The Australian Census and that "Religion Question"

With the Australian Government's national census occurring on Tuesday the 9th of August 2011, some citizens have been stirred into political action regarding the question of which religion Australians identify themselves with. Here is an example of a message that has been doing the rounds on Facebook and email:

AUSTRALIA WILL BE HOLDING A CENSUS THIS WEEK.
DON'T LEAVE THE “RELIGION” SECTION BLANK. BE SURE TO AT LEAST TICK CHRISTIAN (OR YOUR OWN FAITH).
1,000,000 MUSLIMS WILL TICK THEIR BOX.
10,000,000 AUSTRALIANS WILL LEAVE IT BLANK THEN WONDER WHY CHRISTMAS CAROLS ARE BEING BANNED IN SCHOOLS! NOT TO MENTION, EASTER HAT PARADES. IT'S NOT ABOUT RELIGION, IT'S ABOUT KEEPING OUR WAY OF LIFE ;)
RE-POST IF YOU AGREE!

Aside from the annoying over-capitalization and the xenophobic undertones, this message is an example of the weight of importance some concerned Australians are attributing to this question on the national census. Interestingly, the religion option on the census form is not just arousing Christians with a political bent, but it has also roused up the Humanist Society of Queensland, who have launched a website urging Australians to be more accurate in their religious affiliation. They claim that many people are inaccurately reporting their religion, leading to flawed census data, which is used to make a variety of political decisions such as funding for the National Schools Chaplaincy Program or religious exemptions from the GST.

Misleading Census Data?
The religion question has been part of the Australian census since the Census and Statistics Act was formed in 1905. This legislates that the response to this question be optional, yet over 90% of Australians entered a response for this question on the 2006 census. Comparing the results from the 1996 census and the 2006 census, there were some visible changes in the religious landscape:

	1996 (%)	2006 (%)	Change (%)
Christianity Total	70.9	63.9	0.8
Catholic	27	25.8	6.8
Anglican	22	18.7	-4.7
Uniting-Church	7.5	5.7	-14.9
Presbyterian-and-Reformed	3.8	3	-11.7
Eastern-Orthodox	2.8	2.7	9.5
Baptist	1.7	1.6	7.3
Lutheran	1.4	1.3	0.4
Pentecostal	1	1.1	25.7
Other-Christian	3.7	3.9	19
Non-Christian	3.5	5.6	79.3
Buddhism	1.1	2.1	109.6
Islam	1.1	1.7	69.4
Hinduism	0.4	0.7	120.2
Judaism	0.4	0.4	11.3
Other-Non-Christian	0.4	0.5	58.8
Inadequately-described	0.3	0.7	147.1
No-Religion	16.6	18.7	25.7
Not-stated	8.7	11.2	43.4
Total	100	100	11.8

Clearly, Christianity is the most predominant religion in Australia with over 63% of citizens identifying some Christian denomination as their religious identity. Is this misleading though?

According to the National Church Life Survey, while 71% of Australians have attended a religious service at least once in the last 12 months, only 19% of Australians attend a Christian church service at least once a month. This represents quite a discrepancy between the census data and religious observance.

The discrepancy arises from the response to the census question. If the census question was formed to determine the general religious affiliation and religious values that an Australian holds, then the census data is quite accurate. If however, it was formed to gauge the level of religious participation in the populace, then it is clearly inaccurate.

Religious Identity or Religious Observance?

As a general rule, Australians are quite apathetic with their religious beliefs. Most Australians may identify themselves with a particular religion for the purpose of the census, but their everyday beliefs and practices do not reflect that religion. This identification may be based on the religious beliefs of their parents, a particular private school that they attended or the general vibe that they find attractive about a particular religion.

On the other hand, those who frequent a religious service - and generally adhere to the internal logic and belief system of a religion - are quite less in number. It is this group that is most likely to list their religion on their profile page on Facebook and who would respond politically to decisions that affect their religion. They would most likely be active participants in the provision of social services that their religious body facilitates and generally advocate their religious beliefs and practices in their local community. It is this group that most people would think of when religion is spoken of. In many respects, those who regularly practice a religion are really those who are accurately described by this census question.

Conclusion
The accuracy of the census data is important. The Australian Bureau of Statistics released an forthright statement in response to a large section of the community who listed "Jedi" as their religion in the 2001 census. This was during the time when the second series of Star Wars films were being progressively released by George Lucas. The ABS rebuked those who had listed the fictional religion as an ambivalent response to this question and then wonder why social services that they depend on were vanishing ("Jedi" is not categorized by the ABS as a religion and for aggregration purposes is classified as "not defined").

It is therefore in the best interest of the country that Australians answer the religion question with honesty and integrity. Obviously, this is a very personal question that is subjective to the individual, but nevertheless has important ramifications on political decisions and provision of services in the community.

PostScript: Am I Christian?
As a general rule, while many Australians may consider themselves to be Christian, in reality they do not adhere to the Christian belief system or regularly practice Christian religious observances. The noun, "Christian" was first used in the first century AD to describe Jews or Gentiles who were "Christ-followers" or "Followers of the Way" (for an interesting read on the latest iteration on Facebook, "follower of Christ", go here). The important distinction at this point is that to be a Christian, it requires a following. Jesus himself said, "Follow me." Therefore, while for cultural reasons many people may describe themselves as Christian or being attracted to the Judeo-Christian ethic, from a religious perspective, they are not Christian.

Protestant Christianity has historically drawn a clear line of delineation between a culture that is influenced by Christian beliefs and practices (eg. England) and those who strongly adhere to the Christian doctrine and practice (eg. Ned Flanders). Protestant Christianity generally believes that a person must first believe in the historical acts of the divine Christ and secondly, display outward practice that is consistent with the teachings in the Bible (a marrying of faith and works as described in James 2:14-25).

Core Christian Beliefs
The basic Christian beliefs have been best synthesized as the Apostles' Creed, which was developed by Christians in the first few centuries AD. It describes the essential beliefs that defines a believer in Christ for the purposes of salvation.

