Come tomorrow, I’ll officially be a housemate.
I’m moving out for the first time to live with with an awesome bunch of dudes from Wellspring..

But although they are all awesome, I’m certain it won’t be without it’s challenges.

So, as my first post in the saga of Coolabah Rd, can you give me tips on being a good housemate?

Is Atheism in Australia outside the clutches of the secular attitude?
With the advent of Atheism advertisements on the side of buses here in Hobart, I’m curious.

When it comes to Christianity and the secular attitude, I would argue it is not primarily because Christianity makes a religious claim that it is rejected by broader society – but because it makes any claim at all that will require consideration and commitment. For people to prescribe to one view or the other (God or no god) requires some sort of commitment that it seems Australian’s on the whole aren’t willing to make. So when it comes to beliefs, Atheism is not the default, because Atheism makes an assertion about who God is (or isn’t.. God is still the object of discussion). If the default is no discussion, then Atheism builds on this to project a worldview, it moves from a place of no consideration to a place of opinion about God.
So, if my hunch about secular attitudes is correct, why should Atheism experience anything different to Christianity?

But maybe Atheism is becoming a major initial perspective. There is a mild form of Atheism present in Australian society which is bound up in our concept of freedom – the voice of the theists historically has been loud, we live in a society that was built on Christian and religious belief, and now in recent generations Australians want to be free from these moral and social obligations, to be free from God. The reason I call it mild is because it’s emotionally rooted, not logically. (On a side note, I would challenge you to find me an atheist that hasn’t begun their journey of logically deducing God doesn’t exist without first an emotional reason)

What happens when the demands become too high, when Atheism starts demanding commitment in some form to the removing of God from society? What happens when Atheism is seen for a form of religious belief, and when it begins to impinge on freedom? What if it’s already begun with Atheist ads on buses?

Will then Australians be as skeptical of the Athiest perspective as they are the Christian perspective? Will Australians reject Atheist evangelistic efforts in the same way they reject other forms of evangelism (be it Christian or otherwise)? I wonder. Your thoughts?

(As this has the potential to being a contentious topic – at a point where any discussion may become unhelpful, off topic or uncivil, I will close the comments)

I really suck at finishing books. I get halfway through, maybe even 3/4 of the way through a book and usually by then I have begun another book and I transition from one to the next.

I don’t really forget what I’ve read – but because I haven’t finished the book I can’t sit it in context.

Not surprisingly, this doesn’t really apply to novels. But then, I tend not to read novels very often (Maybe one a year).

So, anyone found this in the past? Have you worked out any solid solution for finishing books? Any tips for me?

I’ve found in the past I haven’t kept resolutions very well, so I’m just making a few, and giving my reasons for making them so that I might be better committed to them.

So far I have 3 New Year Resolutions:

• To blog 3-4 times a week – To encourage my own thinking about God and life and what I’m reading, and to share that with others.
• Make more time to talk with my non-Christian friends about Jesus – Because all of them know I’m a Christian, and the Gospel is too important for them to hear for me not to share.
• Maintain my skills in music composition as a major hobby. – To give me a break from thinking about ministry, to use the skills I have, and to give myself the sense of completion that I’ve been told people in ministry struggle without.