Weblog Archive 

July 9 - July 11, 2002

Thursday 11th July, 2002

Bene Diction posts:

Blog Watch

Thinking Out Loud posts on his change of heart about Australia’s boat people.

Sand in the Gears has a sports rant.

Aarondot continues his mission in Utah.

Anne Wilson corrects misperceptions about the nursing profession.

How Christians influence the culture is posted on EslerFried.

Here is the explanation for all the blogchalk posts popping up. Google! Daypop! Over here! English, Australia, Melbourne, Victoria, Martin, Male, 50 – 55.

The O’Reilly Network on controlling your net identity.

What congregations need to think about by Presbytermark.

Spudlets on double entendres.

A ‘why I blog’ post by Stranger in a Strange Land.

Touchstone enters the debate on women bishops in the Church of England.

Front Page

David Horowitz now has his own blog.

Palestinian Christians

An aid group ministers to the dwindling Christian population in Bethlehem.

Gamers

Online pay for play games called MMOG’s need to be more appealing to a less hard core gaming group.

Brazil’s Evangelicals

The Protestant and evangelical population is exploding in Brazil. This rapid growth has not been without its scandals.

Bulls Eye

The photographer wasn’t hurt. He wrapped his camera, stuck it through the barrier, used a remote, and snapped this.

The Heavens Declare

The universe may be older than first thought.

I Do

The Church of England has finally relaxed its rules about where couples can hold their ceremony.

Cyber Attacks

Which countries lead the world in cyber attacks? The results of this study are surprising.

-posted 8:40am, by Bene Diction

Wednesday 10th July, 2002

Bene Diction posts:

Blog Watch

If you have run out of topic ideas for your blog, try The Topic Blog. Link via Creative Slips

G’day and Bonjour to the new kids on the blog:

Ono’s Thoughts

Cella’s Review

Kevin Pierpoint

KenPierpoint:

Hyper Thinking

Kyriocity.com

Princess Fluffy’s Journal

There is a hyperlink problem with Princess Fluffy. You can use the link in the roll.

In Next Wave Magazine, Andrew Careaga tells the creation story like a chat on an IRC. Link via Grace Awakening

I really called the honeymoon blogging of Mark Byron wrong, didn’t I?

Midwest Conservative Journal takes on Nick Kristoff’s column on religious bigotry.

Half the world has never made a phone call. Not true. Shirky debunks that myth. Link via Instapundit

Beers Across America warns against dehumanizing others.

The Truth Laid Bear has a great satellite shot of the Quebec fires. Common Things is vacationing in Quebec. Innocent Smith in NC does an apocalyptic double take. Canada has the world’s top forest fire fighters because we have a lot of forest, but things are not under control yet.

Holy Weblog has a snappy answer to a reader from the God Squad today, and lots of other goodies.

My rant on blogging a while ago bothered /ben/ a bit. I responded to his concerns in his comments section. He’s only the second blogger to question an opinion I’ve expressed. Maybe I should opine more often!

A Surprising Gesture

Patriotism isn’t something I feel very much, it’s more something I think. John Scalzi’s tribute to Canada made me feel. A little thank you goes a long way. Gordon Sinclair wrote this tribute to the US in 1973, which is in the Congressional Hall of Record. Scalzi’s piece should be archived by the Canadian government. Link via Instapundit

Acquisition

eBay has bought PayPal. Good. eBay honours the laws of the countries they operate in. Maybe now international users can get a break with PayPal.

Pledge to Be a Decent Parent Buddy

From the outside looking in, this Pledge of Allegiance suit is a custody battle run amok.

Bellicose Women

Is husband killing on the rise in Iran or is there better scrutiny?

You Can’t Placate an Obsessive

That is a great line from Lawrence Henry’s article in the American Prowler.

Political Meltdown

The Economist has a good an analysis of Turkey’s political upheaval and potential fallout.

Net Meltdown

There are ongoing Internet problems since yesterday. Here is a site I pop over to and check before I start worrying about my computer.

One Tough Austrian

I have great respect for beekeepers. On a related note, vegetarians think worker bees are oppressed. Tell that to the beekeeper.

Pecking Order
On Monday I linked to a story about Aussie thieves making off with a three metre inflatable dog.  Not to be outdone, Canuck thieves prefer inflatable poultry.

-posted 2:35pm, by Bene Diction 

Tuesday 9th July, 2002

Martin Roth Christian Commentary

Is This Revival?

Long decades of decline have made many Christians in the West defensive and insular. Could we be missing a major movement of God in our midst?

In my homeland of Australia you don’t need to spend long checking out churches before being struck by one phenomenon – the sharp rise in the number of Chinese congregations. Enquire further and you will probably find that the numbers of worshippers at these congregations are also growing.

My church has a thriving Cantonese congregation. A nearby church where I worshipped for two years has a growing Mandarin congregation, and is considering starting a Cantonese one.

This phenomenon is not just confined to the wealthier Eastern suburbs, where many affluent Hong Kong migrants live. It’s happening all over the city. The pastor of a small Baptist church in a less well-to-do inner-city suburb told me of his church’s Mandarin-language worship service: “They’re always having baptisms. And they’re very generous. They’ve bought a major sound system for the church.”

Recently I had dinner with a multi-cultural officer of the Baptist church. He told me that Chinese church members had overtaken those from Romania as the most numerous of all ethnic groups within the local Baptist Union.

This year’s visit of the Dalai Lama put a media spotlight on the growth of Buddhism in Australia, which is largely the result of sharply increased levels of Asian migration in recent years. Because the media are generally not interested in Christian good news stories they have missed the other side to the tale – the growth of the local Chinese church and the fact that so much of this expansion comes from migrants who arrive as Buddhists and then find Jesus.

An example of what is happening is Melbourne's Evangelical Chinese Church, which I visited recently. Started in 1978 with 10 members, it now attracts some 1,400 worshippers (including children) to 10 services each Sunday, in Mandarin, Cantonese and English, at four locations. And it is still growing.

Its 10 pastors come from almost as many denominational backgrounds, and the

church itself is resolutely non-denominational. "Love prevails in this church," says one of the pastors, Dr W.Y. Ang, who was formerly a dentist. He estimated that around half the people from the various congregations are from a non-Christian background, and he cited the example of a woman member who had spent some years in a Buddhist temple and is now a fervent Christian.

A feature of the church is its outreach activity. Each year it releases up to 20 people on short-term mission to Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, China and the Ukraine.

Under the Lord's guidance the church has registered the name Evangelical Community Church and will be using this title in some of its congregations in the future. Already it is attracting non-Chinese worshippers to its English services. It is hoping it might be able to find some Australian pastors and start ministering to other groups.

Is this revival?

I don’t really know. But it is a phenomenon that is being replicated in many cities in the West. And of course it reflects what is happening within China itself, and in some other parts of Asia.

So perhaps the more important questions are these: Is the church in the West aware of what is happening? And what is it doing in response?

 * See also my commentary, “With God on Their Side”.