ABOUT US

 

Sight Magazine is an editorially independent, Australian-based website covering local and global news and issues from a Christian perspective.


Our mission is simple - "to open the eyes" of people not only in Australia but around the globe to how Jesus Christ is actively moving among his church today and to encourage Christians from all denominations to share how God is moving in their midst.


DAVID ADAMS, editor

 

A freelance journalist, David has written for national news publications in both Australia and the United Kingdom. Married to Linda with two wonderful children - Kyle and Clare - David lives in Geelong, Victoria.


LLOYD HARKNESS, associate editor

 

Lloyd is a teacher and father of four.


JAMES CROOK, webmaster/columnist

 

James is a freelance web designer and developer who also teaches multimedia part-time at a local Tafe. He enjoys writing restaurant reviews, doing techie things with Sight and also contributing the occasional article. For more info see the website of his Geelong website-design business Chocolate Chip multimedia.


ANN WOJCZUK, graphic artist/blogger

 

Ann is your average human being, who loves Jesus, and is interested in everyone and just about everything. She is happily married with two kids and sometimes gets to do web art for Sight.

 

      ACTIVE CONTRIBUTORS/COLUMNISTS

KRIS BATHER

 

Kris lives in Perth and in a constant state of amazement. God and pop culture are two of his passions and he makes sure not to separate the two. He also loves coffee, chocloate, cheap XBOX 360 games and free
food. He has worked as a DJ on community radio, sold mobile phones when they were bricks and has generally made a fool of himself to make others laugh in his various short films. The former comics books editor at Infuze likes to think that he is the geekiest person in the room. Usually, he's right.

 

CHOE BRERETON

 

Choe is a biological scientist by trade who has worked in forensics and more recently with many of the top scientists in the field of HIV research. Her writing career sprouted wings after she kicked science to the curb in August 2006 and fast-tracked a diploma in creative writing. She has since written for a number of publications. Married and living in New South Wales, she hopes to soon embark on a masters degree in journalism or communications. For every good thing that she has, she gives all glory to God.

 

CHRISSI ELLANKOON

 

Chrissi has recently discovered the secret joy of writing. She is passionate about seeing people equipped in order achieve the potential that God has placed in them. She is also actively invovled in a young adult ministry focused on 26-35 year olds and is also enjoying a career in the financial industry.


MAL FLETCHER

 

Mal is a TV and radio broadcaster, social commentator and author whose books have been translated into five languages. He is also an internationally acclaimed speaker and lecturer who equips leaders and major organisations to deal with change in a proactive way. He appears regularly in various media and speaks to audiences around the world. Mal is the founder/director of Next Wave International, a Christian mission to Europe, based in London. His EDGES TV programmes are seen around the world. For much more, constantly updated material, go to nextwaveonline.com and edges.tv.


NICK HODGSON

 

Nick is a 1990 Chiropractic graduate of the Phillip Institute of
Technology (now RMIT University). He has been practicing full-time in Ocean Grove for the last fifteen years and runs the longest established and largest natural health practice on the Bellarine Peninsula. Nick is a Fellow of the Holder Research Institute (F.H.R.I.), and is a member of the Chiropractors' Association of Australia (CAA) and the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA), and sits on the WCA's International Board of Governors, and the WCA Council on Addictions and Compulsive Disorders. Nick has also been actively involved in leadership roles at the Ocean Grove Baptist Church; leading small study groups including Alpha, singing in the worship team, and coordinating the church-wide "40 Days of Purpose" spiritual growth campaign.



ADAM KELSALL

 

A former youth worker at Youth For Christ, Adam is studying youth work and doing a masters in wilderness therapy. He is passionate about communication and the fuzziness between what we say and what people hear. Adam likes climbing rocks and eating food provided by multinational burger and sandwich chains.

 

JUSTIN MICHAEL

 

Justin fills a number of roles - his current fulltime gig is as a music director/worship pastor at Kardinia Christian Church in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Justin performs with the Aussie band Compliments of Gus - check www.complimentsofgus.com - and somehow, has found himself doing solo stuff - www.justinmichael.com - as well as singing with the Melbourne Gospel Choir over the past few years. He is married to the very beautiful Jodi and they have a spectacular little man named Noah who keeps them busy. Justin says it's fun being a muso and that it’s crazy being all of the above things, but he wouldn’t have it any other way!


