The Debate Continues

October 20, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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People used to believe that the earth was flat and then that the sun and stars revolved around the earth. As time went on we discovered this wasn’t the case. Many people now believe that the evidence overwhelmingly tells us that instead of being created several thousand years ago, we evolved over millions of years. Is there really evidence of biblical creation or are we just seeing what we want to believe?

The creation / evolution debate continues to rage. Why is the debate so important? If having to believe the creation story is keeping some people from knowing Jesus, shouldn’t we just agree to disagree and move on?

Dr Tas Walker holds a Bachelor of Science with first class honours, a Bachelor of English with honours and a doctorate in mechanical engineering. Using his wide experience, Tas has developed a biblical geological model to connect geological structures with biblical history.

He now works full-time for Creation Ministries International as a researcher, writer and speaker.

Dr Tas Walker recently joined me in the studio at 98.5 Sonshine FM to discuss the ongoing debate. You can hear what Tas had to say by clicking the play button at the bottom of this post.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/SUN201010_1123.mp3]

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Open House 3

October 6, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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Each Sunday evening Sheridan Voysey talks to a variety of authors, artists and personalities as part of his radio program, Open House. Together they cover a wide range of topics from faith to failure and along the way discover deeper life stories.

Some years ago Sheridan released a book version of Open House, containing transcripts of some of the most fascinating interviews he had conducted on the radio programme. Open House the book was so successful he released Open House 2 which again proved popular and led him to release the third in the series, Open House 3.

Open House 3 features guests such as Ray Martin, Geraldine Doogue, Caroline Jones, Bryce Courtenay and Joel Osteen.

Sheridan joined me on my program on 98.5 Sonshine FM this morning. Interviewing the interviewer is an interesting journey. I asked Sheridan a range of questions regarding the book and the process of interviewing the guests that take part in his program. You can hear our conversation by clicking on the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

Sheridan’s first book, Unseen Footprints: Encountering the Divine Along the Journey of Life, which was awarded as the 2006 Australian Christian Book of the Year, is also about to be re-released complete with study guide.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/MOR100610_1048.mp3]

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Talking to Tim Fischer

August 2, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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Tim Fischer, AC, has served Australia as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and the chairman of Tourism Australia. He’s authored books on a variety of topics from East Timor to trains.

In July 2008 Tim Fischer was nominated by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd as the first resident Australian Ambassador to the Holy See since 1973, when diplomatic relations with the Vatican and Australia was first established.

He’s currently back in Australia and yesterday he visited the Benedictine Community at New Norcia in Western Australia to deliver an address which touched on a variety of issues including the forthcoming canonisation of Mary MacKillop.

I spoke to Tim Fischer on the phone this morning during my radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM. You can hear out conversation by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

I asked him about his address at New Norcia titled, “Representing ‘Australia Unlimited’ at the Holy See: From Religious Freedom to Food Security” as well as the connection between faith and politics and whether he was missing politics during the current federal election campaign. I also asked about his love of trains and what train journey’s he had taken in Europe.

Tim Fischer has a fascinating mix of interests so it’s always interesting to hear from him.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/MOR080210_0943.mp3]

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Christian Carnival Here Next Week

June 24, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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christian_carnival_lion.jpgWould 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

June 23, 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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