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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A Very Merry Christmas

December 24, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
3 Comments

Christmas Eve 2008 is almost over here in Perth but I know it’s only just beginning in other places around the world.

I also know that many regular readers won’t be reading blogs tomorrow so I’ll get in early and take the opportunity to wish you and yours a very happy day as you celebrate Christmas wherever you are in the world. Many will be experiencing a white Christmas while here in Perth, Western Australia, we have a mild summer day forecast. Much better than the scorcher we had last year.

Remember to pace yourself throughout the day so that you don’t regret it all on Boxing Day and don’t forget to take time out to reflect on what Christmas is truly all about.

Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men. – Luke 2:14

I’ll probably still write a post or two while I work on Christmas Day. I’ll be doing my normal morning radio programme from 9:00 a.m. to midday on 98.5 Sonshine FM so I should get a chance to send a few words into cyberspace.



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Why Christmas?

December 15, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

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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What do you believe?

December 10, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
4 Comments

It seems that more Americans believe in the Devil, Hell and Angels than in Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.

A new Harris Poll tells us that an overwhelming majority of those in the US believe in God and that over 70% believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

The poll was conducted online within the United States between November 10 and 17, 2008 among 2,126 adults, aged 18 and over.

Some of the interesting findings include:

80% of adult Americans believe in God – unchanged since the last time we asked the question in 2005. Large majorities of the public believe in miracles (75%), heaven (73%), angels (71%), that Jesus is God or the Son of God (71%), the resurrection of Jesus (70%), the survival of the soul after death (68%), hell (62%), the Virgin birth (Jesus born of Mary (61%) and the devil (59%).

Slightly more people – but both are minorities – believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution (47%) than in creationism (40%).

Sizeable minorities believe in ghosts (44%), UFOs (36%), witches (31%), astrology (31%), and reincarnation (24%).

While a majority claim a belief in God, most aren’t displaying that belief through church attendance.

A quarter (27%) of adult Americans claim that they attend church once a week or more often, compared with 36% who say they attend less than once a year or never (18% each).

You can read more of the results here.

So while some would like us to believe that faith is a thing of the past, it is clear that millions of people are still convinced that there’s something more to life than what we can physically see.

I wonder where you would have stood on some of the questions asked in the poll.



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Christian Carnival 229

June 18, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
6 Comments

carnival.jpgThe carnival’s in town.

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.

I’ve taken part in the carnival many times over the years but this is the first time I’ve hosted the carnival. I must say that it’s a real honour to be able to present such a diverse range of great posts.

If I was clever, like many carnival hosts, I’d create categories and do all kinds of tricky things, but instead, I’ll just present this remarkable body of work in the order that each submission arrived in my inbox.

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.

There seems to be something about money that makes many Christians squirm. Unfortunately that prevents many from taking a serious look at their finances to find God’s heart on the matter. Free Money Finance wades into the topic with Putting God First.

Michael Snyder gets political when he presents The Picture Of The Hindu God That Barack Obama Carries For Good LuckShattered Paradigm at .

The way that many live, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Christianity is just a set of beliefs that’ll keep us busy until we make it to eternity, but David Gushee’s post The market economy’s moral influence posted at CounterCulture explores our responsibility for stewardship of the world’s resources.

Another wonderful contribution to the carnival this week comes from Weekend Fisher who remembers the advice she never gave a friend … and what her silence cost her friend in her post Do Christians sell the faith short? Part 3: sexual integrity and abortion. She issues a call to stand up for integrity not as a set of intrusive Thou Shalt Nots, but as a blessing of a more livable life.

Ken Brown is looking at Art, Nudity and Sex and the City. Well … that didn’t come out quite right. Ken’s not really looking at that stuff, he’s writing about it and you should check out what he has to say at his blog C. Orthodoxy.

A blogger I’m pleased to have recently started reading is Kathie M. Thomas. She presents Between a Rock and a Hard Place at workplace-ministry.com. It’s a lovely post that brings out a life lesson from the things around us.

Dean’s another favourite on my ‘must read’ list. This week he presents Certain Location… posted at My Jarrol Spot. He talks about old places bringing back old memories.

Annette has been thinking about The Mandate for a Pastor at her blog Fish and Cans. Her post is well worth reading and I encourage you to spend some time considering what Annette has to say.

Us Christians talk a lot about faith, but what is it really all about? Elementaryhistoryteacher presents Oh Ye of Little Faith at Got Bible?.

Richard H. Anderson is Reading Schweitzer Again for the 1st Time. Richard’s post at dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos Theophilos is a great one to get you thinking.

Fathers’ Day is a joyous time for many, but for others it can be a reminder of how our earthly fathers have failed us. Jennifer’s post Revisiting Father’s Day posted at Diary of 1 is a wonderful exploration of what we should do if our memories of dad aren’t all happy memories.

What is the real reason that communication and organization is so bad in so many churches? Diane R has written about The Church “In” Group? at Crossroads: Where Faith and Inquiry Meet.

Jeremy Pierce says that while A.W. Pink takes an outdated and unwarranted view on the so-called Curse of Ham passage in Genesis 9, he believes that Daniel Hays goes a little too far to call his comments racist. Jeremy asks is A.W. Pink, Racist? over at Parableman.

Walking is an oft-used metaphor for our life’s journey. But what does it really mean to walk with God?  This week John at Light Along the Journey has a few thoughts in his post What Does It Mean to Walk with God?

Tom Gilson reckons that everyone wants to claim Jesus as their own, in one way or another and he thoughtfully explains what he means in his post Jesus: Who Was He, Really? posted at Thinking Christian.

There are so many varied thoughts on what the scriptures are saying to us. ChrisB asks if theological differences between Christian groups prove our beliefs are inconsistent in his post Do Denominations Disprove Christianity? at his blog Homeward Bound.

One notion about gender and church, especially regarding woman priests, is that woman and men are “interchangeable.” Mark Olson examines that notion in his post On Men and Women with a little History Thrown In at his blog Pseudo-Polymath.

To round of this week’s Christian Carnival I’ll point you to some people who are taking their faith in Christ to a massive audience around the world through their music. Earlier this week I saw the Soweto Gospel Choir in concert and was thrilled at how overt their spiritual message was. They have an amazing ministry of shining God’s light into darkened corners. Here’s my post, Soweto Gospel Choir in Perth, complete with a radio interview (including a wonderful live performance) that I conducted with them yesterday.

Thanks to everyone who contributed this week to the Christian Carnival. Get posting and get your submissions in for next week’s carnival over at Thinking Christian.



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