The Spirit Was Willing But The Flesh...

This white man wrote recently that there is a time for everything, a season for things to come and for things to pass. Well it seems I should have heeded my own advice! Today I attended a birthday picnic for one of our youth leaders who turned twenty (Happy Birthday Trinh!). Kim and Luc came along and with a bunch of other youth armed with bat and ball an impromptu cricket match quickly ensued. And that's when things went pear-shaped! In a flash of inspired insanity this white man re-lived his youthful days as an acrobatic fieldsman by leaping airborne to his right to take the "classic catch" of this summer! Green grass that looked so soft and inviting didn't prove so and now he's suffering for it...

As I sit here typing this my shoulder is aching and my ribs feel like they've been worked over by an angry mule! And it's in moments like these that I am forced to remember my words about a season for all things. And whilst I can taste the bilious bitterness of those words of wisdom regurgitating in my spiritual gullet, I acknowledge they are true. I must freely admit that my season of youthful athleticism ended some years ago. Whilst physically I am in very good shape right now compared with years gone by, my abilities are not what they were. This 37 year-old body is more limited now and I am feeling this reality and eating some humble pie in the process. Actually life has a way of paying one back as I can clearly remember a middle-aged red bearded DYS running at an Eastern Divisional Youth Athletics day. He'd talked himself up all day with the youth and in a pompous moment of ego grandly stripped down to his baggy running shorts and strode with aplomb to the starting blocks. The starters gun went off and he took off striding out with purpose to the first bend. Then, like he'd been shot he pulled up to a stop clutching the back of his leg - his hamstring and pride in tatters. As a young buck with little sympathy for big-talking leaders I laughed until my bladder protested! Yet who is laughing now?!

So there really is a season for everything and I guess the key to knowing this and living it out well is to understand what season you are in and live appropriately and proportionally to it's rhythm. So at least whilst I'm sore I feel better for learning a lesson.

And I dropped the catch if you really must know!

Contemplative Art...

I AM (Revelations 1:13-18)

"When I think of Jesus as being with the Father during creation of the universe, and His glorified appearance to John in Revelation, I think of how pallid and static He is so often depicted. Imagine how glorious the apocalyptic language makes it to hold "stars in His hands." I thought why not illustrate verbatim what John described. After taking some artistic license to simplify the list, the painting was laid out. To make the figure more overwhelming I placed it center canvas as large as possible. At first, I thought the image was to be mostly gold and white; as illuminated as possible. I soon realized contrasting the dark void of space was more dramatic. Hubble telescope pictures inspired the intertwined cosmic clouds making up the sleeves. The "star hand" looks as if the figure is making stars out of nothing. For a time there was a concern the sword dangling from the mouth might look silly, but it finally occurred to me the "Sword of the Word" might be energy - maybe a beam of light and it was no longer a problem. I hope this painting reflects a little of what I believe the power of the Lord to be." Gaye Lynn LaGuire.

A Season for Everything...

As this white man currently writes, it seems that a cricketing dynasty is crumbling around itself. The Australian cricket team have ruled the cricketing world for over a decade now with a grouping of players that were the pride of a nation and the envy of other teams world-wide. They have so completely dominated test and one-day cricket with such force and intimidation that the Australian public have grown accustomed to the team being synonymous with only one thing... success. But the tide is turning. Australia's champions, such as the Waugh twins, Warne, McGrath, Langer, Martyn and Gilchrist have all retired over the past 3-4 years and what was a star-studded champion team now finds itself back in the pack of moderately good cricket teams. Two months ago Australia toured India and found itself on the end of a 2-0 series defeat. Pundits, whilst acknowledging the series loss also reasoned that the Aussies couldn't be quite written off yet as a cricketing power. A sub-continental tour for any team is accepted as being the harshest task to negotiate and not a reasonable measuring stick for a diminishing power like Australia. But over the past week and a half the reality is hitting home. South Africa, currently touring here in Australia and leading the series 1-0 with a second test victory imminent, are finally proving that Australia's crown is well and truly slipping. Australia have not lost a test series on it's home soil for 16 years. And Australian fans don't like it one bit. But this white man asks what all the fuss is really about?

