My venus fly trap, mentioned in an earlier post where I mentioned my botanical aspirations, is in a bad way. It has two non-rotten traps, neither of which will shut even when you stick something in them. There are a number of new traps sprouting from it, but I don't know whether the poor thing has the stamina to grow them at the moment. I guess time will tell...
If it survives, I'm going to call it Percival.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Monday, January 15, 2007
religion continued/amended
I realised that my description of my Hillsong experience was incomplete as early as a few minutes after I'd written it, so I'm going to continue and hopefully clarify it.
First of all, I'm standing by what I said before. I will just clarify, though, that by "played the crowd" I mean that they tried to encourage the congregation to be more excited about just being there, much the same way as the lead vocalist for a rock band would try to get the crowd to shout louder at a concert. They did this a couple of times by asking a question of the congregation, saying that they could do better and encouraging them to answer louder and more emphatically. The reason I'm not keen on that can be made pretty evident if you put yourself into the shoes of someone who's just lost two of their friends in a car accident over the weekend, or of someone who's battling with intense scarring from a recent abusive encounter or relationship, or similar. They aren't going to want someone to tell them to be happy. It's not that easy, by a long shot, and in many many cases it isn't even appropriate. Joyousness on command is different from the joy that comes through faith - one is shallow, the other is deep; one is temporary, the other is permanent; one is based on the immediate surroundings, the other is based in the greatest love, the greatest sacrifice and the greatest hope the world will ever know. I feel a little strongly about this as someone who suffers from depression. You can change the way you feel, but the only lasting way to do that is through hard work over a long time... trust me.
The main reason that I thought I should continue my previous description is that it's decidedly negative, while I actually found it to be a very positive, helpful and even challenging experience. I was surprised by how normal a service it felt, after the initial sensation of cautiousness died down. They read from the Bible, which I was glad to see, even though they didn't wield that double-edged sword as deftly as would be most fruitful for them (by which I mean they should use it more, and should use it in context). They sang with passion and joy which was great to see. Their songs only lack the description of what God has actually done - they say that God has done great things but don't go into much detail. And while I'm on the topic of songs, I get really annoyed when songs say that God has done or said something that I'm pretty sure can't be found anywhere in Scripture. I can find one example, if anyone would like me to. The speaker I found to be convincing, and the message I found to be spoken in the Spirit, even if neither seemed particularly well grounded in Scripture. And they definitely have an evangelistic passion to everything they do. So I definitely saw good things.
In summary, I will definitely say now that I have brothers and sisters in that church and churches like it. However I am concerned for them, because they are on a perilous brink without a guard-rail. They need more of God's Word to anchor and affirm what it is that they do and say, because much of it is at least superficially spot-on, and to correct them in the areas in which they have strayed, and to deepen and strengthen them in faith and perseverance. I would love to see that happen in that church and those like it, and I would love to see that kind of passion supplement the joy and fruitfulness at Barneys.
First of all, I'm standing by what I said before. I will just clarify, though, that by "played the crowd" I mean that they tried to encourage the congregation to be more excited about just being there, much the same way as the lead vocalist for a rock band would try to get the crowd to shout louder at a concert. They did this a couple of times by asking a question of the congregation, saying that they could do better and encouraging them to answer louder and more emphatically. The reason I'm not keen on that can be made pretty evident if you put yourself into the shoes of someone who's just lost two of their friends in a car accident over the weekend, or of someone who's battling with intense scarring from a recent abusive encounter or relationship, or similar. They aren't going to want someone to tell them to be happy. It's not that easy, by a long shot, and in many many cases it isn't even appropriate. Joyousness on command is different from the joy that comes through faith - one is shallow, the other is deep; one is temporary, the other is permanent; one is based on the immediate surroundings, the other is based in the greatest love, the greatest sacrifice and the greatest hope the world will ever know. I feel a little strongly about this as someone who suffers from depression. You can change the way you feel, but the only lasting way to do that is through hard work over a long time... trust me.
The main reason that I thought I should continue my previous description is that it's decidedly negative, while I actually found it to be a very positive, helpful and even challenging experience. I was surprised by how normal a service it felt, after the initial sensation of cautiousness died down. They read from the Bible, which I was glad to see, even though they didn't wield that double-edged sword as deftly as would be most fruitful for them (by which I mean they should use it more, and should use it in context). They sang with passion and joy which was great to see. Their songs only lack the description of what God has actually done - they say that God has done great things but don't go into much detail. And while I'm on the topic of songs, I get really annoyed when songs say that God has done or said something that I'm pretty sure can't be found anywhere in Scripture. I can find one example, if anyone would like me to. The speaker I found to be convincing, and the message I found to be spoken in the Spirit, even if neither seemed particularly well grounded in Scripture. And they definitely have an evangelistic passion to everything they do. So I definitely saw good things.
