A favourite blog

Stuff Christians Like is one of my favourite blogs. It is one of the few things I read that can make me laugh out loud. 

And of all the posts on this blog, this one is my favourite!

A brilliant thought

Below is a statement I just heard - you can think on the following for days...

Whatever the season, what you do in the current season, positions you for the outcome of the next.
: Ps Gary Swenson

One of the less-quoted books...

Nahum!
1:7 The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him.

Facebook status updates

When there isn't enough room for all the status updates you feel like putting.....

Ruth is... very excited for Dean and Vanessa's new house

Ruth is... loving her cute little puppies

Ruth is... needing to get back on writing track

Ruth is... so desperately sad for a friend's loss

Ruth is... going to Melbourne soon to get her award

Ruth is... pretty pumped for her ski trip

Ruth is... pretty nervous about her ski trip

Ruth is... looking forward to a friend's wedding

Ruth is... asking God to come through in a few things for a few people

Ruth is... trusting God

Ruth is... starting 21 days of exercise so she doesn't collapse on the slopes

Ruth is... loved and known by God

A change of view

I am sitting at my desk working on an assignment. I'm looking out over my pool, watching a bird in a tree, hopping around from branch to branch and enjoying the sunshine.

However, last week, I would have been looking at out a fence and shaded grass and dirt.

Why the change?

I moved my workspace to a different room in the house. Now, instead of looking out at a very uninspiring and slightly depressing view, and being in a cold room, I have a lovely view and it's much warmer.

We can bring significant changes in our life and how we feel simply by changing where we are looking.

'Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!'
Hebrews 12:2-3 (The Message)

To think on

"How you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win."

— G.K. Chesterton

"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."
— President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Horizontal and vertical thinking

"Some people are unhappy about lateral [horizontal] thinking becausethey feel it threatens the validity of vertical thinking. This is notso at all. The two processes are complementary, not antagonistic.Lateral thinking enhances the effectiveness of vertical thinking byoffering it more to select from. Vertical thinking multiplies theeffectiveness of lateral thinking by making good use of the ideasgenerated."  - Edward DeBono, author of 62 books on creative thought.

When in crisis - thoughts from J John

I received an email today from J John and it was a reflection on crisis. It included this:
"Pastor Andrew Murray of South Africa once faced a particularly bad crisis. Taking himself off to his study, he sat quietly for a very long while; prayerfully and thoughtfully.
Then he wrote this in his journal:
1. I am here by God's appointment; in that fact I will rest.
2. He will keep me here in His love and give me grace to behave as His child.
3. He will teach me the lessons He intends me to learn.
4. In His good time He can bring me out again."

There are two ways to live

There are two ways to live.

The first is easy. It's staying connected to people to a certain level - attending parties, making small talk, staying in the safe zone. Don't ask too many questions. Let people live their lives and live yours. That's one way.

The second is harder. It's staying connected to people on a deeper level - opening your heart, living deeply, taking risks. Asking the questions. Being willing to live intertwined lives. That's another way.

The second takes a commitment, from each of us.
And it may be harder, but it's also a source of joy.

Isn't it interesting...

... that when faced with researching a uni assignment, I have a strong urge to blog.... or facebook... or look up travel websites?

Not really the answer.... but what is?

Euthanasia is back on the Australian political landscape.

I also spent a long time on the phone with a lady last week who has a chronic illness and was considering suicide.

Mix the latest news from Belgium - euthanasia for terminally ill children - in to the mix and we have a complicated, emotive situation.

From the linked article: In the words of the late Dutch euthanasia opponent Dr. Karl Gunning,'Once killing is seen as the answer to one problem, it soon becomes theanswer to 100.'

The problem with euthanasia being considered an answer is that it removes all incentive for better answers. Killing is cheaper than funding medical research into pain management, cures and certainly cheaper than palliative care.  But in a situation where parents will be able to have their sick children killed......... I do not think we are capable of understanding the complex emotional and mental consequences of such an action.

An 'answer' it is not.

A thought around Easter

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark,Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. (John 20:1)

While it was still dark....

Her Christ had risen
The price had been paid
Death had lost it's sting
Yet Mary was unaware
For where she stood

it was still dark...

Explaining God

When an 8 year old boy was given an homework assignment to "Explain God" this is what he wrote!

"One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn't make grown-ups, just babies. I think that's because they are smaller and easier to make. That way he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.

God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times besides bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because He hears everything there must be a terrible lot of noise in His ears, unless He has thought of a way to turn it off.

God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting His time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have.

Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church.

Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of Him preaching to them and they crucified Him. But He was good and kind like His Father and He told His Father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said OK.

His Dad (God) appreciated everything that He had done and all His hard work on earth so He told Him He didn't have to go out on the road anymore - He could stay in heaven. So He did.

And now He helps His Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones He can take care of himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important. You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to hear you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.

You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God. Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong! And, besides, the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway.

If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared in the dark or when you can't swim very good and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.

But you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and He can take me back anytime He pleases.

And that's why I believe in God."

more to think on

Speaking at last week's National Pastors Convention in San Diego, John Ortberg related a conversation with Dallas Willard in which John posed the question: How do I determine how my spiritual life is doing?

Willard responded by saying you should ask yourself two questions:

Am I growing more or less irritated these days?

Am I growing more or less discouraged these days?

If your answer to those questions is "more," it may be that you have allowed your own ego to become the driving force in your sense of personal and ministry identity. Instead, our lives and ministries should be centered on a vision of God. As Willard observes, "Our life is not an object of deep concern" when we have abandoned ourselves to a vision of the Kingdom of God.

