VOX Issue 5

VOX

Issue 5 January - March 2010 â‚Ź3.50

FAITH LIFE REALITY

Homosexuality and the Church

hope

for

20 10 Hope for the future?

The Murphy Report and Christianity in Ireland

www.voxmagazine.ie

Surviving Redundancy

VOX | Jan - Mar 2010 | 1

We want you!

Have you got some spare time on your hands in 2010?

Want to try something a little different?

We are looking for volunteers to join our team in the following positions: 1. Advertising Coordinator

Make people aware of the publicity potential of VOX. (8 hours per week average.)

2. Marketing Coordinator

3. VOX Reseller

Help us make VOX known up and down If you're excited about VOX why not this island - and around the world! become a VOX reseller in your church, (8 hours per week average.)

Christian Union, or organisation?

(Pssst, you get to keep a 50% cut of the cover price!)

For more information on any of these positions, contact Jonny Lindsay: jonny@voxmagazine.ie or 01 4434789

editorial Hopeless New Year?

Don't miss a thing.

Last time we began a new decade the world seemed a very different place. Spirits soared along with the rockets that lit up the night sky.

After 10 years of ‘noughties’, things have changed.

Few are entering this new decade filled with optimism.

As 2009 ended, the news headlines were chronicling ecclesiastical shame, environmental disaster and economic misery. Hope seems in short supply and there is a widespread Eeyore-like expectation that the worst is yet to come.

Owing to budget cuts, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.

With such a pervasive ‘feel-bad’ factor, where does that leave those for whom faith, HOPE and love are as essential as oxygen?

The fascinating story of Samuel begins with an all-too familiar description of mess and misery in Israel. The priests were violent, corrupt and immoral. People had abandoned God’s law and were simply ‘doing their own thing’.

In the middle of this bleak description we see a little glimmer of light. “…And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favour with the Lord and with men.” God did not abandon Israel. Instead He chose a young boy to turn the nation around.

Someone asked me… how can your theme for VOX magazine be ‘hope’ when you are tackling issues like redundancy (pg 14), persecution (pg 17) and the Murphy Report (pg 21)? But that’s just the point. Real hope bursts into dazzling flame in the middle of great darkness and pain.

Hope refuses to give up or to give in to circumstances.

It sees beyond the dark tunnel to the point of escape. This is not wishful thinking or head-in-the-sand naivety but a powerful combination of vision and faith.

“And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” Romans 5:3

Ruth Garvey-Williams Editor (editor@voxmagazine.ie)

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VOX MAGAZINE

contents

FAITH LIFE REALITY

January - March 2010, Issue 5 ISSN: 2009-2253 Publisher Solas Publishing Editor Ruth Garvey-Williams editor@voxmagazine.ie

10 14 21

Advertising Jonny Lindsay advertising@voxmagazine.ie Layout and Operations Jonny Lindsay Directors Tom Slattery (Evangeical Alliance Ireland) Mike Mullins (OM Ireland) Dr. Abimbola Afolabi (Oasis of Love) Subscriptions Ireland (32 counties): €10 for four issues Overseas: €15 for four issues All cheques should be made payable to Solas Publishing.

Solas Publishing Ulysses House 22 - 24 Foley Street Dublin 1 Tel: 01 443 4789 info@voxmagazine.ie www.voxmagazine.ie Disclaimer The views expressed in letters and articles are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Solas Publishing. The acceptance of advertising does not indicate endorsement.

Print Beulah Print, Dundalk VOX magazine is a quarterly publication, brought to you by Solas Publishing, a joint project of Evangelical Alliance Ireland, OM Ireland and Oasis of Love.

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13 17 19

COVER STORIES Homosexuality and the Church Surviving Redundancy Hope for the future? – The Murphy Report and Christianity in Ireland

FEATURES AND INTERVIEWS VOX Sport: The Liberty Saints VOX Interview: Face to face with David Turner from Church in Chains The Civil Partnerships Bill - How do Christians respond?

28

The Christian T

12

VOX VIEWS New Year, New Resolutions, Same ol' me...

26

God places the lonely in Families

06 08 09 09 12

REGULAR FEATURES VOX: Shorts VOX: World News Your VOX: Letters It’s all Greek to me Web Watch

23 25 27 29 30

VOX: Reviews Worldwatch VOX: Gaelige Classifieds and Event Listings VOX: P.S.

VOX:SHORTS

‘UNTAMED’ SHOW TACKLES ORIGINS A wildlife programme for children – launched during Darwin’s anniversary – leaves nothing to chance and gives God the credit for creation. The hour-long DVD Duggie Dug Dug Goes Wild takes children on a tour of the animal kingdom – but directs them towards a divine source for the ‘origin of species’.

Annoyed with documentaries that seemed to market anti-God messages, UK-based producer and presenter Doug Horley felt compelled to make a programme of his own. Bristol-based Noah's Ark Zoo Farm gave Horley and his team full access to an impressive cast of creatures – including rhinos, giraffes, camels and tigers.

The result was a surprisingly high quality TV-style programme full of facts, figures, music and mirth.

“I haven't seen any children's wildlife programme with such a mixture of animals, puppets, cartoons – and a live audience,” Doug Horley pointed out. “I hope it will help communicate the wonder of God's creation to children.”

‘TASTE OF HEAVEN’ HITS BELFAST It was ‘a taste of heaven’. That’s how one visitor described the dramatic sound when 2,000 male voices filled Belfast’s Waterfront Hall. They came from across the UK, Ireland and other nations to take part in one of Europe’s biggest men’s conferences, The Mandate.

Popular author Jeff Lucas addressed the theme “Hope-filled Men…Lights In A Troubled World” using illustrations from the story of Elijah. "Our culture is in trouble…we’re disconnected from any story…marooned on a postmodern island," he explained. Yet none of this is new, for Elijah faced similar crises. Jeff urged the men, "It’s together that we can change the world".

ONE VOICE – PRAYING FOR CHANGE March 1-7, 2010 has been set aside as Global Poverty Prayer Week.

TearFund Ireland is calling on churches 2010 Y PRAYER WEEK and individuals in Ireland to join GLOBAL POVERT a worldwide movement of people SFORMATION: 1-7 SOUND OF TRAN UR VOICE TO THE YO D ER AD E PRAY ONpoverty. seeking God – praying and acting for justice, mercy and anPEO end PLE.to ONE VOICE. ONE oice nev in prayer and d.org/o One Voice unites individuals and churches around the world www.tearfun movement. from other poverty.’ people worship. Why not organise a prayer group or‘We join with Christians are the be released from pray for people to It’s time for us tongwriter (pictured above) r/so churches and pray together?

Martin Smith, singe "Many people in Africa and in the world at large are living in poor conditions, and we are asking the global church to pray for communities, for families. So that people may get out of this poverty. That they may glorify God in a better way" Eliada, Tanzanian mother Visit www.tearfund.org/onevoice for more details or to download resources.

ONE V ICE

NE V IC Registered Charity

No. CHY 8600

OBAL POVERTY PRAYER WEEK 2010 CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME

During the November floods in Cork city, Tearfund volunteers helped deliver drinking water to elderly and disabled people. One elderly man was delighted to receive the fresh water. He explained how he had been trying to get water, but no one was available to help. After learning that the volunteers were Christians, he asked if he could come to church.

Households in some parts of the city went for over five days without water. While the guards and army did a great job delivering water, some

vulnerable people were still not reached. “This was a great opportunity for churches to work together in practical ways in the community.

Charity must begin at home,” said Reuben Coulter from Tearfund Ireland.

Volunteer Janet Lane shared how the experience made her realise how fortunate we are to have water on tap. “In Africa children have to carry 20 litres of water over a long distance.

Water is something I take for granted and during times like this I feel so blessed and thankful.”

R VOICE TO THE SOUND OF TRANSFORM E. ONE PEOPLE. ONE PRAYER

d.org/onevoice 6 | VOX | Jan - Mar 2010

PORNOGRAPHY - The Quiet Family Killer A new study by US-based Family Research Council details the effects of pornography on marriages, children and individuals.

"This is a ground-breaking review of what pornography costs families," said study author Dr. Pat Fagan. "Men, women and even children are saturated by sexual content, and more significantly, are told that it has no real effect."

The report showed that in families, pornography use leads to marital dissatisfaction, infidelity, separation and divorce. "It is not harmless escapism but relational and emotional poison," Dr. Fagan commented.

Men are more than six times as likely to view pornography as women and more likely to spend more time viewing it. Men who habitually look at pornography have a higher tolerance for abnormal sexual behaviours, sexual aggression, promiscuity and even rape. Moreover, men begin to view women and even children as "sex objects."

The study showed that teenagers often come across pornography accidentally on the Internet. A study of 1,501 youth aged ten to seventeen examined unwanted exposure incidents more thoroughly: in 26 percent of the cases, respondents reported that when they tried to exit an unwanted site, they were actually brought to an additional sex site.

