contacts

Hey, as things start to slow down on campus and if you find yourself still in town - here are a few contacts that you might want to consider. No one has to be lonely this side of town :)


If you live around the Magill campus, you'll find the Magill Lutheran Church nearby here:







21 Edward St Magill SA 5072 Australia
Telephone:
08 8364 3957


If you live near Mawson Lakes Campus, you'll find the Mawson Lakes Lutheran Church here:

Unit 4 5 Goodall PdeMawson Lakes SA 5095 Australia (during the week)

Endeavour College, 85 Mawson Lakes BoulevardMawson Lakes SA 5095 Australia
(for Sunday morning service)

If you find yourself in a sticky situation there are emergency numbers you can ring. Here are a list of people who can help you:

General Crisis Help
Life threatening emergencies - phone: 000

Police - phone: 131 444

Lifeline - phone: 131 114 Counselling for people with any type of crisis.

Living Hope - phone: 8277 4033 Counselling for people with any type of crisis.

Domestic Violence helpline - phone:1800 800 098Counselling for victims of domestic violence and their concerned friends. Counselling for people who commit domestic violence

Addiction Help
Al-Anon and Alateen - phone: 8231 2959 Support for people affected by the alcohol problems of relatives or friends.

Alcoholics Anonymous - phone: 8346 3255 Counselling and support if you have an alcohol problem.

Nar-Anon - phone - phone: 8272 8228Support for people affected by the drug problems of relatives or friends.

Narcotics Anonymous - phone: 8231 4233Support group for people with drug problems.

Gambling Helpline - phone: 1800 060 757Counselling, information and referral for people who are concerned about their own, or another person’s gambling.

Mental Health Help
Emergency mental health help 24 hours - phone: 131 465

...and don't forget that God offers real hope to all of us "Call to me and I will answer you ". I certainly don't always 'feel it' but I do certainly 'believe it'. When something cr*ppy happens, it's my first instincts now to call on him. He is not stingy, nor waiting to punish - in fact the opposite is true: "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"

God be with you

-Tim O

National Conference LSF (28 Dec 09 - 3 Jan 10)

If you are a regular LSFer or not - you are welcome to register and attend the 'national conference' where Christian students (and friends) meet together from around Australia.

This year the conference will be in good 'ol South Australia where the gum trees grow and we talk slowly.

Theme: Love is a Verb

Where is it: Woodhouse campsite (not far from Adelaide)

When is it: Monday 28th Dec 2009 from 3pm to Sunday morning, 3rd Jan 2010
(you can tell your family that you are going away this year and only coming back next year)

Cost:
􀂅 Year 12 ($180)
􀂅 Student ($225/$240)
􀂅 Worker ($245/$260)

Interested??????

Go to the LSF Registration Page

or download the (pdf) registration form here

any questions? ask these wonderful people:

Contact People:
Mike Pietsch 08 8370 3615
or 0409 725 573
mike.pietsch@lca.org.au

Ben Kuchel 08 8480 7942
or 0419 845 980
conference@lsf.org.au

becoming sharper at study via Christian meditation

Meditation and Study

Many, many years ago, I remember having a friendly argument with a student about "meditation". I was in a neo-conservative-christian-bible-believing phase (one of my many phases) and I understood all meditation to be 'evil' and 'opening yourself up to demons' etc. His argument was that it is scientific also and is a proven way of relaxing and gaining concentration. Well in hindsight, I guess I have to say I was wrong.

When I first went to Bible College, I had an opportunity to do a major study on "Christian Meditation" as a project. So, I immersed myself in many books and lectures old and new and made an amazing discovery = we meditate already, it is natural.

Daydreaming is meditation, thinking about your next holidays is meditation, worrying is a negative form of meditation. We do it anyway.

So what's all this hocus pocus stuff about meditation? And what does it have to do with study?

When you study you need to be in a state of mind to concentrate and not be stressed out of your head - meditation techniques can calm you down and help your mind be in a better place of concentration

Here are the methods common to all sorts of meditation in a nutshell. They come from (gasp!) a non-Christian site Psyblog:
(1)Relax the body and the mind: through controlled breathing, posture, relaxing muscles
(2)Be mindful: don't pass judgement on your thoughts let em go gently pulling em back
(3)Concentrate on something: Often meditators concentrate on their breath
(4)Concentrate on nothing: Most say this can't be achieved without a lot of practice, so I'll say no more about it here. Master the basics first
(5) Zzzzz Zzzzz: That's not meditating, that's sleeping.