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended into hell.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Core Christian Practices
Along with these beliefs outlined in the Apostles' Creed, the Christian would generally adhere to these Christian practices - but not for the purposes of salvation.

• Attend church, pray and read the bible regularly
• Observe the moral & ethical code outlined in the bible (eg. the Ten Commandments, Sermon on the Mount, etc)
• Encourage other Christians in their faith
• Encourage other people in their community to become Christians.

The Australian International Motor Show - Melbourne

The other day I went to the Australian International Motor Show to view the latest offerings from the main car manufacturers. The show is being held in the 30,000 sq metre exhibition space (ie. Jeff's Shed) as part of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Due to the massive area, it took my father-in-law and I about 4 hours to meander through the displays, thoughtfully comparing and contrasting the glistening concept models and generally dismissing anything with a cheap, plastic interior.

The latest offering from Nissan

This is the first time in two years that motor show has graced Melbourne with its presence and with all the marketing campaigns promoting the exhibition, one could be forgiven for thinking the show was an entertainment event. The reality though is that the show is a cleverly dressed up, glorified advertisement by the car manufacturers that Joe Public pays $20 for the privilege of viewing it. It is similar situation to casinos, where everything thinks that they are going there for a good night of entertainment, but in reality, they are donating their money to the casino while fancy lights and sounds placate the analytical mind.

It took quite a while to walk through all the different exhibits

From the outset, it was clear which manufacturers were there with the serious intention of wooing new customers while others appeared to be at the show due to backroom wrangling and desk pounding. The clear and undisputed manufacturer for best exhibit was Ford, who managed to turn their allocated floor space into a Science-Works meets school open day. In other words, the children get distracted by the crazy science demonstrations, while the parents engage in serious conversation with the adults. The end result: people who entered the Ford exhibit stayed longer.

Best Exhibit: Ford

By contrast the manufacturer with the most under-performing exhibit was Holden which clearly thought a couple of free posters and a few scattered vehicles would meet the minimum requirements. Either the GFC is still hurting GM or Holden Australia is feeling so comfortable with their market position that they thought a token effort was all that was warranted. 

This tiny Kumho Tyres stand got more interest than the Holden exhibit.

The why-did-you-bother award goes to Bentley, who provided three cars that were all roped off to the public. The only information provided for each car was an A4 printed sheet with five hastily typed facts, included price and maximum speed. While the prices were impressive, they clearly thought conveying their stuffy Britannica was the best advertising strategy to the predominately Caucasian male from the outer suburbs of Melbourne.

Bentley's token effort

The use of technology was fascinating with iPads being the flavour of the month. The tablet computers were used for information stands and for personal assistants to the sales staff. Interestingly, quite a few iPads were connected by 3G and loaded dynamic content from an external server into the custom sales app. This meant there was a fair delay while the vehicle price was matched to postcode of the user. This lack of responsiveness was disappointing and demonstrated that exhibitors may need to rethink their iPad strategy to ensure maximum effectiveness from the devices.

iPad's were used extensively to display car information

Lastly, it was difficult to miss the fact that manufacturers were tripping over themselves in an effort to display their green credentials. Any car manufacturer worth their salt had an electric car on offer with large charts showing the method of design and operation. Some vehicles on offer looked like they could have potential, while others were clearly there to balance out the other petrol guzzlers on display.

Did Lamborghini bother with any green-ness? No.

Vodafone Creates Light Monsters On Swanston St

In a display of creative and technical talent, Vodafone Australia has installed an impressive advertising piece on Swanston St in Melbourne. The installation displays a very large video advertisement on the north side of the Japanese Melbourne Language School building. The video begins with a sweeping search light that appears to be looking inside various virtual, black windows. Eventually, a blue monster appears (à la Monsters Inc), performs some impressions, then the red Vodafone image and latest promotion dominate the view.

Part of the attention grabbing
 advertising display by Vodafone

The installation relies on some impressive projector technology which is capable of projecting the image across a far distance of about 140m with plenty of urban light to compete against. The projector appears to be mounted a-top the Legacy House building on Swanston St and there appears to be two separate light sources involved in the display. The installation appears to be the work of advertising agency tkm9.

The display was a popular talking point among many of the people on the street, with lots of finger pointing and loud exclamations. Obviously the large Vodafone image/promotion are fairly standard fare in any major urban space, but the search light and blue monster were an effective attention grabber that caused the viewer to stop walking and watch until the reason for the light show became apparent.

This installation comes at an appropriate time in the Melbourne calendar as the City of Melbourne is currently conducting the Light in Winter festival at key locations around the CBD. At Federation Square, organizers have built a large structure of steel beams and wooden planks with numerous lanterns and neon lights emblazoned inside the dominating art piece. Explorers can walk inside the structure and watch video presentations on mini LCD screens. Closer to Flinders St station, a genuine fireplace has been established with appropriate campfire theming. A bored security guard keeps the fire stoked while a fire extinguisher is visible within easy reach. 

The most fascinating event on the winter festival calendar was the Projector Bike tour around the city, where participants bring their bike and ride to various locations and watch short video clips that are projected on the sides of buildings. It is all provided by a special projector contraption added as a trailer to a mountain bike. The effect was impressive and it seemed to draw a small, but loyal crowd.

Zara, Melbourne, Fast Fashion & Fashion Addiction

Zara opened in Melbourne on
the 15th of June 2011

With great anticipation, the Zara juggernaut launched their latest store in their quest for global retail domination. Situated on pedestrian-friendly Bourke St, next to traditional department stores Myer and David Jones, Zara has picked prime real estate for their Melbourne incarnation.

After several weeks of frenzied activity with tradies in hard-hats and high-vis vests pulling double shifts throughout the night, the store opened with less fanfare than its Sydney rival. That said, the rope barriers for the queues were in full force, bouncers on the door, and a team of lowly paid security guards prevented wayward shoppers from stepping in-front of passing trams while gawking at the freshly painted fittings.

In terms of retail and clothing, Zara is something of a maverick. In began in 1975 and has now grown into a global player with over 2000 stores in 77 countries. It's owner, Amancio Ortega, is now the 9th richest man in the world. Zara usually copies fashion trends and designs around the world, rather than creating its own.

