New gambling chief ‘too liberal’
THE Evangelical Alliance has issued a statement saying they are “alarmed” that the new head of the Gambling Commission has a “liberal attitude to the industry”. In a recent interview Mr Peter Dean, who is in charge of regulating gambling in the public interest after a relaxation of the laws, suggested the Gambling Commission will be a laissez faire regulator which believes regional casinos with million-pound slot machines are “not such a very big deal”.
Gareth Wallace, Parliamentary Officer at the Evangelical Alliance, said, “Over a year ago we warned Tessa Jowell that the Gambling Act risked opening a ‘Pandora’s Box’. She assured us at the time of the Government’s commitment to ensuring that the Bill does not cause an increase in problem gambling and we were dismissed as alarmist. Recent developments confirm our concerns.”
The Alliance has called on the Gambling Commission and the Government to clarify exactly what Mr Dean’s proposed ‘gambling prevalence study’ involves, and how it relates to the Government’s promised ‘rigorous independent research’ against robust benchmarks to monitor the incidence of problem gambling. In particular the Alliance is keen to discover who will do the research, will it be independent and fair and will every casino be thoroughly and comparatively researched?”
The EA has recently published a briefing paper for churches concerned by plans to build a new casino in there are which can be downloaded from the Alliance website at www.eauk.org/currentpoliticalissues
Illustrating the Gospel: manga style
TWO CMS mission partners based in Japan are helping to use the culture’s fascination with ‘manga’ comics to teach a new generation the Bible’s view of love, sex and marriage.
The distinctive manga style is a now worldwide phenomenon, made popular by hit comics and TV shows such as Pokemon. Grahame and Cathy Smith are working with the Christian student ministry group Kirisutosha Gakusei Kai (KGK) that came up with the Manga strategy.
The group has published a book called ISHU to ISHA (the Japanese transliteration of the Hebrew for Man and Woman), illustrated with manga-style drawings to explain everything students want to know about sex, but are afraid to ask.
“The book is a best seller, partly for its frankness in dealing with the issues,” said Grahame. “The Manga section illustrates typical scenarios confronting students. There is also a section on Biblical teaching, and an essay by a doctor on some of the physical aspects of
sexuality.”
Building on the success of the book, KGK is organising a conference on the themes of love, sex, and marriage at which Grahame, a health professional, will be present.
“I will be attending with our local staff team, mainly as a resource person,” he said. “We hope the conference will help students think through sexual issues before they are faced with situations that are very difficult to resolve pastorally.”
“Learning positive ways for males and females to relate, encouraging male leadership and avoiding sexual temptation are three areas that need to be raised.”
“They’re not often talked about in churches,” he added. “And there are many students who are hurting from difficult family situations.”
This story first appeared on www.sydneyangelicans.net in partnership with CMS NSW
Selwyn Hughes: 1928-2006
WRITER and pastor Selwyn Hughes died on 9 January, ending a ministry spanning more than four decades.
He was also well known as the founder of Crusade for World Revival (CWR) that produces a number of Christian resources, including Bible study notes Every Day with Jesus.
Born on 27 April 1928, Selwyn was inspired by his family’s faith. The Welsh Revival of 1904 had influenced many of his relatives and when he turned 16, Hughes became a Christian himself.
In 1965 he initiated a series of short daily Bible-reading guides, written on blank postcards, for friends and church members. Demand rapidly exceeded supply and soon the guides became a bi-monthly publication. Nearly a million people in 130 countries around the world now read every Day with Jesus (EDWJ) daily.
According to CWR, Hughes personally wrote every issue of EDWJ only occasionally assisted by other writers. He continued to write prolifically for more than 40 years, during which time he coped with the 1986 death of his wife, the premature loss of their two sons in more recent years, and his own serious illness.
In June 2005, he received an honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Brunel University for “outstanding service to Christian education.”