This Broccoli Must Die!!!

Thirty Day Musical Theatre Challenge #1

2011-06-15T14:26:00.000+10:00

A Song from the First Musical I Saw

I am a Pirate King - Pirates of Penzance

I believe this was the first musical I saw live. It was at least the first musical I can remember seeing live. I do believe I heard and was familiar with the Phantom of the Opera before this but as it has had quite an influence on me I'm sure it'll come up another time in my 30 day challenge.

I really love this production of 'Pirates'. The cast is amazingly talented and they bring an incredible energy to the show. I particularly like Jon English as the Pirate King and his interaction with the conductor. As well as that there is a scene where Toni Lamont (Ruth) gets the giggles from something that Jon English has said and once she gets control again they have to repeat the line and start again. Through it all Simon Gallagher (Fredrick) keeps his cool and does not break. It may not be professional to 'break' or add little unscripted jokes or tricks to a performance but I love it when it happens. I really enjoy seeing the actor behind the character in moments like these.

This version is the same version that my parents took my and brother and I to see when we were young. It was filmed and played on the TV a little later and mum taped it for us. Brother and I used to watch it again and again until mum was sick of it. He liked the pirates and the fighting, I liked the singing and dancing. We both agreed not to listen to the slower and 'boring' songs in the middle of the first act and fast forwarded through those bits. :-)

After awhile we moved on and stopped watching the video for years. It go so that the video got taped over or thrown out. Last year for some reason I wanted to watch it again and bought myself the DVD. Since then I've put it on when I'm feeling a bit 'blah' and the music and the action always manage to give me a lift.

Day 16 - Making a Wish to Create a World of Difference

2011-03-09T01:46:00.000+11:00

I'm submitting myself for the Vodafone Australia's World of Difference Program 2011.

The short version of this is that Vodafone will pay 5 people to work for their chosen charity for a year in order that they can make a 'world of difference'.

My application is to work for 'Make-A-Wish Australia'. I could easily go on about the amazing work that they do for children with life-threatening illnesses but instead I encourage you to find out for yourself by visiting their website. I was incredibly inspired when I looked at everything they do and the support they are able to offer to children.

Applications include a video explaining why you want to make a 'world of difference' so I've put mine here for anyone interested to have a look.

Day 15 - Dancing Up a Storm

2011-03-09T01:25:00.000+11:00

Written for Wednesday2nd of March 2011.

Most people who know me know about how much I love my dancing. This hobby (some may call it an obsession) started in 2008 when I was advised to take up a hobby that would be completely separate from my demanding job. I can't remember why I decided to try dance lessons but that decision literally changed my life.

These days I'm still dancing but not as much as during 'the early days' when the 'obsession' was greatest. I dance three days in the week and still participate in concerts and balls as they roll around but I don't dance as much as I used to. I do want to get back into my private lessons so that I can work towards performing my Gold Medal.

Apart from the steps that I dance I've learnt some interesting lessons through dancing. I've learnt:

to value myself more
patience!
perseverance
how to work with a partner when you're not communicating on the same wavelength!
stage presence and showmanship
working within a group
how to create a costume for as little money as possible! (I.e. Ask mum to make it for me. Hehe.)

So far all those lessons and more, thanks to my friends, my dance teacher and the other staff and students at Dance Dynamics. (Yes, they can have a plug for it all.)

Day 14 - Dog Day Afternoon

2011-03-09T00:55:00.000+11:00

Written for Tuesday 1st of March 2011

This afternoon 'Boyfriend' and I took my friend's dog 'Bix' for a walk - he was one very excited Golden Retriever!

Given that I am used to walking little Shelties or 'miniture Lassies' having an energetic and larger made it feel like I was being taken for a walk rather than walking 'Bix'. (How's that for a overused clique?)

'Bix' is such a beautiful dog with a wonderful and loyal temperament and he's just like a giant teddy bear. As soon as you put your hand on him to pat him, he'll sit or lie down at your feet and just wait for pats or hugs. And another added plus is that he and 'my' puppy dog Tishka (who actually lives with my parents, but still likes me best!) really get on well.

Walking 'Bix' was lots of fun and I'm looking forward to doing it again, but yes it did make me miss my loyal Tishka, so today's photo is of her. (Sorry it's not a great photo.)

Day 13 - Cleanliness is next to Godliness ... don't think that's how I'm gonna get cloes to God

2011-03-07T00:57:00.000+11:00

If you haven't noticed already, I'm back dating a bit here. This post was actually for Monday 28th of February.

Yesterday felt like spring cleaning day at my house.

When we moved, 'Housemate' and I agreed that we would have a cleaning deal. Each week we are responsible for either cleaning the bathroom and kitchen or cleaning the floors and dusting the whole house. We have the whole week to do the job and then the following week things swap around and we do the other role. Given that our cleaning procedures at the last place consisted of 'when we feel like it', or 'when things got so disgusting we couldn't stand it any more' or 'people are coming over, we need to clean', this is a big and promising step for us both.

So yesterday we scrubbed, we brushed, we sprayed and we hosed down. After all that effort it felt great! I keep forgetting how great a feeling of accomplishment we get from the basic household chores. I'm also reminded of this now that we no longer have a dishwasher and must do the washing by hand (we definitely live in the dark ages now). But it seems to work better ... well one week in!

Let's see how weeks, two, three, four and fifty-two go!

Day 12 - Oh Brother!

2011-03-03T01:34:00.000+11:00

Tonight I cooked up a storm and my brother and sister-in-law came over to have dinner with me and 'Boyfriend'. It was really nice to be able to cook up something and sit down together at my really nice dining table. (Bought from eBay but pretty much exactly what I'd wanted and I got it for only $150 instead of over $1000 I'd be looking to pay if I bought it brand new!)

It was a simple dinner (my cooking skills aren't that adventurous!) but we were able to talk about lots of different things during the meal. Plus 'Brother' and 'Sister-in-law' really liked the new unit and I felt good because it was neat and clean. 'Housemate' has been talking a lot about how this is a great place for entertaining and today I had my first chance to test that theory. :)

Day 11 - Green Thumb, Green Shins, Green Legs, Green Everything!

2011-03-03T00:42:00.000+11:00

Today was spent cleaning the garden of our old rental place 'The Castle'. It was a big job and took us all afternoon but now it's looking spick and span, ready for inspection ... at least the outside of it.

While the others did a lot of weeding and cleaning windows I got out Dad's lawnmower and whippersnipper. I am so grateful for that mower and whippersnipper!

While we were living there I took it as my job to mow the lawns - something that I'd never done before. I'll admit that a couple of times my dad came by and mowed for us but I did do the majority of the mowing during our lease and I enjoyed it!

There were a couple times when I was feeling really down and getting the mowing done gave me a great sense of achievement. It also made me feel pretty good to do something that had been a 'boys job' around my house while growing up. On top of all that it was a workout that got me exercising and the endorphins going and that often led to me getting back into dancing, starting boxing or going to the gym.

Last Saturday and the final mowing job at 'The Castle' and learning how to start and use the whippersnipper brought those feelings back to me again... I might even miss it!

Day 10 - Ode to a Missing Hairbrush

2011-02-25T14:36:00.001+11:00

I'm in a bit of reflection phase at the moment I think, going back and looking at childhood things. Although today's post is about something I discovered as an adult...

VEGGIE TALES!

For those not 'in the know' Veggie Tales is a TV show for kids with talking vegetables that teaches kids good morals and biblical stories. It also teaches kids that 'God made you special and he loves you very much!'. Episodes are hosted by Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber and they help a child who has written in with a problem that they are having through a bible story that they tell with their veggie friends.

I'll admit it is a very silly thing to be interested in as an adult but I'm definitely not the only one! The people at Big Idea are like the people at Pixar who have the ability to write for children but have another layer that adults appreciate and love.

During each show there is a break and a segment called 'Silly Songs with Larry'. The point of these songs? Nothing ... but to make us laugh. One such song is the Hairbrush Song and it is this song that is running through my head today.

Narrator: "Now it's time for silly songs with Larry.
The part of the show where Larry comes out and sings a silly song.
Our curtain opens as Larry, having just finished his morning
bath, is searching for his hairbrush. Having no success, Larry cries out..."

Larry: "Oh, where is my hairbrush? Oh where is my hairbrush? Oh, where,
oh, where, oh, where, oh, where, oh, where, oh, where, oh, where, oh,
where oh, where ... is my hairbrush?"

Narrator: "Having heard his cry, Pa Grape enters the scene. Shocked and
slightly embarrassed at the sight of Larry in a towel, Pa regains his
composure and reports ..."

Pa: "I think I saw a hairbrush back there!"

Larry: "Back there is my hairbrush. Back there is my hairbrush. Back
there, back there, oh, where, back there, oh, where, oh, where, back
there, back there, back there ... is my hairbrush!"

Narrator: "Having heard his joyous proclamation, Junior Asparagus enters
the scene. Shocked and slightly embarrassed at the sight of Larry in a
towel, Junior regains his composure and comments ..."

Junior: "Why do you need a hairbrush? You don't have any hair!"

Narrator: "Larry is taken aback. The thought had never occurred to him.
No hair? What would this mean? What will become of him? What will become
of his hairbrush? Larry wonders ..."

Larry: "No hair for my hairbrush. No hair for my hairbrush. No hair, no
hair, no where, no hair, no hair, no hair, no where, back there, no hair
.. for my hairbrush!"

Narrator: "Having heard his wonderings, Bob the Tomato enters the scene.
Shocked and slightly embarrassed at the sight of Larry in a towel, Bob
regains his composure and confesses ..."

Bob: "Larry, that old hairbrush of yours ... Well, you never use it, you
don't really need it. So, well, I'm sorry ... I didn't know. But I gave
it to the Peach - 'cause he's got hair!"

Narrator: "Feeling a deep sense of loss, Larry stumbles back and laments..."

Larry: "Not fair for my hairbrush. Not fair! My poor hairbrush. Not
fair, not fair, no hair, not fair, no where, no hair, not fair, not
fair, not fair! My little hairbrush!"

Narrator: "Having heard his lament, the Peach enters the scene. Himself
in a towel, both Larry and the Peach are shocked and slightly
embarrassed at the sight of...each other. But recognizing Larry's
generosity, the Peach is thankful ..."

Peach: "Thanks for the hairbrush."

Narrator: "Yes, good has been done here. The Peach exits the scene.
Larry smiles, but, still feeling an emotional attachment for the
hairbrush, calls out ..."

Larry: "Take care of my hairbrush. Take care, oh my hairbrush. Take
care, take care, don't dare not care, take care, nice hair, no fair, take care, take care ... of my hairbrush."

Narrator: "The end!"

Maybe you've guessed that like Larry I've lost my hairbrush. Hopefully I find it before peach does ...

Day 9 - Under the Sea

2011-02-25T14:21:00.000+11:00

The first Disney movie I remember seeing at the movies was The Little Mermaid. Predictably afterwards I wanted to be Ariel and swim under the sea with Flounder and Sebastian the crab. (Forget Prince Eric, at 4 all I wanted was to have fun and beautiful red hair that swished about me!)

Recently I had a little chance to do that through my dancing. For the end of year ball I did a samba to a remix of 'Under the Sea'. Truthfully the choice of theme had little do with my childhood fantasy and more to do with the fact that the song had a excellent samba beat and tempo but I got into the theme of it dying my hair a beautiful (if not slightly shocking) red and getting a skirt that swished around me like a tail.

Two of my wonderful dancing friends returned from America with souvenirs for us all. Each of the girls were given a figurine of one of the Disney Princesses and mine was Ariel. So now I have a little figure of a dancing Ariel sitting on my shelf to remind me not only of good friends but of childhood dreams.

Day 8 - 'Bubles' of Fun

2011-02-24T00:47:00.000+11:00

Last night my friend 'H' and I went to the first Melbourne concert of Michael Buble's Crazy Love tour.

It was FANTASTIC!

He was so relaxed and friendly on stage and funny. Full of charm and a real performer as well as a singer. He can also move pulling out a Michael Jackson routine! Smoooooth... :)

'H' and I were very happy to hear all the songs that we wanted and predicted he would perform. We raised the roof during 'Home' and 'Everything' and I even had a bit of a Jive during 'Heartache Tonight'.

His encore was fantastic too and really showed his amazing voice ... I won't tell you how in case there's anyone reading who is going in the next few days. I've always loved and appreciated his covers and then his originals are really well written but never really thought about the quality of his voice. Well this encore opened my eyes to that!!!

Housemate saw it tonight with some friends and she summed it all up well... "he's just a cheeky bugger" and I loved every minute of it!

Day 7 - Sad shoes

2011-02-22T16:16:00.000+11:00

As part of fitting all my junk into a new smaller unit I have been practising being ruthless and culling a lot of things from my life. (Not a side of my personality that gets a lot of use!) I was putting away my shoes and found a pair of worn out dancing shoes.

Even though these shoes are stinky and falling to pieces they remind me of lots of fun and laughter with my friends. I started wearing these shoes in my private lessons, then when they got a little worn they moved on to being my shoes for group classes. They then became my shoes that were used for social dances as it didn't matter if I used them on bad surfaces because they were so trashed already.

It's not just fun times that these shoes remind me of but also the achievements I make in dancing. The weight loss that made me feel so good, the confidence I found in being able to literally 'strut my stuff' on the dance floor, the struggle and tears of learning new and difficult moves and the accomplishments when I finally 'got it'.

In the end I did manage to throw the shoes in the bin but I will still have those memories ... and I still have another 5 or 6 pairs of dance shoes! :)

P.S. Similar to what my shoe USED to look like ... they didn't even really resemble this by the end!

Day 6 - Fantastic Fridge

2011-02-22T16:00:00.000+11:00

It's amazing how a bit of cleaning can make you feel great. Our friend 'J' assisted with our move by cleaning out of fridge. I am amazed by how good a job she did and it's a pleasure to now open our fridge. Thank you again 'J'!

Day 5 - Baby Bliss

2011-02-22T15:56:00.000+11:00

On Sunday (aka the day I would've posted this had I had internet connection) I went to my cousin's Baby Shower. It was the first Baby Shower I've been to (I suspect the first of many!) and it was lots of fun.

One scary thing was that out of the four games played, I managed to win two of them ... after that I was kind of banned from playing any more games! :) This is the prize I received ... a bit of equipment if I'm ever allowed to baby-sit.

I also had to add this photo of the cake but it was just so awesome!

Day 4 - Magnificent Movers

2011-02-22T14:59:00.001+11:00

As I've mentioned in the last couple of posts I've been moving house over the last week. This has meant a) a lot of work, b) no internet access at the new unit (yet) and c) an amazing effort last Saturday from a fantastic group of friends.

We were able to move almost everything (except on armchair and the shelves, books etc. that I had taken over during the week) in one day and on Saturday evening Housemate and I pretty much had our unit set up.

So a HUGE thank you to our wonderful, wonderful helpers:

Day 3 - Water

2011-02-19T00:55:00.000+11:00

Today I have a love - hate relationship with water.

Firstly I burnt my finger on some steam as I took food out of the microwave. (Bad water.) It's nothing really bad but it hurts and is going to be annoying while I move things tomorrow. But then it was running my finger under cold water that helps to make it feel better and stop burning. (Good water.)

Then I did my last load of washing here at The Castle (Good water.) and put it on the line keeping my fingers crossed that it wouldn't rain ... stupid me. Now it is raining (of course) and I have to wear some of those clothes tomorrow as well as moving all the wet clothes to the new place. (Bad water.) I'm leaving them out on the line in the hope that it'll stop raining, be really windy and dry the clothes quickly before I get up tomorrow morning. I shall keep my fingers crossed and see who is the winner ... water, me or both of us!

Day 2

2011-02-17T18:03:00.000+11:00

Today I moved some more things into our new place, including my shelves and the books, CDs and knick knacks that go on them. My wonderful, wonderful parents came with their trailer and helped me transport them.

So today I have a photo of my parents who drive me crazy, [like any good parents should :)], but they are always there offering me support and loyalty. Today's effort is pretty typical of them and one of the things they do quite unthinkingly. It's probably also one of the things that I take for granted in that I always assume they will be there to help me. I'm actually pretty damn lucky. So thanks mum and dad, not just for your help today but for always being available and helpful without being asked.

(P.S. I know it's a pretty old photo but I thought it would be more interesting for people who know us to see an older photo than a current one.)

