Erasing the mistakes

I lied.

Whoops :-(

Last post I said that I added the links and banners to this blog. Well I'm sorry to say; that was incorrect. It was Saemon who added those for me. I want to say a huge thank you to him and give credit where it's due.

Thanks Saemon!

Acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly

As you can see I added some links to my blog, links with a social justice theme. Also I've added the "Make Poverty History" banners. This is because on Sunday we had a presentation about the Micah Challenge at my church. I was really interested in hearing about it but unfortuately I was distracted during the presentation trying to entertain a very mischievious toddler. Incidentally she was very cute and I enjoyed it but I was disappointed to miss hearing about the Micah Challenge. A few statistics did make it through to me though and convince me (not that I needed much convincing) that this campaign is well worth all the support it can get.

One of the facts (and an image) that I saw that sunk in the most was that the UN has suggested that countries give 0.7% and to halve world poverty Australia doesn't even have to give that much; 0.5% is enough. However we give neither. IN 2004 - 2005 our aid spending was only 0.26%.

Anything is possible if we support this important cause. So please check out the sites and get involved. Even if it's only to get a white wrist band and wear it so that awareness is raised.

Disclaimer: While some of the figures were taken from the Micah Challenge website for some I am relying on my memory and as I am still tired from a big weekend that is probably not very wise! So look at one of the various sites I've referenced for more accurate information!

What is Worship?

This question has been on my mind this year. It started at NCYC in January. There were two things there that really made me ask what I considered to be worship. The band at the evening services and a 'slaying in the spirit' incident. (For more details see my Hillsong Bashing post and Saemon's Pull Your Head In post within that.) It really confronted me on my comfort zones and how I feel about different churchs' services.

Then in our monthly youth services (SN@P Services) we had a "Back to Basics" theme and asked a different question each service. What is the church? What is Prayer? What is Worship? What is Communion? The sermon about worship really rang true for me. It looked at Romans Chapter 12 which is probably my favourite passage in the Bible.

1So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 2Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
3I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

Usually I prefer the NIV to the Message translation but for this particular verse I prefer this Message version. I like the ... 'everyday-ness' of it.

The lesson that I took from the sermon was that while we call "Worship" singing and praising during our Sunday Services (or other times) we can (and should?) worship God in everything that we do. This is something that resonates with me. I'm not perfect nor will I ever be (which is not a defeatist attitude but a realistic one.) but I can aim to be and to improve myself and to do everything to the best of my ability to please my Heavenly Father. Not because I should or I have to because I want to.

Of course I fail at this but I'm still trying and I'll keep trying .. but only with God's help. He will help me to live as an act of worship.

So how about you? What is worship to you?

Oh! What a Beautiful Morning! Oh! What a Beautiful Day!

I am in the best mood today! The sun is shining! It's going to be 18 degrees! Which, yes in winter in Melbourne is a fabulous thing! I got to work this morning and there was a car park that was closer than usual to my office (which helps when I'm rushing to my car to try leave quickly and beat the peak hour traffic home). And I reverse parallel parked into it on my first try. Usually, because I have a small car I get a tiny spot and have to try about 3 times to get in to the park properly. Then the lift was on the ground floor when I got to it, instead of six. Just lots of little things so I'm smiling.

I think a big part of it comes down to the weather. Isn't it interesting how the sun can cheer us up? Not always but it's often a big factor. Especially for me. If it's dreary and horrible tomorrow I suspect I'll be a bit let down. Today I'm very hopeful that the spring weather is just around the corner or even beginning now. And the days are getting longer. I can now make it home from work without turning my lights on. (Which decreases the threat of leaving them on and running down the battery!) Which means that soon I might be able to come home from work and still have time to go for a walk while the suns up.

I remember vaguely from my psychology days that there is a physiological reaction to do with light that could explain it. Ties in to why we sleep better when there's no light. At least I think so, a little hazy about year 12 psych these days. :)

Talking (writing) about psych. I was listening to The Cage on Triple M this morning and their 'can of worms' segment was along the line of the psych "Nature versus Nurture" debate. Do our genetics or the people around us contribute more to our growth and development? Brig was asking what listeners would do if they found out that their 7 year old child was not actually their due to a mix up in the hospital when the child was born.

Is the child really yours if they don't have your genetics? Do you find your biological child and its parents and swap children? Could you give up the child who after 7 years is 'yours'? How much does this mess with the minds of the two families and in particular the kids?

My best thought was that similar to the case of adoption, if both families are happy then keep the child they have raised but spend time and get to know their biological child and form relationship with them too. It would still be difficult and it would be such a 'delicate' situation.

Hmm... food for thought.

My Say - "The Hillsong Question" Part 2

After everything I wrote yesterday I figured I should actually post my opinion on what I called "The Hillsong Question"! Not sure if that will detract from my anti-bashing stance yesterday but here goes.

Firstly I think Hillsong is genuine in what they say. I don't believe in any way that they are trying to trick people into anything whether that be giving them money, attending their church or even Christianity.

Also, one thing that got me respecting them was that they stated (numerous times) that they are not an example church to be copied. They do not want 100s of mini-Hillsongs springing up around Australia (and the world). They advocate creating a church that works for the particular congregation. Just because a church is successful here does not mean it will be everywhere. I know that churches still copy the Hillsong model but I like the fact that the leadership of Hillsong isn't saying "we have all the answers, come and be like us!"