No sporting team remains on top forever. Not even a powerful political empire lasts forever so why should any one nation remain number 1 in any sporting endeavour? It reminds me of the famous wisdom passage from Ecclesiastes 3:
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven...a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance."

So come on Australia - accept with grace the reality that our cricketers have enjoyed an extended bountiful season of success. But now it is other nation's cricket teams turn to shine and have their moment.

And before you ask yourself then let this white man just tell you...yes it's true! Pastors do often preach to themselves and I guess blog to themselves too!

Verse for the day...

Christmas All Over The World...

Christmas 2008 has been a widely diverse international celebration for this white man and his extended family. Of course Phuong and myself enjoyed Christmas in our hometown of Melbourne, Australia. Phuong's sister Nguyet celebrated a nearly-white Christmas with her partner Nick in his hometown of Durham, UK. And of course Phuong's family spent their Christmas at the family home in Hoi An, Vietnam. Celebrations on three different continents! So as a family we may be spread far and wide but we still have shared a close spirit of joy in celebrating the spirit of Christmas this year. Life is good!

What is Boxing Day?

Well today is the 26th December 2008 and in Australia and other countries abroad, that means today is Boxing Day. This white man doesn't mind the day after Christmas being a holiday - in fact I think whoever came up with the idea made an inspired decision. For I have to admit, who feels like functioning normally, still with the gluttinous remnants of overindulgence, foodwise or otherwise, from the day before?! In Melbourne, Boxing Day also means the start of the now traditional Boxing Day cricket match at the MCG, this year between Australia and South Africa. It also is synonymous with a human stampede of avid bargain-hunting shoppers at department stores like Myer. Boxing Day is a day of rest, relaxation, rampant retail and recuperation. But after all these years this white man has a question...what exactly is Boxing Day anyway? As I said, I don't mind having a holiday to acknowledge Boxing day but I have to admit, even after 37 years of basking in it, I still don't have the foggiest idea as to what the day actually commemorates. And so it's about time I found out!

According to that most 'reliable' of internet sources Wikipedia, Boxing Day is based on the tradition of giving gifts to the less fortunate members of society. 'On this day in England, the Christmas Box was opened and the gifts inside were distributed to the poor.' What was the Christmas Box you ask? The Christmas Box itself was a wooden box centrally placed in the village square where village folk could donate their item - much in the same way as they have those boxes in the front of supermarkets where you can place a can of food or other suitable non-perishable item for a charitable organisation to distribute to the needy at Christmas. Yet as Wiki importantly highlights 'contemporary Boxing Day in many countries is now a "shopping holiday" associated with after-Christmas sales.'

And therein lays the irony - on the day originally, when celebrations centred around benevolent acts of charity for the poor, now we celebrate Boxing day by being totally self-indulgent, either by loafing around on our lounges all day or by abusing those plastic demons called credit cards! I guess that's the 'developed' world we live in today. A world I find myself very much being a part of, challengingly and vexingly so. A world Paul summed up pretty well in 2 Timothy 3:2-4. So why is this white man not surprised, yet profoundly convicted...Mmm...

Merry Christmas!

May our God who came as Emmanuel make His dwelling in your heart this Christmas season and bring you peace and joy in abundance!

'Twas The Night Before a Politically-Correct Christmas!

'Twas the night before Christmas and Santa's a wreck...

How to live in a world that's politically correct?

His workers no longer would answer to "Elves".

"Vertically Challenged" they were calling themselves.

And labour conditions at the North Pole were alleged by the union to stifle the soul.

Four reindeer had vanished, without much propriety,

Released to the wilds by the Humane Society.

And equal employment had made it quite clear

That Santa had better not use just reindeer.

So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid

Were replaced with 4 pigs, and you know that looked stupid!

The runners had been removed from his sleigh;

The ruts were termed dangerous by the E.P.A.

And people had started to call for the cops

When they heard sled noises on their rooftops.

Second-hand smoke from his pipe had his workers quite frightened.

His fur trimmed red suit was called "Unenlightened."

