Finding God On YouTube

When people think of religion on YouTube, most probably flash to "gotcha" videos of Sarah Palin's old church or Barack Obama's old pastor. But the video-sharing site is also being used by a wildly diverse collection of pastors, rabbis, imams, gurus, and pious laypeople — like Roman Catholic Steve Silvia, who made the video above — to celebrate and explain their creeds. These aren't glitzy televangelists.

In keeping with the YouTube ethos, many simply fire up camcorder and go. But low cost and infinite range, plus the mini-video's ascent as one of the culture's preferred ways of imbibing information, means vastly increased exposure for clerics who would otherwise have tiny flocks. "For years, people in my business talked about how the Internet was going to revolutionize religion the way the printing press helped create Protestantism, but it didn't happen," says Steve Waldman, founder of the multi-faith website Beliefnet. But with the rise of YouTube, he thinks the unassuming, grass-roots religion clips like the ones that follow "could be the beginning of that kind of transformation."

Read on

Computing Technology: Created, Fallen, In Need Of Redemption?

By Joel C. Adams
Department of Computer Science, Calvin College

Abstract: If we accept the premise that computing technology is a part of the created order, then avariety of creation-related biblical themes become applicable to computing technology.In this paper, we explore some of the implications of these themes for computing technology,particularly the themes of creation-fall-redemption, the cultural mandate, and stewardship. We also explore two developments in computing technology – the evolution of user interfaces and the evolution of programming languages – in the light of these themes.

Read on for the entire article

Ichtus Research Centre

The beginning of Ichthus Research Centre

The Ichthus Research Centre began with the dream of a farsighted couple who believed that high level biblical and theological studies should be carried out in Asia. Through their generous gift, made in memory of their late parents Mr. Yao Ye Siu and Mrs. Yao Lee Sau Han, the Centre came into existence. The future of the Centre depends upon the contributions of many others who share their dream. We would like to welcome all those who would like to work together to make this dream become a reality.

The reason for the name Ichthus Research Centre

Throughout church history the Greek word IXQUS (which means "fish"and can be transliterated as ICHTHUS) has had a special meaning to followers of Jesus Christ. For the early church the "sign of the fish" became an important mark of identification. The letters of the word IXQUS came to stand for the words Ihsouj Xristoj Qeou Uioj Swthr - "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour." The Ichthus Research Centre exists in recognition that Jesus Christ is both God's Son and our Saviour.

The basic direction and policies of the Research Centre

The Ichthus Research Centre for Biblical and Theological Studies exists for a number of reasons:

To produce contextualized biblical and theological research.
To promote interaction among specialists in the areas of biblical studies and theology.
To organize seminars for the discussion of biblical and theological issues of contemporary interest.
To build up a quality collection of scholarly books and journals on theological and biblical studies for use by Ichthus members.
To develop a digital library in order to enhance research in theological and biblical studies.
To encourage local and foreign scholars to write biblical and/or theological papers for presentation and/or publication.
To encourage members to publish their research and to enable them to do so as far as it is possible

Membership in the Ichthus Research Centre
The Ichthus Research Centre offers two different types of membership.
Full Membership is available to those who have a doctoral degree (PhD or ThD) in either biblical or theological studies.

Associate Membership is available to those who have a Master of Divinity degree (or equivalent) in either biblical or theological studies.
SBC students who are working for the degree of Th.M. are also eligible for associate membership.

Membership with Ichthus Research Centre is available at an annual fee of $50. Members should reapply each year. Anyone holding either a Full or Associate Membership is eligible to use the Centre‘s books and other materials at the SBC library, as well as to attend Ichthus seminars without charge. Singapore Bible College library membership is available at no additional cost for Ichthus members. Ichthus members are also eligible to apply for the use of Ichthus facility for research-writing purposes. In addition, members will also be able to purchase Ichthus publications at reduced rates.

Mind The Sun-Mon Gap I

Courtesy of Graduate Christian Fellowship, we had Dr Gordon Preece to share with us on Minding The Gap between sacred/secular, Sun-Mon. He made an interesting observation that in the epic of Gilgamesh, men were created to be slaves for the gods, for hard manual labor in their service. Leisure was the right and privilege of the god-kings i.e. Egypt, Parthenon.

