Impossible application

Not long ago, I went to a preaching seminar by David Cook from SMBC, where we were encouraged to challenge people on what he calls the 'impossible application'. The impossible application is the way that a passage of scripture cannot, and must not, be applied.
For example, the impossible application of Matthew 5:21-24 is to get angry with your brother, hate him, and then murder him. The impossible application of James 1:19 is to never listen to anyone, be copmletely unteachable, dominate in conversation, make sure your opinion is heard, and be sure to get angry while you're at it.
What is the point of this? Cook argues that generally any Christians listening to you preach are living out some form of impossible application in regard to the passage you are dealing with.
Recently I read through James with a good mate and was hugely challenged on the way I use my tongue. I think this part of God's word has as many implications for our keyboards in the blogpsphere as it has implications for our tongue in the real world.

Here are my top 5 impossible applications of James and the tongue for the blogger:
1. Love arguing. I mean what better way to apply 3:17? A good argument on a blog helps you to be peace loving, considerate and submissive.
2. Make lots of snide comments anonymously. That'll help with 3:9 especially. It's even better if you can make snide comments about people straight after writing a post about God's love and patience and grace.
3. Comment on every post. And comment as if you truly have spent your whole intellectual life devoted to studying nothing other than this particular subject, and no other opinion is as valid as yours. This way you'll be dealing with both 3:1 and 1:19 at once. That really is great efficiency - presuming to teach at the same time as being quick to speak.
4. Judge other bloggers. Judge them especially when you have a different reading of scripture to them. Once your done judging (both them, and the scriptures), make a comment which slanders the other blogger. You could even do it subtly, and hope that if anyone questions you you can say "oops I forgot to use a smiley :)". Do all that and you'll have 4:11-12 worked right out.
5. Talk endlessly about theology but make sure you don't apply any of it in your own life.
Yep and make sure that after looking in the mirror you walk away and completely forget what you look like. This way your faith is sure to be dead, and you are sure to be God's enemy.

I need to repent of some of these. Do you?

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.
James 3:9-10

Precious

Wow, people in the blog world can be precious.

Lighten up. Seriously... it's just a blog.

context needed

Hey chick, what are you doing his afternoon? Want to meet up for coffee?
Your friend Jessica is one very cool chick
I’m in the mood for a pizza and a good chick-flick.
Get a load of that chick’s legs!

There’s an interesting discussion on Craig’s blog about the use of the word chick. Is it a harmless term of affection, or derogatory towards women? Retro-cool or casually offensive?

I think there are two things to keep in mind when it comes to offensive words.

The first is context. Like the Bible, context can dramatically affect the meaning and intent of a word (just take a look at the sentences at the beginning of the post). An affectionate greeting from a friend is very different from a leery comment shouted by a pack of men on the street.

The second is the fluidity of language. Many of the words that are in common usage today have stemmed from “inappropriate” slang. Chick may have had a negative connotation in the past (I don’t know), but today it is a harmless term. What I do have a problem with is words that are still used today in an offensive manner – sexually explicit terms and song lyrics, girls jokingly calling each other “sl*t” and wearing slogan T-shirts with words that are simultaneously used as terms of abuse or ridicule.

On the explicit issue, there is a feminist theory that proposes women “own” the words that have been used to demean them in order to gain empowerment, hence songs like Ashlee Simpson’s Lala and T-shirts that read “I’m a sl*t, I’m just not yours”.

I’m not sure what I think about this theory yet. I’ve mentioned some really extreme examples of it, but there are milder forms, such as girls enjoying getting dolled up, shifting the focus of feminist debate from politics to body image or my personal favourite: the female role models in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (“just as well we’re hot chicks with superpowers”). Although raunch culture is definitely the darker side of all this, there is something to be said for reclaiming a female aesthetic that was derided by the militant feminists of the past as “tools of male oppression”. Perhaps it’s a matter of where we draw the line.

Hmm. More thought needed on this, will post more soon!

vision in a brave new world

Q. What did the Science graduate say to the Humanities graduate?

A. A Big Mac and fries, please.

Craig has written a fantastic post on philosophy and Christianity that has particularly resonated with me, probably because I’ve often been the butt of “unemployed arts graduate” jokes in the past.

I think that people who insist on making these jokes have seriously misread the zeitgeist of our city (I deliberately use the word “zeitgeist” because only an arts graduate would know what it means!).

As the world becomes increasingly post modern and more interested in the why” rather than the how, we need our Christian artists, philosophers, sociologists and writers – more than ever. They are our modern day prophets*, reminding us of the mistakes in the past and painting a vision of what we should be in the future. We should encourage them in their chosen fields, not insist that they do the right thing and “get a real job”.

*I use this word loosely!