A lovely quote from "Googling God"

This was just sent to me by my sister and is lovely...

 

"God, for me, is like someone who's already up when you've come downstairs in the morning and you're stumbling to get that cup of coffee and he's already there with his. And you sit on the front porch in a rocking chair and the sun is just starting to rise over the horizon and he says, `It's a beautiful sunrise!' And I say, `Yeah.'"

A public health problem

Another report has come out today in The Australian about the state of the teenage drinking problems we have here in Australia. Levels of dangerous drinking are higher than previously thought. 1 in 5 16 and 17 year olds binge drink weekly.

It's a really interesting predicament with a complex and layered causal effect.
A link which is not discussed often, but which has been observed by paramedics and youth workers, is the changing nature of the 'alcohol environment'. In just the last 5 years, young people have moved away from drinking beer and wine and now drink spirits and mixers, particularly alcopops - premixed in bottles or cans. These are highly alcoholic yet don't taste like alcohol.

With the higher alcohol content in these products young people get drunk more quickly. They are also more likely to become violent as they end up highly intoxicated yet have consumed less overall liquid and so are not 'weighed down' by the quantity they have consumed.

One wonders - particularly with the marketing campaigns targeting youth drinkers - whether these products should be the subject of conversation.

Community

We have our young adults formal soon and It's got me thinking about the power of community.

There is something about the 'one another' that is almost indefinable yet infinitely important.
Simply put - we need each other.
And we really need each other as part of the community of faith.
While we like to think we'll be fine by ourselves, separation from fellow journeyers in the Kingsom leads to a slow death - almost imperceptible as it occurs, but occurring nonetheless.
Such interdependency is the ultimate antidote to pride and the greatest challenge to individualism.

Life is ultimately also way more fun when traveled in the company of others!

Tagged from James Mac

So James just tagged me - I have to get the nearest book, turn to page 123 and reprise the sixth, seventh and eighth sentence.

Here we go!

Bonhoeffer's consecrated life is a model for us all - a total giving of self to Christ. Most of us will not be tested in this way, but he has set the standard for us. Now, of course, this consecration doesn't happen all at once - "The Faith" Charles Colson

Brilliant stuff!

From lifechurch.tv

Inspiration from Starbucks

Sitting in the airport, beginning the 5 hour wait till boarding...
So we're in Starbucks getting a coffee and they have all these quote on their cups. I really like this one from Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the House of Representatives - it's worth blogging.

"On the battlefield of ideas, winning requires moving toward the sound of the guns."

Mark Mittleberg

We have a crisis of faith. It's not that people have faith - they have many faiths - but they don't know how to think about
faith.

How people process and evaluate faiths determines how they choose.

6 Faith Paths
1. Relativistic faith path
Where most people are.
Something becomes true because they believe it. ..... So at the same time, God does exist for a Christian yet doesn't exist
because of an athiest?

However, truth is simply what is.
The key to life is to discover what is true and then to adjust your life accordingly.

2. The traditional path
I have always believed this - a hand me down faith

3. Authoritative path
You better believe this.
Authorities are only as good as their credentials

4. The intuitive faith path
I can just feel it....

5. The mystic faith path
"God told me" what is true

6. The evidentiary faith path
Is there evidence to this system of thought being correct?

Ben Stein

We break faith with those who died for freedom when we give up free speech in science, value of life, etc

Rethinking the importance of creation and evolution

Evolution is a theory, yet if you question it in academia, it is like questioning Stalin in 1925.

What are the social and economic implications for society of darwinism? Man = mud. You can do with him or to him what you
want.
The belief in creation says God created, so people have a spark of the divine within them - therefore, when you kill them you
are attacking God.

Bill Butterworth

Rethinking balance

The first key to being an effective leader is being not dead!
Avoid burnout.

Who would applaud someone who only ran 3/4 of their race?

3 aspects:
Attention (tasks)
Connection (relationships)
Reflection (how was today?)

George Barna

Rethinking why we become who we become

You can only make a genuine difference when you help transform a life.

America is culturally crippled by an addiction we deny having. Media exposure has become America's most widespread and
serious addiction today. Of the most dominant influencers in the USA today, 5 of the 7 are media.

Addictions
: they change our brain function
: they cause withdrawal symptoms
: we lose control of how much exposure we have
: we have a desire to reduce it but we are unable to
: it causes us to abandon or reduce our involvement in normal, heathy social activities
: the denial of an addiction

4 things
1. Recognise you cannot fix a problem that is not on the radar
2. Ask - What is our view about media?
3. Address the issue of parental responsibility
4. Can we raise up a new class of missionaries to the media world?

Ben Vereen

Rethinkers
Rosa Parks - because she sat down, a nation stood up.

Dr Ben Carson

Rethinking risk
The vast majority of people do not achieve a lot because they are afraid of risk.
Others do not achieve much because they take an inordinate amount of risks without analysing them.

Historically, pinnacle nations become enamoured with sports, entertainment, celebrity, lose their moral compass and then fall in power.

Rethink our passivity
We have as much, or more, evidence for God than those who try to extract God from public life.

For a country to remain great
T.H.I.N.K. B.I.G.
Talent (intellectual)
Honesty
Insight
Nice
Knowledge

Books
Indepth learning - to understand
God

It really doesn't matter where you are, it's where you are going that counts. You get there by aligning yourself with God.

Google Carsons Scholar Fund

Erwin McManus

The weaving together of tragedy and beauty.

Humans are meaning machines - we add meaning to everything.

Sometimes we make the meaningless meaningful - superstition

Sometimes we make the meaningful meaningless.

