• If you Google the phrase “Christianity in Brisbane” (including the quotes) you get one hit – a Brisbane-based Christian chat site (correct as of 27 March 2007).
• If you Google the phrase “Islam in Brisbane” (including the quotes) you will get 58 hits (correct as of 27 March 2007). Many of these hits link back to a booklet published by the Brisbane City Council called “Islam in Brisbane” and available for download from the BCC web site.

According to a letter from Lord Mayor Campbell Newman to me, the booklet was published “… to demystify this religion and through this, to lessen the chances of discriminatory or violent acts being perpetrated against Muslim people in Brisbane.” The letter went on to explain how to access information about other religions from the BCC web site:
“Enter ‘Islam in Brisbane’ into the search engine and scroll to the end of the page, or enter the following address:
http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCC:STANDARD::pc=PC_1946.”
As one could imagine, I was a little bemused at the thought of searching for ‘Islam in Brisbane’ to find information about other religions!

I therefore did some more investigating (tested 24 March 2007) and found:

• If you search for “Islam” on the BCC web site (using their own search function) you will get 14 hits. Most of these will lead you back to the “Islam in Brisbane” booklet or the page mentioned above.
• If you search for “Christianity” on the BCC web site, you get 36 hits. While it sounds better,
  • 31 of these lead to demographic documents that classify people’s religion as either Christianity or non-Christian (hence the hit)
  • 1 leads to an article about Sudanese immigrants
  • 4 lead back to the “Islam in Brisbane” document

Even more alarming, the document talks about Muslims, Christians and Jews sharing “… a common religious heritage…” and goes on to say that, “All three faiths… worship the same God.” It leaves me wondering why the government is publishing doctrinal statements about what beliefs are held by any religions. I wonder which Christian (and Jewish) organisations they consulted before declaring the common God?

What do we do about this?

The obvious one is to write to the Lord Mayor, politely but firmly expressing your concerns about the matter and asking him to explain why the BCC is publishing errant doctrinal statements on behalf of the Christians in Brisbane.

But, there is something even more important:

• Be watchful and pray about these things, and other events we can see unfolding in Australia
• Love the other members of your church, and demonstrate this love in your actions and attitudes
• Offer hospitality to your fellow church members. Socialise with them and enjoy their company.
• Improve your talents/gifts and use them for the benefit of the other members of your church

(1 Peter 4:7-10 NIV) The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.

Above all, it is every Christian’s responsibility to demonstrate to others the reality of the love shown to them on the cross by Jesus Christ who, while they were still sinners, died in their place. This love should firstly be shown to other Christians, then to the rest of the world.

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What would you think if I said I wish my faith was as strong as Thomas’? Well, I do. Furthermore, I think that the title of “Doubting Thomas” is not deserved. Let’s take a quick look at what the Bible says about Thomas…

Apart from him being simply named as one of the twelve Apostles, we first read of Thomas in John’s Gospel, Chapter 11. Jesus was with His Apostles and had just heard that Lazarus was dead and said He must go to wake him up. They all said to Jesus that the Jews would stone Him. It was Thomas who said, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” (John 11:16 NASB)

In John Chapter 14, Jesus spoke of going away to prepare a place for the Apostles. Although Jesus expected them to understand, they did not. Thomas, not having a clue where Jesus was off to, said, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” (John 14:5 NASB) What he was really saying was that he wanted to follow. He did not care where Jesus went, he just wanted to go, but was concerned that he might not know how to follow.

Next, we find Thomas in the upper room where the twelve had been staying after Jesus returned to heaven. Thomas, along with the others was described as, “continually devoting themselves to prayer.” (Acts 1:14 NASB)

If having the faith of Thomas means:

• Knowing exactly what one believes
• Being prepared to follow Jesus to death
• Wanting to follow Jesus anywhere, even if you don’t know where
• Being continually devoted to prayer

then give me the faith of “Doubting” Thomas any day! If more Christians had this type of faith, the world would be a very different place today.

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“If you study the history of revivals, you will discover this undeniable fact: In the recorded history of the church there has never been a mighty outpouring of the Spirit in Revival which did not begin in the persistent, prevailing prayer of a desperate people. Revival has never come because men “planned” it and put it on the calendar.”
Ronald Dunn

“If we are neglecting prayer, we are neglecting revival”
David Smithers

“Our Lord Jesus Christ chose his twelve apostles only after he had spent a night in praying.”
E.M. Bounds

“Isn’t spiritual apathy and powerlessness in the church today a crisis which calls for urgent prayer?”
Errol Hulse

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But when a person becomes a Christian, God puts the Holy Spirit within them and they have a new nature (Ephesians 4:22-24). They have the capacity to deal with hurt in a new way – letting go of anger, forgiving the offender, and seeking their highest good.

