| OrGo to www.onion.com It's an online paper that generally tries to put one up the establishment. Specifically the current American administration. It's almost like shooting fish in a barrel. I got to be honest, I'm not that political (maybe I should be?) but this is a hoot. With headlines like, "Bloodless Coup A Real Let down" and "Report: Worlds Nuclear Arsenal 'Pretty Much' Accounted For" it's a good way to start your day. Scott |
| As they swiped my credit card I have never felt so excited and ashamed at the same time. But I got to admit, as I was unpacking the 6 speaker surround sound DVD player I was mainly excited. I never thought I would embrace such naked consumerism. I'm not going to try and justify it by saying I'll use it for ministry or, it's an investment (whatever that means) but I can make most of the guilt go away with 2 words. Birthday money. To ease my conscience I threw in the 2003 Coldplay concert DVD. (It's amazing what my conscience responds to.) It's brought me so much happiness. So imagine my joy when I saw written on the Coldplay piano www.maketradefair.com I could magically undo my consumerism with the click of a button! Can I encourage you to click that button and take a visit to www.maketradefair.com If your looking for a cause, this would be a good place to start. Sign the petition, I know I did. Scott |
It's been a whole week since I woke up to the sound of the surf at Onrus. Seems a lot longer than a week. So in the spirit of South African entrepreneurship, I've coined a new phrase. "Time flys when you have to give 5 talks in a week." Might not be a saying you'll be able to use often, and I pray it's not. This week (actually in the next four days) I'm giving 5 talks. Which means I've been working on Luke 23, 1 Timothy 1, Luke 9, 2 Timothy 2 and the last one I haven't even got to yet. That includes bible study last night on Mark 13 (one of the nastiest chapters in the book). what this boils down to is that I need to get of my blog and back to work. But just thought I'd let you know what I'm up to. (I realise that this isn't so much a badge of honour as reflects poor planning, but I don't care cause I'm having fun. So there). Scott PS: When I get a chance, I'll tell you all about my new purchase. |
| While I was reading 1 and 2 Chronicles, I was also away on the first Tubman family holiday that included more than 2 people. A short but good trip to Hermanus. Saw some whales and dolphins . . and some seagulls. |
There are lots of things I've never done, one of them is to read 1 and 2 Chronicles. I probably made a half arsed attempt at college so I could tick a reading report but never gave it a fair go. Well, I've read through these 2 books over the last few days. It's intersting what jumps out at you when you tackle books of the bible in one go. There was a word that kept on popping up. Wholehearted. More than a word, it's a concept. The plea from prophets and kings - when it comes to God, worship Him wholeheartedly. It's also a thermometer to test Israel. Is she wholehearted towards the Lord, or is her heart divided? How's your heart? 2 Chronicles Ch 7 tells of King Hezekiah (a good king) who started to celebrate the passover again. His daddy had neglected the people and not led them in the ways of the Lord, and so celebrating the passover again was a big deal. But when everyone got together to make the sacrifices, most of them had not purified themselves as they should have because the law of the Lord had been forgotten for a generation. Now I was expecting that God would freak out and fry their unpurified butts. But check out what happens: "But Hezekiah prayed for them, 'May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone who sets his heart on seeking God even if he is not clean acording to the rules of the sanctuary.' And the Lord heard Hezekaih and healed the people." Even if the letter of the law wasn't satisfied the law was still fulfilled. Perhaps a better way to put it would be that the law was fulfilled because the hearts of the people (and not just their rituals) were committed to God. As a moral checklist the law is impossible to keep. That's the whole point. Hezekiah saw that the law was to drive people wholeheartedly back to God asking for pardon by His great mercy. One of the few teachers of the law in Jesus day to hit the nail on the head summed it up well. "To love Him with all your heart and all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." (Mark 12) Jesus commended this man as being petty darn close to the kingdom. Where's your heart at? Caught up in the fuss of loving religion? Or do you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and all your strength . . . Scott |
Last night I got dressed up all fancy, rang Hayley’s mum to baby sit Ben, and took Hayley off to the city. Last night, we went to the ballet. It was an early birthday present for Hayley and we had a hoot. For me it was the first time. And I was impressed. You can’t help but be. The ballet we saw was Cinderella – a classic that also helped me to follow the story line without too much trouble. But it got me thinking.
In the fairy tale the baddies are the 2 evil stepsisters. They are evil and they are ugly. In fact the two go together like Australian summers and melanomas. Think through all the stories you were told as a kid – the evil one is always the ugly one – the big bad wolf, the witch in Hansel and Gretel, Peter Pan’s nemesis, Captain Hook. But the problem is that evil is not defined by being ugly.
In Genesis, God is the one who decides what is right and what is wrong. Adam and Eve’s great sin is not being ugly, but challenging God’s right to make that call. And that is the essence of evil and sin, telling God that he has no idea what he is doing and that we will decide for ourselves what is right and wrong, thank you very much.