CHRIS PIPER

 

Chris originally hails from England so has that Tony Blair-type accent, and met his wife, Marilyn (who is a Geelong gal) in Somalia. He teaches part time at Deakin University on their graduate International & Community Development program, and also runs his own overseas aid consultancy, TorqAid. Chris & Marilyn live in Torquay, and have four children.'


DEAN RANKINE

 

Dean has been branded a heretic but he's trying not to take it personally. He likes Indian food, coffee and watching kung-fu movies. His dislikes include making small talk, roller-blading and being eaten by sharks. He works part-time as a community development worker with a needle and syringe program and part-time as a cartoonist. His comics have been published worldwide. You can see more of his work at HOLY COW! Christian Comics.



PHIL SMITH

 

Phil is a graduate in journalism and media from Central Queensland University. An award-winning journalist, he has filed radio and television stories from throughout South East Asia, Australia's "Top End" and the South Pacific. His credits include an ABC TV documentary on the rebuilding of East Timor. He hosts the ANZAC Day telecast from Brisbane each year. As a recipient of the Prince of Wales Award, Phil worked in San Francisco as Associate Producer at KGO, the top rating talk station in the US. The owner of Spun Yarns, Phil has covered matters of faith and Christian events for a wide range of faith-based and secular media, including the History Makers radio programme. As a guest speaker, Phil can draw on experiences as a Squadron Leader in the RAAF Specialist Reserve. He has served as a Peace Keeper in East Timor and Bougainville. He's also been operational in Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Indonesia. His stories include aircraft carriers and the Aceh tsunami, providing insight for teens to management teams. Married to Kayleen and father of Rebeccah and Jessica, Phil is involved with his local community through Pine Rivers Uniting Church. He lives near Lake Samsonvale and is writing an eco-thriller under the working title Slick. Phil's website is www.philsmith.com.au.


RUSSELL STUBBINGS

 

Russell is a church planter, teacher, and Bible college lecturer with a keen interest in exploring the place and function of the church, as a missional yet Biblically faithful entity, in contemporary society. Russell is beginning studies in the counselling field in an effort to be more effective as a pastor and develop a life coaching approach from a Christian perspective. He enjoys all things sporting and has had extensive involvement in the coaching field. Possibly his greatest achievement has been maintaining his sanity whilst raising teenage children with his wife Rhonda, to whom he has been happily married for 20 years.

 

NILS VON KALM

 

Nils is a born-and-bred Melbournite with a passion for making the Gospel relevant to the everyday person. Married to Nell, he has an honours degree in sociology as well as an accounting degree. During the week he works as a grant coordinator at World Vision. Currently a deacon at St Martin's Community Church in Collingwood, Nils regularly writes articles for the church bulletin and preaches occasionally. An avid reader, Nils' interests are early Christianity, the person of Jesus, the question of God and apologetics, and communicating how Jesus and the Gospels relate to every aspect of life. He has recently launched his own website called Soul Thoughts.


BRUCE C. WEARNE

 

A doctoral graduate from LaTrobe University (1986), Bruce lives and works from Point Lonsdale. He is currently working on a Christian sociological study of what it means to walk, as part of what it means to live as those who follow Jesus in this world. He thus also does a lot of walking along the coast to stimulate his research which also includes theoretical sociology and the production of stories explaining Christian life for children which are composed to be read with profit by their parents. He is married to a social policy researcher and has two grown up sons.


SIU FUNG WU

 

Originally from Hong Kong, Siu Fung has been in Melbourne since 1989. He was a pastor, and is a visiting lecturer at two theological colleges. Siu Fung studied computer science, economics and transport planning, and worked in IT for years. But his passion is the Bible and its relevance to the world today. After completing a degree at a Pentecostal college, he went to an Anglican college in England to do an MPhil in biblical studies. Having grown up in a working class family, Siu Fung knows first hand what it means to be poor and powerless. He works part time as Global Education Officer at World Vision, and seeks to encourage the church to embody the Gospel in
every sphere of life.


FORMER CONTRIBUTORS

TANYA BENNETTS

 

Tanya’s background, predominantly in the NGO sector, ranges from communications, marketing and PR through to sponsorship and fundraising, in both Australia and South Africa with organisations such as the Heart Foundation of Australia, World Vision South Africa and the Cancer Association of South Africa. She has an incredible passion for people and currently works full time for a multi-national corporation. Tanya, her husband Grant and their two children, Bryce and Kendra, live in Johannesburg, South Africa.