There can be an internal tug-of-war as we feel pulled by the old nature towards bitterness and resentment, and led by the Holy Spirit to forgive. Of course, God would have us to “go with” the Holy Spirit.

Jesus taught in no uncertain terms what we need to do when we are wronged. He said,

> “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27)

> “Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37)

> And He even told Peter to forgive a wrongdoer seventy times seven!
(Matthew 18:22)

Jesus role-modelled forgiveness by saying from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

Can you forgive? If you are a Christian, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, you certainly can! We all can. So a better question would be – Are we willing to forgive?

David Hunt

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Having witnessed poverty in India, and also seen people who – though not desperately poor – have much less than we have, did me a lot of good. It led me to see myself and my circumstances in a different light.

For example, in 1997 I made the first of several trips to India. Before I went, if you’d asked, “Where are you at economically? Are you rich or poor?” I’d have responded – “Well, I’m certainly not rich! I’ve been renting an apartment in Mount Druitt (a down-market suburb in Sydney!), I drive an old Toyota Corona, I don’t have much money in the bank, and I’m not even CLOSE to putting a deposit on a home. I’m certainly not rich!”

But going to India and seeing people living in poverty, and realising that millions live this way, I now regard myself as rich!

> I have a microwave oven!
> My wife and I own a washing machine!
> We have a TV, stereo, and DVD player!
> I own a computer!
> We have a car – with air conditioning!

Many people in the world would look at us who have these things as rich. Most of us Aussies own more than millions of the world’s people! By world standards, we’re near the top of the financial grid.

Going overseas helps us see how fortunate we are, and we may we find ourselves complaining less. Why not take a trip to India… Vietnam… Thailand… Egypt?

David Hunt

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“With every possible guile that he knows, the devil would snatch us from the closet of prayer. For in prayer man is linked with God, and in that union Satan is baffled and beaten.”
Leonard Ravenhill

“[The devil] makes us believe that we can do more by our own efforts than by our prayers.”
Anonymous

“[Satan] will try to get you so busy in daily activities or even Christian activities that you have no time to pray down the power to make your activity successful.”
Wesley Duewel

“Do we realise that there is nothing the devil dreads so much as prayer? His great concern is to keep us from praying. He loves to see us up to our eyes in work – provided we do not pray. He does not fear because we are eager and earnest Bible students – provided we are little in prayer.”
Anonymous

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We all have “attitudes.” For example, we can have a negative attitude, a selfish attitude, a racist attitude, a couldn’t-care-less attitude, and so on. On the positive side, we can have a grateful attitude, a humble attitude, a generous attitude, a selfless attitude, etc.

The sobering thing is that attitudes very often lead to action.

Why did Cain kill Abel? He had a wrong attitude.
Why did Saul persecuted David? He had a jealous, vindictive attitude.
Why did Absalom try to seize the throne? A proud attitude
Why was Jonah angry when Ninevah wasn’t destroyed? A negative attitude.
Why did the disciples argue over who was the greatest? An attitude problem!

God looks at the heart, and desires that we have healthy attitudes – like Jesus! Healthy attitudes lead to godly behaviour which produces healthy fruit. But if we have bad attitudes and don’t deal with them, they cause hurt to people and even self-destruction. A bitter or resentful attitude can lead a person to an early grave.

Paul wrote, “Let this mind (or “attitude” – NIV) be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5), and goes on to talk about Jesus’ humility and willingness to serve.

May God help us to have positive attitudes! There’s enough negativity in this world. His desire is that His people honour Him and be seen as different by our attitudes.

How’s your attitude?

David Hunt

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“If the church would only awaken to her responsibility of intercession,
we could well evangelise the world in a short time.”
T.S. Hegre

“We can reach our world, if we will. The greatest lack today is not people
or funds. The greatest need is prayer.”
Wesley Duewel

“Prayer strikes the winning blow. All other missionary efforts simply gather
up the fruits of our praying.”
David Bryant

“God alone can choose the labourers and thrust them out, and this choosing
he does not delegate to man, or church, convocation, synod, association,
or conference. ..God is moved to this great work of calling men into the
ministry by prayer. Earthly fields are rotting. They are untilled because
prayer is silent.”
E.M. Bounds

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The word “Christians” appears just once in the Bible, and “Christian” appears twice. The “Christians” were the followers of Christ. They bore His name.

Yet the word “Christian” is used very loosely nowadays. According to census results, most Australians are “Christian.” Elwood McQuaid points out that “Eighty percent of Americans claim some association with Christianity.” [1] Dan Brown – author of the Christ-defaming book The Da Vinci Code – claims on his website to be a “Christian.” It’s reached the point where the term “Christian” is used VERY loosely.

