Print Post Approved PP100003514 VOL 47 NO 8
NATIONAL MAGAZINE OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. [ 1 Peter 4:10 ] Vol 47 No8 P285
SEPTEMBER 2013
Front cover: Jess Evans, Kilburn Chicks. Photo: Chris Button
EDITOR/ADVERTISING phone 0427 827 441 email rosie.schefe@lca.org.au
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www.thelutheran.com.au We Love The Lutheran!
WOW, DAD! IT IS A BUMPER EDITION!
As the magazine of the Lutheran Church of Australia (incorporating the Lutheran Church of New Zealand), The Lutheran informs the members of the LCA about the church’s teaching, life, mission and people, helping them to grow in faith and commitment to Jesus Christ. The Lutheran also provides a forum for a range of opinions, which do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editor or the policies of the Lutheran Church of Australia. The Lutheran is a member of the Australasian Religious Press Association and as such subscribes to its journalistic and editorial codes of conduct.
Two-year-old Dustan Morris from St John’s, Unley SA, can’t believe his eyes when he sees just how big the May Synod edition of The Lutheran really is. It should keep him reading and looking at the pictures for a while yet. Photo: Adam Morris Send us a photograph featuring a recent copy of The Lutheran and you might see it here on page 2.
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CONTACTS Acting Editor Rosie Schefe 197 Archer St, North Adelaide SA 5006 phone 0427 827 441 email rosie.schefe@lca.org.au Executive Editor Linda Macqueen 3 Orvieto St, Bridgewater SA 5155 phone 08 8339 5178 email linda.macqueen@lca.org.au
People like you are salt in your world [ Matt 5:13 ]
National Magazine Committee Greg Hassold, Sarah Hoff-Zweck, Pastor Richard Schwedes, Heidi Smith Design and layout Comissa Fischer Printer Openbook Howden
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Holy Cross, Murray Bridge SA Retired Enjoys golf, tennis and reading Fav text: Romans 5:1
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FEATURES 05 When God joins the team 09 One body: many colours
By the time you read this, dog-fighting season should just about be over and a result known. It’s been a tough call. We thought we knew what the contest was long before it started. In one corner the Red Kelpie, getting on with business, doing whatever it took to keep her sheep in line. In the other corner the Jack Russell, jumping up and down, barking and barking and barking, in the belief that noise and fury would win the day. There too was the Weimaraner (mostly on the sidelines), every so often coming to centre stage, cocking her head sideways at both combatants and going ‘Huh?’. But suddenly the Golden Labrador leapt into the ring, obliterating the Kelpie—all smiley open-mouthed and tail wagging, ‘Pick me, pick me!’ (By then more than just the Weimaraner were saying ‘Huh?’)
22 Where charity begins 24 2000 bikkies
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COLUMNS 04 Heartland 08 Rhythms of Grace 11 Reel Life 12 Little Church
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13 Inside Story 17 Letters
We love to think that politics is a dirty business; pouring scorn on our politicians is a true Aussie sport. The way our politicians are portrayed in ten-second caricatures (oops, I mean sound bytes) doesn’t do justice to the vast majority of them, who are saints and sinners like you and I. They are trying to do a very complex job with not enough time to do it and not nearly enough recognition given for their own God-given talents and personal sacrifices.
18 Stepping Stones
God uses them too for his purposes, whether they or we know it. During this election campaign how many people have been imprisoned or tortured for speaking out against our government? How many have been murdered at political rallies? How many didn’t vote because they weren’t able to travel to polling booths, or were intimidated by thugs into staying home? How many people got to a polling booth only to find their vote had been stolen?
28 World in Brief
Here in Australia, the hardest part of voting is dodging those energetic people handing out how-to-vote cards. We should treasure that fact much more than we do. Whether it’s dog-fighting season or not, I love to hear political leaders prayed for by name during the Prayer of the Church. It doesn’t matter what my personal opinion is of them or their policies, for me this is a reminder that God has placed them into that position and that he works through them. That is especially important when I can’t see him working through them. Good government is a gift from God. Treasure it and thank him for it and pray for all those we elect to deliver it. (This is an unpaid, non-party political Chatline written by me. I apologise unreservedly to all owners of Red Kelpies, Jack Russells, Weimaraners and Golden Labradors. I know your doggies would never behave as badly as politicians.)