But, seeing I'm a Christian - this is where the difference is:
the point of concentration is on Jesus or a Bible truth or Christian prayer.

I'm not a super meditator but usually make time for it when things are getting heavy and full on.
I always ask the Holy Spirit to guide my thoughts at the beginning (because I don't trust my human nature or anything else floating out there) - and when unrelated thoughts or 'things I have to do' pop up in my head, I don't shoo them away - but pray about them because I believe God may be bringing them to my mind to get dealt with.

Also, years ago I gave up the hope of seeing 'rainbow ponys' in the sky or 'streams of light' flooding my soul. It's actually quite lame really. However, I've found that after taking time out to pray and meditate that I often feel better and more focussed to deal with whatever is at hand.
So, if you are stressed out with study - make sure you fit in some time (20 minutes possibly) to get in a better state of mind and body...and spiritually. Then you can say "bring it on!"

Let me know your thoughts on this.


*Here's more about Christian Meditaion:
http://www.allaboutgod.com/christian-meditation.htm

spooks part 2

Earlier (June 2009) I wrote about my "Casper the friendly ghost" experiences and my understanding of the Bible's view of contacting departed spirits. Today, I received this short article which I found encouraging that there are others who feel the same way as I do about the subject. I'm quoting it direct from Weekly Wisdom Christ notes:

"Are you looking for right answers in wrong places?
People in the world are desperately looking for answers: answers to problems, answers to difficult questions, answers to pain and suffering -- everyone wants answers to life's questions. But so many people look for right answers in all the wrong places: psychics, mediums, weegie boards (ie ouija board), star charts, spiritists, astrological signs, and other similar places. Sadly, some of the most visited sites on the Internet contain popular horoscopes.


However, God sternly warns His people not to turn to such things. In Leviticus 19:31, God tells us, "Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them." Only a few verses later, He again warns: "I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people" (Leviticus 20:6).

The Bible instructs us not to turn to worldly things for answers. Instead, we are to turn to Jesus, who is the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6). Jesus is not one of the ways; He is the way. You will get real answers to life's difficult questions only from God.
So, instead of spending $3.99 per minute looking for right answers in wrong places, turn to the all-knowing God, himself, the creator of the universe!"

So what does God think?

If you ever think "someone up there doesn't like me!" - have a look at these:

We say: “It’s impossible"
God says: All things are possible (Luke 18:27)

We say: “I’m too tired”
God says: I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30)

We say: “Nobody really loves me”
God says: I love you (John 3:16 & John 13:34)

We say: “I can’t go on”
God says: My grace is sufficient (II Corinthians 12:9)

We say: “I can’t figure things out”
God says: I will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:5-6)

We say: “I can’t do it”
God says: You can do all things (Philippians 4:13)

We say: “I’m not able”
God says: I am able (II Corinthians 9:8)

We say: “It’s not worth it”
God says: It will be worth it (Roman 8:28)

We say: “I can’t forgive myself”
God says: I forgive you (I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

We say: “I can’t manage”
God says: I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19)

We say: “I’m afraid”
God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear (II Timothy 1:7)

We say: “I’m always worried and frustrated”
God says: Cast all your cares on me (I Peter 5:7)

We say: “I don’t have enough faith”
God says: I’ve given everyone a measure of faith (Romans 12:3)

We say: “I’m not smart enough”
God says: I give you wisdom (I Corinthians 1:30)

We say: “I feel all alone”
God says: I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)

LSF on Facebook

Last post I spoke about Facebook - if you are interested in the

Lutheran Students facebook Page

-you can find it-

here

Social Networking

(cartoon from www.computerweekly.com)

Are you on MySpace, Facebook or another 'social networking' site?
Which side do you stand on - just a bit of fun and self promotion or big brother and cyber crims stealing your identity? Here's a few of my thoughts on the whole 'social networking' thingo - and I stress, my own opinion at the moment. If you have an opinion - I'd be interested to hear it also.

As an introduction, I -am - on Facebook and use it a fair bit mainly to catch up with friends and 'friends' and a lot of mindless fun. I'm also on MySpace - which actually totally horrified a girl I knew. She wasn't aware that, even though I am "mature", I use it to get to know other guitar players and musicians which is a hobby.