The same study showed that out of the total number of unwanted exposure incidents, 44 percent of the time the young people did not disclose the episode to anyone else.

The FRC study revealed that among couples affected by one spouse's addiction, two-thirds experience a loss of interest in sexual intercourse; both spouses perceive pornography viewing as tantamount to infidelity; and pornography viewing leads to a loss of interest in good family relations.

Download the full report from www.frc.org/pornography-effects

A New Year's resolution that will make a difference - Give up smoking and sponsor a child instead Overseas aid agency World Vision Ireland is appealing to smokers to give up the habit this New Year and use some of the money saved to sponsor a child in the developing world instead.

Michael Donnelly (33) from Dublin said, "I smoke about a pack a day. I know I need to give up - it’s a terrible habit. I’ve tried before and failed but I’m determined to do it this time. I think doing it for charity will really help me stick with it."

"Most smokers think about giving up the habit around New Year," says Helen Keogh, CEO of World Vision Ireland. "We’re asking smokers out there to really give up this year and use just some of the money they’ll save to sponsor a child in need.

Not only will you be saving your own life but you could help save the life of a child living in extreme poverty as well.

"If you smoke 20 cigarettes a day, you spend about €255 a month on smoking. For the price of just three packs or €25, you could sponsor a child in the developing world. You could help bring clean water, education, improved health and food security to your sponsored child’s community.

What a wonderful thing to be able to show for giving up smoking," added Helen Keogh.

For more information or to sponsor a child go to www.worldvision.ie or Tel 01 498 0800

It’s all ελληνικά to me :: Lessons from a Greek Teacher PUTTING THE HOPE INTO HOPE When the New Testament writers spoke of hope they used a word (elpis) that had no great linguistic interest or impact of itself.

As used before then it really only meant ‘expectation’, and as such was fairly neutral. A hint of that is found if we translate Romans 4:18 as “Abraham hoped against expectation”. Indeed it could even carry a sense of foreboding or fear, of which there was a lot in those days.

The Resurrection changed all that for believers who now had the hope of eternal life (Titus 1:2). The word ‘hope’ acquired an objective sense for them, expressing confidence in Christ rather than a mere subjective or baseless optimism. Along with having this new potency in meaning, the believers made an actual significant

change in their use of the word. The writers of the New Testament generally added in, of or on, to ‘hope’ (e.g. Acts 24:15; I Thess 1:3).

Hope no longer stood alone as some empty expectation; for them it was now based on and grounded in God. This is still the case for us today, in an age in which many have been let down by the things or people they had hoped in. Bring God into the equation and hope is a reality, for our God is the ‘God of hope’ (Romans 15:13).

Warren Nelson, originally from Drogheda, Co. Louth, taught at the Irish Bible School in Co. Tipperary. He now enjoys active retirement and DIY near Tullamore.

VOX VOX| Jan | Jan- -Mar Mar2010 2010| 7| 7

VOX:WORLD NEWS END OF AN ERA – DOULOS RETIRES FROM SERVICE The world’s oldest oceangoing passenger ship ended 32 years of ministry with OM ships on December 31 2009. The MV Doulos, which last visited Dublin in 2004, has brought knowledge, help and hope to millions of people in over 100 countries around the world.

The crew had hoped to continue sailing until September 2010 but surveys by marine safety authorities confirmed that major repairs were required to keep Doulos in service. When early estimates indicated this work would cost over €10 million, the organisation's executive leadership team and board decided it would not be appropriate to invest resources on this scale into the vessel, since the ship would have a limited future.

“We recognise God’s faithfulness through 32 years of wonderful service with more than 600 port visits in over 100 countries,” OM Ships CEO Peter Nicoll said. “We are deeply grateful to our partners around the world who have supported the ship through the years.”

OM Ireland leader Mike Mullins served on Doulos for a number of years, along with his wife Aster. He said, "I am personally very saddened by the news. This ship has been a very effective tool for the Gospel and has been used by God to transform the lives of millions of people and communities around the world; perhaps even yours? As the ministry of Doulos draws to a close, the ministry of its sister ship, Logos Hope, is just beginning."

IN BRIEF

The Doulos was originally built as the Medina in 1914

In busy ports, up to 8,000 people climbed onboard daily

The Doulos has had many unique opportunities such as several visits to the Arabian Gulf

The shipyard in Singapore, which became her final port of call.

Below: The Doulos berthed in Dublin in 2004

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FREEDOM FOR IMPRISONED WOMEN In our last edition of VOX we reported on the plight of Maryam Rostampour (27) and Marzieh Esmaeilabad (30), two Iranian Christians who had been imprisoned since March and refused to recant their faith in exchange for their freedom.

The two women were released without bail from Evin Prison in Tehran on November 18. The decision follows international pressure and prayers from Christians throughout the world.

NEW EXTREMIST HINDU GROUPS EMERGE IN INDIA After more than a decade of severe persecution, India's Christian minority is growing increasingly concerned over the mushrooming of newer and more deadly Hindu extremist groups.

The Pride of India, National Revival Forum, Army of god Rama, Army for Hindu Religion, and Eternal Organisation [translated names] have launched violent attacks on both Christian and Muslim minorities. The Hundreds of incidents in 2009 range from stopping worship services to causing false arrests, beating and even murdering Christians.

SUDAN: CHRISTIANS CRUCIFIED Marauding soldiers from the Lord's Resistance Army, a terrorist rebel group from Uganda that frequently crosses the border with Sudan, crucified seven Christian believers near the town of Nzara in south Sudan. Villagers who found the bodies also reported that the guerrillas stormed two churches, desecrating the buildings and kidnapping several young people.

In response, a local bishop called for three days of prayer for Christians of all denominations in the region, culminating in a silent protest by 20,000 people who walked barefoot in sackcloth and ashes.

YOUR VOX letters to the editor Go the extra mile to protect children The findings of the Murphy Report, with their accounts of cruel abuse and institutional failings, have come as a terrible indictment for all who are concerned with the Christian faith.

And no church, fellowship or, indeed, secular institution can ‘throw the first stone’.

But in the rush to use it as a stick with which to beat the church, it should not be forgotten that it is a demonstration of the sinfulness of the human nature in which we all share. Many who justify, promote and enjoy their own ‘pet’ dimensions of sexual immorality fail to recognise the similarities.

Anyone who has any involvement with children needs to go the ‘second mile’, beyond statutory requirements, in their protection of children. The attitude that says ‘it couldn’t happen here’ is precisely the thinking that leads to bad decisions and cover-ups.

Warren Nelson, Tullamore

I know that it is not easy producing a good quality Christian magazine for a relatively small market in the ROI, but you are doing a great job and we want to encourage you. The magazine is excellently laid out and has relevant and interesting articles. Great job!

Jon and Sandra Blackwell, Dublin ED: Thanks! We really appreciate the encouragement!

Congratulations on another balanced, sane and upbeat VOX. It seems to me that the feature writers and occasional/ regular columnists are growing in confidence with each issue, and that a VOX 'flavour' - challenging, realist, hopeful - is emerging. Given the "disunity-in-diversity" and territorialism the Christian community is traditionally renowned for, this is both an achievement and an encouragement. God bless the work!

John McKeever, Dublin

Notable Quotes

On the gap between religion and Christ: “We appear not to have absorbed into our culture any real understanding of what Christ came to tell us. How could we have, if so many of those who told us about Him did not themselves appear to know that He is here every moment?

We speak the name of this man-god Christ but no one who eavesdropped on our conversations from outside would gather that we were talking about the redeemer of human fragility and the incarnation of human destiny…The shocking possibility arises: Ireland has been a Catholic country, but not really Christian.”

John Waters, Irish Times (4/12/09) On effecting change in EU legislation “Quiet diplomacy works where noisy campaigning tends to alienate and even be counter-productive.”

Julia Doxat-Purser, European Evangelical Alliance From the Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation Report : “It is very clear to the Commission that complainants [victims of child sexual abuse by clergy] and their families frequently behaved in a much more Christian and charitable way than the Church authorities did.”

Section 1.105, published 26/11/09 On climate change and the Irish floods: “Mary Robinson expressed sympathy with the thousands of people whose lives have been disrupted by the flooding. She tried to make it clear that we have to expect more, much more, of this kind of disruptive climatic event in the future. Talk of a ‘once in 800 year flood’ is not only inaccurate, it’s extremely unhelpful. It’s taking a long time for the penny to drop that this climate change lark is not only real, it affects us too.”

