In the beginning . . .was confusion

We are spending some time in Genesis with Junior and Senior Youth at the moment and I'm always looking for chances to sharpen my spontaneous answering skills. One question that gets chucked round a bit is, 'Is Genesis real? Like, I mean, should we read it literally or is it just figuraive - like poetry or something?'

So, as a test run, here is a shot at an answer

Please feel free to help me by leaving a comment? Ta

Scott.

Should we read Genesis as literal or just poetic? (And what difference does it make?)

The bible has different types of literature spread throughout its 66 books. Some read like history, others like letters. There are also some poems, songs and biographies. What makes Genesis a little tricky is that it combines some of these different styles in the one book. For instance the first 11 chapters seem to be written in a slightly different style than chapters 12-50 (which we would probably refer to as history). So yes, Genesis is poetic and it is literal and other parts of it are probably a bit of a mix!

But here’s the thing: just because something is described poetically doesn’t mean that it is not true. So it’s important to remember that we can’t just ‘explain away’ the bits of Genesis we find a hard to swallow by saying, ‘Oh, they are just the poetic bits’ as if by saying this we mean that this part of the story never really happened. If I told you that ‘I love Hayley (my wife) so much that my heart feels like it will burst’, it doesn’t mean I have coronary problems, it’s simply a way to try and describe something that is hard to grasp unless you are in my shoes. Since Genesis records events like the creation of the universe, how the first humans stabbed God in the back and how God still provides for those people under His judgment, is it any surprise that the author dips into poetry, symbolism and epic story telling from time to time?

The trick is not to get so caught up in the style of the story that you miss the point. A classic example is in Gen Ch 1 when we are told God created the world in seven days. Were they seven ‘literally’ days or is it just symbolically referring to seven ‘periods of time’? The bottom line is who cares, right? The point is that God is powerfully in control so that all He has to do is speak a word and things appear from nothing. He made people on day six as the highlight of His creation and on day seven He brought everything to rest as the goal of creation. Can you see how whether the days are literally or figurative doesn’t really matter in the end – at least it certainly doesn’t change the point of the story.

Little help?

Help Me!!

When I changed templates -Ii lost the ability for you to leave a comment.

Hmmmm - can't seem to find the problem on dashboard. What am I missing?

Since you can't leave a comment (doh!) try emailing me

scott@stjames.org.za

ta

Living In

I am coming to understand something about writing a sermon.

The dawning of my insight goes like this . . .

Sermom 3 in my Proverbs series began last night at 10:30pm after bible study left and after I got Jemma up for her feed (no, I didn't do the feeding despite my blossoming man boobs). The sermon got a remarkably good start (Thank you Holy Spirit). It continued this morning in the car to college with Mervyn where it got another push. It also felt happy after getting some attention on the train back from college. Even as I type it is bubbling away.

So here is my pearl: I am starting to think you live with a sermon, rather than just write it. It's kind of the same contrast between sharing a house with a spouse or a bunch of mates compare to just meeting that person for coffee 3 times a week.

It's a little more intensive and potenatially disruptive but mega more satisfying.

Scott

It's great when you find a song that sums up how you are feeling.

Some of us can actually write songs and so skip right to the chase, the rest of us borrow from others. So with apologies to Things of Stone and Wood (Greg Arnold wrote it on the birth of his first child, but I took the liberty of changing the odd word or two) here is the song that sums up the last week and a bit.

Safe and Sound

You fell out of a blue sky
Landed with a smile in my open arms
I thought that there'd be fireworks
But you lit the night like a billion stars
Greet it all eyes open wide,
We will be there standing by your side.

I thought that I'd heard tambourines,
Then you were a back beat across my heart.
I thought you'd be a tiny grin
Then you hit the cool room like a belly laugh
If you're sad it won't be long
I will keep you warm in song tonight.

The whole world is a carnival
Wrap your arms around my neck,
We'll go see it all
If you ever get scared
I will be around
Going to keep you safe and sound

I dreamed you as a tear drop,
Then you hit the shore like a cyclone
Changing everything I'd ever know You where the wheel, you were like fire

The whole world is a carnival
Wrap your arms around my neck,
We'll go see it all
If you ever get scared
I will be around
Going to keep you safe and sound


Scott

Jemma Grace

No time for reflections right now, but here are some pictures that sum up the last 48 hours.