Photo Journal: 365 Days in my life - Day 1

2011-02-17T01:21:00.004+11:00

A friend of mine has a photo journal on his facebook page - 365 days of Gratitude & Happiness. I thought it was an awesome idea and as he stole the idea from his friend, he's given me permission to use the idea again and create my own journal.

What I want to achieve from this:

Recognise the things, places, people, events, activities, images and memories that make me happy.
Get in the habit of daily reflection
Be disciplined to blog each day.
By reflecting of the positives in my life feel more positive myself.

So here goes day 1.
(N.B. It may technically be the 17th of Feb as it's 1.30am but I'm going to count today as from the 16th of February.)

I'm thankful that I'm moving house! I'm sick and tired of my current house. It's been okay for a first place but it's now outlived it's usefulness and is too big, too old and run down. So we're moving this Saturday and I'm grateful that we're going to a nice, clean little unit down that road a little way. (Bit of a negative spin but I really am looking forward to our new unit!)

Snapshot of Melbourne

2008-09-09T15:21:00.000+10:00

Yesterday afternoon I was on my back to the NCYC09 office from the Synod office in the CBD of Melbourne. It's just a quick tram ride up Swanston St and yesterday I managed to hop on a tram just before the peak hour crowds appeared.

I was sitting on this tram and lamented my recently departed iPod when I began to pay attention to my fellow travelers.

Sitting diagonally opposite me was a man on his mobile. I think this man was India and the conversation he was having was in what I presume was Hindi. Behind me was an Irish man talking with people he obviously knew but not very well, about his Welsh friends. We also passed Chinatown and were traveling along parallel to the Italian restaurants in Lygon St.

As I was sitting in the middle of all of this, it occurred to that this what a great snapshot of what Melbourne can offer to NCYC's 'Converge' theme.

There are heaps of things to do around Melbourne that demonstrate some of the cultural variety that, living here, I often take for granted. A quick poll around the office and the responses about things that showed an assortment of culture/s in Melbourne included:

the museum (I've been to an exhibition about Aboriginal history that was fascinating)
the MCG (AFL being a culture unto itself!)
walking along Lygon St and checking out all the restaurants offering different cuisine
the immigration museum
dinner in Chinatown
shopping on Chapel street or Bridge Road (may
and one of my favourites, Brunswick St (especially Trampoline ice-cream!

During NCYC itself, we will be experiencing some of Melbourne during the Submersion day. What you see depends on your submersion but we will also be gathering at a public space around Melbourne for the Public Rally that evening.

There's so much to do and many websites to check out for ideas. If you've got the chance, take some time before or after NCYC to see the sights and experience some of these varied things and get a snapshot of Melbourne's cultures.

God moments

2008-07-25T12:08:00.001+10:00

Mick sent me a joke this morning which I quite enjoyed and got me thinking. (Yes, a rare thing for a Friday!)

A couple had two little boys, ages 8 and 10, who were excessively mischievous. They were always getting into trouble and their parents knew that, if any mischief occurred in their town, their sons were probably involved.

They boys' mother heard that a clergyman in town had been successful in disciplining children, so she asked if he would speak with her boys. The clergyman agreed, but asked to see them individually. So the mother sent her 8-year-old first, in the morning, with the older boy to see the clergyman in the afternoon.

The clergyman, a huge man with a booming voice, sat the younger boy down and asked him sternly, "Where is God?”

They boy's mouth dropped open, but he made no response, sitting there with his mouth hanging open, wide-eyed. So the clergyman repeated the question in an even sterner tone, "Where is God!!?" Again the boy made no attempt to answer. So the clergyman raised his voice even more and shook his finger in the boy's face and bellowed, "WHERE IS GOD!?"

The boy screamed and bolted from the room, ran directly home and dove into his closet, slamming the door behind him. When his older brother found him in the closet, he asked, "What happened?"

The youngest brother gasped for breath and replied, "We are in BIG trouble this time dude. God is missing and they think WE did it!"

So that got me thinking about where God is in NCYC09. Yes I hope he or she is there in the Worships, Whole Convention Gatherings, Public Rally, Bible Studies, Electives, Community times, Submersions, Small Group time etc. In fact I think that God will be in those things and we'll see this if we make the time and space for her/him. But for me the more exciting possibilities are dinner times, lunches, friendships, jokes, bus transfers. The unexpected God moments.

I've often felt my 'God moments' during conversations with the people I meet an NCYCs. Sometimes these are conversations with people who I don't ever see again, but they're still precious moments.

So I wonder where others have had these God moments?

Remember your pride

2008-06-23T14:24:00.001+10:00

As was recently pointed out to me, I quite like a musical and a soundtrack. So recently I was listening to The Lion King in my car. (The stage musical, not the Disney movie.) One of the songs is called Shadowlands. It is sung by Nala as she is leaving the Pridelands to search for food.

And where this journey may lead you
Let this prayer be your guide
Though it may take you so far away
Always remember your pride

For me this echoes what we will be doing in January as we converge together. We're not sure where the journey will lead us, but we will be guided by prayer. We could be going to far away places (literally as well as figuratively) but part of what makes this journey so cool is that we don't forget where we came from.

"Always remember your pride" says to me that we should remember where we come from and who we come from because these things shape us and help to make us who we are. We bring all that to whatever it is that we do and therefore we bring that to NCYC09 for other people to see, experience and to learn from us as well as us learning from them and their 'pride'. And of course what would it be if I didn't mention that to be able to have these new experiences with people from many different 'prides' all you need to do is register! http://ncyc.org.au/registration/

In the next week some of us will have a small taste of what it's like to converge at the NCYC09 Live Recording. Held on the 28th of June at Glen Waverley Uniting Church, this is going to be an awesome taste of the songs and what it's like to come together as a group for NCYC09. (Of course as there will be many more people at convention from across the country and world, the live recording will only be a small [but fantastic] taste.) So grab a group and come along ready to sing your hearts out and maybe appear on the NCYC09 Live Recording DVD!

About bringing some friends along. Think about those who are thinking about NCYC but haven't registered yet, those who are sure they can't come (we'll change their minds) and those of you who know how fantastic convention is going to be and just can't wait until January 3rd!

We'll also be having a live video cross to the a group without who there would be no 'Tastoria' or 'Vicmania'... Tassie! So don't miss out on your sneak peak of what NCYC09 will be like.

On the first day of Lent ...

2007-02-21T14:41:00.000+11:00

As today is the first day of Lent I've decided to 'take up' something for the next 40 days. Usually I give up something (generally chocolate and something else) but this year I've committed to writing in my journal each day over lent. This decision to 'start' instead of 'end' is partially because I haven't thought of anything to give up! Actually it's about focusing on developing new habits rather than the bad habits.

Journalling and blogging has been a habit I've fallen out of recently and I regret that. For me thinking things through and 'writing it out' is very helpful for me to understand myself, my experience and my reactions.

There might be many posts here or I might end up writing things straight in to the my journalling book - depending on whether I or not I feel the need to 'own' what I write for anyone to see!

Our evening service this Sunday night is asking people to give or take something up for Lent. I wonder if anyone else decides to make the most of the opportunity and how they go.

One day down ... 39 (plus Sundays) to go.

The other side of the door

2007-02-18T17:52:00.000+11:00

I've never been afraid to admit that I'm a Christian. Okay maybe 'never' is too big a statement but to my recollection I haven't been worried or embarrassed to admit that 'I go to church' or I believe all this 'God stuff'. Particularly recently. When people ask you what you do telling them that you work for a church or are studying a Bachelor and Arts/Bachelor of Theology... well it kinda gives it away. So it was really challenging for me to experience that kind of embarrassment during my Mission Immersion during NCYC.

Mission Immersions were a time for us to experience what mission opportunities there are. It was a look at a practical way to become an 'agent of change'. (The theme of NCYC '07.) So on the Friday of convention two or three small groups were joined together and we headed out around Perth for our Mission Immersion experience.

Activities varied. Some groups heard about refugees, learnt about the Micah Challenge, visited a women's prison, visited nursing homes or hospitals. My group hopped on a bus and after a half and hour hot and stuffy bus ride arrived at a community centre in the Perth suburbs.

We walked in and sat down (in the sun!) for our 'briefing'. I use the term lightly because it soon became apparent that although NCYC hadn't told us what we would be doing the Community Centre expected that we knew what they were talking about. We figured out that our task was to door knock.

My initial reaction to the was "No way! I am not knocking on random house doors and asking 'Do you know Jesus'?" I am not comfortable with that at all. To me that confrontational approach isn't the best way to invite people into a relationship with God/Jesus. (This is my blog, that's my opinion, you have the right to disagree!) This was complicated by the fact that I was a Community Leader and CLs had been told that we would have some leadership role during MIs. So I was facing doing something that I was totally uncomfortable with but having to lead by example if nothing else and encourage other to participate or talk to the Chaplain if they were confused.

Luckily it turned out while we were being asked to door knock, we were to ask people about the needs of the community so that the community centre could try to provide for those needs. Although I was still uncomfortable with the door knocking I felt a lot more comfortable asking those kind of questions.

We all headed out in our groups with a representative from the centre to accompany us. We were armed with sheets to fill in the answer to the questions, fliers to put in letter boxes of the people who weren't home and a spiel to explain who we were, what we were doing and more importantly a little about the community centre.

We were door knocking for about 2-3 hours and the reactions we got were pretty negative. There were some really nice people in the mix but it turns out that this community has people from churches and religious institutions at their doors up to twice a week. You can understand that some people weren't too patient with us! There was one particular person - a lady I think, who shut the door on us very decidedly when we got to the part of the spiel about belonging to a community centre that was being run by the Uniting Church. Similar things happened at many houses.

I can absolutely understand their reaction. Like anyone I'm usually on the receiving end of the 'great special', 'new idea', 'opportunity of a lifetime' when someone comes to the door with information. So it was really challenging to be in that 'pushy' position and not with a whole lot of choice on my side. What bothered me the most was that it was the 'church' bit that bothered people. I began to avoid saying that the church was run by the Uniting Church.

That reluctance to talk about the church really made me uncomfortable. It was quite a interesting situation for me. I'm still not sure what to do with this revelation. I think it was good for me to feel uncomfortable, hopefully I can understand a little more the people who do feel this reluctance. I guess if nothing else, that's a good thing to take from this experience.

And the winner is ... Converge!

2007-02-16T14:14:00.000+11:00

It's been awhile since I last posted. I don't think anyone has really been that worried about it but I have fallen out of the habit of blogging/journaling. As I need to keep journaling for my Period of Discernment I will have to get into the habit again. So I thought I could start by updating here.

NCYC '09 has now been officially launched at the final rally of NCYC '07. I hope to write some more on that another time but for now check out the fantabulous '09 website for details.

http://ncyc.org.au

NCYC '09

2006-10-09T13:54:00.000+10:00

The NCYC '09 website is online.

Visit

http://next.ncyc.org.au/

Walking to Cure Diabetes

2006-10-02T23:39:00.000+10:00

This is cut and pasted from the Walk to Cure Diabetes page but it's all true so please read and visit the site.

I'm participating in the 2006 Walk to Cure Diabetes, which raises money for type 1 diabetes research.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle. Around 140,000 Australian children and adults live with this incurable, chronic disease. An individual with type 1 diabetes needs up to six insulin injections every day, just to stay alive, as well as multiple finger prick blood sugar tests. That's why I am walking – to help find a cure.

Please support me in helping people with type 1 diabetes. You can donate by clicking on the link here.

The above is the official reasons for supporting the Walk to Cure Diabetes. They're all true. The more personal reason for me is that I believe we have a responsibility to do something to help this world and the others we share it with. This is something I can do. True it was brought to my attention by my friends who has diabetes but this is my small contribution

Fill in your own title

2006-10-01T00:29:00.000+10:00

I haven't posted in awhile because I have felt that I have nothing much that I want to write about. This is bad not because I delude myself to think that anyone is depending on me writing in my little blog but because the introspection that I do while blogging is good for me. However, today Crazy Purple Wombat let me know that she had posted on her depression. So I checked that out and have been ... inspired (not quite the right word) by what she's written.

I have mild depression - very mild and I'm very fortunate for that. I currently take a herbal tablet for it and thankfully have not had to look at taking antidepressants with all their (potential) side effects. So in reading and reflecting on what CPW has said, there's been a lot that I could relate to.

In addition to this I've been looking at old photos as research for my brother's 21st. Looking at them I can recognise time when I wasn't feeling like myself and I was as CPW so cleverly put it, doing a ‘passable impersonation of myself’ for the people around me. I can also recognise (and regret!) the stupid decisions I have made.

At times I really wish I could go back and explain to the people around me that were affected by my stupid decision what was happening for me at that time and why I did some of the things I did. As much as people may try, I don't think anyone will ever understand what was running through my head during some of those 'low' times (in more senses of the work 'low' that just the one!) and why I was acting 'weird'. Also they may understand and take that on board but I may not be able to see that they have done that. So there comes a point when I just need to let it go and realise that what happened, happened for a reason. Whether or not I appreciate that reason or regret the decisions made doesn’t matter. I still find that very hard to do and fully let go of these things and it's something I will keep working on.

CPW also mentioned 'maintaining' her depression which is something I can relate to. I hate having to be aware of how I'm feeling all the time. Having to wonder if I feel sad just because something has happened and that's an appropriate response or because I'm feeling a bit depressed at that point in time. I find it interesting that one of the clues that I'm not feeling so good is that I stop wearing make-up. I don’t' wear a whole lot on a good day but the act of caring about my appearance in that small way is an indicator that I feel okay or that I'm starting to not care again.

The problem is that if I don't keep an eye on things then I get surprised by an 'inappropriate over emotional reaction'. This happened to me on Thursday at work. I had spent the Monday-Wednesday at Synod, the state level meeting of the Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania. I had a great time, which is very strange and probably a little bit tragic as well! They days run from about 9am-9:30pm and I was exhausted by the time I went to work on Thursday morning. However I didn't realise how tired I was. So then when discussing a small 'hiccup' in my perceived ideas I burst in to tears. VERY EMBARASSING!

Normally that's not something that would have upset me. Maybe just made me uncomfortable or frustrated for awhile. However because I was over-tired I completely overreacted. I've tried explaining that to the others at work who were aware of what happened by I still feel like I haven't really explained it because feeling something and not being really sure why you're feeling it is so hard to grasp. And very frustrating to feel! At this point I remind myself of what I said before. It's happened, I can't change what happened and I need to stop worrying about people understanding or not understanding and just get on with life.

I'm so lucky that I have very mild depression. I pray that I have it under control and that I will never find out what it's like to have severe depression. I don't wish that on my enemies. I pray for people who do have to face the helplessness and trapped feelings of depression.

Thanks CPW for making me reflect on this today and helping me start to think things through enough to put them on 'paper'.

Thursday Thirteen: Things written in my diary

2006-08-27T15:30:00.000+10:00

Thirteen Things about Kimando

Thirteen Things Written In My Diary For This Week (which does not mean I will neccessarily do them)
1. BBQ with my small group
2. Meeting about a project I'm working on
3. Reminder to get up to date information for a meeting Tuesday night
4. Meeting Tuesday night
5. Stolen Identity's Gig on Wednesday Night - Ruby's Bar @ Highpoint
6. Breakfast catch up on Thursday morning
7. Meeting with my mentor Friday morning
8. Meeting on Friday afternoon
9. Youth Alive on Saturday
10. Dinner with high school friend Saturday night
11. A birthday
12. A prgram that is running at church on Sunday
13. The fact that I am rostered on to do prayer at church on Sunday morning.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. The Merry Rose

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Justice and Mercy - what are they?

2006-08-25T13:27:00.000+10:00

Yesterday morning, way too early I was at a breakfast where Tony Campolo and Tim Costello spoke. I was really thought-provoking and interesting, even if I did have to get up at 5am!

It was a 'discussion' rather than a presentation or speech and both men were asked:

What does 'justice' mean?

Whether acts of mercy are a band aid action?

How do Mercy and Justice meet?

They took this from the Micah 6:8 verse. Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God. A verse that is still with me after it being the theme of my first NCYC in 2001. (As Rhax says: 'Everything with me is NCYC.' So why should I disappoint him and have a post that doesn't mention NCYC?)

Anyway there were a couple of point that I though were worth writing down.

