Archive for February, 2010


Are our churches really empty?

Filed under: church — 1 Comment
February 22, 2010

It has become common for media and academics to quote statistics and share anecdotes about the death of religion, the irrelevance of the institutional church, and the decline in church attendance.  You’d be forgiven for thinking that almost no one believes, or goes to church any more, or makes a serious attempt to practice what the churches preach.

It’s a caricature, of course.  There are churches that appear brash and cold, and some that have lost their way.  But many churches in Sydney today are pulsing with vitality, bursting at the seams, connecting faith and culture, and offering healing and hope. 

The most effective churches have strong positive leadership, a relaxed contemporary atmosphere, a welcoming culture, and take time to address relevant social and ethical issues as well as the big questions of faith. 

Don’t believe the nay-sayers.  See for yourself.  Discover what your local church is really all about this Easter season.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney on 21 Feb 2010.

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“Ultimate fighting” comes to Sydney

Filed under: sport, violence — Leave a comment
February 22, 2010

As a schoolboy, as well as cricket and rugby, I was taught boxing.  We all thought it was a great joke to head out of the classroom and spend half an hour behind the sheds bashing each other on the jaw with padded fists.

These days there’s less support for what some regard as extreme contact sports, but there’s no denying their popularity.  This afternoon, a new contact sport makes its debut at Sydney’s Acer Arena: “ultimate fighting,” an exciting mix of boxing, ju-jitsu and wrestling guaranteed to draw the crowds.

I’m not suggesting we all turn off televised sport and take up chess and curling, and I do love my rugby, but every contact sport carries the danger of serious injury, including brain injury. 

And in a world saturated with screen violence, and real-life violence, I wonder what kind of message the promotion of boxing and “ultimate fighting” sends to our children.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydneyon  21 Feb 2010.

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What are you giving up for Lent?

Filed under: Easter, spiritual discipline — Leave a comment
February 22, 2010

With Valentine’s Day receding fast behind us, we’re into Easter – or more accurately Lent, the 40 days leading up to the Christian Holy Week, which recalls the death of Jesus and culminates in a celebration of his resurrection.

During Lent, believers prepare themselves for Easter through prayer, charity and self-denial.  The 40 days represent the time Jesus spent in the desert, tempted by the devil, before he announced the coming of the kingdom of God.

People often give up some so-called guilty pleasure for Lent, like chocolate or red meat.  This year, some church leaders have called on the faithful to switch off their iPhones and iPods – a hard call for some younger believers!

Other suggestions are a carbon fast, eating by candlelight, and – dare I say it – flushing the toilet less often.

What’s important is the denial of some relative luxury, for a few weeks, in order to pray and focus on ultimate reality.  What are you giving up for Lent?  Is the tradition still relevant?

Broadcast on 2CH Sudney on 21 Feb 2010.

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News comment (14 Feb 2010)

Filed under: atheism, persecution, romantic love — Leave a comment
February 11, 2010

For broadcast on 2CH Sydney, Sunday 14 February 2010

9.00 am – Happy St Valentine’s Day

I wonder if the thought that today is Valentine’s Day has crossed your mind this morning.  Perhaps you’re one of those happy individuals who has discovered they are the object of someone else’s previously undisclosed affection.  Or you’ve declared your attachment to the one you love.

Apparently the tradition owes its origin to an event in AD 269 when a bloke named Valentine was executed for going against an imperial decree to suspend weddings because the emperor, Claudius II, needed more single men to serve in his armies.  Valentine became patron saint of engaged couples, and bee keepers and a host of others. 

Sending “Valentines” began in the mid-nineteenth century.  Like Christmas and Easter, it’s awfully commercialised these days.  But St Valentine’s Day reminds us of the importance of marriage, and the love between a woman and a man, and the joy of declaring that love in word and action. 