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20 Notices/Directory 21 Bookmarks 26 Heart and Home
30 Coffee Break
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Australia and New Zealand are both young nations. We have different histories but our colonial memories are never far away. My grandfather was born in the colony of Victoria and could remember the customs post at the New South Wales–Victorian border. In New South Wales a current political corruption case is reminiscent of the 18th century Rum Corps. ‘God Save the Queen’ was eased out as Australia’s national anthem only in the 1970s, and in New Zealand it’s still legal. As recently as the early 1980s Australians could appeal to the UK Privy Council. In New Zealand this ended only in 2003. Opinion is divided in both our countries over whether a republic is the way forward, and the Union Jack still fills a corner of each of our flags. We are still discovering who we are, where we are and why we are here. Are we European outposts
in alien lands, like Abraham in the Old Testament? What about the disadvantage of indigenous peoples long overlooked, marginalised, and downtrodden by colonial powers? What does it mean to find our place in Asia and the Pacific? Are we to be outposts of empire long gone, or can we forge lasting identities out of our mostly immigrant nations? We are on a search for meaning, identity and purpose. It makes us nervous. Our unidentified sense of loss can create hostility, resentment and even anger. In the church we feel it keenly, as our once apparently ‘Christian’ nations appear to let standards slip. Personally, I feel much of that is a myth, and my feeling is backed up by evidence now coming out that abuse in various forms was widespread in the past, including within the ministry of the church. All, it seems, was not as it looked. So what are our national core values and how are we as Australian and New Zealand churches identified with them? In other words, where is our heart, as nations and as Christians? What do we truly believe? What sort of church and society do we want to be part of? These are important questions that also underlie our internal church debates. Anxiety about where we are headed influences
many arguments, even debates about faith and Scripture. We unconsciously bring our anxieties and presuppositions with us. Untangling them—even if we can find them—is hard work.
where is our heart, as nations and as Christians? What do we truly believe? In all this I take comfort in knowing that Jesus lived in a pluralistic, complex and non-Christian world. His home place, Galilee, was a melting pot of races, religions and politics. He lived and worked there for his whole life, and he loved those people and gave himself to them, totally. The church’s privileged place in society is not a given, and dare not be our security. Following Jesus requires only faith and trust, impossible for us but possible for God. Our search for identity and meaning finds its destination in him. He gives us the confidence to move forward, loving the world and those in it, just as he taught and showed us, no matter what the cost.
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Photo: Peter Schlenk
There’s something more than Aussie Rules happening at Kilburn Football Club.
When God joins the team by Chris Button
What could one particular group of African, Indigenous Australian and Caucasian teenage girls from Kilburn have in common? An extreme level of passion and enthusiasm for the game of Australian Rules Football. These girls make up the culturally diverse Kilburn Chicks, the under-16 Aussie Rules girls team participating in Adelaide’s North-Eastern Metro Junior Football Association, coached by a footy-mad and dedicated Lutheran, Mal Thiel. Not only is the team diverse in ethnicity, it is diverse in spirituality as well. ‘Religiously, [in the team] there’s Muslims, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Catholics, those who believe in the Aboriginal Dreamtime Vol 47 No8 P289
and those who simply define themselves as Christians’, Mal said. ‘Then I’ve got those who have no concept of God.’ The football team is not just an outlet for the girls to play sport. The team also provides a supportive environment to care for those who may be experiencing difficult times in their lives. Establishment of the team was far from easy—it almost never happened, according to Mal, who had received coaching offers from the Modbury and Golden Grove girls’ football teams as well. ‘I didn’t want to go’, Mal said, regarding the initial club meeting at Kilburn, citing harsh experiences in the suburb growing up. ‘Kilburn Footy Club is rough—I grew up in the neighbouring suburb and hated the place.’
