Schapelle Corby - Guilty Until Proven Innocent.

The Schapelle Corby case highlights a disturbing distinction between ‘Eastern” and “Western” court procedure. The principle of innocent until proven guilty appears to be an exclusively “western” protocol with the Indonesian courts adopting the diametrically opposite position. Schapelle Corby’s legal team is apparently having to remove any shadow of a doubt that Schapelle was unaware of the presence of drugs in her luggage to avoid her receiving the death penalty, let alone be acquitted of the crime.

The evidence that suggests the existence of a drug smuggling racket operating between Brisbane and Sydney airport is compelling. The suggestion that Schappelle is the unwitting victim of a mistake in that operation is highly plausible if not evidential. In Australia the onus would be on the prosecution to prove the intention to smuggle, in Indonesia it appears to rest wholly and solely on the defence to prove that no intention exists.

I cannot contemplate this case without considering the place of Christ’s grace in our court proceedings. The principle of innocent until proven guilty is a Christian one, reflecting the potential for hope, if not forgiveness, for the accused. The principle of guilty until proven innocent has no foundation in Christian ethics, morality or practice. Providing little hope, and no potential for forgiveness.

I don’t know on what cultural precepts the Indonesian/Balinese court system is based, but the photo in yesterdays Bulletin of Schapelle being escorted from the court by a court official held out little hope for her. The photo included the shoulder badge of the official; depicting the scales of justice balanced upon the point of a sword. Suggesting, perhaps, that no matter which way the scales tip, the sword will claim it’s victim.

THE TRAGEDY OF TERRI SCHIAVO

The tragedy of Terri Schiavo continues to dominate the headlines and horrify the Christian World.

At Easter, as we honour the death and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is worth considering the horrible suffering that was intended for him through the horror of the cross. He was to be humiliated, tortured, and slowly suffocated by the excruciatingly gradual collapse of his lungs via the awful machinations of crucifixion. To this day people the world over remain sickened at the inhuman suffering that was inflicted upon him, yet today, some of those same people feel justified in inflicting similar suffering upon Terri Schiavo, a defenceless, damaged, yet nonetheless alive human being.

To be slowly starved and dehydrated to death is not a fate that would be considered for our worst war criminal or serial killer, and yet it is being enthusiastically administered to Terri by those in authority who are legally responsible for her well-being and protection.

To justify such treatment with claims of her being “brain dead” and “vegetative” is an unsustainable presumption of her cognitive awareness, her will for her own life, and God’s will for her life.

Let us pray that either sanity prevails in this insane circumstance or that God receives her home quickly, as he did with Jesus, to alleviate her inhuman suffering.

Out of the mouths of Babes!!!

Our spirit-filled, soul-winning church’s primary focus is evangelism. In fact our pastor speaks on it weekly. It is his passion, as it should be all of ours. Yet for all of his exhortation and encouragement our church remains relatively small, growth is minimal.

We all wish for growth and to see soul’s saved. At our home my wife and I strategize on the most effective methods of locating targets, introducing ourselves to them, and then introducing our faith to them. We agonize over how best to approach them, how best to introduce them to our beliefs. Yet our efforts frequently come to nothing.

Enter our children, Ethan and Bethany.

While at church last Sunday, three curious ten year olds rode their bikes up to the door and stared in, watching our praise and worship. Ethan, our four year old, scuttled across to the door and started chatting to them, tentatively followed by our seven year old Bethany. He stood in the doorway of the church excitedly beckoning them to come inside.

I walked over to see what he was up to – he was inviting them in to come and watch the puppets which would be on shortly. After some further encouragement from Bethany (and then from me) the three children came in and had their first taste of puppet church. They then came across to the kids room and participated in Kids Church.

Now I don’t know about you, but the whole process seemed a little too simple for me. Ethan saw some kids he didn’t know, he walked over and introduced himself to them and then invited them to watch the puppets (an interest he shared with them) and they came. The only obvious component of his “technique” was his bold enthusiasm for the experience of puppet church.

I want some of what he’s got: bold enthusiasm for saving souls unencumbered by strategies, techniques, quotas and excuses.

Church is FUN at our church. It’s loving, encouraging, uplifting, inspiring, spirit filled, and it challenges us to grow in the Lord. Why can’t we just invite people to something as “cool”, “hot”, “sick”, and “mad” as that?

Helloo Bloogers from Pastor Jock

Helloo all you bloogers oot thar! Pastor Jock’s the name and I’m the Pastor of the North Gold Coast Poppet (puppet) Church. And oh, what a varied congregation I’ve got: Monsters, Tigers, Lions, Snails, Mad Scientists, a bingo obsessed widow, and even a couple of poppets (puppets). My congregation and I take the opportunity to straighten oot the human congregation at the North Gold Coast Christian Church; that’s in South Queensland, Australia for all you International broosers(browsers). In fact we preach to them every week, and, boy, do they need it. Wot a wayward bunch they can be.