And to show you the strangeness of life's ebbs and flows,

Rudolf was suing over unauthorised use of his nose

And had gone on Geraldo, in front of the nation,

Demanding millions in over-due compensation.

So, half of the reindeer were gone; and his wife,

Who suddenly said she'd enough of this life,

Joined a self-help group, packed, and left in a whiz,

Demanding from now on her title was Ms.

And as for the gifts, why, he'd never had a notion

That making a choice could cause so much commotion.

Nothing of leather, nothing of fur,

Which meant nothing for him. And nothing for her.

Nothing that might be construed to pollute.

Nothing to aim, Nothing to shoot.

Nothing that clamoured or made lots of noise.

Nothing for just girls, or just for the boys.

Nothing that claimed to be gender specific.

Nothing that's warlike or non-pacifistic.

No candy or sweets...they were bad for the tooth.

Nothing that seemed to embellish a truth.

And fairy tales, while not yet forbidden,

Were like Ken and Barbie, better off hidden.

For they raised the hackles of those psychological

Who claimed the only good gift was one ecological.

No baseball, no football...someone could get hurt;

Besides, playing sports exposed kids to dirt.

Dolls were said to be sexist, and should be passe;

And Nintendo would rot your entire brain away.

So Santa just stood there, dishevelled, perplexed;

He just could not figure out what to do next.

He tried to be merry, tried to be gay,

But you've got to be careful with that word today.

His sack was quite empty, limp to the ground;

Nothing fully acceptable was to be found.

Something special was needed, a gift that he might

Give to all without angering the left or the right.

A gift that would satisfy, with no indecision,

Each group of people, every religion;

Every ethnicity, every hue,

Everyone, everywhere...even you.

So here is that gift, it's price beyond worth...

May you and your loved ones, enjoy peace on Earth."

Notice: This poem is copyright 1992 by Harvey Ehrlich.

Free to distribute without changes as long as this notice remains intact.

The New-Maker!

This white man was intrigued recently when watching the news and a report came on explaining that many new species of animal life had been discovered over the past ten years in the upper Mekong jungles of Vietnam and Laos. For a more detailed account then click on the link below;

http://conservationreport.com/2008/12/15/new-species-more-than-1000-new-species-discovered-in-rivers-junglesand-restaurants-of-the-greater-mekong-in-past-decade/

It would seem to me that our Creator God is still in the business of creating new life. One can argue the theories of evolution and natural selection etc... but the pure essence of life has to begin with a source. I choose to believe that source is THE Source, a wonderful Creator God who hasn't shelved His creativity just yet. Praise God for that and may we all learn to wonder a little more at His marvellous creation!

Verse of the Day...

Interesting Photo!

I have heard that what you read stays with you, even becomes a part of you but this is ridiculous!

Everything Is Spiritual!

Recently a young person mentioned to this white man that they couldn't understand why I didn't put more 'spiritual' stuff on this blog. I think they made an assumption that I, as their pastor, should feel a moral, or at least 'spiritual' obligation to give more attention to all things 'spiritual'. Maybe I could be feeding a perception that I am unspiritual and too focused on the real world of worldly affairs.

Yet I would contend this - never once during the entire ministry of Jesus Christ did He ever mention 'spiritual life' as opposed from just life itself. In fact, in the Hebrew Bible and language there is no distinct word for 'spiritual'. And so, as Christian commentator Rob Bell points out really well, I too believe that everything is spiritual. So if you happen to arrive here at this white man's blog and ask the question why this pastor doesn't have a plethora of biblical reflections and theological musings then now you know! If you want that stuff there are plenty of other blogs around to feed your 'spiritual life'!

Screaming Blue Murder?

This white man is deeply perplexed at the outpouring of vengeful anger against the Victorian Police in light of the recent and tragic shooting of a 15 year-old teenage boy in a Northcote skate park. On that night the police did what they felt was the last resort to do - and for their own safety as well. It is easy in hindsight to hypothesise that the police members were "heavy-handed" in dealing with a youth running at them with knives threatening to kill them. All I would contend is that generally-speaking, whether or not you are a serving police member or serving in the military or even just a face in the general population, to kill someone, by accident or intent, is not just something that happens and you just move on and get over it. That is why I believe that the hatred being spewed all over the serving members who felt compelled to discharge their weapons against Tyler Cassidy last week is unfair and ill-considered.