Campolo said:

Philippians 1 says that God will complete the good work we have begun. (Need to look that up for myself when I have a minute - ie. not now!)
Justice and mercy have come from his prayer time. (Even more indication for me that quiet reflection with God is so important!)
Prayer has often become just a list of demands. (Big challenge for me there.)
Our attitude should be: Not am I noble enough to serve but am I worthy. (Big challenge for me undertaking a year of service!)
"When mercy becomes policy it becomes justice".
"Sooner or later mercy forces you to face justice."

Costello said:

To the Right justice is retribution, to the Left redistribution (Social Justice). Fundamentally the same: There is a God who holds us responsible.
"Justice is giving to people what they deserve. Mercy is giving people more than they deserve." (That is my favorite or most challenging thought for the day.)
"You can't carry out the The Great Commission without carrying out The Great Commandment."

So there is a lot of food for thought. It's really got me asking what my definitions of 'justice' and 'mercy' are. I think I really like Costello's 'what people deserve and more than what people deserve' statement. For me 'mercy' has been an emotion that has inspired an action. 'Justice' has been reorganizing situations/events/laws/whatever to make things fair (although no one ever promised life would be fair) or to make things more equal. It's been a fight or protest or struggle though not in a violent way.

Hmm, plenty to think about. Really gets me asking what does it really mean to 'act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with my God'.

Stealing Age's Rant

2006-08-24T10:15:00.000+10:00

I'm nicking things of More Praxis again! This time it's a rant that Age wrote for The Upper Room Project

I love a good rant!

Age’s Bible Rant – My God! My God! Why have they domesticated me!
Sometimes you need to escalate conflict to bring about justice:

The domestication and the subtle cultural captivity of the teachings of Jesus often annoys me (especially when I discover that I have been part of that process)

One of my favourites is how we use the saying ‘go the extra mile and turn the other cheek. Just the other day I saw an add in a health food shop window - A woman jogging with the words “Go the extra mile!” As if Jesus was talking about jogging. And I’m sure we all have heard Christians and conservative politicians time and time again say, “We should turn the other cheek!” Of course what they mean is “don’t rock the boat, just be nice and let the important people do and decide what is right.” And so in the spirit of Jesus I would like to say “F*** off! And use someone else’s teachings to support the status co and suppress civil disturbances”

The turn the other cheek passage and go the extra mile do not tell us to sit back passively in the face of violence or to up hold a good work ethic to impress the boss for that raise or even to jog to get fit.

Look it up :Mt 5:38-45

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.

Firstly in this passage the followers are not doing the striking, compelling the mile or suing the clothes of others. It is written in solidarity with those at the receiving end.

When someone strikes you on the right cheek turn the left – Turn the left also. To be struck on the right cheek you either have to be backhanded or hit with the Middle Eastern “poo” hand – the left. The call to turn the left cheek is a resistance that escalated the conflict to regain humanity. The challenge of the left cheek, the second blow, reveals the less than equal status that the striker holds them in. It says treat me as your equal or at least as a human being. What’s the worst that could happen? You get bashed but show up the oppressor’s attitudes and take back your human dignity non-violently.

The Roman Soldiers could ‘compel’ those under its power to carry their gear for one mile no more. The idea being that the soldiers could go further and those under its power had to live with being their donkeys. A Jesus teaching takes the donkey status of people and forces the Roman to see them as people even a threat. What happens when the peasant says, “no I will keep carrying the weapons and gear beyond this marker” “It’s too heavy for you”??? The Soldier has to assess if this is a trap and will he get into trouble. Thoughts like: ‘Is that peasant is running off with my weapons – who is around the corner waiting – what if my commander hears I have broken the law by compelling a second mile?’ The soldier would chase after his gear and take it back . If everyone took Jesus advice they would think twice about compelling the first mile.

The idea that you should give your undies also to one suing you shames the one taking all you had. In Hebrew culture the one looking on the naked person is shamed. Remember Noah after he got drunk and passed out nude? The son that looked and laughed was punished and the others walked backwards to cover his nakedness. A nude person walking through Jerusalem because the rich guy took all he had – shames the rich man and show his practises to the world. The only way to regain his honour would be to chase and restore the naked man.

Questions to ponder

Where do you see people being treated less than human and in need of their honour/dignity/humanity returned to them?
Who is perceiving them and keeping them as less than image bearers of God / people?
Which non-violent Jesus strategy may give us a way to regain our humanity?
When did we last domesticate Jesus to fit our image of what he should be?

AA = Church?

2006-08-18T13:43:00.000+10:00

A little while ago I was reading a devotional/short stories book and came across one about Alcoholics Anonymous being like a church. It was really intriguing.

Before I go on I should say that I've lent the book to a friend and either haven't got it back or I'm not sure where I put it so my memory is a bit vague. I'll have to update this post and provide the name of the book and author when I get it back/find it!

The writer spoke about how a friend of his found AA to provide the pastoral care that he needed in the way churches have done and continue to do. I've been thinking a lot about pastoral care at the moment as I'm on a team that's organizing pastoral care for an upcoming conference. The idea of AA being a church and 'beating' churches at pastoral care in challenging as we do our organization.

I know it's not a competition! But it starts me asking questions. What does AA offer that a church can't? Perhaps lack of judgment? What can churches offer that can't be found elsewhere? What can we learn about pastoral care and support from organizations that aren't run by religious groups?

Some interesting questions there. The idea of judgment is one that I think we need to be aware of. Do churches judge people? Or more important do they appear to judge people? Acceptance and grace are such an important aspects of the person of Jesus Christ are we modeling that in our churches and in our pastoral care?

I think churches get a bad rap in society for being judgmental. Unfortunately I think that's often been deserved. How do we challenge that idea? What can I do?

I guess to try and change that I have to start with myself because really, where else do I start? I need to be more accepting. I need to remember not to judge people because I don't want to be judged myself. (I'd come across as a terrible person in some cases and I'm not really that terrible!)

Acceptance and grace. There's a challenge to take up.

Procrastination

2006-08-16T13:10:00.000+10:00

I'm sitting at my desk at work during my lunch break. I'm enjoying the sun that is coming through the window and warming me up. I can see blossoms on the trees outside and I'm generally feeling pretty good as the signs are pointing towards the start of spring.

I was thinking that I haven't really blogged a lot recently. So I decided to write something now. I think there's an ulterior motive because I really should be doing my reading for college tomorrow night. It was actually supposed to be done for last week's lecture but I didn't realise we had two chapters to read and only read one. No wonder the lecture didn't make as much sense as it should have done!

However, I do think it is pretty important for me to blog at the moment though. (Despite how important catching up with my reading is.) I haven't done any reflection for myself for awhile. For some reason I don't have the motivation and it has become a chore.

This is a real pity because it's such a valuable thing to have 'God time'. I wrote a 2000 word essay on quiet time last semester talking about how valuable this time was. I even meant what I wrote!

I also have a lot to think about and talk to God about. Decisions to be made and plans to sort out. I want to and I need to include God in those decisions and time with Him (Her) is the best way I know of doing that.

It used to be something I enjoyed. Now it just feels 'too hard'. Actually more 'draining' than 'hard'. Maybe I'm out of practice?

I really need to get past this mental block and enjoy a quiet time once again. Anyone go any suggestions? I guess I'll just have to prioritize and keep trying.

"Mary's Son"

2006-07-14T18:52:00.000+10:00

Mark 16:1-13

A Prophet Without Honor

1Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
"Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! 3Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a] Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.
4Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." 5He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6And he was amazed at their lack of faith.
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil[b] spirits.
8These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. 10Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them."
12They went out and preached that people should repent. 13They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

If I had to pick a favourite gospel of the Bible it would have to be Mark. I wish I could give some profound reason for that. Perhaps I could say that I like Mark the best because it’s said to have been written first and it’s suggested that Matthew and Luke used Mark in the writing of their gospels. That sounds smart and like I’ve put a lot thought into that answer. Honestly though I think the truth is much simpler. It’s the shortest and most direct of four gospels!

It’s generally agreed that Mark was writing for a Roman audience. That meant there was no need to refer to scriptures, Jewish history or to establish that Jesus was descendant from King David. Mark could be practical and talk about what Jesus did, who He spoke to and what miracles He performed. By focussing his gospel on the acts of Jesus, Mark is describing Him in a servant role. Mark 10:45 says: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The book of Mark gives us a clue as to how Jesus served others. Within Matthew, Mark, Luke and John the word ‘gospel’ meaning ‘good news’ used is the most in Mark. Not just by a little bit; it’s used a total of twelve times through the four gospels and eight times of those times are in Mark. He is definitely keen to impress upon us that Jesus’ work was to tell people the good news.

Those are important points for people who wish to be more like Jesus. Jesus was a man of action. We should be people of action. Jesus was also a servant and again we should aim to serve by continuing His work and spreading His good news.

Looking at today’s passage we hear about Jesus travelling to his home town. Once He arrives, He gets to work, teaching in the synagogue, spreading the ‘good news’ and preforming miracles. The response of His friends, family and neighbours initially is pride but shortly they take offence and criticise Him.

Now remember this is Jesus’ home town. I would’ve thought that they’d be welcoming him with open arms and be so proud that ‘their Jesus’ was teaching and healing people. At this point Jesus had crowds following Him so his fame was spreading. If this was in Australia today and Jesus was an Aussie in America making a name for himself, the Australian press would be all over him. Think of Nicole Kidman aka ‘our Nicole’. We can’t get enough of her. She even had paparazzi camped out the front of her house the week before her wedding, all because the public feel that we ‘own’ her and are proud of her. Now go back and look at Jesus’ home town. They take a completely different attitude. They don’t want to hear what He has to say.

Mark mentions that the crowd describe Jesus as ‘Mary’s son’ and James, Joseph, Judas and Simon’s brother. They even mention that His sisters are present. The crowd doesn’t want to listen to Him because He was the child they knew when He was “this big” and He was the young man who entered the family business and became a carpenter. Jesus had the same background and experiences that they had, so what made Him so special that He could teach them something about God? In thinking this way they missed their opportunity to hear the good news that God was trying to tell them through Jesus.

So when might we have missed what God was trying to tell us through someone? That ‘someone’ could be someone close to us. Or perhaps it could be someone unexpected. Jesus was just ‘Mary’s son’ to the people of Nazareth. I don’t think that the people were looking at Jesus in that way because they had a fondness for ‘the good old days’. I’m inclined to think that they didn’t like what Jesus was saying and this was an excuse not to listen. Who in our lives have we done this to? What message have we missed by doing this? God continually tells us that He loves us and wants to be in our lives but are we listening?

It’s good to know that despite us trying to ignore Him, God will keep trying to get the message through when we need to hear it. Not only that but he’ll really push it down our throats if that’s what is required! All we have to do is be willing to listen. This happened to me one Sunday last year. I was rostered on to the sound desk at both of Pilgrim’s two services so I went to both services. The sermon was on forgiveness which was something I needed to hear at that point. Because I was ‘on duty’ for both services I heard exactly the same sermon twice. Very rarely do I attend both services and sometime there are two different preachers and two different sermons so the sermon is different for each service. This Sunday however, the same sermon was preached well and was preach twice. When I needed to hear God made sure I heard!

I think one of our biggest motivators not to listen is fear. If we don’t hear something we don’t have to face it. Sometimes I think we try to trick ourselves into believing that without acknowledging things, they will go away. People who have illnesses such as cancer are understandably often reluctant to discuss what they’re going through, and their families can be the same. It makes it real to discuss it. I think the people of Nazareth were too scared to acknowledge what Jesus was saying and make it ‘real’. Don’t forget Jesus was a radical who challenged the authority figures of the day. What He had to say was frightening. So they suggested that Jesus was no one special – He didn’t know any better than what they knew themselves so He was just talking rubbish.

If God appeared in this church right now and told us He wanted to send us to a remote place, where there isn’t much food or water, people speak a different language and that we wouldn’t exactly be welcomed as we try to tell people about Him, we’d be scared. If God asked you individually to stand up in front of thousands of people and tell those people about your faith how would you feel? If God was asking us to face your deepest fear to glorify Him, I doubt any of us would find that easy. It’s okay to acknowledge that we feel that way. What we need to do in each of those situations, despite our fears, is trust that God will take care of us, because He knows us better than we know ourselves and He understands our fears. That doesn’t mean it would be easy but it is possible.

The second part of today’s reading shows the disciples giving Jesus that kind of trust. Jesus sends out the twelve to preach to the people about the need for repentance. The instructions that He gives them are strict. Verse 8 says: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money” The three basic needs of humans are food, water and shelter and here Jesus has told them to take no food and no money to buy food or a place to stay. There isn’t much to do in that situation except trust in God.

It takes a lot of faith. Yet we can trust that God will provide what is needed. Jesus sent out the twelve disciples asking them to trust that they would be okay and they were. All twelve of the disciples returned from that journey. They were definitely back for the climactic events of Jesus’ ministry. If you want to do some homework check Mark chapter 14 verse 17 – it says that Jesus arrived with the twelve for the Passover meal. So we know they all made it back. I’m sure that they returned from this journey with a new understanding of the actions that Jesus and through Him, they themselves were called to do.

So what actions are we being called to do? It may not involve a life changing commitment; it may be as simple as talking to a person in the line at the supermarket. How are we to know what we’re being called to do if we don’t listen? We can pray for God’s guidance in our lives but if we ignore the very person He sends to show us that guidance aren’t we cutting off our nose to spite our face? It is easy to take offence to something that we don’t want to admit is true. The challenge is to realise what we are doing, listen to what God is saying and trust that God has us safe in His hands.

So are we listening to God’s call? Or is it too easy to ignore “Mary’s son”? Too easy to ignore the person from our neighbourhood, who we’ve known for years and years? Are we looking past the excuses? If we do face our fear and listen we might just have an experience that God has provided especially to assist us as we serve Him.

Godly Play and wondering

2006-07-08T23:23:00.000+10:00

On Saturday I took part in a Godly Play workshop. Godly Play is a way of story-telling that invites children to wonder about the story. There are lots of 'I wonder' questions asked of the children during the time. It's quite interesting and fascinating to see it done.

I really like the encouragement to wonder. To explore thoughts for yourself and play with that.

This is something I personally haven't done a lot of recently. I finished my Spirituality subject and in which I wrote a 2000 word essay on the importance of spending time with God and wondering about things with Him/Her. I've been a bit of a hypocrite since and not done much of this for myself!

I've just come back from a short walk during my lunch break. (I'm now usuing the second half of that lunch break to write about it.) As I was walking along I was looking at all the houses around my office and thinking about who lived in them, their history, why they had that colour paint or garden ... wondering really.

It was really refreshing actually. I then moved on to think about Mark 6:30-34, 53-56. I was thinking about what themes or ideas I could use in speaking about this passage. It's started me off on an interesting theme. I might be able to use it but I might not. Either way the fact that I've started thinking is reassuring and I'm not worried that I've done nothing towards it.

Not sure where it will go actually or whether or not I'll use what I've thought about. But that's okay ...

I'm just wondering.

SievX Memorial Project - ready to roll

2006-07-08T23:13:00.000+10:00

I'm completely and utterly stealing this off morepraxis but if it gets any extra publicity then that's gotta be a good thing!

Being lazy and literally cutting and pasting the information into this post but I think it'd be a good thing to do and I'm trying to encourage my small group and others to join in.

SievX Memorial Project - ready to roll

The SievX was a small boat which sank with the loss of 146 children and 142 mothers in October 2001, at the height of the federal election campaign.
They were refugees, boat people, and the sinking was the biggest maritime disaster in our region since World War Two. Yet hardly anyone knows about it. A group of Christians from around Australia are building a memorial, on the lakeshore in Canberra, with a design by a 14 year old school student. It consists of a haunting procession of poles each representing one parent or child. We are asking church groups, schools, and communities, to consider contributing a decorated pole saying - we remember, and we care.
Life is sacred.
ItÂs easy to get involved and there is a resource manual to help your group through the painting process. It would be great to bring your decorated pole to Canberra in October for the ceremony when the poles are put in position.
Go to http://www.sievxmemorial.com/to learn more, or email info@sievxmemorial.com to get involved.

Chaser v Hillsong

2006-07-07T21:06:00.000+10:00

Stole this link from the Merry Rose:

Hillsong

What do you think?

Bit mean but in some ways pretty accurate. Actions speak louder than words and I think sometimes the fuss and emphasis on the offering says what this clip is suggesting.

