Just looking around

I just came across a reference to this church: http://www.docklandschurch.org.au/. Basically - it's an Anglican Church that was started up in docklands a few years ago, with a membership of 12. Now they currently have a membership of over 200 - not bad I reckon.

I know that we shouldn't compare ourselves with others, yadda yadda, but I think the contrast between our City Light Methodist Church and the Docklands Anglican Church is too striking to ignore.

You see, we have here two churches, situated literally next to each other. They both start out small, and are both part of very similar traditions (the Methodists are offshoots of the Anglicans).

Yet, over time, both have taken very different courses. Our church at the moment is still struggling with membership, funding, pastoral leadership, organisation, etc. Our brothers/sisters next to us, however, seem to be chugging along at a nice and healthy pace. Why? Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that they're really working with the Docklands communities, and targeting their activities as such ( they have "Sex in the City" Seminars and hold Bible Studies in local pubs - need I say more ?).

Now, I don't believe that growth is necessarily the definitive sign of the health of a church, but with the church leadership mulling over how to grow our church, I don't think we can ignore and shut ourselves off from what's going on around us. In fact - sometimes looking at others leads us to reflect long and hard on ourselves. Perhaps this is something we need to do a bit more :P

389 years

Just as a followup from my previous post, have a look at this:

http://www.wallstats.com/blog/389-years-ago/

Change isn't coming - it's already happened.

I'm sure everyone's heard about the recent Obama win in the US elections. Like many, I'll reserve judgement about how much change he'll really bring about - some things can only be seen when the rubber hits the road, so to speak. What I am excited about, however, is the fundamental change in society we are seeing.

I think it's lost on many of us as to how AMAZING an African-American becoming president is.

Being a hobbyist photographer, I think a picture speaks a thousand words. This photo was taken by Lawrence Beitler in 1930, and shows a racist mob taking two black men from a local jail and hanging them. This was not a group of fringe fanatics - such a scene was not really considered outrageous back then. And mind you - this was less than 80 years ago in the USA. Many of us would still have relatives from that period who are still alive!

Up to the 1960s, black people had limited rights to vote. (especially the women) In a well documented case, Amelia Boynton, a black woman, tried to register to vote during the elections as a protest against her lack of voting rights. For this, she was arrested and thrown into jail.

It took a few more years for the Voting Rights Act to be passed, enabling blacks to once again have voting rights. Even then, the racist attitudes and hatred were still deeply embedded in society (for example, blacks were still not allowed to use PUBLIC toilets). Again remember: this was barely 50 years ago (my parents grew up in this era!).

So please excuse me for getting excited about the fact that USA has voted in an African American president by democratic vote. I find it amazing that in the relatively short span of 50-80years, we have gone from lynching the blacks to voting one of them into the White House. And its not just because people hate the Republicans - surveys and statistics have shown repeatedly that there was actually EXCITEMENT about the prospect of having Obama as president (as compared to having the Republicans out). Heck, the sheer size of Obama's rallies is a giveaway as to how enthusiastic the crowds were about him.

At this point, I'll just make a final comment about eschatology. Last week we had a sermon about how the world is going to pieces and is getting worse and worse. No offense to anyone, but I simply cannot and will not agree with such a pessimistic, dispensationalist view of human history. I don't know about you, but I would rather live in the world today, than in a world completely ruled by racism, hatred, greed and injustice(not that those things aren't around anymore!). The very fact that we see these stalwarts of human sin being penetrated and broken down, is a testimony to the fact that by God's grace made available through the transforming work on the Cross, the world can change for the better.

Tram tracking

I took this on the way to prayer meet. I just love the way the sun filters through the trees and bounces off the tracks.