I was listening to 774 ABC radio on the way back up to Melbourne last night (6th September between 10PM - 11PM). On air was Tony Delroy's talk radio show Nightlife exploring young adult's dysfunctional attitudes towards money with guests Arun Abey and Dr. Lisa O'Brien. While I don't agree with everything said on the show (and indeed am very sceptical of ABC in general) there was a lot of advice worth heeding for young adults. Both guests are members of The Smith Family an NGO seeking to "break the cycle of disadvantage by supporting kids' education". Now I have limited knowledge about what this organisation actually does so I will not endorse it but I was challenged about what they had to say about financial matters in regards to the young adult.
Part of the conversation spoke about the dangers of plastic cards and electronic money. This encourages a conception that financial planning is not important and leads to over expenditure. Now, to some extent, this has been dampened by the global financial crisis which has forced people to re-evaluate their financial decisions and potentially more money-savvy. However, there are a lot of young adults (and I put my hand up as well) who have no history of financial planning and upon receiving their first full-time job they abuse the money they have earned on things they, frankly, don't need.
Mr Abey and Dr. O'Brien stated that material consumption does not bring happiness, that people gather meaning from things other than finances, or cars etc. This is completely true, of course. Many young adults place large value on a high-paying job and getting their ducks all in a row, basically. Even Christian young adults are bought in by this concept of prospering. Yet we know, through scripture, that our prosperity should be in God and God alone. In his first letter to Timothy Paul writes this:
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
1 Timothy 6:17
However, this must be balanced with the concept of stewardship. This idea can be partly attributed to Jesus' parable of the talents in Matthew 25. While Jesus is obviously referring to things above and beyond wealth there is no getting past the fact that we are also called to be good stewards of our finances. In James 2 we are told in no uncertain terms that faith without works is dead.
We are to be good stewards of what we are given. And in our western world we are given a lot. This does not mean that I am encouraging any sort of self-obsession. Indeed, this is the very thing I am encouraging you to avoid. What we have belongs to the Lord. Therefore, we should think twice about using it for personal, selfish reasons. Now we know this, yet we are obsessed with buying new toys. Things beginning with "i", new televisions, new cars and, yes, new cameras. I challenge you to reconsider your financial planning and see whether or not you are being a good steward of the money God has given you. Because as Arun Abey alludes to in his book How Much Is Enough? if we don't check ourselves we will never be satisfied.
"I expect that some might argue that what I said in my title is a glaring example of what is known as an oxymoron. To that I can only plead guilty as charged. That our over-paid and over-egoed celebs can actually offer us anything remotely resembling wisdom is, I realise, a really big ask.
Yet that has not prevented many of them from trying to inflict their great learning upon us mere masses. We have far too many examples of various celebs pontificating on all sorts of important social, moral and cultural issues. Even intellectual issues.
On a regular basis our enlightened ones from Hollywood, popstardom and elsewhere will graciously bestow upon the rest of us peons their golden nuggets of wit and wisdom. Without their elevated thoughts and glistening guidance we would all undoubtedly be so much worse off.
Indeed, it is not enough that they have to bore us to death with their monotonous pop songs and box-office disaster films, but they feel the need to wear us all down with their celebrity commentary. I am not alone in dreading this assault of the celebs. In fact, whole books have been written about this.
For example, back in 2009 Andrea Peyser penned a neat little volume, Celebutards (Citadel Press). In it she examined a number of celebs, all card-carrying members of the zany left. All the usual suspects were there: Sean Penn, Madonna, Susan Sarandon, Michael Moore, Barbra Streisand, Jimmy Carter, Oprah Winfrey, Martin Sheen, Jesse Jackson, Hillary Clinton and many more.
It is worth noting that Peyser is no redneck hillbilly; she is “live-and-let-live on a variety of social issues, including abortion and gay rights”. But she can spot a celubutard a mile away, and provides a valuable service here in naming and shaming these serial pests. Her book begins this way:
“ce – leb – u – tard (suh – LEB – yu – tard) noun 1. A famous person with a grandiose notion of his own importance and contribution to the known universe. 2. A human being of sub-par intellect, oversized ego and colossal bank account, whose existence represents a drag on the food chain, waste of oxygen and severe annoyance. 3. An egregious moron. (Origin: from the Latin celebutardus Paris Hiltonus maximum Baldwinus).”
Thus a celebutard is a term used to describe “lazy and egotistical thinkers, stars equipped with abundant money, fame, idle hours and yes-men, who feel secure enough in their own influence and intelligence to create insane foreign or domestic policy in their spare time”.