John Gibbons, thinkorswim.ie (blog for climatechange.ie)

VOX | Jan - Mar 2010 | 9

WITH THE DEATH OF BOYZONE STAR STEPHEN GATELY, THE DEBATE ABOUT SAME-SEX UNIONS AND THE COMING OUT OF CORK HURLER DONAL OG CUSACK, HOMOSEXUALITY GRABBED THE IRISH HEADLINES DURING 2009. BUT HOW DO CHRISTIANS RESPOND? MARTIN MC CORMACK HAS WRESTLED WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ISSUE AND WITH THE ATTITUDES HE SEES WITHIN CHURCHES IN IRELAND.

A

A few years ago I shared a house with a Christian friend of mine who is gay and by doing so I became aware of the difficulties he faced as a homosexual Christian attending one of Dublin’s Bible-based churches. Through him, I met many of his friends who were also Christians and I began to see how things look from their perspective.

As a young believer, I innocently thought that a homosexual just left it all behind when he became a Christian. But when talking with my friends, I began to see that the issue runs deep and presents huge ongoing difficulties for gay Christians.

The men I talked to acknowledged that homosexuality is not something that God

I wonder if the church is one of the worst places in the Western world for a homosexual person to enter.

10 | VOX | Jan - Mar 2010

intended and that to engage in a gay relationship is counter to Christian teaching.

But what help does the church have for a Christian who is homosexual as they struggle with attitudes, attractions or thought patterns?

From my friend's experience over decades, nearly all the gay Christians he knows have found that homosexual tendency does not leave the person. Often when a homosexual becomes a Christian, they hope they will change. If they don’t, many feel despair.

For some reason, the church tends to have difficulty with sexual sins and particularly homosexuality. The evangelical church struggles to accept that there are committed Christians who are also homosexual. [Ed note: people who are seeking to live a pure lifestyle in the same way as single heterosexual Christians].

Often the church takes the view that if a person is still struggling with homosexual thoughts, they are rebelling, backsliding, or maybe not ‘saved’ at all.

For many Christians who are homosexual the shame they feel in Christian circles causes them to hide their issues and lead lonely and rejected lives. Additionally there are deep concerns about how they feel God views them, and what He has for them. A terrible fear is that, as homosexual Christians, they might never be able to experience the joy of a romantic, emotional, sexual intimacy, which is a basic human longing.

So, there is a sense of abandonment from both the church and God in the lives of many homosexuals.

I wonder if the church is one of the worst places in the Western world for a homosexual person to enter.

It is often a place where he or she will find very little acceptance and support. I have seen the silence and awkwardness that Christians exhibit toward gay people (not to mention the outright condemnation and rebuke I have also witnessed).

When I struggle with a problem, I can go to the church and find a friend to share my burden. I cannot make it alone. I need help. But can a gay Christian find the

same help in the church in Ireland today?

The best I have seen is the silent response, of not knowing how to handle it.

When my friend revealed he was gay to the church, most of the church did not know how to take it and it never again came up for discussion.

When the church is addressing the issue of homosexuality, what we seem to forget is that we all struggle with sin (Romans 7: 7-25).

In 1 Timothy 1:10 Paul links many kinds of sins together: “immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching”.

We tend to focus on the sins that are not our particular weakness and ignore that “liars” and “whatever else is contrary to sound teaching” are included in the same list as “homosexuals”. This shows us that all sin, including pride and greed, is seen in the same way as homosexuality. All are expressions of broken people, struggling with their sinful nature. So my sin is also included in this list. My only hope, and my standing within the church, is based on the grace and forgiveness of God. This applies equally to us all.

But we treat people differently and with bias from our own prejudices. Would you question my commitment to God, if you could see pride in me? Or would you doubt a Christian pastor’s salvation if he confessed he had a problem with pornography? What about the love of money, arrogance or spiritual pride?

But when a person admits to having homosexual tendencies, we don’t seem to be able to equate that with our own struggles with sin. We tend to judge them differently and question their status with God. If we are honest, we all sin, primarily in the area of our attitude, even if our outward actions appear to be good. We should not judge our Christian friends who struggle with homosexuality as if they are a lower class of Christian, just because their issue is something alien to us. We are all equal in our need of God’s help.

The church is compassionate towards people who struggle with the more “accepted” sins... but does not have answers for... the committed Christian who is homosexual.

The church is compassionate towards people who struggle with the more “accepted” sins, showing empathy and support, but does not have answers for, and has not adequately engaged with, the committed Christian who is homosexual.

If I revealed a weakness or struggle I was having and was similarly treated, would I survive long in any church? Probably not.

Christ loved homosexual Christians enough to die for them. How much do we love them? Let us examine our own prejudices and fears, recognizing the need in us all for Christ’s redemption, and let us recognize in our homosexual brothers and sisters, a people equal to ourselves, adopted into the body of Jesus, not by their own merits, but by the grace of God. It is only in a safe place of acceptance can we begin to deal with the depth of this issue and perhaps find some answers.

Martin Mc Cormack is from Finglas in Dublin, and now lives in Lucan. Having previously worked in full-time Christian ministry he now works as a Chemist and attends Lucan Presbyterian Church.

VOX | Jan - Mar 2010 | 11

New Year, New Resolutions, Same ol' me...

Ahh… the New Year! Don’t you love new beginnings; new starts?

There’s something very clean about January. Maybe it’s ‘cos the decorations have come down and I can see the walls and ceiling again; or ‘cos my new Dora the Explorer calendar (weird present from an Aunt who obviously still thinks I’m seven!) has only one or two appointments in it.

I love firsts… the first coffee from a new pack always seems to taste better and the first slice of the batch loaf is the freshest. The first page in a new notebook is the ONLY page with legible writing! Yes… there’s nothing like a clean slate! All broken promises and failed resolutions forgotten – time to make a new list with determined… resolve.

Having said all that… by the time you read this I’ll probably be back on the chocolate digestives! The only time I ever kept a resolution was the year I decided not to make any. Suddenly I was a Zen Master at abstinence.

You see, I can’t do it. I do not have the power to stop myself or force myself. There’s an old hymn with the line, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it.” I’m constantly veering away from the right path. Instead of erring on the side of caution, I’m usually just erring on the side of -- erring!

Sigh….!

Now I have two choices. I can tie a plank to my ankles, write my name on my shoes and dive head first into the biscuit barrel or… I can hope! There’s that word again!!!

I don’t mean the “I hope [insert your team here] win the match!”, or “ Ohh I hope I’ll have enough money on my card when I get to the till.” It is so much more than that. Hope is kinda like prayerful trust.

Not so much as believing that you’ll get everything you ask for, as believing you’ll get all you need and more.

I have hope in God for His help. I have hope in God that He forgives my constant failures. I have hope that when I start again (again) He’ll help me; again!

That’s it; my diet starts again on Monday!!

Which Monday?

EVERY MONDAY! Annmarie Miles comes from Tallaght in Dublin and is married to Richard, from Wales. She works for Focus on the Family and loves to cook, sing, read, talk and eat! She has just graduated with a degree in theology from Bangor University in Wales.

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My top five...

Web Highlights from VOX readers www.web.spotcoolstuff.com This little blogstyle website reviews all sorts of things, from places to travel, technology and even other nifty websites.

www.tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com Andrew Jones has made a worldwide name for himself in this popular blog where he tackles all sorts of issues in the Christian life today. From the emerging church to movies, and even being made redundant, (which has recently happened to him), he types his views in a refreshingly open and honest way. www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com A handy page to check if websites are running smoothly or if the problem lies on your end. I like having it to turn to when my favourite sites won't load for me. www.boardgamegeek.com A favourite of mine for the geek in me. This site does for board games what imdb.com does for movies. Can't remember what that game was like when you played it when you were 12? This place will have photos, have it reviewed, session-reported and rated. www.empireonline.com Empire Magazine is one of the world's biggest in its field: movies. The website doesn't disappoint and it keeps the high standard that you expect from Empire. Here, you can search their database for reviews, a handy thing if you're wondering what to rent in the local Xtravision.

Kieron Kelly lives in Greystones, Co. Wicklow. He works in Insurance, while having secret aspirations to someday write his own novel. If only he could figure out what story/genre/theme to stick with…

 Send us your top five web sites with a few details about yourself (editor@voxmagazine.ie). We’ll publish one top five in every VOX magazine and will make more available on our web site www.voxmagazine.ie

VOX | Oct - Dec 2009 | 12

VOX:SPORTS THE LIBERTY SAINTS In 2005, a group of rugby enthusiasts from CORE church in Dublin 8 began coaching youngsters from the local area. Today, over 30 boys take part in the weekly sessions and this year the first Liberty Saints team hopes to join a league. VOX Sport's Dan Tabb spoke with Coach Graham Jones to find out more.

Why set up a rugby team?

Liberty Saints started out when a few men from CORE advertised a rugby programme for local boys through the local Dublin City Council sports development officer. The idea was a follow on from the church’s Kidz Klub (run for children between 4 and 12 on a Saturday morning). It was a new way to engage with the local community. Some of the volunteers had done a bit of coaching over the years but all were mad on rugby and saw this as a way of staying involved with the sport after they had to hang up their boots due to old age or injury or both!