GAVIN BOX

 

Gavin is a journalist based in Geelong, Australia. He and wife Jenny have two young children.  At 40, he says his wife and children keep him young, although his receding hairline begs to differ.

 

SALLY HOLT

 

Sally has been a print journalist for over 15 years and has also been involved with a Christian radio station in several 'on' and 'off'-air roles.. Married with three children, she now works as a public relations writer within the university sector and is currently undertaking a Masters degree in Professional Communication.


JO HOPPING

 

Jo enjoys living vicariously through other people’s adventures while editing manuscripts and other bits of paper. Married to Rod, they have four daughters who keep the ‘mountain of wonder’ topped up in the laundry and spend too much time chasing their overgrown German Shepherd puppy out of the neighbour’s yard. Luckily there’s lots of space for shouting at him in their paddock on the Sunshine Coast. Grammatically-challenged readers can contact her via www.editonline.com.au.

 

JOE MONTAGUE

 

Joe is an internationally published writer and photographer whose work has appeared in Europe, Australia and the United States. His articles and reviews regularly appear in Christian publications and mainstream music magazines. He currently resides in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Joe’s writing is dedicated to the memory of his late son Kent Montague who died suddenly at the age of 18. Joe is also the publisher of Riveting Riffs, www.rivetingriffs.com.

 

JIM REIHER

 

Jim is a husband, a father of four, and a grandfather of four (but soon to be six). Since finishing high school in 1974, he has been an ambulance officer (four years), a highschool teacher (eight years), and a Bible college lecturer (12 years: five years at Harvest Bible College in Melbourne, and seven years at Tabor, Victoria). Jim teaches church history and New Testament studies. He began the Berwick campus for Tabor, Victoria, and currently lectures there and in the Ringwood North campus. Jim is also a keen writer with published books including The Eye of the Needle: Discipleship and Wealth and Women, Leadership and the Church. Jim has a Bachelor of Arts, with a double major in history, a Diploma in Education, and a Masters in Theology with honours. He is actively involved in politics, and stood as a candidate in the 2004 Federal Election, and more recently in the 2006 Victorian State election.



 

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THEY SAID IT

 

 

"We'll still get some nasty weather but we've dodged a big-time bullet with this one."

 - New Orleans stockbroker Peter Labouisse, speaking after Hurricane Gustav weakened to a tropical storm before hitting the US city on 1st September, 2008 (as quoted on www.reuters.com.) For previous 'They said it'... | more... |

 

 

THIS WEEK ON THE WEB

 

 

A new weekly section where we provide a link to a particularly good article or video we've come across on the web.

This week - Mal Fletcher, of Next Wave Online, talking about 'What to do when leaders fail'. Click here to go to the Next Wave Online website and hear what Mal has to say...

 

 

DID YOU KNOW? NEWS BRIEFS

 

 

THE STATISTIC

Number of people displaced from their homes by floods in India in August and early September, 2008

3 million

Source: Reuters

| more... |

• More than three million homeless and 90 dead in worst floods in 50 years in north-east India...  | more... |

• WA politicians to directly address Christians in lead-up to September elections...  | more... |

• Burma urged to release 2,000 "prisoners of conscience"...  | more... |

| MORE NEWS BRIEFS... |

 

WORLDVIEW

 

 

IMMIGRATION - A BENEFIT OR A BURDEN?

One of the architects of the modern EU, Francois Mitterand, once said: "I'm afraid that when Europe's body is reunited it may lose its soul." Some people feel that is happening right now -- and that immigration is largely to blame.

     Immigration has been called the most potent political issue in Europe today. It can certainly be a very emotive one.

     On one side, there are people who argue for a very open handed approach to immigration. On the other are people who call for tighter immigration laws because, they claim, immigration may bring higher levels of crime or jeopardise traditional values.

Mal Fletcher    

MAL FLETCHER takes a look at the often vexed issue of immigration... | more... |

 

 

THE WORD EXPLAINED

 

 

Apostasy

Nazarite vow

Polytheism


| more... |


 

RECENT FORUM DISCUSSION

 

    Click here to go to the forums to have your say...


