Church In Perth - Hope To The Nations

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

I came away from the visit realising how much Gaddafi lives inside his own head. I wondered if he even fully understood fully what was going on around him. And I was very, very glad that we had disarmed him of his most dangerous weapons of mass destruction. There in his bunker, making his last stand, I have no doubt he would have used them.
Condoleezza Rice, Former US Sec of State commenting in 2008 after a brief meeting with Libyan strongman

God is a wise, wise God, and he's wise enough to not be affiliated with any political party, or for that matter, he's wise enough to not be affiliated with any man-made institutions.
Rick Perry, Texas Governor @7-hour Prayer Rally Houston (TIME)

The time for muddling through is over. If we do not get ahead of events; if we do not adapt to change; if we do not rise above short-term political tactics or recognise that with power comes responsibility, then we will drift in dangerous currents.
Robert Zoellick, World Bank President, warning that global economy is in danger zone

Governments in Australia cannot continue to ignore the reality that two parents tend to provide better outcomes for children than one, and that the most stable, safe and nurturing environment for children is when their parents are, and remain, married to one another.
Prof. Parkinson, For Kids' Sake, reporting on falling marriage rates hurting children

Lots of companies have tons of great engineers and smart people, but ultimately, there needs to be some gravitational force that pulls it all together. Otherwise, you can get great pieces of technology all floating around the universe!
Steve Jobs, retiring Apple's CEO

It's much more important to be interested than to be interesting.
Jane Fonda responding to the question, "What would the older you say to the younger you?" Time Aug 22, 2011

When we see children as young as 13 looting and laughing, when we see the disgusting sight of an injured young man with people pretending to help him while they are robbing him, it is clear that there are things that are badly wrong in our society. The sight of those young people running down streets, smashing windows, taking property, looting, laughing as they go, the problem of that is a complete lack of responsibility, a lack of proper parenting, a lack of proper upbringing, a lack of proper ethics, a lack of proper morals.
Britain's PM David Cameron responding to the riotings in major UK cities

If a bottle of water is more expensive than a bottle of wine, something is fundamentally wrong.
Dr John Crozier, deputy chairman of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, operates on some of the 1500 Australians sent to hospital every week as a result of alcohol and can't understand why wine should sell for as little as $2 a bottle.
<Read more>

I don't really fear it, death. Even if I pass away, I'm still going to have a life up in heaven and obviously that's going to be for eternity. A lot of people might think I'm putting on this Christian act, it's a facade or whatever. But it lifts me up.

Andrew Chan, Bali Nine Ringleader, facing execution. source: SMH June 21, 2011

So far as we favour openness and transparency, we should think of WikiLeaks as having done a lot of good. And while we might think that it's being a little reckless in some of its revelations, consider this test for whether you are living ethically: Would you object to what you're doing now being on the front page of tomorrow's newspaper?
Ethicist Peter Singer, CPA Australia June 2011

Legacy is a stupid thing! I don’t want a legacy. If people look and see that childhood deaths dropped from nine million a year to four million because of our investment, then wow! I liken what I’m doing now to my old job. I worked with a lot of smart people; some things went well, some didn’t go so well. But when you see how what we did ended up empowering people, it’s a very cool thing.
Billionaire Bill Gates replying to question on his legacy
Daily Mail June 13, 2011

Separate Lives Under Marital Roof
This makeshift middle ground has only grown since the recession of 2008 because, quite simply, many couples can't afford to get divorced. They can't sell their home (or they'd have to sell it at a loss) or they can't afford to establish two households, to say nothing of paying for the divorce lawyers.

Read more: TIME June 7, 2011

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power, Abraham Lincoln.
Christians are to handle power with fear and trembling. Worldly power is not beyond the redemptive work of God, but it is a great seducer that has ruined the lives of men and women throughout history. We cannot be naïve to that reality.
Christ offers Christians an important example. When tempted in the wilderness, Jesus rejected Satan’s offers of worldly power, opting instead for the invisible yet everlasting power of God. Christ forsook his right to worldly power to hang on a cross instead.
Sharon Miller, Schwarzenegger, Strauss-Kahn and Power, ChristianityToday May 23, 2011