What happened?

The first session was October 2005 and was aimed at boys between 10 and 14. During this programme older boys became interested and wanted to join. Unfortunately the group did not stay together but among them were two or three younger players who remained committed and it is around them that we have grown an under-16 team.

None of these kids had ever played rugby before. They were starting from zero. We are in the middle of a concrete jungle so we began playing on a quarter of an AstroTurf pitch nearby.

Now we use the playing field at a VEC school up the road.

What has been the biggest highlight?

The lack of consistency with numbers has always been very demoralizing. More recently a core group became our first real

team. Seeing the under-16s win their first match in October last year was a very happy moment. The players could not believe it themselves! It was a great achievement for them. We were very proud of them all.

How does Liberty Saints benefit the players?

Rugby is very healthy and demands strong discipline and teamwork. A team requires many different skills and sizes of players.

You have to pull together to achieve success. We want to encourage these kids to reach beyond their expectations of themselves and each other, which are sometimes quite low.

Our motivation is for these kids to lead the best life that they possibly can. We are trying to model the life of a Christian through the relationship we have as we teach. We have all become good friends. We all carry our own strife and we want to walk together through difficult situations.

So what comes next?

We’re hoping to enter a cup competition early this year and eventually enter one or two teams into a league.

Is there anything you want to say to VOX readers?

If anyone knows of anyone with a second-hand scrum machine that they would like to give us (or the money to buy one - €1,000) please call Graham on 086 832 0242.

VOX | Jan - Mar 2010 | 13

W

Welcome to 2010! Unfortunately for a lot of people, coming back after a fun-filled christmas means facing more recessionary blues.

With an estimated 12% of the working population of ireland out of a job, the word redundancy is becoming commonplace in everyday conversation. This can come as a serious shock, especially for those who feel relatively secure in their jobs.

So why do people fear redundancy so much? Lack of money is one factor but fortunately we are in a country that provides social welfare benefit. While losing a job may limit the things we can have and do, the basics are covered.

Another reason is identity. People’s sense of identity has become synonymous with their work. Their job title defines them and their selfesteem is often determined by how successful they are in the workplace.

Samaritans Deputy Director Joe Ferns, claims that "a macho culture of 'survival of the fittest' makes it more likely that people will choose to define themselves as a success or a failure by the job they have".

This means that when redundancy comes it can throw the whole perception of self into orbit.

For those who follow Jesus, the bible offers a different perspective on redundancy.

SURVIVING

REDUNDANCY

The Bible guide to surviving redundancy God has promised to take care of everything you need (Philippians 4:19). This promise is true regardless of what is happening in the economy or in our personal lives. Too often we use God as our ‘backup plan’ instead of depending on Him every day. In times of crisis, we need to trust this promise.

This doesn’t give us an excuse to sit back complacently and wait for a job to fall out of the sky, but rather, it relieves the stress and pressure knowing that God is in control. Having sent out CVs and applications and joined recruitment agencies, we need to wait for God’s provision!

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Trust God and don’t try to figure things out for yourself (Proverbs 3:5). God knows what has happened and what will happen in our lives. He isn’t surprised. When we try to make sense of bad situations using our own knowledge we are often left feeling out of control.

The real question is: do we believe that God is still in control?

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God has it all planned out — plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for (Jeremiah 29:11). Despite job loss or any other challenge, God is still good. We don’t need to be afraid.

He is going to give us hope and a future.

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He will never walk off and leave us (Hebrews 13:5-6).

We can breathe a sigh of relief that no matter what happens God will not abandon us. God is with us. We don’t have to survive redundancy on our own. He’ll walk by our side through the tough times!

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Not by might nor by power… (Zechariah 4: 6). We don’t earn God’s approval by our job successes. Even if we were the top earners in the country with the most successful work life, God would love us just the same.

We are His children and nothing can separate us from this. The love He has for us is totally unconditional.

“Your profession is not what brings home your pay cheque. Your profession is what you were put on earth to do with such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling.”

Vincent Van Gogh

A NEW OPPORTUNITY

Losing a job is a major life-disrupting event. It is perfectly human to feel upset with the loss. Instead of seeing hopelessness perhaps it is time to see opportunity.

It could be a kick-start into a new career out of the comfort zone. It could also be a good time to do a course and go back to studying for a time. Redundancy may provide an opportunity to spend more time with the family while giving your other half a chance to re-enter the workplace.

Despite all the negativity surrounding redundancy, the recession has seen a large increase in the number of Irish people seeking to volunteer in their local communities. In fact, volunteers have almost doubled over the past year!

The Chief Executive of Volunteer Centres Ireland, Yvonne McKenna, says, “One positive consequence of our changed economic circumstances has been an explosion in active citizenship as people are seeking to re-engage in their communities and help both others and themselves by volunteering.

“Thousands of people who have either lost their jobs or cannot find work after graduating are seeking out fulfilling opportunities and the chance to learn skills that could lead to fulltime employment.”

Volunteer Stories Aisling Casey, from Smithboro, is volunteering in Ballybay Wetlands Centre and the Citizens Information Centre. “I’ve been volunteering in the Ballybay Wetlands Centre nearly a year now and really love it. Like many people in Ireland these days, I was made redundant and had the time to kill.”

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“The best of it all is God is with us.”

John Wesley

3rd Annual

With three international speakers:

Word of Life Bible Conference 16 – 18 April 2010 th

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Lucan Spa Hotel, Lucan, Co Dublin

Les Wheeldon

Blaesius Fultang

Prem Kodali

Free of Charge For more info contact Larry Hill, Cill Dara Church, Straffan

Tel: 086 251 7594 l Email: info@wordoflife.ie Or see

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Damien Murphy, from Dunraymond, is volunteering with the Positive Age 'Good Morning’ programme. “I got inspired to volunteer when I suddenly became unemployed and had spare time on my hands. I thought it would help me appreciate all I have. I have done many ‘flag’ days, selling badges and fundraising for all sorts of charities, such as the Irish Heart Foundation and the Irish Wheelchair Association. It gives you such a different perspective on life.”

Mark Henderson, from Cork, lost his job as a general manager in a leading pharmaceutical company last summer and applied to VSO for a two-year placement. Now he is working in Indonesia, experiencing a new culture, work environment and challenge. “I worked for 15 years in the same company so being made redundant was initially a blow. But then I realised it was the perfect opportunity for me to do something completely different with my life. Now I live in Indonesia and am delighted to be using my business skills positively and getting experience in international development.”

Useful links: www.survivingredundancy.ie www.volunteer.ie www.volunteeringoptions.org

Roberta von Meding graduated in 2007 from IADT and now works as an Advertising Executive for a trade publication. She lives in Greystones with her husband Joey.

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

Thomas Edison

16 | VOX | Jan - Mar 2010

Redundancy: one man's story Like many people up and down the country, 48-year-old Donal O’Donovan from County Cork was made redundant during 2009. This is his story: I worked for a pharmaceutical company since leaving college in 1981. About 18 months ago, the company decided to sell the factory I was working in. If the sale was not completed they would close the factory down altogether.

It was a long drawn out process with a lot of uncertainty. Eventually it was decided that the sale would not go through. I could have stayed in the company until the end (March/April this year) but eventually I decided to take voluntary redundancy. In fairness to the company it was a very good deal.

The uncertainty was the most difficult thing to cope with. Once you have definite information, you can make decisions.

As a family, we sat and prayed about these decisions. We found that committing it to the Lord helped us to reach a decision. I was conscious at all times that all this was part of God’s plan. It took any sense of despair out of the situation.

We decided I would stay at home full time to look after our youngest child.

My wife, who is a nurse, would go back to work full time. Financially it wasn’t as big a strain for us as it was for others.

When times were good, I think we were always conscious that every blessing comes from God and we were careful with our stewardship of our money. When we saw this coming at work, we scaled down our cars and reduced our outgoings so that when the change did come we were prepared.

We had 18 months to prepare, so we did have advance warning. Other people may find that their job goes more dramatically but I would still advise people to be prepared.

I think even as a Christian knowing that you always have the Lord with you, we still need the help of other Christians. Sometimes you just need someone to talk to who can share the burden.

One thing I noticed in the church is that a person is more important than the job they do. Some of my work colleagues have felt that they are of less worth than they were before. In the church you are cared for because of being a brother or sister in the Lord, not because of what you do.

I was the only Christian in my work place. I hope that I was a benefit to some others. When a Christian faces a trial, how they react is very often watched by those around them, so it is an opportunity to be a witness. It is still difficult but there is a hope that maybe someone who is not a Christian does not have.

Someone pointed out to us that there is life after redundancy. Maybe there will be something new or better or different to do?