We haven’t been helped by being told that evil is always ugly. In fact those who challenge God’s right to be God in this world are not disfigured grotesque story book freaks, but often well spoken folk with good teeth. Proverbs describes folly as a women with “crafty intent“ who lures men to their destruction. She says, “I have covered me bed with coloured lines from Egypt, I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come let us drink deep of love until morning.” Sounds pretty appealing to me. What about you? No wart on the nose or devious cackle to warn of folly’s price.
“Stolen water is sweet, and fruit eaten is secret is delicious!”
But little do they know that the dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of the grave.
Proverbs 9:17-18
Cinderella got me thinking that we can’t wait to see ugly before we take a stand against evil. We need to guard what is good (as defined by God) even if it is threatened by the beautiful people. Ugly is not your enemy.
Scott
Before Bible Study last night I manged to see 3/4 of a Simpsons episode. It's a new series for me and the last 3 episodes all have been focused around, at least in part, Christian stuff. for example;
Last night Springfield lost their tourism rating and so need to lure people back to their town. The solution (suggested by the little activist Lisa) is to legalise same sex marriages. They do, and soon the town is filled with gay couples looking to wed. But Rev. Lovejoy nails shut the church becuase marrying 2 gay people is like, "putting a hamburger paddy on a hot dog bun." So Homer gets himself ordained over the internet and marries them all . . . for a price. Before long Homer (in dog collar) and Rev. Lovejoy and facing off on Kent Brockman's night time news show. The conversation goes something like this:
Kent: But Homer, if we legalise same sex marriages aren't we on a slippery slop? What is there to stop us marrying anything?
Homer: Don't be silly Kent, they have to exist . . . (thinking and hatching a plan) Or do they?
Rev LJ: Call me old fashioned Homer, but the Bible says . . .
Homer: The Bible! You love the bible so much maybe you should marry it! (Waves his arms in the air) I now pronounce you husband and wife . . . and your the wife! (giggles to himself)
Now maybe some of it is lost in the translation but I thought it was fascinating. The Christians certianly get made the butt of many of the jokes but at the same time Kent voices a real concern that when you redefine marriage you open the door for people to marry their cats, cars and siblings. And once this begins to happen, we won't have a leg to stand on because we've already shot marriage dead long ago. Homer's obvious inability to engage with this very serious issue shoots another round at the same sex marriage lobby. As a Christian I'm OK with taking a few hits as long as it goes both ways. As it did last night.
And all from just 30 seconds of a cartoon, I'm very impressed. But we all know, it's more than just a cartoon isn't it?
Scott
Time away is always good, even if it's work. We got lots done - We told each other the way it is and looked for a way forward. But you don't want to hear about that.
There were other highlights more appealing I'm sure. Like consuming large quantities of meat and chocolate and watching Survivor with a crowd bigger than 2. But one of the highlights was after Survivor when we saw '3rd Degree' and enjoyed some investigative journalism. Mandy's driving school was under the spotlight for selling fake drivers licences. But during the promo for the show they kept on showing the confrontation with Mandy. . . . "But Mandy, we've got you selling the fake documents on tape!" Mandy's reply was an eloquent, "You're full of shit!" Ahhhhh . . . investigative journalism, combining entertainment, sensationalism and the truth. Quite a irresistable cocktail.
Other good times; getting up for a run at 7am and by 8 finishing it with a swim at the beach. Finding mangoes are back in the shops and Ben sleeping through the night. Oh yeah, you heard right.
Scott
| I was reminded this weekend about some things that I really like doing. Laying on my freshly cut lawn, falling asleep in the sun Making burgers for the weber and having them NOT fall to pieces on the grill After a run of disastrous video choices, finding the diamond in the rough – in this case it was Million Dollar Baby. It rocked straight into my top 10 of all time list Amstel Having some guilt free computer game time Cooking and eating cous cous Reading the weekend paper while Ben looks on smiling The man who can enjoy the simple things will be happy. Scott |
These are not just words to rally a nation are they? If you think about it, to dare and to endure kind of lay at either end of life. On one hand we throw caution to the wind, stick out necks out and risk all. On the other, we hang in there with gritted teeth. Yet even though they are opposites, they are not enemies. In fact the Christian life could be summed up by dare and endure. We dare to turn our backs on the shiny toys of this world for the treasures of the Kingdom. We dare to suggest that love is better than self, holiness better than sin, life better than death. But we also endure. We wait patiently for our King to come again despite the fact that those around us ask, "Where is this coming He has promised?" To dare and endure.
Would that I know both of these better.
With that, a hearty welcome to the new blog. It's what the title suggests, life with me. I'm hoping it will be less like an infomercial and more like a documentary but we'll see how we go. Below is a snapshot of a group of people who have also committed themselves to dare and endure with me. The Senior Youth leaders at our favourite spot.