The only problem with her book of course is that another volume is already long overdue. Plenty more showcases can be mentioned. The media continues to cough up one bizarre example after another of these folks. Indeed, I have documented many such cases myself on this site.
As to the latest instalment, consider this headline in today’s press: “Gwyneth Paltrow says humans are flawed and respects, admires people who had extra-marital affairs”. The article says this: “‘I am a great romantic – but I also think you can be a romantic and a realist,’ said Gwyneth Paltrow, who has two children Apple, seven, and Moses, five, with husband, Chris Martin, the singer/songwriter of UK band Coldplay.
“‘Life is complicated and long and I know people that I respect and admire and look up to who have had extra-marital affairs,’ said Paltrow, who spoke about the difficulty of marriage last month. ‘It’s like we’re flawed – we’re human beings and sometimes you make choices that other people are going to judge. That’s their problem but I really think that the more I live my life the more I learn not to judge people for what they do. I think we’re all trying our best but life is complicated’.”
Thank you Gwyneth for sharing with all of us these pearls of wisdom. That makes life so much easier now – or should we rather say, complicated? Imagine us foolish mortals thinking that human beings actually were able to make moral choices and not just excuse their bad behaviours as if they were nothing but animals.
It is so good to know that life is complicated. We used to foolishly think that Hitler was evil – end of story. But now with this new found Hollywood wisdom, we know that the poor guy was a complicated soul, and we have been far too harsh on the Nazis. After all, as you so rightly remind us, “we’re all flawed” and we have to “learn not to judge people for what they do”.
It is a pity the Nuremberg trials could not have been put on hold until you could have straightened them out on their mean-spirited judgmentalism and their obviously foolish notions of binding, absolute morality. Boy, what an uneducated and Philistine lot those guys were.
But now thanks to you, we can soon have universities offering Paltrow Ethics 101 and other helpful courses. There we will learn just how unhelpful it is to judge, to make moral decisions, or to exercise ethical discernment. We can be liberated in the knowledge that we are all “flawed – we’re human beings and sometimes you make choices that other people are going to judge.”
This is such a liberating concept. Next time I run a red light, I will just run that line past the judge. Surely it will get me off the hook. Next time I decide my wedding vows are far too tedious and embark upon a string of adulterous affairs, I will simply mollify my wife with the words, “Hey, we’re all flawed you know – and life is complicated!”
Next time a brain-challenged celeb makes some moronic comments about some important social and ethical issue, and someone seeks to put her out of her misery with his Smith & Wesson, we will be so relieved to know that they have no moral case to answer for. After all, life is oh so complicated, don’t you know?
Life will now be so much easier and straightforward, thanks to young Gwyneth sorting us out about all those ethical dilemmas. We now have the Ten Commandments nicely boiled down to just one: “Thou shalt not judge anyone because life is complicated and we are all flawed.”
And there we allowed all this archaic ethical teaching of the centuries to make our lives so cumbersome. Thank you Hollywoodians – you have made our lives so much more easy (even though it is because we have been informed that it is actually so complicated!).
Thanks so much Gwyn, I feel as if an enormous burden has been lifted from my shoulders, just as it must have been for you as well. I am so delighted to know that when your husband of eight years walks out on you and the kids for a new, younger model, you will be so understanding and accepting of all this.
"Recent evangelical discussion concerning Adam and Eve has served at least one good purpose — it has helped to clarify what is theologically at stake in the debate. The recent report by National Public Radio [NPR] alerted the larger secular culture to the debate, but the debate is hardly new.
What is new, however, is the candid admission on the part of some that the denial of a historical Adam requires a new understanding of the Bible’s basic story — and thus of the Gospel as well.
One of my recent articles, “False Start? The Controversy Over Adam and Eve Heats Up,” made this point clearly. As I argued there, the denial of a historical Adam means not only the rejection of a clear biblical teaching, but also the denial of the biblical doctrine of the Fall, leading to a very different way of telling the story of the Bible and the meaning of the Gospel.....
The denial of a historical Adam and Eve as the first parents of all humanity and the solitary first human pair severs the link between Adam and Christ which is so crucial to the Gospel.
If we do not know how the story of the Gospel begins, then we do not know what that story means. Make no mistake: a false start to the story produces a false grasp of the Gospel."
Click here to read the full article. Well worth it!
As the articles flow in about the 10th anniversary of the terrorist September 11 attacks I wish to pause for a moment and add my voice to the fray.
I do not remember much from that day. As a twelve-year-old this event didn’t have the impact that it certainly would have had I been relationally connected to this tragedy. As such my life went on.
Yet September 11 of the year 2011 has awoken a stirring in western nations. This event created a so-called “War on Terror”. Perhaps, we didn’t realise that we were already in a war. Not a specific war against men but a war against our natures, against the prince of darkness.