VOX:INTERVIEW Face to face with

David Turner

DAVID TURNER IS NOT A STEREOTYPICAL PLACARDBEARING PROTEST MARCHER. HIS UNASSUMING EXTERIOR SEEMS TO FIT THE IMAGE OF THE AN POST WORKER HE ONCE WAS. YET FOR ALMOST 30 YEARS, THIS IRISHMAN HAS BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF CAMPAIGNS AGAINST PERSECUTION, INJUSTICE AND OPPRESSION SUFFERED BY BELIEVERS ACROSS THE WORLD. Wrestling with the reality of the terrible suffering and cruelty meted out to fellow Christians, David refuses to be paralysed either by horror or indifference. VOX editor, Ruth GarveyWilliams caught up with David in Dublin’s Isaacs Hotel to find out what drives him as the National Coordinator of Church in Chains.

Why did you get involved?

In 1981, I was coming home from work and I stopped on a park bench in Merrion Square in Dublin to read “Buzz” magazine.

That magazine changed my life. The cover story was “Free the Siberian Seven” [seven Christians who took refuge in the basement of the American Embassy in Moscow in a bid to emigrate from the Soviet Union]. My conversion to Jesus as a child was not dramatic but that moment sitting on that park bench was dramatic! I felt something should be done in Ireland.

I spoke to an older Christian who had been involved in previous marches for the persecuted church. He told me to go away and pray and said, “Maybe God is asking YOU to do something!”

So what did you do?

My first reaction was to organise a protest march. About 200 people turned up, which was tremendous. We carried banners, placards and loudspeakers.

Our campaign for the Siberian Seven continued for some time [they were eventually freed in 1983]. Then we campaigned for a few more Soviet believers. In 1986, we began “Church in Chains” magazine to inform Irish people about what was happening around the world.

Image: Luis Faustino

VOX | Jan - Mar 2010 | 17

David visits prisoners in Mexico

Speaking at a demonstration at the Eritrean Embassy in London

Church in Chains encourages Christians in Ireland to pray and support the persecuted church around the world. We are an Irish voice for persecuted Christians, focusing on ten nations (Mexico, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan, China, North Korea and Eritrea).

How have people in Ireland responded?

When I started off with the Siberian Seven I could not believe why everybody in the church would not go out on the protest march with us. I realise God calls people to be involved in different things. Not everyone can be actively involved but a good proportion should!

What God is looking for is open hearts. He calls us to remember those who are persecuted.

“Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering” Hebrews 13:3 Some people know about the persecuted church and feel it is a niche interest but we feel in every church there should be prayer for the persecuted church.

The body of Christ does not stop at the Irish Sea! I do not believe it is right for any Christian or local church to turn our back on the persecuted any more than we should turn away from the poor or those with HIV/AIDS. Some people struggle with stories of persecution because it makes them feel depressed and they feel powerless. How would you answer them?

If you read the stories of individuals who face persecution you will be inspired, not depressed!

We saw an answer to our prayers before our very eyes at our annual conference last year. [Many had prayed and campaigned on behalf of Eritrean gospel singer Helen Berhane who was jailed in May 2004. She was eventually released in November 2006.]

Irish people were able to shake Helen’s hand at the Church in Chains conference in Athlone. We heard about the terrible suffering she endured but also her remarkable faith in God and her experience that God was with her at the point of her suffering.

Presenting a petition to the Chinese Embassy in Dublin

Sadly not everyone is released. In Acts 12, when Peter was in prison, the church prayed and he was set free. But Peter and many of the other apostles went on to be martyred.

We need wisdom to know the best way to react in certain situations. Sometimes there is a time for marches, sometimes for letters and sometimes for private meetings.

How does your work affect you personally and your own faith in God? I have felt a deep sense of calling to this work. If you believe God has called you, that will keep you going. My daughter says, “You are Mr. Church in Chains”. My ups and downs are linked with my work.

For many years I continued working in the post office but eventually it became impossible to combine all those responsibilities [husband, father, work and ministry]. I tried job sharing for a while and now I am full time with Church in Chains.

I feel privileged to be able to do what I do; to serve God and to tell the stories of remarkable people. The stories of faith in the midst of persecution are greatly inspiring. I often feel unworthy to be representing these people. Surely God could have chosen somebody far better? But for His own reasons, I believe he called me to do it.

Occasionally a story that comes in will deeply upset me. The question, “Why does God allow this to happen?” does cross my mind.

I do not avoid the question of suffering. There are no easy answers. I have come to terms with the fact that I won’t get an answer to why God allows my brother in Uzbekistan to be beaten up and dragged away from his family. All I can do is leave it with God. If I just end up debating why God allows suffering that won’t help anybody. When I hear something really bad, my job is to get the message out.

In August I heard the story of Christians being killed in Pakistan. Their house was set on fire. That news paralysed me for an afternoon. But I found reading Psalm 10 really helpful and comforting. Then I got back to doing what I needed to do… sending out the information so people could pray!

“You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.” Psalm 10:17-18.

HELEN BERHANE IN IRELAND See and hear Helen Berhane (Gospel Singer from Eritrea) speaking and singing at the Church in Chains conference in Athlone.

18 | VOX | Jan - Mar 2010

Order this 90 minute DVD (cost €10 incl. p+p) from: Church in Chains, PO BOX 10447, Glenegeary, Co. Dublin

CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS BILL How do Christians respond?

What is the Civil Partnership Bill 2009?

The Civil Partnership Bill 2009 was debated in the Dáil Éireann in December and is likely to become law this year.

The Bill is the Government’s response to the fact that samesex couples are now a part of life in Ireland and to political pressure to legislate for gay marriage. The Bill’s aim is to provide rights, obligations and protections for same-sex couples that are in many ways equivalent to those that are provided under law for married couples.

In addition, the Bill provides some protection for other cohabiting relationships, but this protection is limited compared to what the Bill provides for same-sex couples who register as civil partners.

The Context of the Bill While by international standards Irish marriages are reasonably robust, there are huge changes taking place. Cohabiting couples are now the fastest growing type of household in Ireland and fewer than one in five households in Dublin are “traditional” families i.e. a married couple with children.

One-third of all births are outside marriage and marital breakdown is approaching 10% (Census 2006 figures). Same-sex couples have become a part of Ireland’s social fabric and there has been a growing pressure both from within Ireland and outside to provide legislative protection for them.

Provisions of the Bill The Bill is 118 pages long and is a complex piece of legislation. The Bill does not redefine marriage (which would require a Constitutional Referendum). It legislates for relationships outside of marriage.

The Bill offers to same-sex couples the opportunity to have their relationship legally recognised and registered by the State. The registration of the partnership would take place before a State-appointed Registrar with the option of a civil ceremony. There is no legal provision for a religious ceremony.

The Bill provides for rights and protections for same-sex couples in areas such as • Protection of the couple’s home • Tax • Inheritance rights • Hospital visitation rights • Pensions • Maintenance payments • Separation and dissolution of the partnership There is no provision in the Bill for same-sex couples to adopt children.

Nor is there any provision in the Bill for the protection of children in the event of a civil partnership being dissolved.

Responses to the Civil Partnerships Bill have varied. In this edition, VOX magazine brings three perspectives on the issues raised.

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VOX | Jan - Mar 2010 | 19

RESPONSE #1 The Evangelical Alliance has suggested that Christians can support the basic thrust of the Civil Partnership Bill. EAI General Director Sean Mullan writes: The Christian Scriptures make it clear that God's purpose for His gift of sex is that it would be the ultimate expression of physical love between a man and a woman in the context of the covenant of marriage. The Bible clearly condemns any form of sexual relationship outside marriage and calls followers of Jesus to "avoid sexual immorality" (1 Thessalonians 4:3).

While we believe that structuring a society around heterosexual marriage is the best thing for any nation, evangelical Christians have no automatic right to have their views preferred to those of others. Nor do they have a duty to try to impose biblical morality on public life by force of law.

The question to be faced is how followers of Jesus Christ are to live in a society that does not believe as they do and may even oppose principles which they hold to, seeing them as out-dated, illiberal and even oppressive.

The Government is seeking to legislate for greater justice and fairness for cohabiting couples, both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. As Christians we should support that stance.

Christians should be the foremost advocates of freedom of conscience and religious liberty. It is a tragedy of history that the church ever thought that it could use the power of the state to impose Christianity on people.

The Bill does not directly challenge the traditional understanding of marriage in Ireland. It is a piece of civil legislation that establishes a new form of civil relationship under law.

We face the challenge of showing the power and beauty of marriage as God’s intended context for sex, for the raising of children and for the thriving of society.

But it is possible to articulate and live Christian values in a way that contributes to the debate on the lost point of moral reference in public life. It is up to us as Christians to show that the way of following Jesus is the most attractive, the most intellectually coherent and the most life-giving way of all.

