Week beginning Sunday 24 November 2019 Sunday 1 December 2019 - Brian Robertson

Week beginning …
Sunday 24 November 2019
      9.00am and 11.00am
      Brian Robertson
        Matthew 11:2-11
  “Making the Right Response”

Sunday 1 December 2019
      9.00am and 11.00am
        Andrew Botha
Luke 1:26-38 and Matthew 1:18-24
  “Angels Everywhere That First
           Christmas”

WELCOME
                                               to the
                           CORAL COAST CHRISTIAN CHURCH
    If you are visiting with us today, we welcome you and invite you to sign our Visitor's Book.
           The restrooms are on the southern side of the hall, with entry off the veranda.
             There are baby-change facilities in the Toilet for People with Disabilities.
Thank You
We thank those people who turned up yesterday to assist at the working bee at the home of
Marg, a friend of Kelly Giles. Your efforts were really appreciated!
Bibles for the Persecuted Campaign
  Each year, our church partners with Bible League Australia to raise
funds for the purchase and delivery of Bibles to persecuted Christians
around the world. This year, once again, we have supplied each family or individual in our
church with a cardboard moneybox and a 21-day prayer guide to enable you to pray each day
for persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as making a $2.00 per day contribution to
the Bible League. $2.00 per day is only a small amount, but your $42.00 makes a difference
in a persecuted Christian’s life by facilitating the provision of a Bible in his / her own language.
  Today is Day 15 of the 21-day campaign, so if you are only collecting your prayer guide and
cardboard moneybox today, please begin praying with the listing for Day 15 in the prayer
guide (although it would be good to catch up on the $2.00 per day for the last two weeks).
  The 21-day campaign will run until Saturday 30 November. The moneyboxes will need to be
returned on Sunday 1 December.
Epic Youth Today
Our church’s Epic Youth will be meeting this evening for games, dinner, and a visit from some
members of the YWAM team. The discussion will be about “Love”. EY usually meets from
5.00pm to 7.00pm on Sunday evenings and is open to all secondary-school-age young
people, and is generally held at the Church Centre. The cost is $4.00 per person per night to
cover the meal each week. Speak with Lisa Hardie on 0414 983353 for further details.
Sixteen Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence
 Since 1991, the United Nations has promoted the “Sixteen Days of Activism against Gender-
Based Violence” campaign, seeking to galvanise action to end violence against girls and
women around the world. The first day of the campaign is declared the International Day for
the Elimination of Violence against Women. It is estimated that one in three women around
the world will experience physical or sexual violence by a partner or sexual violence by a non-
partner during their lifetimes, and the campaign seeks to change that situation.
 This year, the campaign begins on Monday 25 November (which is the International Day for
the Elimination of Violence against Women). In our district, Christ Church Anglican Church
(cnr Maryborough and Woongarra Streets, Bundaberg) will hold a Prayer and Candle-Lighting
Service, beginning at 9.30am, to launch “Sixteen Days of Activism against Gender-Based
Violence”. Heather Boon from EDON Place Women’s Shelter will be the guest speaker.
 By learning about the issue and praying for (and with) those affected by gender-based
violence, it will help to keep domestic and family violence against women and children at the
top of the public agenda in Australia and around the globe.
Bundaberg Branch Meeting of Cherish Life Queensland
The Bundaberg Branch of Cherish Life Queensland will hold its bi-monthly meeting at 1.30pm
on Monday 25 November at the Novakoski Centre (70 Woongarra Street, Bundaberg). CLQ is
non-denominational and non-party-political, committed to defending the sanctity of human life
from conception to natural death. Pastor Brian is a member and serves as the Branch
president. If you are interested in being involved in this work in support of pro-life values in our
community, go along to the Branch meeting.

Final Night of Refresh for 2019
This Wednesday (27 November) will be the final Refresh service for the year.
Social Games Night
On Friday 29 November, there will be another social Games Night in the Church Hall. There
will be a shared dinner beginning at 6.00pm (please bring food to be shared), and the cards
and board games will begin at 7.00pm. All welcome!
Dinner and Information Night about Gender-Based Violence
Beginning at 6.00pm on Friday 29 November, there will be a Dinner and Information Night
about the “Sixteen Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence” campaign. This will be
at the Good Shepherd Anglican Church Hall (cnr George and Takalvan Streets, Bundaberg),
and the speaker will be Lyn Booth from EDON Place Women’s Shelter. The cost of the Dinner
will be $15.00 per person (payable at the door), but bookings for catering purposes need to be
made to Charlene on 41513128 or email to admin@bundaberganglican.org.
Working Bee
The next church working bee will be held on Saturday 30 November, beginning at 7.00am and
continuing on throughout the morning. The ‘big job’ on our task list is tidying up around the
outside of the Men’s Shed to ensure that the area is clean and safe for the Carols night. We
will also undertake some general gardening and cleaning jobs. Plan to come along and ‘lend
a hand’!
Andrew Botha to Speak Next Sunday
Andrew Botha, the Associate Pastor at Bundaberg Baptist Church, will be our guest speaker in
both services next Sunday.
Religious Instruction Presenters End-of-Year Breakup
A morning tea will be held on Tuesday 3 December, beginning at 9.30am at the Bundaberg
Bible Chapel (400 Bargara Road, Bundaberg) as an end-of-year breakup for the local State
School religious instruction presenters. This will be an occasion to celebrate the ministry of RI
in the local primary schools and to thank all those people who have faithfully taught RI
throughout the year. If you have taught RI during the year, you are welcome to go along.
                                    The Weekly Diary
                     All functions are at the Church Centre unless noted.
     Sunday 9.00am – 10.30am Worship Service (contemporary style)
             9.35am – 10.30am Sunday School and Kids Church
            11.00am – 12.00noon Worship Service (quieter style)
             5.00pm – 7.00pm Epic Youth                               Lisa Hardie 0414 983353
    Tuesday 8.00am – 12.00noon Men’s Shed                      Graham Watkins 0403 045518
            9.00am – 11.30am Bubs’n’Kids                        Lynne Watkins 0425 788289
            7.00pm – 8.30pm – Women’s Life Group [fortnightly]      Lisa Hardie 0414 983353
Wednesday 8.00am – 12.00noon Men’s Shed                   Graham Watkins            0403 045518
          6.00pm – 7.00pm Refresh
          7.00pm – 9.00pm Prayer Group – 32 Rifle Range Road, Bargara               41590077
          7:00pm – 9.00pm Worship Team Rehearsal
   Thursday    8.00am – 12.00noon Men’s Shed                     Graham Watkins     0403 045518
               9.00am – 11.30am Bubs’n’Kids                        Lynne Watkins    0425 788289
               3.00pm – 5.00pm Bible Study Life Group                 Barry Start   0419 266206
               3.33pm – 5.00pm Club 3:33 After-School Kids’ Club      Lisa Hardie   0414 983353
      Friday 9.30am – 11.30am Women’s Bible Study Life Group      Karen McBride     0487 241531
   Saturday 8.00am – 11.00am Men’s Shed                          Graham Watkins 0403 045518
            3.00pm – 5.00pm Seeds of Faith Dance Rehearsal         Serena Sibley 0409 641531

