare”, the world might say, “to have to become a Christian and to live a life devoid of any enjoyment!”
But no. It is actually a blessing to have been turned away from wickedness.
This verse is also a good reminder that, while it is true that Christians have ‘repented’ and turned away as an act of our own will, it is fundamentally God who turns us. Pray that he would bless more people in this way.