RESPONSE #2 David Quinn from the Iona Institute has been a critic of the bill, raising concerns about its effects on society and on the freedom of religion.

He writes: We have grabbed this argument from the point of equality but instead we should be looking at it from the point of child welfare.

Marriage is a universal institution and is the form of family that best serves children and society. It is the only relationship that gives a child a mother and a father who have made a public and formal commitment to one another.

That is why society has had a special interest and social recognition in the marriage relationship.

The state must be very, very slow to interfere with it. Because it is unique, it deserves unique treatment.

In order to justify the likes of same-sex marriage, we are beginning to deny that a child has a need or right to a mother and father. This is a disastrous attack on one of the most fundamental rights of a child.

The Civil Partnerships bill is creating de facto marriage. It shows to me the extent to which the state has lost its way in fam-

ily policy. I support giving anyone in a caring dependent relationship a certain legal protection (maintenance rights, hospital visitation, etc.) but those rights should not be dependent on the existence of a [legally recognised] secular relationship.

In the name of anti-discrimination, the Civil Partnership Bill privileges sexual relationships over non-sexual relationships (for example, two sisters living together).

Secondly, I’m concerned about the bill’s effect on freedom of religion and conscience. The door is now opened wide to civil actions being taken against church halls, photographers, etc. who might have a conscientious objection to same-sex partnership.

We have seen these cases overseas and there is every likelihood that they will eventually happen in Ireland.

Church halls cannot be forced to host a ceremony but could be forced to host a reception. This is a direct attack upon religious freedom and I find it extremely disappointing that our politicians don’t get this. They are supportive of state-imposed political correctness and state-imposed morality! For the first time you may be prosecuted for approving of traditional morality.

RESPONSE #3 European Evangelical Alliance recognises that there are differing views on this issue among Christians across Europe and around the world. Julia Doxat-Purser explained: It can be painful when Christians disagree. However, it is important to take care to realise what the agreements and disagreements actually are.

We know that the team who wrote the EAI statement believes that God’s gift of sex is only to be enjoyed in lifelong, exclusive, heterosexual, covenant marriage. There would be unanimity within the EEA about that.

Within the European Evangelical Alliance, national Alliances have different views. The non-negotiable that we stress is that the Gospel is paramount - whenever we enter the public arena, we do that as Christ’s ambassadors. His reputation is at stake every time we speak or act.

When we speak on the sensitive issues of sexuality, we always

encourage evangelicals to do so with both clarity about God’s will and with pastoral sensitivity.

EAI’s conviction is that the civil union bill in the Irish context does not undermine God’s gift of marriage. That is their political interpretation: whether they are right is open to debate - so some will disagree with them.

The other area of disagreement in this case would seem to us to be about political philosophy. One evangelical perspective is to try to use the law to help society live biblically; another is to seek to “incarnate and commend an alternative way of living as followers of Jesus.”

It is EAI’s judgement that apparently helpful laws can be counterproductive in their context - mobilising aggressive secularists to exclude Christians from public life, and so worsen rather than advance our cause. They feel that their political philosophy must be shaped by texts like 1 Corinthians 5 v 9-13.

SATION…  ation.

20 |JOIN VOXTHE | JanCONVER - Mar 2010 Conversation blog. Log in to www.voxmagazine.ie and click on The Convers See comments from others and add your own comments on the VOX

HOPE for the future?

The Murphy Report and the future of Christianity in Ireland*

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It‘s hard to know what to say in light of Judge Yvonne Murphy’s report into the systemic failure of the Dublin Diocese to deal with the cancer of child-sex abuse. [www.dacoi.ie] The findings follow an all-too-familiar pattern of silence, avoidance, complicity, self-protection, incompetence, and worse by those in leadership, the strange impotence and at times complicity of the Gardaí and the awful reversal of the supposed carer for souls becoming the abuser of the most vulnerable people under its care.

THE REALITY OF SIN In a culture that does not like to admit the existence of sin, the heart-rending stories of survivors reveal the reality of sin and its deep and lasting impact on individuals.

The sin of the abuser is a sin against the child. The bravery of those who spoke out (often to be ignored and disbelieved) is humbling. Again and again we see how the actions of one man ripple far and wide with devastating consequences and how victims’ whole lives have been shaped by what happened to them.

My prayer is that they can be believed, listened to, loved and helped to see that they are not defined by their abuser but have unique value and dignity as people loved by God and created in His image.

The sin of the abuser is a sin against himself. The harrowed faces of some of those convicted may be due to self-pity at being caught, but for some at least there may be deep self-disgust and shame at the betrayal of their calling. Did all the abusers enter the priesthood with

a strategy to abuse children? I doubt it.

Saying this is not to excuse the utterly inexcusable. Each perpetrator took a decision to cross a line that they knew to be completely opposed to all that they stood for as servants of their flock.

The sin of the abuser is a sin against God. God is angry at what has gone on. He hates injustice and maltreatment of the vulnerable.

All too often victims have been denied any sense of justice. The Murphy Report shows that most abusers escaped virtually untouched for decades. Many are dead, many have been protected and many appear to have ‘got away with it’. Abusers should and must be pursued with the full rigors of judicial process.

But even when someone is convicted, no loss of job, public opprobrium or a few years in prison will ever be enough to make up for the incalculable hurt caused.

Human justice, even when it works well, is but a pale shadow of our longing for things to be ‘put right’.

It is only God’s ultimate judgement that offers hope of perfect justice. God’s judgement is good news. All will one day be ‘put right’ forever and the world will be healed of all abuse, injustice, hatred, violence and tears.

The Future of Christianity in Ireland The Murphy Report must not be seen as the ‘end of a terrible chapter’ in the

history of church and state. Much more research and reflection needs to be done on how and why a Christian church could have ever acted in such a profoundly antiChristian way.

This needs to identify the necessary structural reform required to prevent such systemic abuse from ever reoccurring, but also, at a much deeper level, to address the desperate need for a new reformation within the Church itself.

A contributing factor in my opinion was Christendom – where the institutional church stood at the centre of Western society for centuries. In Ireland, the Catholic Church exercised virtually unlimited spiritual, political and social power.

As the Murphy Report itself says, “The Church is not only a religious organisation but also a human/civil instrument of control and power.” Ireland is now in the process of disentangling itself from the marriage of church and state that shaped 20th Century culture, often with disastrous consequences. And this can only be a good thing.

Some Christians get worried about the marginalisation of the church from society. But maybe the Catholic Church needs to be marginalised for its own good.

Maybe the healthiest spiritual place for all churches is far from the seat of power and from the overconfident certainty that they have the ability and a right to make society conform to Christian ethics

Maybe the healthiest spiritual place for all churches is far from the seat of power VOX | Jan - Mar 2010 | 21

through a combination of fear, threat and control.

If Christendom has taught us anything, it has been that spiritual transformation cannot be imposed. The New Testament makes it clear that change comes from within. It comes from the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer, received through trusting faith in Jesus. The Spirit’s fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control [Gal 5:22-23]. This is evidence of authentic Christian faith.

Tragically, in Ireland we have had decades of inauthentic Christianity – and I’m not just talking about the Catholic Church. We desperately need less institutionalised religion and more of Jesus. It is in Jesus that we see God clearly revealed.

We desperately need less institutionalised religion and more of Jesus.

We see a Messiah who rejects the temptation of power, who has ‘no place to lay his head’, who loves and heals the marginalised and who courageously embraces servanthood, suffering and an unjust execution on our behalf and in our place.

This is the astonishing good news of the Gospel. But let’s not miss a key purpose of the Gospel. It is that Christians are to be ‘conformed to the image of his son’ [Rom 8:29].

In other words, Christians are to be like Jesus.

Is there a future for the Christian faith in Ireland? Yes. But only as it exhibits the fruit of the Spirit.

Only as it imitates Jesus. Only as those who bear the name of Jesus love their neighbours as themselves. This is God’s healing agenda for individuals and for society.

God knows, Ireland could do with some real good news. *Edited for length. Read the full article at www.ibi.ie

Patrick Mitchel is Director of Studies and lectures in theology at the Irish Bible Institute.

22 | VOX | Jan - Mar 2010

VOX:REVIEWS BOOKS

CHRISTIANISH MARK STEELE

Somewhere between cold faith and hot pursuit lies the middle ground of Christianish. It’s something not quite Christian. Join author Mark Steele on his hilarious and honest journey to discover what it means to truly follow Christ. His journey to move from the in-between life he talks about to the life centered on Christ is an inspiration. To move forward Mark goes back to the beginning, to examine Christ’s life and words. I have found myself reading Acts to discover what the early church was about. Mark takes this a step further. Through stories and insights sometimes profound, often hilarious, and always honest, Mark delivers a compelling look at what our faith is all about………

A MILLION MILES IN A THOUSAND YEARS DONALD MILLER

Fans of Blue Like Jazz won’t be disappointed with the latest offering from the unconventional American writer Donald Miller. True to form in his inimitable ‘stream of consciousness’ style we are taken on a soulsearching journey that sees Millar on a quest to turn his bestseller Blue Like Jazz into a movie about his life. This leads him to question what makes a good story or in his own words ‘what I learned while editing my life’. Often humorous, occasionally irreverent but never dull, Millar challenges his audience to live life to the full and think about their own story along the way.