I'm currently playing around with Linkedin as a professional tool, but it's early days yet. And for those of you who know that I hang out on the computer a bit - I want you to know for perspective sake, that I still mow lawns, do dishes, vacuum the house, go to a paid job and work and get exercise and (personally) am not an online gamer. I don't play WOW, Call of Duty, or even Hello Kitty's Island Adventures; I'll leave that to other pure pwnage fans.

OK here's my main point: I think in essence social networking is a fantastic way of "networking" with people, getting a bit of perspective into the views and beliefs of others, learning a bit of tolerance, developing social skills and having a bit of fun. However - there are dangers - and it pays to learn about them and to consider all warnings thoughtfully.

First the bad news...and I'm going to only talk about Facebook here...but similar will apply to other networks

Not all people are good - does that surprise you? There are crims out there. Read this article about Facebook cybercrime and viruses
(See also www.fbhive.com for both the good and the bad.)
They can be invisible too. Like most crims who don't break in during the daylight - they may find ways into your site through a back door. A personal example of this is a friend of mine had his account hacked. I personally had this'friend' pop up in Chat (real time writing to each other) and he asked "how I was" and after a few preliminaries, this "friend" said that they were "stuck in London and could I send over $800 straight away" because they had "lost a ticket".

I smelled a rat.
A really smelly rat.

I asked my supposive 'friend' (who was using my poor real-friend's hacked legitimate chat and profile photo) a few questions...and then I asked him if he remembered HOW we first met? After being greeted with silence, I explained to this scammer - in words he could clearly understand, and not be mistaken about - what I thought of his little scamming game; and instantly deleted his account. So, yes - it does actually happen. There will always be a percentage of any large group of people, online or offline who have not-so-good intentions about you. So be careful.

You probably already know that you are best to screen what you say and what pictures you allow on your site (if you can help it). I'm told that many employers and human resource companies are getting quite good at roaming the internet for details about you and your online 'private' life to suss you out if you apply for a job.
So, as far as it's up to you - refrain from posting last Fridays drunken binge pix on your site. Also, updates like "my work colleagues are $%#@$%^'s" can get you in an uncomfortable situation or even fired from your part time job.

Finally - assume anything put on the net is public - no matter what you are told.
We all make mistakes - and let me tell, the older we get - the larger the catalogue :(

Facebook has had criticism that it declares that it 'owns' all information on it's site - which the CEO denies (see article in the age ). There is however, encouraging news that Facebook is being pressured in being more open about information it is giving away See Australian IT 28 Aug 09

Here are a few hints if you are concerned about your privacy settings on Facebook: Sophos recommended privacy settings



Back in the old days (I mean about ten years ago) we used to have mainly segmented lives but in the social networking world you can have 'friends' who you wouldn't usually mix with in the real world, so boundaries can get a little blurred sometimes. For example, I have 'friends' who are real long term friends, 'friends' who live overseas and I've never actually met, 'friends' who others would call "clients" from work, 'friends' who are work colleagues, 'friends' who I know from church, 'friends' who I hardly know but somehow we got connected and so on.

For me - and this is what i think is GOOD about online social networking:

It is an unnatural community - yet it is community. I often enjoy the online conversation and remarks people make. I like the interaction. Yes, it's technology, but behind each computer is a human being with all the glory and failings of humanity that we share. It's about people.

As far as it being public - at this stage - besides common sense online precautions (like locking your car in Hindley street), I'm not too worried about the public-ness. If you have nothing to hide, then it's not going to be a big problem. If you stuff up, like we all do - then apologise.

There are many Biblical principles, particularly of love and respect of others that will serve you well online as they do in our normal communities.

Rock n Roll! Mid Year Retreat

Mid Year Retreat!

You are very welcome to come to the the LSF Mid Year retreat - Here are the details:

Theme: Rock N Roll - inside and outside of the church

When: August 21-23rd 2009

Where: Mylor Youth Hostel

Speakers:

Robin Mann - 'the man' behind sooooo many community songs

Matthias Prenzler - master of liturgical stuff and where music fits in

Stephen Morel - Pentecostal strong influence on community music


Cost:

First trip as a student = $40 only

Average student= $45

Worker (not student) = $50

Interested? Bring a friend?