Congratulations on Being Baptised
As a church, we congratulate Tiffany Bretherick on her baptism yesterday afternoon. We
rejoice with her on her decision to publicly proclaim her faith in Jesus Christ and pray that the
Lord will guide and encourage Tiffany as she continues to walk in His ways.
Application for Church Membership
Pastor Brian and the elders recommend the acceptance of the application for membership in
our church by Sharmaine Bretherick (upon profession). Any objections to this application need
to be submitted in writing to the pastoral team before Sunday 8 December, and if there are no
objections, members will be asked to vote on that day.
Donate Cans of Soft Drink for Carols Night
To help cover the costs of the Carols, our church will be selling barista-made coffees and cans
of soft drink on the night of the Carols. If you would be able to donate a carton of soft drinks
(either 10 cans or 24 cans), then this would help us maximise profits on the night. Please
deliver the cartons of drinks to the Church Office (to ensure they don’t get mixed up with the
Epic Youth soft drinks in the Church kitchen).
Pens Marked with the Church Name and Address
If you would like to purchase a pen marked with the church name and street address, take one
from the box on the table in the foyer and put $2.00 in the plastic container inside the box.
The sale of these pens raises funds for our church’s ‘Building Fund’.
Volunteer ‘Actors’ Needed for Carols Night
We are in need of some volunteers to play the nativity character roles on the Carols night
(Saturday 14 December). We already have a Mary (Emma Paul), one wise man (Ken Meyer),
and some children to play shepherd boys. We still need a Joseph, two more wise men, and a
couple of shepherds. If you are not already involved in some other aspect of the Carols night,
and if you would be willing to volunteer in one of these ‘acting’ roles, please speak with Pastor
Brian on 0407 547036.
Bethlehem Live
  Bethlehem Live is a re-creation of the New Testament town of Bethlehem to tell the nativity
story in a fresh and exciting way. The fourth Bethlehem Live is scheduled to run each night
from Tuesday 17 to Friday 20 December 2018, and will be held in the grounds of Bundaberg
Central State School. The school gates will open at 5.30pm each night, and the gates of
‘Bethlehem’ will open at about 6.00pm and stay open until about 9.00pm. Visitors will be able
to wander through ‘Bethlehem’ and experience something of what the town of Jesus’ birth
would have been like more than 2,000 years ago, see a performance of the nativity, and walk
out to an area of food vendors and a stage with live Christian entertainment.
  Again this year, our church will have a wine-merchants’ ‘shop’ in Bethlehem Live – “Yishaq
Yayin” (meaning Isaac’s Wine) – and we will need to have this ‘shop’ staffed on the four nights
by people in costume and in character as wine merchants. Our Seeds of Faith Dance Group
will also be performing Jewish-style dances each night in ‘Bethlehem’, and Pastor Brian will
again be Prophet Moshe involved in narrating the nativity story five times each night. There is
also a need for ‘citizens’ who will populate the town of ‘Bethlehem’ and operate biblical-time
shops and crafts. You are asked to volunteer your time and ‘acting talent’ on one or more of
the nights.
  For the first time, Bethlehem Live will also include a one-hour Christmas Carols presentation
– at the stage near the food vendors (in the Twenty-First Century area) – on Thursday 19
December. The usual activities in Bethlehem will finish earlier that night. So, there is a need
for vocalists and musicians.
  Even if you cannot be actively involved in Bethlehem Live, plan to go along at least one of the
four nights to experience Bundaberg’s Christmas festival.

Monthly Financial Reports
Offerings during October
  During October, our church’s offering (including direct deposits) totalled $15,277.75 which
makes an average of $3,819.44 per week over the four Sundays. The total offering was
$1,488.15 less than the total in September, but the average weekly offering was $466.26 per
week more than the five-Sunday month of September.
  After the first four months of the 2019-2020 financial year, our offering income is $5,173.45
below the projected income for the 2019-2020 Church Budget.
  In October, there were no donations to our “Buying Bricks” appeal.
  Some 400 years before Jesus’ birth, God challenged the people of Israel to “bring the whole
tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this … if I
will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”
(Malachi 3:10) We are usually commanded to not put God to the test, but in this matter – our
financial prosperity – He invites us to test Him. And then Paul encouraged the Corinthians
believers to give to God’s work by telling them of the expansive generosity of the Christians in
Macedonia who were experiencing “a great ordeal of affliction” and yet still “overflowed in the
wealth of their liberality” (2 Corinthians 8:2). Give generously, and trust Him!
  Thank you to all those who have been giving faithfully to the Lord’s work in our church. If you
are regularly tithing your income to God’s work through our church, thank you! If you have not
yet learned the discipline of giving 10% of your income to God’s work, you are urged to trust
God in this response to Him. The regular week-by-week giving by the people of our church is
our church’s only source of income (apart from bank interest).
  Please remember too that if you are going away for a period of time, it is appropriate to put
your offering for those weeks that you will be away in before you go (or when you return). The
church still has to meet its financial commitments when you are away.
Church Account Details
 If you would like to have your weekly or fortnightly offering directly debited from your bank
account into the church account, you will need the following information –
   BSB Number          704 913
   Account Number 400040010
   Account Name        Coral Coast Christian Church
 Please reference you donations as “Offering” or “Tithe”.
Balance of the Church Loan
On 31 October, our church loan with BapLink stood at $364,876.24.
Balance of Kingdom Offset Accounts ‘Tagged’ to Our Church
  As of 31 October, a total of $106,673.71 was lodged in Kingdom Offset Accounts with
BapLink and ‘tagged’ to our church. This money belongs to people associated with our
church, and because these people are forgoing interest on their funds, the church is paying
less interest on $106,673.71 of our loan from BapLink.
  It would be good to increase the total further, so if you have some ‘spare’ funds on which you
would be willing to forgo interest, move those funds into a Kingdom Offset Account ‘tagged’ to
our church. Contact BapLink at PO Box 6166, Mitchelton, Qld, 4053, or telephone 1800
650062, or email baplink@baplink.org.au to inquire about opening a Kingdom Offset Account.
Balance of The Sowers Fund
As of 31 October, a total of $5,908.38 had been donated to The Sowers Fund – ‘seed funding’
for the expansion of our church’s pastoral team in 2021.
Separate Account for The Sowers Fund
There is a separate account with BapLink for contributions to The Sowers Fund. The account
details are – BSB Number 704 913, Account Number 100001092, and the Account Name is
“Coral Coast Christian Church The Sowers Fund”.

