MEN are using a new law to win back hundreds of thousands of dollars paid in child support for children they later discovered were not theirs.

New figures obtained by The Australian reveal that since January 2007, 48 men have won back a total of $434,378.64 paid through the Child Support Agency.

The men used DNA testing to prove they were not the biological fathers of children they had been supporting. One man got back more than $70,000 by proving children were not his.

…

Sole Parents Union president Kathleen Swinbourne said the new laws were hurting children at the centre of DNA disputes.

“What does this say to children about being wanted, being loved, being parented? What does this do to children whose fathers turn around and say, `I’m not your daddy anymore, I don’t want you’,” she said.

“The effect of this on children must be devastating. And that’s to say nothing about the financial circumstances mothers find themselves in in trying to continue to support their children while trying to pay back child support.”

My thoughts? Hebrews 13:4-6 is fitting:

Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

God will bring about justice

God will never fail like an earthy parent

Our love of money leads to insecurity

The love of God leads to security

I kissed a girl and I liked it
I kissed a girl just to try it
It felt so wrong, it felt so right
I kissed a girl and I liked it

Katy explains and wrestles with:
Her intentions
- I got so brave
- never the way I planned
- not what I’m used to
Her curiosity
- caught my attention
- my experimental game
- want to try you
Her desires
- hard to resist
- so kissable
- I liked it
Her conscience
- felt so wrong
- felt so right
- head gets so confused
Her culture
- hope my boyfriend don’t mind it
- don’t mean I’m in love

Katy concludes:
- no big deal
- it’s innocent

Katy banks on:
1 – Desires being right
2 – Conscience being wrong
3 – Culture being accepting

My question is:
How can this three fold test bring any real confidence in deciding morality?

Both disciples believe:
- God became a man
- He lived the life we should have lived
- He died the death we should have died

The variation is in the implied response of the disciple:

A disciple of Jesus:
- emphasises me following Jesus. This can lead to:
- I am saved by grace, and live by works.
i.e. Jesus saved me and has given me commands to follow in order to be pleasing to God.

Jesus’ disciple:
- emphasises Jesus owning me. This means that:
- I am saved by grace, and live by grace.
i.e. Jesus saved me and continues to save me as I strive to follow in His obedience.

Paul writes in Colossians:
Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him

To paraphrase:
Follow Jesus in the same way that you believed in Jesus

Living as a disciple of Jesus or living as Jesus’ disciple can mean the same thing, although the latter more clearly shines the beauty of the gospel.

In seeking to Biblically approach this subject one must ask:

How important is healing in the Bible?

Looking through the scriptures we see:
- God is able to heal
- God is willing to heal
- God calls us to pray for healing
- God can use us to heal

Interestingly though, the Bible hardly touches on:
- How to pray for healing
- How to heal
- How healing works

The Bible seems to be preoccupied with:
- Jesus
- Sin
- Grace
- Faith
- Redemption

This begs the next question:

What is the purpose of healing in the Bible?

If healing is one of many topics in the scriptures, then it’s purpose must point to something outside itself.
Therefore healing isn’t the purpose of healing.

Healing isn’t the instrument – the Spirit is
Healing isn’t the message – the Son is
Healing isn’t the goal – the Father is

Healing can be used by the Spirit
Healing can accompany a message about the Son
Healing can point us to the goal of the Father

The purpose of everything is the glory of God

Healing is but a means to an end

Christian
- Breaking God’s rules
- Falling short of God’s holiness
- To not love the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength, mind
- Being your own God
- Basing your identity on anything but God
- Turning a good thing into an ultimate thing

Secular
- Committing a crime
- Oppressing another person
- Anything that leaves a guilty conscience
- Upsetting the common good

Are there more?
Does any one define them all?

My life at the moment is consumed by these questions:
- How can I be used to reach the lost more effectively?
- What is Jesus’ desire for His Church?
- How do I unintentionally compromise the gospel?

Thanks for visiting! You can subscribe here

Joel

P.S. I have another blog that records some evangelistic opportunities during my travels.