Jesus and David

Our Sermon on Sunday was just fantastic. We've started a new series on 2 Samuel, which sadly I'll miss some of due to our mission next week. In the first talk we looked at King David, and how he foreshadows the coming of King Jesus. We saw how Jesus came shaped the mould of David, but in his coming he broke that mould. He broke the mould in his earthly sufferings, but more so in his heavenly rule.
Here are some of the similarities and contrasts that I wrote down:

Both Kings were born in Bethlehem.
Both have a journey from Bethlehem to Jerusalem.
Both are anointed at age 30. One with oil, the other with the Holy Spirit.
David entered Jerusalem as the victor, Jesus entered as a victim.
David lived in a cedar palace, Jesus had nowhere to lay his head.
David is punished with the rod of men for the wicked things he does, Jesus is punished with the rods of men for all the wicked things that everyone else does.
David is remembered as the king of Israel, but the only place Jesus was ever called a king was on his Cross: "This is the King of the Jews".
David destroyed the enemy that plagued Israel for ages - the Philistines . Jesus destroyed the enemy that plagued us forever - by dying in our place.

Listen to this excellent sermon here.

busy times

Sorry for the lack of posts lately - Sam has been a little bit busy and I have been flat-out at work.

It's a very exciting time of the year. Mission is on full steam ahead and despite a few hiccups, everything is going smoothly. This week I went to a fabric warehouse and found bargains galore - rolls of material in every colour for $2.50 a metre and reels of lace for $5 each. I bought 10m of black fabric for the Ultimate Reality youth event (if anyone ever wants to borrow some for future events let me know - I have heaps!) and plan to go back and buy more material. Black fabric always comes in handy. This morning I finished my nursing home talk. It's the first time I've ever given a "gospel presentation" to anyone older than 18, so please pray for me!

I led our last bible study for the year on Thursday and we finished our series on The Old Testament. Sam and I have had a great time leading our group; they are such a wonderful bunch of loving, committed and enthusiastic Christians. Sam has also been a great leader and we've learnt so much over the series that he has taken us through. I'm looking forward to more of the same next year.

And finally, yesterday we checked out a place that we would like to live in. Finding somewhere to live that falls within our budget can be tough in the inner west, but this place is spacious, right near public transport to the city, a 10min walk from church and the best part - right next door to Mr and Mrs Lairdy. We need to work out a few things, but I hope we can live there and make it our first home.

I'm also trusting God that everything will work out between now and then. With a $1,000 bond, a few necessities (washing machine and fridge), wedding stuff and other things to pay for, the next few months will be a stretch. However, God is good and has always provided for my "ministry" family, even when times were tough in the past. He is teaching me to keep trusting Him for all that I need, and not to desire more than what is enough for us to get by:)

Busy...

I'm really busy at the moment. There is so much to get done for mission in only 11 days time! I probably won't be posting much over the next week or so, but I would love for you to be praying, both for me as I have a lot on my plate at the moment, and for the mission, in the lead up, and during the week.
I went to Bathurst today to meet with the pastors of the churches, and things are definitely falling into place, but as I look forward to the next few days, I can see that I am going to be seriously busy.
Please pray that I will get enough rest. Today has been a 17 hour day, and tomorrow is shaping up to be much the same. Also pray for me in regard to the talks that I need to prepare before mission. I have 3 to get finished before the week, and am feeling a bit overwhelmed about it all.

the break-up

Sam and I watched The Break Up last night on DVD. It was okay, not the kind of movie we’d usually see, but a lot sharper and interesting than the old romantic comedy.

I found myself talking to the characters a lot during the movie. The demise of their relationship was a clear ‘what not to do’ when dating someone. I kept saying, “Vince, you need to stop being lazy and appreciate Jen! Help out with the washing for goodness sake and say thank you once in a while,” and “Jen, stop nagging! Just let him have the pool table”. It was very stereotypical in the way it handled male/female ways of relating, but maybe stereotypes exist for a reason. Men can take women for granted and forget to say thank you. Women can nag, a lot.

Should I get a dog or have a child?

My sister sent me these photos, they are great. I'd definitely prefer children over a dog, but based on these photo's alone, I'd be going for the dog!

rebekka zakaria

“I am not angry at the people who brought the charges against me. I forgive them. I bless them.” - Dr. Rebekka Zakaria, Sunday School Teacher

Rebekka Zakaria is a Christian woman living in West Java, Indonesia. She has been sentenced to three years imprisonment after muslim clerics claimed she was guilty of “Christianisation”. Her crime was running a Sunday school which consisted of “activities and tutorials, including maths and reading lessons, along with organised events including a trip to a theme park in Jakarta on which the children were accompanied by their parents” (according to Amnesty International).

The above quote is from Christian Today, as is the following:

Of the conviction, Rebekka said, “My first reaction, I cry.” Rebekka is a medical doctor who had treated 30 to 40 Muslim and Christian patients everyday in her clinic based in Indramayu.

Now she is confined in a dirty prison with a total of 437 inmates. Sixteen inmates are women. Eight women stay in a 5m by 5m cell and sleep together on a hard wooden platform with no blankets or sheets allowed.

“We have to pay money to the guards to turn the water on to the toilet in our cell,” said Rebekka. “I wake up at 5:00am everyday to pray and read my Bible till 7:30am. At 8:00am they open the [cell] doors,” she continued.

