Month: October 2007

"Should Christians drink alcohol?"

This question has caused a fair bit of heated discussion over the centuries. Obviously, alcohol abuse does a lot of damage in our society and drunkenness needs to be avoided by any Christ-follower. But should a Christian totally abstain from all alcoholic beverages or is it okay to drink in moderation?

For many years our church required all leaders to abstain from alcohol, for a variety of reasons. Back in 2004, we reviewed this policy, in light of the biblical teaching on this issue, as well as our contemporary context. As a result, we made a decision to allow leaders to choose between abstinence and moderation, while also deciding to continue to make our church events alcohol free. This decision was received well by the majority of our leaders and church community, and thankfully, we have not had to discipline any leader for abusing their freedom.

Ultimately, each Christian must make a conscience decision as to whether to drink alcohol or not. There are many good reasons for choosing to abstain, while at the same time, drinking in moderation is also acceptable, as long as it is done in a way that does not cause other people to stumble.

The Australian Federal Election date has finally been set for Saturday, November 24^th, 2007.

Who will you vote for Prime Minister of Australia – John Howard or Kevin Rudd?

I have a personal conviction that it is not my role to tell people how I think they should vote. Neither does our church take a stand with one particular political party or individual politician. However, we do encourage people to do all that they can to make an informed vote, for the common good of our nation.

I have had the privilege of meeting and speaking briefly with both Mr Howard and Mr Rudd a number of times over the last year or so. They both seem to have a genuine belief and faith in God. They both have good leadership qualities, and appear to have good basic ethics and morals. I encourage you to pray for wisdom and discernment as to who you think will make the best Prime Minister for this next season for us as a nation. Take time to thoughtfully consider each political party’s policies – in a broad range of areas. Look at the team of people around each leader, considering their character and qualifications too.

To assist us in making an informed vote, the Australian Christian Lobby are doing us an excellent service by putting together a comprehensive list of the views of each political party on a wide range of ethical and social issues. This information is currently being gathered and will be available on their web site in the next day or so.

The Make Poverty History initiative has compiled policies from four political parties in relation to the key aid and development issues. You can view the report here. Doing justice and showing mercy to the poor are important values (Micah 6:8).

As I become aware of other resources to help inform your vote, I’ll add them to this post.

A final thought … making your vote count is important but that’s not all. I recently heard Steve Chalke from the UK say, "What takes 2 minutes and last 4 years? Your vote!" That’s very true. However, we need to do more than just cast our vote and then forget about it until the next election. A democracy is designed to be much more than just voting people into office and paying your taxes. We need to be actively participating with our politicians (whoever they may be) as key issues arise – and voice our opinions on important matters. After all, each politician is appointed to serve the people of our nation – which includes you and me.

"When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan." [Proverbs 29:2. NLT]

The war in Iraq continues to be a topic of fairly heated political discussion across the globe.

I personally believe that US President, George Bush, would have been better to wait until a United Nations joint decision before choosing to invade Iraq. The ‘weapons of mass destruction’ that were the cause of the invasion soon turned into the ‘weapons of mass disappearance’. Saddam Hussein is gone but the war continues to drag on and on, at the cost of many lives. Rebuilding the nation has become an almost impossible task, much like the complex situation that developed with the Vietnam War last century.

Last year, I was privileged to be invited to a World Vision dinner with special guest Tony Campolo and a number of Christian leaders from around Melbourne. At dinner time, Tony was asked what advice he would give President Bush in regards to the war in Iraq. Without hesitation he said he would advise him to do three things immediately:

1. Apologise for invading Iraq. The weapons of mass destruction simply weren’t there.
2. Immediately withdraw all American troops. They are struggling in an unfamiliar environment and culture. The nearby Saudi Arabian government has offered to send troops to help the Iraq government. These troops are familiar with the environment and culture and would do a much better job helping to bring order to the country.
3. Donate half of the billions of dollars that are being spent on the war to help rebuild Iraq as a nation. The other half should be invested back into America, to help alleviate poverty and other social issues that have been much neglected due to the drain of funds used to finance the Iraq war.

I must admit, I thought that was advice worth considering.

More recently, Tony addressed the question, "What would Jesus do about the war in Iraq?" You can read a transcript of his message here.

Have a read and let me know what you think. You may not always agree with what Tony says, but he always has something thought-provoking to say.

Tony will be one of our guest speakers for our REDLINE men’s conference on May 23-24^th, 2008.