What do we believe?

April 8, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

crownofthorns.jpgA survey has just been released which outlines what Australians believe about Jesus. The results show that a surprising number of those who don’t claim to follow the Christian faith still believe the Easter story, including the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The independent survey of 2500 people found that out of the 85 per cent who did not identify themselves as born again, including people of other religions, 45 per cent believed in the resurrection of Jesus.

Noted author and church historian Dr John Dickson, the co-director of the Centre for Public Christianity in Sydney, said the number who believed in the resurrection included agnostics and secularists because the total percentage was far higher than the remaining Christians surveyed.

We are staggered. We thought the survey would show the profound scepticism of Australians. Instead, it shows there is a base-level assumption among the Australian public that accepts the Jesus story even if it has no relevance to their lives.

Dr Dickson said the survey wanted to explore the understanding of non-churchgoers, so the results were produced from those who were non-religious, or from another religion, or who loosely identified with Christianity.

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

Today we discussed the survey and what it means for spirituality in Australia. Can I encourage you to click the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post to listen to our conversation?

The survey also found that 57 per cent of those who wouldn’t consider themselves as born-again knew that Easter is connected with the death of Jesus but a much higher 87 per cent know that it concerns the resurrection. To clarify exactly what it’s all about, Ross and I also talked about the basic details of the Easter story and what it means for us.



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Meditation

March 19, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
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meditation.jpgMeditation is a spiritual discipline that is generally associated with eastern philosophies and beliefs and which is often shunned by the Christian church but is there a place for meditation in Christian belief?

There are several references to meditation in the Bible, including the following passage which begins the Psalms.

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.
But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.
They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. – Psalm 1 – NLT

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

Yesterday Ross and I discussed the differences between what many would understand by the term meditation and what the Biblical understanding should be.

Meditation can be a useful tool in drawing closer to God and growing in our faith. Ross outlines some very practical ideas of how we can make meditation part of our spiritual journey.

Listen to what Ross had to say on the topic by clicking play on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/SPI180309_1054.mp3]

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What Colour is the Wind?

March 13, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
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Laycock.gifIn November 2006, at the age of 69, Graham Laycock passed away while travelling in Thailand.

Graham had lived a remarkable and inspiring life and at the time of his death he had completed the first draft of his autobiography. Editor Chris Walker took that draft, and doing his best to stay faithful to Graham’s own words, completed the book which has now been released under the title What Colour is the Wind?

Losing his sight at an early age was only one of the challenges that Graham faced throughout life. He took on everything life threw at him and came out on top.

He was a man of many passions. He was passionate about educating sighted people about the life of a blind person. He was passionate about his career in physiotherapy. He was passionate about helping others to reach their full potential, whatever their ability or disability. Above all he was passionate about his faith in Jesus Christ. He preached all over the world and loved to share his faith with others.

Graham Laycock was also an accomplished musician. He made playing guitar look easy but his talent was backed up by constant practice. He was inspired to continue developing his musical talent after meeting the legendary Nat King Cole. It was Nat who encouraged him to keep practicing and developing as a musician.

I recently spoke about the book and about Graham’s life with his widow, Peggy Laycock on 98.5 Sonshine FM. You can hear more of Graham’s story by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/SUN031209_1438.mp3]

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Faith of a child

February 18, 2009
by Rodney Olsen
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children.jpgIs our belief in God begin at birth or is it something that we pick up from those around us as we grow older?

Are we born without a concept of God? Do we begin our lives as atheists who then need to be convinced that there’s something bigger than us in the cosmos?

Oxford University psychologist, Dr. Olivera Petrovich, a lecturer in psychology of religion, has been studying the development of spirituality in children. She recently conducted cross-cultural studies involving British and Japanese children to see if children from different cultures have a similar understanding on matters of spirituality.

She was surprised to find that results were very similar in Britain and Japan. In general she found that most children have an understanding that there is a creator God at work in our universe. Very interesting results indeed considering that as a culture, Japan discourages speculation into the metaphysical, so most children are not brought up hearing about God or spirituality.

You can read an interview with Olivera Petrovich about her research here.

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

Today we discussed the research and looked at what impact such research should have on us.

You can hear our discussion by clicking play on the audio player at the bottom of this post.



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Why Christmas?

December 15, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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gift_1.jpgWhile you look forward to unwrapping your gifts this Christmas I thought I’d help you unwrap the real Christmas story.

We all enjoy giving and receiving gifts on Christmas Day but it’s important that we take time to remember what Christmas is really all about. It’s more than just the gifts and the jolly man in the red suit. It’s more than a ‘feeling’ or ‘spirit’ that makes us feel warm inside. It’s more than time with family enjoying good food and good times.

While it’s generally accepted that the 25th of December isn’t the actual date that Jesus was born, it’s the day that has been chosen for celebrating Jesus’ birthday. That means Christmas is really a big birthday party.

So why should we be invited to the birthday party? Jesus was born around 2000 years ago. Why do we still celebrate his birth?

Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God. In fact, and this is where it gets tricky, according to the Bible, Jesus is actually God in human form so this is no ordinary birthday.

Here’s a little bit of the Christmas story from the Bible. This account is from a book of the Bible written by a guy named Luke.

At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.

And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no vacancy for them.

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.’

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
‘Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.’
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’

They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Aha! So that’s where the manger and the shepherds come in.

That’s pretty much the story of Christmas. God living among the people he created. It’s an amazing thought but it’s even more amazing when you thread the whole story of Jesus’ life together. After all, usually when we celebrate someone’s birthday we don’t just remember the day they were born, we celebrate who that person has become and what they’ve brought to the world.

If we’re still celebrating the life of someone born around 2000 years ago, we’ve got to assume that they lived a remarkable life. If you want to find out more about the remarkable life of Jesus, I’d encourage you to grab a Bible in an easy to read translation and then read one of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John) to find out about Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection.



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