The 16 women are taken to a 10m by 10m room until 4 pm. There is only one chair. Three times a day, they are fed an ‘egg-sized’ lump of rice and soybean mixture covered in ants, assist news has reported.

“We eat breakfast, lunch, dinner in that room on the floor. No dining room. We get a small portion of lamb once a week,” said Rebekka. But amazingly, Rebekka has been allowed to lead a worship service on Sundays in a small outdoor courtyard area of the prison, according to Christian Freedom International. Each Sunday, around 35 people are permitted to enter the prison to join the service. This has brought forth one male inmate to convert to Christianity. This brings the total to 7 Christians in the prison.

“This is ‘School of Trust Bible School.’ Not a jail,” said Rebekka.“Sometimes I am depressed, but not for long. God comforts me everyday with joy and peace. I pray for the other prisoners and guards. One prisoner converted and became a Christian. We share our faith with others,” said Rebekka.

“We have been here 140 days. I want to do God’s will. I hope to be released soon,” said Rebekka.

We talk about persecution in Australia as getting mocked at work or slandered by friends. Imagine being imprisoned for doing something as simple as teach a Sunday school class. Rebekka is such an amazing example of joy, trust and godliness in the midst of suffering and persecution. At church, we watched some footage which showed protesters chanting, “Hang them” outside the courtroom during their trial. We also took some time to pray and write letters to Rebekka, Eti and Ratna. Maybe you could do the same.

Click here for Amnesty International’s profile and their postal address
Click here for the article in Christian Today.

controlled by the spirit

When we think of “battling against temptation” we often think of outward struggles, i.e. lust, greed, controlling your tongue. We don’t often think of temptation as coming from inside of us, let alone from something which can be used for good.

I’m talking about our emotions. As a predominantly “feeling” person, I think I have felt the entire rainbow of feelings out there (sometimes all within the same day!). There have been times when I’ve been upset over the smallest of issues, worried over something that I know will turn out fine or incredibly angry - to the point where I am unable to see reason. This is pretty common to everyone, but the difference between a person guided by reason and a feeling person (I’ll call them “thinkers” and “feelers” for the sake of brevity) is that the thinker can put it down to their feelings and temporarily set it aside, whereas a feeler cannot. Once an emotion hits, it floods their thoughts, perspective and logic, even their body.

In the same way that the Bible likens the tongue to an unruly fire, a feeler’s emotions can consume everything in its path until all their faculties – their mind, actions, words, reactions - are about that emotion. This can often lead to sin: careless words, angry overreactions, selfishness, a failure to trust in the goodness of God, regrettable decisions.

In Romans 8, it says:

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

There is no doubt about it: if we belong to Christ, then the Spirit of God lives in us. This is a wonderful promise and gift of grace, that the Spirit of the God who has power over death and mortality lives in us! If it's true, then we must let the Spirit consume every part of us and, as Paul writes in Romans, "control our minds". This can’t happen if our emotions are in the driver’s seat. It’s difficult for the Spirit to refine us when we are controlled by the way we feel.

On my computer at work, amongst pinned up run sheets, contacts and endless lists of things to do, I have a small post-it note with a single sentence: The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. Whenever I am tempted to get carried away with worrying about the future or stress about little things, I read the post-it and prayerfully remember three things:

1. My mind is controlled by the Spirit of God because I belong to Christ.
2. Satan is using whatever emotion I’m feeling to try and dethrone the rightful place of the Spirit in my heart.
3. Therefore need to exercise control over my emotion in order to stop myself from falling into sin. This takes the strictest, most painful discipline.

On the other side of the struggle, when the Spirit is in control of us, He uses our personalities to glorify the Father. Emotions can be a wonderful gift when directed by the Spirit. The ideal is not heartless, zombie-like obedience, but the channeling of a feeler’s fire into a life of worship. This can only happen if we live by the Spirit, not by what we feel at any given day.

waist-line dreams

Is it any wonder?
That she would feel less than real
when she reveals what is clearer,
in her mirror.
Take a look around her
magazines, glamour queens,
waist-line dreams in her diary
so inspiring.
Nobody told her that little girls
don’t have to have the softest curls for love.

(Nicole Nordeman - Is it any wonder)

Thanks for reading

We've had 10 thousand hits since July this year, thanks for reading everyone!

light at the end of the tunnel

After attending a lovely wedding and 21st at the beach on Saturday, I came down with a huge migraine of which I’m still feeling the after-effects, like a hangover minus the alcohol.

Waking up from a migraine is like emerging from a dark tomb, where the light at the end of the tunnel is literally light (oh the ability to open my eyes and not feel waves of nauseating pain!) and time has flown past, in manner of coma patient waking up to brave new world where twin towers are gone and John Howard is still PM. I’m sure there is some pithy sermon illustration in it somewhere. If I were a preacher, I’d file it away in my “darkness to light” folder, or if I was using a more orthodox system according to book, I John.