(For more check out www.babytubman.blogspot.com)

Scott

Proverbs Part 1

Over the next week or so I'm going to post some of my thoughts as I'm preparing 3 sermons on Proverbs. (They won't necessarily be in any particular order - just as they come)

Where does wisdom start?

With Dr Phil? Navel gazing, or graduating from the school of hard knocks?

Proverbs 1:7 tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. But you will also notice in Ch 2:5 that the fear of the Lord is the goal of wisdom too.

The fear of the Lord?

In Exodus 20:20 the Israelites are faced with God in the cloud and lightning on top of the Mt. Understandably they are freaked out. But check what Moses tells them:

Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning."

Don't be terrified of the Mt, this is God coming to you. Now that you are about to meet Him (i.e: you are about to recieve His words) you will be able to say no to sin if you fear Him. That is, if you respond to His word by faith in reverant awe.

We get the same picture in Mark 4 when the disciples are caught in the mother of all storms and fear that the waves will crush their boat into matchsticks. Jesus wakes up, instantly stops the storm (with a word) and now the disciples are afraid of Him. They ask, who is this man and what has he done?! How is this possible?! (I put it to you that you too would react in this way if you thought that God himself might be in your boat).

In order to unlock God's blueprint for life in his world, and to know how to live well in it, the starting point, the front door, is fear of the Lord. Responding to His word in faith with a healthy dose of reverant awe. (That's the bit that lets God be God and reminds you that you are not.)

This is the fence line within which we are able to graze freely in the pasture of wisdom.

More to come

Scott

Open Doors

Last night I made my way to Marike and Gordon's place - an older couple in our church who have decided they are sick of not knowing people at St James and so once a month have an afternoon tea and then a supper to get to know more people, and to help us get to know each other. Since they have begun, they have had over 100 people thru their house - well done guys.

But they also use the time to have a presentation for Open Doors - a Christian organisation that exists to help the persecuted church around the world by sending bibles, giving training as well as loving support. I know there are zillion of groups doing all sorts of good things for Christ, but these guys have got my attention.

To check out a bit more, click here

They try to serve 200 million Christians in the 66 closed countries who are persecuted in one way or another for their faith. If you go to the link, you can find out about 3 Indoensian women who spent almost 3 yrs in jail for running a sunday school club (evangelism is prohibited). Last night I also heard about Pastor Samuel Lamb in China who after spending 21 years in jail went straight back to his house church (he cramps 700 people into his place 4 times a week) and states quite forthrightly, 'Persecution good! More persecution, more growth!'

I was reminded last night that even if God has spared you persecution (for now) you still feel the affects of it. When one part of the body suffers, we all suffer. It's abut time that we started to listen to the aches and pains of our global body.

Check it out.
Scott

If you could ask God one question . . .

Can you remember when you were in high school?

Did you ever ask a question about the Bible, God or what you should do when faced with a tough choice? Well, I could use your help.

I'm putting together a book of questions and answers on some of the classic questions youth group kids ask about Christian things. Here are some of the classics already assembled:

• Where do the dinosaurs fit in?
• Who made God?
• Do babies who die go to heaven?
• Can Christians get tatoos?
• How far is too far?
• What's with predestination?
• If God loves everyone, why all the suffering?

In fact so far I have about 80 questions, but I would love to hear the ones that baked your noodle back in the day (maybe they still haven't been sorted).

Can you help?

Scott

This is not what I had in mind for the first post on my born again blog,
but it did make me laugh very hard.

Scott

The Dude Abides

It's been a long time between posts but as a friend of mine has observed, life comes before blogging.

I'm sitting here listening to Bruce croon out some anthems from Human Touch, a new pair of ug boots on my frozen feet and a tastey beverage close at hand.

My time away has not been wasted, so drop by soon and we'll get this party started.

Scott

Wow

A friend of mine went for some an inservice training with work the other day, you guessed it, all about AIDS and STD's. He was quite forth coming with the fact he was a Christian and what that meant when it came to discussion time.

Afterwards a guy came up to him and said the following.