For example, tooday you can be a “Christian” and:

> Believe in evolution

> Support abortion

> Never attend church

> Get drunk on a regular basis

> Deny the virgin birth

> Live in a de facto relationship

> Believe the Bible contains errors

> Pray to others apart from God

> Believe in salvation by works

> Be a homosexual

> Accept other religions as valid

> Believe Jesus did not rise from the dead

> Watch pornography

> Consult fortune tellers

and on it goes…

The bar has been set so low that many people who clearly aren’t Christians believe they are. And society regards some as “Christians” who’ve obviously never been born again. “Christian” has been redefined.

But if we regard ourselves as “Christians,” should we not live out what it means? And that is – to follow Jesus. To follow Jesus means obeying His commands, living like Him, shunning sin, taking up our cross daily, and following Him faithfully. This is genuine Christianity.

Are you a Christian?

David Hunt

Notes
[1] Elwood McQuaid editorial, from “Israel My Glory” July/August 2006

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> Jerusalem is mentioned by name 767 times in the Bible

> Jerusalem is 2500 feet above sea level

> Jerusalem was built on two mountains – Zion and Moriah

> Jerusalem is a sacred city to 3 world religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

> Jerusalem has never been the capital of an Arab state [1]

> Jerusalem has been known by 70 names in biblical and extra-biblical literature

> Jerusalem became a Jewish city under King David

> Jerusalem has been regarded as a holy city for 3000 years by the Jews as a city above all others.

> Jerusalem is called the city of God in the Scriptures (Psalm 46:4, 87:3, 48:1)

> God said of Jerusalem - “This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the centre of the nations, with lands around her” (Ezekiel 5:5)

> The word “Jerusalem” is not found in the Qur’an

> Daniel prayed towards Jerusalem (Daniel 6:10)

> Jesus called Jerusalem “the city of the Great King” (Matthew 5:35)

> Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem

> Jesus wept over Jerusalem

> The crucifixion of Christ – the central event in Christianity – occurred just outside Jerusalem

> Jerusalem has been overrun at least 18 times by foreign armies [2]

> The Christian Church was birthed in Jerusalem

> Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70 and AD 135 [3]

> During 1300 years of Muslim control, no Arab ruler or conqueror made Jerusalem his capital. [4]

> Jerusalem’s current population is 700,000

> Muslims regard Jerusalem as their 3rd holiest site after Mecca & Medina

> During the Camp David Summit in 2000, Yasser Arafat said that a Jewish Temple never existed on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem [5]

> God said through the prophet Zechariah, “I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” Zechariah 12:9

> Jerusalem has more residents now than at any time in history [6]

> Around 66% of Jerusalem’s 700,000 residents are Jews

> Yasser Arafat declared on September 19, 1993, “Our first goal is the liberation of all occupied territories…and the establishment of a Palestinian state whose capital is Jerusalem.” [7]

> David wrote, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 126:6)

Sources
www.mustardseed.net
“Unholy War” by Dr Randall Price
Eastons Bible Dictionary
Holmans Bible Dictionary
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org
“Israel Today” magazine, September 2005 http://christianactionforisrael.org/whosecity.html http://www.factsandlogic.org/ad_07.html

Footnotes
[1] http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf20.html
[2] # During the past 2000 years, “Jerusalem..has suffered destruction some 18 times” Unholy War, Randall Price, p90 # “Jerusalem has been overrun at least 18 times by foreign armies” Who owns Jerusalem? by Lambert Dolphin,

http://www.ldolphin.org/psalm2.html

[3] “This Jerusalem in which Jesus walked was destroyed by the Roman general Titus in A.D. 70 after zealous Jews revolted against Rome. Not one stone of the Temple building remained standing on another, and widespread destruction engulfed the city. A second revolt in A.D. 135 (the Bar-Kochba Rebellion) resulted in Jews being excluded from the city.” Holmans Bible Dictionary

[4] # “During 13 centuries of Muslim control, no Arab ruler or conqueror made the city his capital.” Condensed from The New Republic, Martin Gilbert (Reader’s Digest, September 1995) Source: http://christianactionforisrael.org/whosecity.html # “The notion to call Jerusalem an Islamic holy city has only come about in modern times, especially after the Arabs lost the city to Israel in the Six-Day War.” http://www.factsandlogic.org/ad_07.html # “..the city of Jerusalem — in contrast to Baghdad, Cairo, and Damascus — has never played any major role in the political and religious lives of the Moslem Arabs. It was never a political center, never a national or even a provincial or sub-provincial capital of any country since biblical times. It was the site of one Moslem holy place, but otherwise a backwater to the Arabs. The passion for Jerusalem was not discovered by the Moslem Arabs until most recent history.” http://www.factsandlogic.org/ad_07.html

[5] http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf20.html

[6] “Jerusalem has more residents today than at any other time in its history. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the population of the nation’s capital went from 686,950 last year to 706,400. ..the increase results from natural growth, based on births & deaths. In 2004, the overall population increased by 121,000.” Israel Today Sept 05 p11

[7] Quoted in “Unholy War” by Randall Price, p233

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