At breakfast the next day, I commented to Sam that time goes by so quickly when you have a migraine, to which he good naturedly replied, “not when you look after someone with a headache!” I found out that while I was sleeping, he was lying on the floor in the room next door, drinking beer and reading science books while making occasional checks that I was still breathing. I’m thankful that he didn’t mind looking after me instead of going on our planned date, which included dinner by the beach and a very fancy little black dress (I wore it to church the next day with a T shirt over the top, so it wasn’t a total waste).

This week is looking to be as busy as the last. Mission is in less than two weeks! I was given time off provided that I finished all my work by then, so there’s a lot to do. I also need to work out how to make an empty school hall look like a television studio on a minimal budget. If anyone has any ideas, please comment.

So on with my day. If only this nasty hangover (sans alcohol) would pass…

A Short History of Nearly Everything

I read this book earlier this year, and found it rather entertaining. Bryson has done a lot of work, and although it contains vast amounts of information and can at points be a little dense, it is on the whole one of the most accessible science books I've come across.
Bryson writes from the perspective of someone who doesn't believe in God, least of all the Christian God, but as I read it I couldn't help being amazed at the intricately complex world that God has created for us.

Tonight I re-read a stunning fact about the Moon that I had forgotten.

"Without the Moon's steadying influence, the Earth would wobble like a dying top, with goodness knows what consequences for climate an weather. The Moon's steady gravitational influence keeps the Earth spinning at the right speed and angle to provide the sort of stability necessary for the long and successful development of life. This won't go on forever. The moon is slipping from our grasp at a rate of about 4cm a year. In another 2 billion years it will have receded so far that it won't keep us steady and we will have to come up with some other solution, but in the meantime you should think of it as much more than just a pleasant feature in the sky."

That's a scary thought! God willing, Jesus will return before 2 billion years pass, but nevertheless - thanks be to God for the Moon!
I also read some amazing facts about Yellowstone national park in the U.S, but I'll save them for another post!

remember these singers?

This afternoon, I had a great time reading through a massive song-list sent to me by the DJ of our wedding. Basically, he had grouped the hits of the 90s and 00s in top 100 singles for each year. I think this is the first time I've ever identified with "past" songs as opposed to current ones. I am a child of the mid-late 90s (I graduated from school in 00), so it was fun to go through a list of songs I'll remember in years to come as the songs of my generation.

You're from my generation if you remember fondly:

The Beastie Boys
Blur
Bardot (they didn't do very well)
Alien ant Farm
Savage Garden
Spice Girls
S Club 7
Backstreet Boys
Oasis
Alanis Morisette
The Corrs
N Sync
Five
Madison Avenue
Aqua (remember that horrendous Barbie Girl song?)
Pet Shop Boys - though they were early nineties
No Doubt
Lou Bega
Aerosmith
Everclear
Coolio
Girlfriend
Teen Queens
Kris Kross

Driving Lesson

I'm taking a friend for a driving lesson this afternoon, out to Blacktown. It's my second one of late. It's nowhere near as stressful as I might have expected...

Who taught you to drive?

too much tinsel

Christmas is fast approaching and all along the sleepy street where I live, flashing lights and Santa displays have crept into the front lawns, spreading plastic-clad cheer to all. David Jones is playing Bing Crosby and filling their stands with hundreds of gift ideas. Baby jesus has been pulled out his box, ready to delight children and parents alike.

Amidst the excitement, I can’t help but wonder what would happen if all the Christians in this city were to take a different tack this year when it came to decorations. Trees, holly and glittery angels probably had some original significance, but now these things have become objects divested of any meaning; symbols that will one day become relics from an age of department stores and credit cards. What if Christians celebrated not just the birth of Christ, but His imminent return? If instead of trees and tinsel, we festooned the city with, say, white crowns?

The crown is a symbol for the coming of the King, white is for His status as the only righteous man to rule, the everlasting peace that He will bring to our broken world, the forgiveness of sins and cancelling of debt. Imagine - we could put them on churches, around signs, in trees. We could make a chain and string them up like daisies. We could give them out for little children to wear.

A new symbol for a city weighed down by too much tinsel!

God - back from the Dead

An interesting report in the age. (Click here). h/t Mrs Lairdy

when I'm bored...

I read Looby Lu . It's a delightful blog full of craft, cooking and kids (mums would like this blog). She's also a beautiful illustrator.

Nine hills to die on.

Last night Soph and I listened to Mark Driscoll's address from the recent Desiring God conference. It is a great sermon. Apart from being incredibly entertaining to listen to, Driscoll makes some fine points in this sermon. I would encourage all of our readers to download this sermon and listen to it. Yes it will take an hour out of an evening, but I think you will find it one of the best hours you'll spend listening to a sermon. The main body of his sermon is a list of nine 'hills to die on' - nine things which we must not back down on as Christians. Nine things we must not allow to be replaced as central doctrines in the Christian faith. Those who try to do away with any of these docrtines (so argues Driscoll) will create a new type of Christian - the non Christian.