"Although I went to church as a kid, I'm not a Christian. I have a girl friend and we are sleeping together, but after I have sex with her, I feel so bad. I feel guilty."

Amazing, isn't it?

Here is a guy who has no restrictions, can do whatever he wants.
So he does, and afterwards, how does he feel?
Hopeless.

Reminds me ofthe passage I preached on Sunday night.

Colossians Ch 3.
Put to death therefore whatever belongs to the earthly nature . . . things like sexual immorality . . .becuase of these things the wrath of God is coming."

Scott

Job

I'm doing 5 talks through Job for my youth groups at the moment. I haven't visited Job for a while and (as usual) it's the surprise that grab you.

Job has had everything stripped from him in Ch 1 (although worse is yet to come in Ch 2). Money, status, security and kids, all gone in a heartbeat. So Job looses it, tears robes, shaves head and mourns. Check the next sentence;

Then he fell to the ground in worship . . ."
[OK, I didn't see that one coming]

"and said, Naked I come from my mothers womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised."

Thoughts.
Job seems to understand a lot better than we do that everything he had from the second he was born doesn't belong to him. It was a gift from God. Or a loan from God - becuase one day, when you die, God will take it back. So if God calls back some of his gifts a bit early, that's OK. Suffering in this way doesn't mean God hates you or that God has suddenly become untrustworthy.

It also seems that Job knew this before the suffering came, he didn't figure it out in the midst of the storm. His reaction was to fall down in worship. He was prepared for this. He knew this stuff already and had used this knoweldge to discipline and brace himself for such a day.

Last comment.

Job can see what is happening around him clear enough, but he is totally clueless as to the reason behind it. (The narrator gives us a glimpse into the conversation between God and Satan, but Job himself never hears about it). Job's response is a response to suffering which arrives with no explaination or interpretation. Which gives us a choice. Do we react to what we SEE around us, or, from what we KNOW to be true about God? It seems to me that while he is a full participant in the tragedy around him, Job chooses the later.

More to come (perhaps)

Scott

Nat and Ev

This is long overdue (they are somewhere in Namibia now) but better late than never.

Nat and Ev came for a visit or 2 while they spent a week in Cape Town recently. They are doing a round the world thing with a twist - not just pure hedonism ;) but with a mix of Christian service (2 months with an aid organisation in a former Soviet Republic / Christian orphanage in Uganda etc). I like their style.

Anyway, it was tops to catch up - i think I heard a click - and you would do well to check their travel site http://natandev.travellerspoint.com/

Explore away, my friends.

At Newlands watching the Stormers thrash the Lions.

Scott

Two Oceans 2007

The road home

The mighty Celtic's at UCT and behind, the mt

This guy fell apart with about 50 m to go.

The mission: To get under 1hour 50 min.

The hurdle: Enough training to feel good but not enough to probably make much difference.

The crisis: 20 seconds into the race - I get a killer stitch. My training partner disappears and I'm in a hurt locker.

The panic: Half way thru the race i check the time - 1hr 03 - if I stay on this target I'm running a 2hr 06! Nooooooooooo!!

The decisive moment: I pop one of Trevors blue pills. I don't know what's in them but it kicks on so that . . .

The finish: I run the second half in 45 min and finish with 1:48:42

The next mission: To take another 5 min off for next year.

Scott

Actually, it has me

I'll whack up some pics and a post of the Two Oceans tomorrow, but for now . . .

This mornings Cape Times told me about Lisa Perry, 45 year old from St Paul's Minnesota.

She wants a fresh start before she moves across the country so she is selling all her belongings (except her cat, dog, photos and some clothes) on ebay. The top bidder would get over 300 items inclusing snow shoes, a futon, a village people album and seashells.

Listen to what she said;

"This might be mid life, but it's not a crisis. It's mid life excitement. I don't need it all, I don't use it all. I just have it all. Actually, it has me."

Has a truer word ever been sopken? "Actually, it has me"

You can not serve 2 masters - it comes down to being owned by God or owned by your stuff. Remember, you don't own it.

Would anyone out there like to follow in Lisa's footsteps?
If so, what would you keep (let's just say you'r allowed to fit it into a big suitcase.)