I also have the same questions. Why is it this way? Why do you have to suffer so much while others live in ease? And we do not have the answers but we know Jesus suffered as you have. Be assured, we are with you, with all the Japanese children who are suffering. We want to help you with our prayers, with our actions, and you can be sure that God will help you. This seems very important to me, even if we do not have answers, even if we are still sad; God is by your side and you can be certain that this will help you. One day we will even understand why it was so.
Pope Benedict, responding to Elena, 7, a Japanese girl traumatised by the earthquake and tsunami question, "'I'm very afraid because the house in which I felt safe shook a lot and lots of my classmates were killed. Why do I have to be so afraid? Why do children have to suffer such sadness?

Things happened later in my life where I thought I knew what I was going to do, but instead, these things happened—I call them the Lord's accidents. They're not accidents to him at all, he's got it all planned, but it turns you around and you're doing something you didn't think you were going to.
Jane Russell actress. Mar 1, 2011

Houses burning, which do you save? Heartbreaking.
Roleystone Volunteer Fire Rescue member Simon Melhuish Feb 8, 2011

The central issues of our time aren't economic or political or social, important as these are. The central issues of our time are moral and spiritual in nature, and our calling is to declare Christ's forgiveness and hope and transforming power to a world that does not know him or follow him. May we never forget this.
Dr Billy Graham, ChristianityToday, January 21, 2011

As we grow older we should focus not only on the present, but more and more on Heaven. This world, with all of its pains and sorrows and burdens, isn't our final home. If we know Christ, we know we have "an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you" (1 Pet. 1:4). I know it won't be long before I'll be going there, and I look forward to that day. Heaven gives us hope, and makes our present burdens easier to bear.
Dr Billy Graham, advice on aging, ChristianityToday January 21, 2011

This multicultural approach, saying that we simply live side by side and live happily with each other, has utterly failed. We feel tied to Christian values. Those who don't accept them don't have a place here.
GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel <theSunUK Oct 18>

“Ma-Ra-Na-Tha.”
Singapore's strongman, Mr Lee Kuan Yew 87

At night, hearing the sounds of his wife’s discomfort in the next room, he said, he calms himself with 20 minutes of meditation, reciting a mantra he was taught by a Christian friend. The phrase, which is Aramaic, comes at the end of St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians, and can be translated in several ways. Mr. Lee said that he was told it means “Come to me, O Lord Jesus,” and that although he is not a believer, he finds the sounds soothing.
<NewYorkTimes Sep11, 2010>

My firm belief is that our fate is in the hands of God and our people. While we focus on uplifting the lives of our fellow human beings, I have an unshakeable faith that Almighty God will give us blessings and support. If we remain firm in our belief that God is on our side,is there anything impossible for us to achieve?
Newly inaugurated President of Philippines, Benigno Aquino. August 2010

What a difference a day makes... The page had turned. The celebration had abruptly ended.
Ps Kong Hee on the police raid which took place only a day after the church had concluded an international conference of more than 25,000 participants <ST>

Shallower though its pockets may be, the group still poses a threat: A small sum spent cleverly on the right explosive in the right place can do a lot of damage.
Nathan Vardi, Is al Qaeda Bankrupt? Forbes Asia March 2010

Pressure is building against Christians in Britain. No politician is expressing concern that Britain should remain a Christian country. That is a scandal and a disgrace to our history. Christianity, has given so much to our country, yet is being sidelined as though it is a stranger to our nation. We must stand up against the marginalizing of faith. We must constantly remind society of it's Christian roots and heritage.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey on how Christianity is being bullied out of Britain's public life in the name of political correctness <APN -Daily News>

When Austrian tycoon, Karl Rabeder, went on a five-star holiday with his wife to Hawaii, it was there that he realized that despite spending all that money, they hadn't really met a single real person.
The staff played the role of being friendly and the guests played the role of being important and nobody was real. For a long time I believed that more wealth and luxury automatically meant more happiness, money is counterproductive – it prevents happiness to come. (Today I felt) free, the opposite of heavy.
Why I'm giving away my fortune to a microcredit charity to help the poor. Telegraph Group, Feb 10, 2010