Mission News
CBM Australia’s Meaningful Gifts Christmas 2019
 Christian Blind Mission Australia has released its Meaningful Gifts
Christmas 2019 catalogue with projects such as –
 supplying intraocular lenses for use in cataract surgeries ($5.00
    per lens)
 providing packs of pencils for children with disabilities ($5.00 per pack)
 supplying pairs of crutches for children ($19.00 per set)
 funding twelve-minute cataract operations to restore sight for adults ($33.00 per operation)
 supplying glasses for children ($35.00 for a set of ten glasses)
 providing packs of seeds for families living with disabilities so they can start growing
    nutritious food to eat and to sell ($48.00 per seed pack)
 supplying goats for people with disabilities ($55.00 per goat)
 supplying sight-for-life ‘bundles’ (one adult cataract operation + ten sets of glasses for
    children) ($60.00 per bundle)
 providing flocks of chickens for five families with disabilities ($65.00 per flock)
 providing plaster casts to enable broken bones to heal properly ($65.00 per cast)
 funding improvements to school classroom to make the buildings more accessible for
    children with disabilities ($75.00 each)
 supplying courses of medication that will prevent children in Africa contracting river
    blindness ($80.00 per course)
 providing prosthetic limbs for children with disabilities ($80.00 each)
 providing clean water for families ($95.00 per household)
 providing wooden walking frames to enable children to move around after surgery ($100.00
    per walking frame)
 supplying emergency aid kits for families with disabled children so that the families can
    cope better in the midst of natural disasters ($100.00 per kit for families of four)
 funding the provision of sight-saving medications to fight trachoma ($115.00 per course of
    medication)
 providing of wheelchairs for persons with disabilities ($150.00 each)
 supplying plaster casts + wooden-frame walker ‘bundles’ ($150.00 per bundle)
 funding cataract operations to restore sight for children ($230.00 per operation)
 providing cows to families with disabilities ($520.00 per cow)
 providing goat + chickens + cow livestock ‘bundles’ ($575.00 each bundle)
 funding small business loans for people with disabilities ($850.00 per loan)
 funding surgery to repair the legs or feet of children with disabilities ($1,250.00 per
    operation)
 training doctors in developing countries to specialise in eye operations ($5,000.00 per
    doctor)
 Write to PO Box 348, Box Hill, Vic, 3128, or call 1800 678069, or check the website at
www.cbm.org.au/gifts. All gifts to CBM Australia are income-tax deductible, and CBM is able
to supply Christmas cards that match each gift.
Mission Aviation Fellowship Needs a Bus
 MAF Australia is seeking to raise funds to replace the MAF-
owned bus at Mount Hagen in Papua New Guinea. The existing
bus has travelled over 325,000 kilometres in the last twelve
years on the ‘main roads’ of highland PNG – the kind of roads
that, in Australia, would be considered as suitable for 4WD vehicles only. The bus now
requires extensive maintenance just to keep it operational, and it no longer complies with more
modern safety regulations.

So, MAF Australia is seeking to raise $70,000.00 to purchase a new bus to serve as staff
transport and to take the children of MAF staff to and from school in Mount Hagen. This is a
fairly urgent need.
  If you would like to make an income tax deductible donation to the purchase of a new bus at
Mount Hagen, post your gift to MAF Australia, PO Box 7187, Baulkham Hills, NSW, 2153, or
telephone 1800 650169, or go to the website www.maf.org.au/bus.
“Gifts of Eternal Impact” through the Bible League Australia
Bible League Australia has released its “Gifts of Eternal Impact”
Catalogue for 2019.
 supplying Bibles in relevant languages for new believers in
    Africa ($10.00 each)
 supplying Bibles and Bible study notes for prisoners in Australian prisons ($15.00 each set)
 funding children’s Bible-based literacy program in Indonesia ($15.00 per set of resources)
 supplying Bibles in Arabic for Christians (especially those from Muslim backgrounds) in
    countries in the Middle East ($20.00 each)
 supplying illustrated children’s Bibles to 7,260 children in Nicaragua ($25.00 per Bible)
 providing sets of Project Philip evangelistic resources for home-based Bible study groups in
    Thailand ($240.00 per set)
 supplying Bibles for new believers in new churches throughout Africa ($300.00 per set of
    Bibles)
 training church planters in rural areas of Zimbabwe ($460.00 per trainee)
 If you would like to give to one of these projects, post your gift to Bible League Australia, PO
Box 714, Penrith, NSW, 2751, or telephone 1800 800937, or go to the website www.bl.org.au.
Gifts to BLA are not income-tax deductible.
FEBC Australia’s “Christmas Catalogue 2019”
 FEBC Australia has released its new “Christmas Catalogue 2019”,
which includes –
 providing wind-up or solar-powered radios (fixed-tuned to FEBC
   frequencies) to people in remote or isolated villages ($30.00 per radio)
 funding radio programs in India designed to encourage and educate women and their
   families about the dangers of human trafficking ($46.00 per program)*
 funding programs which are broadcast via shortwave radio in ethnic languages into hard-to-
   reach communities and into areas where Christians are persecuted ($62.00 per thirty-
   minute program)
 sending children displaced by war in the Ukraine to summer camps where they will enjoy a
   week of faith-building activities ($74.00 per child)*
 providing relief and support for refugees and displaced people, both through practical
   assistance and through radio programs that inform and connect people to support agencies
   ($98.00 per program)*
 funding online and face-to-face Bible correspondence courses in China, Japan, and
   Thailand to grow believers in their faith and to equip them to reach out to others ($144.00
   per person per course)
 assisting FEBC Australia to construct a new radio station in Chad (in the capital city of
   N’djamena) to broadcast daily in heart languages (such as French, Arabic, Zaghawa,
   Baguirmi, Kotoko, and Fulani) across North Africa (FEBC Australia’s contribution will be
   $15,000.00 in total)*
 To support FEBC, write to PO Box 183, Caringbah, NSW, 1495, call 1300 720017, or go to
their website at www.febc.org.au. The gifts marked with an * are income-tax deductible.
FEBC Australia is able to supply a colourful fridge magnet to match each gift so that you can
advise your loved ones that a gift has been purchased on their behalf through FEBC.