Scott

Help

Here is my problem.

I have a home phone, a work phone, a cell phone and a fax number.

I have email at work and email at home.

I have skype I have this blog and another blog .

I have a door bell.

There is Dawn at the front desks who hands me little squares of paper telling me to call people.

And now, for some unknown reason I have begun Facebook. Face book is kind of like my space, but nicer (I think). All the kids are doing it and I didn't want to be left behind.

Come visit me here.

Or don't - because I have 50 million ways to communicatwe with people but no time to do it. I still have 3 people we have promised to have over for dinner from last year. I want to go tribal, stone age, maybe a carrier pigeon at best. Is anyone else stung by this too?

Scott

The Chad

Hey y'all!

Go check out Nathan and Cass' blog from down south in the US of A.

I miss these guys . . .

(It's true, I miss you guys!)

http://www.nathandcass.blogspot.com

300

I loved this movie. It was what I was hoping for.

It didn't pretend to be something it wasn't or couldn't deliver (don't you hate that?). In other words, it was honest to what it was.

It hit all the right buttons. It had father and son, sacrifice, the underdogs, a commitment to death. They fought like there was something greater at stake than just themselves.

And Kimg Leonadis was a king you wanted to follow, or the kind of man you wanted to be.

And yes, I get that it was 'just' a movie, and that it's based on a comic book (sorry, graphic novel) which was based on history and so that gives it more room to interpret the facts. But do you think I care?

I enoyed it. Period. But it made me think about ideas like honour, duty, fear, hope and glory. And what those things mean for me as a Christian. And how would my conversation with my son differ from Leonadis' conversation with his - if at all?

If you have seen it, care to comment?

Scott

PS: It is rated high for it's violence and a sex scene so view at your discression.

Testify!

A few weeks ago I was finding pictures of gospel preachers for a talk one of my leaders was giving. I found some pretty interesting characters (of course, I'm not sure if any of them were genuine gospel men, but it was all about perception anyway, so we were safe).

But I came across this guy. I think it is posed, but the 12 string makes me think. (If you were going to do a funny picture shoot, you would just grab any crappy 6 string lying around - why a 12 string, unless it is real!)

Now I gotta be honest, I've got no great thing to say here, I just thought it was a cool picture! Maybe you want to leave a comment, or a caption?

Scott

OK, so it's Thursday night last week. I'm running with the club and we have just conquered a particulary nasty hill. We get to the top and our wobbly legs force us to walk for a few moments. And as we do, the guy next to me (not a Christian) says to everyone and no one inparticular;

'Man, that was spiritual!'

I don't say anything, I am just trying to suck oxygen into my lungs.

Without wanting to be too harsh on the guy, my take on him is that he is a trendy coffee and book store kind of guy, opinionated and inner city-ish, but without the clout to back it up. He may be a bit of a poser.

So it is kind of a 'cool meets interllectual' thing to say, right?

I take it that he meant running up the hill was so bloody hard and painful that it took him to the transcedant (or at least that he was suggesting that it was the kind of experience that could do that sort of thing).

But as we ran down the other side I thought to myself that actually, he is spot on. It was spiritual, but not in the way he meant it.

"For everything God created is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is recieved with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer." 2 Tim 4:4-5

Even big, sweaty hills (at twilight on a summers evening).

It occured to me however that a few sentences later appears a verse that he really needed to hear;

"For physical training is of some value but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."

Scott

I'm feeling pretty tough

In 32 days I'm running the Two Oceans Marathon, 'The most beautiful marathon in the world'. It's only going to be half as beautiful for me cause I'm only doing the half (acute pain, permanant damage and expensive hospitalization are not where I'm at right now).

So I thought I'd pick up some longer runs to get some k's under my belt.

On Saturday morning I run with Denzil and Leights and they took me. Man, did they take me! Now remember, I'm training for the 21kms. We ran almost 30! I've never run that far before in one go.

The bad news was that there was pain.

The good news was that I made it, I recovered quickly, I have broken the mental barrier and I got inspired.

So right now, even though compared to the others I'm still a newbie, I feel pretty tough.

Scott

Colin

If you're a praying person, pray for Colin.