Almost all global clothing chains, from high end to your Kmart garden variety, have outsourced the manufacturing of their product to cheaper labour factories in Asia. However Zara opts for European clothes manufacturing, where it owns the factories and distribution methods. The upshot of this situation is that Zara can quickly turn out new stock much faster than its rivals. It is said that Zara can design, model, create and distribute new product within a 3-4 week period, compared to the industry average of 6 months. Most outlets might produce 2,000 to 4,000 new pieces each year, whereas Zara produces in excess of 10,000. 

Security guards prevent wayward shoppers from
swelling onto the tram tracks

Fast Fashion

With considerable control over the supply chain and a frenzied approach to creating new product, Zara has pioneered the concept of fast fashion. This concept not only embodies the idea of quickly moving new creations from the catwalk to the store window, but also completely blasts the once normal concept of fashion seasons out of the water. Fast fashion thrives on the endlessly unquenchable desire for something new and requires constant change with new product to match. While traditional stores supply stock based on four seasons, Zara pumps out fresh stock twice a week, for a '104 seasons' a year cycle. 

The emphasis on fast fashion has a interesting effect on buying behaviour with customers. Normally, customers might visit a store a couple of times a year, whereas Zara sees repeat business in the order of 6 times greater than its rivals. It is reported that the customers return on average to Zara seventeen times in one year.

Crowds gather on the opening day, eager to dive into fast fashion

Fashion Addiction?

There is no denying that Zara are very savvy at what they do. They have not only created a successful business, but their business model is built upon the new and ever-changing. They have begun a sweeping change of the way customers view clothing, from seasonal, to twice-weekly. Constantly producing new designs and updating floor stock give the customer the impression that to keep up-to-date requires purchases on a weekly basis. This model though, encourages classic addictive behaviour. Clothing has moved beyond the realm of practicality and into the disposable, instant and one-time-use. While one can critique the fashion pros and cons of the situation, the implication is that clothing puts greater demand on the wallet. While we are encouraged to pursue the fashion-bleeding-edge, the Ortegas of this world smile all the way to the bank.

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Further Information

For a concise overview of Zara, check out this Hungry Beast video: http://hungrybeast.abc.net.au/stories/beast-file-zara

Do We Still Need the King James Bible?

Last month marked the 400th anniversary of the printing of the King James Bible. This bible translation was not the first English version, but it is by far the most famous and for several hundred years, was the most read English translation. The first English translation was by a theologian called John Wycliffe who in the late 14th century, for both political and religious reasons, wanted a version of the bible in his own tongue. Prior to this point - and until after the protestant reformation in the 16th century - the bible was exclusively written in Latin. The reason for this is both historical and political.

A Brief History
When the Roman Empire in the 4th century became Christianised, the language of the day was Latin and scriptures were translated into this dominant language. After the fall of the Roman Empire and the subsequent rise of the Catholic Church, the use of Latin was initially used as a universal common language, but over the next 1000 years, became increasingly the language of the educated and clerical classes of society. The religious impact of this outcome was that the general populace could not read the bible for themselves and required a trained clergy to interpret the scriptures into their vernacular. The meant that there was no method for a commoner to check the text on their own, which lead to all sorts of heretical practices and false doctrines that essentially meant a consolidation of political and financial power to Rome.

The King James Bible completed in 1611.

When Wycliffe translated the bible into English (from the Vulgar Latin version), it was seen as an affront to the establishment and this act was seen as illegal as it would have the potential to upset the balance of political and religious power in Europe. His version survived the strict censorship bans in England, but even in the early 16th century when another man called William Tyndale produced a far superior translation, Tyndale was strangled and burnt at the stake for his efforts.

Tyndale's work though was more influential than Wycliffe for two important reasons. Firstly, his version was translated from the original Greek and Hebrew texts, leading to a better English understanding of the original wording and intent. Secondly, while Wycliffe's work was disseminated by handwriting, Tyndale's work was the first to make use of a new invention, the printing press. These two factors spread the reformist ideas throughout Europe. As the reformation gathered momentum and the Henry the 8th separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church, suddenly the idea of having a "proper" version of the bible in English made political sense, so King James 1 of England convened a working group of 47 scholars from the Church of England to perform the task. In 1611, the scholars presented a copy of the bible to the King, who authorized it through an act of parliament.

Today
Within Christendom, the King James is usually viewed in one of three, mutually-exclusive, ways:

1. The King James is the only valid translation and it is the exclusive source of the scriptures.
2. The King James is a error-ridden, invalid translation that should be relegated to history.
3. The King James is an interesting historical translation that could be used along with a collection of other translations to gain a wider perspective of God's word.

To understand these different perspectives of the King James Bible, it first requires an understanding of the how the bible came to be. The Bible, from the Protestant perspective, is a collection of 66 writings split into two major groups: the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is generally accepted that 40 authors wrote the 66 books of the bible over a period of 1500 years in three continents. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and Aramaic, while the New Testament was written in Greek. 

This last point is important to reading the Bible today. All English versions of the Bible are translations of the original text and like all translations, while they provide an reasonable insight into the intended meaning of the authors, they do not provide a perfect understanding. Additionally, all translation works rely on the translators having an acute understanding of ancient languages, theology and culture, and in turn, an accurate understanding of the modern day equivalent. 

Compounding this situation is that each translation is usually the result of a desire to re-translate the scriptures from a particular world view, whether it be from a political, religious or doctrinal perspective. Today, there exists hundreds of different English translations from the poetry of the King James to ultra-modern SMS versions, with each version catering for a different demographic, denomination, political or theological persuasion.

So, as to the original question: do we still need the King James Bible? The heart of this question lies in your understanding of the purpose of the Bible. For some Christians, the Shakespearian language of the King James is familiar and reverential, while for other Christians, the old English prevents them from understanding the words and meaning. 

A particular strength of more modern translations is that they have the benefit of accumulated knowledge of the current era, particularly with greater access to ancient manuscripts (like the Dead Sea scrolls) and recent archaeological finds which help interpret the ancient writings.