WHY WE LOVE THE CHURCH KEVIN DEYOUNG & TED KLUCK

The second piece of work from the ‘anti-emergent’ voices De Young and Kluck is not so much a manifesto on why we ought to love the church as a defense of the institution and why it is impossible to be a Christian without it. At times, it can read as a harsh critique on the contemporary ideas of church within the emerging movement, and picks on a few authors in particular. With many books coming from across the water, however, with the ‘I love Jesus but church doesn’t do it for me anymore’ slant; it is both refreshing and encouraging to read the other side of the argument. With personal accounts and humorous insights whilst staying biblically faithful, this book will encourage you to reconsider church.

MUSIC

BEAUTIFUL LIFE SHELL PERRIS

Ever since she left all-girl pop band TBC in 2006 Shell has been a singer/songwriter of huge potential, and her debut album Have you heard?, really reinforced that. It has been a regular presence in the Christian top 30 albums in 2009. Shell recently performed in Cork as part of the Restored tour and sang many of the tracks on this new album; her vocals on the wonderful Everytime I fall are particularly fine.

This new album has improved production and also features contribution from Chip K from The Band With No Name. This album is a must for all you lovers of rockchicks.

BEAUTY WILL RISE STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN

This moving album was shaped by grief. Steven's life was rocked with the tragic death of his daughter which, in unexpected ways, brought Chapman to mainstream mass media attention. This album will guide you through his emotions and bring you on this journey with him. His usual ability to write memorable lyrics and melodic tunes shines through this album, and the first single, Heaven is the Face, will have you all misty eyed. A wonderful album.

OH HAPPYDAY VARIOUS

A high-profile compilation of Gospel music from singers from both church and the entertainment mainstream has been released by EMI. Oh happy day features Queen Latifa, Aaron Neville, Jon Bon Jovi , Al Green, Joss Stone and others. It is a must for all Gospel music fans and a huge opportunity to introduce fans of these artists to Gospel music and the message that lies within.

Reviewed by Padraig O'Caoimh & Naomi Faris of Footprints Cork

10%

Footprints Stores

Get off these titles in all three : Bachelors Quay, Cork, Talbot Street, Dublin and Dun Laoghaire VOX | Jan - Mar 2010 | 23

SAME KIND OF DIFFERENT AS ME Ron Hall & Denver Moore

GRAMMY NOMINATIONS 2010 Best Gospel Song

Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album

BORN AGAIN Third Day Track from: Revelation

THE BIG PICTURE Da' T.R.U.T.H.

CITY ON OUR KNEES TobyMac

CRASH Decyfer Down

EVERY PRAYER Israel Houghton & Mary Mary Track from: The Power Of One

INNOCENCE & INSTINCT Red

GOD IN ME Mary Mary featuring Kierra "KiKi" Sheard Track from: The Sound

LIVE REVELATIONS Third Day

THE MOTIONS Matthew West Track from: Something To Say

THE DASH John Wells-The Tonic

The historic election of Barack Obama to the United States Presidency provoked worldwide media attention and helped promote sales of his books. The same kind of different as me, which became an international best-seller, tells an equally incredible story, recounting the amazing friendship which developed between a homeless, modern-day black slave, Denver Moore and a remarkable, quietly determined woman, Debbie Hall and her international art-dealer husband Ron. As the story unfolds, alternating between Denver’s and the Halls’ perspectives, the transforming effect of the friendship on all three becomes apparent. But this is no ‘twee’ account for as the back cover states “pain, betrayal and brutality” are not smoothed over. Nor is there a fairy-tale ending —the book is too real for that!

The book is a compelling read, forcing the reader to examine what size their God is. It challenges us to leave our comfort zones, to be socially aware and to expect God to work in unexpected ways and from unexpected sources. It shows how God transforms without creating clones.

An inspiring book for people of all ages with or without faith. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry! Buy it and pass it on, an ideal gift!

Reviewed by Ruth Burns

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24 | VOX | Jan - Mar 2010

WORLDWATCH a closer look at the big picture

Climate Change and the Christian

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Sadly, on some issues Christians can, I think, be rightly charged with complacency. Climate change is one such issue.

As I write, the Fifteenth United Nations Conference on Climate Change is under way in Copenhagen. Its agenda could hardly be more desperate.

Global warming must be arrested within the next decade; if not, rising seas, melting glaciers, drought and famine, unpredictable weather patterns – and untold consequent social problems such as war for food and water – will at best make life on planet Earth extremely difficult, and at worst threaten the existence of the human race.

The big question mark over the talks is whether consensus can be brokered between the 192 participating nations on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. For the moment, there is scant hope of any legally binding accord, just the possibility of a general “political agreement”, in the hope of reaching a more enforceable treaty at some point in 2010.

However, even that may be unachievable. It is not inconceivable that all negotiations may simply break down. Where then would that leave us?

Unsurprisingly, in all that is being written and said about climate change and its effects – and there is a great deal – little or no mention is made of God. Yet the Bible is clear.

The Earth was created by God, and therefore belongs solely to Him. Care of the Earth was entrusted to Man, but this trust has been betrayed. We have raped the Earth for fossil fuels, and then, burning those fuels in our quest for wealth, polluted the Earth for two-and-a-half centuries, to the point now where survival – our own and the planet’s – is highly doubtful. In Revelation we read that a time will “come ... for destroying those who destroy the earth” (11:16-18).

It is far too easy to say that Jesus died for us, that His work on the Cross is complete, and that we need do nothing more. It is wrong, I would submit, to argue – or imply – that saving faith is enough, and that we have no real responsibility to care for the Earth we inhabit.

God’s command to Adam to look after the Earth is as inescapable today as ever. If we ourselves, as Christians, have no regard for the Earth, how are we any better than the coalmen and oilmen, the factory owners, the makers of trains, planes and cars? How can we be any less culpable in our Creator’s eyes than they?

Mark Edmund Hutcheson is a teacher.

VOX | Jan - Mar 2010 | 25

‘God places the lonely in families’ Psalm 68:6

100 million orphans… and rising….

How do we respond?

J

Jessica was abandoned by her parents when she was a few weeks old. She was left to die on a rubbish dump but fortunately she was found by the staff of a nearby Christian orphanage.

I met Jessica in the orphanage when she was four years old.

She didn’t smile at me or grab my arm like the other children.

She sat silent and alone, avoiding any contact with people. The staff didn’t know how to help her.

A few months later Jessica was fostered by a young Christian couple who were friends of mine. I wondered how they would cope looking after a child who seemed so emotionally disturbed.

It would be an enormous challenge for these new parents.

That Christmas I called to visit Jessica and her foster parents to see how they were getting on. As they welcomed me in a smiling girl rushed up the hallway and hugged my legs. It was Jessica.

I couldn’t believe it. In the space of three months she had completely transformed from a withdrawn, disturbed child into a vibrant young girl.

There are more than 100 million orphans worldwide and the number is growing rapidly (as a result of the AIDS pandemic). The streets of Phnom Penh in Cambodia are thronged with children begging and scavenging to survive. There has been a massive rise in the number of orphanages as many Christians and others seek to help these children. But are orphanages the answer?

In Ireland, the residential home or ‘orphanage’ model has had disastrous consequences for children. Revelations of widespread sexual abuse in religious industrial schools and residential homes across Ireland have shocked us. These awful incidents happened in a developed country that has child protection laws.

Today developed countries have moved away from placing children in orphanages.

In developing countries orphans are potentially much more vulnerable. A report by the charity Save the Children (2008) found widespread exploitation and abuse of children within orphanages in developing countries. Of course these are worstcase scenarios.

Many orphanages, like the one Jessica was in, are extremely well run and have a team of loving staff. For many children they have meant an escape from the streets and a life of hope and opportunity.

However, even the best orphanage cannot replace the individual love and care that children need from a family environment.

In my experience they are a second-best alternative to family.

In addition, given the sheer scale of the problem, orphanages are not economically sustainable. UN studies show that the cost of supporting a child in residential care is about twelve times the cost of community-based care programmes like fostering.

So what is the answer? Is there an alternative to orphanages?

I believe there is. Tearfund works with its partners worldwide to place children in local foster families where they receive the individual love and care that they need.