Colin is a homeless guy who has been visiting me at church over the last few weeks. After some over zealous church member showed him where I live, he is now visiting us at our house - all hours. This morning I took him to the church down the road who have a fully operation ministry to the homless (we don't) called UTurn. He is hooked up with the soup kitchen today and Friday and next Wednesday is their monthly intake and interviews. Colin said would like to start a program and stay in a shelter so we will see how he goes.

This next week will be tricky. Now that we have got a bit of a relationship going with him Sam (from UTurn) suggested that we continue to help him until the intake into their program. But at the same time we need to set boundries, as you do in any relationship. This will take much wisdom and love (both tender and tough) in deciding when to do what, and when to say no.

Please keep us in mind and prayers over the next week that we can do the right thing by Colin and be the face of Jesus to him without chucking wisdom out the door.

Scott

My sunday

Let me tell you about my Sunday.

Sunday moring, Junior Youth, was HARD.
Numbers were a bit down and the kids were like zomies. Or statues. It was like swimming through concrete. We have been doing a series 'People who met Jesus' (see last post). So I kick off the last talk in the series by asking,
"What is the series we have been looking at this term?"

No response.

So to prompt them I ask,

"Was it . . . people who met Elvis?!" (I'm a funny guy, right?)

No response.

So I try a different approach. I say,

"Last week we looked at a guy from the bible who met Jesus. Let me act it out for you so you can take a guess."

I proceed to act out the man of the tombs. It's violent, noisy and scary.

"I ask them - so who was it that Jesus met last week?"

A kid sticks up his hand . . . .

"A monkey?"

It was a HARD morning.

Sunday evening, Senior Youth, was EXCITING.
We had an evangelistic bring a friend type meeting.
We had 7 new faces.
We had 60 all up.
We had a great testimony from a grade 10 girl who was interviewed by her friend.
My brother provided a top evangelistic talk.
We had dinner together.
People responded.
It was a buzz to be there.

What to make of all this?
1. Gospel work is never so bad that it can't get better.
2. Gospel work is very real and gritty and (in one sense) vulnerable to being bruised by this world (bad number, bad attitudes, laziness)
3. But in the other sense, gospel work is thrilling because it is supernatural and beyond our ability to manage (that's largely what I attribute the success of Sunday night to).
4. Despite the sunday mornings, there will always be sunday nights.
5. And I love my work.

Scott

The little big guy

I am just finishing up a tried and tested series for my Junior Youth Kids - 'People who met Jesus' or 'Meeting Jesus makes a difference'.

This Sunday we are looking at Luke 19:1-10, the mini me of the series, Zacchaeus.

Meeting Jesus made a huge difference to this guy - check out verse 8;

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."

Two things struck me this time around.

1. That although there were many things that Zacchaeus probably needed to change, he straight up zooms in on his relationships.

'I’m a rip-off merchant' he says to himself. 'Greed at the expense of others has been my style.'

So he gives half my money to the poor, and repays 4 times the stolen amount.

For us our relationships don’t usually revolve around money. But they may be dominated by gossip. In which case we can 'do a Zacchaeus' by stop talking behind peoples backs and start being trustworthy.

Or perhaps we are ultra cynical and biting. We can 'do a Zacchaeus' by stop cutting people down and start showing kindness.

2. Change is more than just stopping a behaviour.

In the story you don' see Zacchaeus just stop being a rip off – he STARTS being generous. Change is not just about stopping the bad but starting the good.

Don’t just stop being a gossip – START being trustworthy

Don’t just stop being a bully – START being kind

The change that we should be looking for when 'salvation comes to our house' (v9) is surely something like this.

There's a lot more to these 10 verses to be sure, but stumbling across this was a blessing.

Scott

300

Here is my movie.

'300'

It is an adaptation of a comic book that recounts the heroic but tragic battle of King Leonadis and the 300 Spartans against the entire Persian army as they were set to invade Greece.

Let the trailer move you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0QJuu1n5Vk

Granted, I think this is a boys movie.

Also, it is only basically true to history (it is an adaption from a comic book after all) and it looks as though it has a mythological slant on it as well. But from what I can tell it still looks frick'n awesome!

"Give them nothing, take from them EVERYTHING!"