The Other Side of the Climate Debate
“Hockey 1, Hockey 2: Good Science Contradicts IPCC's Two-
Degree Alarmism”
  This article was written by Peter Westmore, the national president
of the National Civic Council. It was published by News Weekly on
20 October 2018.
  The latest report of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC), demanding an end to the use of coal for
electricity production to stop runaway global warming, is
contradicted by reliable scientific studies on the world’s climate.
  The IPCC report argues that the world’s temperature has risen by 1 Peter Westmore
degree above pre-industrial levels, will rise to 1.5 degrees in twenty to thirty years, and by 2
degrees by the end of the century.
  The claim that the world’s temperature has risen by one degree since the period 1850-1900
presupposes that the world’s temperature at that time was known. In fact, it was not. There
were few reliable weather stations in Africa and Asia at the time, and temperature records for
Latin America and the vast area of Russia were patchy, to say the least.
  Additionally, there were no weather stations in the sea, which covers over 75% of the world’s
surface, nor in the Arctic or the Antarctic. Only in North America and Western Europe were
reliable daily records kept; and even there, the quality varied from country to country.
  So, there are no global temperature records from the 19th Century, and to claim that there are
is scientific nonsense at best, and fraud at worst.
Reliable Data
  Even since that time, it has been difficult to get reliable temperature data, not only because
the number of temperature stations rose rapidly in the 20th Century, but also because the
location of these centres changed in particular countries.
  For example, since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, the number of weather stations
in rural Russia has declined dramatically, making it difficult to compare the communist period
with the post-communist era.
  An additional problem with the “official” American and UK data is that both data sets have
been ‘homogenised’, ostensibly to take account of different means of measuring average
temperature and of changing locations. However, critics have shown that past temperatures
have been systematically reduced in order to justify claims that temperatures are rising at an
accelerating rate.
  Fortunately, there is a way of resolving this contested issue, and that is by using the global
temperature data that has been recorded by satellites for the past forty years. Leading
American meteorologist, Dr Roy Spencer from the University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH),
has published this data online every month at www.drroyspencer.com. This data is based on
observations of the whole globe, including the polar ice caps and the oceans.
  It shows that global temperatures today are just 0.13 degrees higher than the thirty-year
average from 1981-2010. The chart on his website shows that global temperatures have risen
at the time of El Niño events such as those of 1998, 2009 and 2016, and gradually declined
after each of these. According to the satellite data, the global temperature is currently falling.
This is the opposite of what the IPCC chart shows, which is an inexorable upward surge in
global temperatures.
  Dr Spencer’s chart parallels data independently collected about the extent of Arctic and
Antarctic sea ice, which is also available online. The US National Snow and Ice Data Centre
(NSIDC) records and posts information on sea ice on its website. It shows that in both the
Northern and Southern hemispheres, the current area of sea ice is a little lower than the 1981-
2010 average, but is higher than that recorded at the same time of year in the recent past.
  Because ice melts at zero degrees, this data is a sensitive indicator of changing