Personally, I fit into the third group. I think that I can have a better understanding of God's Word by reading from multiple translations which provide a greater perspective by relying less on a single group of translators in one particular point in history. I simultaneously do not think that the King James version is completely perfect or completely invalid and I find the Old English words too difficult to understand. Obviously, it is a question of personal choice.

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Wycliffe Bible Translators is an modern day organisation named after John Wycliffe, who are involved in nearly 1300 translation projects around the world. The Bible is the most printed book in history and has been translated into 4000+ languages and dialects world-wide. Wycliffe are aiming for every language in the world (over 6800) to have a version of the New Testament by 2025.
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The Age recently did a write-up about the anniversary of the King James Bible: The Book That Changed the World.

Thank God For The Salvos: Red Shield Appeal 2011

This weekend (28th and 29th of May) is the annual Red Shield Appeal run by the Salvation Army. Affectionately known as the "Salvos", this church organisation has effectively blurred the lines between a denomination and a charity, to the extent that it could be argued that they have successfully united two perceived tensions in Christianity: faith and works.

The 2011 Red Shield Appeal advertised on
banners outside the Eureka Tower in Melbourne

The Salvation Army began in London, England in 1865 by a former Methodist minister and his wife, William and Catherine Booth. Modeled on the 'armour of God' referenced in Ephesians 6:10-18, the Booths established their volunteer organisation with the structure of a military rank-and-file hierarchy complete with uniforms, flags and marching band music. Right from the beginning, the Salvation Army specialised in ministering to the poor - best expressed by the three 'S' methodology: soup, soap and salvation.

Theologically, the Salvation Army is a mainstream protestant church with an evangelical bent. Some interesting highlights include their view of equality in ministry between men and women (quite an amazing position in the mid 19th century!), their decision to not include communion or baptism in the worship service and a refraining from alcohol. Doctrinally, the Salvos have 11 faith statements which provide foundation for their beliefs and most Christians would be in agreement with these basic tenets. However, one particular faith statement could provide an insight into the reasoning behind the Salvos persistence in charitable work:

We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ. [Statement 9] 

This is an interesting statement. Clearly they disagree with the once-saved-always-saved doctrine and there seems to be an inherent works-based attitude to salvation which may be a little too much for all the amazing-grace types. Biblically, this statement could be a reflection of the pervasive argument in the book of James:

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? ... [v26] As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
[James 2:14-26]

If this passage is their proof text for the ninth faith statement, then Jesus' parable of the Sheep and the Goats could be the basis for their methodology in demonstrating an "obedient faith":

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. 
[Matthew 25:35-36]

Today, the charitable work of the Salvation Army is enormous. They operate in 124 countries, have an expenditure of over US $2.4 billion and they are the second largest charity in the United States. In Australia, they help with disaster relief, emergency support, missing persons, clothing, pastoral care counselling, drug and alcohol counselling, training and education, employment services, disability services, crisis accommodation, as well as feeding and sheltering the homeless. Last financial year, they provided welfare services for over 80,000 Australians, while their overall work touches over 1 million Australians.

A damning report by the Salvos in the lead-up to the Red Shield Appeal reveals that 45,000 Australians are homeless on any given night, 25,000 families are homeless every night and 60,000 women and children need refuge from domestic violence each year. 2.2 million people, which includes 12% of children, are living in poverty. The Salvos hope to raise $79 million this appeal to maintain their social programs.

May 21st 2011 is NOT the end of the world

In what is almost certainly a cliché for cults, yet another wacky group has predicted the end of the world with a specific timestamp. Harold Camping from Familyradio.com has predicted that May 21st 2011 is the exact day that Jesus returns. His logic is based on some far-fetched calculations based on a mix of biblical numerology, an even helping of poor exegesis and a good dose of coincidence.

Billboard announcing Judgement Day on the 21st of May, 2011
on Victoria St in Footscray, Vic. Photo: ebiblefellowship.com

89 year old Harold, like all good cult leaders, has built his theology on some solid grains of truth which provide enough credibility for anyone with a passing knowledge about Christianity to be interested. From this platform though, Mr Camping has constructed an entire understanding of eschatology with a preoccupation with numbers found in the bible as opposed to the words which display the intent and meaning that many of the biblical writers were conveying. This type of biblical interpretation is very similar to the bible code fad that was popular in the late '90s, as it was more concerned with hidden mathematical patterns than the actual words and stories used in the Torah (first five books of the Old Testament).

When the clock strikes 12AM on the 22nd of May 2011, Harold Camping will join a long line of leaders who have famously been incorrect in their prediction of Judgement Day. Mr Camping originally made a prediction that the world would end in September 1994, but later revised his calculations, which again is pretty much cliché. For a quick history in different predictions of different past dates for the world's end, check out this article: Apocalypse Not.

Mainstream Christianity acknowledges that Jesus will return in the future. Since Christ's ascension, 40 days after being resurrected on Easter Sunday, until the time when Jesus returns, the bible describes this period as the 'last days'. So far, the 'last days' have continued for over 2000 years and they may well continue for another 2000. The fundamental problem with predicting the date of Christ's return is that Jesus himself said:

"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come." 
[Mark 13:32–33]

Jesus goes on to say:

"At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time."
[Mark 13:21-23]

So, not only is Harold Camping preaching a misleading doctrine, he is also directly teaching against the words of Jesus. Therefore, sleep easy tonight and enjoy your Sunday the 22nd of May. Don't go quit your job, flee to the hills or prematurely sell all your possessions. Should Jesus return like a 'thief in the night', then it will be a glorious occasion for Christians, however until then though, relax and make the most of life.

Comparison Between Mainstream Christianity and Harold Camping

Topic	Mainstream Christianity	Harold Camping
Biblical interpretation method	Historical-grammatical	Hidden meaning, numerology
Intended meaning method	Exegesis	Eisegesis
Will Christ return?	Yes	Yes
Can humans know when Christ will return?	No	Yes
When will Christ return?	Unknown	21st of May, 2011
Rapture?	Speculative; no consensus	Definitely
Will Christ return on the anniversary of the Noahic Flood?	Highly unlikely	Yes

Further Reading

• Refute Camping
• Can We Know When Jesus Will Return?