How radically different and subversive was the Genesis account of creation, where God created Adam and Eve on the sixth day, and when He rested, humanity rested too. The pattern of rest and work in the Sabbath is applied to all, regardless of social class.

Lausanne paper on Marketplace Ministry:

"The loss of the creation commission/mandate has detrimental effects on Christians
who are not directly engaged with people-type or evangelistic work, who work with
technology, material things or are engaged in wealth creation. These Christians often feel like second-class believers who have to pretend to be social workers at work. A chemical engineer when asked about his faith and work at an InterVarsity Graduates Fellowship meeting, described it in terms of the people-side of serving clients as if he were a social worker, but failed to mention that he had developed a less pollutant pesticide that fulfils the creation commission.

In contrast, Crawford W. Long, M.D., who discovered the use of sulphuric ether
as an anaesthetic in surgery on March 30, 1840 and whose statue stands in the US Senate building in the state of Georgia, was attributed with these words, ‘My profession is to me a ministry from God.’ Consider also Professor Graeme Clark, the Australian developer of the bionic ear who has brought hearing to over 50,000 people worldwide. His scientific passion for the creation/dominion mandate and for alleviating the suffering of hearing-impaired humanity (including his father) combined with his front-page and televised witness to Christ, represents a very balanced and inspiring expression of all three mandates." (i.e. creational, relational, evangelistic commissions)

Taming Of The Pew II

Gordon Preece on the Sun-Mon Gap:

Over 70 years ago, G.A. Studdert Kennedy asserted that:

"A very large number of the people who attend our services and partake of the sacrament are disassociated personalities. They are one person on Sunday and another on Monday. They have one mind for the sanctuary and another for the street. They have one conscience for the church and another for the cotton factory. Their worship conflicts with their work, but they will not acknowledge the conflict. I want to press home what seems to me to be obvious, that while this unfaced conflict
exists, the soul is not on the road to salvation."

Likewise, a contemporary ditty says: ‘Mr Business went to church, that’s what he did on Sunday, Mr Business went to hell for what he did on Monday’. We could say the same of other professions.

In their defence, many marketplace Christians, including increasing numbers of paid
working women, feel justifiably marginalised from their churches. Thousands make up the rapidly increasing legion of unchurched Christians in the West.16 Their workaday concerns are often banished from the pulpit and public worship, prayer and pastoral care. In one survey, 90-97% said they had never heard a sermon on work.17 One Christian in Singapore who suggested a commissioning service on Teachers Day was told by his pastor that it was a great idea for Sunday School teachers.

Read on for this insightful paper by Lausanne

Bridging The Gap III

Excerpts from Lausanne paper on Marketplace Ministry:

"In Scripture there is no ancient or modern, eastern or western dualistically derived gap between private and public, faith and work, charity and justice. There we have many images of God as a worker (Genesis 1-2, John 5:17, Revelation 21:5), specifically as shepherd (Psalm 23), warrior (Exodus 15:3), teacher (Psalm 143:10, Proverbs 15:33), potter (Jeremiah 18:6, Romans 9:20-21) and as vinedresser (Isaiah 5:1-7, John 15:1-6).50 We also find that marketplace Christians such as Joseph, Esther, Daniel, Nehemiah, Lydia, Priscilla and Aquila are very prominent among God’s
people.

Against an individualistic reading of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount, John
Howard Yoder’s The Politics of Jesus 51 depicts the people of God as a city (polis) set on a hill as the light of the world, who are to let their light shine so that others can see their good work(s) and give God the glory (Matthew 5:16)...

Because God is a Worker - Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier - we need to re-link the
creation and evangelistic commissions or mandates. The creation commission’s go forth and fill the earth (Genesis 1:28 to Adam, cf. Genesis 9:7 to Noah, Genesis 12:1-3 to Abram) is behind the Great Commission’s ‘go’ into the world or as you go about your daily work and life (Matthew 28:18-20 cf. Matthew 10:7) as Leighton Ford stresses. When Jesus says ‘all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,’ He claims dominion over all creation as the true and ultimate human activity.

As former Dutch Prime Minister, theologian and journalist Abraham Kuyper says: ‘There is not one square inch of the entire creation about which Jesus
Christ does not cry out, “This is mine! This belongs to me!’”

Dave: Some models of Christian workers were mentioned like Graeme Clark who invented the bionic ear by reflecting on God's creation i.e. seashell and theologian Kuyper who was active in organising trade unions, schools, journalism and established the Free University of Amsterdam.