Sometimes we can't make sense of the mess, and we must simply know that there is a master artist at work.

Lee Strobel

Rethinking the evangelism effort of the American church

It requires 2 things: truth and experience

1. Truth
Spreading the gospel must always be grounded in the absolute truth of the christian message.

We have a defensible faith.
We have an unfair advantage in the marketplace of ideas - we have truth on our side.

Debate has a place but mostly dialogue is more effective than debate.
We do not begin dialogue by assuming the equality of all truth claims, but by the equality of all persons.

How do we facilitate this? Seeker small groups and using stories.

2. We must usher people into an experience with God.
Blaise Pascal - the night of fire.

There must be a connection between truth and experience.

Rupert Murdoch

His two most important qualities which have contributed to his success-
: Persistence
: Curiousity

Why they bought Myspace -
: to lead through it
: to help people express themselves
: to learn from it

In response to a question regarding the future of newspapers, Murdoch said they may not exist on paper but will exist as journalistic enterprise to deliver news: "If you have done your job right, people will come to you because they rely on you".

Encourage innovation

Larry King

Engaging with people
How do you ask a great question?
1. Be curious
2. Leave yourself out of the question
3. If you start with 'why' it can't be answered in one word.
4. Listen, listen, listen

Jason Illian (God tube)

Tradigital thinking - endless interconnections between things that are seemingly unrelated

It's no longer about getting people's time or attention - it's about getting people's hearts.

Tomorrows leaders will be meaning makers.
People are tired of chasing cool.

Don't chase cool - infuse meaning.
This generation is willing to leave their job, parents, country to find meaning.

How do we infuse meaning? Reinvent FIRE
Ferocious
Imaginations that
Revolutionise
Everything

We must push responsibility to those on the outer edges.
Break habitual cycles - do something creative

The power of inconsistency!
If inconsistent- can't be predicted
If unpredictable- can't be duplicated
If can't be duplicated-it is valuable
Jesus was inconsistent.

Phil Cooke

Rethinking media

It's all about influence and how we use media to impact culture.
Why branding?
1. Perception matters: if you don't control your perception in the community, you will be at the mercy of others who will
2. Choice : so many options

Branding is the compelling story surrounding you and your organisation. In a media rich world, we need an easy handle.

1. Visibility is as important as ability : visibility=voice
2. You can't brand a lie- we need to live more transparent lives than ever
3. Being different is everything

Questions to ask when working out branding
1. What's the point? Why do you do this?
2. Who are you?
3. Skills/ talents
4. What makes you different?

What can we do right now?
1. Understand the power of a name - your name matters
2. Put a lot of effort into logo and look - design matters
3. Be careful with humour
4. What is the overarching theme of your life and ministry?

Dr Stephen Post

Giving creates a sense of abundance in your own heart.
If you want to get somewhere, hostility won't get you there.

Study
High hostility - 20% death rate over 20 years
Low hostility - 2% death rate

When evil men plot, good men must plan - Martin Luther King Jnr

Dr John Townsend

Rethinking love

To the extent that we love is the extent to which we will bear good fruit as a leader

3 aspects of love as a leader
1.You must love what you do - enough to inspire others
2. Love people outside of their work
3. Love people enough to push them

Nancy Ortberg

1. The most difficult person to lead is yourself
Figure out how you connect deeply to God.
Jesus didn't journal :)
What restores the wonder of God in you?

2. Vision is created by the stories ee tell and the heroes we create.

3. Defining God moments are only as significant as the lifestyle they produce. Get it into the rhythm of your life.

4. Teamwork is a strategy not a slogan.
Our job is not to get involved in artificial harmony but to debate and make decisions

5. Stop being surprised that leadership is difficult.
Max Dupree - leaders are only right 50% of the time - this allows resilience...

Kay Warren

Rethinking discipleship

Deny yourself, take up your cross, follow me.
Rephrased

1. Surrendered
Learn to say yes to God in every area of your life
Why don't we? We are scared and we are selfish

2. Disturbed
We must be willing to die

3. Ruined
Be gloriously ruined for something that lasts

How will people know God is with them if we are not with them?

John Ortberg

What is God's big calling on your life?
How big is your God?

How we live is determined by the size you perceive God to be.
When we shrink God we offer
: prayer without faith
: worship without awe
: suffering without joy
: service without hope

Gideon looked at himself in a way that rationalised his passivity and say no to the big call.

What is unthinkable on my own is unstoppable with God.

God will be, this day, as big a presence in your life as you allow Him to be.

Dr Henry Cloud

Rethinking integrity

Integrity is not just the policeman against bad things happening- it is to be an integrated whole.

When a leader hits a wall, it is often because there is something not whole

Miles McPherson

Rethink the starting point of evangelism...
Don't go to tell - go to listen.

Learn to listen to the cries of those around you.

Robert A Schuller

The only way you can walk through life successfully is to walk in your own shoes.

1. Don't go to work and do a job: go to your destiny and fulfil your calling.
2. If you've got the faith, God has the power
3. God is answering your prayers

Donna Schuller

You must rethink who you are daily, reframing yourself according to Christ.

Replace wrong thoughts with God's thoughts and words.

Jesus was the ultimate reframer.

Gary Smalley

If you want good relationships, rethink trying to change your spouse or friend or colleague.
Change yourself

The things that control you are your beliefs.

The more I memorise and meditate on God's word, I hide it in my heart. The more I do that, the more His word becomes my beliefs and then He controls me!

Bill Dallas

Rethinking failure

We make mistakes
God allows consequences
God redeems - our soul and our failures

Ps 138:7 and 8

Lou Holtz

If you want some great advice, listen to your spouse.

