Dietrich Bonhoeffer prayer

This prayer by Dietrich Bonhoeffer prayer depicts the one beside whom we live and before whom we pray:

Lord Jesus, come yourself, and dwell with us, be human as we are, and overcome what overwhelms us. Come into the midst of my evil, come close to my unfaithfulness. Share my sin, which I hate and which I cannot leave. Be my brother, Thou Holy God. Be my brother in the kingdom of evil and suffering and death. Come with me in my death, come with me in my suffering, come with me as I struggle with evil. And make me holy and pure, despite my sin and death.

faith and social justice

Did you realise that the bible talks a REAL LOT about social justice? If you're interested in exploring the who issue more then check out http://www.sojourners.com/ or read Jim Wallis's book "God's Politics".
Our congregational actively supports each of the following excellent ministries either financially, with leaders or by having members who are staff.
Habitat for Humanity at http://www.habitat.org.au/
Opportuntity International at http://www.opportunity.org.au/
TearAustralia at http://www.tear.org.au/
World Vision at http://www.worldvision.com.au/
Amnesty International at http://www.amnesty.org.au/

discipleship goals

On Sunday we looked at Matthew 28:16-20 and noticed that the mission which Jesus left for the church was 'to make disciples of all nations.'
I have often considered what a disciple looks like in measureable terms so that I can check whether or not what I'm doing is achieving anything. Here are the measures I use, they're not perfect, but they are a good place to start considering what we're on about.
My ten goals for disciples are ...
1) To be growing in intimacy with God through developing a personal relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
2) To be able to identify at least one person whom you share an active accountability relationship.
3) To be a joyful and active small group member.
4) To have determined and be following through on a personal giving decision.
5) To be using your spiritual gifts fruitfully.
6) To be receiving personal and appropriate equipping, encouraging and empowering in the area of your ministry service.
7) To be regularly experiencing meaningful corporate worship.
8) To be able to list three non-christians for whom you are regularly praying and taking active steps to help them come to a meaningful experience of God.
9) To be able to identify recent areas of growth in the fruit of the Spirit.
10) To be living a holistic and balanced life.

the m word

Here's a really interesting link look at a Christian response to the issue of masturbation. http://www.pureonline.com/masturbation.aspx

science proves the story of the missing day of the bible

A friend of mind recently sent me an interesting story about how science had proven the biblical story of a missing day. I thought it was a really interesting story and a powerful arguement, but, before sharing it I decided to do some quick checking of the facts only to discover it was a hoax.
To see the story and the real facts check out http://www.joyfulministry.com/timef.htm & http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/1117.asp
There are indeed lots of good reasons to follow our Lord Jesus, some from science and others from other sources such as history. We should keenly share these reasons with others, but as we share it is important that the stories that are meant to inspire faith in others are checked out for there truthfulness first, otherwise all we do is casts a doubt on the credibility of our faith.