Opening Night at Church and State Summit

John Anderson, former Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the National Party was the first speaker at Church and State Summit for 2018 - and my favourite speaker at the summit.

 Shamefully, I realised that I'd put him in the 'gentleman' basket, but hadn't realised how intelligent and eloquent he is. Duh - he was Deputy PM, of course he's gotta be intelligent!
"Politicians are a mirror image of the society that puts them there." - John Anderson

 Mr Anderson talked about the similarities between the fight William Wilberforce and his team had when they fought to abolish slavery. Lord Melbourne (speaking to Wilberforce in parliament) was the first to utter the nonsense of 'church and state should be separate'. Needless to say, the movie 'Amazing Grace' (the story of William Wilberforce and team to abolish slavery) and a biography of William Wilberforce have been added to my reading list for 2018!

 So, the history of those wanting to keep morality out of politics has a pretty sinister background - and that hasn't changed. Mr Anderson stressed the need to know our history in the fight to keep our freedom of speech, religion and concert (assembly). I'm motivated to read more biographies on those who changed history or simply lived our their faith with wonderful consequences.
"People who are deeply committed to the welfare of others should never be silenced." - John Anderson

 The point of history is that Christianity, even for unbelievers, is a civilising influence on a society. This is historical fact. Many are trying to make Australians forget their Christian heritage to create chaos.

 Once Mr Anderson had pointed out salient points about history and the repetition of it nowadays, he had further point about how to influence our culture:

 Make an appointment and introduce yourself to your local state and federal MP. Mr Anderson maintains they're lonely people! I think that being an MP is a really difficult job. The hours are long, you're away from your family a lot and dealing with people as individuals and groups who are lobbying for your time, vote and energy must be totally exhausting. So I can see how building a relationship with your MP is a good and worthwhile thing to do.

 Lastly, Mr Anderson referred to the current rise in transgenderism. He said that we're at the end of the age of reason, really. Science is no longer counted as relevant in the transgender debate, but we must continue to still point out the relevant science of biology with compassion. According to Mr Anderson, Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, USA will no longer perform sex-change surgery because their patient outcomes are very unfavourable and actually damaging.

 This is the type of evidence, factual and irrefutable that we must keep speaking with love and compassion. We must always rely on facts, Mr Anderson pointed out, in an eloquent way. We have to know what we're talking about!

 There were a few book recommendations from Mr Anderson which, of course, have been added to my 'must read' list!

 Bury the Chains by Adam Hochschild
Jesus Amongst Secular Gods by Ravi Zacharias and Vince Vitale
We Cannot Be Silent by Al Mohler

 He truly was an inspirational speaker, not only because he is passionate, but he's also honest, clearly has a deep love for people as individuals and Australia as a nation. If you are ever given the opportunity to hear him speak, please go and listen to what he has to say.

 Next up, I'll be reporting on what Brendan Malone from Focus on the Family New Zealand had to say. It was eye-opening, let me tell you!

 Until then........


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Conventional vs Natural

I've had to come face to face with some hard facts lately. I've known since I was about 18 that I'm sensitive to gluten and dairy products. But it wasn't life threatening, so I've just bodged along, sometimes going hard core and not eating any gluten or dairy and other times eating whatever I wanted until I got sick and had to slow down a bit. Mostly I've maintained a bit of a middle road, prefering to eat gluten or dairy free, but eating other stuff if I felt I could tolerate it. Not any more. I"ve had some worrying trends with my health lately and so the gluten-and-dairy-free diet has begun. I'm tired just thinking about having to think and cook gluten-free and dairy-free meals! But I just wanted to share how the solution to my health concerns came about. I've been to my GP and had some tests done which all, worryingly, came back negative (apart from a sinus infection). NOT ONCE did she mention that my condition may have something to do with...
Read more

A Dessert Too Good To Be True!

I looooove desserts (who doesn't?), but with my dietary requirements it can be hard to find a dessert that I have no reaction to. Recently, I remembered a great rice dessert my mum used to cook, so I made up my own version of it! I thought I'd share it with you because a) it's cheap, b) it's yummy, c) it's easy-peasy to make and d) it's filling for hungry children! This is it: Cook rice in a rice cooker (it's stickier and more 'pudding-y'), while still hot add 2-3 tbsp of brown sugar depending on the quantity of rice and some chopped up fruit (we've tried pineapple, pear and apple so far). Serve. Other versions: To the recipe above, with pineapple and brown sugar, add marshmallows for an extra treat! Cook rice, add some condensed milk - not so healthy, but a great emergency dessert! Cook rice, add maple syrup and fruit. Cook rice, add sugar and fruit. Cook rice, add golden syrup or honey and fruit. It's probably not everyone...
Read more

Attack

I didn't know all that much about spiritual warfare eight weeks ago. Now I know more. On October 14th, my seven-year-old son was baptised. It was higher than any other 'mountain top' experience I have ever had. Ever. Better than getting married, better than going to church camp. Better than the day he was born. I'd had baptism for him on my heart for about six months prior. I continually had that feather-brush thing going on in the back of my mind about having him baptised and becoming a christian. It felt weird. I didn't know how to approach talking to my own child about Jesus and I felt like a bit of a spiritual gumby. That's a terrible phrase, but it's how I felt. Like I was moving through wet cement to reach him. I prayed about it lots whenever it felt heavy on my heart and prayed for God's protection over him while I looked for any small opportunity to start 'the' conversation that is the single most important conversation one can ...
Read more