‘You’d ride your bike there as a kid and come home with a fat lip’, Mal recalled. ‘It was a God moment [going to the meeting]. I didn’t want to go, but I felt I was called to go.’ Overcoming his reluctance, Mal discovered that the Port Adelaide Football Club (PAFC) had approached the Kilburn Football Club. (PAFC is the club behind AFL team Port Power and the SANFL team Port Adelaide Magpies). Port Adelaide’s intention was to run a program aimed at integrating the thriving African community and the existing Anglo-Saxon community living in the Kilburn area, using football to achieve this. It was hoped this would help to eradicate some of the anti-social behaviour around the club. The Lutheran September 2013
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Photo: Chris Button
Photo: Peter Schlenk
Mal Thiel’s experience in coaching across cultural boundaries and his belief that God works to heal lives through sport has led him to coach the Kilburn Chicks. Realising that his previous experience in coaching multi-cultural Aussie Rules in Vanuatu made him a well-credentialed candidate for coach, Mal signed up for what would become an incredibly challenging and rewarding journey, guided by God.
I’ve seen how much he’s wanted to improve us and wanted to be there for us—not just as a coach, but as our friend. Initially, Power Community Limited (the community branch of PAFC) signed on to promote and support the African program for ten weeks. What was not anticipated by any of the involved parties was the overwhelming interest from female would-be players. In fact, the only boys who attended the program launch were brothers of the girls involved. With limited juniors in the Kilburn ranks as it was, and absolutely no junior girls team, this meant that 6
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after the ten weeks the girls had no pathway into competition football if they wanted to continue playing. This culminated in the formation of the Chicks, the Kilburn Under-16 girls’ team, which also included girls whose only previous opportunity to play footy was a kick at halftime during their brothers’ games. Power Community Limited decided to continue their support and funding for the Chicks. The variety of cultures and beliefs caused some early conflict among team members. There was animosity from girls who had been a part of Kilburn for years, who were not pleased their first ever team-mates were going to be Africans who had never played the game before. Mal recalls an altercation with one of the players at training one night. She verbally abused him and threatened to walk out on the club she had grown up with, because she took issue with what she saw as Mal’s lack of control over the African players—who were still learning. ‘We’re standing 30 metres inside the boundary, having a fair dinkum crack at each other’, Mal said. ‘The whole adult Kilburn community is listening in and watching—there was probably a sweep
running in the club wondering how long I would last.’ But they ended up resolving the conflict: upon reflection Mal admired the player’s (crassly expressed) tenacity and fight. She is Jess Evans (pictured on the front cover), captain of the Kilburn Chicks, who has made a remarkable turnaround since that session. ‘She’s a different person’, Mal said. ‘I reckon she’d even admit to that as well as a result of being a part of this footy program.’ ‘That’s my belief, that there’s something in this game’, Mal added, referring to his notion that Aussie Rules is a ‘God-given sport’ which has the power to make transformation in people’s lives. Jess herself acknowledges the pair’s rough start, but is very quick to point out that their differences are a distant memory. ‘To be honest, at first I didn’t like him (Mal)’, Jess admitted. ‘But I’ve seen how much he’s wanted to improve us and wanted to be there for us—not just as a coach, but as our friend. ‘He’s tried so hard to put in the effort and time to make us better, stronger, faster and a team.’ Vol 47 No8 P290
Photo: Chris Button
Members of the Watoto Children’s Choir meet the Kilburn Chicks, other members of Kilburn Football Club and Port Power representatives during their Adelaide visit. Mal has noticed changes and transformation occurring throughout the entire Kilburn Football Club. Many changes revolve around attitudes towards different cultures among the members, especially the embracing of the African community, who were initially greeted with apprehension and disdain.
