Brisbane Christian News - Brisbane Christian Chat (Queensland, Australia)


	24.07.02 - John Stott engaged over 1200 in Brisbane. By Royce Perkins and John Buckle. "The Gospel is offensive because it is free, because it is exclusive, and because it demands holiness. That is what makes it offensive to our human pride", declared Rev. John Stott. He was speaking on Models of Ministry from 1Corinthinans 4 to an appreciative capacity breakfast crowd of 150 Christian workers and Bible college students at the Ashgrove Baptist Church on Saturday 13 July. Dr. Stott concluded that the common denominator for ministry is humility - before Christ, whose subordinates we are; before Scripture, of which we are stewards; before the world, whose opposition we are bound to encounter; and before the church, whose members we love and serve. Decrying the autocracy of some leadership, he noted that some leaders "seem to believe, rather than the priesthood of all believers, in the papacy of all pastors". Dr. Stott was accompanied by Dr. Christopher Wright, promoting the work of the Langham Partnership International that has been established to serve the church in the developing world. The Langham strategy is to provide evangelical books for pastors and teachers, equip leaders through the provision of scholarships for post-graduate study, and to train Biblical preachers. On Saturday night both men spoke at a dinner at Cromwell College within the University of Queensland, attended by 100. More than 1000 attended a Sunday afternoon public rally in the Garden City Christian Church to be challenged by Dr. Stott as he preached on "Jesus is Lord! A Call to Radical Discipleship", based on Philippians 2:6-11. Having established the Deity of the Lord Jesus from the passage, Stott powerfully proclaimed Jesus' Lordship of over six different spheres: the moral, intellectual, social, vocational, political, and global. It was probably the latter two areas that stirred the audience the most. Stott declared that our jealousy for the honour and glory of our Lord Jesus should motivate us to reject the current popular ideology of pluralism. Jesus alone is great and worthy to be worshipped and adored. Taking up the theme of Philippians 2:11, he declared: "Every knee shall bow. Every Buddhist knee! Every Hindu knee! Every Moslem knee! Every secular knee!" The vast line-up of people obtaining tapes of the meeting was eloquent testimony to the impact of the message. Many who had read and appreciated Stott's books now had a new appreciation of the man and his remarkable gift for expounding the Word of God.
	20.07.02 - World Youth Day. From Wes Jay, Woodlands Media. World Youth Day is an international gathering of young people from every continent and nation, called annually by Pope John Paul II. Every second year, the celebration is held in a different location around the world. This month, the youth of the world will gather in Toronto Canada for the 17th International World Youth Day, 2002. More than 1000 Australians are planning to attend WYD celebrations including one of Australia's first Catholic R&B/rock groups, the Encounter Christian Band. The Catholic Weekly says the "evangelist band" uses original music and covers to share the gospel with people aged in their 20s and 30s. The Sydney-based septet joins 170 other acts including Ceili Rain, John Michael Talbot, Nick Alexander, Sarah Hart, plus Scarecrow & Tinmen to perform in WYD events culminating in the WYD Vigil with the Pope on Saturday 27 July and the Papal Mass on 28 July.
	20.07.02 - A Christian alternative to Harry Potter! From George Walker. Australian author, Justyn Walker (26), has released his first children's fantasy novel, entitled The Magician's Daughter. Likened by many to a modern day Narnia, this fast-paced and humorous novel is being marketed as a Christian alternative to the Harry Potter series. The self-published novel is an entirely Australian produced publication, with illustrations by HSC arts student, Emma Paul (17). It was recently launched at the Christian Resources Exhibition in Sydney, where it was received enthusiastically by young and old alike. "All we needed to do was say it was a Christian alternative to Harry Potter, and the response was almost always 'Well it's about time!'" (Justyn Walker) Readers have described it as riveting, hilarious, imaginative, and as good or better than the fantasy literature kids are reading at schools, including (according to some kids), the Harry Potter books. The story stars two unlikely heroes: Georgie Tanner, an abandoned child; and Thomas Finnigan, the schoolyard whimp. The loveable characters have their roots in experiences the author has had with orphans and street kids. In the back of the book the author states: "I wrote The Magician's Daughter to express how I believe God seeks his children, in a crazy, mixed-up world of humor, tragedy, evil, hope and fear; and how amidst the chaos a great magician is unfolding his master plan." Georgie and Thomas might be used to rejection in their own world, but that all changes one day when they sink through a magical puddle into the land of Allegoria. There Georgie is told that she is the adopted daughter of the Great Magician, the king of the whole world. As their adventures progress she learns to believe this, and to trust that the elusive Great Magician will not let her down, even when it seems like he, too, has forgotten her. The Magician's Daughter introduces a Genesis 3 parallel and is the first book in a series of three. The second in the series will be launched next year and will have a strong gospel theme; while the last book will resemble Acts and our mission to the world because of what Christ has done. Alongside the novel, the author is also preparing a video documentary, showing kids how a novel is written, from the time of the first idea, right through to when it rolls off the press. The video is an educational aid for schools, and will be made available, free of charge, to every Christian school in Australia, and to selected public schools. The novel, The Magician's Daughter is available from the web site named after the book's main character, www.georgietanner.com or you can ask for it at your local Christian bookstore. Check out the website to find out more, read the first 2 chapters of the book, to see pictures & view readers opinions.