How would those police be feeling right now? Do we really think they were happy to shoot down the kid like he was just some empty can in a shooting gallery? That course of action which they believed to be necessary will never leave those police members - they will wrestle with it for the rest of their lives. And today a grieving family lays to rest their 15 year-old because he tragically made a series of choices that led to his untimely death. No-one denies the scale of this as a personal tragedy that was in every way unfortunate. But to just lay the whole onus of responsibility on the police, who were doing their job in serving to protect our community, is uncalled for. I say let's be fair in examining the role and actions of our police before condemning them as trigger-happy kid-killers. After all, if that teenage boy or anyone else was threatening you or your family with his knives wouldn't you want the police to protect you in whatever way they felt necessary?

How Powerful Is The Word of God?!

A woman had just returned to her home from an evening of church services, when she was startled by an intruder.
She caught the man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables and yelled: 'Stop! Acts 2:38!'
(Repent and be Baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins may be forgiven.)
The burglar stopped in his tracks. The woman calmly called the police and explained what she had done.
As the officer cuffed the man to take him in, he asked the burglar: 'Why did you just stand here? All the old lady did was yell a scripture to you.'
'Scripture?' replied the burglar. 'She said she had an Ax and Two 38s!'

Poor 'Cousins' No More...

Ben Cousins is back in town, well football-wise anyway! After a much publicised exile from AFL action during which Cousins has been sorting out his life and battling drug addiction, today came the news that the Richmond Football Club have thrown the beleaguered Brownlow Medallist a career lifeline. Picked up today in a pre-season draft for 2009, Ben Cousins has literally been offered a Christmas gift...a last chance to excel in the game that made him a superstar. And this white man is very happy about it!

One can get philosophical, even judgmental about what road Cousins took himself down in relation to his substance abuse issues. But the truth is this - giving someone, who has messed things up, a second chance is the Australian way. It's the attitude personified within the ethos of a 'fair go". But even more than any Aussie stereotype, it is simply and universally just the right thing to do. Everyone deserves a second-chance - even when it seems that they are undeserving. That's not a personally derived opinion but rather what I see as being the example of grace that Christ lived out for us to follow. How easy is it to become adept at stone throwing in pursuing our own self-appointed zealous ideas for what we think is right. Such is life...In any case well done Richmond Football Club for having the courage of your convictions in giving Ben Cousins a fair go!

If The Shoe Fits, WEAR IT!

This white man often just shakes his head at the delicious ironies that life regularly serves up. One such moment has to be seen in the actions of an Iraqi journalist who, in his own moment of rage, did what any insulted Iraqi would do to express the fullness of his disdain. The target of his outburst: President George W Bush...The means of his attack: his two shoes which flew past the President's head as he dodged and weaved as only politicians can! And then the ultimate Arab insult to any person - "YOU DOG!"

What a moment of inspired hilarity! The final moment this bellicose poor excuse for a world leader will be remembered for, on the very soil of arguably his greatest failure, Iraq, is a size 8 dirty sandal whizzing past his furried brow! This white man says, if the shoe fits then WEAR IT Mr Bush!

For a detailed account of the incident click on the link

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/world/middleeast/15prexy.html?bl&ex=1229403600&en=41084e144739b723&ei=5087

Verse For The Day...

Rain Falls

Rain falls to wash the earth

Rain falls so sad one's know they aren't alone

Rain falls to make us new

Rain falls so that we know we can have a fresh, clean, new start too

Rain falls so that we believe everyday can't be perfect

Rain falls

Rain falls...

A Christmas Thought!

Sometimes when it comes to blog profundity you just can't go past some emails that get sent your way. It may seem a cheap and easy 'out' to just cut and paste away one's blog principles of originality but the picture and the humour are just priceless. So here is a Christmas thought to remember...