***Contact: Mike Pietsch 0409 725 573 for further details***

Do it now

geek stuff

I know you are poor because you are a student, so those who are more geeky and freaky might find these links to free software useful. Now, as a disclaimer, I haven't tried most of these and to my knowledge they are not naughty and bad people's warez. Most of them are for Windows. If you know of other software that others could use -please let me know and I'll promote it.


Educational

http://www.schoolforge.net/education-software

http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/

http://os.cqu.edu.au/oswinsdvd/doc/README.html



Other download software links

http://www.digitaldarknet.net/thelist/

http://www.opensourcewindows.org/

http://downloadpedia.org/Open_Source_Windows

http://filezilla-project.org/

http://www.virtualbox.org/

http://www.7-zip.org/

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2006/12/01/30-essential-pieces-of-free-and-open-software-for-windows/

http://osswin.sourceforge.net/

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/infoworld/20090805/tc_infoworld/84903


*enjoy*

moon landing

Moon landing faked......


....so, some people say. Actually, it wasn’t really a fake, but it’s amazing that conspiracy theories still abound. If you look at any YouTube footage of the moon landing, someone often comments that it was staged in a studio or made up. I know many of them are being tongue in cheek, but there are still those who seriously think it was an American propaganda job. If you are one of those, write ‘moon landing hoax myths’ into Google and have a good read (Brief overview here at national geographic). I’d also recommend the YouTube video entitled “moon flaggin” by LunarTuner.

I sometimes find intelligent people writing off Jesus Christ as some sort of hoax or fairy tale as well, without first having looked at the amount of legitimate research around. Ultimately after reading the facts, each person needs to take the leap of faith to be a believer; but it is not based on thin air, there is a large body of work about Christ.

In the book of Acts, this sort of ‘checking the facts to help faith’ attitude is endorsed: “the people in Berea … gladly accepted the message. Day after day they studied the Scriptures to see if these things were true.” (Acts 17 verse 11).

We all have our doubts - but make sure you use your head. You may actually find it supporting your faith.

Lan Party

LutherLan: 1-2 August at District Office the prizes are set (22" Monitor) and the tickets are printed($10 only)Your seat is only safe once you have a ticket. Tickets are available from all admin so just organize with them.

Any further information is available at

www.lutherlan.lca.org.au

spooks

Hmmm ???
This is a topic which is preceeded by many question marks. It can scare some people, make others scoff and look down their noses, with a 'pity the poor fool' frowns and stares over highly educated half -glasses.

Then there are the rest who just shrug their shoulders and get on with more imporant things like World of Warcraft or the latest online gossip chat.

Spooks, yes...I'm talking about...ghosts.
I'm going out on a limb here a bit - and will give you my opinion - with the subtext that I am allowed to change this very opinion later. But I'm bringing it up for discussion sake.
So before I go on - I will tell you where I stand and then you can either read on, or go back to whatever you were doing.

Do I believe that ghosts exist? Answer: for the majority of stories and accounts - no. Most, I personally believe, are fuelled by strong emotion, hearsay, or more likely fuelled by alcohol, forest-picked mushrooms, or other laboratory made and nightclub ingested substances. However, I do believe that at some point in a number of people's lives, some do come across unexplained encounters that could be catergorised under "ghost" in the library filing cabinet.

One of the reasons I have no problem believing in God and the spiritual realm is because the house I grew up in had some 'strange goings on' every now and then, that can't be explained in an everyday way. As a child, quite frankly, it used to scare the living daylights out of me.

Everyone in my family (except for one of us) had experiences with it. And after our house was sold to someone else, I'm told they also had similar experiences. (spook warning: for those who don't like ghost stories, turn away now...)

Every now and then we would hear soft footsteps walking back and forth down our hallway, up and down, up and down. I used to hide under my bed covers. Of course, a few times we would get brave enough to turn on the light but it stopped and there was no one there. Sometimes (even in daylight) one of the door handles would turn by itself and then suddenly the door would swing open (no wind blowing, it happened on calm days). This was experienced by a few of us in our house. I didn't like that at all. No I didn't.

To this day, I don't have a rational explanation. Over the years I've thought about what it was - is it a deceased person's spirit caught in a house? Is it something demonic playing tricks on poor little wide-eyed and over-imaginative children? Is it a cross over of worlds? I still don't know. Maybe you have your theories?

Well, I'm one for the bottom line and so my question is this - what do we do about it?

Firstly, unlike your favourite TV shows and possibly medium friends tell you - it is not wise to try and communicate with spirit beings.