In summary, I will definitely say now that I have brothers and sisters in that church and churches like it. However I am concerned for them, because they are on a perilous brink without a guard-rail. They need more of God's Word to anchor and affirm what it is that they do and say, because much of it is at least superficially spot-on, and to correct them in the areas in which they have strayed, and to deepen and strengthen them in faith and perseverance. I would love to see that happen in that church and those like it, and I would love to see that kind of passion supplement the joy and fruitfulness at Barneys.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
religion, society and penguins
I guess I've had a few interesting religious experiences over the last few days.
On Friday, I saw Happy Feet. Although I wouldn't ever class seeing a movie as a religious experience unless it was a fundamentally religious movie, this particular movie did seem to have a particular secular undertone that would dissuade any viewers from following religious beliefs on the basis that they're made up by old people to scare, manipulate and maintain power over the younger generations. The secular plot saw the penguin population turn against the old bigots when the falsity of their beliefs became evident, and even the old bigots themselves eventually let their religious teachings go in favour of following the new way. I guess secularisation is becoming the flavour of the month. When our armies were fighting political wars late last century, the ideology of the masses became anti-institutional, with free love and socialism becoming some of the popular ways to oppose the institutions governing them. Now, with our armies fighting thinly-disguised religious wars, the ideology of the masses has become anti-religious, with fundamental religion coming to be seen as something that causes hatred and dissention and should therefore be avoided.
As a Christian, and probably one who would attract the "fundamental" label because of my evangelical beliefs and associations, I can't help feeling short-changed by this. I know that our Western society can no longer be called Christian, any more than an Australian like myself can be called an Englishman - the ties of origin might still be there, but my nation has moved on and become its own a long time ago. Western society is secular. The capitalism of Western society is secular. Even the leaders of the West give secular reasons for making war at this time - they say that our way of life is in need of defence, and that they are therefore attacking those who desire to take it away from us, and as our way of life as a society is very much secular this must be a secular reason. And yet this poses the problem that either our leaders are blind or they are lying: either they don't see that the enemy is fighting for religious reasons, or they themselves are sending us to war for religious reasons but don't want to tell us that. I think that we all believe our politicians are liars and cheats, and therefore we jump to the second conclusion, and then move further on to the conclusion that religion causes wars. And why stop there? Blame it for colonisation, for the destruction of cultures, for all the social evils in the world and for any injustice that you can see. Blame it even for capitalism, because the freedom "Christianity" gives to those who live in "Christian" countries to do whatever they please just gives way to greed and lust. I feel short-changed by this because I know that this is not the fault of Christianity, but of those who claimed to be Christian just because the rest of the culture did, and who either just didn't care a thing about the ways of God, or were led into false ways by an often-corrupted and therefore itself wayward Church.
Jesus fought injustice, brought mercy, and overflowed with compassion - even towards those who His society saw as enemies - and He taught us to do the same. He taught us to love as He loved us. He taught us to bring love to the whole world by bringing both His message and His mercy and compassion to it. It is no wonder that there are people who are shunning all things religious when those who, through the centuries gone and even right now, are making war and purporting to be Christians. Islam sees the West as Christian, but it is not. It is secular to its core these days, because its core is the economy and the greed and lust that are its lifeblood. Even the majority of people in the West now this. Can we as Western Christians possibly make headway when we are bound to a system of greed and lust? As much as a blessing as it is, maybe we should seek to value our security and our acceptance into our own society less, so that when we are accused our accusers may be put to shame because they see the way in which we live. That is, after all, how we were taught to live.
The second religious experience I've had is that of going to Hillsong Church. I'll talk less about this. I found the message challenging, because it was on something that I've been challenged about a lot recently - social justice. Well, that's what it spoke to me. It was really poorly based in Scripture, even containing one reference that was completely wrong. Another shorter message earlier in the service miscontextualised a single verse to make a point that could have been made very strongly with a good few other whole passages taken in context. They played the crowd too, which I don't think is appropriate, as it doesn't reach out to people where they are. However, I think the Spirit really is alive in that Church, or at least in parts of it. I actually think His power is more evident in my own Church, St. Barnabas Broadway, despite our semi-rigid applications of Anglican service structure, just because we have no showmanship amongst us - there is love, there is power, there is truth, there is movement, and though there is the typical Anglican unwillingness to get off our bums and do anything (or is that just me?), there is great work being done amongst us.