Our marriage was strong. I know Oprah and others took the approach that he needed to accept that this was his identity. Honestly, our identities are made up by what we believe and how we choose to live our lives.
Gayle Haggard responding to the ChristianityToday query regarding Ted Haggard's same-sex inclination

I was in a big accident. Don't be upset at God. He always provides for his children, even in hard times,"I'm still praying that God will get me out, but He may not. But He will always take care of you.
Dam Woolley, Haiti earthquake survivor before been rescued (The Age)

Martin Luther had to say something, or they were going to keep selling indulgences. Now we have that going on in our midst. If someone says, 'Send your $100 to be saved,' that is selling indulgences, and there are people doing that on . . . We need a Holy Ghost housecleaning.
J. Lee Grady, Charisma Editor

The complexity built up in layers by past policies absorbs vast amounts of money and human effort in crisis management but does little to improve the physical and spiritual wellbeing of indigenous West Australians.
Indigenous Implementation Board, headed by former governor Lt-Gen. John Sanderson. (The West Australian, September 18, 2009)
Photo: Broome not Boom (IP)

Corazon (Cory) Aquino was convinced that her presidency (of Philiippines) was divinely inspired, even as her political foes mocked her piety. "If the country needs me," she said, "God will spare me." And miracle of miracles, she proved God right and her critics wrong.
Time August 17, 2009, Tribute to Aquino on her death on August 1, 2009

Too many churches live their faith inside their walls, when the church needs to be here in the street, we're out stealing souls from the Devil.
Evangelist Obeda, a former street kid in Havana, Cuba

A church that does not seek the lost, is lost itself.
Reinhard Bonnke, interviewed by historymakersradio

Biologicaly 18 to 25 years old - your body is in peak physical condition, you're fit, you're young, you're well - is a good time to have a baby. What we want to do is to dispel the myth that there will always be time and it will just fall into place, but biology is a cruel mistress.
Dr Gino Pecoraro, RANZCOG. The West Australian, June 16, 2009

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was "defeated not by Christians or Muslims, but by secular Hindus."
John Dayal, secretary general of the All India Christian Council (AICC) commenting on the recent Indian election which saw the Hindu radical leaning BJP suffered a significant drop in support. Over 80 percent of the more than 1 billion people in India are Hindu. Christians form around 2.3 percent of the population, and Muslims about 14 percent. Charismamag May 22, 2009

Calvin has been seen as an influence in the rise of modern education, modern science, capitalism, and democracy. All of these developments in the history of the West would probably have occurred if Calvin had never lived, but he probably helped the development occur somewhat more quickly.
Calvin's 500th Birthday book review by Christianity Today May 19, 2009

Aa Catholic friend of mine asked why the Pope had spoken out so boldly on the AIDS problem. It seemed to this liberal Catholic that the Pope had once again stuck his nose where it did not belong. Pope Benedict XVI made the following statement in Yaounde, Cameroon, "You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms ...On the contrary, it increases the problem."
As far as I can tell, contrary to my friend's opinion, the Pope was right this time. In fact, his statement was not just a doctrinal position on sexuality; it was also a practical observation about a dreaded disease that the Roman Catholic Church has invested billions of dollars to fight around the world. I agree with the Pope that a responsible and moral attitude toward sex would help fight the disease. Harry R. Jackson CharismaNews Mar25, 2009

In our continuing catechesis on St Paul, we now consider his teaching on justificaiton. Paul's experience of the Risen Lord on the road to Damascus led him to see that it is only by faith in Christ, and not by any merit of our own, that we are made righteous before God. Our justification in Christ is thus God's gracious gift, revealed in the mystery of the Cross. Christ died in order to become our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption and we in turn, justified by faith, have become in him the very righteousness of God. In the light of the Cross and its gifts of reconciliation and new life in the Spirit, Paul rejected a righteousness base on the Law and its works. Pope Benedict XVI, January 22, 2009
read also Chuck Colson commentaries

There is no law in the land where I live, compelling me to [be a Christian]. But in your land, if I chose to disbelieve [Islam], I have to stand before a tribunal of justices and explain it.
Ravi Zacharias, Christian Worldview with The Washington Times, Dec 8, 2008