In Cambodia our church partner Little Conqueror’s has rescued hundreds of children from the streets. Many of the local foster families are extremely poor themselves but by providing a low level of support, such as school fees, they are able to care for an additional child. Little Conqueror’s care workers conduct regular family visits to ensure the welfare of the child. The children can grow up in a safe and happy environment, in a loving family.

Jessica is now eleven years old. Her memories of life in the orphanage are distant. She smiles with joy as she walks hand in hand with her parents.

It’s an incredible example of the local church in action, of Christians welcoming vulnerable children into their home. With 100 million children worldwide in need of a family it is going to take all of us working together to bring lasting transformation.

is there an alternative to orphanages?

26 | VOX | Jan - Mar 2010

Find out more at www.tearfund.ie Reuben Coulter is Chief Executive of Tearfund Ireland, a Christian relief agency working with a global network of local churches to help transform the lives of the most vulnerable women and children worldwide.

Dóchas don tochchaí Is cinnte go bhfuil dóchas in ann duit agus ní gearrfar uait í. (Prov 23:18) Le bliain nua rómhainn, cuirimis díomá an t-am atá thart uainn agus glacaimis greim ar an dóchas atá romhainn. Faraoir, in am seo an gáthtair is deacair greim a choiméad ar an dóchas nuair atá réaldúlacht an éadóchais, cailiúnt poist, brú airgeadais agus deacrachtaí gaolmharacht le sonrú mórthimpeall orainn.

Faraoir, tá cuid again sáite i bpriosiún an éadóchais.

Le déanaí, bhí seans agam athchuairt a thabhairt ar scannán gur ansa liom: “Slánú Shawshank” (Shawshank Redemption) ina glacann Tim Robbins páirt Andy, baincéir gur chaith níos mó ná tríoche bliain i bpriosiún in aineoinn bheith neamhchionntacht den bhfeall gur cuireadh ina leith. Fad is bhí sé sa bpriosiún chur sé aithne ar Ellis Boyd “Red”, (Morgan Freeman). Le linn ceann de na hiomaí comhrá a bhí eatharthu, phlé siad téama an ‘Dóchais’ agus thug Red comhairle d’Andy “gan bheith dóchasach faoin todhchaí ar chor ar bith mar gur dáinséarach an rud í an dóchas”, ach go háirithe nuair a bhíodar sa bpriosíun scartha amach ón domhan lasmuigh.

Chuir muid aithne ar charactéir eile sa scannán, Brooks Halten (James Witmore), an leabharlannaí, fear a chaith nach mór a shaol iomlán sa bpriosiún. Ní raibh aithne aige ar aon saol eile. Ar deireadh , nuair a scaoileadh saor é ní raibh sé in ann maireachtáil sa domhan mhór agus faraoir chuir sé lámh in bháis féin. Mharaigh an éadóchas é.

Ar an dtaobh eile den scéal níor éirigh Andy éadóchasach riamh agus é ag iarraidh saol níos fearr a chruthú do na priosiúnithe tríd an leabharlann agus cursaí oideachais a fheabhsú.

Chomh maith le sin déirigh leis a éalú féin a chuir i gcríoch agus aghaidh a thabhairt ar saol níos fearr lasmuigh de ballaí an bpriosiún.

Ar deireadh scaoileadh Red freisin. Bheadh deacrachtaí aige sa domhan mór ach gur thug sé geallúint d’Andy go n-aimseodh sé bosca iarann gur fhág Andy dó ag bun chrann in áit faoi leith.

Maraon le roinnt airgid, d’fhág Andy nóta sa bhosca sin dó, nóta an dóchais: “gur maith an rud í an dóchais agus nach bhfaigheann rud maith bás riamh.” Go lúcháireach, tháinigh Andy agus Red arais le chéile i réalúlacht nua in aice le trá I Mexico, i bhfad ó dorchadas agus éadóchais an bpriosiún.

Cuireann an scéal seo I gcuimhne dom cé go go bhfuil cuid againn sáite san éadóchas agus sa dorchadas inniu, tá réalúacht eile ann in a féidir linn bheth dóchasach, is é sin Chríost féin, dóchais an ghlóire (Col 1:27). Ní cheart dúinn riamh casadh ón dóchas mar is íontach an rud í agus coméadfaidh sí slán sinn san am atá romhainn.

Is léachtóir é an Dr. Cormac Mac Fhionnlaaoich i Scoil Ghnó Smurfit, Coláiste na hOllscoile, BAC.

VOX | Jan - Mar 2010 | 27

The Christian T-shirt business is booming. In September, a British newspaper carried an article showing the “20 coolest Christian T-shirts”. For ‘fairness’ they also ran the “20 coolest atheist T-shirts” with slogans ranging from “Darwin is my homeboy” to “I  Roman lions”.

Not to be outdone, VOX magazine spared no time or expense to check out what’s on offer. This month we bring you five of the best and five of the worst Christian t-shirt designs!!

T-shirts available from: www.hip-edge.com www.cafepress.co.uk www.christianshirts.net

THE GOOD

THE BAD

(Hmmm… actually not sure whether this should be one of the best or one of the worst!)

THE GOOD

28 | VOX | Jan - Mar 2010

THE BAD

Illustrations: Olly Blake

VOX:ADS&EVENTS

Events Calendar

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Got a Classified? It costs just €1 per word! Send your text to the address on page 2 or advertising@voxmagazine.ie Next deadline is 5 March.

What’s happening, where and when?

JANUARY

The Mission of God: Engaging 21st Century Ireland Friday, 29 January, 10am St. Marks Church, Dublin Phone: 01 4975285 Cost: €25 Your Move: Missions Opportunities Sunday, 31 January, 6pm St. Marks Church, Dublin www.imap.ie

FEBRUARY

Kingdom Come 1 - 4 February Belfast www.kingdomcomeireland.com TeenStreet Reunion 12 - 13 February www.ie.om.org

Web: www.imap.ie e-mail: info@imap.ie

MARCH

Global Poverty Prayer Week 1 - 7 March www.tearfund.org/onevoice

APRIL

Word of Life Bible Conference 16 - 18 April Lucan Spa Hotel, Lucan, Co. Dublin www.wordoflife.ie (See ad on page 15) United Marriage Encounter Weekend 16 -18 April Kingston Hotel, Dun Laoghaire €80 Euro registration www.unitedmarriage.org (See ad on page 25) HAVE YOUR EVENT LISTED HERE! See www.voxmagazine.ie for details.

Ph. 087 2949518

Visit the website for more information and details on other events.

VOX | Jan - Mar 2010 | 29

VOX:P.S.

I

Hopeful New Year?

“Is everything sad going to come untrue?” asked Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings.

Good question, Sam! Maybe someone should ask the Minister for Finance. While delivering the toughest budget ever for the State he spoke often of the need for hope.

“Hope!” There’s a word you don’t hear too often in Ireland these days. Despair, anger, fear, disgust, regret. All seem as plentiful as whiskey at a wake. But hope seems to have gone walkabout. And hope matters.

Victor Frankl, a concentration camp survivor, tells the story of a fellow prisoner who had a dream that they would be liberated on March 30th 1945. At the time of the dream rumours of the Allied Armies advancing were filtering into the camp. But as the dreamed-of date approached it became clear that the Allies would be nowhere near the camp by March 30th. On March 29th the dreamer took ill and on March 30th he died. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick,” the proverb says. Even sick to death.

So is everything sad going to come untrue? Or is that a false hope? What about everything sad in me? In my city or town? In the world? What exactly should we hope for? Or expect? Is the promise of change real or is it just the song of sirens drawing our ships towards rocks?

Many think that the Scriptures promise a future day when all will be changed but that in the meantime you just have to hang in there because nothing is really going to change. Not any time soon. Not till Jesus comes back.

But as I read it the Scriptures present us with something very different. They offer us a daily journey towards what we hope for.

The hope offered for each person is one of profound continuous transformation. Through an apprentice relationship with the Master of Life each individual can become the person God always intended him or her to be. Saint Paul puts it like this: our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like Him. And the hope is not just for individuals. The journey is towards transformed communities, where people love God with all their being and their neighbour as themselves. Jesus’ call is to live as His apprentice in the place where I am. It is an invitation to be part of the transformation of that place through announcing Good News and doing actions of justice and mercy.

Luke’s Gospel has a great story of two people in danger of losing hope. But then they spent some time on the road with Jesus, alive again after His crucifixion. Courage replaced fear and hope replaced despair. They turned around and went back to the city full of hope for themselves and for their place.

David Smith writes: It just might be that the millions of little people who have seen the Lord and are silently making their way back to the city might offer our fractured, endangered world the best grounds for hope that we are likely to discover today.

Sean Mullan has been working in church leadership for many years. He is developing a new project in Dublin City Centre called "Third Space".

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32 | VOX | Jan - Mar 2010

Exciting New developments to our MA Programme Visit www.IBI.ie to find out more or contact Steven@IBI.ie