Well it made this white man laugh...

Another Contemplative Expression of Art....

"When they saw the star, they were overjoyed!" Matthew 2:10

Christmas Lights Craziness!

Every year at Christmas time this white man continues to be astonished at the superhuman efforts put into decorating the facades of houses and gardens everywhere with thousands of colourful lights and various ornaments. These displays can range from the fantastic to the forgettable but there has to be one constant - the expense. So pardon me for invoking the un-Christmas spirit of Scrooge for a moment but aren't we supposed to be conserving our energy output at present? Has global warming now been put to rest in lieu of the federal election being all but a distant memory? Have all those 'black balloons' flying out of our TV sets suddenly been forgotten in light of some twinkling christmas indulgences? Then again, we are all being encouraged to spend our pennys at present to revitalise a teetering recession-bound economy. Perhaps we all should spend our handouts on Christmas lights and life-sized robotic Santas because Kevin told us so! But save a little of your war-chest for your new year's electricity bill - what a pity they don't share the same Christmas spirit!

Call this white man old-fashioned but if I'm correct all it took on one dark celestial night some 2000 years ago was one star to shine a light and make a way for a dark world for all eternity. But then again, if Edison had of showed up a little earlier then I'm sure there would have been some garish flickering cycle of lights around the windows and eaves of that Bethlehem stable! In any case, let's just remember who the true Light of Christmas really is...

And by the way, this picture could well accurately depict the white man's christmas light effort this year!

Merry Christmas!

Sustaining Wisdom...

"Choose your friends carefully - you never know who is on your side, and remember; the truth shall prevail! "

AMEN!

A Battle Lost?

This white man sadly learnt today of the passing of champion Australian athlete Kerryn McCann. Kerryn McCann won two consecutive Commonwealth Games gold medals in the women's marathon event. Following this she was diagnosed with breast cancer and died last night surrounded by her husband and three children. Of course deep sadness and sympathy lie with those left behind, especially her children. She was 41 years of age.

Yet in the midst of this sad event this white man has an issue. What really irks me is a cliched explanation heard incessantly concerning people who die from illnesses, but particularly cancer. It is a personal pet hate of mine and by the time of writing this blog entry I've had a gutful of hearing it today. It's the expression "she lost her battle with cancer..." Since when is the process of dying a contest? Sickness is sickness; surviving is surviving; dying is dying. Many times death comes as a blessing, a win if you will. Likewise surviving illnesses that ravage one's body and reduce one's quality of life can be equally a curse. But for goodness sakes, Kerryn McCann was a world-class athlete with a level of personal fitness beyond 99% of us. If cancer would claim a physical specimen such as her then how can there be any notion of a contest?!

Maybe this white man is just hung up on a minor matter of semantics. Or perhaps this world needs a real perspective check so that it may see terminal illness and dying for what it really is - a natural reality that is not about winning or losing, but rather how well-remembered that soul will be and what legacy-print they leave behind. You lost nothing Kerryn McCann! You simply just crossed another finish line and hopefully those closest to you will one day be able to celebrate your life (and your death) as a victory and not a defeat.

Verse for the Day...

Another Two Amazing Photos...

A Cumulus trumpet blast...

And a supersonic stork!

Opinions & Pride...

As this white man was driving into church this morning he listened intently to the various issues/current affairs being discussed in earnest on 3AW693. Talk-back radio is one of my real pleasures in life when I happen to be in transit. This morning discussions ranged from the parliamentary performance of deputy PM Julia Gillard to suspected faulty fixed speed cameras on the new EastLink tollway. One thing continually amazes me about the callers who make talk-back radio so simultaneously pleasurable and painful. They all believe they are right. One caller phoned in responding to the pleas of many drivers who honestly believe they have been unfairly caught out by a speed camera on the aforementioned tollway. His opinion was that every person issued an infringement for speeding were, in fact speeding and had not been 'dudded' by a faulty camera. When asked why and how he could form such a resolute basis for this opinion he simply answered "because..."