     

    FORUMS THIS WEEK

     

     

    SOUTH OSSETIA CONFLICT

    Two thousand people are already believed to have been killed in a conflict which has broken out in South Ossetia, a part of Georgia that broke away in 1992 after Georgia earlier gained its independence following the collapse of the USSR. Russia has reportedly sent troops, tanks and bombers into the region where they have clashed with Georgian forces, sparking fears of a wider war breaking out in the region. What's your view on the conflict?

    SIGHTPOLL: SHOULD SPORTS STARS BE VIEWED AS ROLE MODELS?

    With Victorian AFL club Collingwood suspending two players for the remainder of the season following a car crash which allegedly involved drink-driving, the role of sports stars - whether they should be viewed as role models and what this means - is once again up for debate. What do you think?

    OLYMPIC MOMENTS

    The Olympics have hosted some of the world's greatest sporting moments - from Jesse Owens' emotionally charged four track and field medals at the 1936 Berlin games (a feat equalled by Carl Lewis in 1984) through to Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci's perfect 10 at Montreal in 1976 and Cathy Freeman's emotional win in the 400 metres at Sydney in 2000. What's your favorite Olympic moment?

    OF FAMILY HISTORIES

    Seventh generation Australian, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been presented with a detailed history of his ancestors, who included convicts (one of the earliest was a 12-old-girl, Mary Wade, who arrived on the Second Fleet) and free settlers. Researching family histories has become an increasingly popular pastime in Australia. Have you done so? What do you know about your families past and have you ever unearthed any skeletons in the closet? Is it important to our own identity to know about our past?

    Click here to go to the forums to have your say...


     

    Latest Your Say comments

     

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    BLOGS

     

     

    THOUGHTS ON LIFE:

    TIM KELLER ON RELIGION AND THE GOSPEL

    It’s interesting to see how different the gospel of Jesus is to much of Christianity today. I think the following from Tim Keller on the difference between religion and the gospel has alot to say to all believers.

    NILS VON KALM'S blog on faith, life and how it all might fit together...  | more... |

     

    STRANGESIGHTS:

    OF JESUS AND CRICKET, BOUNCY CASTLE CHURCHES AND 'MANTIHOSE'

    Jesus played cricket? An Armenian scholar, Dr Abraham Terian, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, reportedly says that an ancient manuscript - the Armenian Gospel of the Infancy (translated into Armenian in the 6th century from an older Syriac document) - contains a passage in which Jesus played a game with a club and ball which could be considered a precursor to cricket. Experts say that games similar to cricket are known to have been played in the Punjab region as early as the 8th century.

    DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life... | more... |

    FOR SIGHT'S BLOG LINKS, HEAD TO OUR BLOGSPOT PAGE...    


     

    SPOTLIGHT

     

     

    Why are you holding a 'Dr Who and Spirituality' Day?

     

    Andrew Wooding answers... | more...|


     

    SIGHT'S PODCAST

     

     

    Sight's trial podcast is now available to download online. The first of what we hope will become a monthly feature, the podcast features discussions on The Da Vinci Code, giving donations as presents, Wow! featuring Switchfoot and a "live" cooking demonstration by "celebrity chef" Jamie Crookiver.

    Podcast page...


     

    CHRISTIAN TOP 10 for 01 September 2008

     

     

    1

    Call My Name :: Third Day

    2

    This Is Home :: Switchfoot

    3

    A Breath Or Two :: Jimmy Needham

    4

    New York :: Alabaster Box

    5

    I'm Letting Go :: Francesca Battistelli

    6

    All Remains Is Love :: Simeon

    7

    Something To Say :: Matthew West

    8

    I Will Not Be Moved :: Natalie Grant

    9

    New Day :: Robbie Seay Band

    10

    Don't Worry Now :: Britt Nicole

     

    For this week's TRAA top 30...

    | more... |

    MUSIC NEWS FROM THE ROCK ACROSS AUSTRALIA:

    • Grammy Award winners in the Gospel categories;
    • Delirious? set to release final album with Stew Smith as drummer;
    • Hillsong United to release iHeart Revolution : With Hearts As One project; and
    • Newsboys win honors, ready for Rezfest... | more... |

     

     

    JOIN OUR TEAM OF VOLUNTEERS!

     

     

    WE NEED YOU AT SIGHT!

    We're looking for journalists, writers, illustrators and photographers to join the Sight team (please note that all Sight contributors are presently volunteers) - use the feedback form here to tell us about how you'd like to be involved...

     

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