"I refuse to believe that I am part of a lost generation..."

While my faith doesn't wholly align with the beliefs of Romancing Your Soul, this short video of theirs certainly strikes home. There IS hope. It's just that the answer doesn't lie within ourselves, but Someone else (let me give you a clue: His name begins with a 'J' and ends in an 'S'). Watch, and be inspired to pray and act for change:

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The country life...

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The internet: boon or bane?

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Notes on a Scandal

Don't forget to head over to my other blog "Notes on a Scandal" for updates of our Beacon Touchpapers, plus recent sermon notes...

You can find it here: Notes on a Scandal Read more!

Ghost Fleet

Reports are appearing of a "ghost fleet" off the Singapore coast: 12% of shipping charters are currently redundant and many are being "parked" together out of public view... a further symptom of the current global economy, and a sign of possible stock issues on our shelves in the months to come...

As one reporter puts it:

"These empty ships should be carrying Christmas [stock] over to the West. All retailers will have already ordered their stock for the festive season long ago... much of it should be on its way here if it is going to make it to the shelves before Christmas.

'We will find out at Christmas whether there are enough PlayStations in the shops or not. There will certainly be fewer goods coming in to Britain during the run-up to Christmas.' "

...But you know what? This should be a good lesson for us all. It's all just stuff, and as much as I like "stuff" - Wii, PC, DVD's and so on - I should never let that dictate my security in life. Unfortunately, many others do. I'm determined that I and my family find our security in the King of the universe:

"Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer's;
he makes me tread on my high places."

(Hab 3.17-19, ESV)

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ELCA decision

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have voted 559-491 for allowing gays in "life-long, monogamous" relationships to serve as clergy.

"We live today with an understanding of homosexuality that did not exist in Jesus' time and culture," says a lay delegate during the debate. "We are responding to something that the writers of Scripture could not have understood."

Um... really? That's rather a statement. And anyway, the writers may not have understood how modern culture will look and act today necesssarily, but the Author of Scripture most certainly would. My post from last year spoke on similar issues so I won't repeat myself: read it here.

John Piper has added to the discussion already this week on his Desiring God blog. Some have already jumped on the bandwagon and hurled obvious accusations his way. What John is saying is that, regardless of "coincidence" or otherwise, we need to take all our assumptions, prejudices and own desires, and compare them to what God wants. To quote John: "The church has always embraced those who forsake sexual sin but who still struggle with homosexual desires, rejoicing with them that all our fallen, sinful, disordered lives (all of us, no exceptions) are forgiven if we turn to Christ in faith." Judging those outside the church and judging those within are two very different things (see 1 Cor 5.9-11 - love the lost, but do not approve of sinful conduct amongst His own).

Regardless of how others around us may choose to live, those of us who are genuinely God's children are expected to live life His way. That is unconditional and essential. His Word tells us how. Read more!