Church Review: City on a Hill - 6PM Edition

On Sunday night, we decided to check out a church which we had heard good things about. City on a Hill is a uniquely flavoured church which specialises in utilising non-traditional and secular spaces for Christian church services.

City On A Hill 6PM edition meets in the Arrow On Swanston hotel

The church began in 2007, known as the Docklands Church, and they met in the James Squire Hotel in New Quay. Since then, the church has expanded rapidly and through various circumstances, has taken up residence in the heart of the CBD of Melbourne. Two services are offered: a 10AM service that meets in a cinema theatre at the Hoyts in Melbourne Central; and a 6PM service that meets in a conference room in the Arrow On Swanston hotel (on Swanston St obviously). The creative decision to use these two spaces is intriguing and reflects a desire to re-engage Melbourne with Christianity, by taking church out of normal environs.

While I can't comment at this stage on the effectiveness of conducting a church service in a movie cinema, the 6PM service held in the hotel's ballroom, quickly turns the space from a sterile, conference room into a warm, knowable chamber through the use of branded signage, mood-lighting and ambient music.

The service began on time and after an exuberant, young man welcomed everyone in a well-practiced eastern-suburbs-footy-voice, an ultra hip video began on the big screen that acted as the opener to the service. In fact, the highly stylised graphics on all the church material suggests that this church of 400+ members contains quite a few professional graphic designers. From an image perspective, City on a Hill has a well-refined and cohesive product.

City on a Hill is technically an Anglican church, which until the second worship song, was clearly not evident to the untrained eye. However, this particular worship song was written in 2010 by members of the church and while it is set to contemporary music that contains drums, bass and guitar, the lyrics use old-English words like 'thou'. A curious fusion of history and modern expressions really.

Demographically, think university crowd and young professionals. It was difficult to spot anyone outside the 22-35 bracket. Generally well heeled, inner urbanites with tertiary degrees, but importantly, unpretentious and concerned with social justice. The church runs a food program for the poor called Many Rooms and they are currently feeding over 80+ homeless in the North Melbourne region.

Church life appears vibrant with an announcement about a frenemy basketball match between City and St. Judes in Carlton; as well as a vision for expanding ministries into the youth space, young families and children's min - obviously reflecting the broadening demographic that apparently the 10AM time slot is attracting.

In the ballroom, just before the service begins

The church structures its sermons around a solid series plan that guides the teaching focus of the pastors. On the day we visited, the church was concluding a series on 'God or Money' which sought to provide Christians with a biblical perspective on finance as well as explain City's specific nuance on money. Interestingly, the church never passes around a tithe or offering during services and instead relies on attendees to privately donate through appropriate channels. The associate pastor who delivered the sermon, openly explained the purpose and distribution of the funds that the church receives and mentioned that every two months the books are explained to the congregation. Such transparency is refreshingly honest.

The best part of the service was a panel discussion time which three members of the leadership team answering some hardball questions about money series from the audience. The representatives included an young economics professor in a Melbourne university and a chartered accountant - I was immediately engaged. The panel approach was enthralling and thought-provoking both with the questions and answers - something I think many churches could embrace.

The next series that begins on the 22nd of May is mysteriously titled 'The Naked Church' with the video promo material featuring some blurry lens work of a buff man sitting apparently naked in a pew of a traditional Gothic church. A provocative title certainly, but I'm curious to see what this study on the Corinthian church in first century AD might say to this savvy, 21st century version. Time to check out the 10AM edition.

Graffiti Tagging for Jesus

A graffiti tag of Jesus on the Cremorne Rail Bridge

On my bike ride yesterday, I rode up the Yarra River on the south side to Burnley and then returned to Southbank on the north side. It was a beautiful ride and a chance to enjoy some greenery away from the hustle and bustle of the CBD.

On the return trip, I came across an amusing piece of graffiti. Located on the eastern side of the Cremorne Rail Bridge, half way between Punt Rd and Chapel St, there is a large pink tag with the word 'Jesus'. Obviously it is doubtful that this handiwork was intended as a public display of an adherent's pursuit of Christ, but it does raise some speculative queries about promoting the brand of Jesus.

Firstly, could public religious graffiti tagging be a legitimate expression of faith? 

The heart of this question is the about the limitations of freedom of speech that an individual may express in society. Obviously Australian law considers tagging and graffiti art to be defacing property, but the Australian constitution also protects the freedom of religion. In Victoria, this tension between these two human rights has recently played out with the religious vilification laws - most publicly with the court case involving Catch the Fire ministries.

In Australia, this 'tension' is more academic than practical as generally Christians have the freedom to express their faith to the extent of their comfort zone, however this issue becomes a literal matter of life and death to Christians in some other countries around the world which out-right ban religious expression. Christians in these countries are harassed, imprisoned, tortured and even killed for public acknowledgement of their private beliefs.

In comparably safe Australia, our civil liberties are protected by law, but our ability to express our opinion is limited and in many cases, rightly so. In this situation, the question of graffiti tagging as a religious expression is not so much a matter of freedom of expression as rather a question of appropriateness. This is because the expression is occurring on property which is not owned by the tagger. Should a tagger want to publicly express their religious opinion in the form of graffiti on their own property (ie. clothing, vehicle, website, or side of their house) then they have the appropriate authority over the property and therefore they can legitimately exercise their freedom.

Religious tagging or graffiti as a form of public protest (as separate from pure expression) within the current Australian political context would seem poorly misguided. Our political and legal system offer many other avenues to seek change to society and one would imagine that a Christian would receive equal treatment of their perspective. However, in countries where normal religious expression is illegal, it could be that protest religious graffiti may have some legitimacy - in the same way that the act of smuggling bibles is viewed.

Finally, Romans 13:1-2 states:

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves... (read the remainder here.)

Secondly, is Jesus-graffiti an effective form of expression?