Okay, I need to end my rant here I think :o)
On Friday, I saw Happy Feet. Although I wouldn't ever class seeing a movie as a religious experience unless it was a fundamentally religious movie, this particular movie did seem to have a particular secular undertone that would dissuade any viewers from following religious beliefs on the basis that they're made up by old people to scare, manipulate and maintain power over the younger generations. The secular plot saw the penguin population turn against the old bigots when the falsity of their beliefs became evident, and even the old bigots themselves eventually let their religious teachings go in favour of following the new way. I guess secularisation is becoming the flavour of the month. When our armies were fighting political wars late last century, the ideology of the masses became anti-institutional, with free love and socialism becoming some of the popular ways to oppose the institutions governing them. Now, with our armies fighting thinly-disguised religious wars, the ideology of the masses has become anti-religious, with fundamental religion coming to be seen as something that causes hatred and dissention and should therefore be avoided.
As a Christian, and probably one who would attract the "fundamental" label because of my evangelical beliefs and associations, I can't help feeling short-changed by this. I know that our Western society can no longer be called Christian, any more than an Australian like myself can be called an Englishman - the ties of origin might still be there, but my nation has moved on and become its own a long time ago. Western society is secular. The capitalism of Western society is secular. Even the leaders of the West give secular reasons for making war at this time - they say that our way of life is in need of defence, and that they are therefore attacking those who desire to take it away from us, and as our way of life as a society is very much secular this must be a secular reason. And yet this poses the problem that either our leaders are blind or they are lying: either they don't see that the enemy is fighting for religious reasons, or they themselves are sending us to war for religious reasons but don't want to tell us that. I think that we all believe our politicians are liars and cheats, and therefore we jump to the second conclusion, and then move further on to the conclusion that religion causes wars. And why stop there? Blame it for colonisation, for the destruction of cultures, for all the social evils in the world and for any injustice that you can see. Blame it even for capitalism, because the freedom "Christianity" gives to those who live in "Christian" countries to do whatever they please just gives way to greed and lust. I feel short-changed by this because I know that this is not the fault of Christianity, but of those who claimed to be Christian just because the rest of the culture did, and who either just didn't care a thing about the ways of God, or were led into false ways by an often-corrupted and therefore itself wayward Church.
Jesus fought injustice, brought mercy, and overflowed with compassion - even towards those who His society saw as enemies - and He taught us to do the same. He taught us to love as He loved us. He taught us to bring love to the whole world by bringing both His message and His mercy and compassion to it. It is no wonder that there are people who are shunning all things religious when those who, through the centuries gone and even right now, are making war and purporting to be Christians. Islam sees the West as Christian, but it is not. It is secular to its core these days, because its core is the economy and the greed and lust that are its lifeblood. Even the majority of people in the West now this. Can we as Western Christians possibly make headway when we are bound to a system of greed and lust? As much as a blessing as it is, maybe we should seek to value our security and our acceptance into our own society less, so that when we are accused our accusers may be put to shame because they see the way in which we live. That is, after all, how we were taught to live.
The second religious experience I've had is that of going to Hillsong Church. I'll talk less about this. I found the message challenging, because it was on something that I've been challenged about a lot recently - social justice. Well, that's what it spoke to me. It was really poorly based in Scripture, even containing one reference that was completely wrong. Another shorter message earlier in the service miscontextualised a single verse to make a point that could have been made very strongly with a good few other whole passages taken in context. They played the crowd too, which I don't think is appropriate, as it doesn't reach out to people where they are. However, I think the Spirit really is alive in that Church, or at least in parts of it. I actually think His power is more evident in my own Church, St. Barnabas Broadway, despite our semi-rigid applications of Anglican service structure, just because we have no showmanship amongst us - there is love, there is power, there is truth, there is movement, and though there is the typical Anglican unwillingness to get off our bums and do anything (or is that just me?), there is great work being done amongst us.
Okay, I need to end my rant here I think :o)
Saturday, January 13, 2007
ponderings from the deck
I was writing a poem, but I just couldn't seem to turn on my eloquence circuits, so I thought I'd just write for a while instead.