I thought I’d pop in on Maverick’s bloog site every so often just to check his work and keep him on the straight and narrow. I might even share a few gems of wisdom I’ve gathered over the years while travellin’ the South Gold Coast in me plastic bag.

I see my job as keepin’ people accountable (like Maverick here, and mebbe even some of you). And that’s a tricky business. The Bible says to help people with their burdens, but make them carry their own load (Galatians 6: 2-5). Which means you gotta help people who really need it, but encourage those who don’t to fulfil their responsibilities. We can waste a lot of time and energy helpin’ the wrong people, just because they asked. Use yer brains, help those who need it, and help the others to help themselves. Amen! Hoot Mon!!! Oh, when the wind blows high and the wind blows low, through the streets in me kilt I’ll go, all the lassies say Hellooo! Donald where’s yer troosers. I’m outta here, Och Aye!!!! OI!!!!!!!

HEEDING THE WARNINGS OF JEREMIAH

During the chaotic aftermath of September 11, 2001, Anne Graham Lotz, evangelist Billy Graham’s second daughter, appeared via satellite on CBS’ The Early Show and discussed with Jane Clayson the role God played in the events of September 11:
I would say also for several years now Americans in a sense have shaken their fist at God and said, God, we want you out of our schools, our government, our business, we want you out of our marketplace. And God, who is a gentleman, has just quietly backed out of our national and political life, our public life. Removing his hand of blessing and protection.

Considering the lessons provided by the Book of Jeremiah, Ms. Lotz assessment of God’s hand in the September 11 atrocity is considerably tame. The Book of Jeremiah is a resounding warning to those who would turn their backs on God. Our God is a jealous God; not only will he remove his hand of blessing and protection, he can encourage the forces that will take us down.

As much as our God loves us, he will not spare us grief and pain if we continually accept his blessings but take our gratitude and spiritual business somewhere else. There are a number of elements surrounding the state of America in the decades leading up to the September 11 attacks which parallel, exactly, the state of affairs in Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel in the years leading up to the invasion and conquest by Babylon. Jeremiah’s theme is the inescapability of God’s judgement on an unrepentant people.

Judah had forsaken God for other idols. They had sought fulfilment in the idolatrous things of the world; while believing false prophets’ claims that they were going to be blessed by God despite this behaviour. Compare this with the U.S.A over the last thirty years.

“God Save America” is the great appeal of their National Anthem, and yet a quick overview of the last few decades beckons the reply “why should He ?” America was originally colonized by a deeply spiritual people (the pilgrims / quakers etc) escaping religious persecution in their homeland (Great Britain and Western Europe), just as the Hebrews escaped persecution by the Egyptians by fleeing to the promised land (Jeremiah 2:6-7). America became a haven for the spiritually and politically oppressed refugees of the world and by the twentieth century it was the major centre of Christian revival world-wide.

Yet, over the last thirty years we have seen God’s influence in the affairs of the American people diminish dramatically. In the years after the second world war, God’s influence in American affairs could be readily witnessed in fashion, family values, and popular culture. With the advent of television, the 1950’s and 1960’s abounded with television shows upholding the value of the nuclear family, and christian values generally. Shows like Ozzie and Harriet, and Dobie Gillis in the late 1950’s, and the Patty Duke Show, the Dick Van Dyke Show, Leave it to Beaver, I Love Lucy, and even the Munsters and Addams Family in the 1960’s and of course the Brady Bunch in the early 1970’s all promoted the sanctity of marriage, and the importance of a funfilled and fulfilling family life.

Compare this to popular television of the beginning of the Twenty first century. This is characterised by such shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Charmed; depicting the joys of demonic possession, and the advantages to be had by immersion in the occult. Popular culture is now defined by hedonism; that infamous slogan from the post-vietnam world : “If it feels good do it!”.

Just as the Hebrews got impatient and frustrated with God’s insistence that they wander around in the desert for forty years, and turned to idolatry and promiscuity in defiance of God’s will. The sexual revolution of the 1970’s was a direct rejection of established authority by the younger generation. The rights of the individual began to be held high above the rights of both the community generally, and the family (especially children) specifically.

If we can believe the theory that trends in Australian society are a comparatively mild version of similar trends in the U.S.A., the world certainly has something to worry about.
These figures bear repeating : in Australia today one in every two marriages end in divorce, and in 1998 only one in two pregnancies in Australia resulted in a live birth. This has stemmed directly from the counter culture that arose from the anti-vietnam sentiment of the early 1970’s. Compare it to the world of Jeremiah.

In the generations after King David and the reign of his son Solomon, the Jews quickly fell from God’s grace. While still bathing in the benefits of Israel’s “Golden Age”, they followed their old pattern of rebelling against the faith of their forefathers. They rebelled for either of two, diametrically opposed reasons. Either things were so good that they got apathetic and blasé about God, deciding to take the glory for his blessings on themselves, or things were so bad that they felt vengeful and blameful towards God for their suffering.