1. We must regard Scripture as inerrant, infallible and useful as a meta-narrative over all lives at all times
2. The Sovereignty of God must be contended for against open-theism
3. We must contend for the Virgin Birth. Without it you lose Jesus. (sound like a weird thing to contend for? Listen to the sermon!)
4. We must stand by the doctrines of original sin, and personal sin. We must be 'anti-pelagian'.
5. We must contend for Penal Substitutionary atonement. A lot of things happened at the cross, but this is the most important aspect that must shape our understanding of the cross.
6. We must stand for the exclusivity of Jesus. He alone is the way, truth and life.
7. We must stand firm on gender issues.
8. We must continue to preach about Hell. People don't like hearing about hell, but that's the idea! It is bad.
9. We must be more interested in the kingdom than in culture. The kingdom is all about the King.

What do you think of his list? Would you add anything? Will you listen to this sermon?

Cold Snap

It's freezing this morning, currently 11 degrees where I am. What is going on? - it's supposed to be summer in 2 weeks! I'm wearing my big jumper...
What's it like in your office?

how much do you earn?

Click here to gain some perspective (h/t Craig).

dropping the ball

A friend of mine once likened having a good conversation to catching and throwing a ball. Everything’s fine as long as both parties are doing their part in keeping the ball in the air. However, when someone catches a ball and fails to throw it back or lobs the ball over the back fence, then conversation becomes just plain awkward.

Here’s my list of common “ball drops and lobs” in conversation (because when writer’s block hits, nothing beats a lazy list to negate the need to write properly!):

1. When someone talks about themselves non-stop, especially when the topic is unknown to the other party. If people ask, “how is your wedding going?” or “did you get your bathroom redone?” it’s not a green light to spend the next 10 minutes pouring over every little detail. Eight times out of ten, the other person is really only asking to be polite, keep conversation going or hear a general picture of how you’re going. Wait until they ask a follow up question to spill all the details.

2. “What did you do on the weekend?” is not meant to be a blow by blow account. A good conversationalist does a brief run through. A great conversationalist picks one interesting highlight.

3. One word answers don’t give people much to work with. If someone asks about something and the other person replies, “yes”, then they haven’t really thrown the ball back.

4. Insulting the other person. This may sound obvious, but so many people do it without realising by dropping a negative comment or a snide remark. My pet hate in conversation is sneering, snide comments. They are really nasty and only serve the purpose of making the deliverer look big by making the subject feel small.

5. Not letting the joke go. It was funny for the first 2 minutes, but now the laugh is fake and the smile is starting to hurt.

6. Not asking follow up questions. People who are genuinely interested in what another person has to say will always ask a good follow up question, even if it’s about something they know nothing about. Even if the question admits ignorance, i.e. - “I really don’t know anything about grass skiing. Is it anything like skiing in the snow, or is it a totally different activity?” – it shows interest and you learn something new.

7. Looking around the room for the next person to talk to (or down her top. Yes, this has happened to me before).

8. Saying, “I really hate it when people ask me that question; can you please ask me something else?” This can be really tempting to do with the question is so inane, but sometimes I think we need to practice grace in the things we say. Using that reply can make people feel embarrassed and flustered (maybe they really were interested in the answer!). A good conversationalist always makes other people feel at ease, no matter who they are or what questions they ask.

Religious Affections (part 4)

I've posted a lot lately on this book, and talked a lot about affection, about our hearts, and about enjoying the sheer goodness of God with our God given emotions. But as with all things there is another side to the coin. Not all emotion is good emotion, and not all 'religious looking' emotion is real religious affection. Our affections must be based on the word of God in Scripture. Our desires must line up with God's desires. Our emotions must be tied firmly to a correct doctrine of God and his purposes in this world, and in our lives.

In the quote I've chosen today, Edwards holds no punches against false emotion, in fact he calls those who indulge false religious emotions deluded hypocrites.

"There are two sorts of hypocrites. One is deceived by their external morality, and the other is deceived by false doctrine. The second kind of hypocrite is the hardest to show the truth. They often have experienced delusions and false emotions that confirm their false ideas, and they only become more and more certain of their delusion as they go deeper and deeper into it.
They hate to encounter any argument against their theories, and they appear oblivious to common sense. I have known, for instance, several people who were convinced that God had promised them something, something for which they had long yearned. Events did not confirm these promises, but these people continued to believe that God would yet bring about what they desired.
No matter what happened or what was said to them, these people remained ridiculously confident that God had given them a promise. I don't see why the same sort of thing shouldn't happen where a person was falsely convinced of his salvation."

writer's block

I’m sorry for the lack of substantial posts from me of late; I’ve had a really bad case of writer’s block.

Sometimes it can be hard to write in my spare time when it’s what I do all day at work. Last week, I spent ages working on a feature article about a topic I knew very little about. After doing extensive research, lining up ordinarily impossible interviews and carefully crafting my story, I was told that it had to be cut back to half its size to fit on the page. Tragedy! So my poor baby had to undergo some serious surgery this morning.

This week, as well as mourning the loss of my would-be literary masterpiece on global business models, I will be doing what I always do when I have writer’s block: devouring the pretty pictures in Sunday Life, reading lots of juicy books, drinking tea, cutting out gems of inspiration for the “next time” pile, exercising lots and reading the Psalms.

