Jim joined ACL following a 32 year career in the armed forces, which included command of the SAS Regt, Special Forces and the Army’s mechanised Brigade of three thousand personnel and most of the Army’s fighting vehicles.  He is a graduate of the Royal Military College Duntroon, the British Army Staff College and the Australian College of Defence and Strategic Studies.

As managing director of ACL Jim heads up one of Australia’s fastest growing political organisations, which aims to see Christian values better acknowledged in the way we are governed, do business and relate as a community.
Dinner tickets cost $20 and may be obtained from the MOBC Office (9570 5722)

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Alpha is coming to MOBC with the next course due to start on Thursday 22nd July. 6:45pm – 9:30pm

Over twelve thought provoking weekly sessions Alpha invites you to share great food, listen to a series of short talks and ask any questions you have during small group discussions.

Each talk covers a fundamental question such as:

• Who is Jesus?
• Why did Jesus die?
• Why and how should I read the Bible?
• How can I make the most of the rest of my life?

Everyone is welcome on an Alpha course. Some people want to investigate whether God exists and if there is any point to life; others are concerned about what happens after death; Still others may have attended church for years, but feel they have never really understood the basics of the Christian faith.

To find out more or to book a place on the next Alpha Course submit a request via the Contact page.

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Who was in trouble with the law ? Was it our parking habits ? Or maybe our phanton sermon sleeper had finally been outed ?

But seriously, it was a crime if you missed New South Wales’ Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione’s visit to MOBC on Thursday evening September 24.

After a hearty, and deliciously nutritious two-course meal, more than 100 men (including MOBC members, regulars, and visitors) enjoyed a few rounds of trivia questions before Pastor Tim Burns interviewed the state’s top cop… in an informal “Michael Parkinson style” setting.
To say it was interesting was a gross understatement.

The theme of Mr Scipione’s message… in his own words… was “I’m a Christian who just happens to be the Police Commissioner, not a Police Commissioner who happens to be a Christian”. Apart from sharing how he became a Christian as a young teenager, the Commissioner recounted his career steps over the 30 years he’s been in the police force and admitted none of them would have been possible without God’s grace. He emphasised how tough it was being a policeman, and how he’d often doubted himself…particularly as a young cop, with (then) a young family. But again he paid tribute to God’s leading and provision, and said he’s never regretted remaining consistent and true to what he believes, conceding he would have been branded a “phoney” if he hadn’t.

The Commissioner said Micah 6 v 8 had been a personal motto: “And what does the Lord require of you ? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God”. He asked for our prayers for ALL New South Wales police officers, and believed HE serves them… not the other way around.

The interview finished with a number of questions from the floor, during which the Commissioner opened up even further about his faith and the challenges of being a policeman. Mr Scipione also paid tribute to his wife of 30 years, for her unwavering spiritual encouragement.
He also encouraged community and youth leaders to work with the police to help lower crime rates… particularly associated with young people.

The Commissioner’s message was both challenging and encouraging… it capped off a highly successful evening.
A big thank you to everyone involved, particularly to those in the kitchen.

If you missed this one, we’ll let you off with a warning this time !!! Can’t wait for the next men’s gathering at MOBC.

John Pearson.

Related posts:

1. An evening with Andrew Scipione

‘Recently, I was reminded that Australia is experiencing its sixth recession in the post-war era. ‘Soaring new economy stocks go bust’ and ‘Corporate corruption scandal threatens market integrity’ are headlines we would have expected to see over the past 12 months. In fact, they were printed in the 1870’s at the decline of North American railroad companies. The events of the past year have been dramatic but not unique.

As CEO of Christian Super, I witness on a daily basis the impact of the global financial crisis from a range of perspectives: government fiscal and monetary policy responses, changes to international banking regulations, economic stimulus packages, declining retirement savings, people delaying retirement or re-entering the workforce, ministries folding from lack of funding, and so on.

As a Christian I also see another side of this event: families coming together to support their parents, churches depending on God to provide, unemployed people realising their significance is in God and not their job, people connecting their faith with their wallets, charities receiving increased donor giving, and the church playing a greater role in local communities than it has done for years, supporting people in tough financial situations.

