#0: Introduction to Lenten Reflections 2019: Luke

Thank you for joining me in this series of Lenten devotions on Luke. First, a couple of housekeeping comments.

I'm writing these primarily for my own church, Robina Anglican church, on the Gold Coast, Australia. Permission is freely given for anyone to share them electronically or by other means to anyone else in the world, on the conditions that each devotion is sent in its entirety, including the page header above, and that they do so freely, with no commercial benefit or costs. Freely we receive, freely we give. My copyright is asserted, however, for a probable future publication in print and digitally.

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Ireland and Abortion Re-Forming

Ireland has voted to kill unborn children. And the streets are filled with cheering, laughing, happy people. Why does no-one in the media think this is just a little creepy?

I know - it's not really about the children. It's really about the way that the church has mistreated unmarried mothers for centuries, and how they have connived in the sexual abuse of children, and generally been a misogynistic, powerful, men's club apparently more interested in maintaining the club than serving the people who made up their membership. 

But why kill children just to punish the church?

Because it's not really about the church either. That was just a convenient excuse. …

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Are Science and Christian Faith Fundamentally Incompatible?

It is common to hear statements to the effect that “Faith and Science are fundamentally incompatible”.[1] Put into the language of ‘the man or woman in the street’: No sensible 21st century person, who has any knowledge of science, could possibly believe in God. Science has disproved God.

Any discussion about faith and science requires some careful definition before it can be useful. Both faith and science cover broad fields, and need to have their scope fairly and carefully defined.

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Guidance on the Role of Directors for Not-For-Profit Companies

This paper is intended to be a brief guide for Directors, specifically in not-for-profit companies, though much of it is equally relevant to for-profit organisations also.  Most issues are not fully elaborated on, but only discussed in sufficient depth to give broad guidelines for actions and behaviours which will facilitate the smooth operation of a school over many years. The material is kept brief so that it may easily find a place in a Policy Manual for Directors.

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Christian Schools and Academic Excellence

“I have a dilemma. I have two applicants for a position. One is a Christian, and a reasonable teacher, the other does not profess any personal faith, but is an outstanding teacher. Which one do I appoint?”

Many Principals of schools in the Christian and general independent sector will identify with this problem, and will have answered it themselves in various creative ways.

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Why is there Pain and Suffering in the World?

This question is one of the oldest in the world. It is typically presented in these terms:

a)    If God exists, he must be all-powerful,

b)   If God were all-powerful, he would not allow pain and suffering to exist;

c)    Pain and suffering do exist; therefore, there must either be no God, or he is not a good God.

C. S. Lewis provides a way of thinking about this that is really worth thinking about: If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth, only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair. C. S. Lewis

This is an essential starting point, if you really want an answer to this question. We want a real and reliable answer to this question – not just wishful thinking.

 

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