Tag Archive - Jesus All About Life

How to use the JAAL logo in your Facebook profile

October 1, 2009 in Outreach

I’ve noticed on the Jesus: All About Life Facebook page that people have been or will be (can’t quite work out which) encouraged to use the JAAL logo as their profile pic. This is a great idea for creating awareness, but I’ve noticed that when a number of people try to do this, their profile pic ends up looking like this:

Bad JAAL status image

Half the ‘J’ and most of the second ‘s’ are cut off – not a good look! There’s an easy way around this, to use the logo, without Facebook chopping it up.

The key is to ensure that the image you upload to Facebook is a square shape – this way, when it is scaled down by Facebook, it scales down in proportion. I created a blank canvas using Macromedia Fireworks (but you could use a free program such as Aviary’s Phoenix online editing software). I set the dimensions of the canvas to 250 x 250 pixels. I then imported a JAAL logo I found online (not sure if I used the best logo – I’ve seen a few variations), and saved the document as a GIF.

If you’d like to use this as your Facebook profile pic, click on the image below, then right-click and select ‘save as…’ or ‘save image as…’ or ‘save target as…’ – depending on the operating system you use.

JAALFacebookProfile_3

Does God exist?

September 29, 2009 in Christian Living, Outreach

I’ve been following a number of online debates recently that have sprung up around the ‘Jesus: All About Life’ campaign, the ‘too brainwashed to read the Bible’ campaign, and a post that received a lot of attention this week, when a blogger wrote on the topic ‘5 things that would make atheists seem nicer‘. You can check out links to a number of these forums in the post ‘Two media campaigns reveal Australia’s perceptions about Christianity‘.

In these debates I’ve read lots of reasons why people dismiss God and Christianity, but one particular thread that caught my eye is reflected in comments such as these:

“I have as much belief in the god of the bible as you have in the existence of Odin, Zeus, and the Flying Spaghetti monster.”

“The God invoked by so many Christians is a logical impossibility. Consider the traits of all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving and the concepts of Heaven and Hell. I’m sure you can see the inconsistencies.”

The basic argument that I have heard numerous times is this – believing in God is intellectually stupid, i.e. believing in God is incompatible with having a brain.

I came across the Apologetics 315 website that has a range of debates, book reviews and articles on the topic of the existence of God (along with other apologetics topics). Below are some links to audio files and articles on this topic:

I’ve listened to the audio file for only the first debate so far (I’m downloading the others as I write and will work my way through them). In this first debate I learnt a lot – about logic, philosophy, objective moral values, and more.

I was also impressed by the polite yet rigorous debate that Craig and Williamson engaged in. It’s an example that such debates can be conducted with civility – something both Christians and atheists sadly seem to struggle with in these kinds of online debates. It makes me wonder whether conversations (debates, if you will) on these kinds of topics can be had online between unseen people, or if they should only be conducted face to face, where it’s impossible to forget that we are engaging with real people.

You can check out all posts with the tag ‘existence of god’ here.

Of course, the most compelling argument for me is that I have a personal relationship with God himself, made possible by the death of his son, Jesus.

Feature image: sourced from The Telegraph, more stunning space photography at Smashing Magazine.

JAAL poster visible from Harbour Bridge!

September 24, 2009 in Outreach

Today I went for a jog across the Harbour Bridge and noticed a JAAL poster visible from the window of an apartment next to the bridge (click on the image to enlarge)! This apartment usually has a poster in the window (I think it says “One way Jesus” – but my memory is fuzzy) – and it was cool to see this banner, especially given how much traffic drives past that apartment each day! Have you spotted any high profile JAAL banners or posters?

JAALBannerOnHarbourBridge

By the way, I used a tool by Aviary called Falcon to very quickly edit the image and add an arrow – all online. Check it out – it’s fun! And Aviary has some other cool tools that you can check out too.

More resources for engaging with JAAL advertisement

September 23, 2009 in Christian Living, for Churches, Outreach, Pastors

Dominic Steele and Christians in the Media have produced a DVD and booklet called ‘Connections for Life‘. It’s a short course that is “an attempt to spell out Jesus’ answers to the questions raised by Jesus All About Life.” It can be used in a group, or on your own, and takes the participant/s through questions based on the book of Revelation. I’m planning on spending more time reading through the booklet, but I wanted to post this now, before the ads hit our screens, to give you some time to read and prepare. You can also view some promotional videos over at Vimeo, and purchase course materials from the Christians in the Media website.

Are you aware of any other resources that would be helpful for Christians to make the most of this campaign to speak about Jesus? I’ve also put together a list of resources for responding to questions on suffering – this has been a big theme in the comments I’ve been reading online. It’s good to be prepared for these tough questions – they’re not easy questions because many of them flow out of the pain we have experienced in this world – but Jesus does have answers.

Get set – the advertisement will be appearing on our screens this Sunday.

JAAL tv advertisement is lauched

September 23, 2009 in for Churches, Outreach

This morning on Channel 7′s Sunrise, the Jesus: All About Life television commercial was launched. Here it is, what do you think?

Based on a document I found on the JAAL website, this advertisement will run from 27 September (this Sunday) until 25 October.

A list of resources for responding to questions on suffering

September 21, 2009 in Christian Living, for Churches, Outreach

John Stott’s quote on suffering from the Cross of Christ is profound:

“I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross…In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?”

It is a great comfort to know that whilst this world there is a great deal of suffering, God doesn’t only know it (in the sense that one knows that there is a concept called ‘suffering’) but has Himself experienced it – for our sake.

Our world is in a lot of pain. Where is God in this pain? What is God’s role in this pain? The current Jesus: All About Life campaign is prompting some of these questions to be asked (for example, see this post and the comments on this post) – a welcome opportunity to discuss faith, God and issues of eternal significance.

I’ve compiled a list some resources that might be helpful to read and point people to. I haven’t read/listened to each of them, but they come from trusted sources that I pray will be helpful. Apart from two books, all of these resources are available for free. Some of these are written apologetically (i.e. to answer the questions of people who aren’t Christians), whilst others seek to explore in depth the theology of suffering (to provide a stronger Biblical understand for people who are Christians).

Have you come across other resources that might be helpful?

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