Scott

This week I realised in my 7 years at St James I have never done a talk on giving.

Well, this Sunday, all that changes.

Why?

I read 2 Cor 8:8-9

"I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich."

Generosity is at the heart of the gospel. It was actually the spark that began the whole thing; God's generosity to us.

So we're going to ask a youth group 30km down the road who can't manage a camp of there own if they would like to come with us on our camp in March. We don't want to be generous with money but also with our fellowship and fun. I'm selling it to our kids this Sunday. You might want to pray that the unfettered generosity of God takes root in their hearts too.

Scott

Nothing Deep

No, you haven't strayed onto the Cho's blog by mistake.

(Rich is a buddy of mine in Sydney who is about to become a misso in Thailand and keeps us regualry up to date with his garden. Check out http://go-cho.blogspot.com/)

But a few weeks ago I came across what I think is a tommy plant growing in my compost. I rescued it and soon I might even see some fruit.

Nothing deep about it, just thought it was kinda cool.

Scott

Why you may have more in common with Romania than you think

Last night I met the Consular General of Romania.

He is a really nice guy, easy to talk to and has been in the country with his family for about 3 weeks. It turns out he is a Christian, has studied theology and done a Phd in human rights at Oxford. This is his first diplomatic posting.

For the record, I discovered there are about 150 Romanians in Cape town and about 4000 in the country as a whole.

He has a couple of teenage kids who will come along to our youth group which is tops. And he has already invited me over to the consulate to play tennis!

It made me think though. If you're anything like me, when it comes to evangelical Christianty we think Sydney, friends in the UK and Canada, some select Americans and the outposts like SA. It is great to be woken up to the fact that there are brothers and sisters all over the globe. Even in Romania. As my good friend Fritz keeps reminding me; there is a lot to be saidfor global Christianty.

Viva la Romania!!!

Scott

PS: He told me about a website he started. I haven't visited it yet but why not pop into www.areopagus.ro

Holidays were solid. Hayley was as sick as only a pregnant women can be but apart from that . . .

We ended our time in Betty's bay with disaster - go check out Ben's blog http://babytubman.blogspot.com so see why.

But here are a few glimpses of the happier times . . .

We went to see the penguins. It's kind of weird to see hundreds of them sitting on the rocks when it's 26 degrees. You kind of think there should be snow around. The little guys are cool, but leave the place smelling like penguin poo. (This of course is a shot of us, not the birds)

Also took a trip to the waterfall. You feel like a swim but apparently the water is full of snakes?! We didn't see any but contented ourselves with throwing big rocks in to make a splash (actually that was more me and Ben than Hayley)

The place we stayed in was right on a lake. An essential stop-of-dip on the way home from the beach.

As usual, Ben went nuts over the beach

African Sunset

Check'n In

These holidays have been a break from most things – including the blog. But to fill the gaps – here are some dots since we last met;

* In case the grapevine broke down – Hayley is preggies again. Yeah, thanks. This one is due on the 16th of Aug, one day after Ben was born. Are we creatures of habit or what?

* To begin our holidays, all 3 of us were sick which was less than average. Since then the 2 boys have recovered but . . .

* Hayley’s morning sickness is a thing of wonder. It’s truly intense. Even a walk past the meat section at the shops makes her gag.

* This made Christmas day a challenge – in addition, Hayley got a viral infection and was even sicker. But at least I was able to eat – and I was introduced to ox tongue. It wasn’t the worse thing I’ve ever eaten, but I can see why we go for the other bits of the animal first.

* Holidays since then have been a mix of beach in the mornings, kirstenbosch gardens, a few people over, a movie or 2, lots of reading.

* I finished a great novel, ‘The Fall of the Russian Empire’ and half way through John Piper’s ‘Don’t Waste your Life’. A great first read for the year.

Come to think of it I’ve had lots of exciting thoughts and theories over the holidays, but I really need to blog them as they arrive. A post mortem blog doesn’t really feel right. Nevertheless I’ll give you some thoughts next week on the Piper book. As for now, we’re going away for the last week of hols. See ya soon

Scott

PS: My new little project - getting a wall of photos - we have begun!

Big week

Long time no blog!