If you didn't go home, who would miss you?
If you didn't go to work, who would miss you?
It's all about meaningful relationships.

3 simple rules
1. Do right
2. Do everything to the best of your ability
3. Show people you care

Jon Gordon

Rethinking purpose

People are most energised when they are using their strengths for a bigger purpose.
Purpose is the ultimate fuel for an energised life.
Negativity brings inefficiency.
We have a choice between 2 roads - positive or negative.

Filled with divine (enthusiastic) and filled with purpose.

Bring purpose to what you do everyday

Dr Les Parrott

Rethinking healthy relationships

Your relationship university was the family you grew up in.

This generation has a hunger and thirst for information on healthy relationships.

If you try to build intimacy with another person, before you do the hard work of getting whole yourself, all your relationships become an attempt to complete yourself and will fall flat.

Your relationships can only be as healthy as the least healthy person in them.

How do you be healthy?
Lock in the following.....
1. Profound significance - understand your profound significance to God and His deep love for you
2. Unswerving authenticity - your relationship with you (not pleasing others)
3. Self-giving love - recognising other's needs. Walking the extra mile.

Your internal dialogue is the most significant conversation yo have. 73% of your self-talk is negative.

Tim Clinton

2 Cor 11:1-3
Trading our freedom - losing our heart with God and life

How do good people lose heart?
They are assaulted by pain. This makes them feel angry or anxious. If they can't solve their pain then they feel alienated or arrogant. This leads to adulteries of the heart to calm or soothe their heart. This leads to addiction where I am dependant on this.

1 John 5:21
Idols - when we give ourselves to something else to calm or soothe ourselves
Gal 5:1

Mark Kvamme rethink tank

Simplicity of message.

A good website listens carefully to people.
Iterate always - significant change every 2 weeks.

We addresses should have around 6 letters or 2 syllables and be spelt like they sound eg yahoo, google, amazon

We are moving from the information age to the attention age. How do we get people's attention?

What does this technology overload mean for preachers - the power of communication in person, real life connection and telling stories.

Michael Guillen

How do I label the person I have become? 'Christian' used to hold a cherished place in America. 84% of Americans identify as Christian. Who keeps the abortion clinics busy? Who are the ads celebrating consumerism aimed at?

The spiritual me generation is saying all roads lead to a god of my own making.

Christian? Religious? Spiritual?.... Lovestruck.

NB this is strongly contextual to USA

Chris Seay part 2

Prophetic acts happen when we live into the story. The Bible is our story.

The Advent Conspiracy
What does it mean to be a global christian?

Chris Seay

Prophetic communication is painting the world as it is, and as it should be

Dan Kimball

Are we so busy with religious activity that we are in a bubble of sub-culture?

Answer that by asking - Who are you praying for right now?

Mark Kvamme

Silicon Valley Executive - Sequioa Capital and start up investor in youtube, yahoo etc

60 seconds

The average website has 10 seconds to get your attention.
The next 10 seconds answering 'what is this'?
The next 10 seconds answering 'can I navigate this?'

If people spend 3 minutes on your website, it's great!

In 60 seconds you can
: read 250-300 words
: type 33 words
: write 22 words

Everything is going digital and getting shorter.
Once it goes digital, it never disappears.

Communication is now becoming asynchronous. Technology was created to bring those who were far away closer. Now it is starting to move those who are closer further away.
"We will soon reminisce about evenings as a family gathered around the TV" Michael Moritz

Where to look in the future? The iphone. If it's not in my phone,does it exist?

Rethink how do I reach people who are bombarded by media?

HB London Jnr

We need to rethink how we live and what our motivations are.

Be an example

Give God the first-fruits of your time
Have healthy relationships
Get adequate rest (or you make poor decisions).
Be in a supportive relationship (accountability)
Like what you do
Be happy
Be vigilant

Bishop Charles Blake

Currently sponsoring 100,000 African orphans.

What go you here, will not get you there.

We live on a planet with great problems. We need great dreams and great faith.

Great dreams mandate great resources. Unless your dream requires a miracle, He will reduce your resources until He gets the glory of a miracle.

Charles Colson - my favourite so far!!

What is Christianity?
A view of total ultimate reality.
All of life is under the sovereign creator God.
Get away from 'God and me'

Christians need to
: understand the basic truths of Christianity
: defend the truths
: live out the truths
: explain these truths lovingly to others

It must affect the way you live.

First impressions

Faith built this place. This campus is incredible and the ladies bathroom is sensational! (They were made possible by an anonymous cash donation from someone who wanted the women of the church to know they were valued.)

Everywhere there are small written testimonies of people who have helped build this facility. One showed a lady who first got saved when she was 6, and came to one of the early services Dr Schuller ran at a drive-in movie theatre. Many years later,she gave the first $1,000,000 gift to build the welcome and hospitality centre.

It is inspiring. Faith and possibility thinking.

Christian Cultural Centre

A great church in Brooklyn - mainly an African American congregation of around 28000.
We attended the 10:30am service (although it started around 11).

Couple of observations:
1. Ushers are SO important! Having no idea what the culture is here, or where to go, and feeling a little overwhelmed having lined up and joining thousands of people coming in, it was so great having competent and helpful ushers. Those who took the initiative to notice we looked a bit lost, and help us out, were a real blessing.

2. Baby Dedications. I loved the way they did this. All the families, relatives and godparents (who had been prayerfully chosen) came up on stage. Elders and pastors all came and prayed for each family, even though the Senior Pastor lead this section. What I really loved was the way the parents all repeated (like wedding vows) a really meaningful vow of dedication of their children. Then, the families and whole congregation repeated a vow as well, relating to how they would pray for the child and care for the family.