I'm sitting on Emma's deck as I type, concurrently making the most of modern wireless and battery-powered technology and making the most of God's wonderfully beautiful and peaceful way of using His creation to produce cool, calm breezes on a summer's afternoon.
Yesterday was ridiculously hot. It apparently got to 41 out west, before a storm came and cooled things down a little. Today started much cooler and has warmed up, and now there's just a warm and gentle glow on the green, red-brown and yellow leaves of the trees that poke above the nearby roofs, while a cool breeze rustles them and keeps them animated against the mottled light-grey sky behind. In all honesty, I could never become tired of a scene like this - Emma would probably call me crazy though - because it's always changing, never static, even though it's the same trees moving in very similar ways viewed from the same place. The light, the sounds, the weather and the sky all make it different every day I'm here, playing with the colours and the ambience but rarely removing the peacefulness.
That's pretty much what I was trying too hard to put into rhyme. Prose works better for me sometimes.
I'm sitting on Emma's deck as I type, concurrently making the most of modern wireless and battery-powered technology and making the most of God's wonderfully beautiful and peaceful way of using His creation to produce cool, calm breezes on a summer's afternoon.
Yesterday was ridiculously hot. It apparently got to 41 out west, before a storm came and cooled things down a little. Today started much cooler and has warmed up, and now there's just a warm and gentle glow on the green, red-brown and yellow leaves of the trees that poke above the nearby roofs, while a cool breeze rustles them and keeps them animated against the mottled light-grey sky behind. In all honesty, I could never become tired of a scene like this - Emma would probably call me crazy though - because it's always changing, never static, even though it's the same trees moving in very similar ways viewed from the same place. The light, the sounds, the weather and the sky all make it different every day I'm here, playing with the colours and the ambience but rarely removing the peacefulness.
That's pretty much what I was trying too hard to put into rhyme. Prose works better for me sometimes.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
brain atrophy
You know those days when nothing seems to happen, and suddenly it's like 5pm and you're sitting in your loungeroom with your keyboard on your lap, music blasting from the stereo and the hotness from outside starting to cool down? Yeah, I'm having one of those days. I'm really just hanging out for it to get a bit cooler so I can go for a bike ride through the cool evening air instead sweating like a pig. My eyes are tired, so I think I might go and do something not on the computer while I wait instead, like write some music or something. That's if I can wake my brain up again. Stupid internet...
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
supreme internet goodness
For those of you who are yet to taste the awesomeness:
Homestar Runner
and I particularly recommend the sbemail section.
I've been checkin' this out so much I'm starting to think like these guys talk!
Also of note, if you can get past the initial boringness*, is:
Weebl and Bob
which will grow on you as you watch more of it. Check out the Wikipedia entry on Weebl and Bob to find out how the creator creates the voices of Weebl and Bob, and then practice it amongst your friends :o)
*boringness is dramatically increased proportional to age and slowness of computer. if you think it's going way way way too slow instead of way too slow, try closing some programs. worked for me.
Homestar Runner
and I particularly recommend the sbemail section.
I've been checkin' this out so much I'm starting to think like these guys talk!
Also of note, if you can get past the initial boringness*, is:
Weebl and Bob
which will grow on you as you watch more of it. Check out the Wikipedia entry on Weebl and Bob to find out how the creator creates the voices of Weebl and Bob, and then practice it amongst your friends :o)
*boringness is dramatically increased proportional to age and slowness of computer. if you think it's going way way way too slow instead of way too slow, try closing some programs. worked for me.
cardgame
What do you do when you lose The Game when nobody else is around?
edit: i'm thinking about ditching my fixation with incorporating the word "cardboard" into all of my post titles. it's just too hard.
edit: i'm thinking about ditching my fixation with incorporating the word "cardboard" into all of my post titles. it's just too hard.
Monday, January 08, 2007
cardboard comes from trees
I can't wait until I have the space, time and money to create a garden. It's just one of those things that you start longing to do as you get older, I think. It's been spurred on a little by the Council giving out free plants at a few events I've been to recently, but I think in my case it's genetic - my Grandad's a farmer, my Nan's an avid gardener, and my Pop is a great gardener too and always wanted to get a farm. I would like to have a place where I can plant trees that will grow big and shady, and I'd like to be there long enough to enjoy that shade once they've grown. I really like trees.
I have a little Salvia that has bright red flowers. It's copped a massive beating from a healthy-looking green caterpillar which is now somewhere out my window, but it's still alive with a few leaves intact, and I hope it'll make a full recovery. It's had to survive my bad watering habits, and many's the times I've had to give it water as it's been far too wilted. Poor thing.