If you're interested in more Chaser v Hillsong stuff Tim Brunero from last year's Big Brother (argh) now writes a blog for the Chaser's website. He visited Hillsong for one of his posts and this is what he had to say. (Thanks to Rhax for the link way back in Feb.)

I also love this - caught it when channel surfing and have since looked it up.

Select the Nicorette Ad Road Test video. I have no idea what the others are.

There's heaps there that are very funny.

I survived!

2006-05-10T22:41:00.000+10:00

I survived my first quiet day. That's makes it sound like a horrible experience which it really wasn't. I have this nagging feeling that I didn't do the right thing.

It was 5 hours of silence and reflection. I had planned to go to an organisation that run quiet days or retreats but unfortunately the one I had planned fell through and then the other places were too busy or couldn't help me.

So I started in the chapel of my church. That was for the first 2 1/2 hours. After that I had to move as there were band practises. Luckily I knew this ahead of time and they didn't walk in and disturb me! - Actually now I think of it, I organised to book the chapel and neither of those groups did so they probably should have worked around me instead of me working about them. I'm too nice and I moved for them ;) So for the second part I went to Ruffey Lake Park.

The first 2 1/2 hours were really good. It went pretty quickly - I did have the nagging worry about the time and going before people arrived to disturb me which made it harder to concentrate. Despite that I was able to spend some time with God. I did a Lectio Devina exercise (I don't care if that's spelt wrong I'm too tired to go and look it up) which involves reading a bible passage and letting it ... speak to you I guess. You take recognise a part that "rings true" or speaks to you and just think on that for awhile. I can't explain it very well but my reflection was about calling on God's name or something similar and how I'm not really doing that if I'm not spending time with Him.

So from that I've made a renewed committement to regular ie. daily "God time". In my spiritual journal and other places I've recognised the importance of this again and again and yet I've let my personal time with God slip until it's not happening at all.

As I said, for the second part of the 'day' (ie. afternoon) I decided to go to Ruffey Lake Park. At Easter the Passion Play is held in the park. Different scenes of the life of Jesus are acted out in different parts of the park. The past three years I've been to at least one performance and I've found it a very moving event and very thought provoking. I've also found it good to revisit those sites when walking my dog! So I thought I'd intentionally visit the sites of the play and read the passion narrative for the second part of my quiet day.

A nice idea in theory but not so much in practise. At the first site (Baptism of Jesus) two dogs decided to run up and chase each other around me - rather exuberantly too. Not really conducive to reflection! The second site (Teachings of Jesus) was better but there were heaps of birds flying around from tree to tree. As stupid as it is I'm scared of birds so that was making me nervous and I decided to move on again.

There were people playing badminton in the middle of the Palm Sunday 'set' so I decided just to find a spot to sit and reflect. Well that was better for awhile but then it got cold and I've been sick so I was just thinking about not getting sick!

Basically while the idea of following the Passion Play was a good one, the practicality of it wasn't great. I thinking staying in one space which is 'comfortable' (ie. neither too hot nor too cold) is the best way for me to reflect.

In the past I have felt the sensation of time slipping away and not being aware of it but I unfortunately didn't get to that kind of reflection this time. I would like to try this again 'correcting' the things I've mentioned because I recognise that this time is so valuable.

So how have others found this kind of quite day?

Baby Got Book

2006-05-07T00:57:00.000+10:00

This is so funny!

Baby Got Book

And here are the lyrics just in case you can't see the video.

"Baby Got Book"Lyrics by Dan Smith; Copyright 2004

Intro
Oh my goodness, Becky, look at her Bible
It is so big
She looks like one of those preacher guys girlfriends
But...you know...Who understands those preacher boys
They only talk to her because she looks like Mother Teresa, ok?
I mean her Bible...it's just so big
I can't believe it's so huge
Uggh! It gross!
Look, she's just so...righteous

Verse 1
I like big Bibles and I can not lie
You Christian brothers can't deny
That when a girl walks in with a KJVAnd a book mark in Proverbs
You get stokedGot her name engraved
So you know that girl is saved
It looks like one of those large ones
With plenty o' space in the margins
Oh baby, I wanna read witcha
Cause your Bible's got pictures
My minister tried to console me
But that Book you got makes ("M-m-me so holy")
Ooh, momma-mia
You say you want koinonia
Well, bless me, bless me
And teach me about John Wesley

I saw her praying
While I was DJing
She got grace...pretty face
She ain't goin' down to the bad place

I'm tired of heathen guys
Sayin' they like pocket-size
Ask the average Christian to take a look
She's gotta pack much Book

So...Fellas (Yeah), fellas (Yeah)
Has your girlfriend got the Book (Oh yeah!)
Well, read it (Read it!), read it (Read it!), read that Holy Book
Baby got Book

Chorus
(NIV with a ribbon bookmark)Baby got Book
(NIV with a ribbon bookmark)

Verse 2
I like 'em leather and bound
It's 50 pounds
I just can't understand
How it is, some weenie
Wants the Bible on CDShe wanna get you saved
Amen! Double up! A-men!

I ain't talkin' about a paraphrase
Cuz Paul wouldn't use those anyways
like 'em real thick and red-lettered
You can't find nothin' better
Southpaw's in love Bibles that big are unheard of

So I'm sittin' here thinkin' "What if...
I find me a girl that shows midriff?
"You can have those bimbos
I'll keep those chick that do devos
A word to the Christian sistas
I can't resist ya
I'll do God's time witcha
But I gotta be straight when I say I wanna pray
Til the break of day
Baby, got it goin' on
Like the wife in Pro-verbs 31

We just might get engaged
When we finish reading this page
Cuz it's worn and it's torn
And I know this girl's reborn

So ladies (yeah), ladies (yeah)
Do you wanna save people from Hades (yeah) Then read it...'til the pages fall out
Even white preachers got to shout
Baby got Book

(Thompson Chain with big red letters)
Baby got Book

Yeah baby
When it comes to a good book
Stephen King's resume just can't compare
39 + 27 = 66 books
And if you're Catholic...there's even more

So your girlfriend quotes Bill Hybels
But does she got a big Bible?
Cuz that little things she's got won't start a revival
My Bible study don't want none,Unless you got Book, Hon

...You can read Clancy or Grisham
But please don't loose this Book

Some brothers wanna play that hard hard role
And tell you that Book's too old
So they toss it and burn it
And I pull up quick to just learn it
So your girl likes paperback? Well I ain't down with that
Cuz my girlfriend's hot her Bible's rockin'
And she's got good doctrine
To the atheist chicks who try to dis
You ain't it Miss Priss
Give me a Christian, I'm insistin'
And I'll greet her with some holy kissin'
Some pervert tried to chase But he didn't make it past first base
She's quick to resist temptation
And she loves a new translation
So ladies who were lost and found
If you want the triple-six thrown down
Dial 1-800-reads-a-lot
And teach me about those Psalms
Baby got Book

(NIV with a ribbon bookmark)
Baby got Book
(Thompson Chain with big red letters)

Bible college knowledge but she still got Book (4 Xs)

Too Quiet?

2006-05-05T21:24:00.000+10:00

For the spirituality subject I'm doing this semester we are required to undertake a quiet day. A quiet day being 5 hours of silence and no interaction with people. Time alone to reflect and be with God. My quiet day is tomorrow.

You know what? I'm actually nervous. I expect the first couple of hours to be hard but I also expect that at the end it will have been an interesting and worthwhile experience if nothing else. In concept it doesn't seem that difficult just be quiet for 5 hours. I can read in that time, I can write things down in that time. I can pray (in fact I suspect I'm supposed to!) so why is that something to make me nervous?

What is it about silence that makes me nervous or agitated even? I don't even think it's the silence. I think I'm worried that I'll be bored and time with drag by. While that's not exactly fun that's not going to hurt me! And time will end at some point.

I'm really not sure about this. I'll have to see how it goes. It's time for God and me which should (and hopefully will be) a great opportunity. I just hope I can keep that focus there.

Wish me luck!

Edward Monkton

2006-03-24T16:55:00.000+11:00

Last year I bought a book called "The Lady and the Chocolate" for my choc-a-holic friend's birthday. It is a very funny book. Today we found the author's website.

Here are a couple of pictures I found and liked.

I hope they worked. And I hope you enjoy them.

27th March
Obviously not working so I'll just put the links here:

The Lady and the Chocolate

The Beautiful Frock

And then there's the Broccoli one. This really isn't a broccoli hating site! I quite like broccoli but I did think that pic was quite amusing. (At least it was 5pm on a Friday afternoon.)

Busy Being Busy!

2006-03-02T23:01:00.000+11:00

Its been awhile since I've been on here and taken time to gather my thoughts. As it is tonight I'm going to writing in the ad breaks of "Family Guy". (My priorities are definitely in the right place!)

Anyway, I have survived the first month and a bit of my OSS placement. Better news is; I'm still really enjoying it. Had a very full-on week this week which has been a challenge but still happy.

I had my commissioning for the OSS last week. It was a part of our youth service SN@P. Lots of people came and I'm so grateful for the support everyone is showing to me.

I thought I'd post the talk that I gave that night. A bit has been added to go into the church newspaper thing next issue. It's really a cheat's way to just post it here but hopefully I'll remember what I said and be challenged to keep the promises I made.

Actually before I put that I"ll include the promises and the commissioning liturgy.

Kim you have answered Christ's call to serve in a very special way. As you continue in this special year of sacrificial service for Christ, through the Church, we want to offer our thanks to God for your service. When you take such a step as this it is a great privilege and also a big responsibility. So we want you to re-affirm your faith and calling, in front of your family and friends and your congregation. Will everyone please stand.

Kim, do you confess Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord?

YES I DO

Do you believe in your heart that you have been led by the Spirit of God to engage in this work and to assume all of its responsibilities?

YES I DO

Knowing that Christ is with you, do you now dedicate yourself, to be a part of CECM/NCYC team and provide your service full time over the next twelve months to them?

YES I DO

Will you try to be a person who prays, takes time out for worship and reflection and attempt to grow in your Christian faith?

YES I WILL TRY

People of the Congregation at Pilgrim, Kim's family and friends, will you support Kim with your prayers, pastoral care and help? (Hopefully your response here is YES WE WILL)

YES WE WILL

PRAYER OF DEDICATION [with Laying of Hands]

Could all the people, who are involved in the prayer of dedication, please come forward now.
[Those involved come forward to the centre Kim who kneels, and they lay hands on her]

Let us pray,
Loving God, here is Kim, now dedicated to serve you. Fill her with your Spirit, enrich her with your grace, strengthen her for the tasks that lie ahead so that in all she does she might help others to see God at work in this world, in the name of the God, Amen.

SUNG BLESSING [Kim remains kneeling during this]

Kim, welcome to the Order of St Stephen. You are an enthusiastic, passionate candidate who has heard God's call. I hope your experience at CECM will be fantastic and I also hope you know that you have the prayers and support of the OSS committee, your family and friends, and very importantly the congregation here in Pilgrim Uniting.

THE CONGREGATION WILDLY APPLAUDS

Kim briefly responds

And this is that response!

Order of St. Stephen
This Order is named after a man called Stephen who was appointed by the twelve apostles during their work in the life of the church. He was a man of both grace and power who accepted the challenge of serving God by caring for people in the church in Jerusalem. This left the apostles free to devote more time to preaching the gospel. Stephen was stoned to death for speaking out and his criticizing those who turned away from God. (For more information, read Acts Ch 6 & 7).

The Order of St. Stephen started in Australia in 1950 as a fellowship for those who wanted to serve God in a voluntary capacity. Since that time, many people have completed a year of service and become members of the Order. Gods calls people of all ages and skills to serve in different ways. Giving one year or more in a voluntary capacity is one way of making a response to God

During the period of service, the applicant, will be known as a candidate. To mark the beginning of your period of service, a commissioning service of worship will be held, probably in the applicants home church. On the satisfactory completion of one full year full-time service (or part-time equivalent), the applicant become eligible for admission to the Order of St. Stephen. A Service of Worship is held typically in the candidate's work place to mark their admission to the Order and they are presented with the badge of the Order and a certificate to indicate the service that you have completed.

While the candidate is engaged in your year of service, the Synod Coordinator and committee are available to them for help and advice if needed. In the place where they serve, there will be: - a supervisor who will provide three progress reports per year - a support person (usually an ex-O.S.S.) who will meet with them on a regular basis to provide encouragement and help as needed workshops which are conducted throughout the year, to promote input and support from fellow candidates
- Taken from the Christian Education and Congregational Mission website.

This year I decided to take up the challenge of a year of service through the Order of St Stephen. I've been placed at the Christian Education and Congregational Mission unit (CECM) in Kew. My role is a support person NCYC 2009, which is looking to be held in Melbourne.

Sunday 26th of February was my commissioning at the SN@P service. I was amazed and blessed by the people that came to worship that night to show their support. Thank you for that.

On Friday 3rd of March, "Rhax" (who has been a part of the Pilgrim community) will have the service of worship marking the end of his two year part-time placement at CECM. I'm excited that I have had the chance to be a part of some his journey as he has concluded his time and I have begun my placement. Thanks Rhax for you encouragement and congratulations.

Following is the talk that I gave as a response during the commissioning.

Thank you for the people who have come especially tonight for this commissioning. I appreciate it.

So why would I (like many others) commit myself to a year of photocopying, ringing around, committee meetings, minute taking and many even more fascinating jobs?

Towards the end of last year I realised that it was time to move on from the job I was in. I'd learnt a lot there and enjoyed working with the people in that office but I became more and more aware that I wanted to take some deliberate time to explore God's plans for my life.

There were plenty of options there. I was spoilt for choice. The Order of St Stephen was one of my choices. I'd heard about it at NCYC 2001 and always thought it was something I would be interested in. I wasn't sure where in the different options God wanted me and how I could find that out.

A friend mentioned that when he has had a decision like this he's found it helpful to take a step in faith, try the door and see what happens. He's found that if it's God's will, at that time and place then it will happen.

I wanted to give this year to God, for Him to use me and for me to grow with Him. The best way I could see of serving Him in my work life was Order of St Stephen and a year of Christian service. So I took that step of faith. It was very a small step; I picked up the phone made and made a call.

The first few bits of the process were easy and that was reassuring. I really felt God's hand in the process, His blessing on things and most of all I was really peaceful about what was happening. But during the few days before the interview I began to worry that I'd forgotten why I wanted to do the OSS.

It was at this point the God really supported my earlier step of faith. I was sitting down doing some study on Acts and flicking through my Bible. One of my favourite verses is Jeremiah 29v11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (NIV) That night I came across that written on an old order of service that is in the front of my Bible and that gave me peace to know that these plans were in God's hands.

The other part of that was that the text I was studying that night included Acts 6 and the choosing of the Seven that was mentioned before: The passage that is basis for the Order of Stephen. That week I was to read that passage about three or four times as part of my studying. It kept coming up and reminding me that I wanted to do the order of St Stephen and give my time to God to use in service.

In this first month that work has included photocopying over 1550 pieces of paper (thankfully most of that was double sided), stuffing about 200 envelopes on my second day of work, and reading over 338 pages of NCYC reports. But I'm really enjoying it and I hope that God can use me and that I can continue to enjoy this year.

Thank you again for the support that is a part of the Pilgrim community. I hope I never take it for granted! If anyone is interested in knowing more about the Order of St Stephen, please come and ask me about it, I'd love to talk.

Dance, Love, Sing and Live

2006-01-29T23:04:00.000+11:00

Recently this little inspirational saying has recurred in my life. I really like the sentiment of it so I thought I'd post it here.

Dance as though no one is watching you.
Love as though you
have never been hurt.
Sing as though no one can hear you.
Live as though Heaven is on earth.

Firstly, I rarely dance. I might move a little to music in church but I don't really properly dance. Don't really know how to except for a few swing dance steps and that's not something worth performing for others. So, if I'm worried about people watching I'm not doing what that saying says in regards to dancing.

Love as though you've never been hurt. Hmm, struggling with that one at the moment. I thought I'd buried and put aside a hurt but I keep letting it resurface and hurt me again. Why does this keep coming up again? Why is it that with things like worry and stress and this specific issue I 'give it to God' but then take it back again? Why can't I learn to give it to him once and not have to continually make that commitment anew, again and again? My limited human understanding doesn't get it God! Sorry that's my whinge, I'm done now.