Having said that, their 'prosperity teaching' worries me. Being prosperous in itself is not a bad thing but I'm not too sure about being blessed by God or loved by God because you have given money to Him (His church). I could be wrong and getting my messages mixed but I got the impression on some occasions at Hillsong conference. I think, no I know, that God loves us unconditionally and while I believe that giving money to the church/a charity pleases Him and continues His work, I don't think that makes Him love us more. (And consequently not giving doesn't make him love us less.) To me, God blesses us because he loves us, not because we give 10%, 20% or 50% of our pay to the church.

I love a lot of their music, it's easy to sing, easy to learn and it has really helped to bring church music up to date and more accessible for other. However sometimes I worry about the feeling of the services and 'worship' in them. I found myself crying for absolutely no reason during the 'worship.' To me, it felt like I was being emotionally led and I wasn't sure why. It was too emotional and I couldn't pin down the reason. If that had been a once off feeling then I think I wouldn't have been so worried/cynical but it was at every service and I found that it was a bit much.

I think in that emotion-charged environment we can sing words and not realize what we're singing and consequently not mean what we're singing. Maybe that's not a big deal for a lot of people but it is for me. I believe God takes us at our word and if I sing (or talk) about wanting to sacrifice myself for him (for example) then he can and will take me up on that. Now if I sing that without meaning it and knowing what I'm saying ... well, then I'm in trouble! :-) And does it make it fake if I don't know what I'm saying? I want to be honest and real with my Heavenly Father and therefore if I don't agree with something I'm singing in a song, then I don't' want to sing it to him. You could argue that I sing pop songs about inconsequential things that I don't necessarily agree with and you'd be right. But the difference there is that it's not part of a church service/"worship" time that I'm committing to God. (I don't like using the term 'worship' for the service because I believe that 'worship' is everything we do ... but that's for another post, another time.)

Also with the worship I experienced at Hillsong conference. For me, it's kinda like losing control. Yes, that can be a good thing but like I said, I don't agree with not knowing why I'm happy/sad/crying/laughing etc. in a worship service. You could argue that I'm just a control freak and maybe you're right, but that's how I feel!

Basically I think Hillsong does some great things and that people who attend the conferences/church/college or whatever, should go with a discerning mind and pray about it, asking God to show them what they need to see and to help them sort the good from the bad.

Whew! There's a bit there. Honestly I don't' think I've said all that I want to say and how I want to say it but that's a start. I hope I have refrained from bitching and "Hillsong-bashing" because otherwise, what kind of a hypocrite am I?!

If anyone wants to comment about this topic which can get quite passionate, please keep it nice! This is just my opinion, it's not right or wrong it just my opinion. I might be mistaken about some of the facts and assumptions I'm making but an opinion in itself is personal and not a fact, so don't degenerate to name calling and I'll do the same for you. Thanks ;-)

"Hillsong Bashing"

At the risk of being unoriginal I'm going to add my two cents worth to the "Hillsong Question" that crops up periodically and is currently rearing it's head all through blogdom.

I was reading The Merry Rose's blog yesterday and she had a link to one such discussion. After attending Hillsong Conference in 2003 I have kept my eye on these discussions and on occasion, commented on them (http://www.livingroom.org.au/blog/archives/hillsong.php). Anyway, yesterday I followed the link from Rose's blog and went to signposts where the discussion is going strong. http://www.signposts.org.au/index.php/archives/2005/08/01/bryan-and-bobbie-an-australian-story/

Guaranteed I only read some of the older comments (I wasn't wearing my glasses and couldn't keep going without getting a headache!) but I was starting to get a little worried that, when it comes to this issue, the tendency to "Hillsong-bash" is very high. Don't get me wrong, I think it's good to discuss this and I include myself as someone with a strong opinion on this topic and also someone with the habit of "Hillsong-bashing", so I don't wish to put anyone down for having their say. It just worries me that there is a very fine line between disagreeing with someone and backstabbing/bitching about them.

This was particularly challenging for me this January. I attended NCYC in Adelaide with a group from my church including Saemon (http://www.philosaephy.blogspot.com). At the time there was an issue with the worship and the band leading worship. What delegates were experiencing at each worship service was more along the lines of Hillsong type worship than what NCYC has involved in the past and it was making many people angry, upset, uncomfortable etc. I had various discussion with people about how I felt and often we became quite animated and passionate about it. However, in retrospect, we often became ... nasty, ... mean, in short not very Christlike, which is something I'm ashamed of. This was only really pointed out to me once I returned home and read Saemon's post http://philosaephy.blogspot.com/2005_01_01_philosaephy_archive.html called Pull You're Head In!! Then I realized how bitchy I was (and unfortunately can still be).

BUT (yes, there is a but) I am not advocating that we avoid having our say, just that we don't let it degenerate to name calling and behavior that is not pleasing to God. (That sounds very formal but you know what I'm trying to say!)

So, through all this Hillsong debate I am avoiding the temptation to do a similar thing again and I pray that other people don't make the same (very human) mistake that I made (make).

[And Saemon, take this a proof that your 'musings' are read and appreciated, even when people don't make a comment ;)]

Sick of being sick

I am sick :( Just yesterday I declared that I would not allow myself to be sick and that any person who was sick should stay away from me! And yet here I am - less than 24 hours later and my head hurts. Feeling very sorry for myself and dosing my sore throat with Soothers and Butter Menthols. *Sigh*

Anyway I thought I'd really better post something as it's been so long. Just to say for the few of you who do read this that I am alive and (relatively) well. :)