It was a God moment … I didn’t want to go, but I felt I was called to go. Mal sees God’s grace as central to these transformations. Although he is careful not to preach to the team, by displaying God’s love and compassion, he is seeing some incredibly special things happen. One of the girls asked for the Lord’s Prayer to be spoken before the team ran onto the field in their last game before finals (which the girls are now deep into). Mal let her lead the prayer and many of the team members joined in. ‘I’m always in awe when people can publicly confess God’, Mal said. ‘That’s Vol 47 No8 P291
what they were doing when they said the Lord’s Prayer.’ The most drastic transformation within the Kilburn Football Club came from the unlikeliest of sources: the Watoto children’s choir from Uganda. Watoto were performing in Adelaide and spreading the word of God through the stories of their orphan members. Mal saw this as an opportunity to bring the African and Kilburn community together, so he contacted the choir to see if they were available. As it turned out, they had one free night in Adelaide, which coincided with meal night at Kilburn after Thursday’s training session. Mal jumped at the opportunity. Kilburn, of all places, was going to witness God’s grace from the mouths of orphaned African children. The night was a phenomenal success. Watoto received an incredibly warm reception from the Kilburn faithful, including Port Power players Alipate Carlile and Jake Neade, who attended. Even the toughest of the Kilburn community joined in and danced with the choir. Many people felt the presence of God that night. Mal recalls one man who bought a Watoto CD without hesitation
and proceeded to pump the African sounds out of his home stereo from three in the morning until six o’clock—attracting the attention of his African neighbours. In the aftermath of Watoto, many Kilburn senior officials fully support the notion of going to Uganda and Sudan to help out wherever they can—an idea Mal can’t help getting excited about. ‘It’s fantastic to hear that these people, many of whom wanted nothing to do with the African community, have been touched by God’, Mal said. ‘It’s a fair bit different to the typical boozy end-ofseason footy trip, isn’t it.’ At the end of the day, it is easy to dismiss Australian Rules Football as just a game, but when God is involved, its positive influence on others becomes more powerful. Chris Button is studying Communication and Media Management at University of South Australia and is boarding at Australian Lutheran College. His home congregation is The Salvation Army in Mount Gambier, South Australia, and he is a former student of St Martin’s Lutheran College, Mount Gambier. The Lutheran September 2013
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Serving the church and our world of
grace
In the ebb and flow of liturgy, God is at work, whether we hear him or not.
Being a ‘public servant’ is not the most glamorous job in the world, but it is a very important and necessary part of our society’s functioning. Without a public service, many things we take for granted—from receiving medical refunds to expecting a fair wage—simply would not happen. When we worship also we are engaged in an act of public service. The original meaning of the word ‘liturgy’ (from the Greek leitourgia) is ‘a public service’. Liturgy was any work undertaken by concerned citizens on behalf of and for the wellbeing of their community. For example, if a wealthy benefactor funded the building of a public road or a bridge, this was their leitourgia, their ‘liturgy’. The one place where the church engages in public service is in its ‘prayer of the church’. This is where we put into practice Paul’s admonition in 1 Timothy 2:1,2: ‘I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness’.
by Linards Jansons 8
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This public service focuses on two main things. The first is God’s church. After giving thanks for earthly and spiritual blessings, we pray for all the people of God, the whole Christian church, and especially for its servants and leaders. But this is
not a self-centred act! Our prayer is that the church will be enabled to be salt and light in the world, bringing to this earth the gospel of God’s forgiveness, healing and peace. The second focus is on the world itself. Here we exercise our role as the ‘priesthood of believers’ by bringing the world and its many needs to God. What the world’s systems and powers cannot do for it, we will gladly do for it—not from a judgemental or superior point of view, but by identifying with its needs and problems. After all, we too are part of that world. By our prayer, we stand in solidarity with the entire human race, regardless of politics, religion or culture. This is our public service for the world. But just as in our personal lives prayer can become inwardly focused, so also that can happen in our congregational life. So while it’s true that nothing is too small for prayer, the special task of the church’s prayer is to look beyond its own concerns and boundaries. There are other times and places to pray for birthdays, meetings and picnics! But here is a unique opportunity to serve the world God loves, enters and suffers for. And we too, having prayed for the world, will re-enter that world to love and serve it in the same spirit that we prayed for it. Rev Linards Jansons teaches Liturgy and Worship at Australian Lutheran College. Vol 47 No8 P292
Not just money, but an outpouring of love and support—our African communities are encouraged by the church’s response to the African Ministry Appeal.