3. Change is lead well. This was the last time baby dedications would be done in a Sunday service and this was announced while we were there. Dr Bernard had been doing a series on change, as well as obviously teaching the importance of change over years I would say. The pastor who made this announcement did in such a positive way, and reminded everyone of what Dr Bernard has always taught them. The dedications will now happen on a Saturday afternoon once a month and in a smaller venue and would be done in such a way as to make it special for the families - gifts, video of the service, worship etc. You could tell in the way this was announced, and in the way people responded that this is a church that is lead well.

4. Dr Bernard's 5 levels of renewal:
Personal renewal
Relational renewal
Renewal of purpose
Structural renewal
Cultural renewal

Rethinking....

I will be keeping a record here of some thoughts while attending Rethink...

My addiction

I have a confession to make.

My addiction has resurfaced. With the uni semester over, and the opportunity to read something other than text books or assignment related articles, I have started indulging.

I am addicted to fiction.
Good fiction.
Page turning, stay awake and read until your eyes will not stay open any longer fiction.

Sigh.... I am addicted and I love it!

The boy in the suitcase

There is a sad poetry about the boy in the suitcase. As details of his death, and short life, started to emerge this week, the boy in the suitcase was given a name, and we were shown a photo, and you could sense a palpable community grief for the loss of little Dean Shillingworth.

It was a situation that had stayed in our collective consciousness as we struggled to understand how a little boy could be missing, dead, and no-one be looking for him. And perhaps it was the sad enigma of this story that meant we identified with it so strongly when we discovered who this little boy was.

Dean's death is a tragedy. That his brothers and sisters have to grieve their loss is a tragedy. That his mother has to live with what can only be the greatest regret and pain is a tragedy.

Reading the reports of his sad death, I was reminded that hurting people hurt themselves and others.

We live in a hurting world.

Our response? To weep, and to do what we can, in the lives of those around us, to bring healing and comfort. Government departments can't solve this problem alone. Caring communities, friends, and family however, can provide a powerful part of the solution. And rhe truth of God’s love has the power to heal the broken-hearted.

Evan Almighty

Great article here about the guy who directed Bruce Almighty and the soon to be released - Evan Almighty.

Worth reading!

Great food for thought

"The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose." - C.S. Lewis

Fasting

I am sitting here working on an assignment, and snacking on - wait for it - mung beans and alfafa sprouts! What has the world come to!
And I'm excited about my dinner tomorrow night of brown rice, silverbeet and natural yoghurt. You have to laugh....
Our bodies will be so healthy by the end of this fast.

Why the UN's relevance is teetering

This is a ridiculous joke..

Zimbabwe was voted as the head of the UN Commission on Sustainable Economic Development (CSD) last week. Considering their economy has inflation of about 1200% and their people have no electricity or running water and not a lot of food because their government policies have destroyed their agriculture and much of their country... please! Why does lunacy continue to parade as respectability?

Someone needs to point out that the Emperor has no clothes...

Beautiful teas

I went to a great place last night with some girls. Called Batavia, it is a tea and coffee place that is modelled on the style of the East Indies.

Being a lover of coffee, I surprised myself at how taken I was with a type of tea they had - I even bought the take home bag and am drinking my way through it today as I do my assignment! It is called something like - a watergarden tea, and is white tea, wrapped tightly around a flower in a ball. When you pour hot water over it, it slowly blooms - quite amazing!

Anyway, I have been deciding whether to continue this blog as my postings have slowed down considerably. I'm still deciding....

Daily discipline

A great article - excerpt below

Laws of Lifetime Personal Growth By Dr. John C. Maxwell

....... Rarely will you find a person committed to a comprehensive personal growth plan into their 30’s, 40’s, or beyond.

As children we grew year after year, sometimes in spurts, sometimes imperceptibly, but our bodies were always growing. The growth of a leader can be similar. At times, it may feel like the wheels are spinning and no headway is being made. In other seasons, new breakthroughs and victories are clear indicators of a growth spurt. To grow consistently, the key is to manage your daily agenda. I wish I could pass along an easier solution or secret formula for leadership growth, but daily discipline makes all the difference between growth and stagnation.

The greatest of these....

This last week has seen some interesting correspondence develop between myself and someone I met through my writing. This other person largely disagrees with pretty much everything I believe in. As I read some of the correspondence, which basically likened me to Hitler, and reflected on it, I found myself growing in compassion for the person who wrote it, which almost surprised me.

I feel like I am growing in grace - not as quickly as I would like sometimes but it's a start! I am aware of the logical inconsistencies in their correspondence, and the fact that they have misrepresented me, yet I have been able to let go of the emotions that generates more quickly than I thought. I feel for them, and wish they knew the unconditional love of Christ. And I am aware that they will only see it reflected in people like myself. There is a time for everything under the sun.... this is a time to love.

Faith, hope and love... the greatest of these is love.

Interesting times ahead perhaps...

Christian Magistrate Andrew McClintock has lost his case to have his freedom of conscience recognised when practising as a Justice of the Peace. The decision by the Sheffield Employment Tribunal means that Mr McClintock, will not be able to serve on the Family Panel, even though the Tribunal recognised his "unblemished record and the high regard in which he is held by the Department of Constitutional Affairs".

