People respond to Ashley Madison, cycling missionaries + more

In the days since the data hack and subsequent leak of the Ashley Madison registration list, we have come to know that there are 31 million people registered on the site that is explicitly devoted to enabling married or coupled people have an affair. Their tagline, “Life is short. Have an affair,” has hit the news headlines again and again this last week, as Aussies have come to terms with the fact that three Australian cities feature in the top 15. Sydney is a staggering third on the list, Melbourne is sixth and Brisbane is fourteenth. One Sydney church has discovered that 455 accounts are registered to people in their inner city suburb of Annandale. This is what they did:

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Meanwhile, Ed Stetzer at Christianity Today writes about several conversations he’s had this week which have started with, “I’m on the Ashley Madison List. Now What?” His response: “your actions at Ashley Madison hurt the people you love. Don’t hurt them again—and more. Throw yourself on God’s mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Remember, it was the woman caught in the very act of adultery to whom Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you’.” Read the whole article here.

There’s a woman in the U.S. who is leading mission trips across the country. Here’s the catch: she’s doing it on a bike! The Atlantic reports “In ancient Israel, Jesus walked, but in the United States of America, Judy Bowman bikes. But though the juxtaposition of bicycles and Christ is somewhat funny—it’s like when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, just faster!—it’s also a reminder of what lived religion actually looks like.” Read Judy’s story here.

In case you missed it, the Centre For Public Christianity’s Barney Zwartz wrote for ​The Age ​on the Victorian Government’s decision to cut Special Religious Instruction from class time last week. “It is simply a fact of life that Christianity is now one of many voices shaping the nation. Christians are having to adapt to the loss of the influence we once took for granted – it may be painful, but it is good for us. It should help us to be more authentic.” Read more.

TIME Magazine says that August 24, 1456 was the day that at least one of the Gutenberg Bibles was printed. Who knows if they’re right?! Either way, click here and have a look at a page of the historic Bible up close.