It's been a big last few weeks.

I was away for a week long camp without Hayley or Ben.

Then I got dog sick.

Today Ben got really sick and Hayley has started to follow suit.

But that could also be because of the other bit of big news . . .


She's pregnant!

After my last post, I was accused of having a blog that was 'too heavy'
(Jenni, Mel, I'm looking in your direction . . . )

So just to balance out the karma . . . here is a must have t-shirt



Scott

It cuts through all our hearts

Alexander Solzhenitsyn is one of the most quoted Russian authors of the 20th cent.


I stumbled across one of his books for R7 in a street carnival.


'The Gulag Archipelago' is his story of how he went from a officer in the Red army to be denounced, arrested and put in a gulag for 15 years. Let me tell you, Hitler had nothing on Stalin. Hitler only killed 6 million, Stalin at least racked up 60 million.



I think he might be the most quoted Russian becuase he has such a clear vision of evil and no delusion that man is basically good. The stories on every page are just terrible. Just when you think it couldn't get any worse, it does. It's not despressing, but deeply sad.

"If only there were some evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to seperate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?"

Mark 7:20-23

Scott

PS: If you want to get your hands on a copy, get the abridged version (450 pages) not the full 3 volume set (1500 pages)!

2. The Goodbye

About 6 hours after we watch Leights and Kitty drive off into the rest of their lives, I said goodbye to our matrics for 2006. They ran their final Senior Youth and did an awesome job. I love them, and they are my friends, as much as a 12 year age gap will allow. It was hard for me to say goodbye to the end of an era, and as if to punctuate the moment, we had a fierce, but short, summer thunder storm.

Rain pelted down on the hot cement just after dusk and in a matter of seconds, that beautiful smell of hissing rain topped off the most emotional time of my year. At the end of Novemember I always say goodbye. But this time the summer rain took me back to 1996 when I said goodbye to my first ever biblstudy, as the grade 9's moved up to Senior High back at Christ Church. It rained then too, same sound, same smell, and although it reminded me of sad goodbyes, it also was kind of poetic.

(plus Andy baby)

(plus Nadine, Lisa, Lucy)

Part 1: The Wedding

I've had a real emotional weekend - all good, emotional neverthteless.

Part 1: The Wedding

Leights and Kitty - you guys are beautifully awesome and rejoicing just bubbles over when I think of Saturday. For those of you who weren't there - here are some of the moments. As we look at these shots, you are living it up on honeymoon. You need to know that we are all desperately jealous!





Sherbit!

Scott

PS: If lights is my brother in law - then kirsty and I are . . . . [a little help?!]

Steve sent me an underwater shot of our shark dive (see a few post back). It's taken with one of those disposable jobbies in a plastic case.
I love this photo, it's eerie, spooky and kind of scary. It looks like a great shot from a shark horror movie (not the clean cut type of flicks like Deep Blue Sea).
For instance; Is that blood on the sharks lips? Is that a piece of person on the end of the rope?
(The answer is no and no of course) but can you see where I'm coming from?!
Thanks steve

Scott

Stuff you didn't know Part 3

Cook had returned to Hawaii but this time he wasn't treated like god, he was recieved as one would welcome back a pet who wasn't house trainned. The locals began some serious theft and Cook, determined to keep the upper hand, went ashore to hold the chief to ransom until all the property had been returned. This tactic had worked well on other pacific islands, but this time didn't work out quite as he had hoped. They were chased back to the beach by an angry mob. The best way to hear the end of the story is to listen to it thru the journals of the men who were there (as described by Tony Horwitz).

"Phillips had lost sight of Cook, but the men aboard the launch saw the captain standing with his arm outstretched, apparently beckoning for the boats to come closer. But the launches commander either misunderstood the gesture or chose to ignore it, and ordered his men to row farther out.

Cook struggled to the shoreline: a ledge of lava, covered in shallow water. He was about 10 yards from the saftey of the other launch, if only he could swim (which he couldn't).

'Captain Cook was now the only man on the rock,' Samwell wrote. The captain stepped out into shallow water, one hand sheilding the back of his head from stones, the other clutching his musket. The Hawaiians seemed hesitant to pursue him.