Photo: courtesy Pamela Dalgliesh
One body: many colours by Rosie Schefe Above: Kids Camp is one place where young Victorian Africans can experience the Australian environment and culture. LCA Mission International director Rev Neville Otto says he has plenty of reasons to smile; not least because he gets to see real evidence of the Lutheran Church working as one body—every day. ‘Sometimes for us Lutherans there are issues that might threaten to separate us; but despite that, what I see is people partnering together to help spread the gospel’, he says. Earlier this year LCA Mission International launched the African Ministry Appeal, aiming to raise $150,000 by the end of June. LLL would match every donation to that level dollar for dollar to create a special $300,000 fund in support of this rapidly growing and changing need. And the church has responded. At the end of July, donations stood at $136,847.92, including $22,936 from the synod offering. Donations are still coming in, Rev Otto said. ‘People from New Zealand and the Northern Territory and Western Australia are partnering in this area where we have growing needs’, Rev Otto said. ‘It’s a joy, but we don’t have all the answers. The generosity of the people of the church is allowing us to give some of the answers. Vol 47 No8 P293
‘The funds raised through this appeal will serve African ministry in the LCA into the future as interest accrues, but it is still a limited amount.’ One of the first places to benefit from the African Ministry fund will be St Pauls Shepparton, in Victoria. Although St Pauls has put together a significant amount of money through donations and grants to build a large enough worship centre for its bulging congregation, the building project still requires topping up from the new fund to meet the cost. The new St Pauls worship complex will have an adjacent cultural centre, the St Pauls African House, to serve not just Lutheran Africans and Australians, but the broader community too (in partnership with the Victorian Office of Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship). ‘This is exciting. We have people all over Australia and New Zealand who are willing to partner with St Pauls and bring the gospel alive for the Shepparton community’, Rev Otto said. ‘We feel that we have been embraced by the whole of the LCA, who are getting behind us and supporting us in this sometimes challenging and difficult ministry’, St Pauls’ pastor Rev Matt Anker said.
‘After almost five years of planning we had received a great deal of direct and generous support from LCA members, but we were still short. This enables us to go forward with confidence. ‘While the money is visible, we know that it is backed up by ongoing prayer support, which is even more valuable and cannot be measured’, he said. The Goulburn Murray Lutheran Parish is currently finalising specifications for the new St Pauls and the African House, planning to put it to tender at the end of September and begin construction in November. With construction expected to take ten months, the congregation is hopeful of moving in by Christmas 2014. ‘We will be without a place of worship before then, as the building we are currently renting has been sold’, Rev Anker said. ‘We are looking forward to putting walls up and having our own church home again. Then we can focus on ministry and mission opportunities rather than fundraising. ‘With more than 2000 Africans now in Shepparton—and we have contacts with many of them—we are keen to engage and serve the wider community. The Lutheran September 2013
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Photo: courtesy Pamela Dalgliesh Photo: Peter Schumacher
Photo: courtesy Matt Anker
Above: Members of St Pauls Shepparton enjoy hosting a recent visit by members of St David’s Warracknabeal as both congregations gather around the baptismal font. Top right: James Ruei presents a Reformation Sunday ‘encouragement’ in the Nuer language of South Sudan to the congregation at St John’s Geelong, Victoria. Bottom right: Wilhelmina Dutschke (centre) of St David’s, Warracknabeal Victoria, is transported by the music of the St Pauls African Choir during a parish visit to Shepparton. ‘Their faith is so focused and it comes across in their music without a doubt!’, she says.
