EQUIP Book Club Feed

Where I live is often called a “gateway to Australia”, because its where many immigrants, particularly refugees, first live when they arrive here. And when you look around you can see where people have come from over the past 50 years. We have Ukranian and Russian churches along with Croatian, German-Austrian and Italian clubs from those who arrived after WWII. There are South American butchers and pastry shops and even a Spanish radio station set up by those who fled conflict in El Salvador and Chile in the 1970s. They were followed by many Vietnamese who have settled and opened restaurants and grocers; and more recently the place has gained an Iraqi and Syrian flavour. 76% of people speak a language other than English at home, compared with the state average of 27%*. It’s a fascinating place to live, where I learn new things about other cultures and backgrounds all the time.

Recently I heard that the computer system of the medical centre I attend had been hacked. It made me feel pretty uncomfortable to think that my family’s details might end up in the wrong hands, affecting our privacy and confidentiality. Might it even lead to identity theft? I really hope not, but we’ll have to wait and see. Have you had that experience before? Maybe like me, you’ve had online details accessed. Or maybe you’ve had your wallet stolen and bills racked up on your credit cards, or your Facebook hacked, or some other identity theft. According to the Australian Federal Police identity theft costs Australia $1.6 billion each year *. That’s a serious amount of money!

If you’re like me then you don’t even question whether a Christian should care about the environment and do all that is reasonable and within their power to look after the planet. But as I get older I keep finding out that everyone is not like me. And maybe you know people, and you might be one of them, who don’t make much of an effort to recycle, who don’t take the time to understand the real problems and the real solutions to climate change and who don’t even compost? If you were to ask my Bible study women about me, I am pretty sure that they would mention my devotion to recycling. So yes, I do come to this book without needing to be convinced, but rather with a yearning to have all my good intentions line up with solid biblical thinking.

As a Christian, what do we want to be known for? Our love? Our faithfulness? Our integrity? All of those things are closely connected to our ability to be mature in relationships. We want to be more grown up than we were yesterday. That’s certainly the expected progression we see from New Testament writers like Peter: “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit , hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Peter 2:1-3)

Are you a New Year’s resolutions kind of person? I am. I like taking stock and focusing on what’s important and what I’d like to change. I’m also old enough that I don’t stress myself out too much if some, or most of them get abandoned by now. If I can make one real change and it sticks, then that’s a win. Over the years I’ve been able to include running and reading the Bible more. And while I fall off the wagon with both at times, I always come back to them because they renew me.