Difficulties first arose for Mr McClintock when he considered the implications of same-sex adoption on which he was forced to rule. He became concerned that a tension existed between his Christian beliefs in the Biblical model of the family and his work as a Magistrate. In March 2004, Mr McClintock raised his difficulties with the Chairman of the Family Panel at Sheffield. Mr McClintock was not asking for a change in the law, rather he was requesting that his religious conscience should be accommodated, and that he should be "screened" from cases which might require him to adopt children in to same-sex households. He also expressed his concern that children could be put at risk by the untried social experiment of same-sex adoption, in which vulnerable children were being used as "guinea pigs". The Employment Tribunal rejected Mr McClintock's claim that he had been discriminated against because of his religious beliefs.

Commenting on the judgment, Andrea Williams of the Lawyers Christian Fellowship said: "This is yet another example of the repression of Christian conscience and signals the erosion of Christian values at the expense of our children's welfare. Andrew McClintock believes that the best interests of the child are served by placing them in a situation where they would have both a mother and a father and therefore he could not agree to participate in gay adoption. This case demonstrates what will happen as greater numbers of men and women of integrity are forced to choose between applying a law which runs contrary to their fundamental Christian belief or obeying their conscience. The imposition of secular values in every aspect of our lives will force those who hold Christian beliefs out of jobs."

Andrew McClintock commented: "This ruling is going to make it harder for many conscientious people. Anyone who holds seriously to traditional morals and family values will think twice before taking on such a job. There will be more children now whom the courts remove from one kind of harm, but only to face another hazard. So, more needy children will be fuelling this experiment in social science, and suffering what the experts call mother-hunger or father-hunger."

Doctors fight to save wrongly aborted baby's life

ITALIAN doctors are struggling to save the life of a 500g baby boy wrongly aborted after hospital tests misdiagnosed a deformity.

The child's mother aborted 22 weeks into the pregnancy after doctors from the Florentine teaching hospital, Careggi, told her two ultrasound scans showed a high risk of a defective oesophagus. But when the fetus was aborted, heart still beating, doctors realised the child had been perfectly healthy, and rushed to resuscitate him.

Weighing just half a kilogram, the baby suffered a brain haemorrhage during the abortion and doctors doubt he will survive.

Read the whole article here

Sad news

Australian youths are drinking themselves to death at an alarming rate and Australia's drinking problem has become a national crisis. That's according to Bill Stronach, chief executive of the Australian Drug Foundation.

Figures released by the Victorian government revealed that half of all 16- to 24-year olds binge drink at least once a month. The report found 194 young deaths were attributed to alcohol in the last four years. A further 2,135 young people were seriously injured in road accidents and 11,455 drank themselves into hospital, and that is in Victoria alone. Alcohol also fuelled more than 8,800 assaults and almost 5,000 family incidents.

The figures are contained in the Victorian Alcohol Statistics Handbook. Author Dr Anne-Marie Laslett said it was staggering that more than 300,000 young Victorians drank to excess each month. Health Minister Bronwyn Pike launched the handbook, saying it was a serious wake-up call. "Alcohol is second only to tobacco as a drug that causes high levels of disease and death," Ms Pike said. "It's terrifying to see that more than 300,000 people risk serious injury or possible death at least once a month through drinking irresponsibly."

Mr Stronach said Australia's drinking problem was getting worse and the victims younger, labelling it a national crisis. "Australia's infatuation with intoxication costs 4,000 Australian lives each year and another 70,000 people are hospitalised," he said. "We get terribly upset when illegal drug users commit violence or die but we ignore the daily mayhem that results from determined and deliberate dangerous drinking."

Source: Compiled by APN from media reports

Great quote!!!

"And don't be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God's place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life. " - 1 Cor. 7:17a (MSG)

A reminder of what we're missing

This is a great article - one of a series that asks "How can followers of Christ be counter-cultural for the common good?"

This is a really challenging article which has stayed with me - particularly the following section.


"It seems that for Daniel and his comrades, being a counterculture consisted of surprisingly small decisions—small acts of reorientation to remind them daily that in spite of their privileged status in the capital city of the world's most powerful empire, they belonged to another King and another kingdom."

and this section

Frederica and her family fast twice a week, a practice that goes back to the earliest Christian centuries and an ancient discipleship manual called the Didache. ....they observe this fast every Wednesday and Friday. It's not total abstinence from all food, but rather avoidance of foods that come from animals, whether meat, eggs, or dairy products... the "Daniel fast"—because it essentially replicates the diet Daniel and his friends adopted upon arrival in Babylon.

.... it is a twice-weekly reminder that we are in exile and that our use of animals for food is itself tainted with echoes of the Fall. The Daniel fast is not just a discipline to develop self-control and dependence on God; it is a reminder that the abundance we enjoy cannot, in this life, be entirely separated from the alienation we endure from God and from God's creatures. It is a small act of reorientation, a small act of exilic consciousness in the middle of every week.

I love that concept - small acts of reorientation.....

Biggest popcorn EVER

Have you ever ordered popcorn in Gold Class?
Ridiculously biggest bowl ever!
There is no way anyone could eat it all!

What's your story?

Ivan Illich was asked: What is the most radical way to change society? He said, "If you want to change society you have to tell an alternate story. Society runs upon a dominant story, what is plausible, credible, believable becomes that which we just accept as normal."

What story are you running upon?

A little less lost for words

Well, I'm still trying to process the situation below so don't have lots to share yet.

I have been trying to work out why I feel uncomfortable about this...

The Enlightenment decided "Man is the measure of all things" and I think this decision was made from such a perspective.

While we need to have compassion for the parents , "their poverty does not dictate the righteousness of their cause".

A course of action is not necessarily right just because it helps avoid or alleviate suffering.

hmmm, still thinking........

Currently lost for words....

