A Typical Premise

US pop sensation, Katie Perry, was on Channel 7’s Sunrise and The Morning Show this week. She performed her number 1 smash hit, “I Kissed A Girl”, on Sunrise and later on she had a chat to Larry and Kylie on the Morning Show.

She was introduced as the daughter of two church pastors and who started her singing career in gospel music. So of course Katie was probed with questions regarding her parents approval of what she is doing.

Kylie Gillies seemed especially surprised to hear that Katie’s parents are supportive of her in whatever she does. Her father even wanted to go to Mexico to see her perform at the up coming Latin Video Music Awards.

It’s as if Kylie expected Katie’s parents to disown her since she is singing pop music with somewhat risqué lyrics and with a dress sense that could be considered provocative, especially to the overly conservative.

It is very understandable for individual Christians not being fans of her music and her videos, even her dress sense. But for parents it is a different story.

How good is it to hear that two Christian leaders have not gone down the overly legalistic route. Instead they have chosen to support their daughter no matter what. Banishing her for her choice in music would have been the easy thing to do. Supporting and loving her despite her misgivings can be hard. Yet it is what God does for us every single day.

The conclusion that Kylie Gillies came to is a typical one in the wider community, especially in the media. That Christianity is all about rules that must be adhered to at all times. Even though some pockets of Christianity live up to this expectation it is still an ignorant view. They forget that all of us, even Christians, fall short of any set of rules.

That is of course why we need Jesus.

Our Fragile Roads

Some accidents recently have exposed how fragile our road system can be. One in particular on the southbound entrance to the harbour bridge created gridlock for morning peak that lasted a few hours.

We are quick to blame the state government. Why not when they provide such an easy target. For years they have under invested in infrastructure yet still manage to gain re election. They want to encourage us to use public transport when for many it provides no better an alternative. So it’s back to using private cars. They have shown a lack of foresight when making major motorways only 2 lanes when they could have made them bigger. See how easy it is to make a claim of finding fault in the state government.

Yet, at the end of the day where does the blame game get us? Nowhere, or stuck in more traffic. While it is easy to blame someone else, it is difficult to look inwardly and consider that perhaps we as individuals are contributing to the problem.

Our road rage is becoming an issue. It is being blamed on the road congestion. A bit rich don’t you think? Time to break the cycle and make individual choices. That is choosing to behave better on the road, no matter what the circumstance. Twice I have seen driver get out of their cars to accost drivers that had wronged them, even though the incident was very minor in the scheme of things. Nothing necessitates leaving their vehicle while stopped in traffic.

Road ragers are perpetuating the problem and need to drive in a more patient manner. Do this by:

• Leave space in front of you – yes other motorists will take advantage of this space but a simple easing off of the accelerator will maintain the gap. It’s called crash avoidance space for a reason
• Drive at a constant speed – not just good for the car but more comfortable to passengers and easier to stop if needed
• Keep lane changing to a minimum - we see alot of almost crashes when two cars are changing lanes
  
• Don’t answer the phone – if it’s so important then the caller will leave a message

Focus on the big picture. What is the rush? You may just be rushing to a premature death.

So forget about the government, what are you doing?

Why Men Hate Church – Book Review

“Why Men Hate Going To Church”
by David Murrow

Despite what you might think of the title it is not the aim of this book to send men away from church. Not even to call men back to church. Rather its intention is to call the church back to them. Change the “thermostat” as Murrow puts it. After all, and you might find this surprising, men are the largest unreached people group.

Why is this the case? Well the book covers a lot of bases. None in any great detail but enough to make the reader think about their own church and their relationship with God. It will also hopefully open up channels of conversation with friends and/or people in their own church.

Men are different, and perhaps the biggest mistake our Christian sisters make is to try and change us into how they think we ought to be. Instead they should accept who we are and celebrate that we have a masculine spirit, using it to their advantage and for the growth of God’s kingdom.

Murrow gives plenty of practical methods for “changing the thermostat.” He focuses on the areas of leadership, pastors, teaching, worship, women and ministry in his chapter Restoring the Masculine Spirit in the Church.

Well worth a read for all blokes and all women who care for the spiritual lives of their blokes.

For more information on David Murrow's mens ministries check out his Church for Men website or its sister site Speaking of Men. Or you can even learn how to pray with a man without totally freaking him out. Checkout other David Murrow books at Koorong.

Let Men's Clubs Be

Anyone (especially the women) ever think why a mens only club such as the Athenaeum Club exists? Perhaps it's because men need such clubs. In the same way that men might need a mens only bible study group. Different species, different needs.

Thanks to the efforts of feminism the roles of men have become blurred. Men are confused, we need places like this where they can just be blokes.

It was some of the male members of the Athenaeum Club that alerted the media to the secret membership limitations. But haven't the women jumped on board with their "How dare they!" diatribe. A discrimination commissioner of some sort was even heard commenting on national radio about the situation. Guests on a morning television program were aghast and proclaimed their disapproval.

But ladies, let the men have their little bloke only zones. It is good for the men and good for everyone else.

Rid Yourself of Tall Poppy Syndrome

Why is it that in this country we are always so quick to cut down the wealthy in society? Whether it is in how we want taxation to be structured (i.e. higher rates for the top earners) or just general insults about their perceived ignorance of the working class issues.

It's the classic "tall poppy syndrome" where we need to bring those above us in status down to our level instead of striving to succeed. It can manifest itself as jealousy which can lead to all sorts of problems.

Malcolm Turnbull, newly elected as Opposition Leader, was for some reason compelled to sell his working class roots. But why?

He is considerably wealthy, apparently $125 million net worth. But then so is the Rudd family. So isn’t it a bit rich (pardon the pun) to label Turnbull as “out of touch” just because he has wealth.

But of course now the Labor heavies are saying it isn’t about the wealth, it’s about the attitude and values. Well at the moment Labor’s attitude is a bit on the nose.

Ever think that Turnbull is more qualified than anyone else to lead. After all he has succeeded in many occupations and business ventures. He has been a journalist, lawyer, merchant banker and also had a stake in OzEmail.

It wouldn’t have been easy to get to where he is today. Especially given his childhood. While he wasn’t hugely deprived, the son of a tradesman lost his mother at the age of 9 when she left to be with another man. By valuing his education he studied at a tertiary level in Australia and overseas. The “self made man” had to work hard to earn his wealth, we shouldn’t begrudge that.

By not appreciating what Malcolm Turnbull can potentially offer the Opposition and the country we are promoting mediocrity. Instead we should be promoting the value of education and have big goals to strive towards. Hold stories like Turnbull’s up high instead of trying to cut him down at the knees.

Celebrate success and do away with the tall poppy syndrome. No one likes negative people anyway.