temperatures.
 The IPCC report’s claim that temperatures are inexorably rising is contradicted by the
satellite data. But what about its claims of an increasing number of extreme weather events?
 Statistics on the number of extreme weather events are hard to gather, because they depend
on definitions. For example, is a Category 1 hurricane “extreme”, or only a Category 3, 4 or 5?
However, we do have some indicators. One of these comes from government agencies that
record such events in countries with well-established meteorological data, such as the United
States.
 The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) maintains statistics on
hurricanes, for example. It has been recording information on hurricanes which goes back to
1854, but its information on wind speed only goes back to 1980. However, the NOAA has
concluded that the 1990s were the most active decade for hurricanes hitting the United States,
with a total of thirty-one hurricanes affecting the nation. By contrast, the least active decades
were the 1860s and 1970s, each with a total of only fifteen hurricanes affecting the US.
 A total of thirty-three years passed between 1854 and 2016 without an Atlantic hurricane
affecting the country, the most recent of which was the 2015 season. Seven Atlantic
hurricanes affected the country in the 1886 season, which was the year with the most US
hurricanes.
 There is no trend towards increasing numbers of hurricanes in the US.
 Rainfall data for the UK, which goes back over 100 years, also shows that there is no trend
towards increasingly severe rain events in the UK over the period.
 Claims of increasingly extreme weather events cannot be sustained, although more
extensive media reporting means that today we know more about extreme weather than ever
before.
“Don’t Break our Food Chain”
This brief comment was written by Viv Forbes, the founder of the
Carbon Sense Coalition and the Saltbush Club. The comment was
published online on 10 November 2015.
 Napoleon once said, “Only a foolish horse fights with his nose bag”.
 But today we have many foolish people fighting their nose bag. They
are weakening Earth’s food chain with a war on carbon.
 Carbon is the building block of life. “Organic” means “containing
carbon” and every bit of plant and animal life is built around the carbon
atom.                                                                      Viv Forbes
 Carbon enters Earth’s cycle of life via plants, which extract it from the
rare and precious carbon dioxide plant-food in the atmosphere. Living things use this carbon,
plus water, oxygen, and minerals, to create the proteins, fats, carbohydrates and skeletons
they need.
 Plant growth responds quickly to the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. However,
today’s levels are far below those that sustained the abundant forests, grasslands, wetlands,
herbivores and carnivores of past eras.
 The biggest long-term threat to abundant life on Earth is natural carbon sequestration,
especially during the recurring cold dry eras when cooling oceans absorb huge amounts of
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and growing ice sheets capture most of its water.
 Nature is very efficient at carbon capture and burial. Enormous quantities of carbon and
hydrogen have been removed from past atmospheres and buried under ancient sediments in
extensive beds of coal, oil shale, limestone, marble, dolomite and magnesite, and in diffuse
deposits of hydrocarbon liquids and gases. The result is that the carbon dioxide level in
today’s atmosphere is not far above the minimum needed to sustain plant life (which is why
nurserymen pump more carbon dioxide into their green-houses).
 However, in a rare piece of environmental serendipity, man’s extraction and use of coal, oil,

gas, limestone, and dolomite for power generation, transport, steel, cement, and fertilisers is
recycling a tiny part of this storehouse of buried carbon. For example, for every tonne of coal
burned, 2.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide plant food plus one tonne of fresh water is added to the
atmosphere; and producing one tonne of cement releases about one tonne of carbon dioxide.
Every tonne of wheat grown needs a tonne of carbon dioxide to get its carbon, and other foods
have similar needs. Carbon industries thus help to feed all of Earth’s plants and animals.
 Industrial use of carbon-bearing mineral resources also recycles valuable trace elements like
nitrogen, sulphur, and phosphorus which are present in variable amounts in coal, oil, and
carbonates. Any of these by-product gases can be toxic if concentrated in confined spaces,
and all of man’s activities can pollute crowded cities, but in the open atmosphere, plant life
often suffers because of a deficiency of these key nutrients.
 Those waging a war on hydro-carbons and carbon dioxide are enemies of the biosphere.
Their foolish policies like carbon taxes, emissions trading, and “Carbon Capture and Burial”
are denying essential nutrients to the food chain. The failed global warming forecasts show
that these policies will have no effect on climate, but will reduce the atmospheric supply of
food nutrients and fresh water for all life on Earth.
 Life is a carbon cycle – don’t break the food chain.
                               YOUR CHURCH FAMILY BUSINESSES
   Alison’s Celtic Dance          GerryB Photography                          ACTIVE
         Academy                    Photography for all occasions         PHYSIOTHERAPY
   Bundaberg Christian College    (proms, engagements, weddings, naming
                                      ceremonies, family photography)
                                                                            SOLUTIONS
         Assembly Hall,                                                     222 Walker Street
  234 Ashfield Road, Bundaberg
                                       Gerry Brookes                           Bundaberg
                                                                               41510106
       Alison Petersen
            0400 216648                    0419 516766                     Trevor & Andrea
     apcelticdance@gmail.com        georgebrookes@bigpond.com                  McLaren

                                   World News – Nigeria
Priest Escaped Unhurt from Attempted Murder
 A priest in Enugu State of Nigeria escaped a murder attempt at the hands of gunmen who
shot up his car, just weeks after the killing of another priest led to a massive demonstration for
security in the state.
 Rev Chimezie Ani told Morning Star News that he was driving near the Roman Catholic
Caritas University in Amorji-Nike in Enugu State on Thursday 15 August 2019 when he was
attacked by men he said were radical Fulani herdsmen. The perpetrators were described as
“unidentified gunmen” in media reports. “I was driving when suddenly the herdsmen, who
were armed, shot at my vehicle, aiming at the windshield,” Rev Ani told the media. He said he
put the car in reverse as fast as he could upon noticing the gunmen in hopes of driving away
unscathed. “The bullets from them broke my windshield and riddled the car all over,” Rev Ani
described. “I miraculously escaped unhurt. They retreated into the bushes after realising I
escaped from them.”
 Rev Ani said he was on his way to Ugwuomu. He explained that there had been herdsmen
attacking Christian communities along the stretch of highway for “some time now.” He
stressed that he was “sure” that the men he saw “were herdsmen.” The attack against Rev
Ani followed the death of the Rev Paul Offu, another priest in the Enugu Diocese, who was
killed in early August by gunmen who were also suspected of being Fulani radicals.
 Fulani herdsmen are from nomadic herding communities that have historically had land
conflicts with Christian farming communities in southern Nigeria. But in recent years, Christian
advocates say the severity and number of deadly attacks launched by radical Fulani against
farming communities have increased. Such attacks have seen dozens of homes and buildings
burned, leaving thousands of people dead and Christian farming communities homeless.