Connecting our wallet to our faith is always a difficult issue, and one that can easily be put in the ‘too hard’ basket. When I first became a Christian and started telling my family and friends about my new faith, I received a variety of responses. However, it was my father’s response that stunned me most of all. ‘I’m happy for you,’ he said. ‘If that’s what you want, that’s fine. But don’t let them get your money!’

As a 21 year old in the late 1980’s, I didn’t know how to respond. Not having been raised in an evangelical church, I experienced a strong disconnection between my finances and my faith. The notable finance scandals involving American-based televangelists ‘fleecing the flock’ made it impossible for me to make any coherent reply to my father. To be honest, I found myself profoundly embarrassed about articulating what my faith had to do with my financial situation.

Clearly, God has a sense of humour – nearly 20 years later I am the CEO of Christian Super, an organisation with approximately $420 million in funds under management! And over the past decade and a half, I have helped organisations and churches tackle this issue of being faithful with the resources God provides. Such organisations have been very skilful in approaching this task, while others have developed from a low base. Every organisation is different, and what works for one might not work for another. In each case, achieving consensus about the way forward has involved significant and robust dialogue. Nevertheless, the outcomes have demonstrated their genuine desire to be good stewards of what God has entrusted to them, and a drive to put their vision and commitment into action.

In his book Your Money Counts, Howard Dayton gives a very practical and biblical view of personal money management, noting there are over 2,350 verses in the Bible regarding money and possessions. Dayton outlines three theological views of money adopted by the church over the past 2,000 years, illustrated by the following table:

Going back to Genesis, we remind ourselves that God provided for his children with good resources and clear boundaries on how to use them. There is an imperative for those of us who have entered into a free relationship with Jesus to apply the stewardship principle outlined above. This view says that we have been given resources for His kingdom and that when considering our finances, whether in prosperity or meltdown, we need to be good stewards. This is not to be done in fear but in recognition that we are in relationship with the Creator.

Despite the current economic meltdown, we need to keep in mind Romans 12:2, which says, ‘Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you.’ We need to reject the worldly view on finances and embrace the true stewardship principle. In their book, Surviving Financial Meltdown, Jeremy White and Ron Blue provide helpful contrasts of the biblical and worldly view on finances as follows:

Christian Super began in 1984 and is an industry fund that provides all profits to its members. As Sustainable Super Fund of the Year (2008), we encourage an investment style based on our distinctive Christian ethos. While we recognise that individuals cannot always control what is happening in the fiscal world, we do believe that they can handle money intentionally and in accordance with God’s word.’

Peter Murphy is currently CEO at Christian Super. He previously worked as Administration Dean for Morling Baptist Bible and Theological College.

Related posts:

1. The GFC – A Christian Response
2. What is a Christian?

For centuries Christians attending church services did not sing; they listened to the clergy chanting in Latin, but they had no voice themselves.  The Reformation of the 16^th Century changed that and gave singing back to the congregation.  Lutherans were fortunate.  Martin Luther, the German reformer, was not only a brilliant theologian; he also had a superb command of the German language and was a fine musician as well.  His hymn, A mighty fortress is our God, words and music by Luther himself, is sung by most denominations.  Catholic priests in Germany even complained that he was singing the people into Protestantism.  Luther’s attitude was that God’s people should use whatever they could to praise him, as long as it was not contrary to scripture.  John Calvin, the Swiss reformer, had a more austere approach.  In his judgement Christians should use only what was contained in scripture; that meant the singing of metrical psalms only, and that became the congregational songbook of English Protestants.

Paul told the Ephesian Christians that they should use “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Ephesians 5:19) and one of the very first English pastors to promote the singing of hymns as well as the metrical psalms was the Baptist, Benjamin Keach.  Tailor, turned schoolmaster and then Baptist pastor, Keach insisted on the use of hymns by his congregation.  He split his church over the issue.  Some who left his congregation did so “. . . being dissatisfied with the setting up of a common form of set singing after it had been exploded by the Baptized churches as a human[e] invention.” They disagreed with Keach on the principle of hymn singing.  We could have understood it if they had disapproved of what they were asked to sing.  Up to that time, there were no hymns to speak of in English.