I know that a number of you will poo-poo this as conservative, blinkered, wowserish and even slightly boring -but from a Christian point of view - we are told only to communicate with God and not any other spirits. Way back when Moses was teaching his people how to live, he told them of God's command "...don't try to use any kind of magic or witchcraft to tell fortunes, or to cast spells or to talk with spirits of the dead. The LORD is disgusted with anyone who does these things..."(Deuteronomy 18:10-11) and this is a reoccuring theme in the Bible.

Secondly, if you find yourself in a situation where you are being invited to deal with the spiritual world and you don't know who it is that you are dealing with - why are you doing it? At least with God, you know that He cares for you and wants the best for you (see Romans 8, John 3 :16 and so on).

I'm no expert - so you need to make up your own mind on this - but other spirits may just be playing around with you at best or actually are looking for your downfall. Use your head. Just as you wouldn't trust people (with skin on) if they haven't proven themselves first - why would you put yourselves into the hands of spirits who you don't know? The Bible tells us that "for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14) and also "... for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6: 10 -12 ).


So, what DO you do?

As mysterious and exciting as it may be - for my opinion - stay away from the darkness and draw near to God's light instead.

There is one spirit that we are commanded to let into our lives: The Holy Spirit.
Our God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are always spoken of in terms of Light and Love. We know that God's Spirit loves us and cares for us and wants what is in our best interest. Here are just a few examples:

Titus 3:5 "...he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit..."

Ephesians 5:18-20 (from "The Message" version of The Bible) "Don't drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of him. Sing hymns instead of drinking songs! Sing songs from your heart to Christ. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ".

Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness..."

If you've been involved with the 'dark side' in anyway - bring in the light - always invite the Holy Spirit to fill you everyday and to guide and lead you in his love and truth.

Remember Jesus died on the cross for evey sin and foolish action - there is no sin too great for him to forgive. Come into the light and invite God's Holy Spirit into you. In the old days they used to call him The Holy Ghost. That's the only ghost I'm interested in today.

(For further reading, I found this short article interesting on the subject: http://www.spotlightministries.org.uk/hauntings.htm)

Who do you think you are ?

From my experience, I've found that the best Career you can get into - is one where you are using your natural God-given gifts and abilities in an area that makes you feel energised, rather than drained. Of course, study, work experience and life experience also play a major role -otherwise you wouldn't be studying.


I started my Career making shock-absorbers for cars on an assembly line for a year. The money was good but I have a very active mind that I have to keep busy - so you can guess how much I loved that job. My work in Universities and a Primary School are a lot more enjoyable and 'down my line' so to speak.

So what's my point? Well - some of you may wonder whether you are doing the right study for the right job and others of you have no doubt. Of course there are shades of gray.

So for you who are wondering and for you who are a little interested, I'm giving you links to free online 'personality tests' as a tool to define or refine "who you think you are" on the assumption that if you are a square block you will be best to fit in a square hole, not a circle.

Have fun with these. A couple ask for an email address; just use your UniSA address.

Remember that these tests will only output what you put in. I tried them and found them fairly accurate. So be honest - who you really are, not what you wish you were!


Personality Test at Team Technology


The results will come up in a myers-briggs format with an explaination. I'm an ENFJ (which I already knew through other tests I'd done years ago) and it came up accurate. Here are what the results look like:

HumanMetrics Jung Test

The next one I found fairly accurate is the HumanMetrics Jung test - the bonus is that after the test there is a link which gives you a few brief suggestions of suitable careers - I also found that fairly accurate considering the briefness of the test.
ColorQuiz.com

This one 'freaked me out' a little because it is based on choosing colours. Interestingly, I still found the results fairly accurate. So, if you like something different, give it a try:

Have you found this interesting or helpful?

This next round of tests are for Spiritual Gifts that is, God given gifts that work best in a Christian community for the building up of each other. I'll leave you the links for this round but if you are not sure where you stand with spiritual gifts - give these a try ( I personally haven't tried them - but I have done similar ones which were helpful):

Online tests:
http://www.kodachrome.org/spiritgift/

http://www.churchgrowth.org/analysis/index.html

Download Word Document:

www.agapeco-op.org/downloads/SpiritualGiftsAssessmentTool.doc

and finally the best test of all is what God thinks of you. Make sure you have a look at this site before you go:

http://www.ficm.org/whoiam.htm

cheers

Tim

Money and other stuff

$$$Money$$$

Well you must have landed from outer space if you haven't noticed that the last year has been a financial upheaval for many...and from today ahead there is more to come...