I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com


12.00 pm – Atheists, churchgoers and ethics

According to new research, people who have no religion know right from wrong just as well as those who regularly attend churches and other places of worship.  The research found that most religions had a particular moral code which helped to organise society, but atheists and agnostics appeared to make intuitive judgments between right and wrong in common with believers.

As one of my atheist friends quipped, “Did they really need to do research to show that?” 

For Dr Hauser and his researchers, moral intuition seems hard-wired into our brains.  They might be surprised to learn that the Bible agrees (e.g. Romans chapter 1).  But it also teaches that we are imperfect and prone to immoral intuition.

Which is why Christians turn to God, and the Bible, as the first port of call in determining what is right and wrong, and why they rely on a power beyond themselves to shape the good life. 

I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com


5.00 pm – Anti-Christian violence in India

One of the saddest things about the world today is the fighting that goes on between people of rival faiths.  Some of the worst is occurring in India, where government authorities appear to be turning a blind eye to the suffering and injustice.  There were 72 recorded attacks against Christians in India’s southern state of Karnataka in 2009.  It looks like 2010 will be just as violent. 

Indian Christians are attacked by Hindus in Karnataka “at rapid regularity” and “with near impunity.”  The cause is Hindu nationalism, driven by high caste Hindus desperate and determined to perpetuate caste privilege. 

Church property is attacked, vandalised and burned.  Christians are threatened and violently persecuted for their faith.  Virtually any act of witness or worship can lead to a charge of seeking to procure “forcible” conversions. 

Yet God is at work.  Please pray for the Church in Karnataka and in all India, and wherever religious persecution is on the rise. 

I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com

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Jesus comes to the Easter Show

Filed under: evangelism — Leave a comment
February 9, 2010

Many Sydney residents will be familiar with last year’s “Jesus. All about life.” campaign run by a broad coalition of churches, involving dark blue banners on church properties, television ads, and an interactive website.     

The campaign ran earlier in Canberra, Adelaide and other places.  It was, of course, an easy target for lampoons, but there was a surprisingly positive response from inside and outside the church.  Now the campaign is to roll over into the Easter Show, as the following email advisory I received this morning from The Bible Society indicates:   

Christians are being called on to help raise awareness of Jesus at the Royal Easter Show held at Homebush [Sydney] from April 1-14, 2010. To follow on from the 2009 “Jesus. All about life” campaign, [the] Bible Society has organised a stall at Australia’s leading agricultural show.  All volunteers will be given a training session in evangelism, as well as free access to the show and all its attractions … As an added drawcard, it’s hoped several high profile Christian sportspeople will make appearances at the stall.   

Bible Society CEO Daniel Willis said “Research following the campaign told us the community were surprised by the cooperation of the JAAL banner hanging on over 1,000 Churches across NSW. Christians were excited to see a common purpose in joining to worship the one Lord Jesus. Easter provides us with the opportunity to lift the name of Jesus and unite in spreading his message; we would like to ask all Churches if you would consider joining us putting up the Jesus. All about life banners from April 1st – 14th.”   

As part of the Easter show Christian volunteers are being called-on to man the stall throughout the duration. Volunteers will be required to chat with people who visit the stall and help to hand out thousands of Mark’s Gospel, the story of Easter pamphlets and Jesus stickers, we pray that through this non-Christians will find meaningful engagement with Jesus.   

I must be careful saying anything in response to this news, since I was savagely attacked (albeit with words, not stones) when I expressed a luke-warm view about the original campaign on my Facebook wall.   

Suffice it to say that the Royal Easter Show is one place I would definitely expect Jesus to head to if he were here in Sydney at Easter, but I’m not at all sure that he would want to be seen with a bunch of zealous God-botherers handing out “Jesus stickers” — even if he were offered a training session in evangelism, free access to all attractions, and a photo op with “several high profile Christian sportspeople.”   

Then again, I could be wrong, in which case the righteous among you will no doubt correct me.   

One of the images from the 2009 JAAL ad campaign

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