Putting On The Mind Of Christ

"Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2)"

Last week, we considered: “What Would Jesus Think?” He is Lord of our hearts, minds and strength, the supreme model for our thinking, feeling and doing habits. We looked at examples of how Jesus used His mind in the Gospels and see how that is relevant to our own day.

Let us follow His example in thinking properly and integrate our faith in each area of study and research and work to the glory of God in universities, campuses, research institutions, science laboratory, computer labs, hospitals and lecture halls.

What are the areas where our Christian Faith integrate with work/world?

There are different areas of integration: (JP Moreland “Loving God With All Your Mind”)

1) What are the ethical issues involved in my vocation or study? As a businessperson, what is my beliefs of corporate moral responsibility? Or as a law student, what is justice?

2) What does my field say about what is real or not, what is true or false? As a teacher, psychologist or counsellor, should I believe that the mind is really the brain or morality is determined by genes? How should a scientist view evolution?

3) What does my field say about the nature and limits of knowledge? Should I assume that only what can be measured and tested in an experiment is genuine knowledge?

4) Are there specific virtues or qualities especially relevant to your work or study?

How Do We Develop A Christian Mind?

When was the last time you were encouraged to think Christianly as a student of law, business, information technology or education? We need to develop a Christian mindset.

A Christian mind is not simply thinking about topics like prayer, worship, bible study nor just abstract intellectualism. Os Guiness put it this way:

“Thinking Christianly is thinking by Christians about anything and everything in a consistently Christian way – in a manner which is shaped, directed, and restrained by the truth of God's Word and God's Spirit…”and “what we do with what we know is what Christian knowing is all about.”

Consciously or not, all of us have some basic ideas about how to look at life and the world that guide our actions like glasses or contact lenses through which we see everything else. "A worldview is, first of all, an explanation and interpretation of the world and second, an application of this view to life. In simpler terms, our worldview is a view of the world and a view for the world." (Phillips and Brown) A good worldview answers four big questions of life:

· Where do we come from? (Question Of Origin)
· Who are we? (Question Of Identity)
· Why are we here? (Question Of Purpose)
· Where are we going? (Question Of Destiny)

To build bridges across different cultures, Christians need to learn how to be bilingual, translating the perspective of the gospel into a language understood by our culture. We learn to connect God’s Word with God’s world. How do I do it?

The Creation: In Genesis, God created humans and the universe out of nothing. Human lives are sacred and valuable because we bear God’s image. We are not just biological machines.Our first job description: "Be fruitful and multiply (develop the social world: build families, churches, schools, cities, governments, laws) and fill the earth and subdue it (harness the natural world and care for creation: plant crops, build bridges, design computers)". The Cultural Mandate sets out our original purpose to create cultures, build civilizations. “It’s only Eden if you have a gardener. Without one, what you have is Amazon jungle”. Work is meaningful and fulfilling.

The Fall: However humanity has rebelled against God and fallen into sin. A radical corruption happens to the entire creation, shattering our relationships with God, environment, animals, each other and alienation from our own selves. Now we determine the knowledge of good and evil with man at the center, without reference from the Creator. In disobedience, we have made physical and mental idols to rule our own lives. The result is pain, sorrow, alienation, conflict, violence, self-centeredness and death. Even work becomes frustrating and burdensome.

The Redemption: At the cross and resurrection, Christ has redeemed our souls and reconciled all of creation to Himself. The earth we are living in is not abandoned, but renewed at the consummation of history when Christ returns – new heaven, new earth, resurrected bodies. We, citizens of the Kingdom, should be living according to the way of Jesus, caring for the ecosystem in ways that honor the Creator. Although the complete removal of sin is yet to come, we can join Jesus in reversing the effects of sin and letting His kingdom come, His will be done on earth.

Conclusion:

Lesslie Newbigin laid this challenge: Laypeople in every facet of life – media, politics, business, education and others – should be enabled to challenge the prevailing assumptions of society in light of the gospel. A Christian mind should not be reserved for pastors and scholars only! Free online resources are available – take advantage of it! Use what you learn in conversations and interactions with friends.

God called you to a special task in this needy world. Your calling is where your deepest passions and the world’s greatest need meet. So discover your passion, talents and gifts and use them to bless others for the glory of God.