As students, I'd suspect that many of you are not eating caviar by a pool at the moment, so I thought I'd give you a couple of links about Money and what the Bible says.

You hear people say "money can't make you happy" which tells me that those people have never been in a situation where the bills and costs of life far outweigh the means to pay for them. So, I disagree on one count. A certain amount of money -will- make you happier - if you are doing it tough. You need a consistant source of income that meets the basics, so that you can get on with your other life callings and purposes.

However, money is only a tool for trading and nothing more. Forget about status and the dog eat dog side of business. So you can buy new toys? Good for you.

There is even a 'prosperity' side of Christianity that talks up getting rich through the Bible - well, someone forgot to tell Jesus that - he lived on the basics only.

So, perspective with money is very important. And getting the Bible's view on it can be quite freeing from the worlds merry-go-round with money. So, have a look at these links and think and pray about what it might mean for your own life. And if you are struggling financially don't forget to ask God for what you need, it may arrive in a way that money can't buy, so be open to His way of doing things. It might involve money it might not -that's up to God:

An article called "Making Finacnical Decisions" from an interesting site called Crown Ministries

A few articles on Money and the Bible:

• Money and the Bible


• Money


• Bible Verses About Money (scroll down to dodge the ads first)

And this video from Dr Charles Stanley "The proper place money has in a Christian's life" - he is American, he looks like a 1980's preacher, but if you can get past that; what he has to say is very good:

Keep God in the loop when you are dealing with money - He owns everything anyway, so talk with him about it.

- Tim O

Easter

Happy Easter!

Bet you are all looking to a bit of a break - and eating easter eggs and buns (unless you are made of steel), catching up with friends and family maybe? Maybe not?

If you don't have anywhere to go - or you would like to attend a church service over easter - have a look at thses two churches in your area: Magill Lutheran and Mawson Lakes Lutheran.

I personally know both the pastors at Magill Lutheran And Mawson Lakes Lutheran - and they are both good blokes. Magill is slightly more 'conservative' and Mawson Lakes is slightly more 'progressive' but they are both good.

There are also plenty of other Christian churches in both those areas - which I encourage you to check out - but I personally don't know the pastors, or their reputations; so let me know if you go to a good one and I'll promote it.

Not intending going to church this year? Well, at least read this site which is put out by the Autralian Government but I consider to be very good in my humble opinion:

Easter in Australia

and if you are a person who likes to know 'word meanings' look here

Many people regard Christmas as the high point for Christians but I don't think it was even celebrated by the very early Christians - but Easter always has been. Jesus Christ's death and rising from the dead means two things to us today: our sins, mistakes and stupidity is completely forgiven by God because Jesus died in our place...and Jesus rising from the dead means that one day we will too. We believe that in faith and gives us a great reason to celebrate. Easter is what the whole thing is about.

I hope you have a happy Easter!

Bible study resources

Bible Stuff and Studies on the 'net

When a group of church people turn up at your place for the Bible discussion that you said you would lead - but forgot to mark on your calendar - quickly run to your private computer and print out one of these ...

BibleOrg: http://bible.org/

Charles Stanley: http://ww2.intouch.org/site/c.dhKHIXPKIuE/b.2284589/k.9186/Life_Principles.htm

Various studies: http://www.ivmdl.org/biblestudies.cfm

God’s Word for you: http://www.godswordforyou.com/bible-studies/

Basic Bible studies http://bibleabc.net/

Bible study Lessons http://www.biblestudylessons.com/ little conservative but can be tailored worst thing about the site is the bright green background

LCA homepage http://www.lca.org.au/ - they have devotions and readings too

Social Justice

Community Social Justice Bible Studies http://www.cscoweb.org/bible.html

Childrens Bible stuff

http://gardenofpraise.com/bibleles.htm

http://www.ebibleteacher.com/children/

------------

Free Bible stuff for computer geeks and other interested people:
http://bibledatabase.org/html_bible_files.html download a webpage bible to read through your browser

Free Desktop Bible http://www.crosswire.org/sword/index.jsp and other bits and pieces – tools http://www.crosswire.org/index.jsp