Graffiti traditionally has been viewed by mainstream Australian society as a public nuisance and the development of laws and prevention programs obviously illustrate this point. Therefore, for a Christian to use a socially inappropriate act as the vehicle through which to share their views either as expression or evangelism would seemingly be damaging method for both the individual and Christianity as a whole. Street cred aside, the individual would seem hypocritical by society and Christianity may have its reputation downgraded. Therefore, public property (ie. illegal) graffiti would be counter productive for the Christian cause.

That said, there is a smaller sub-culture in Australia that appreciates graffiti art and this may be an interesting point of connection or method of pre-evangelism to this particular subgroup. Although, to ensure the legality of this exercise, the methodology would have to be carefully thought out. Churches could offer wall space to budding graffiti artists, hold workshops and host events that would cater for this particular cultural genre. This allows both expression and evangelism to occur within a legal context. For more on this, check out this newspaper article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5294092.ece


For some amazing graffiti art with a Christian bent, check these out:

• http://photobucket.com/images/jesus%20graffiti/
• http://www.artistsforchrist.net/tag/christian-graffiti/

Should Christians Celebrate The Death of Osama Bin Laden?

With news of Osama Bin Laden's death reaching all corners of the globe, it has been interesting watching the different reactions. Expectedly, in certain parts of the world, Bin Laden was mourned and instantly elevated to martyr level. What was unexpected however was the triumphant celebration in other parts.

This was surprising because the scenes outside the Whitehouse seemed strangely similar to those hasty camera shots on the 6pm news of a large mob in a Middle Eastern country firing their guns in the air and chanting frenziedly with flags waving.

The reactions by the Americans to the news that the man who single-handed changed the nature of their country overnight ten years ago is understandable. Hard justice may have finally caught up with Bin Laden, but the question is whether a deserved death should be celebrated?

The Old Testament is filled with many examples of death being delivered directly by God or through his people. The prophet Elijah, after dramatically winning a supernatural burning contest, slaughtered 450 prophets of Baal. God is credited with destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah due to their evilness and for that matter, the whole world population - minus a family and a bio-diverse selection of animals - by global flood.

A well-known story is of David and Goliath where David (a youthful teenager) kills a 3 metre tall, battle-hardened warrior who represented a foreign and invading force. Goliath was the front man for the Philistine army which was intent on occupying Israel and he was undoubtedly responsible for his fair share of murder in the preceding years (ie. bad guy). After David downs the man-giant and decapitates him, news spread around the country with women composing joyful songs, although the nature of the songs were not so much about celebrating the death of their enemy than about creating folk-lore and hero worship.

Fast-forward to Jesus in 1st century AD, who rewrites the Jewish moral code of revenge by instead urging his followers to love their enemies:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5:43-48

Jesus eventually would be tortured, beaten and killed by his enemies, yet even on the cross, Jesus forgave the Roman soldiers who nailed him to it.

Additionally, the Apostle Paul reminds his readers to leave revenge to God rather than undertaking vengeful behaviour. He gave superb demonstration of this when he didn't retaliate after he was repeatedly tortured and beaten for sharing the gospel.

Therefore, from my vantage point in my nice, warm apartment in the safe surrounds with nothing to fear, there appears to little reason for a Christian to celebrate the death of anyone, let alone evil monsters such as Osama Bin Laden, Hitler, etc. To even participate in seeking the death of this man seems contrary to the teachings of Jesus and the sixth commandment of "You shall not kill/murder". It would seem that the only justified killing is when God directly carries the justice out himself. Even then, I don't seem any worthy examples from scripture where the Christian response would be one of celebration.

For some other thoughts:

• Celebrating Osama bin Laden’s Death: What Would Jesus Do?
• Osama bin Laden Dead; Christians Debate Response
• Is It Wrong To Celebrate Bin Laden's Death?

Swanston Street Church of Christ: CrossCulture

Swanston Steet Church of Christ
(now renamed as CrossCulture Church of Christ)

As a matter of convenience and curiosity, it was refreshing to go to a night service at the Swanston Street Church of Christ (later renamed to CrossCulture Church of Christ). Located at the top end of Swanston near the corner of La Trobe, this church building is a medium sized chapel awash in grey tones with modern signage. Most surprising however, is that the worship service is not held inside this 1863 church. Instead, the entrance runs alongside the historic building and leads down underground to a decent sized theater that is the old basement of the Melbourne Campus Apartments (now known as UniLodge).

Therefore, while the outside Gothic architecture conveys weighty history, by contrast, the 700 seat worship space is thoroughly modern, complete with a rock-concert-worthy array of sound and lights. A large projector screen hangs above the polished floorboard stage and displays the lyrics to the worship songs with impressive - yet subtle - graphics. Indeed, the church seems to have quite a creative talent available with the graphics team producing some well-designed posters that adorn the walls.

The seating arrangement is more reminiscent of a university lecture theater, with the congregation looking down at the stage from their different padded-cushion sections. A swivel, notes-writing arm would almost seem fitting. This university familiarity though obviously plays well with the crowd as the demographics would be described as mostly international students from Asia, with a smattering of older faces who could probably pass for the parents of the aforementioned students. In fact, due to the proximity of the church to RMIT and the fact that the church is underneath a student residential facility, means that CrossCulture directly sees its mission as the discipleship of these students.

As a consequence, the church has a heavy emphasis on overseas mission, particularly in the Asian region. The congregation has a long-standing history of supporting and sending missionaries to foreign countries and is soon to be hosting the 40th Global Missions Convention. CrossCulture has 20 teams in the field reaching the countries of Thailand, India, Nepal, Philippines, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, Japan and Malaysia. Interestingly, their convention promotional material includes precautionary notes about writing to people serving in a 'sensitive access country' (ie. countries that outlaw Christianity). The notes would probably not appear out of place in an espionage manual.