So obviously, loving like I've never been hurt is something I'm working on at the moment! Sing as though no one is listening? Easy. Just go for a drive in my car. I crank up my stereo (which unfortunately isn't too loud as I bad speakers) and sing along to whatever cd I'm enjoying at the moment. I don't care who's driving around me, I don't care if I don't know the words (as my lovely brother will testify, drives him mad) and I don't even really care if I'm in tune (though hopefully I am)! The total freedom of that is something I love. I used to work in near the city as did another friend of mine and we would occasionally see each other driving on the freeway (or stopped on the freeway) . He often 'caught' me singing and grooving away in my car and would ring me to tease me. Did make me change, so I think that I'm doing pretty well on that 'criteria'.

The final one. Well I'm not too sure what living like it's heaven on earth actually involves. To be honest I don't think about heaven too much. I guess, at the most simplistic thinking about it I
have this impression of a place where it's easy to be good. Which I don't really like as an ideal of heaven. It's more than that. It's being in God's presence. Well that would answer my own question really. Living like it's heaven on earth is about living in God's presence. The thing I think of about being in God's presence is being loved and I think that's pretty great.

Thought are going around and around at the moment so I'm probably not making much sense (it's hot and muggy here and I'm tired). So that's enough from me for today.

So it begins

2006-01-23T23:32:00.000+11:00

Tomorrow I start my Order of St Stephen's year.

Am I nervous? A tiny bit but not too bad. I'm feeling pretty calm that this is where God wants me to be.

I'm praying that I keep my focus on this being a year of service to God and this being where God has planned for me. If, after standing a photocopier for hours on end photocopying and sorting too much paper, I forget this Rhax (who will shortly be finishing his OSS placement) has some wise words of advice for me. It's better than being stoned like St Stephen was.

Wish me luck! :)

Have you heard The Heard?

2006-01-23T23:21:00.000+11:00

I went to the tennis last Thursday with The Heard.

It was so much fun. You should check out their website and sign up to go along to the tennis next year. www.heardtheheard.com You can be part of a big group of about 300 yellow people yelling and cheering for an Aussie. The chants are lots of fun - a lot are created from old Sunday School songs and it's something a little different.

They also have the superhero Captain Australia as part of the group. His sidekick Disproportionate Head Boy and his nemesis (?) Captain Un-Australian. Captain Australia and Captain Un-Australian had a quick tennis match in the stands during a break between sets. It was very amusing.

We cheered Pete Luczek on Thursday and were happy to see him win. He threw his racquet to the crowd and The Heard were the ones to catch it.

It was a good day, I recommend it so go and check out their site, look at the photos and keep you eye out for The Heard around the place.

Planetshakers: My Final Word

2006-01-23T22:16:00.000+11:00

Well the final day of Planetshakers was very different for me, very thought-provoking and even emotional. This is why it has taken me so long to write about it but I am determined to 'finish the set' and blog the whole experience so I have it later to reflect on.

First I want to say that I am not Planetshakers bashing. I think it's a great experience for people (particularly teenagers) and I am not putting down how they worship God. I am just questioning it in how their 'model' works for me.

We heard from Matt Fielder, Chris Hill (again) and Russell Evans on the last day. I got a lot from Matt Field in the first session. He was funny and entertaining like most of the speakers at PS have been and there was an easy sermon to follow and take things from. It was laid out with an logical path to follow. He talked about Roadblocks and three things that can be roadblocks; fear, negativity and doubt. He had some good, funny catchy quotes that about each that I'll share.

On fear he had these quotes:

F alse
E xpectations
A ppear
R eal

Roosevelt's quote: The only thing I fear is fear itself.

Fear is the conglomeration of sinister shadows. Shadows have no
substance.

About negativity:

Negatives (photos) develop in the dark. We are called to be
children of the light.
When talking about doubt Matt talked about Moses and how he doubted when God spoke to him in the burning bush. It was a funny quote and not really inspirational but I like it! He said:

Don't argue with a true on fire. It's angry! Don't argue with it

He also talked about how the small things can mess up the bigger things. As he so eloquently put it:

Sometimes the small stinks up the big. He (God) is bigger than the
stink. We are spiritual ambi-pure.

Just some funny odd thoughts from that message.

Next was Chris Hill. I had similar thoughts about Chris Hill's message today as on the other occasions that he spoke. He spoke about when 'the anointing' comes upon people. He was talking specifically on Sampson. I just don't see things the same way as he does. Not saying either of us is right or wrong. I really struggle with he says at times.

The evening rally was Russell Evans. I really, really likes his message. So much that I would love to adapt and use it at our youth service on one occasion this year so I'm not going to write too much about the content here. Anyway I was very challenged by his message.

Then we were having the altar call part after the message and Russell called up someone from the 'praise pit' and there was another slaying in the spirit. I don't like slaying in the spirit. I (mostly) understand what is happening but I don't understand why it needs to happen. I feel like it's strays too close to putting on a show. It made me angry. I see it as unnecessary and I was angry that it happened. It seemed to me to disvalue the great message I'd just heard. Again, I don't want to say that anyone is wrong - I'm just trying to talk about my reactions.

So I walked out. I went and sat outside and just wrote and vented into my notebook. One and a half pages in about 15 minutes - it was like I was in my year 12 English exam again, trying to write as much as I could as quickly as possible.

I need to sit down and talk to someone and some questions to understand my reactions more. Which I will do. That makes it sounds like I'm traumatized or something. LOL. Not true. I wanted to be challenged by PS and I have been. I'm glad of that and now I'm thinking about all this stuff that God has confronted me with.

So looking back at my expectations at the start of the conference. I expected a big spectacle, lots of loud noise, upbeat music ... and I got it. I expected to see new and different ideas ... I did and I hope I can use some of them again. I expected to feel confronted and possibly threatened by some new stuff. I wanted to be challenged about my prejudices and preconceptions and my faith in general. I was. I wanted to be made to feel uncomfortable and to disagree with some things so that I could then work out why I disagreed with them and get further insight into my beliefs. All that happened and I'm glad. It shakes my foundations and little and keeps me questioning what I believe so that it doesn't become stale.

So I got what I wanted out of the experience. Final question to ask is: Would I go again? Not for me. I would go as a leader to a group of younger youth - high schoolers that the conference is more directly aimed at. (I sound condescending there - sorry I don't mean to be!) I would hope to give them opportunities to work through their experience and to talk about things if they want to. I think that's a valuable option to have for delegates at any kind of conference like this one.

Planetshakers Day 3: Loud and Proud

2006-01-06T23:26:00.000+11:00

Today was a big and confusing day. A lot of sort through today as a consequence I don't know that I'll be making much sense. You have been warned, read at your own peril.

We heard from Reggie Dabbs again today. In the first session and the evening rally. I really like his preaching. It's funny, interesting, entertaining and full of good stuff. :) We also heard from Chris Hill during the second session. He is also funny and entertaining but I don't agree with a lot of what he says. Actually how he says it. I can't really put a finger on why I disagree but I do. So I need to do some reflecting on that!

We also had a slaying in the spirit after Chris Hill's talk in the second session. I struggle with that too. Unfortunately there is no tangible reason that I can see why I don't like slaying in the spirit. Trying to figure that one out as well!

The final thing that struck me today was that amongst all these people yelling and screaming, I'm craving some "God-time". "God time" being quiet time that I can talk to and focus on God. Generally before I go to bed I'll read my bible and often another devotional or something. That's the daily routine but on other occasions I might take half an hour or so to take away all noise and distractions and just be with God. It's great at the beach - I love the smell of the beach and the sound of the waves. Anyway, I'm at Planetshakers with is all about the presence of God and communicating with Him and I got nothing. Just a craving for some of this quiet time. As the conference goes on I'm getting more tired and grumpier and more cynical. I really feel the need to be refreshed with "God-time".

My bible reading/devotional time at night has kind of become non-existent of late, so I'm getting back in to that again. Also on Sunday I'm heading down to "Sandy" for the night so I'll make sure that I get some time on the beach!

Now, I'm going to bed to be refreshed by my bible-reading time and sleep itself! One more day of Planetshakers to go.

Planetshakers Day 2: All or Nothing?

2006-01-05T23:35:00.000+11:00

Today has been a bit more challenging than yesterday. It's still been good though and I did decide to go to Planetshakers to be challenged so I'm not really complaining. I've spent too much money on cds but I've got all that I want and I can now stay away from the merchandise stand!

We heard Sam Evans, Reggie Dabs and Chris Hill speak today. I liked the messages of Sam and Reggie's talks although I wasn't a big fan of how Sam spoke. Chris Hill was interesting and I liked about half of what he said but some of it I'm really not sure of. It's not about liking the message I know. Often we need to hear things that we don't like but some of what was said tonight I don't agree with. It doesn't line up with my understanding of God. Then some of it was really good. The problem is that the good and the bad bits are interwoven and can't be easily separated. So then, which bit do I keep and what do I throw away?

The other problem I have with picking and choosing from the teaching is that I could be in denial. I could just be accepting the easy stuff and not facing up to the hard things that I need to deal with. How do I work out what I don't agree with and what I just don't want to agree with?

I'm also struggling with the yelling and loudness of Planetshakers. That really makes me sound old! It doesn't mean what it sounds like it means. A couple of times every session we are asked to yell and scream and make as much noise for Jesus. My question is why? What is a whole lot of yelling going to do for God? Actually for Jesus. I know that making noise can be a good way expressing emotion or whatever for teenagers, and teenagers are who the conference is targeted at. It's just that the noise is not even singing or praying or some meaningful sounds. It's just yelling "Argh!"

I think that's pretty confusing and probably just the crazy thoughts that run through my head. I shouldn't have started to write this so late and after such a big day but there you have it. Make what you will of it. Give me a couple of days and I'll have sorted through some of it. At least I hope so!

Planetshakers Day 1

2006-01-04T23:11:00.000+11:00

As part of my recent mood of seizing the day and opening doors trusting that God has unlocked them, I decided to attend the Melbourne leg of the Planetshakers conference for 2006. Why? Because it was another of those things that I thought I'd do 'one day'. Seeing that I'm taking on all those 'one day' things this year, (such as OSS and POD) I decided that 'one day' is in fact, today. (How cliche is that?)

So, in the name of discerning I sat down this morning and wrote down what I was expecting from these next 4 nights and 3 days, what I was hoping for, what I wanted to take from the experience. The recurring theme that came through with that exercise was that I expected to challenged out of my comfort zone in a similar way that Hillsong confronted me 3 or 4 years ago. I went thinking that I would disagree with a lot of what was said and that I would feel uncomfortable with some things that I wasn't used to. I was looking for these things to be a catalyst for me to think through why I believe what I believe and why I live and 'worship' (both in the sense of a church service and in everyday life) they ways that I do.

Today was Day 1: Registration and Evening Rally. Sitting here now, wasting my precious few hours of sleep, I'm feeling pretty positive about the rally tonight and the next couple of days.

While I still want to be challenged to think about what I believe, how I live and 'worship'. I'm not feeling threatened, like I thought I would be and as is my overall impression/memory of Hillsong. I think Hillsong was so different to my norm that it was pushing me too far, hence the threatened feeling. I disagreed with a lot of what was said during that week and questioned what was wrong with me for feeling that way. That was a few years ago now and I'm happy with the thinking I did from that and I was expecting a similar thing again at Planetshakers.

I don't agree with everything that was said tonight. In fact, I got more from the pre-offering talk than the actual message (very Australian pride, 'let's change this nation' which is something I don't connect with so easily - still thinking that one through ... anyway). While I don't necessarily agree with everything I don't find it particularly wrong, just different.

Back to Hillsong comparisons. I'm sometimes not sure theologically about what is being sung in some of their songs. Again, something I was expecting to come across tonight and the next couple of days. But I didn't. So far. We've only had the one rally yet so I may still find some stuff in there but so far so good. One song's bridge/coda/bit that's repeated one hundred times is simply; 'my soul longs for you'. That I'm quite happy to sing, because it's true for me. I'm much more comfortable with that than; 'and I would go, to the ends of the earth, to the ends of the earth'. I believe God takes you at your word and if you say that you will go to the ends of the earth for Him, then he will send you. Unfortunately, that's not something I'm ready for at the moment. In the future I might be, but not at the moment. That's not a great example but one of the things at Hillsong that I was asked to sing that I didn't agree with. So far, no such thing at Planetshakers. In fact, I'm finding that things are even ringing a lot more true for me than usual.

The pre-offering talk talk tonight was about Peter walking on water in Matthew 14. (I hope it's 14 - too tired, can't be bothered checking at the moment, someone correct me if I'm wrong.) It was about taking risks and stepping out of the boat, conquering fear and doubt to take some action. The action they were looking for was making a contribution to the offering, but that aside it was a good little message and very much what I've been thinking through this year. I love it how God provides reminders and 'coincidences' when he's got a specific plan, direction or answer to prayer for us!

So, that's how I'm feeling at the moment. Pretty positive. It is only day one but we'll see how it goes and look forward to some good reflection and hopefully growth with God during the next couple of days.

Countdown to Chocolate

2005-12-31T16:38:00.000+11:00

This year I made a resolution to not eat chocolate for the year. And I've done it. With the exceptions of two chocolate Brownies eaten to save a little girl's feelings I've done it. Well, I will have if I can stand the trial of a couple more hours! :)

This has got me thinking about New Years Resolutions. I spent a couple of hours this morning thinking about and writing in my diary about which of my goals I accomplished this year. For the first year, I think ever, I actually did all that I set out to do ... and more. Which is shocking. From the usual and constant "lose weight" resolutions to the ones that I made post NCYC about sticking to the decisions I made and stepping out in faith.

Obviously it's not perfect but I'm still feeling pretty positive that I actually achieved something.

So whatever goals you do or don't set for yourself, I hope that 2006 is all that you hope and pray.

Happy New Year.

Santa v Jesus

2005-12-13T13:16:00.000+11:00

Last night I dug out one of our Christmas cds. We have quite a collection because when I was managing a store over Christmas I wanted good carols over the P.A. so I went a got some better cds to listen to. (They're repetitive enough without having really bad ones.)

Anyway Dad wanted the cd because he has a Christmas supper for people at his work. So I found the Spirit of Christmas 2003 cd that we got from Myers. I was listening to one song in particular this morning. The song is called The Man With The Bag by the Ruldolphs feat. Dannielle Gaha.

He'll be here with the answer to the prayers
That you've made through the year
You'll get yours
If you've done everything you should
Extra special good

Old Mr Cringle
Is soon gonna jingle
The bells that'll tingle
All your troubles away
Everybody's waiting for the man with the bag
Christmas is coming' again

He's got a sleigh full
It's not gonna stay full
He's got stuff to drop
At every stop of the way
Everybody's waiting for the man with the bag
Christmas is coming' again

He'll be here with the answer to the prayers
That you've made through
the year
You'll get yours
If you've done everything you should
Extra special good

He'll make this December
The one to remember
The best and merriest
You ever did have
Everybody's waiting for the man with the bag
Christmas is comin' again

Everybody's waitin'
They are all Congregatin'
Waitin' for the man with the bag

Better watch out now

It's my favourite song on the album. Despite the lyrics. Usually I prefer the Christmas Hymns to Jingle Bells or the like. I think I like the tune of this one. It's a little bit swinging. Plus it's a good range for me to sing! :)

Anyway while listening to this song I was thinking about how bits of it could apply to Jesus and how other are completely the opposite. The whole waiting aspect can apply to Advent and the birth of Jesus. However the chorus. He'll be here with the answer to your prayers ... etc. When I first heard it I was annoyed at the implication that Santa answers prayers but now I'm focused on the timing of answering prayers. When Santa is answering our prayer he does so with a present once at Christmas time. One day a year. He's only around and answering our prayers one day of three hundred and sixty-five/sixty-six. God has that job 24/7, 365/366 days a year.

Also Santa gives us what we want (well, that's what happens in all the stories anyway!) God answers our prayers with what is best for us. Maybe that's not as fun but it's definitely better in the long run.

Similarly "Mr Cringle" is supposed to 'jingle all our troubles away'. Sounds lovely doesn't it? But what are we without our troubles? As much as they suck, troubles are catalyst for our growth. So, would I rather have them go away or have someone who loves me promising to be with me through said troubles? As it says in Matt 28:20b "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" and Matt 11:28 "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Or the often quoted Footprints poem by Mary Stevenson.