At the outset I think it’s worth reflecting on the very good advice Jesus gave to politicians in the Sermon on the Mount, it’s very appropriate for an occasion like this: “Be careful not to parade your uprightness in public to attract attention, otherwise you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven.” And Jesus gave even better counsel for the public that politicians see to represent and persuade to their point of view. “Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. You will be able to tell them by their fruits.”
Opposition Leader the Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP speaking at ACL's National Conference Nov 8, 2008

The thing is, I need you fellas to spread the word among your mates, you’re not prime examples because you’re good kids and you want to work. You’ve got to tell those kids on welfare and whose parents are on welfare that it’s bullshit.
FMG's Andrew Forrest as he pledges 50,000 jobs for indigenous Australians in ‘welfare not an option’ plan Oct 31, 2008

Sep 10 Andrew Forrest's How I came to see the Light. One of Australia's wealthiest men was so influenced by the change in his then fiancee, his wife Nicola's new found faith, that he too wanted the same and they got hitched the same year reported Teen Challenge in their Sep-Oct 08 newsletter. "That was the turning point when I knew that the issues were resolved, my heart was healed and I ws ready to move on," says Nicola after receiving prayer from a visiting minister.

They can kill my body but they can't kill my soul.
Mosab Hassan Yousef
responding to Fox News Jonathan Hunt's question about the threat to kill Mosab now that he had converted to Christianity and denouncing Hamas. Sep 9, 2008

There is irony in Solzhenitsyn's American reception. We praised him for crippling the Kremlin by the power of his courageous truth telling. But we disapproved when he spoke his mind about American decadence.
Christianity Today Aug 13, 2008 on Solzhenitsyn's death

I ask myself, could anyone standing face to face with people who actually do suffer violence and sexual exploitation explain that these tragedies, portrayed in virtual form, are considered merely entertainment? Do not be fooled by those who see you as just another consumer in a market of undifferentiated possibilities, where choice itself becomes the god, novelty usurps beauty and subjective experience displaces truth. Christ offers more. Indeed, he offers everything.
Pope Benedict XVI, World Youth Day Jul 17, 2008

You young people have in a special way the task of witnessing today to the faith; the commitment to bring the Gospel of Christ into the third Christian Millennium, to build a new civilization – Pope John Paul II, intro to xt3.com

Morality was the glue that binds society together. There has been nothing to replace it and therefore there has been a vacuum in the spiritual and moral formation of many young people.
Archbishop Hickey declining role of religion to growing social evils (The West, June 20, 2008)

Public health campaigns can do much to educate people about what are the real things that make people happy and live longer. And it is not making more money.
Instead of spending so many hours at work, you are better off engaging in what we call inconspicuous consumption — the kind of consumption that is unlike driving a Porsche. The more hours you spend with your family and communities, the more likely you are to be happy and content and it is that kind of consumption we need to teach people to value more.
Professor Ichiro Kawachi, visiting Harvard Universityexpert on health (The West, June 18, 2008)

I once accepted a speaking engagement among Christians involved in Twelve Step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous. As I talked with the attendees and pondered what to say, I finally decided on the ironic title, "Why I Wish I Was an Alcoholic." It occurred to me that what recovering alcoholics confess every day—personal failure, and the daily need for grace and help from friends and a Higher Power—represent high hurdles for those of us who take pride in our independence and self-sufficiency.
Philip Yancey, Christianity Today. May 28, 2008

Christianity is a foreign religion imposed on China? When Buddha entered China, Buddha rode on a white elephant, but Jesus Christ entered China riding on cannon shells. If you want to enter a country, then at the same time you attack that country, certainly you will not be welcome. [But] Mr. Palau landed in China by a Boeing 777 rather than by an aircraft carrier.
Zhao Qizheng, Minister of the State Council Information Office of China. Christianity Today. May 23, 2008

Mass is not a drive-through, fast-food event. The adopted formula of come in late and leave early, or come in early and leave early is neither the desired attitude nor praxis to have in one’s mind and heart when it concerns our Lord’s invitation to partake in His most sacred and intimate meal.
Father Separovich, Rockingham Parish (source: TheWest) May 9, 2008

I don't want to wake up one morning in the year 2020 with the regret of not having acted when I had the chance.
PM Rudd addressing the 2020 summit April 20, 2008