I also have a little Venus Fly Trap. Many of its traps have turned black and dead, but there are some healthy ones too. I think maybe they die once they've been used, or they just get sunburnt really easily when they have water on them. I need to get a dish for it to sit in so it doesn't dry out and so I don't have to water it from the top.
I also have a little cactus. It's furry with massive long spikes. It seems to take care of itself, but I think I'll start watering it more cos it hasn't grown at all since I got it. In all fairness, it was just sitting on my floor for the entire year, completely neglected. It could be dead, except I think it's still green and that would be weird.
I've just moved house, for those who didn't know. It's much quieter here, but at the moment I can't unpack any of my stuff so I don't really feel as though I've moved in. I don't like feeling in-between-places. There's a few things I'd like to fix but I haven't been brave enough yet coz it's a rental place. The cold tap in the bathroom doesn't work, but that should be relatively easy to fix. The kitchen light switch doesn't work either though, and that would be much harder. I might just leave that one be.
I got a job at the beginning of the holidays. I started working two weeks later, by which time it was the week before Christmas. I had four shifts that week. I haven't worked since. I'm a little bored. If anyone who is good at organising social thingies would like to organise one, I give you permission. Yes, I can still delegate stuff.
I may yet blog again today... haven't got much else to do! And that is a bad thing. I can only take so much Strong Bad in one sitting.
I have a little Salvia that has bright red flowers. It's copped a massive beating from a healthy-looking green caterpillar which is now somewhere out my window, but it's still alive with a few leaves intact, and I hope it'll make a full recovery. It's had to survive my bad watering habits, and many's the times I've had to give it water as it's been far too wilted. Poor thing.
I also have a little Venus Fly Trap. Many of its traps have turned black and dead, but there are some healthy ones too. I think maybe they die once they've been used, or they just get sunburnt really easily when they have water on them. I need to get a dish for it to sit in so it doesn't dry out and so I don't have to water it from the top.
I also have a little cactus. It's furry with massive long spikes. It seems to take care of itself, but I think I'll start watering it more cos it hasn't grown at all since I got it. In all fairness, it was just sitting on my floor for the entire year, completely neglected. It could be dead, except I think it's still green and that would be weird.
I've just moved house, for those who didn't know. It's much quieter here, but at the moment I can't unpack any of my stuff so I don't really feel as though I've moved in. I don't like feeling in-between-places. There's a few things I'd like to fix but I haven't been brave enough yet coz it's a rental place. The cold tap in the bathroom doesn't work, but that should be relatively easy to fix. The kitchen light switch doesn't work either though, and that would be much harder. I might just leave that one be.
I got a job at the beginning of the holidays. I started working two weeks later, by which time it was the week before Christmas. I had four shifts that week. I haven't worked since. I'm a little bored. If anyone who is good at organising social thingies would like to organise one, I give you permission. Yes, I can still delegate stuff.
I may yet blog again today... haven't got much else to do! And that is a bad thing. I can only take so much Strong Bad in one sitting.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
new name
So yeah, new name for my blog... I think this one's probably more consistently accurate than "truth"!
Thursday, January 04, 2007
cardboard is a Christian geek!
Two things which I think are pretty neat:
www.faithbrowser.com - there's a nifty little tool here for displaying a bible verse just below your address bar, but only if you use Firefox, which is better anyway.
www.whatwouldjesusdownload.com - a whole stack of resources for Christian geeks, including Christian web hosting, Linux for Christians and a Christian blog comic. It's run by a Catholic guy I think, but is very usable to all Christians.
Questions for commenting: Is creating resources specifically for Christians a good and helpful thing to do, or is it trying to shield ourselves too much from the world we live in? Is it making it easier for us to live in purity and righteousness, or is it just making it easier for us to ignore our broken and needy world?
www.faithbrowser.com - there's a nifty little tool here for displaying a bible verse just below your address bar, but only if you use Firefox, which is better anyway.
www.whatwouldjesusdownload.com - a whole stack of resources for Christian geeks, including Christian web hosting, Linux for Christians and a Christian blog comic. It's run by a Catholic guy I think, but is very usable to all Christians.
Questions for commenting: Is creating resources specifically for Christians a good and helpful thing to do, or is it trying to shield ourselves too much from the world we live in? Is it making it easier for us to live in purity and righteousness, or is it just making it easier for us to ignore our broken and needy world?
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