The other thing is the reference to being good. You'll get yours, If you've done everything your should, Extra special good. That's great and how the world sees things. You earn things. I agree, that's fair. However we know the great thing about God is that we didn't earn His grace, we could never do enough to earn His grace. He gives it to us, undeserving as we are, with no conditions attached. All we have to do is accept it. I think that's something I tend to get used to hearing, so reminding myself of that fact is a good idea!

Really I'm just taking a simple Christmas carol a little too seriously! But I'm a fan of exploring things that make you think and this fell into that category. So, I'll be listening to this song and enjoying it while thinking about God's love, grace and generosity.

NCYC Here I Come

2005-12-06T16:10:00.000+11:00

It's confirmed. I am NCYC Support Worker (Order of St Stephan)! Starting next January I will be working on the National Christian Youth Convention for 2009.
I'm very excited and looking forward to seeing it all (start to) come together!

Meetings and Interview Galore!

2005-12-02T12:21:00.000+11:00

I have had week of meetings and interviews and what have I got to show for it? More meetings/interviews!!!

But this is a good thing.

The meeting on Tuesday went well. I've got some exciting options there. The next step is for me to explore my options at other colleges. But I do like the plan that we came up with on Tuesday. It sounds like a good path for me to follow.

Yesterday I had my interview for the OSS (Order of St Stephan). It went really well. I walked in to the interview and one of the interviewers commented on my bag. I made a joke (a rare occurrence in itself)! Which was very reassuring for me. If I can make jokes in an interview (it was a very casual interview) then at least I look confident! Anyway I had the interview and I answered all the questions. Then I went into the other room to have lunch with my friend Merryn who works in that office. As we were having lunch, they came and got me and took me back in to the interview. Then they said that I had been accepted as a candidate for the OSS. (Is that the right terminology?!) Then they said they had a placement for me. So, next Thursday I have another interview with the people I'd be directly working for. And if both they and me still think that's a good idea then I have a meeting the Thursday week after that to sit in on, so that I get to know what's happening and what sort of things I'll be doing. And the placement ...? I'll tell you if I get it. I'm not counting on things too much. But for the people I've been talking to ... it the one I wanted! So I'm very excited.

So, that's all my news. How are you? :)

Big Prayers, Big Plans

2005-11-23T22:44:00.000+11:00

A couple of weeks ago I talked about my applications for Order of St Stephen and Period of Discernment. Both are moving along well and I'm getting excited about both of them.

Thursday week I have an interview for Order of St Stephen (OSS). It's the interview to determine whether or not I am a suitable candidate for the Order. If I'm okayed then it's a matter of finding a placement for me. There is no guarantee that there's a placement for me if Thursday goes well, so I'm trying to keep my enthusiasm or anticipation to a minimum. It's in God's hands.

Surprisingly I'm not nervous ... at the moment. It's just a conversation with three people. One, I know, another I've met a few times and the third I've spoken to on the phone and we've talked about the questions that will be covered. Saying that, if you ask me on Thursday morning, I might have a different story for you! Hopefully not. Just pray I manage to speak at a normal speed, not "Kimspeak" (ie. fast!)

Next Tuesday I have another meeting/interview/conversation/thing. This one is with the registrar at a Theological College about the possibility of changing my current unfinished Arts degree at Monash Unit, to a BA/BTheol there. That seems huge to me, Exciting, but huge. I'm worried about this decision. The College's booklet came to my minister and he read it and thought that it might be right for me. So, I read the booklet and it sounds really good but it does mean finishing my Arts degree and still finishing it at Monash. That scares me. I didn't cope really well with uni and going back to finish the degree, in the same place that I struggled with it before, seems like it's almost inviting trouble again.

So why am I investigating this?

This year the idea of chasing possibilities and God directing the outcome has been a recurring theme. As has the theme of taking risks. I've been challenged to step out in faith and trust that if it's supposed to happen, then God will make it happen and things will fall into place. If it's not for me then the door/s will be closed. So, with that idea comes my responsibility to take the risk and investigate opportunities, which is what I'm now doing! (Or at least trying to do.)

A third exciting thing in this journey happened this afternoon. With my Period of Discernment (POD) "The Rev" has been asking a couple of people if they would be willing to be the mentor for me over this time. We had four people on the short list to ask. The first person I got to know earlier this year through my involvement at NCYC. They are a very busy person so I didn't expect anything to come of the request. I received a copy of an email this afternoon, from "The Rev" saying that this person has agreed to be my mentor. I'm so excited about this. I thought it was an almost ridiculous idea because of her workload, but it's happening. Which is so exciting. Did I say that already? :)

Those are my plans, and how they're progressing. I'll keep praying about everything and if this isn't the path I'm supposed to be following, if the door is shut, then I'll pray some more and find out where I am supposed to be going. (I sound very calm, collected and peaceful don't I? We'll see how long that lasts!)

Faith and appointment

2005-11-09T17:05:00.000+11:00

Last night I was being a good girl and 'studying'. (I know it's shocking for me to study, that's why I use the term very lightly!) I was reading Acts and came across this verse in chapter 13: 48b

"When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the
Lord: all who were appointed for eternal life believed."

I thought it was pretty cool. Last year I read Lee Strobel's Case for Christ and Case for Faith. In one of those books, (I'm not sure which, though I suspect Case for Faith) Strobel says that he believes God gives us many opportunities for us to believe in Him but it is us that turns our back on God by not taking up the invitation. Therefore when someone doesn't believe in God it's not from lack of opportunity.

On the surface that sounds pretty good but I'm not sure how the rest of it sits with me at the moment. It almost takes some of our responsibility to share our faith with people.

As I said still thinking through this one but in the meantime I still like the idea that people are appointed for eternal life what we need to do is have faith. As the note in my NIV Bible says "Possession of eternal life involves both human faith and divine appointment."

Choices

2005-11-07T15:43:00.000+11:00

After my last post about the choices I have made and what paths I am currently pursuing Sunday's sermon was an affirming one for me. (In fact, I ended up feeling rather smug which is not so good!)

In his sermon "The Rev" spoke a bit about making choices. He said that we tend to put choices off for as long as we can, hoping that by the time we get around to having to make up our mind, the outcome with be a certainty. I admit I'm guilty of that.

He also said that choices go on and on and need to be remade or recommitted to all the time. That 'the first choice is a critical turning point but the choice goes on'. As I'm feeling very empowered by the batch of decisions I've made recently, I think that's something very important for me and for everyone, to remember.

So, I'm still feeling pretty happy with myself for actually having made decisions that I've put off for years, but I mustn't think that's all there is to it.

Next Year

2005-11-02T22:32:00.000+11:00

Recently I've been planning for next year. I know, I know, it's only early November (and 32 degrees in Melbourne already!) but I've had to start applying for things now.

All this preparation has put Jamie Cullum's Next Year in my head. The lyrics really get me thinking about the plans and resolutions that I make.

Next year, things are gonna change
Gonna drink less beer, and start all over
again
Gonna read more books, gonna keep up with the news
Gonna learn how
to cook, spend less money on shoes
I'll pay my bills on time, and file my
mail away, everyday
Only drink the finest wine, and call my Gran every
Sunday

Resolutions, baby they come and go
Will I do any of these
things? The answers probably no
If there's one thing I must do, despite my
greatest fears
I'm gonna say to you, I felt all of these years
Next Year
Next Year

Like anyone, I've made plenty of new years resolutions (or resolutions in general) that I haven't kept. This year I decided to give up chocolate, not because I'm boycotting anything but just to prove to myself that I can.

My first plan for next year has been application to complete a year of service to the church through the Order of St Stephen. As part of the application I had to write down why I was applying. I really struggled to get my thoughts down. I know why I want to follow this path but to write it out ... I found it really difficult. I finally finished it and sent it off. I was pretty happy with it (until I re-read it now). I'm not sure why I couldn't find the words to say what I wanted to say but I couldn't.

The Order of St Stephen is a year of service to God. There are many different areas that you can serve in (they're listed on the page that I've linked above). For me, I want next year to be a conscious effort at giving everything to God. I know that giving ourselves to God to use should be the norm but I want to deliberately and intentionally to make the space for God to use me. Deliberately setting aside this year is more for me to make a commitment than it is for God!

I'm hoping to learn more about myself and about God during the year and my relationship with Him. To do that I'm also planning to take on a Period of Discernment at the same time as the Order of St Stephen (OSS). A Period of Discernment (POD) is a time to investigate God's will for your life. You meet with a mentor monthly (I think) to discuss your journey and you have to opportunity to undertake some study and also to serve in some aspect. So by taking up these two opportunities in the one year I'm planning to really focus on God's involvement in my life and at the end of it all make some decisions with that knowledge. The next step; to argue and fight with myself as I write a (hopefully) coherent explanation of these decisions for the POD application forms. Wish me luck!

Who am I?

2005-10-17T14:51:00.000+10:00

I found this link on Rose's blog.

You are Schroeder!

Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by

And I found this link on Rhax's blog

You are Romans.

Which book of the Bible are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Prayer Challenge Update

2005-10-12T00:27:00.000+10:00

At our last small group Ian brought along some saying that have been important or meaningful to him. There were a couple that made me smile and definitely a few that made me think. The following falls into the former category.

I am your little prayer rock
And this is what I'll do
Just put me on your pillow
When the day is through
The just turn back the covers
And climb into your bed
and WHACK! your little prayer rock
Will hit you on the head
Then you will remember
Since the day is through
To kneel and say your prayers
As you really wanted to
And when you are finished
Just dump me on the floor
I'll stay there through the night
To give you help once more
When you wake up next morning
CLUNK! You stub your toe
So you will now remember
Your prayers before you go
Put me back on your pillow
When your bed is made
And your clever little prayer rock
Will continue to your aid
Because your Heavenly Father
Cares for and loves you so
He wants you to remember
To talk to Him you know!

Unfortunately the challenge I set myself to make prayer more of a part of my daily life is not going as well as hoped. But, I will keep persisting. Maybe I need a prayer rock hitting me on the head to remember.

The Mane Event

2005-10-07T15:53:00.000+10:00

I'm gonna be the mane event like no King was before.

Run away. Run away and never return.

'Till we find out place on a a path unwinding in the circle, the circle of life.

And if you haven't guessed what I'm talking about yet, this one should give it away:

It's our problem-free philosophy. Hakuna Matata!

I went a saw the Lion King last night at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne. There was quite a few of us who went - mostly from church and it was fantastic. I'm still singing Hakuna Matata this morning.

It was fantastic. Everyone has said the costumes are great and they are. The performers walk through the isles and as I was sitting one in from the isle I could see the elephants and birds and hyenas that came past. The cast is very talented - especially the kid that played the young Simba. How he can do all that at about 9 years old is amazing.

Buyisile Zama (Rafiki) and Geno Segers (Mufasa) have incredible voices. The opening notes of the show, sung by Rafiki immediately put in the right mood and setting for the story. There's a song that's not in the cartoon called They Live in You. It's sung by Mufasa and with his deep voice and it's so beautiful. The music was great and I can't wait to get the soundtrack - at the moment I'm making do with a promotional CD we got from the newspaper that only has four songs on it.

At one point I was a bit worried that my favourite part of the movie had been left out of the show. Luckily I was wrong. This is the scene:

Adult Simba: I know what I have to do. But going back will mean facing my past. I've been running from it for so long.
[Rafiki hits Simba on the head with his stick]
Adult Simba: Oww. Jeez... What was that for?
Rafiki: It doesn't matter, it's in the past.
Adult Simba: Yeah, but it still hurts.
Rafiki: Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it.
[swings his stick at Simba again who ducks out of the way]
Rafiki: Ha. You See? So what are you going to do?
Adult Simba: First, I'm gonna take your stick.

This has come up because of a conversation Saemon and I had. He used this illustration in a sermon. That conversation drew my attention to the scene and has since made me think. I tend to hang on to the past for too long. (Anyone who knows me, knows that is an understatement!) Sure it can hurt me but by dwelling on that hurt it's not doing me any favours. So, this is an important thing for me to remember and it was good to see that once again and acted out on the stage.

P.S. Happy Birthday "Fudgedog"

Birthday Season

2005-10-05T10:45:00.000+10:00

October is the month of birthdays. For some people it's August but for me, October. There's a birthday on the 2nd, the 5th, the 7th, the 13th, two on the 14th, the 15th, the 20th, the 21st, the 22nd, the 26th, two or three on the 27th and one on the 29th.

Today is my brother's birthday. So, to quote another Family Guy character Chris, "Happy Birthday little dude!" Actually my brother isn't little, he's taller and uglier than me (if you're reading this Scott I didn't mean the uglier comment!) and just under two years younger than me. Anyway, we're going to the cricket tonight for his birthday. I really don't know a lot about cricket and I've only been once before; this January, when we were Adelaide for NCYC. It's going to be good. I have recently learnt which is the off side, which stump is which and where some of the fielding positions are including the slips, so I will be able to test my knowledge if nothing else! Plus it's Australia versus the World XI so there should be some talented people on that field making for a good game.

Scott's birthday is the second in our family of four. The first was my mother's who turned 50 a couple of weeks ago, mine is in a couple of weeks and dad's is about 6 weeks after that. My dad, Scott and I threw a surprise party for mum with a lot of help from her friends and family. We told her that she was having dinner at a restaurant with her family (which is about 20 people anyway) then we had her friends gathered in a function room off the side of the restaurant. She loved it. We had also had arranged for her aunt and uncle who live in WA (the other side of Australia for anyone who might not know where I'm talking about) to come over and be part of the party. We got her sitting down after the initial surprise and then we brought them out. The look on her face was so beautiful. They had arrived the Wednesday before the party and left again the Wednesday after so we were all able to spend some time together afterwards.

It was a fair effort to put it all together. On the day I was running around picking people up, collecting computers and equipment for the powerpoint in the speeches, dropping other things off, getting balloons and decorating the room all without mum knowing. She was taken out for the day by some of her friends who kept her out of our way (Thanks!). As she was leaving she asked me to pick some things up for her because 'I didn't have a lot on'. It was very funny and somehow I managed to get all my jobs done.

About 10:30am Dad added me to the speeches that were being given. I didn't have a lot of time to think and prepare what I was going to say so I got up with nothing to say. But I manage to come up with something. I say it was 'from the heart' as opposed to me being unprepared! Mum liked it and I spoke at a normal pace so people could understand me for once! I speak very fast so that conscious effort to slow down when speaking in public can be harder than it is for other people.

Anyway, mum's birthday was great and Scott will have fun tonight (I hope). I just need to make it through the rest of the month :)

Say "Thank You"

2005-09-29T11:25:00.000+10:00

I am admit saying thanks to God is something I often forget.

Way back when on the 31st of May I blogged about 1 Thessalonians 5: 16 - 18. Which is ...

16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Back then I focused on verse 16: Be joyful always. Well Dim's sermon on Sunday night mentioned that passage and got me thinking again but now I'm thinking about verse 17: pray continually.

In my mind praying continually is praying about everything, my reactions and thoughts as well as my struggles. And I definitely should be praying and thanking God when my prayers are answered. (Whether they're answered as I want them to be or not.) But most of the time I forget.

An example of this happened the other day. Two people I care about have been having a hard time at work and nothing seems to be going right for them. One of them came in to our office and told us some really bad news. We sat there feeling helpless and hoping we could magically think of a solution for them. It looked like all their hard work was wasted.

So what did I do? I prayed, the best (and only) thing I knew to do. (This in itself is pretty good because I often turn to God last when I feel like I have no control but I've been growing into going to God first.) I prayed a 'God please help them, we're feeling helpless but I want things to go better for them after all the stuff they've worked through recently' prayer.

About 1 1/2 - 2 hours later good news came through and things had worked themselves out. Actually God had working things out! But did I think of thanking Him? Not until at least a day later. At least I remembered but really in this case is better late than never?

So, challenge to myself for the next couple of weeks (yes, another one): Pray continually, about everything. I'm going to work towards this by having 'prayer triggers'. Traffic lights: I will pray when I'm stopped at a red traffic light (and when I go through a green one?). Make more of an effort to pray first thing in the morning when I'm incoherent (I'm not a morning person!) and last thing before bed. Redouble my efforts to say grace before a meal instead of forgetting when I'm not eating with my family. Hmm... what other ones? Any suggestions? I'll think of some more an add them.