Here’s a bit of what I read this morning before work:

Teach me your way, O LORD,
and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever.
For great is your love toward me;
you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.

U2 Last night

Thought I'd put up a few of the pictures from last night. We had a fantastic time - my sister her husband, Soph and myself. It was by far the best concert I have ever been to. The stadium was just buzzing. My favourite tracks were "Where the Streets have no name", and "Until the End of the world", but the whole thing was truly amazing. I was expecting a bit more talking from Bono, though it was great how he got everyone in the crowd to take out their phones and message to make poverty history. Plus it looked very cool.(See the bottom photo - I didn't take that one - you can get more quality one's here h/t Matt T)
I also found an mp3 recording of last night's show on the web - just know that it's a 200mb download - but it's pretty good for a non-professional recording. Anyway here are my photos!That is Soph and I on the left!

Religious Affections (part 3)

I'm finding this book a fantastic read. At some points it can be a little laborious as Edwards deals with issues that seem to be current to his day only, but there are so many nuggets of gold along the way. Here's two I read this morning.

Edwards on the fruit of the Spirit:

"After all, doesn't the Bible expressly tell us to judge our spiritual health by the fruits of the Spirit? Nowhere does it ask us to investigate the Spirit's methods for producing fruit. Many people try to prove the reality of conversion by describing a series of steps that make sense to them. The clearest proof, however, has nothing to do with the method, but only with the result."

Edwards on false affection for God:

"Some people may simply enjoy empty religious practices, and hypocrites can pray loudly and earnestly. These sort of people may enjoy listening to God's Word, but it makes no change in their lives."

New Kid on the Blog

My best man Matt Toose has started a blog. Go over and say g'day and see what he's got to say. He's also looking for some preaching thoughts on 1 Tim 3. If you've never met Soph or I, scroll down a bit on his blog - we're in one of those housewarming photos!

Pot Plants

This may come as a suprise to those who know me and my general dislike for all things gardening, but lately I've started to enjoy looking after some pot plants that I've got. Currently, I've got Mint, Oregano, and a hybrid flower (far left). But the highlight of my balcony is my coffee plant, which I'm hoping to harvest next year. It might just give me enough beans to make about 1 cup!

Set list

Yes we've posted a fair bit of U2 stuff over the last few months. Perhaps we're just a little excited.

Tonight marks the start of the Sydney shows - and this is how the setlist is shaping up...

Main Set: City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, Elevation, Until the End of the World, New Year's Day, Beautiful Day, Yahweh, Walk On, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Love and Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet the Blue Sky, Miss Sarajevo, Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name, One

Encore(s): Zoo Station, The Fly, With or Without You, The Saints Are Coming, Angel of Harlem, Kite.

Are they playing your favourite song?

Fireworks.

This 'cracked' me up. (h/t Craig). He was using a 'thunderbolt' - asking for trouble if you ask me!

marie antoinette

I really want to see this film, not just for the clothes and history, but because Sofia Coppola is one of my favourite directors. I think she has such a wonderful flair for light, colour and telling stories through images.

I have a theory that female directors like Cate Shortland and Mira Nair have a totally different sensibility to male directors. Their work tends to be understated with a meandering storyline as opposed to the traditional movie narrative. I think this is because there is a fundamental difference between the way men and women think, and therefore the way we create.

It will be interesting to see how Coppola’s style in Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation translates into a history epic – a genre that tends to favour the Grand Narrative and large scale props/cinematography as opposed to subtlety.

the beginning of the end

Donald Rumsfeld resigns as the Republicans in America lose power to the Democrats in the last election. Apparently, over 60% of Americans disapproved of the war in Iraq. President Bush's days are numbered.

I wonder what this swing will mean for our federal government?

U2 Elevation - Live

Just to get you pumped for Saturday!

U2 this saturday

Sam and I are going to see U2 live this saturday and I'm so excited.

Reading through their playlist for the Brisbane concert, I'm glad they played Until the End of the World and Elevation - two of my favourite U2 songs. However, I wish Jet was still opening the show instead of Kanye West (does that strike anyone else as a really odd choice for U2?).

Bono is also sure to use the concert to campaign for a social issue or bring attention a human rights violation in Australia. In Brisbane, he urged government to free terror suspect David Hicks and donate more of their GDP to poor countries.

The Love of God/Religious Affections (part 2)

Last night we had a Bible study leaders meeting. It was by far the best one of the year. Apart from the usual praying with one another for our groups, we spent quite some time thinking about where love fits in our groups. Jesus says that the two greatest commands are love for God and love for others.
But strangely we often forget how central love must be to the Christian life. As a bible study leader I yearn to see the members of my group grow in godliness, understand the bible, learn to pray, learn to trust God and to be committed to regular attendance at Church and our Thursday night group. But if I seek to do these things and neglect to show them the love of God, all these things quickly become burdensome religion.
But what is the love of God? An emotion, an action? Something I feel? Something I do? As I've read through Religious Affections the last few days I'm starting to see that it is all of those things, but also none of them. True love for God is a whole new inclination of the heart - what Edwards (and last night AB) called affection. Love of God cannot be understood only in terms of my actions, or my emotions. Love for God depends on his work in my life. His taking my heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh. His revelation of his own Love, Holiness, Majesty, Righteousness, Sovereignty, Glory and Power.
It is only as God reveals himself to us that we find something so rightly deserving of our affections, our praise and our love that we learn to love God. Love of God is an affection. It is what happens as God changes our hearts and inclines them back toward himself. As we recognise that God is worthy of our praise we will then begin to love him.

