michael's blog

I was privy to know that the Bible Society had applied for a "Jesus. All about life" stall at this year's Easter show but heard on Friday that the application was rejected! No Jesus at the Easter show! (Read about it here).

This life is full of tragedy. In fact if Genesis 3 tells us anything, it tells us that we can expect our world to be full of tragedy and suffering because this world is not as it should be... this is a broken world and tragedy is part of life.

But what is a Christian response to tragedy and suffering?

Currently we are surrounded by stories of personal loss and suffering caused by the earthquake in Haiti. Last year it was the tragedy of bush-fire in Victoria, before that it was the Indian Ocean Tsunami... There are countless tragedies caused by cyclones, or drought, or flooding, or disease... So what does the Bible have to say on suffering? Well the Bible has a lot to say to us in the midst of our suffering, more than we can cover here. So I just want to point out  4 key responses to personal suffering that the Bible offers. These 4 responses come from the examples of Job (pronounced "Jobe"), the psalm writers, and Jesus himself.

Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson, KISS, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Megadeath, Pantera... the list of popular rock bands that market themselves with a the hell-devil-satanic kinda theme could fill up a ream of paper before we even got to the hard core death metal and thrasher bands like Slayer, and Cannibal Corpse. The reputation of rock as the Devil’s music has been well deserved… but does that mean it is the Devil’s music?

Here is the first of 2 Gospel Bites in preparation for the Federal Election on Saturday November 24th. All Saints will be hosting a polling station for the Petersham area and running a BBQ and tea and coffee stand throughout the day.