July, 2006:

God and Government

Jul 31st, 2006

The Australian Democrats are running an online survey to see what Australians think about links between religious beliefs and government.

Whether you think that matters of faith should or shouldn’t influence our political leaders, I urge you to take the time to have your say by filling in the survey and encouraging others to do the same.

I find it interesting that one of the questions is, “In which of the following areas do you think government policy has been influenced by religious beliefs?” They then list a number of policy areas. I had to say all of them. Your view of God or your thoughts on whether God even exists will shape your worldview which in turn will influence decisions in every area of life. Anyone who says that their worldview doesn’t influence their decisions is only lying to themslves.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

Technorati Tags: Australian Democrats – God and Government – Religion and Politics

If you enjoyed this post please use the buttons above to share.

Rules of engagement

Jul 30th, 2006

by Rodney Olsen.

2 comments

Have you ever sent an email which has been totally misunderstood? Have you written something which you intended to raise a smile but instead it has caused friction? Unfortunately email is far from a perfect communication medium.

Ilona from Truegrit has found a great list of dos and don’ts when it comes to sending emails. I think a lot of the points can be applied to another form of written communication … blogging.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

Technorati Tags: Email – Blogging – Communication

If you enjoyed this post please use the buttons above to share.

Demolition

Jul 29th, 2006

by Rodney Olsen.

2 comments

Some days you just have to smile.

West Coast Eagles 26.9 (165)

Adelaide Crows 12.11 (83)

Posted by Rodney Olsen

Technorati Tags: AFL – West Coast Eagles – Adelaide Crows

If you enjoyed this post please use the buttons above to share.

Why Floyd, why?

Jul 28th, 2006

by Rodney Olsen.

5 comments

Earlier this week Floyd Landis would have been on top of the world but it would seem that it’s now all come crashing down with a positive drug test casting doubt over whether he’ll keep the winner’s Yellow Jersey from the 2006 Tour de France.

The Washington Post is reporting that he’ll skip his scheduled appearance on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show. Even Floyd’s website is ‘currently offline until further notice’.

Landis has tested positive for excessive testosterone levels. So far only the A sample has been tested. The B sample, taken at the same time, will now be tested. If the second sample comes up positive, he can kiss his tour win, and probably his career, goodbye.

I truly hope that it’s all a big mistake and that the B sample will come up negative, but somehow I think that’s highly unlikely. I really want to believe that Floyd is the ‘great guy’ and superb athlete that we all thought he was 24 hours ago.

If Floyd Landis is disqualified from the Tour de France I imagine that the finishing positions will be reshuffled. That would put Australia’s Cadel Evans up to 4th and Michael Rogers into 9th overall. It’s a hollow way to gain a position and I hope it doesn’t come to that, but at the moment it’s the only positive I can take from the situation.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

Technorati Tags: Floyd Landis – Doping – Tour de France – Cycling

If you enjoyed this post please use the buttons above to share.

Healthy sexuality

Jul 28th, 2006

by Rodney Olsen.

3 comments

I’ve got an interesting interview coming up on Monday during my morning radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM. I’ll be chatting to Adrian Rowse who is currently in Perth to speak at a number of venues.

Fuelled by a struggle with his own sexuality during his teenage years, Adrian uses a combination of humour, biblical teaching and stories from his own journey to help young people begin talking about sexuality in healthy and positive ways.

Adrian says, “Young people suffer in silence and our churches are crippled because of the lack of honest, real discussion on these issues”. An accomplished singer/songwriter, Adrian uses original songs to both communicate his personal story of sexual brokenness and the healing that followed.

Strange that Christians find sex such a difficult subject when it was God who invented it in the first place. Not only did he invent it, but he intended for us to enjoy it, not just use it for the continuation of the species.

A lot of what we’ll be discussing on Monday centres around the issue of pornography. What kind of damage is pornography doing to young people and their relationships? Is pornography just harmless fun?

If you want to catch what Adrian has to say tune in at 11:10 a.m. Perth time (click here to see what time that will be for you) by tuning to 98.5 on your FM dial if you’re in Perth or listen online by following the links from the website.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

Technorati Tags: Pornography – Adrian Rowse – Radio – Sonshine FM