Free Bible-explorer: http://www.bible-explorer.com/

Bible stuff for people who have English as a second language: http://www.easyenglish.info/

Bible Ocean: http://bibleocean.com/

Free Bible
This site has a free Bible to cram into your computer with heaps of translations and tools - quite impressive. I use this on my work computer: E-SWORD

Bible online look up
An online Bible to search for verses: BibleGateway

I hope this is helpful for some of you, please let me know if you have other sites to share

LSF Commencement Camp

The "Lutheran Students and Friends" (ie you don't have to be Lutheran) commencement camp is on 20 -22 March 2009 at Aldinga Beach. The theme of the camp is "The Butterfly Effect".
They say "Can one more minute in the shower cause a drought, or one smile affect a life? Learn how the butterfly effect works in our lives"

The guest speaker is Dr Garry Dombrosky from Canada.

For more info on costs and rego form - have a look at the LSF Website

Magill Lutheran Church

For those who go to Magill Campus and you would like to check out a church very near the campus - you may want to have a look at this one:

Pilgrim Lutheran Church Magill

Our purpose is to listen, share, encourage, support, care and reach out to our extended family.

Our mission is to be a growing congregation, interacting and sharing Gods love to all.

Pastor Peter Faggotter

Office: 19 Edward St, Magill 5072 (Tues & Thurs 9:00am-12:00pm)
Ph: 8364 3957
Fax: 8364 5824
Mob: 0435 158 681
E Mail: peter.faggotter@lca.org.au

They are a more traditional church, however, I've always found the people welcoming.
Give Pastor Peter a call if you want to know more.

Pilgrim Website

Mawson Lakes U week day

Howdy Ho

Joined into the travelling roadshow today and set up my table about 10:30 and it was go from there. It was good to meet such a cross section of students and staff. Stephen Trautwein, Fran and Grace helped me out at the table and kept me company so that I didn't have to sit at the table like a solitary fish. The Unilife organisers were great and I appreciate their welcome and assistance.

Personally, I enjoyed meeting the visitors to my table and people on the other tables as well, swapping emails and getting to know each other a bit better.

I had one of "those" awkward moments (later) when I bumped into a gentleman at the bus stop after the event, who had earlier been slightly 'taking the mickey' out of Christianity at my table. We acknowledged each others presence with a "oh, yes, you still exist in the outside world too" nod :)

To those who dropped by and said hello and are now looking here -thanks and hello to you!

u week

Unfortunately I wasn't able to make Magill campus today, you may have seen Mike P standing in for me.

See you at Mawson Lakes for U Week

Smile

Welcome to any "Smile" people who log on here. It was
good to see your faces tonight at ALC.

My contact details are down on the bottom right of this page. I check my email every few days. Call my mobile if it's more important.

All the best for your studies and your 'student life' this year 2009.

Take care

- Tim O

LSF Archies church service

"Archies" Lutheran Students and Friends church service is at Immanuel Lutheran Church: 139 Archer Street North Adelaide. It's on first Sunday of every month at 7pm. "Pinkies" cafe from 6pm if you like gold coin donation food.

Thanks LSF people for re-installing me last night :)

Mawson Lakes Community Church

This morning (Sunday) I gave a brief talk to the good people at Mawson Lakes Community Church about my role at UniSA Mawson Lakes Campus. They were very welcoming. If any of you are looking for a church - this is one to look out for. Have a look at their website for more information. They meet in Endeavour College 10am every Sunday. Not far to walk from the campus!

Preliminary Stuff

Welcome

Tonight I updated my staff profile on the UniSA page here:

Tim's Staff Page

If any of you are new to University, please don't go at it alone - it's not a race like a triathlon to be the first over the line - you are better off hanging around others, asking questions and taking it day by day, finding out where things and the best way to get done what needs doing.

Get to know the UniSA site, particularly the new student bits and pieces. It may seem overwhelming at first but you'll gradually get used to it. Heaps of people have gone through uni and made it out the other end.

There are student groups groups that I will tell you about. The main one I'm connected to is LSF = Lutheran Students and Friends. They are on all uni campuses and meet regularly at different places for fun, spirituality and encouragement.
There will be a commencement camp in March which I hope to get you more info on soon.
cheers
Tim

ps I don't know how this "comment" thing works yet - so if you want to contact me try my email on my profile :)

Hello World - welcome to the chaplain blog. When I've got something to say - you'll be hearing about it...