So, praying continually. Especially prayers of thanks. Here goes!

Heavenly Father ...

Performing?

2005-09-28T10:05:00.000+10:00

This morning I received the e-newsletter from www.worshiptogether.com and it had a link to an article written by Tim Hughes on the Attitude of the Worshipper.

I've talked about what I see as worship before and this article ties in to that a bit. It talks about our attitudes during 'worship' (being the singing and dancing and praising during a church service in this context). This is something else I'm mindful of.

I'm a member of the taskgroup that plans our monthly 'youth services'. Those Sunday afternoons/evening I'm running around doing 101 things. If people want to speak to me about something, that is not the time to do it! In the business of getting things done I often find myself worried about how things are going and what needs to be done during the service and not focusing on God's message.

We have a devotional/prayer time beforehand and a run through of the service. During that time and in that time I often pray about the service being for God and not a performance that we're in. In that moment I'm completely genuine and I really want that. But then as soon as that's time is over that resolution is forgotten.

I played the keyboard for the most recent service. That's not something I do unless the band is absolutely desperate because no one else is available. This is because I self-taught myself a fair bit of how to play the piano and I don't have the finesse that other people have. Mostly I play at home for me (and God). So I felt a lot of pressure last service to 'perform' so I don't think my heart was very focused on God during that time.

So, that is (another) challenge for me to think about.

Something's Happening

2005-09-23T11:26:00.000+10:00

I got this email yesterday and thought it was worth sharing.

MAKE POVERTY HISTORY
Australians speaking out www.makepovertyhistory.com.au

Dear Kim

Thanks for your campaigning efforts. To all who hit the streets for campaigning events in the lead-up to the UN World Summit in New York, who wore a white band, who wrote to their MP or the Prime Minister... our combined actions have made an impact! The PM has just announced that Australia's aid budget will increase to $4 billion by 2010 (from its current level of about $2.5 billion. This will lift our aid budget from 28c in every $100 of national wealth today to around 36c in every $100 of national wealth by 2010. Your support, and that of thousands of other Australians, helped create this change.

Please take the opportunity to thank the PM for this very positive step...
... but remind him that it is only the first step. The UN World Summit urged rich countries like Australia to further increase aid spending towards the target of 70c in every $100 of national wealth in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Australia can build on this planned increase, and go on to do even more.

We also need to ensure that this new aid money is focused on tackling poverty. In Asia and the Pacific, 418 million people lack sustainable access to safe drinking water and over 1 billion do not have basic sanitation. This aid increase will allow Australia to commit more funds to MDG priorities such as water and sanitation, health and education. If this is done, it will have an enormous impact in our region, in lives saved, improved health, and transformed communities.

Here are some actions you can take that will build on the gains we have already made:
1. Give your white band to a friend or stranger and get another one for yourself
2. Write a letter to the editor or call talkback radio to express support for the increase in aid and encourage our PM to do more
3. Plan to wear your white band on December 10, when the World Trade Organisation meets in Hong Kong, and call for trade justice
4. Buy some fairly traded tea, coffee or chocolate from Oxfam, People For Fair Trade or Tradewinds
5. Forward this email to someone else so they can add their voice to the call to Make Poverty History

In further news from the UN World Summit:
For the first time, leaders accepted that they have a collective duty to prevent genocide, war crimes and mass human rights abuses like those that occurred in Rwanda, Sudan and the Balkans.
Sadly, no new action was taken towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals and halving global poverty by 2015. Further steps to increase poverty-focused aid, cancel debt and achieve trade justice are needed.

I kinda cheated in copying this here but I think it's important that people know the effects of their actions. If we didn't know about this step then it would be easy to think nothing is happening and that all the effort and prayers that people have been contributing are not doing anything. Every little bit helps but there's still a way to go, so lets keep acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with our God.

Uncluttered Faith: Christianity in 25 words or less

2005-09-16T14:20:00.000+10:00

What is your simplest most basic definition of Christianity? Whenever I try and explain to someone (or myself) the most important 'can't do without' facts of my beliefs I always feel like I've included too much or too little.

Can the vital information of Christianity be conveyed in 25 words or less and people understand that and be interested in that?

I'm reading Mark: Eyewitness by Ellen Gunderson Traylor at the moment. What does this have to do with the basics of Christianity? Well, the book is based around the life of the gospel writer Mark. (At least I assume it's that Mark - I haven't read that far yet!) As it's fiction I'm obviously reading it bearing in mind that it's an interpretation of Jesus' death and the early church and not strictly true. But there have been a couple of excerpts that have made me think.

The first one is the 'birth of the new church' just after the evening of the first Pentecost. The disciples and other followers of Jesus are celebrating and full of hope for the future and their message.

It was an infant faith, not catechized, not dogmatized or even sealed in its own Scripture. Believers, full of childlike spontaneity, were speaking a very simple gospel from newborn hearts.
Largely because it was so uncluttered, their message would catch on quickly, spreading like fire ... Unsullied by confusion, preconception, or prejudice, it was, for now, spoken with one spirit, though told by many tongues. [Page 157.]

I'm not suggesting that dogma and scripture etc. are bad but I often find things very cluttered. I think that's why I identified with this passage. In trying to take it back to basics I struggle to remove some of this clutter because it all seems so important to me. So how do I get back to the basics? What are the absolute basics?

Another passage that make me think twice is this one:

"This is a glorious - the birth of Christ's church!" Peter declared
... "Church...," he marveled. It was a Greek word, implying an 'assembly' or 'body of citizens' a term [his father] had often used of senators and provincial delegates when they gathered ...

How has the changed for us today? When I say church I can mean any number of things and I don't think I've heard the word used in a context that wasn't a religious one. I talk of my congregation as 'church'. The building where we gather, the denomination we are part of and Christianity in general are all things that I've called 'the church' at one time or another.

So if you have 25 words to explain 'Christianity' and what you believe what would you say? If you have another 25 words to explain 'Church' what would you say?

I can explain both these terms to myself and others, and discuss them but to define them in only 25 words? And include the inspiring, wonderful, loving aspects to my beliefs, not just the 'Christianity is the following of Jesus Christ' dry definition.

Squirming in my pew

2005-09-12T10:25:00.000+10:00

You know that feeling when the speaker is talking straight to you and you get it. It makes sense, it inspires and it is exactly what you needed to hear?
And then there's that feeling when the speaker is talking straight to you and you would rather not get it. It makes sense but it makes you ashamed and embarrassed and it's exactly what you needed to hear?

fortunately or unfortunately (depending on how you want to look at it) that happened to me yesterday.

Farmers preached on forgiveness and if he'd preached that sermon three weeks ago I wouldn't be speaking to him today! (Maybe that's a good thing?!) It was too 'not what I wanted to hear but what I needed to hear'. I didn't want to hear about forgiveness because in these last three weeks I've been challenged to forgive someone and accept that I was in the wrong and need/ed forgiveness from a friend.

Late last year one of my closest friends and I had a falling out. We were pretty close. We saw each other most days in the week, including a fortnightly Accountability and Prayer Time (AAPT) together. Then she made a decision that hurt me and therefore I was angry and tried to push her out of my life.

(Incidentally isn't it interesting how hurt can be mistaken for or can become anger?)

I was hurt and I was scared she would hurt me again and because that was my motivation I was pretty mean. I saw myself as just trying to keep her out of my life and protect myself but I was actually being pretty horrible.

Slowly but surely I began to realise what I was feeling and that, if nothing else, I did need to talk to her, sort it out and ask for forgiveness. Bit by bit it snuck up on me until I couldn't tell myself that I didn't need to deal with it anymore. So about 3 weeks ago we met together, talked about how we were feeling and worked things out.

At that point I thought it was pretty settled. We both knew where we stood and where we were going from that point. However Farmer's sermon on Sunday made me reassess that. I was sitting in the pew listening, noting down the 'important bits' and squirming. It didn't sit well with me. During that sermon and since then I've been asking myself if I'd really put things aside if I'm still angry at times? If I still have to shake the thoughts of 'being wronged' from my head, have I really reconciled what I need to?

I don't expect to forget what had happened and that everything would go back to how it was. I don't want it to go back to how it used to be. I'm a different person now (as, I'm sure, she is). But I did expect to be able to stop dwelling on it and to have a feeling of 'inner peace'.

So all that comes from me. While I still need to work on and maintain the relationship with my friend the majority of it are issues I need to work through. I need to forgive her decision. By that I'm not saying whether it was a good or bad decision for her just that I need to come to peace with that decision. I also need to forgive myself for the hurt I caused her (and as was pointed out to me today, the other people that on occasions got caught in the cross fire). Now I realise how hurtful I was I find that harder to do. I'll work it out though, with a lot of prayer.

So, prayer would be appreciated for this next step and insight on how to forgive when you're still hurting. (Yes, that fateful decision last year still hurts at times.) Or insight in how to forgive in any case!

In a conversation today I was recommended this website by Farmers. (Thanks!) He used a quote from Rev. Dr. Douglas K. Showalter that's found on this site in his sermon. I haven't really been able to spend a lot of time on it yet but from what I have seen (and heard) there is some interesting insight there.

Thanks for reading this - it's pretty heavy going but very good for me to think through and write out here.

You know the really funny thing about God getting the message through? I had to sit through this same sermon twice on Sunday because I attended both morning services. If the first time was enough the second was! :)

You are Beautiful

2005-09-06T15:50:00.000+10:00

I was reminded that I hadn't talked about my weekend. It was a great weekend and a thought provoking one so I thought I would make the effort to write something about it.

What made it so great was "Y". An event held at a church Glen Waverley. Running Friday, Saturday, Sunday nights and Saturday afternoon it was free and open to youth from everywhere. At Y were Soulframe a favourite band of mine from Queensland and Julian Hamilton a fantastic speaker from Ireland who I have heard at two NCYC conferences, 2001 and 2003. So I went along to Friday and Sunday nights' activities.

Friday night was good but I felt old. At the tender age of 21 that's a big strange! It was a 'teeny bopper' event for kids from the local high schools. "Jules" and Soulframe had been to the local school to promote the event and those kids had all come on Friday night. Despite feeling old and like youth group leaders who were missing their youth the message was not restricted to under 18s :-) Both "Jules" and Soulframe spoke/sang about God's love and how amazing and accepting that is.

Saturday I went shopping for a Father's Day present for my dad and very successfully resisted the temptation to buy anything more. Then in the evening I went to see Wedding Crashers with Meredith. We had fun and a good catch up. Nothing deep to report there it was just good to 'make time' for someone I hadn't really seen in awhile.

Sunday night I was back at Y again. This time we had more of a service or 'worship' time (knowing how much I hate limiting the term worship to church services) as opposed to the more concert like atmosphere on Friday night. The format was the same and the songs were very similar but the feeling was different and the people were different - more youth groups with some older youth there too.

Soulframe played basically the same songs on each night. T.O.S. (i.e. The Other Side), I Will Walk 500 Miles (by the Proclaimers), a hymn (How Great Thou Art and I Exalt Thee on Sunday and I can't remember which one on Friday night), Tonight and of course Beautiful, Mary and OK (three of their more popular songs).

The songs are part of what made it special for me. They were meaningful and special to my friends who were in a Bible Study with Soulframe and now they have become special for me too. OK is more of a fun one. It has a good message which we used in reference to the whole mountain-top experience of a conference like NCYC.

I wont come down
Because there's strength in what I've found
And the world may pass away
Coz I know
It's gonna be OK

Except we changed it to I will come down. They changed it - not us. To say that the high of NCYC wont always last. Anyway that songs has daggy actions that apparently some girls made up at one of their gigs. It's just a fun thing and gets everyone forgetting their dignity and how they're trying to be cool. And watching them being an idiot is great (as well as being an idiot yourself!). Kinda similar to Paul Colman's All U Need actions. Also OK is very catchy so it becomes stuck in your head for a week or so afterwards!

Mary is written watching the crucifixion of Christ from his mother's eyes. It's a sad reflective song. The guys play it while a clip from The Passion is playing. It makes such a amazing effect singing this sad song and actually seeing this horrible thing that we've heard so much about. Strangely it's still beautiful. It makes me feel loved in that God would do that and go through that for me.

The third song is Beautiful. I know Dim really connected with this at NCYC and since I've been listening to it and hearing it live it's really starting to be special to me too. It seems to me to be written for teenage girls but still applicable to for anyone. It's talks about how you are beautiful because you were loved and created by the Creator. Not because you wear the right things have the right make-up on or the latest hairstyle. This is something I need to remind myself of because I tend to care too much about what others think of me. I get a lot of my value from people thinking good things of me which has gotten me into some unhealthy places. Fortunately I'm a lot better at self-worth than I was a couple of years ago but the fact that I am beautiful despite carring a few too many kilos etc. etc. etc. That's something I need to remember everyday and think everyone needs to feel that about themselves too.

So, after Y we (that is the Image group for 18s-25s from my church) went to Airstream and had some nice pizzas. Then we went back to the church. A few people went home but 4 of us went to the Pancake parlor and had dessert and a good talk until 12:30. Getting up the next morning wasn't fun but discussing a myriad of subjects over pancakes was great.

Here are some lyric from Beautiful for you to think about:

you feel your hands are tied
with the binds of the marketing machine
you feel so immature and naive everyday
and everybody's saying
it's just the way things are done around here
and if you don't like it you'll just have to change

but you feel like
you still need 'time to play'
to forget the adult world where they wont say
be yourself
be beautiful

I wanna go
with the soul
with the colour of innocence
just to be
beautiful

you wanted to find you heart in this
to be yourself and express
to say what you want to say, and dress how you wanna dress
but everybody's saying that
you've got to show just a little more skin
if you wanna catch their eye and be feminine

but you feel like
you want room to breathe
to forget the exploitation where they can't see
to be yourself
is beautiful

I wanna go
with the soul
with the colour of innocence
just to be
beautiful

for the sake of being beautiful

not to sell or gain
not to manipulate
just to be
beautiful

you wanted to show your heart in this
and it's beautiful

Disclaimer: The lyrics I've quoted are from two songs by Soulframe, Ok and Beautiful.

Adulthood?

2005-09-06T13:07:00.000+10:00

This is my twenty-first post! *And the crowd goes wild!* (If there was a crowd to go wild.)

So what does 21 posts mean in the world of blogging? Is it some kind of blogging adulthood? Do I now get a key to blogdom? Is it just another milestone for me? Like when I was excited that I had ten blogs? Or does it just mean I have wasted a lot of hours on this site?! How many questions can I ask in a row before enough is enough?

Well, it definitely doesn't mean I've wasted too much time on this site because I have enjoyed 'meeting' some new people and reading their viewpoints and it's got me thinking things through.

It's been a good chance for me to think about why I believe what I do. This is a challenge I think everyone should take up whether they are Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, agnostic, atheist whatever. If we don't assess what we believe in and understand why we believe it then what are we putting our faith and trust into? Asses things, think about them. Do they work for you? What do other people have to say? Their views are valid opinions, can we learn from them? Do we agree with them? Why/why not?

I used to hate that "why/why not" at the end of questions in school (primary school). It was too much extra thought! But I have since seen the value of investigating and exploring the questions we're asked. Thankfully I realized this a awhile ago and have had fun with that especially here on my blog.

I hope some of the things I've said have got you thinking and that you have and will continue to enjoy these trains of thought.

You know what I think 21 posts mean? ... Absolutely nothing! :-)

Young Christian v "Grey" Christian

2005-09-06T09:19:00.000+10:00

There was a congregational meeting at my church last night. Cue big groan and rolling of eyes.

I hate congregational meetings. I know, I know. I shouldn't use 'hate'. "You don't hate the person you hate the action." It's not a positive emotion. "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." (As Yoda would say.) But when I come out of a congregational meeting in which a 'contentious issue' has been discussed and people have argued back and forth I am so frustrated. And it's not just being a sore loser because last night the motion I was supporting was passed and I'm still feeling frustrated. In my time as a confirmed member of the church (baptized etc. however you determine official membership) there have been two major issues that have sparked this kind of meeting. The second of which was last night. So, realistically we're very lucky that in 6 or so years there has only been two issues and the second one at least was reconciled very quickly. However these two (now infamous issues) at some stages began to get bitchy.

It makes me angry. What got people riled up what that at the ‘really breaking it down crux of the issue’ it began with money. Yes, as a church we need to look after our finances as much as anyone. But why is it the people are so passionate only about money. And why do these meetings degenerate? I was furious at some of the things being said. And how they were said.