Across Nigeria, many people have been attacked while traveling on the dangerous roadways
in recent years. As the National Catholic Register noted, criminals have targeted business-
men and individuals from wealthy homes for ransom and are many times killed or assaulted
when ransoms are not paid. Additionally, religious leaders have been kidnapped to demand
ransoms from congregations. In Kaduna State, Rev John Bako Shekwolo was kidnapped just
weeks after the killing of Ugwu in Enugu State. In August, Pastor Jeremiah Omolara of Living
Faith Church was killed in Kaduna while he was travelling on the Abuja-Kaduna Highway. The
pastor’s wife was abducted while their son was able to escape during the attack.
  Joseph Hayab, the chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of the Christian Association of
Nigeria (CAN), said at the time that Christians “are just not safe anywhere”. “We are asking
the same question we have been asking – ‘Where are our security agencies?’”
  Nigeria ranks as the 12th worst nation in the world when it comes to Christian persecution,
according to Open Doors USA’s 2019 World Watch List. In July 2019, the international human
rights advocacy group Jubilee Campaign sent a report to the International Criminal Court
arguing that the standard for genocide pertaining to the treatment of Christians in Nigeria has
been met.
Fulani Herdsmen Killed Baptist Pastor
  On Wednesday 11 September, Muslim Fulani herdsmen shot and killed Baptist pastor
Alhamdu Mangadus of Nasara Baptist Church in Asso as he worked on his farm.
  Hassan, a native of the slain pastor’s village, visited the area after the killing and was told
that the assailants were Muslim Fulani herdsmen. “Pray along with the church and family as
they mourn the barbaric act by Fulani terrorists,” Hassan told Morning Star News. Rev Joseph
Hayab of CAN also said Fulani herdsmen were behind the killing. “He was shot dead on his
farm, and the attackers injured another fellow from Tanda,” he said. “The corpse of the pastor
was taken away by the Fulani herdsmen but was eventually recovered in the bush after a
frantic search by our brethren in the area. We are going back to the era of senseless killings.
When will people be safe to go out and seek food to feed their families?” he asked.
Muslim Herdsmen Abduct and Then Murder Pastor’s Wife
 Muslim Fulani herdsmen kidnapped and killed a pastor’s wife in Nigeria’s Kaduna State, after
breaking her legs so she could not escape.
 On 14 September 2019, several Christians were abducted while they were sleeping from
their homes in the church compound of the Evangelical Church Winning All congregation in
Bagoma. Amongst the abductees were Rev Ishaku Katung and his wife, Esther Ishaku
Katung. The pastor and his wife were able to escape, but unfortunately Esther was recaptured
by the herdsmen. “She attempted to escape with two others after they were kidnapped by the
herdsmen; this infuriated the herdsmen, leading them to kill her. They broke her legs in order
to prevent her from escaping and smashed her head too. This led to her death,” Rev Joseph
Hayab, chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN),
told the media. The kidnappers then dumped her corpse in the bush.
 After killing Esther, the herdsmen demanded a ransom of $690 (250,000 naira) from her
family. After receiving the payment, the abductors revealed they had already killed the
Christian woman.
 Thousands have been killed in the last few years as a result of Fulani attacks against
predominantly Christian farming communities in the Middle Belt and southern Nigeria. Many
Christian communities, including entire tribes, have been displaced from their homes due to
attacks. Since 2011, an estimated 11,000 people have been killed in conflicts involving Fulani
militia, according to Human Rights Watch. The death toll is said to be six times higher than
the murders committed by Boko Haram terrorists.
Christian Youth among Muslim Boys Rescued from Muslim ‘Torture Chamber’
 A young Christian convert was amongst around 300 severely abused boys and young men
released from captivity at an Islamic boarding school by police who raided the compound in

Kaduna State, northern Nigeria, on 27 September 2019. At least seventy-seven boys under
18-years-of-age, some reportedly as young as five, were led from the compound by police.
Visibly malnourished, many boys were manacled around the ankles or chained to car wheel
hubs. Others bore deep scars on their bodies from canings and beatings, and described a
“torture chamber” where boys were punished if they attempted to run away.
  Yusuf, a young Christian convert who was rescued, spoke of how he had been sent to the
centre two years ago because he had converted to Christianity. “The people that brought me
here told the people here that I became a Christian because I spent some years out of the
country studying. They said my lifestyle has changed. I’ve become a Christian. I’ve left the
Islamic way of life. That is all I understand about why I am here,” he said.
  The school is one of those known in the region as “Almajiri”. The stated aim of the school is
to teach the Qur’an and “reform” the boys, many of whom are sent there by their Muslim
families for “correction”. Many of the boys and young men had their feet chained together or
to car wheel hubs when they were found. The owner and six teachers were arrested. They
admit to chaining boys who had “attempted to run away”, but deny charges of abuse. The
freed boys and young men are being housed in a camp at a stadium in Kaduna city while the
police attempt to reunite them with their families.
Abductions from a Christian School in Nigeria
  Muslim Fulani herdsmen kidnapped six teenage girls and two staff members at gunpoint from
a Christian-run high school in north-central Nigeria amid escalating violence in the region.
  Armed Fulani arrived at Engravers’ College in Kakau Daji village, in Chikun County Local
Government Area near Kaduna City on 2 October 2019. Many students and staff members
fled into the bushes, but eight people – Mr Joel Adamu (the vice-principal of academics), the
house mistress, and six female students – were taken away at gunpoint.
  Mr Shunom Giwa, Vice-Principal of Engravers’ College, said that five armed herdsmen
appeared at his house and ordered him to lie down. A few minutes later, another set of the
armed Fulani herdsmen appeared at his house with Mr Joel Adamu, the school’s vice-principal
of academics, and they ordered his colleague to lie on the floor beside him. “When I
discovered that their attention was on my colleague, I just ran into the bush, and on realising I
was escaping, they shot at me, but fortunately they didn’t get me,” Mr Giwa said. “They
searched for me without success, and when they couldn’t get me, they started looking for
where the students were. When we recovered from the shock of what was happening, we
started doing a headcount to know which students were missing,” Mr Giwa added.
  Commenting on the plight of the two captive staff members and six teenage girls, Mr Giwa
said, “We are trusting God for the protection of the captives and hoping they would be
released without being hurt.”
Good News – Abducted Schoolgirls Released
 Muslim Fulani herdsmen have released six girls and two staff members kidnapped from a
Christian-run high school in north-central Nigeria after torture and payment of a ransom.
 Nearly a month after abducting the girls and staff members at gunpoint from Engravers’
College near Kaduna City, their Muslim captors released them late last month, one of the girls’
parents told Morning Star News. “Several people prayed in churches and mosques,” Ohemu
Fredrick said. “Through their prayers, God brought us help. God used a former governor of
Kaduna State to assist us.” Mr Fredrick did not disclose the former governor’s name or the
ransom amount but revealed the former official offered the children and staff members free
medical treatment. According to another parent whose identity was withheld, the hostages
were tortured each time the kidnappers called the parents so they could hear their screams.
 The State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr Samuel Aruwan,
confirmed the news. “We are relieved that this criminal violation of the right to liberty is over
and that they are all back safely. The victims, most of whom are minors, and their families will
now be focusing on recovering from this undeserved trauma,” Mr Aruwan said.