	20.07.02 - Pastoral Care and Counselling Course - 10 years young! By Lynne Stringer from The Queensland Baptist. This is the 10th year that a course in pastoral care and counselling has been offered through Queensland Baptist Care (QBC). The Pastoral Care and Counselling Course was first offered in 1992 under the leadership of Peter Lindsay (now deputy director of QBC). Amongst the first intake of people was Mrs Gail Wells, who now facilitates the five day course from time to time. "The course was instrumental in changing the path of my life," Gail said, "for the first time, I looked into my background - my family of origin and other significant events that impacted the way I related to others. I discovered the person being helped the most was myself. I am now employed and delighted to be involved in this ministry. I recommend the course to anyone who wants to learn and grow." Estelle Marsh, a volunteer counsellor with QBC, also took the course eight years ago and has been involved ever since. "The journey for me these past years has been a wonderful experience," she said, "It has been rewarding personally and has enabled me to relate to others at a pastoral level and beyond." For more information on the Pastoral Care and Counselling Course call QBC on (+61-7) 3254 1299 and talk with Judy.
	20.07.02 - Glendyne for girls needed. By Lynne Stringer from The Queensland Baptist. Ray Kruger, the program manager of Glendyne Education and Training Centre for boys in Hervey Bay, is desperate to start a similar program for girls. Glendyne, which is situated on a pineapple plantation at Nikenbah, has facilities for assisting 25 boys. However, no facility for girls is available and current funds cannot support such a program. Ray saw an example of the need for this facility when he attended a combined youth forum on the problem of paint sniffing recently. "One of the ladies was distraught and was appealing to us to get involved in a program that could help her daughter," Ray said, "but I said we couldn't take her in at this stage, because we're only boys. I said somewhere in the future we'd look at a girls program." Two weeks later the woman's daughter was found dead in the local botanical gardens after sniffing paint. Beside her was her two year old daughter, still in her pram. "That made us realise that if we did have a program, we could have easily stopped that from happening, and I'm sure that girl wouldn't be dead," said Ray. However, for the already busy and crowded Glendyne, it is not something that will be easy to accomplish. "Jenny, my wife, and Trish [another Glendyne worker] are keen to get it going," said Ray, "I raised it with Queensland Baptist Care recently and they want us to put forward a proposal." But with Glendyne Training Centre already being subsisted by Queensland Baptist Care, funds may be hard to come by, especially since Glendyne already has a waiting list of sixty boys. "If we did open a girls' program, it must run cost effective," Ray said, "It must have funding to make that operate. Probably the establishment cost is the biggest one initially, but then on that, there's wages, and the wages are always a nightmare. "We'd need two staff at first. Two women and a team of volunteers. Initially we'd be looking at a three day week, probably under ten girls at a time, and then work up from there. The funding we'd get through Department of Employment means that over a year, we'd have to run at least 18 girls through that program." Ray says that getting numbers for the girls' program will not be an issue, as he already knows forty girls who could be put straight in if one was available. "I know Trish has been working with a large number of street girls and girls that are in trouble. They're working through the neighbourhood centre at the moment, with a team of volunteers, trying to give [the girls] something to do. But if you were to run a structured program, which is what they really need, we have to do something that contributes to their long term goals in life, as well as their life skills. We're also going to need a facility that can cope with babies, and a team of volunteers that's going to babysit while these girls are doing a program. So there's all those issues that have to be dealt with as well. "I know it will work, and I know there's a massive need for it. Every meeting I go to, whether it's school chaplains, Department of Health, council or Department of Families, they keep saying, 'When are we going to start a girl Glendyne?' and I just have to say, 'Not at this stage'. But when you've got girls dying, then you have to start saying, 'How long can we keep saying no?'. "We're in a position to do it, we've got the infrastructure, we've got a proven track record, why not do it? The only thing that will restrict us is our funding." For more information on the work of Glendyne, call Queensland Baptist Care on +61-7-3254 1299.