We were sitting there acting like politicians in Questions Time. Clapping good points and not quite trying to 'beat' the person before. Okay, we weren't as bad as that but I still ask: "Where is God's love in that?"

No, everyone doesn't always have to agree. Last night we weren't really in the position to say "you have your opinion, I'll have mine" because we needed to make a decision. And it started to become 'us verses them' or 'young verses old'. Or as they put it "grey haired". J That's a lot of what frustrated me and continues to do that. I've been told to come to congregational meetings so that 'we' can get something through that's a youth thing. Like the data projector. A kind of 'we need to band together to beat "the oldies"' attitude. I think it's wrong.

We have mentor programs matching older members with younger members of the congregation. We talk about understanding across the generations but when it comes to matters like this all of that is out the window. Unfortunately I include myself in this as I fall into that trap all too often.

How do we stop that division and become one multi-aged group? How do we disagree in a church meeting environment and still maintain our Christian “love thy neighbour” attitude?

"Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering"

Erasing the mistakes

2005-08-30T23:54:00.000+10:00

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

2005-08-30T22:41:00.000+10:00

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?

2005-08-23T15:21:00.000+10:00

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!

2005-08-17T11:51:00.000+10:00

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

2005-08-09T11:33:00.000+10:00

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"

2005-08-08T11:37:00.000+10:00

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

2005-08-02T11:37:00.000+10:00

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. :)

Bleary Eyes

2005-07-12T09:37:00.000+10:00

I know, I know I haven't blogged in awhile. I've been so tired and stressed lately that I haven't had the concentration to sit down and organise my thoughts. For the record I was back at my desk on that Tuesday, though, obviously not blogging. Which Saemon was very good to subtly remind me of.

The weekend to Sandy Point was great. We relaxed, walked to and along the beach, visited Agnes Falls and played Table Tennis/Pool. And of course listened to music. (With Chris and Jason bringing their speakers and subwoofer there's no way we couldn't listen to music.) We didn't do as much as we normally do but it was still good to get away and relax. Got lots of interesting photos too ;)

Since then I've had a lot on. But I can't think of it now. Last weekend I saw Fantastic Four with my brother and some friends. I like it. It's a good light movie, a bit of fun. I did some scrappbooking of my NCYC photos (yes I know that was over 6 months ago but I had another scrapbook to finish first!)

I sang at church in the morning (really 'durge-like' songs but that was okay) and then went to cafe in the evening to hear about Organ Donation. It was really interesting. I registered my intent to donate my organs when I got my license but now (in Australia) we need to register our consent to donate - a slight difference. On top of that if you want to donate your organs you need to talk to your family because they have the final say and can override your decision if the time comes. You can also register that you don't want to donate. While I think it's a bit of a shame that people might not want to donate their organs, it's good to have the option to state that you don't want to.
We were talking about how there are a lot of myths about Organ donation. Such as; the idea that you might not get as much or as good quality care if you are a registered Organ donor. Which is not true. The staff in hospitals don't check if a patient is registered until after they are certifiably brain dead. And they are different staff who look after organ donation and transplants. Also only one in 100 000 people will donate their organs a year. That's something like one in the crowd at the MCG. That stat is due to the fact that very few people die in the 'right' way to be able to donate. You need to die in hospital, hooked up to a ventilator - less than 1% of all people who die in hospitals, die this way. The other reason is because we don't like to talk about death and when grieving family members are asked about the possibility they don't know how to answer.
As you can tell I learnt a lot and I'm (re-)registering to donate my organs when I don't need them anymore. Not a very pleasant topic of conversation but I believe it's important to think and talk about it - no matter what your decision.
What do you think?

Two more hours

2005-07-01T15:07:00.000+10:00

The downside of a countdown is that time goes so slowly. But I'm going to Sandy in a couple of hours. It's gonna be a great weekend.
Isn't it weird how something so simple is so much fun? I love these weekends and really they're not hard to get happening.
Anyway, if anyone is reading this I hope you have a good weekend and I shall be back at my desk (if not back blogging) on Tuesday!

Argh!

2005-06-28T12:55:00.000+10:00

Why do computers never do what you want them to? And then all help programs in the world do not 'help' you do anything!!!

Get the feeling I'm frustrated?

If it keeps going much longer I'm going to throw something at the screen. Not that it will help. But it will make me feel better in the short term. And it might break the screen - definate problem.

*sigh*

On to pleasanter subjects. I'm going away with some friends to "Sandy" this weekend. AND I get Monday off. Not really that exciting but at the moment, I'm really looking forward to my extra day off and spending the weekend mucking around with friends.

Have you ever been really freaked out by your mobile phone? I was last night. I was talking with my friend about a mutual friend of ours and my phone went off with a text from him. It was weird because I hadn't heard from him in awhile and also because he hates messaging. It was just too good timing.

Anyway this post is rather boring and random (to quote Dimity) so I wont insult your intelligence anymore.

TGIF

2005-06-17T14:23:00.000+10:00

Thank goodness it's Friday!

Only a bit over an hour to go and lots to do so I'm making this short.

Going to see Madagasca with Hannah and Nathan tonight. Heard some good things about it, so it should be great. Especially since there's a giraffe voiced by David Schwimmer - ie. Ross from Friends. I love giraffes and I loved (*sniff, sniff*) Friends. So it's a perfect combination! :) Just kidding. But it should be a fun movie.

Also I have a friends concert on Saturday night. He's playing in a battle of the bands. I'm looking forward to seeing them. I've been meaning to hear them play for ages.

Anyway have a good weekend!

We Got Cake

2005-06-15T11:38:00.000+10:00

Did you know you can overdose on cake? I never did until this weekend!

State Youth games was great. Overall my group came equal twentieth which sounds pretty bad but out of 64 teams that's pretty good. And in the medium church category we came equal 9th of 20 churches. Personally I played Ultimate Frisbee and Volleyball. Ultimate Frisbess we won two and lost two games and Volleyball C my team were runners up. Ultimate Frisbee was so much fun! We played in the rain and mud and had a blast!

At each of our games our group handed out cake to the spectators and competitors. That's where the cake overdose and "We Got Cake" slogan come from. We had a trestle table groaning under the weight of cakes piled three and four high at our camp area. It was fun. People's responses to the cake were funny. Some people were so into their sports that they wouldn't take any because they were playing. Others thought we were great. We even got a special mention for the Good Sports Award. Although our nominee mentioned that the cake we gave out was dry and they thought it was second hand food! Slightly insulted by that! :) So many people helped us to cook those cakes from the goodness of their hearts! Specifically for State Youth Games so we could give them out to others. Second-hand food indeed! :) Lol.

I also got to catch up with Hayles, Nic, Bree, Bec, Sarah, Chris, Toogoods, Rob and more people, so that was good.

Overall a great weekend and I'm going to encourage people to join us next year.

As Sarah said ...

2005-06-09T09:41:00.000+10:00

IT'S TOMORROW!!!

Hehe.

I'm getting off work at 1pm so I don't even have to sit through a whole day at work going mad because I want to leave :)

We are going to have a blast.

Countdown continues

2005-06-06T12:24:00.000+10:00

The countdown continues - four more sleeps to go.

Got our tents on the weekend - we just hope there are no holes in them. Well, I'm not worried so much because the tent with the possible holes in it is the guys tent :) I'll be snug in my brother's nice, trusty, holeless tent, while shares the holey tent with the other guys! Hehe

It seems a bit minor to countdown to State Youth Games. But countdowns help build the anticipation for me. And it's the first time I've been. So I'm going to be enthusiastic!

Four more sleeps

Countdown has begun

2005-06-02T10:58:00.000+10:00

I am counting down until the Queens Birthday long weekend this year. Eight sleeps to go! Not only do we get an extra day for the weekend but I'm going to State Youth Games for the first time. Should be lots of fun. Lots of my friends are going and hopefully I get some time to catch up with some of them. From what I've heard you don't get a lot of time? But I can hope :)

For anyone who hasn't heard of State Youth Games (SYG) before here's what I know (warning it's not much). It's run by Church of Christ and youth from churches all over Vic are invited to participate. People come, camp and compete in sports from Basketball to Ultimate Frisbee and Uno. There are worship services in the evening. I'm looking forward to it. :-)

Eight sleeps to go

Two for the Price of One

2005-05-31T09:58:00.000+10:00

I am having a bad day. (What a good way to make you want to read more! NOT) At work we've lost our car parking - for the seven (soon to be eight) people in our office who drive in to work we now have one car park!!! So today I'm out on the street and having to move my car every hour or get a fine. Grr. This wasn't supposed to happen unti tomorrow and then I was prepared to take public transport to work. I hate public transport but it better for the environment and me if I do. *Sigh* Sorry I'm just in a grouchy mood today.

Yesterday I was also in a grouchy mood but you know what happened? I friend on mine logged on messenger and he had as his 'personal message' 1 Tessalonians 5: 16 - 18. Which is ...

16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

I was really challenged to be cheerful. And not just cheerful - to rejoice. Even when I don't feel like it. That is a challenge. But it worked! Yesterday. Today however, not up to the challenge. Bit hypocritical of me isn't it?

Okay so the second part of today's blog is cheerful :) And not just because I said that I was going to rejoice always but because I've nice things to write about.

Last blog I wrote about things that were coming up in my life. Seeing as it's two weeks later I thought I'd report how they went/are going.

Grease/Star Wars. It was a great night :) Grease: The Arena Spectacular was so good. John Farnham and Magda Szubanski were brillant - huge screams whenever they came out on stage. Craig McLachlan was very funny and performed the role of Danny so well. Natalie Bassingthwaighte as Sandy was pure and innocent - and my goodness she has a good voice! The understudy for Kenickie did a great job ... I could go on but I wont. Suffice to say I loved it!

From Rod Laver we rushed out to go see Star Wars at 12:01, we were worried it was going to be cutting it very close but we made it with time to spare. (Don't stress if you havent' seen it - no spoilers here.) I enjoyed the movie. The atmosphere was great. People clapping and cheering as the "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away ..." came up, but quiet during the movie. People were wondering around in costume. I saw 2 Darth Vaders, 4 Jedi's and a Padme within minutes of getting to the cinema. The thing I like the best is how George Lucus tied it up for Episode 4 (A New Hope). If you haven't seen it yet ... what are you doing? ;)

Small Group is going well. Really enjoying it. I am being challenged to really look at the words used in different translations. For example in the above translation: "Rejoice always" That's not just when I'm feeling spiritual but even when the crappy things are getting me down. As I said before. And rejoice that's a strong word too. Not just be happy or cheerful but rejoice. To me rejoicing comes with giving thanks. There's a lot more to that little verse that what meets the eye on first reading.

Started swing dancing last week with Ange. Was lots of fun. Turns out Hannah has been having lessons at the same place for awhile now, so there was another friendly face there. I enjoyed it and I'm going back this week. But I have come to the conclusion that I am very unco-ordinated. Lol. Still it was my first week and we did cover something that was slightly hard for a first-timer so I don't think Ange and I did too badly. I think Carolyn is going to join us this week.

So there we go. That's a fair bit of blogging for today. And two very different moods. Kinda light and dark. :) Hope I didn't scare you off or bore you to tears!

Mondayitis

2005-05-16T11:34:00.001+10:00

I keep putting off writing another post because I keep expecting that I will write something that will impress the world! Yeah right! So I've decided to just bite the bullet and write anything.

I'm going to see "Grease: The Arena spectacular" on Wednesday. And then rushing to get to the movies in time to see Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith. Should be a fun night and should leave me tired for work the next day. Only 3 days to go - or two and a half. Depends how specifically you want to count. And really whether you want to count down at all! I maintain that the anticipation is half the fun so count down I will.

Tonight is Bible Study. This is the first one that I have been to. I'm excited. We're looking at the book of James. Well, that's what I've been told. I haven't read the information yet. Oops. I did bring it with me to work to read in my lunch break.

I've been listening to the cd Em burnt for me (to keep me entertained what I fractured my ankle). It's Frank Sinatra and so good. And Carolyn, Nat and I decided we're going to go to Swing Dancing lessons. We're going to start next week (we've too much on this week). It a bit of an exercise thing and also I just want to be able to dance. So I'll start with a bit of Swing Dancing at least! That's also something new and different for me. Should be fun.

Other than that, there doesn't seem too much to help me get through this Monday. Actually that is enough! I should stop being greedy :) I hope that is something to read for the few that check out my blog! Sorry it's not so interesting.

Actually I just thought I should add in that Stewie's plans to rule the world (and rid it of all it's broccoli) have been foiled once again. The latest plan I heard about was thwarted because Stewie got his hand stuck to Brian's (the very intelligent family dog).

Randomness

2005-05-05T12:29:00.000+10:00

I have been browsing through other blogs. In particular "philosaephy" Saemon's blog. It is interesting to read the views of other people. Especially in this form. There appears to be something about blogging (in my limited experience) that makes people very introspective. Is it a good thing? I suspect so.

I have been doing a bit of that 'soul searching' since I heard about the DDP (Discipleship Development Program - for the uninitiated). I'm praying about it and asking for guidance. Now I'm waiting for a big bolt of lightning to hit me with the answer. Even though I know it doesn't often work this way. Why haven't' I learnt this yet? :)

DDP could be a big step for me in a different direction. Am I going to take this step? We shall see. Either way I'm trying hard to remember to trust that God has it under His control and timing ... NOT MINE :)

This Broccoli Must Die!!!

2005-05-05T10:25:00.000+10:00

So I thought I should really explain the randomness of the title of my blogspot. "This Broccoli Must Die!! is a quote from "family Guy". Said by Stewie the sarcastic, evil-plotting baby of the dysfunctional (and very funny) family. In this particular episode Stewie wages war on all vegetables after "that vile woman" (his mother) makes him eat his broccoli. Anyway a very amusing episode.(Season 1: I Never Met the Dead Man)
Disclaimer: I have no issues with Broccoli, I believe it is a healthy vegetable and very good for you. I do not agree with Stewie's anti-Broccoli crusade.

This Broccoli Must Die!!!

Thirty Day Musical Theatre Challenge #1

Day 16 - Making a Wish to Create a World of Difference

Day 15 - Dancing Up a Storm

Day 14 - Dog Day Afternoon

Day 13 - Cleanliness is next to Godliness ... don't think that's how I'm gonna get cloes to God

Day 12 - Oh Brother!

Day 11 - Green Thumb, Green Shins, Green Legs, Green Everything!

Day 10 - Ode to a Missing Hairbrush

Day 9 - Under the Sea

Day 8 - 'Bubles' of Fun

Day 7 - Sad shoes

Day 6 - Fantastic Fridge

Day 5 - Baby Bliss

Day 4 - Magnificent Movers

Day 3 - Water

Day 2

Photo Journal: 365 Days in my life - Day 1

Snapshot of Melbourne

God moments

Remember your pride

On the first day of Lent ...

The other side of the door

And the winner is ... Converge!

NCYC '09

Walking to Cure Diabetes

*Fill in your own title*

Thursday Thirteen: Things written in my diary

Justice and Mercy - what are they?

Stealing Age's Rant

AA = Church?

Procrastination

"Mary's Son"

Godly Play and wondering

SievX Memorial Project - ready to roll

Chaser v Hillsong

I survived!

Baby Got Book

Too Quiet?

Edward Monkton

Busy Being Busy!

Dance, Love, Sing and Live

So it begins

Have you heard The Heard?

Planetshakers: My Final Word

Planetshakers Day 3: Loud and Proud

Planetshakers Day 2: All or Nothing?

Planetshakers Day 1

Countdown to Chocolate

Santa v Jesus

NCYC Here I Come

Meetings and Interview Galore!

Big Prayers, Big Plans

Faith and appointment

Choices

Next Year

Who am I?

Prayer Challenge Update

The Mane Event

Birthday Season

Say "Thank You"

Performing?

Something's Happening

Uncluttered Faith: Christianity in 25 words or less

Squirming in my pew

You are Beautiful

Adulthood?

Young Christian v "Grey" Christian

Erasing the mistakes

Acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly

What is Worship?

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

My Say - "The Hillsong Question" Part 2

"Hillsong Bashing"

Sick of being sick

Bleary Eyes

Two more hours

Argh!

TGIF

We Got Cake

Fill in your own title