Australian News
“Voters Derail PC Freight Train”
This article was written by Martyn Iles, the Managing Director of
Australian Christian Lobby, and published in The Australian on 29
May 2019 (a week-and-a-half after the Federal election).
  Israel Folau comprehensively upstaged the recent election
campaign. But both leaders fled from the issue of his sacking by
Rugby Australia over his social media posts, despite its obvious
importance to ordinary people.
  They kept the conventional political wisdom, which is to stick tightly
to the well-worn path of “it’s the economy, stupid” and to treat other
issues as dangerously off-message.
                                                                              Martyn Iles
  But the interest was so intense, and the events so current on
Election Day, that it would have affected the psychology of many voters.
  Voters don’t always know what “it” is, but they connect it to stories like Folau’s. It’s often
called political correctness. Others relate it to freedom of speech, cultural Marxism or the
Greens. Whatever it is, Scott Morrison’s “quiet Australians” hate it.
  These are the people who don’t care to know what a Ruddock Review is, nor do they
pontificate in the abstract world of political philosophy and democratic freedoms. The only
politician most of them can identify is the Prime Minister. But they sure know Folau. When
issues of political correctness touch something as dear to the Australian heart as their sport, it
suddenly becomes very relevant indeed.
  The outcry over Folau’s treatment was enormous. Everyone who wrote or spoke about him
was guaranteed an audience. The last time I saw something gain so much traction from the
world of political correctness was when that world touched something else Australians love –
their kids. When the so-called Safe Schools program brought it home to the family, people got
mad.
  Yet, true to form, politicians ignored it, fled from it, or became complicit in it.
  I have seen focus groups and polling done on this stuff, and it tears the conventional political
wisdom to shreds. People do care deeply about it and it makes them angry, every bit as angry
as a death tax or indeed any economic issue.
  It comes as no surprise to me, then, that voters who care about such matters swung to the
government in droves. The outer suburbs and smaller cities of middle Australia delivered big
swings, along with ethnic and faith communities. A coalition of groups campaigned in crucial
electorates such as Chisholm, Boothby and Bass with a steady flow of materials on religious
freedom and political correctness. It worked.
  Maybe it’s time for these Australians to know they are free to talk like a footballer and keep
their job. To quote their sacred texts without fear. To take their son’s dress off and tell his
primary school to please cut it out.
  Here is a chance for Morrison to tell the quiet Australians he is for them and, because he is
for them, he is giving them legislation that says “rack off” to the politically correct bullies.
  But first the government needs to stop fleeing from opportunities such as the Ruddock
Review into religious freedom; to stop treating them as controversies to be avoided but
opportunities to be seized.
  Some legislated freedoms in the realms of thought, conscience, and religion would have
been a welcome political counterbalance to the festival of anti-discrimination statutes. How
anti-discrimination – a single human right among many – came to be legislated in more than a
dozen acts, enforced by state-based commissions and tribunals, and rounded out with six of
the eight commonwealth human rights commissioners, is bewildering. Small wonder, then,
that we are drowning in activist-led litigation and bullying.
  Folau was merely the famous one who got noticed. There are dozens more who have been
in similar trouble for much less.

The law firm I helped establish has handled more than sixty cases where Australians have
lost their jobs, were stripped of their professional accreditations, were hauled up for hate
speech, booted out of university, denied the right to be foster parents, and generally bullied
every which way imaginable by activists wielding reams of legislation, backed by a
discrimination commissioner with an Orwellian mindset.
  And yes, like Folau, they have mostly been religious … because the religious are the low-
hanging fruit for these bullies. But mark my words, they won’t stop there.
  Meanwhile, the government is holding out a few shrivelled fig leaves to solve the problem –
running away, as usual. On offer is another anti-discrimination act (this time for religion) and a
review of exemptions to anti-discrimination laws to be done by the Australian Law Reform
Commission – no doubt destined to say much, do little, and ultimately gather dust in the
parliamentary library.
  Where is the real answer? And why are our politicians so afraid? Pass a restoration of
freedoms act (or whatever name gets a tick from the focus groups) that spells it out, warts and
all. An act that tells those who voted for the government that they are not aliens in a politically
correct country but that the politically correct are aliens in a free country. Free speech.
Freedom of association. Freedom of conscience. Freedom for parents. Write them down.
Legislate them and watch the quiet Australians rejoice.
  To the average voter, the Morrison government’s odour of political correctness seemed less
stench-like than Labor’s. But it can, and should, do better than fig leaves.
Two Books worth Buying
  “The Fountain of Public Prosperity: Evangelical Christians in
Australian History 1740–1914” is the winner of the 2019 Australian
Christian Book of the Year Award. Written co-jointly by Associate
Professor Stuart Piggin (the former Director of the Centre for the
History of Christian Thought and Experience at Macquarie
University, and Head of the Department of Christian Thought at the
Australian College of Theology) and Robert D Linder (Distinguished
Professor of History at Kansas State University and founder of the
Evangelical History Association of Australia), this excellent book
traces the influence of evangelical Christianity on the establishment
and early development of Australia.
  “Attending to the National Soul: Evangelical Christians in Australian
History 1914–2014” continues the story by telling the story of how
Australian evangelical Christians responded to the decline of the
British Empire and to the expanding international reach of their
religious mission and beliefs, of how these Christians reacted to the
challenges of secularism, and of how they have sought to ‘attend to
the national soul’, sensitising the national conscience and helping to
shape the national consciousness.
  “There has probably never been a better history of evangelical
traditions in a single country.” Mark Noll, Fellow of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences
  “Stuart Piggin and Robert D Linder discuss the impact of this
vibrant interdenominational movement on Australia with clarity,
authority and critical sympathy.” David Bebbington, University of
Stirling
  “A great achievement and one that will help over time to change
the way Australian history is written.” Wayne Hudson, Australian
National University
  Both books are available in hardback format from Koorong Books
for $49.99 each.