For much of my life I have lived a comfortable life. Not merely in possessions but in a lack of hostility. Now I see that this war is not only right on my doorstep but in my own heart as well. For many this turning point was September 11, 2001. For me, it was several years later.
Do not be deceived, this war involves everyone. It is not a war against fellow human beings but a war for fellow human beings. In this war I am merely a foot-soldier but I will do what I am called to do. At the moment it is to stand firm against an onslaught of hatred and oppression. Against those who claim that the Gospel has no merit, that Jesus does not provide salvation.
As a combatant for the Lord I expect adversity. I am not afraid of worldviews spawned from Satan to entrap the masses. I denounce them with all my strength because they lead to nothing but despair and an eternity of destruction. I reject the concept that Allah is God. I deny Dawkin’s humanism. I stand on the firm, unchanging word of scripture.
What happened ten years ago is a tragedy. It caused masses of human fatalities and is a clear win for the enemy. Yet, hope is not lost. We know the war for the souls of man has been won. We know that Jesus reigns victorious. We are now charged with helping the casualties and those still imprisoned in their own sin. That’s why I continue to fight. So that none have to fall by the wayside. To rage against the darkness. It is my hope that you join me.
James 1:2-4
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
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"Change is not the absence of struggles; change is the freedom to choose holiness in the midst of our struggles." - Christopher Yuan
I stumbled on this book last month (on Amazon) and the overwhelming excellent reviews made me immediately tab over to bookdepository and buy a copy for $14.15. This was money well-spent and I cannot commend this book more highly.
Out Of A Far Country is a multi-perspective story on the radical changes that occur in a family that has been torn apart by some of the lies that society tells us. Christopher Yuan is an intelligent young man who rejects his family after succumbing to his homosexual desires. He throws himself into a lifestyle of sex and drugs at the expense of his family and his career.
Angela Yuan lives in a loveless marriage and all her hopes are pinned upon her youngest son Christopher finishing his dentistry course and joining the family business. Unfortunately, her world is turned upside down when she finds a gay porn magazine hidden away. Upon confronting Christopher she offers him an ultimatum, choose family or homosexuality. Christopher does not think twice about his decision as he is heading for the door.
Here's where the power of this story starts. Both of these family members have a long journey of redemption ahead of them. Angela, upon her son's rejection, contemplates and even instigates a plan to commit suicide. It is upon Romans 8:38-39 that she stumbles on that fateful day:
"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Suddenly there is hope in her story. Instead of facing despair Angela is confronted with the immense power of God's Holy Spirit. Her life, her purpose is redefined and she lets go of her idea of a perfect family and starts to earnestly seek God's will in her life. The timing of this event is very important because it is not long before Christopher hits rock bottom. He is caught red-handed by the DEA and receives a long sentence for selling drugs. What is worse, while in prison, he is diagnosed as HIV+.
Yet God has not abandoned this wreck of a man. Angela is in constant and earnest prayer for her son and the effects of her love for him begin to show as Christopher is slowly brought to salvation. This is an uplifting story about two prodigals who find their paths bringing them home. Neither Angela nor Christopher wanted anything to do with Christianity, in fact, they felt a fair degree of animosity towards religion. Perhaps that is what makes this transformation so amazing. God meticulously leads these two rebels from the heart of despair, from the wilderness and brings them back to a life of purpose.
A 200-page book probably doesn't do these two people's life stories justice. Though perhaps this is a perfectly captivating length. The language is also simplistic yet steeped in raw emotions. We can feel the devastation because these people did really go through the bleak and emerge victorious.
No doubt this will be written off by those condemning ex-gays from speaking of their journey out of homosexuality. However, this story is more than that. This story resonates because we were/are all lost, far from home, and desolate. Yet hope transcends our situation and this book gives a very clear sense of God's plan coming to fruition in the life of one family. This brings hope to us all.
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On 21st of September the Durban III conference is scheduled to begin in New York.
Unfortunately this conference, titled the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, and the two proceeding it, are merely platforms for anti-semitic hate.
Here's what Dennis Prager had to say about the conference:
"Next month, the UN-sponsored hate-Israel festival known as Durban III takes place. Under the heading "anti-racism," the great bulk of the conference, like Durban I and Durban II, consists of condemning Israel for racism and equating it to an apartheid state.
Of the world's many great lies, this is among the greatest.
How do we know it is a lie? Because when South Africa was an apartheid state, no one accused Israel of being one. Even the UN would have regarded the accusation as absurd.
Israel has nothing in common with an apartheid state, but few people know enough about Israel -- or about apartheid South Africa -- to refute the slander...."