And again it struck me...As human beings we have this incredibly audacious presumption of innate correctness on just about every issue known or relevant to us. Somehow, in the scope of all human wisdom and knowledge ever accumulated on this pale blue dot of a planet called Earth we really do believe that we are right. None of us are immune from this prideful condition, including myself. So this white man poses the following question; at what point can we, or do we have the ability to step outside of ourselves and confess the true condition of our innate selves...that actually we may be correct some of the time but actually more often than not we're just deluding ourselves as to how wise we really are. That more often than we'd care to admit we find ourselves just being wrong.

Pride is such a delusionary failing when you really think it through. It ultimately leads us back to a place an angel once stood in the throne-room of Heaven. The most beautiful angel in all God's creation looked at itself and then looked at it's Creator and made the fatal mistake of comparison. In pride that angel fell - for it boastfully assumed it's status was even higher than God. Is it so hard for us, just in the midst of our todays, to step outside of ourselves once in a while and gain some Divine perspective on who we really in light of who He really is? Maybe then, we might just come to a place of understanding, the vantage-point of humility perhaps, that our opinions may be valid and worthy but they are not 100% inerroneous. Or perhaps if all of that is just a little too existential or high-brow to consider then simply reflect on this timeless truth from Proverbs 29:23 ; "a man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honour."

That's the white man's preach for today and by no means do I claim that my opinion is anywhere even near being all-consumingly correct or infallible. Amen to that!

What a Photo!

Guess we're never really out of the span of His reach!

Ballistic... (part 2)

Wow! Swimming must really bring out the worst in some parents. Today this white man was back at the pool and, would you believe it, another manic mum took her turn on the stage of theatrical hysterics! This time it was a barrage of abuse directed towards a young hapless swim instructor who, in this mums opinion, was 'pushing' her fragile flower-petal of a son just too hard. Her flip-out at Flippers ended on this momentous finale; "You're gonna goddam drown him you b......(just think illegitimate child)!" Whether her boy will return to swimming tomorrow is debatable. One thing's for sure...they won't be rolling out the red carpet for her!

And just in case you're wondering - the kid wasn't being pushed too hard at all. He was treated no differently from any other kid in his group. And by the way, the other boy from Monday's melt-down has been re-assigned to the rightful group according to his ability. Justice prevails... One and a half more weeks of swimming - will the mums of Mackellar cope? And what will tomorrow bring? My suggestion is that they ban all parents from being able to attend at all...for the kid's sake most of all!

Ballistic!

This white man has in times past reflected with bemusement upon the antics of over-zealous primary school parents in all sorts of situations. Today provided another lowlight in the annals of parents behaving badly much to the embarrasment of her son and everyone else present. The first day of summer saw Mackellar Primary School's Prep to Grade 2 classes begin their swimming program at Flippers Swim Centre in Sydenham. The first task for the small group of four besieged swim instructors is to group all the kids in accordance with the standard of their swimming skills. A short test on each kid quickly and effectively sorts out the porpoises from the pilchards and everyone moves on from there. Well usually everyone moves on...

One young Grade 1 boy, who looked reasonably competent in the water, appeared to have been mistakenly grouped in a lesser skilled group. This didn't please his Mum at all who started fuming in the parents area glassed off from the main pool deck. "What's he doing in that group?! He's better than those other kids! I don't pay big fees for his private swimming tuition for this crap! Change his grouping now or he won't be back tomorrow! You'd better do something or I'm really going to go ballistic!!" Honestly I think everyone feared seeing what 'ballistic' would entail! I guess there must be degrees of difference between merely ballistic and seriously BALLISTIC! Anyway, all the most venomous invective just continued to pour out of this poor kid's mum in one big spiteful rage-filled splurge! She was really flippin' out at Flippers!

This white man isn't sure what happened next - he decided to beat a hasty retreat to the safety of his car where the cricket on ABC radio provided a better form of entertainment. But it still causes me to question why and how some parents totally lose all semblance of self-control when it comes to trivialities involving their kids. Obviously it's not trivial to them but even so - you'd think there'd be a less loudly extraverted form of protest possible? Oh well - each to their own...if only they could keep it to their own!