Edwards puts it this way:

"Is anything more inspiring, more exciting, more loveable and desirable in heaven or earth than the gospel of Jesus Christ? Not only is it worthy of our emotion, but it is shown to us in a way that should affect us emotionally. In the same way, the Glory and Beauty of Jehovah is worthy in itself to be the object of our admiration and love, but it is demonstrated in a way that should shake our hearts, for it shines with the lustre of an incarnate, infinitely loving, gentle compassionate, dying Redeemer. All the virtues of the Lamb of God, His humility, patience, gentleness, submission, obedience, love and compassion are exhibited in the gospel so that our emotions should be deeply moved. Christ should move us more than any other thing, for he is the source of our hearts' life, and our hearts' feelings were designed to perceive him."

My prayer and hope for our Bible study group is that they know the goodness of God, and that they love God with all their heart, soul, strength and mind. To love God is truly the first and greatest commandment.

New Blog of the Month!

Well November is here, and it's time for a new blog of the Month. Our last blog of the month - Eternal Weight of Glory - has gone from strength to strength in the last month, so don't stop reading now!

For November we've decided to favour the this blog. On it you'll find the prayer points of the Christians in the Media mission to Bathurst. Each day a new point comes up, (you can find them on the right hand side of our blog) so check it out each day and keep praying fervently about mission - it's only 20 something days away!

our big wedding

Sam and I are having a large scale wedding with over 300 guests.

People are shocked every time they ask about our guest list and I tell them the number. I don’t really mind this so much, but people can be negative about it - “that’s going to cost so much”, “you’re going to have a stressful time!” “Oh my gosh, I would never do that!” - rather than try to understand and appreciate why we've chosen to do it this way.

It never used to bother me, but lately the comments have started to get me a down, probably because I’m tempted to bow into the “it’s my wedding so I need to fuss over every detail and panic” culture and forget how prayerfully we made this decision, or the wise reasons we decided to have such a big wedding in the first place.

It’s times like these that I’m so grateful for Sam, who is always positive about everything and encourages me to do the same. Now when people gasp over the number, I smile and say, “I know, isn’t that so exciting?” And it really is. Here are my 5 reasons why having a large wedding is such a great thing.

1. You can pack a dance floor and I love dancing at weddings.
2. You don’t have to worry about cutting people off your list.
3. The more the merrier – lots of happy people as opposed to a few doubles the fun of the occasion! It will be a great wedding purely by the vibe of having so many happy people in one place.
4. So many people have been extremely generous in offers of help – we’ve had people offer to take photographs, lend us cars, make us a wedding cake, serve supper, usher, do the video without payment. The body of Christ can be revealed, even in a wedding.
5. Lots of people means everyone will have their friends there and people to talk to – we can avoid those awkward wedding tables when you’ve been tacked on the end!

Most of all, weddings are a celebration of marriage, which is a wonderful blessing from God. He gives us good things and it's right to celebrate them with laughter and smiles.

Even with a Big Fat Greek Wedding:)

Latest from the Dean...

on Sheik Hilali (click here). This is a very well written piece. Worth a read this weekend.

Campos is in Newtown...

...as the photo shows. Just in case anyone cares about that detail.*

Guthers - come with us, and I'll buy you a coffee.

*if this post doesn't make sense to you - click here

a faithful, not successful preacher

I thought that God was going to bless the ministry with great numerical growth because I had not bought into the wrong methods and was doing things “right”. But what I did not realise is that while rejecting wrong methods, I had bought into the idea that success meant increased numbers. To me, success in ministry meant growth in attendance. Ultimate success meant a big, growing church.

Certainly there is nothing wrong with the wise use of any of the above principles (principles related to growing a church, such as marketing, sociology, preaching, stewardship). They should be a part of the intelligent orchestration of ministry. However, when the refrain they play is numerical growth – when the persistent motif is numbers – then the siren song becomes deeply sinister: growth in numbers, numbers, numbers! Pragmatism becomes the conductor. The audience inexorably becomes man rather than God. Subtle self promotion becomes the driving force. When success in ministry becomes like success in the world, the servant of God evaluates his success like a businessman or an athlete or a politician.

The above is an excerpt from a book I’ve been reading called Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome, by Kent & Barbara Hughes. After thinking through the issues raised, I've realised that there are two types of danger that preachers can fall into.

The first is the danger of pragmatism. Giftedness is logically equated to growth, so the more adept the preacher is, the more numbers he should reap. In this thinking, people subtly slide from individuals to another full seat on Sunday. We have to remember that Jesus never played the numbers game. After all, he was the shepherd who left hundreds in the pen to go out and seek one that was lost.

