June 2 AG delayed R18+ Game Classification. Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said that, "Ministers have requested further analysis of community and expert views". Supporters of R18+ games soon speculated that the search for additional information was because of the "overwhelming response from gamers in the public consultation". It shows that over 98% of the 60,000 submissions received were in favour of the R18+ rating.  86% of total submissions came from retailer EB Games and the pro-R18+ organisation 'Grow Up Australia'. The vast majority of submissions were from males in the 18-34 years age category. It is obvious that the results of the R18+ consultation represent those of gaming interests, and not the broad community. This appears to be the reason the ministers are seeking additional information, thus scuttling the gaming industry's tactic of flooding the consultation with submissions. source: Australia Prayer Network

May 31 Singapore's largest non-mainline church under state investigation. As it was expected to come after Pastor Kong Hee's 30,000-strong City Harvest Church made a bold purchase of half-share in a downtown conference centre early during the year the state authority had today sent their investigation team to crawl all over the church offices and homes of church administrators for alleged misuse of church funds despite denial by the authority that the two events are not related. The tall-poppy syndrome is very well and alive in Singapore too. What's next? A 40% Super Profit Tax for wealthy churches! <link>

May 1 Use the Media in a positive way urges the Pope. Speaking at the Digital Witnesses: Faces and Languages in the Cross-Media Age conference, the pope exhorted followers to get online and provide a spiritual element to online communications. "I exhort you to walk the roads of the digital continent animated by the courage of the Holy Spirit. Without fear we want to set out upon the digital sea embracing the unrestricted navigation with the same passion that for 2,000 years has steered the Church." <video>

Apr 22 Will Pentecostalism survives the next decade? Church historian and author of An Eyewitness Remembers the Century of the Holy Spirit, Vinson Synan, in his respond to ChristianityToday query had this to say, "Pentecostalism is into its second century, but it's still vigorous because it tends to renew itself every 30 or 40 years. If its leaders keep the excitement and the fire going intellectually and culturally, the movement will continue to grow." He added too that future transformational leaders will likely come from independent Pentecostal churches rather than from the Baptists or Presbyterians. <more>

Apr 21 Canberra pulled the plug on Charter of Rights. Nor will it introduce rules for judges that would have required them to interpret legislation in a way they believe is in accordance with human rights. This would have gone beyond the current rule governing the way judges interpret statutes that may amount to a "back-door charter". ACL Jim Wallace said that the Government’s decision shows that they have listened to the genuine and valid concerns of a wide cross section of the Christian community on this issue, as well as the concerns of former governors general, High Court judges, retired generals and prominent politicians on both sides of politics, among others.
Sources: The Australian, Australian Christian Lobby, The People's Charter

Apr 19 The Pope, The Media, and the Sexual Abuse Scandals. Pope Benedict XVI has come under intense scrutiny over the last few weeks, regarding the sexual abuse scandals. This page seeks to set out the facts, in an attempt to rectify and combat some of the biased and incorrect media coverage that has surrounded this issue. Sexual abuse of children is a horrific crime. No coverage of this issue would be complete without a frank acknowledgement of the errors that have been made in the handling of child sexual abuse cases in the past. Pope Benedict XVI has apologised on behalf of the entire Catholic Church, and met with victims in several countries. At the same time, it is important to recognise the extraordinary efforts that the Church now goes to assist victims of sexual abuse in their healing, to remove offenders from positions of responsibility, and to safeguard children in our institutions and parishes. <more>

<more church news>


Inside Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark has been found atop a mountain in Turkey, a team of Turkish and Chinese evangelical explorers said Monday, April 26. The 15-person team claims to have recovered fragments of wood and pieces of rope from a structure on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey that carbon dating has put at 4,800 years old, roughly coinciding with the time the biblical flood was said to have been occurred. The team is a joint effort between Hong Kong-based Media Evangelism, Noah's Ark Ministry International and the Turkish government.
Yeung Wing-Cheung, a member of the team, told AFP, "It's not 100 percent that it is Noah's Ark but we think it is 99.9 percent that this is it."
He said that the structure at the site featured wooden beams and several compartments that were believed to house animals. The group of evangelical archaeologists ruled out an established human settlement on the grounds that one had never been found above 3,500 metres in the vicinity, Yeung said. Wing-Cheung added that local officials will ask the Turkish government to apply for UNESCO World Heritage status, to protect the site while further archaeological excavation is carried out.
source: www.huffingtonpost.com; www.straitstimes.com; www.noahsarksearch.net; TIME magazine

Acknowledging Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior

JEREMIAH’S PRAYER
(Jeremiah 10:23-25)
I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own;
       it is not for man to direct his steps.
Correct me, LORD, but only with justice—
       not in your anger,
       lest you reduce me to nothing.
Pour out your wrath on the nations
       that do not acknowledge you,
       on the peoples who do not call on your name.
       For they have devoured Jacob;
       they have devoured him completely
       and destroyed his homeland.

Jeremiah understood and knew God; that He is the Lord who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth (9:23-24). When a man chooses to direct his own steps without God he is walking in darkness perils. However, if the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand (Psalms 37:23-24).
 Correct me, LORD, but only with justice because the anger of God is a consuming fire destroying everything in its path. As God is a God of justice there is a price to be paid for sin. But God too is a God of mercy, therefore a sincere appeal for His clemency and grace will not go unheeded. Made this in no uncertain way by calling on the name of Jesus Christ – for salvation comes by no other name in heaven (Acts 12:4).   
 
The first half of Jeremiah’s prayer is in the first person but from the context it is clear that he is praying on behalf of his nation, Israel. He who is the Portion of Jacob . . . the Maker of all things, including Israel, the tribe of his inheritance (v16). The prayer concludes with a warning against any nation that poured scorn and death wish on Israel will face the God of Israel who in His justice will bring down judgment against the nations that defy Him and ridiculed His chosen ones.

Over the past year there is a distinctive cold wind that is blowing against Israel from unlikely source. The once staunch allies in the West are now reveiwing their support. Sadly the benediction, I will bless those who bless you (Gen 12:3), coincidentally appears to be fading too from these nations. Where will Isreal's help come from? The Christian Church. Benjamin Netanyahu, the current Prime Minister of Israel, sensing the growing loneliness of his nation, had declared that Israel “has no better friends in the world” than Christians who love and support Israel (Jerusalem Post, April 2008).
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
       "May those who love you be secure.
May there be peace within your walls
       and security within your citadels."
Psalms 122:6-7

Timothy Tay

Read also:
Flotillas & Falsehoods, Don't Members of the Press ever Resent being so Used? by NRO's Nora Charen
"We are no longer a Christian nation", President Obama & Islamic Convictiions

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GONE MAD
A couple with 11 children have been told by the Department for Child Protection that they cannot become foster parents because they sometimes physically discipline their children. John and Pat Wieske say the family see fostering as their Christian duty and a chance to give something back to the community but during interviews with the department they revealed that they occasionally smacked their children and the department consequently deemed them unsuitable to be foster parents. <thewest.com.au March 12, 2010>
The often quoted bible verse in relation to child discipline is found in Proverbs 13:24, "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him." The verse in its context refers to the warning of the damage injustice brings by those ill-disciplined in society (v23) and the blessings for those who stick to the straight and narrow (v25), however, this need to inculcate discipline in the young under our charge often got lost by the debate on the peripherals and the symbolics.