Early attempts at hymn writing were terrible.  One unknown writer attempted his own version of what Jonah might have sung in the belly of the great fish (Jonah 2).  His offering  began:-

Ah me, this is an awesome place,
Without ere coal or candle.
Nothing but fish’s tripes to eat,
And fish’s tripes to handle.

Keach, strong in principle though he was, was equally weak in production.  He wrote several hymns for his congregation.  Here are a couple of his efforts:-

Our wounds do stink and are corrupt,
Hard swellings do we see;
We want a little ointment, Lord,
Let us more humble be.

Repentance like a bucket is
To pump the water out;
For leaky is our ship, alas,
Which makes us look about.

The arrival of the Congregationalist Isaac Watts (When I survey the wondrous cross) and the Wesleys, especially Charles (O for a thousand tongues to sing  . .   And can it be . .) gave the English churches some of the grandest hymns.  Baptists overcame there objections to hymns singing and embraced the hymns of Watts, but were reserved, at first, about Wesley.

Baptists were to the forefront in promoting the principle of hymn singing, but produced comparatively little of worth in the way of hymns, and fewer still that have been adopted by other denominations.  John Bunyan, a Baptist contemporary of Keach and also an enthusiastic promoter of hymn singing, wrote, in his epic Pilgrim’s Progress, the song Who would true valour see, which has appeared in many hymn books.  John Rippon, an outstanding Baptist leader of the 18^th – 19^th century produced a massive collection of hymns and music, but only two of the hymns in his Selection have been accepted by other denominations: All hail the power of Jesus’ name (of which Rippon was co-author) and How firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord (ascribed to ‘K’ in the Selection) appear in the The Australian Hymn Book.  “K” was probably Robert Kean, Rippon’s precentor.  (Baptists had accepted hymn singing, but not the use of musical instruments in church.)

It was a disappointment to discover how little Baptists have contributed to hymns of the church.  Perhaps in the next generation, the history of hymn writing will note that Graham Kendrick (Shine, Jesus, Shine and many other popular contemporary hymns) is the son of a Baptist minister.

My disappointment at how little of worth other denominations have found in our Baptist hymn books was modified in watching Songs of Praise one Sunday in March this year.  In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, the programme came from an Irish Catholic Cathedral which was packed with Irish Catholic worshippers.  Appropriately we were given snippets from the story of St. Patrick, there was Catholic liturgy and there were Catholic hymns.  Then came the climax.  That great congregation rose and sang lustily, to the ever popular Londonderry Air (Danny Boy), the great hymn, I cannot tell why he, whom angels worship,.

The author of that hymn was W. Y. Fullerton, the Home Secretary of the Baptist Missionary Society. We had made it after all!

G.B. Ball

‘Gerry Ball was Senior Pastor of MOBC from 1984-1990, having served as a missionary with the Australian Baptist Missionary Society in East Pakistan and as principal of Burleigh College in Adelaide. He left MOBC to take up the position of Senior Pastor at Gordon Baptist Church and was President of the Baptist Union of NSW from 1998-1999.’

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Here’s a starter for ten:

If God has a heart for people in need then what are God’s people to do?

The Bible makes clear that God has a heart for people and that those of us who would imitate him must share this concern. Indeed a passion for social justice and a commitment to social action are integral to the discipleship process.

So how are you responding?

MOBC has a long history of community involvement. In the not so distant past it ran the ‘JAM Centre’, where locals could drop in for coffee, a chat, some support and practical advice. Today it operates a not-for-profit community pre-school, a craft group, a Friendship group, an English for Living program, midweek clubs for children, a youth group, and is often found donating to community needs.

Most recently MOBC has developed new initiatives including a support group for parents of children with additional needs. Also we have agreed to fund an additional needs teacher, working one day per week in a local primary school.

Related posts:

1. Parent support group