The worship style was contemporary, circa early 2000's Hillsong with a bit of Soul Survivor thrown in. The band had bass, drums, grand piano and a lead guitarist who juggled synth on the side. With a couple of singers, the overall effect was inviting but not distracting. Communion was basic cracker and tiny plastic cups brimmed with Ribena, however rather than passing around the trays, attendees walked to strategic points in the aisles with a help-yourself mentality. Once back at your seat, you consume the elements in your own time, then discard the cups into small tubs at the end of the rows.

The sermon was delivered by an active missionary from Japan who once upon a time was true-blue, but now speaks English with oriental intonation and well-rounded annunciation. The meaty message was expository in nature and taken from Romans 10:5-15. This scripture was used to demonstrate the necessity of missionary ministry because Christianity has a unique message to bring and it needs people to tell it. Obviously fitting neatly with the CrossCulture theme, the church also runs a roundtable discussion for the public, with the next session focusing on the differences between Christianity and Buddhism.

The last surprise of the evening was at the conclusion of the 90 minute service when visiting the bathroom, only to discover that the toilets were lit by vein-obscuring blue light. This, along with a notice on the projector to not leave your possessions unattended, was a grim reminder about the realities of operating a church in the middle of the city.

The verdict? I've never really been all that interested in overseas mission, however I think that this is a great church effectively reaching a critical demographic in Melbourne. I'd be keen to check out their 11:15am service some time in the future to get a gauge on the level of community.

The Way of the Cross, Melbourne 2011

The Way of the Cross stops
outside St Patrick's Cathedral

Yesterday we had the pleasure of joining the Way of the Cross service in Melbourne as part of the Easter celebrations put on by the city churches. I had heard about the service in the past, but this was the first time that I was in the neighborhood and I thought it might be interesting to check out.

It is billed as an ecumenical devotion and it begins at St Francis' church on Lonsdale St while ending at St Paul's Cathedral on Flinders St. Along the way, the route weaves between significant CBD churches with each stopping point marking Christ's key moments from the last supper until his death on the cross. These moments have traditionally been called the stations of the cross and within Melbourne, these stations are marked by a series of 15 permanent sculptures, each residing in the grounds of the various urban churches.

One of the sculptures that mark
the stations of the cross

After hurriedly racing through the city, I managed to catch up with the progression out the front of St Patrick's Cathedral. Several impressions were immediately apparent. Firstly, the crowd of people attending the service was quite sizeable. I estimate about a thousand, but Channel 9 news who were covering the Easter march, reported hundreds. The demographics of the crowd was an interesting mix of nationalities and cultural backgrounds, with most age brackets represented, except for the youth/uni category who presumably are naturally under-represented in urban churches anyway.

Secondly, the organisers had rigged up a portable PA system which allowed the priests and ministers to pass around a wireless mic while two vans had four-way loudspeakers respectfully broadcasting the service to the outer-reaches of the throng. Usually one van would be slightly behind the crowd, while the other acted as the vanguard to the mobile service. The march had a police escort, consisting of several uniforms who walked the outer fringe and a couple of cop cars who blocked off the streets. At some moments, it felt like I should have been holding a placard and chanting some catchy three word sentence - particularly when the route passed Parliament by.

The organisers had a portable PA system to broadcast the service to the crowd

Ballieu had no need to be worried though. The service was equal parts funeral procession and proud proclamation, more reverent than demonstrative. Curious onlookers - once they saw the wooden cross and put-two-and-two together about the reason for their relaxing day off - didn't quite know how to handle such an obvious display of Christianness. Thankfully, no-one loudly vented their issues with the church or make offensive gestures, with most opting for a good old-fashioned gawk or shuffling of their shoes. The only real disturbance was the MFB who raced by and drowned out a poor minister in the middle of a prayer with sirens blaring.

Station 11: Collins Street Baptist Church

We followed a large wooden cross that acted as a heraldic standard for the walking mass. The holder of the cross changed hands at every station with seemingly random people chosen from the crowd, perhaps reflecting the way the ancient Romans selected individuals from the side-lines to help the condemned carry the cross. At each station, a mini service was held, which followed a strict liturgy that was neatly documented in a professional booklet that was freely available. These services included a brief catechism, bible reading, reflection on the bible reading in the form of a poem, common prayers, call-and-response prayers, and a hymn to finish off with.

Station 12: St Paul's Cathedral
Swanston St entrance

Generally everything was fairly straight-down-the-line theologically speaking, although the call-and-response prayers were heavily focused on social justice issues such as depression, homelessness, gender equality, prisoners, pimps, druggies, gangs, the abolition of the death penalty, terminally ill patients and funeral companies. While I agree that these concerns should be matters that the church should consider, I'm not convinced that Good Friday is the best time to address them. Conversely, their inclusion did demonstrate the relevance of the gospel to 21st century Australia.

As the service concluded on the steps of St Paul's and students from Melbourne Grammar handed out juice boxes and hot cross buns (donated by Brumby's bakeries), it was apparent that this was a very special Christian event to have participated in. It was fantastic to see such unity between the different denominations (Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Baptist, Uniting, Church of Christ, etc) and to actually visit the steps of so many majestic places of worship. Melbourne truly is a great city and it was an honour to be part of the moving congregation, rubbing shoulders with random believers from different perspectives, and reflecting upon Christ's awesome sacrifice outdoors with the wind in your hair, sun on your face and trams reverberating past.

Can I really do greater things than Jesus?

On the face of it, the idea that Christians could do greater things than Christ himself, seems audacious at the very least and outright blasphemous at worst. This notion comes from a tiny piece of scripture as recorded by the Apostle John:

Very truly I [Jesus] tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
John 14:12

Can Christians expect to do greater
works than Jesus?

In this isolated text, Jesus seems to be indicating that Christians will be able to do all the same things as Jesus and then some. However, a cursory glance at Christ's Greatest Hits reveals miracles such as: turning about 450L of water into premium wine; restoring sight to blind people; feeding a crowd of over 4000 with nothing more than an initial couple of loaves of bread and fish - on at least two separate occasions; walking on water and verbally instructing a fierce storm to settle down; exorcizing multiple demons from quite a few possessed individuals; bringing a man back to life who had been dead for four days and had begun to decompose; and in the ultimate tour de force of Christ's divinity, he painstakingly submits himself to execution by crucifixion, sacrificing his life for the wrongs of all of humanity, and then comes back to life before ascending to heaven.