Either way, the commitment God was so vehemently seeking from them was never truly realized, as they repeatedly surrendered their faith and worship of Him in favour of the hedonistic practices encouraged by the worship of false idols;
(Jer.2:11) Has a nation ever changed it’s god? (Yet they are not god’s at all.) But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols.
The more one studies the Book of Jeremiah the more disturbing the similarities between Jeremiah’s Judah, and our U.S influenced culture become.

Nowhere is this similarity more disturbing than in Chapter four of the Book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah outlines the way for Judah to avert the totality of the impending disaster by submitting to a complete moral renewal, committing themselves to God’s righteousness and truth. Jeremiah’s efforts, however, are severely undermined by Jewish priests speaking false prophecy’s of ongoing peace, prosperity and God’s continued blessing.

Compare this to the Church today. The prosperity doctrine, that is so popular among wealthy pentecostal churches, and would–be wealthy pastors, is effectively “fleecing” many congregations of their hard-earned tithe world-wide. Simultaneously enhancing the apparent wealth of the individual church and the Senior Pastor alike, while promoting the belief that “if you ain’t rich – you ain’t saved”. A complete contradiction (and misinterpretation) of what Jesus was all about. Not to mention the Churches that are worshipping God, while encouraging (or at least tolerating) homosexuality and immorality as well as greed.

Despite the repeated warnings of Jeremiah to the people of Judah and their leadership, Judah failed to soften their position to the Lord and suffered the horrible (but hardly unforetold) consequences. What more warning do we need?

CHOICES

CHOICES

I was born in 1957. I lived in a three bedroom, fibreboard (fibro) home with a mother, a father, a sister and a dog on a quarter acre block on the northern beaches region of Sydney.

This was a very average family situation; in 1961 there were 3.65 people in every Australian household.

However, by 1992 the average Australian household consisted of only 2.7 family members. What happened to the dog ? Forget the dog -What happened to my sister and me? And when was the last time you saw a fibro home?

Okay, so fibro isn’t the building material of choice these days. The problem is that neither is the Australian household of the 1950’s and 60’s. People are making different choices based on a totally different criteria for happiness.

When I was a child most people believed that the nuclear family held the secrets for personal well being, and a happy life. By the end of the century this philosophy had changed to one that deemed individual achievement, personal fulfillment and material wealth as the keys to happiness.

My memory of my family home is one of incredible emotional security and safety; because my sister and I (as children) were the chosen priority in our family – before income, lifestyle, or the personal achievements of our parents. This was the norm in the Australian household of the 50’s and 60’s. This is no longer the norm; career satisfaction and personal freedoms seem to fly high above the rights of children in society today.

Consider these staggering statistics: By 1994 two in every five marriages ended in divorce in Australia, now it is one in every two, the divorced population of Australia increased four hundred percent between 1976 and 1996 and of all the couples that married in Australia in 1998, 67% had cohabited (compared with 22% in 1978).

But the most distressful statistic has to be this one – by 1998 only one in two pregnancies in Australia resulted in a live birth. Of the 500,000 women who became pregnant in Australia in 1997 150,000 miscarried, 2000 babies were stillborn and 95,000 pregnancies were aborted.

What, Michelle Gunn, wrote in the the Weekend Australian, seems to celebrate this tragic state of affairs;

• To marry or not to marry, to have five children or none.
• To live where we like, to divorce if we feel the need, for mothers to work full-time or not at all.
• The main difference between Australian families of today and those of decades ago can be summed up in one word... choice.

Ms. Gunn applauds this so-called freedom of choice, as if it was something that didn’t exist for the parents of forty to fifty years ago. It did, but my parents made different choices. Children were the primary consideration of our society; their importance an absolute given. Now they are deemed, by many, as disposable; their existence determined by the whim and convenience of the parents.

Ms Gunn makes the further assertion that one shouldn’t compare these trends with the 1950’s and 1960’s because they were atypical. Not if you look to scripture, madam.

Christians look to scripture for their blueprint of family life, and it runs closely along the lines of my personal experience as a child during the fifties and sixties. Children as the bottom line, not economics, personal freedoms, nor personal convenience. Children!. In the New Testament Jesus is clear about the value of a child; It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble (Luke 1:7).

Some years ago Philip Adams wrote an article entitled “Below the Bottom Line”. In it he condemned the Australian Government for putting the well being of the national economy before the well being of the average Australian. This great advocate of personal freedom and freedom of speech stopped short, however, of including children in his “bottom line”. For him, as for many Australians, they are apparently so far down the priority list that they fall under the “below” line.

When are we as a society going to wake up to ourselves and get it right? We are the true legacy of our parents, not money, property, nor the family heirlooms. Similarly, our children are the true legacy we pass on to future generations, future societies. Without them there is no future.

Christians have been behind almost every humanitarian social change over the last millennium. Are we prepared to stand up now and put children back in their rightful place on Australian society’s priority list- on the top?