Just read this article.... it'sabout a young disabled girl who has been 'frozen in time' by her parents.

What do you think?

Are you ready for a relationship?

I just found this checklist which helps you work out if you are ready for a relationship....
Very handy indeed!

A well-articulated perspective

Ok - so some will agree and some won't, but I thought this quote, from a longer article here, was a very well-articulated argument, when reviewing the former President Carter's new book.

"Carter wants to do what's just. His heart's in the right place. He just can't figure out what the right is. He is, and always has been, a man of good intentions bereft of good judgment. He invariably finds himself defending tyrants and dictators at the expense of their oppressed peoples. Not because he is a bad man, but because he is a confused man.

"Carter subscribes to what I call the Always Root for the Underdog school of morality. Rather than develop any real understanding of a conflict, immediately he sides with the weaker party, however wicked or immoral.

"Israel has tanks and F-16's. The Palestinians don't. Therefore the Palestinians are being oppressed. Never mind that the Palestinians have rejected every offer to live side by side with Israel in peace and elected a government pledged to Israel's annihilation. Their poverty dictates the righteousness of their cause even if their actions speak otherwise."

That last sentence really struck me. I think it underscores so much of the way a large segment of the West makes decisions about everything. Having lost framework for determining right and wrong, it's all about a misguided 'compassion'. This applies to euthanasia, abortion etc etc etc

As the time approaches

New Years will soon be upon us, and with it the thought of what I would like to see, and become, in 2007.

There is an article here about some of the resolutions Jonathon Edwards wrote.
One of them is a great challenge.
It reads........
Resolved, Never hence-forward, till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God's.

I would like to make that one of my own... but I almost hesitate - for that is not an easy resolution to keep. May God in his grace allow me to do that.

Argh the craziness...

Went to Chermside tonight.
CANNOT believe how busy it was at 20 past 11 at night!
Of course, I was there and contributing to it but still...................

*I'm glad we have this whole consumer thing in balance*

I guess I wish you some stress then!

"Too much comfort is dangerous. Literally.

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley did an experiment some time ago that involved introducing an amoeba into a perfectly stress-free environment: ideal temperature, optimal concentration of moisture, constant food supply. The amoeba had an environment to which it had to make no adjustment whatsoever.

So you would guess this was one happy little amoeba. Whatever it is that gives amoebas ulcers and high blood pressure was gone.

Yet, oddly enough, it died.

Apparently there is something about all living creatures, even amoebas, that demands challenge. We require change, adaptation, and challenge the way we require food and air. Comfort alone will kill us."

(Study source: Chris Peterson, "Optimism and By-pass Surgery," in Learned Helplessness: A Theory for the Age of Personal Control [New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1993].)

Citation: John Ortberg, If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat (Zondervan Publishing House, 2001), p. 47; submitted by Clark Cothern, Tecumseh, MI.

Bread success

Woo hoo!
After 4 spectacularly unsuccessful attempts at making bread in new Christmas present (obviously a bread maker) we have now just partaken of a crusty fresh loaf of white bread!

mmmmmm delicious

Tom Thumb, the little Aussie battler

The puppies born Wednesday are doing well, and thankfully, our littlest one, who was considerable smaller, is doing excellently.

We (wth the help of some friends) have been hand feeding him, as well as him feeding from Melody. He is getting stonger and filling out more each day.

He is just the most gorgeous puppy. He may be small but he has a big heart and seems very determined to grow big and strong. We have called him Tom Thumb - the little Aussie Battler. and he's a winner!

Puppies

Melody had her puppies yesterday, and we have six healthy puppies, although one is small and needs supplementary bottle feeding to help it grow big and strong!
There were seven puppies born but one was very sick and went to puppy heaven - yes there IS such a place! (Although I cannot vouch for proper theology there)

Life is very full at the moment so blogging has been a little neglected, as has tidying the house, sleeping, washing.... you get the idea!

hmmmmmm even more!

herchurch

Please explain...

I just don't get it...

Upside down Christmas trees?

And today I saw a PURPLE upside down Christmas tree!!! What's the go?

Schoolies

Having returned from a short weekend stint as a volunteer at Schoolies, there are a few stand-out moments for me from the last 48 hours (I did a day and a night shift one after the other).

* Helping with checkins at one of the hotels and being absolutely confronted with seeing parents dropping off their 16 and 17 year old children, and carrying in cartons and cartons of alcohol for them. That was very hard to watch. Do parents not realise what message they are sending their children, and the possibly unintentional pressure they place on them to live 'down to' the schoolies image.

* The incredible favour we have with schoolies, with most hotel managers and with the police - they value what we do

* Visiting one room of schoolies of 5 girls, who had all had a few drinks and hearing one girl say to her friend that she felt all this pressure to be listening to loud music and dancing.... and me realising that these girls didn't really want to get wasted and "party hard" - all they really wanted to do was celebrate the end of school with their friends and have fun.

* Being reminded that they are really nice, often very polite young people, who are just very lost.

* Realising again that the heart of Christ is to rescue, that there is a answer and that we have to do all in our power to communicate that with our words, deeds and example.

I didn't feel very emotional while I was down there, but as I drove home tonight, as I lead woship, as I listened to a great message about what Christ's sacrifice means for us, my heart was breaking for the young people who are looking for something but can't articulate what it is.

May the love they long for be revealed to them and may they recognise it. His name is Jesus Christ.

saddened....

My sister emailed me Friday night with a news report that a prominent preacher had been alleged to have been praying a male escort for s3x and that drug use had been involved.

Saturday I read that he had stepped aside from leadership of his church, pending an investigative process and resigned as head of the NAE.