These historically recorded miracles provide a burden of proof to substantiate Jesus' claims about his divinity as the Christ and to give weight to his spiritual message about restoration with God. These signs are designed to demonstrate that Jesus was more than just a man and worthy of further investigation into his teachings. Therefore, some context must be provided for the aforementioned scripture, lest any Christian feel the need to outdo Jesus.

Firstly, this quote from Jesus occurs within a long-running Q & A that Christ was having with his twelve disciples between the last supper and the arrest of Jesus. The disciples know that Jesus will soon be leaving and in the cool of the night, Christ delivers his last sermon to his inner circle. In this final series of teachings, Jesus encourages, instructs and warns his followers. It is a provocative, confronting and uplifting message from a man who is about to willingly undergo arguably the worst form of torture devised. 

For a slightly larger context, here are the surrounding verses (taken from the Message translation so that the sentiment is more immediately apparent):

Thomas said, "Master, we have no idea where you're going. How do you expect us to know the road?"
Jesus said, "I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You've even seen him!"
Philip said, "Master, show us the Father; then we'll be content."
"You've been with me all this time, Philip, and you still don't understand? To see me is to see the Father. So how can you ask, 'Where is the Father?' Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you aren't mere words. I don't just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act.
Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can't believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I'm doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I'll do it. That's how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I'll do.
John 14:5-12

Secondly, this quote from Jesus is only recorded in the Gospel of John and not in the synoptic gospels. It was written far later than the other gospels with the intent of persuading its audience (originally the area of Asia Minor - modern day Turkey) rather than simply informing. This does not imply that John was putting words into Jesus' mouth or that one could casually discard this scripture, but rather it provides an overall context into which the words were written.

Thirdly, when examining the lives of the apostles as recorded in the Book of Acts, miracles were performed but they were of a different measure and quantity. The apostles healed the sick, cast out demons and even raised the dead. They instantly spoke in different languages and experienced earthquakes that freed them from prison. However, no single apostle performed anywhere near the same number of miracles as Jesus or even the same breadth of supernatural phenomena. They did not influence natural weather events or remotely heal. Importantly, the apostles did not resurrect themselves.

Therefore, how do we understand this notion of doing greater things than Jesus? I would firstly contend that Jesus is not implying that Christians can out-perform him. To even think so seems down-right arrogant.
Secondly, I think Jesus was attempting to inspire his disciples during a strenuous period and that his words are to be interpreted with the intent rather than the actual specifics - in the same manner that no one seriously tells a mountain to move, or cut out their left eye after staring at a lingerie billboard for too long.
Thirdly, if this was a fundamental and theogically sound doctrine that you could hang-your-hat-on, I think it would have appeared in more than one singular scripture.
Fourthly, as the lives of the apostles set an example for our lives, even they do not out-perform Jesus' miracles. Why would a 21st Christian who has not physically met with Jesus suddenly think that they could do one better than the apostles?
Lastly, Jesus' miracles pale in comparison to his greatest accomplishment: triumph over sin. Therefore, by sharing the gospel with others around us, we participate in the great work of Jesus which was the reconciliation of humankind and God.

For a far better analysis than mine of this scripture, check out this: http://www.predigten.uni-goettingen.de/archiv-7/050424-5-e.html

Planetshakers, Trumpets and Twitter

The Planetshakers conference has rolled into town and has pitched its tent at the Hisense Arena. The conference is running between the 12th and 15th of April and is in its 14th year of operation. Back in my youth-group heydays, I went to the conference when it was in Adelaide and I still have fond memories of 'shakers with the long bus ride, sleeping in church halls, learning to play warlords & scumbags, the South Australian heat, queuing for dominos pizzas, and jumping around in the loud worship.

The most memorable Planetshakers moment for me was during one particular session when Kong Hee was preaching and he stopped in the middle of his explanation of the communication system between ancient Israeli villages to give an example. His demonstration required a trumpet player, so he surveyed the 3000 strong crowd of sweaty teenagers and asked if anyone knew how to play. I raised my hand (I had been purporting to play trumpet at secondary school for many years) and he picked me out to come onto stage. To unjustifiable applause, I leapt onto stage and was handed a trumpet by one of the band members. Kong Hee then returned to his explanation, built up the story about the signalling system that relied on trumpets to sound warnings of danger, and then indicated that I give a suitable warning-of-danger blast. What came out of the end of my brass instrument was somewhere between the sound that gave the thunderbox its nickname and a rusty old truck horn that had been swallowed by an elephant.

Suffice to say that Rev Hee was suitable unimpressed.

He graciously kept me employed for the remainder of his demonstration, however by the time I had played equally painful blasts - much to the amusement of the crowd - he clearly was rethinking his teaching strategy and seriously questioned my ability to play the tortured instrument. I retired to my seat and I haven't picked up the trumpet since.

Is it helpful for Christianity to
embrace social media?

Planetshakers has always been very deft at cornering the youth market and using the tools of the day to ensure that their message is relevantly presented. This time 'round, they have embraced social media - particularly twitter - to be engaging to the life-in-140-characters crowd. The hashtag #Planetshakers reveals a mix of plugs for speakers, neatly encapsulated sentiments of snappy preaching sound-bites, and personal reflections of God's work in their lives. The tweets are overwhelming positive, punctuated by numerous exclamation marks - partly explained by Russell Evan's admonishment of cynics and urging conference attendees to honour the church.

So, the question is: is it helpful for Christianity to embrace social media? On one hand, social media is simply a tool, another system or strategy for the Christian to use. It also could be seen as an extension of the conversation that would normally occur offline between people. Additionally, it is very much in tune with today's culture.

Conversely, does a 140 character limit encourage deep reflection and mediation on the message of God? Does an emphasis on social relevancy provide a point of distinction away from the normal noise that seeks our constant attention? Social media may make us feel more connected, but updating your fb status three times during a sermon may not be the most profitable method to discuss, critique and respond.