	20.07.02 - School kids need your help. By Lynne Stringer from The Queensland Baptist. In his work with SWIM (Schools, Work and Innovative Ministries) Rhys McFadden has encountered a common problem in Queensland schools. He has found that many principals are desperately seeking people who can help 'at risk' students with their schoolwork. "I'm talking about kids who either have learning disabilities or social disabilities," said Rhys, "kids who don't fit in to the school community and are underperforming academically. Their capacity to make the most of the educational opportunity is diminished. "The principals I've been talking to recognise that exclusion is not the answer. It just moves the problem from one part of the community to another. There are some schools out there that are doing some really innovative stuff for their at risk kids." However, Rhys said that these schools need help. Jenny Soanes, principal of Rockhampton State High School, has spoken to Rhys about this issue, and is actively seeking people who can help her at risk students. "It concerns me that we have some students who find it difficult to stay on track in class," she said, "if we had people who could come in for a couple of lessons with them, go to classes with them and help keep them on track, it might give them some sense of success in the classroom. They could see that they can achieve, that they can get through a whole lesson and do some work. "I feel if you can get them into a good habit, sitting in the classroom, managing a whole lesson and seeing that they can sit there and do something without having a tantrum and disrupting the learning of others, it might instill some good habits in them. "Lots of those behaviours are learned behaviours, to cover up all kinds of difficulties that they are facing." Jenny recognises that this would take a specific type of person. "You'd need a sensible person who can understand the kids, because it won't always be plain sailing. Even with somebody there, the kids could still have an eruption. So you need somebody who's quiet and calm and can bring them back and refocus them, and if not, take them away somewhere for a talk. So while it's not onerous, it needs the right kind of person. Someone who is not likely to get upset, because we wouldn't be asking them to assist with the child unless there were difficulties." Rhys saw this approach at work during his time as pastor of Woodridge Baptist Church. "We did that at Woodridge with eight Bible college students back in the early '90s," he said, "They worked with eight kids who were one foot on a slippery slide and another foot on a banana skin. All those kids went on to complete year twelve. They performed." All that is required, said Rhys, is for people in the community to take an interest in these kids, and not necessarily young people. "It wouldn't matter what age group they were in," he said, "From what I've seen, kids, particularly those in the vulnerable category, only want somebody who cares. I don't think they're fussed on whether they're young adults, middle aged adults or mature aged adults. "And all you need is to listen. The key skill would be listening. Listening and caring. The kids I'm talking about aren't stupid kids. They're socially disadvantaged kids. So with a little bit of care, they can work it out. It's a matter of people sticking up their hands and saying 'We are concerned for our young people, particularly those at risk. We want to be part of the solution'." If you would like to help solve this problem, contact Rhys on +61-7-3254 1277 or 0419 742 078.
	03.07.02 - World Cup Soccer witness. By Rodney Davidson (01.07.02). Like so many other Aussies, I was just one of the many billions of people who enjoyed watching the World Cup Soccer Final between Brazil and Germany last night. As a Christian Sportsperson myself, I couldn't help but be inspired by the witness of the three Brazilian players (Lucio - No.3 , Edmilson - No.5 & Kaka - No. 23) who prayed together in a huddle after the sound of the final whistle then wore t-shirts saying "Jesus Loves You" (Lucio & Edmilson) and "I Belong to Jesus" (Kaka). Their witness is a tremendous example of giving thanks to God for the gifts and opportunities bestowed upon them. Indeed, now even more so than leading up to the event, the Christian church can be building upon the foundation (of Jesus) already laid by these faithful servants of Christ by working together to achieve a maximum distribution of 'The Ultimate Goal' video. This resource has Brazil's Lucio featured plus interviews with 8 other leading International players about aspects of the Christian faith. The distribution is being coordinated by Quest Australia - More than Gold, PO Box 674, Sydney Markets NSW 2129, Ph: (02) 9763-2800, Fax: (02) 9673-2811, Email: office@questaustralia.org. It is also available through Koorong Christian Bookstores. The retail price of the video is $12.95 not including postage. Written by Rodney Davison, former NSW cricketer on behalf of Quest Australia, a not-for-profit Christian organisation providing volunteer, chaplaincy and welfare services at Major Sporting Events.