state of religion

watching the Anzac day coverage today had me thinking, i know it has been said before but it seems that the "Anzac Spirit" has become the new state religion, the guiding metanarative for secular Australia....

This new religion of the "Anzac Spirit" is really a syncretism of Christianity and a kind of ancestral worship. Today i heard much about how these young men, who by all accounts were slaughtered by the bad planning of British authorities, forged the ideals that have shaped us as a nation.... but in what way is that true? These men wernt politicians, or activists or idealists... they were doing the job of a soldier....

i know this is politically incorrect way of thinking but as i said this has become the new "State religion" so how should we as Christians respond to this? do we just roll with it? is it bad? is it an opportunity to contextualize the Gospel?

to tell you the truth i am not sure? I can see the emptiness of a world view that is purely a nationalistic view of wars past.... but also how does it effect the way that we move headlong into the new millennium... the war that was to end all wars has not.... we continue to fight and kill, both through conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan etc... and through unjust foreign polices effecting millions in the third world. Do we need to challenge the view that war will "fix" the worlds problems?

a good article to look at over at signposts

any comments?

I have been busy working on our churches new website and it has just gone live! so check it out

frustration

its amazing how quickly you can become frustrated in "pastoral" ministry.... as my first experiment in what it means to be a "pastor" (whatever that means) i am finding that there is always more to be frustrated with than to be excited about....

there are many beacons of hope on the horizon but they seem so distant, so far, so unreachable.... still i will press on....

an interesting set of statistics posed on signposts gives a bleak picture of this whole crazy job....

· 80% of pastors say they have insufficient time with spouse and that ministry has a negative effect on their family.
· 40% report a serious conflict with a parishioner once a month.
· 33% say that being in ministry is an outright hazard to their family.
· 75% report they’ve had significant stress-related crisis at least once in their ministry.
· 58% of pastors indicate that their spouse needs to work either part time or full time to supplement the family income.
· 56% of pastors’ wives say they have no close friends.
· Pastors who work fewer than 50 hrs/week are 35% more likely to be terminated.
· 40% of pastors considered leaving the pastorate in the past three months.

its sad but true ..... hey another Metalica reference....

its friday but sunday is coming

today we remembered the death of Jesus with a much more "liturgical" gathing than you would find in most baptist churches.... i thought i would post the series of reading and responses... after each reading we said together "Its friday but sunday is coming"

Reading: Isaiah 53:6-7
Response: Kids Song - Son of God
Reading: Isaiah 52:13-14
Response: How deep the Fathers love for us
Reading: Luke 23:26-43
Response: Thief - Third Day
Reading: John 19:28-30
Response: Silence followed by three bell tolls
Reading: 1Cor 11:23-26
Response: Communion
Reading: Mark 15:42-46
Response: Video - Its friday but sunday is coming