Service Attendants during November
This month, Ken and Robin Johns are our service attendants, responsible for arranging the
offering collectors for each Sunday.
Weekly Offering Envelopes
Our church supplies a box of weekly offering envelopes to each family in our church (unless
we are aware that you have arranged for direct deposits into the church’s account). The
boxes for 2019-2020 are available from the table in the foyer.
Special Offering Envelopes for the Building Program
Special offering envelopes – marked “Buying Bricks” – are available in a clear plastic rack on
the wall in the foyer. These envelopes are to allow you to make donations to our church’s
building program, over and above your regular giving to our church.
Church Morning Teas on Sundays
If you are willing to be a part of one of our five morning tea teams, please speak with Janine
Maggacis on 0417 160965 and she will add you to a team. The teams of people provide food
(including some gluten-free food items) and milk, put the cups, tea, coffee, milk, and sugar out
on the table, and stack and unload the dishwasher afterwards.
The Morning Tea Roster
 Sunday 24 November    Morning Tea Team 2 – Bluebirds
 Sunday 1 December     Morning Tea Team 3 – Flamingos
Birthdays This Week
Sunday 24 November – Ken Johns, Stan Williams
Thursday 28 November – Emma Paul
Friday 29 November – Trevor Duffin
Saturday 30 November – Carol May
Wisdom for Life
“God was not saying, ‘I’m giving you these commands, and by keeping them you may become
My people.’ He was saying, ‘I’m giving you these commands because you are My people.’
The law tells us how people who belong to God ought to live.”          Colin Smith
“God created the moral basis for the universe before He made the heavens and the earth. His
concept of right and wrong was not an afterthought that came along with the Ten
Commandments. No, it was an expression of God’s divine nature and was in force before the
beginning.”                                                              James C Dobson
“A time will come in human history when human beings will follow the Ten Commandments
and so on as regularly as they fall to the ground when they step off a roof. They will then be
more astonished that someone would lie or steal or covet than they now are when someone
will not. The law of God will then be written in their hearts as the prophets foretold. (Jeremiah
31:33, Hebrews 10:16) This is an essential part of the future triumph of Christ and the
deliverance of humankind in history and beyond.”                             Dallas Willard

Prayer Points
   Thank God that the two staff members and six teenage girls abducted from Engravers’ College
    near Kaduna in Nigeria were released by the Fulani. Despite being tortured whilst in captivity, the
    teenagers have been released with only minor injuries.
   Pray for the Lord’s comfort for the Christians in the central States of Nigeria who are repeatedly
    experiencing attacks from Muslim Fulani herdsmen. Pray for the authorities to genuinely uphold
    the rule of law, for the perpetrators of criminal activity to be brought to justice, and for the gospel
    message to reach the hearts of the Fulani people and set them free from the spiritual bondage of
    Islam.
   Keep praying for the situation in northern Syria, with Turkey invading to break the military power of
    the Kurdish forces. Turkey fears that a stable and well-armed Kurdish ‘state’ in north-eastern Syria
    will fuel the independence aspirations of its Kurdish minority in eastern Turkey. It now seems that
    the Kurds in northern Syria have invited Syrian Government troops – with Russian backing – to
    assist them against the Turkish military. Pray for this complex and messy situation to be resolved.
   Pray that the national election in the United Kingdom scheduled for 12 December will result in a
    stable government that will finally be able to implement the will of the majority of the British people
    to exit from the European Union.
   Continue to pray for the situation in Hong Kong where weeks of protests against the increasingly
    heavy-handed approach of the Chinese Government has infuriated the more democratically-
    minded Hong Kong residents. Pray that a peaceful resolution can be found that will allow for
    greater political freedoms and increased opportunities for religious freedom in Hong Kong.
   Keep praying that our Federal Government will be able to introduce legislation and pass it through
    the Parliament to implement its proposals to safeguard religious freedom in our country. Especially
    pray that protections for faith-based organisations (schools, charities, hospitals, aged care facilities
    etc.) will be legislated.
   Seek God’s gracious provision of drought-breaking rain across our nation. As a country, our
    people are continuing to apathetically ignore and deliberately reject God, and our political leaders
    are continuing to introduce laws that enhance a culture of death. We do not deserve God’s mercy,
    but ask Him anyway for the rains that will break the drought.
   Pray for those who have lost loved ones, or lost houses or other property in the ongoing bushfires
    in northern NSW and southern Queensland. Pray that their losses will prompt them to call out to
    God for His grace and strength in the midst of their sorrow. Pray too for God’s anointing on the
    work of Samaritan’s Purse as it sends out Christian volunteers to assist in recovery and support for
    the bushfire victims.
   Pray again that the ACT Government will reconsider its decision to remove faith-based chaplains
    from public schools in the ACT. Pray that there will be a continuing public outcry, and that there
    will come a time when the chaplaincy service will be restored.
   Thank God that the South Australian Legislative Assembly (the Lower House of State Parliament)
    voted to reject a Bill – originating with the Greens – to decriminalise prostitution. The Bill had
    passed its first reading and was widely expected to pass its second reading and then be open for
    more detailed scrutiny and amendments. Amazingly, the Bill was voted down – by a margin of 24
    to 19 – at its second reading. This was a divine moment!
   Pray about the Bargara Carols by Candlelight – to be held on Saturday 14 December – asking God
    for fine weather on the night, for sufficient sponsorship to cover all of our costs, for willing
    participants to present the program and staff the café, and for good numbers of people from our
    community to attend.
   Start to pray for the success of the 2019 Bethlehem Live from Tuesday 17 to Friday 20 December
    at Bundaberg Central State School. Pray for fine weather, for good numbers of people through the
    ‘gates’, and for a clear presentation of the true meaning of Christmas. Pray too that sufficient
    numbers of volunteers will be available to help with set-up and the actual program.
   Our church’s offering income is well below the amounts required for the 2019-2020 Church Budget.
    Be in prayer for God’s provision for our church.