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Christian Carnival Here Next Week

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Would you like the opportunity to have your blog promoted? Have you published a post that you’d like read by a wider audience?

I’m having some friends drop in next week. They’ll be visiting from all over the world and you’re invited to join us. The next Christian Carnival is being hosted here at RodneyOlsen.net.

The weekly Christian Carnival is an opportunity for Christian blog writers to share their best posts from the previous week. The topic of the post doesn’t necessarily have to focus on Christianity but it must reflect a Christian worldview, and the writer must be Christian to qualify. You may wish to consider that the readership of the Christian Carnival will be more varied than your usual readership, and you might do better contributing a post with broad appeal.

I’ve already received a number of contributions and I’m looking forward to offering readers of this blog some great links when the carnival is published.

If you’re a Christian and you’ve never contributed before, or if it’s been a while since you have, how about having a look through your posts for this week and choosing something to contribute. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, just a post that outlines your point of view or is designed to get others thinking. Being part of the carnival could be a great way to gain a little extra traffic at your blog.

The easiest way to get involved is to submit your article through the Blog Carnival Submission Form. Otherwise, you can email the submission address.

The deadline for submissions is Tuesday evening at midnight, Eastern (US) Standard Time. That means it’s midday Wednesday here in Perth, Western Australia.

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I Already Know This Stuff

Jun 23rd, 2010

by Rodney Olsen.

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I’m about half way through Berni Dymet’s book Unlocking the Power of Prayer. It’s not a difficult read and most of the time, instead of learning something new, I’m just nodding my head in agreement. It’s stuff I already know.

So why would I waste good reading time on stuff I already know? I wouldn’t and I won’t. That is to say that it’s not a waste of my time. It’s a valuable reinforcement of things that I know but I need to be reminded to put into practice.

Do you ever find yourself reading stuff that you already know? Are you tempted to simply skip large sections and get on with learning something new?

One of the things I’ve appreciated so far in reading Berni’s book is that when he quotes scripture he gives a warning not to skip reading the full passage. He knows that he’s quoting well known stories and that the reader will be tempted to just move ahead but he asks us to take the time to read through what we already ‘know’. He understands that we can become so familiar with a passage that we no longer handle it with enough care. We no longer expect God to speak to us from those particular pages because we’ve been over that stuff too many times already.

Slow Down

Maybe I can join Berni in encouraging you to slow down and spend time on the things you already know. There is so much value in revisiting basic truths and meditating on what they mean for us. Sometimes we need to spend a little bit of time relearning things we’ve let slip over the years.

I’d love to hear about the things that you’ve seen with new eyes years down the track of life. Are there areas of your life that have become stale? Do you need to return to things you thought you learnt years ago?

Berni Dymet

As for Berni Dymet, he’s the Director of Christianity Works in Australia. He has a passion for helping people to connect with God amidst the realities of life. He has an ability to communicate deep, life changing truths in a way that makes sense.

I spoke to him on 98.5 Sonshine FM many months back about his book. You can hear our conversation by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

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Consumerism and Spirituality

Jun 9th, 2010

by Rodney Olsen.

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Am I the only one who feels a little uncomfortable when people joke about retail therapy?

Did anyone else feel uneasy about the masses lining up for days to get their hands on an iPad as soon as they went on sale?

Is our happiness really dependant on the power to buy items that will soon be outdated or superseded?

I don’t have a problem with the iPad and would probably enjoy using one if I could afford it, but I was quite concerned by the hype that drove people to stores around the world to participate in a buying frenzy. The latest I heard is that they’re still selling at one every three seconds. They may be quite wonderful but they’re not the answer to the world’s woes.

Whether it’s shoes, clothes, electronic gadgetry, food or whatever else, we seem to repeat the process of purchasing as much as we can, growing dissatisfied with it, then going out and doing it all over again in the hope that the next purchase will bring the contentment we’re seeking.

To a great degree it doesn’t even matter what we’re buying. Consumerism is all about the purchasing. We gather together to worship at shopping centres that have become our cathedrals.

We need to purchase a variety of items just to live our lives but we can so easily cross the line and let that purchasing process become an end in itself.

My regular Wednesday morning guest on 98.5 Sonshine FM is Rev Dr Ross Clifford who is the Principal of Morling College in New South Wales and Vice President elect of the Baptist World Alliance. Each week we chat about a range of issues relating to spirituality and belief.

Today we talked about consumerism and the way it is affecting so many lives. We live in a world where millions are dying because they don’t have enough, yet just as many are dying due to excess.

If you want to hear what Ross had to say about the spirituality of consumerism just click the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

It’s hard not to get caught up in consumerism when we’re surrounded by it constantly but I’m working towards the kind of attitude that Paul talked about in the Christian Scriptures.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. – Philippians 4:12

What we own or what we can buy shouldn’t define who we are. Satisfaction, deep satisfaction, doesn’t come from consuming more and more. Purchasing will never add more meaning to our lives.

Are you ready to fight back against the lie of consumerism?

