What a capital idea

May 24, 2007
by Rodney Olsen
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I’m sure that there are many people around the world who would be surprised to find that it’s not already, but there are now renewed calls for Sydney to become the capital city of Australia.

Former Prime Minister, Paul Keating, reckons that the country should be run from the harbour city. He’s even picked out a spot for the nation’s new parliament. He says Sydney’s Garden Island naval base site would be a suitable place for Australia’s Federal Parliament.

According to this article at NEWS.com.au, Keating was delivering a speech on the future of Sydney Harbour last night and said that our current Prime Minister, John Howard, had effectively moved his government to Sydney already. He believes that Canberra has an air of unreality.

I will admit that Canberra is a rather odd place. I’ve visited Canberra a number of times and I do like it but it seems a strange place to put a city, especially a capital city.

If moves were ever made to shift away from Canberra I’m sure that there’d be a lot of debate over where our parliament should be. Melbourne would be in there slugging it out with Sydney for sure. Maybe they could move everything to the economic powerhouse of Australia, Perth.

I can’t see the nation’s capital moving to Sydney, or any other city for that matter, but I wonder what you think. Where do you think Australia’s capital should be?

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God On My Side

May 23, 2007
by Rodney Olsen
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I wanted to see Andrew Denton‘s documentary, God On My Side, when it hit the cinemas late last year back but never quite got there.

I wanted to get to bed really early on Monday night to get over the remnants of the flu but never quite got there.

Australia’s ABC Television screened God On My Side on Monday night and I made the mistake of watching the first couple of minutes. I was hooked. I sat there through to the end and I’ve got to say that I was very impressed with the way Denton handled the subject matter.

God On My Side is a film about Andrew Denton’s visit to the 63rd National Religious Broadcaster’s Convention in Dallas, Texas, in February 2006.

More than 6 000 Christian communicators gathered to discuss how best to spread the word of God and how to take advantage of opportunities presented by the explosion of new technologies and audiences.

Rather than being a comment on Christianity I saw the documentary as a comment on those who would try to sell Christianity as a product.

Some of the beliefs held by several of those Denton interviewed were rather disturbing. Some of the products being sold were tacky and disturbing. Fellow blogger, Phil Cooke, seemed to be the voice of reason among those giving their points of view.

A couple of thousand years ago Jesus spent a fair bit of time talking to crowds so I’m not against trying to take his message to large groups of people, after all I do work in Christian radio, but I do get concerned when the messages that people are sending out don’t match up with the messages that Jesus himself was spreading.

Blind allegiance to any political leader based only on their professed religious faith is of great concern. Even the great leaders of the Bible messed up. To hear some of the people interviewed pledge their approval for everything George W. Bush does, without checking whether his actions are just or right or Biblical scares me. Likewise, the belief of some of those interviewed that Israel should be protected no matter what the country does is frightening.

One of the things that also concerns me is the tendency to turn the Christian faith into a set of beliefs and prescribed behaviours. Yes, there needs to be belief and there needs to be evidence of our faith in our behaviour but reducing it down to a formula is totally ignoring what the faith is all about.

I suppose I could write all day about how I think others are getting it wrong but in the end I need to look at myself and judge myself against what the Bible calls me to be and do.

I don’t think I can go too far wrong if I continue to move towards the kind of faith described in the Old Testament book of Micah where it says, “… the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. “

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Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo

May 22, 2007
by Rodney Olsen
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Growing Families International founders, Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo have authored twenty two books on parenting and produced eight educational video series on child-rearing that have been used by more than eight million parents around the world . Their values based parenting philosophy has been utilised by more than twelve thousand churches and their various curriculums have been translated into 19 different languages.

They were in Perth a couple of months back for a parenting conference and I had the opportunity to chat to them.

Our interview was broadcast on 98.5 Sonshine FM shortly after their visited and I replayed it yesterday during my morning radio programme.

You can hear what they had to say using the media player below.



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I 'need' to buy more 'stuff'

May 22, 2007
by Rodney Olsen
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Well that’s one post I don’t have to write.

Just spotted this post over at No Guarantees. Vawz is writing about our need to buy stuff for the sake of buying it. It’s something that annoys me greatly …. especially when I see it in myself.

He sums up a lot of what I feel on the subject. I might have more to say about it sometime but why reinvent the wheel? Vawz says it so very well. Have a look at his post and let me know what you think.

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Thank you so very much

May 21, 2007
by Rodney Olsen
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Who is there in your life who deserves to be thanked?

This Saturday is the National Day of Thanksgiving in Australia. The day was first celebrated on the 17th of June in 2003.

It’s simply a day to say thank you. The official website says, “It is a day for us to pause as a nation and say thank you to God and to each other for those many things we often take for granted but which really make our lives worth living. Let us use this day to be a blessing to those who have been a blessing to us during the past year.”

Who will you be thanking? Maybe you can give the local police a call to thank them for the tough work they do within our community. What about hospital workers? Do you know someone who provides a service the community that deserves a pat on the back?

How about someone at work who makes your day easier but often misses out on any recognition?

Do you read a number of blogs? Maybe you can simply thank a few fellow bloggers for the contribution they’ve made to your life. Let them know what you enjoy about reading their blogs. If you publish a blog you may like to make a post this Saturday to say thank you to some of the people that enrich your life or maybe to list some of the things for which you’re thankful.

Is there someone in your family that deserves some thanks for the unseen things they do that help things run smoothly at your place?

If you’re part of a church why not call your priest or pastor on Saturday just to let them know that you appreciate all that they do. So many pastors work incredibly hard, going above and beyond the call of duty, with little or no thanks.

When was the last time you said thanks to God for the gift of life itself?

Even though this is an Australian initiative, you don’t have to be living down under to take a few moments to reflect on those people who deserve to hear you say thank you.

The website has a number of resources including e-cards to send to those people you want to thank.

Who will you be thanking this Saturday?



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