However, the answer isn’t to eschew giftedness altogether and refuse to work on the craft of preaching. Instead, we need to rethink what we mean by success. Barbara and Kent write that “no where does the Bible say that God’s servants are called to be successful. Rather, our call is to be faithful”. But what does it mean to be faithful? There’s a common saying in preaching that goes, “as long as I’m ‘faithful’, then God will do the rest and make me a successful preacher”. Therefore, there’s no need to work on the quality of my preaching. That leads to the second danger that preachers can fall into: the trap of misplaced “faithfulness” as a disguise for mediocrity.

In this situation, I place ‘faithful’ in inverted commas because it doesn’t necessarily refer to a heart-wrenching faithfulness to God or a pastor’s charge, the faithfulness that urged Abraham to leave his home and seek out Canaan, that drove an impoverished Paul from city to city, testifying the risen Christ. In this context, it refers to faithfulness to the meaning of the text in the Bible. It is possible to be “faithful”, but incredibly dull. “Faithful”, but loveless. “Faithful”, but only in mind, not in heart and soul.

I haven’t yet worked out a clear definition of faith (maybe someone can help me out here), but I know what it looks like in people's lives from passages like Hebrews 11. A truly faithful preacher won’t play the numbers game because he relies on God, not man for growth. He will also pray fervently for God to work through his words, knowing that all praise, glory and honour are for Him.

However, a faithful preacher will also be wholeheartedly committed to doing his best for God. He will do everything in their power to help, not hinder, the work of the Gospel - even if it means changing the way he preaches. He will also have a passionate heart for the things of God, not just head knowledge. He will set souls on fire through his words and inspire change through his example, not just in moral standing, but in vulnerability, service and hope throughout suffering.

Religious Affections (part 1)

I've started a new book in the last week. I read earlier this year that when reading Christian literature it is good to read one book from outside your century for every two written in the current century. It certainly helps keep perspective, and we have much to learn from our fathers who passed the faith onto us. So this time round I'm reading Jonathon Edwards' Religious Affections. It's been an instant hit with me.

Here's a quote from the first chapter.

"I assert that no one was ever changed by any religious material she read, heard, or saw, if her emotions were not moved. No one ever wanted to fly for refuge to Christ, while his heart remained unaffected. Nor was there ever a saint awakened out of a cold, lifeless state of declining faith and brought back to God without having her heart being affected. In short, nothing of any religious substance can take place either in the heart or life of any person if his heart is not deeply affected."

You can certainly see where John Piper took his influence from. How is your heart?

you don't look left.

Having just finished a laborious article on Free Trade Agreements, I was joking around with a work colleague that the last time I’d written on an FTA was for Honi Soit, the university paper I used to work at. We started talking and I mentioned that a lot of the views I upheld in my Honi article were quite different from the ones in the article I had just written as an industry journalist. His response shocked me: what a sell-out. Now you’re narrow minded, just like the rest of them.


I calmly tried to explain. The issue of FTAs is very complicated, depending on which agreement you’re talking about (for example, the Thailand agreement is very different from the US, which has hogged the limelight in the media). While there is a need to protect Australian made products and services, we also need a foothold in the global marketplace. I also said that issues often grow more complex the more you examine them. I should hope that the opinions I held three years ago have since been refined and qualified! I still believe that Australia should protect its resources and not leave everything to the free market, but I’m also aware of the reality of a global marketplace. Companies that struggle to gain access without FTAs face shutdown, which can threaten hundreds of jobs. And isn’t that what we’re concerned about in the end? The welfare of people?


He didn’t want to hear any of it. As far as the issue was concerned, I was once left, then traversed right. Therefore, I was a sell out.

It frustrates me so much when people care more about “who stands on what side” rather than the issue itself.

It saddens me when this happens on matters related to the church.

New series of 24.

I've posted before about how much I love '24' and '24 parties', and also how I think the show is filled with Christian themes. Mark Driscoll seems to agree now also!

The new series looks fantastic and is again filled with redemption motifs. Not only is Jack Bauer referred to as an explicit 'sacrifice', he even looks like Jesus this series!

I love this show.

Nixter, have you finished with series 3?

one for the portfolio

My book review!

we laughed afterwards

This morning on the phone...

Sam: Guess what, I’m reading a new book today.
Soph: How exciting. What book?
Sam: Religious Affections.
Soph: Who is that by?
Sam: Jonathan Edwards.
Soph: (thinks for a bit) Isn’t he the guy from Crossing Over?

(further on in conversation, after being informed that Edwards is not a celebrity spiritual medium but in fact a theologian from the 1700s)

Soph: I didn't know they had books in the 1600 - 1700s.
Sam: Yeah, well the whole printing press was rather key.
Soph: But didn't they just print Shakespeare?
Sam: Yesss....and the Bible, Calvin, Luther...
Soph: Luther didn't write a book!
Sam: What about nailing his thesis to the cathedral door?
Soph: (thinks for a bit more, then finally) That was written on parchment. Not a book.