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Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Guy Sebastian on Catholicism

so guy sebastian, winner of the first Australian Idol competition in 2003 and someone who "identifies himself simply as Christian"[1], has written and recorded a gospel song titled "Receive The Power", chosen to be the theme anthem for the World Youth Day 2008 congress - the Catholic Church's week of events for youth and with youth.

He is quoted as saying:
I am not Catholic as such but I guess the fundamentals are in place, which is Christ-based faith.[2]
i assume by this he's basically saying something like "I'm Christian. I'm not Catholic. But really they're quite similar aren't they?" now i'm not sure if he's being diplomatic or ignorant, nor indeed what type of "Christian" he really is, but if he means anything along the lines of protestant/reformed/evangelical christianity, then (despite the seemingly large area of similarities) there are some serious fundamental differences between the two. perhaps the biggest being that one believes in salvation by faith PLUS works[3], and the other in salvation by faith ALONE[4], a subtle but deadly[5] difference if you get it wrong.

on a sidenote, i'm also not sure where the gospel is in the song itself. can you pick it?

though granted it's the journalist who uses the label gospel, not someone else whom one might expect to have a better grasp of what the gospel really is... anyways, for another look at the lyrics and some "theological reflection on the song by WYD08 Coordinator Bishop Anthony Fisher", check out this blog entry (this link/referral does not constitute endorsement).


[1] Guy goes gospel: Anthem moves Vatican, by Jonathan Morgan, The Sunday Mail June 24 2007 p. 29
[2] ibid
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Church#Salvation
[4] http://www.carm.org/catholic/faithalone.htm
[5] http://www.carm.org/catholic/saved.htm

Monday, June 18, 2007

saving on CTP

i could have just saved over $15 on my CTP (compulsory third party) insurance renewal, if only i had bothered to check the CTP premium calculator at http://www.maic.qld.gov.au/ctp-premium/ctp-calculator/ctp-calculator.shtml before assuming my current insurer is already offering me a good deal, and proceeding to pay my rego/CTP bill.

wonder why there is a variation of around 5% in premiums between the various insurers, when CTP is a pretty stock standard thing (or so i thought). but i can't quite be bothered to look into any differences there might be in the actual policies... maybe i'll remember the lesson learnt when it comes to next year's renewal...

Friday, June 01, 2007

have psp, will travel

noodlez lent me his psp (playstation portable), the original intent of which was for me to be able to finish watching all the lost season 3 episodes so that he can discuss it with me when i get back from my overseas trip.

i have watched a few episodes on the psp - i never thought watching video on a small screen could be so nice (nice, if you had to watch anything on a small screen).

i have spent considerably more time playing lumines, the simple but addictive game he also passed me with the implicit challenge of wanting to know how i'd score. so far, i've knocked him down to #10 on the high score chart. i think i've been playing waaaaay too much, to the detriment of other things i really should have been doing with my time :|

anyhow, am about to head off to the airport, for my third trip to singapore in the past 6 months. meanwhile here are a few photo albums from my last trip, some of which i've only just recently uploaded:
and no prizes for guessing what i'll be doing while waiting at the airport ;)