Today I read that he has been removed permenantly from his church leadership and also see and read that he has admitted to some of the allegations re drug use and receiving a massage from his accuser.

More here....

Whatever the case may be, I am immensely saddened and sobered by this. A man of great influence and prominence - yet none of us are ever beyond temptation.

May God grant comfort and peace to Ted, his wife and family, church members, his accuser and all who have been touched by this tragedy.
May there be repentance where there needs to be, and reconciliation with God and others.
May all of us be reminded that we are equally susceptible to the deception of sin and may we continue to build authentic, trustworthy and accountable friendships.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.........

I'll let your beard grow out

In journalling yesterday, I read this cool passage where King David had sent some his men to tell a new neighbouring king know they could be friends - just like King David had been with the new king's dad.

However, the new young king decided it was a ploy and so sent David's men back with their beards plucked out and their robes cut off up to their buttocks, and mobilised his armies, and neighbouring armies, to fight Israel.

So, suddenly David was faced with a bit of an international incident and had to get Israel's army happening and ready to defend their nation.

However, in the midst of all this, we read "When David heard what had happened to the men, he sent messengers to tell them, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow out, and then come back.” For they felt deep shame because of their appearance."

And I really loved the fact that David was not just not a warrior king, but a shepherd to his people. He cared about the areas they were vulnerable in, and gave them the time and space to heal and grow.

That's the type of leader I want to be.

Moment of crisis

I have an exam in 7 days.
I have just found out season 3 of Lost has started and 4 episodes are now available.

Need I say more?
Crisis, crisis, crisis

My guilty pleasure

I have a confession to make...
I love Fear Factor.
I know it's corny.
I know it deliberately
I know it shameless picks good looking women and makes them do swimsuit necessary challenges.
I know.
But i love it!
I even planned my dinner break from writing my essay to coincide with Fear Factor last night.

My name is Ruth and I'm a 'fear factor'oholic.

Great connect group

What a great connect group I am a part of!
I love those who seek truth, and question in order to understand.
What a good night tonight was - you are all legends!

Continuing the "does God want you to be rich" conversation

Well first of all - great comments on the previous post which referenced the Time article.

Laura made a really good point in the comments which I have been dwelling on for a while, and I have also just returned from a conference at which one of the speakers made a comment which was rather provocative - particularly with regard to what we had been talking about.

I totally agree that we need to start giving out of the little we have. In fact, most charities like the Red Shield Appeal find that the richer suburbs are often the least generous.

One of the speakers at conference said that there is nothing we can do to help others if we don't have money/resources. I disagreed at first, but then he went on to explain... we cannot send a letter of encouragement as we need to pay for the paper and postage stamp. We cannot call them as we need to pay for the phone call. We cannot go and visit them as we need to pay for the petrol.

And I started to think he was right. While money is not the only thing necessary to help others, without it, we can't really do anything. We can't even survive ourselves in order to help others.

Even Mother Theresa would have needed financial support for her own needs - the place she lived, the sheets for her bed, the food she ate etc and also which allowed her to live and care for people, to feed them, to give them medicine and shelter....

I'm still thinking and dwelling on this and value your thoughts.

Worst Slurpee ever

Tryed to get a slurpee after Fusion last night - cause when you feel like a slurpee, there's not much else that satisfies.

Maccas at Brookside couldn't sell me on - they're not allowed to at the moment cause they don't taste very good. Go figure!

So we went to the service station on Samford Rd. Big mistake.

So the moral of the story is - don't buy a slurpee from the service station on Samford Road. It's not just worth it.

A great approach to spiritual warefare

This is a great article on spiritual warefare...
It's by Rick Warren and is worth a read. It's not too long :-)


http://www.pastors.com/RWMT/default.asp?id=279&artid=9862&expand=1
I'll blog some of my thoughts soon...
have to go out now.

Dangerous Blessings - LeadershipJournal.net

What great timing..
There is a really good article I just read today about how we deal with money and blessing!

Dangerous Blessings - LeadershipJournal.net

To those who love Roland

I need to find a temporary home for Rolly in couple of weeks so he leaves Melody alone for the 2-3 weeks he would otherwise find her VERY attractive.

If you have a doggy proof backyard, and would be interested in doggy-sitting, let me know!

And it's back

Here's a debate that doesn't go away for long....
Let's kill people who are sick, disabled, less than perfect... they are an economic, emotional and resources drain...

Whoops sorry - it's about compassion and dignity.

While in some ways I am sure that some people who jump on the euthanasia bandwagon do so out of a basic premise of what they would term compassion, they seem to lack the ability to either extrapolate what they are advocating, or to learn from past history - or even current events.

What starts as 'let's only allow euthanasia to those who are in their last few weeks, and are in terrible pain', becomes - let's allow anyone who is suffering to get doctors to help them end their life. And then, just as happened in Holland, an otherwise healthy, 26 year old woman, suffering from depression, could ask her doctor to kill her - and he did.

Those who support euthanasia - also erroneously termed 'death with dignity' are in fact being incredibly insulting to those in our society who suffer from disabilities.

Their premise is that life is unbearable and not worth living once your body fails you to a point and you have the extreme indignity of others having to look after your bodily functions.

What message does this send to those who suffer disabilities and need personal care? Is their life inherently undignified and worth ending...? Are we suggesting it is perhaps immoral for those people NOT to choose to end their life because of the pressure they place on family and friends, and the time, money and energy needed to care for them?

This could be any of us, at any time. We are only one accident away from living this way. And it is inherently wrong for someone to suggest we would be better dead, than having someone clean us.