‘The bonus of building and owning the St Pauls African House is that we can also utilise this facility for our own needs, even though it will run on a completely separate basis from the congregation’, he said. But St Pauls is far from being the only congregation to which African migrants are turning for support. The Victoria/Tasmania District’s Community Development Facilitator,
While the money is visible, we know that it is backed up by ongoing prayer support, which is even more valuable and cannot be measured Pamela Dalgliesh, says that this is presenting some major challenges and opportunities in other places too. The South-eastern Melbourne region mission has been set up in support of Frankston and Dandenong 10
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congregations, who have limited human and financial resources of their own, while other major opportunities were opening up at Traralgon in Gippsland, for St John’s in Geelong, and at Footscray. To a lesser extent (where contact may be limited to just one or two African families), congregations at Bendigo, Ballarat, Box Hill, Werribee, Ringwood and at Launceston in Tasmania are taking on the challenge. Often these smaller groupings are easiest to work with, Pamela said, as it becomes easier for individuals to voluntarily support the integration of families into church and community. ‘The biggest joy of this ministry is seeing their passion for their faith and seeing them grow within Australian life, walking with them in their journey and feeling their contribution to our own lives’, she said. But a challenge it remains. There are at least eleven distinct language or culture groups resident in Victorian congregations, some of which are still in direct conflict back in Africa. Within groups there may be further longstanding tribal tensions and obligations operating, which are not immediately apparent to well-meaning outsiders.
Paid lay workers are part of the answer. Again this is where the perpetual nature of the African Ministry Fund may be able to provide some help through interest dividends. But Pamela warns that a culture of dependency could too easily grow out of providing help from any ‘seemingly bottomless pit’. ‘Every situation is different and changing. What is most needed is to grow a relationship of trust and to work towards solving practical issues from there. It is good learning for us’, she said. ‘The recognition by the wider Lutheran Church of what’s going on here in Shepparton and in African ministry elsewhere has been a great encouragement to our African members and to all involved in this ministry’, Rev Anker said.
If your congregation has a local mission initiative that would benefit from a little extra support, please contact your District Mission Director or your Bishop as a first step.
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Counting the costs The biopic Jobs begins with the side of the tech genius most people might be familiar with—his lanky figure, clothed in trademark jeans and black turtleneck, standing in front of a packed auditorium and casually announcing, ‘… just one more thing’. It’s the 2000 launch of the iPod and this ‘one more thing’ will be the first of a string of devices that change the way people interact with technology. Computers will become personal, supportive servants—everything it seems that Steve Jobs was not. The focus shifts to 1974, where we’re introduced to Ashton Kutcher as Jobs the college dropout … then Jobs the disgruntled Atari employee … finally Jobs the entrepreneur, building a company in his parents’ garage. But all the time he’s identified as something more than just a technologist. Steve Jobs is the herald of a new age. He wants to do more than create something new or even profitable. Whatever it is, he tells his co-workers, it must be extraordinary: ‘In your life you only get to do so many things, and right now we’re doing this. So let’s do it great.’ The rest of the film examines this tension between Jobs’ vision and what he’s prepared to sacrifice to bring it to fruition. It’s not the most flattering picture and I’m certain this film will upset those who’ve helped put Apple’s co-founder on his pedestal. His determination is so absolute that he is prepared to turn his back on the girl he gets pregnant, to deceive and manipulate co-workers, to abandon long-standing friendships, to bully employees and ruin companies.
JOBS Rating: M Distributor: Pinnacle Release date: 29 August 2013
Jobs shows us a man clearly trying to give the world something beautiful, but who doesn’t see the people who use his products, or those building them, as that valuable. There is a great deal of guff written about greatness and how it demands wholehearted commitment from those who aspire to it. For such, Steve Jobs is something of a prophet. According to Kutcher’s character, the secret to succeeding is realising that you have every right to be like this: ‘Everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you, and once you realise that you can change anything.’ But how deep, how long-lasting is that transformation? Jobs seems to have remained deeply unsatisfied and driven to the end. The early stages of this film show Jobs motivated by a guru who tells him there is only this life to live. But Jesus taught his disciples that this world was only the foyer to real life. Future greatness will rise from how we treat people in the present: ‘Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’ Mark 10:43–45 (NIV). On the last day there will be no separating our highpoints from the people God puts in our path. Jobs reminds us that it’s possible to be a commercial success and a spiritual failure. Vol 47 No8 P295
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