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Breaking Doors

May 27th, 2010

by Rodney Olsen.

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In a short while I’ll be changing into my cycling gear and heading out into some less than pretty weather conditions. With that being the case I thought it appropriate to revisit a post that I published a few years ago.

Kicking Down Doors

For the past couple of days I’ve battled headwinds as I’ve cycled to work. As I’ve pushed against the wind I’ve been thinking about the difficulties we face on the journey of life and how they can impact us.

I guess that a lot of the time we would prefer life to just roll along smoothly without hassles but we know that’s unlikley to happen. To be truthful, while I’d rather not battle headwinds all the time, I don’t really mind them that much. I know that when I’m pushing hard and seemingly getting nowhere that I’m building strength. I enjoy the challenge of getting to my destination knowing that I’ve perservered and I have a sense of achievement that I’d never have if it was all downhill with a tailwind.

Finding the right direction

As I was thinking about how much good the ride was doing me this morning, I started wondering about reasoning that says that we know we’re following the right direction for our life when circumstances are easy or when things ‘fall into place’. We talk about God ‘opening doors’ and ’shutting others’. Well, sometimes I think we need to discover what God wants us to do, which isn’t always an simple thing, and then go out and kick down a few of those closed doors.

I cringe when I hear people using easy circumstances as God’s stamp of approval. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that sometimes God does give us an easy passage to accomplish his purposes but if we expect that to always be the case I think we’ll be dissapointed more often than not. I do believe, and it’s been my experience, that God will sometimes open a way that previously seemed permanently shut and we need to be sensitive to that and walk through when it’s right but not just assume that if we do the right thing that life will simply fit neatly together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Of course taking the opposite view, that following the right path will always be difficult and that taking the easy way is always wrong is equally flawed.

Beware of open doors

In the end, I believe that stopping at closed doors and walking through open ones isn’t always a recipe for right living. We need to be wary of who’s hand is on those open doors.

What’s your experience been? Have you had to struggle to find the way through? Have you had to kick down a few closed doors along the way? Have you walked through an open door only to find that it’s produced more problems than it has solved? Have you also experienced those times when God has very clearly guided you through an open door?

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Christian Carnival 327

May 12th, 2010

by Rodney Olsen.

3 comments

Welcome to the 327th edition of the Christian Carnival. There is some great reading here and I’m sure you’ll enjoy working your way through the list of posts.

As always it’s a real honour to be able to present such a diverse range of great posts.

Please take the time to read through each post … it’s worth it. You might also like to link to this week’s carnival so that your blog readers can enjoy the variety of styles and thought. Another way to spread the word about the Christian Carnival is to click any of the buttons below this post to share the carnival on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon or any of the other sites represented.

Starting things off this week is FMF presenting Channeled Tithing at Free Money Finance, a post about being surprised by God when we remain faithful.

Can we still stand up for morality? Ronnica has started a great conversation at Ignorant Historian with her post Taking Liberties with Liberty.

I’ve enjoyed reading HARMLESS THOUGHTS for years. This time around Matt Harmless presents an interesting look at Abide in Christ, a book by the great Christian writer Andrew Murray in the post Abide in Christ.

Barry Wallace has presented a challenging post asking us What Part of the Gospel Is Optional? Check out the post with a very thought provoking video at who am i?.

Have you ever heard of the myth of chronic uniqueness? Deb W. explains what it’s all about in Myth of Chronic Uniqueness & God’s Word at All Things Being Made New.

The growth of atheism is something that is causing some Christians concern, but if we trust an almighty God there’s no need for us to worry. Andrew presents a thoughtful post titled The answer to atheists at Rely on God in your personal development.

Richard H. Anderson presents his post about Continuing Revelation at his blog dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos Theophilos.

Singing when times are good and the sun is shining is easy but what about when times are difficult? Violet N. has written an excellent post titled Singing through your stress test. Check it out at Other Food: daily devo’s.

Sarah has been thinking about the way that some people make plans and talk about future events without leaving room for our sovereign God. her post Not When, But If at This is what Sed said gives us some great food for thought.

A great reminder from Ridge Burns that Ministry Is Hard at Ridge’s Blog.

Weekend Fisher takes on one of the big faith issues, that of evolution and creation, with the post Controversies in the church: Creation at Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength.

Diane R. has written a short but pointed post that should generate some interest. I think I’ve finally figured it out can be found at Crossroads: Where Faith and Inquiry Meet.

To finish this week Jeremy Pierce helps us get to grips with some would perceive as a conflict in Scripture. Read Proverbs and Wives at Parableman to see what Jeremy has to say.

If you’re a Christian and you missed out this week, how about choosing something to contribute for next week’s edition? It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, just a post that outlines your point of view or is designed to get others thinking. Being part of the carnival could be a great way to gain a little extra traffic at your blog.

The easiest way to get involved is to submit your article through the Blog Carnival Submission Form. Otherwise, you can email the submission address.

Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to spread the word. Feel free to click any of the buttons below to share the carnival on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon or any of the other sites represented.