"An indian came running behind him, stopping once or twice as he advanced, as if he was afraid, "Samwell wrote, "then taking Cook unaware he sprung to him, and then knocked him on the back of his head with a large club."

Cook staggered, fell to one knee, tried to rise. Another man rushed up and stabbed the captain between the shoulder blades with an iron dagger. Cook toppled into knee deep water and the crowd fell on him with a frenzied group assult.

"They now kept him underwater, one man sat on his shoulders and beat his head with a stone while others beat him with clubs and stones, Samwell wrote. Then they hauled Cooks body onto the rocks and continued the stabbings and beatings. "As soon as one had stabbed him another would take the instrument out of his body and give him another stab."

Captain Cook died on the lava shelf just after 8am.

Seaman Gilbert wrote; "All our hopes centered on him, our loss become irrepairable." Samwell added that the men returned to the boats, "crying out with tears in their eyes that they had lost their father."

This stuff makes me all emotional.
If you're an Australian this is compulsory reading, if your not, you'll wish you were.

Scott

Stuff you didn't know about Cook - Part 2

In some ways, Australia is lucky that it doesn’t belong to the Dutch or the French.

Captain Cook claiming it for the King of England was almost a complete fluke.

He and his crew had just finished some astronomical measurements in the Pacific and had decided it was about time to head home. Rather than taking the most direct route, Cook decided to cut across previously uncharted southern waters. This passage home was kind of out of obligation because, once at sea, he had opened sealed papers which ordered him to also try and discover the mysterious southern continent.

(Up until this point, the great south land had not recieved a great rap. The Dutch had bumped into the coast of Australia in the 16th cent. but passed quickly on commenting; “We could not find one fruitful tree or anything that could be of use to mankind.” William Dampier, an English privateer who visited the northwest of Australia in 1688 also added, “The inhabitants of this country are the most miserable people in the world.”)

Nevertheless, Cook’s probing loop brought him right into the Eastern coast of Australia, which he followed and charted all the way up to the tip of far north Queensland. He wasn’t looking for Australia; he just wanted to get home. If he had been a less adventurous soul, it would have been left up to someone else to bump into the great south land. But as it turns out he charted most of the East coast and as a result gave the big boys back home an ‘out of sight – out of mind’ option for the relocatation of it’s overcrowded prisons 7 years later.

So why has Cook been greeted with the excitement that meets a dry piece of toast?

Tony Horwitz (the author) reckons it’s because Cook wasn’t bad enough,

“Ned Kelly was eventually hanged, the Eureka Stockade fell after a 15 min battle, and the ‘jolly swagman’ drowned himself. But Australians love losers, so long as they lose with panache against overwhelming odds, or as martyrs to British authority. The true national holiday wasn’t Australia Day; it was Anzac Day, commemorating the doomed, British ordered assault by Australian troops at Gallipoli in 19156. James cook – a winner, faithful servant of his majesty, a wigged pom without much flair or humour – had little hope of entering Australia’s pantheon of antiheroes”. P148

One more Cook insight to go - his brutal death and dismemberment in Hawaii.

Scott

Things you didn't know Part 1

James Cooper is a good man. He always remembers stuff and even sends me a birthday pressie all the way over to deepest darkest Africa. He recently sent me a biography of another great man who shares his initals - Captin James Cook.

If you are an Australian, you know Cook was an Englishman who sailed into Botany Bay in 1788 and claimed the place for the British. Seven years later, they started shipping the convicts our way. He was the compulsory start for year 7 history and let's be honest, it was about as inspiring as school assembly.

If you're not an Austrlaian, you would be lucky to even know this much.

But friends; we have been mislead! Misinformed! This book is great, and Captin James Cook is a pretty amazing guy. In honour of the man (and as a thanks to Jimmy Cooper) I'm going to pop up a fact or two about Cook over the next week or so. Do yourself a favour and pop in.

Stuff about Captin Cook you Didn't Know Part 1:
James Cook charted and named more of the world than any other navigator in history!

Over his 3 journeys of discovery, Cook sailed from the Antarctic to the Arctic, from Tasmania to Soth America, from North America to Siberia and the Pacific Islands.

All in all he clocked up 200,000 miles, roughly equivilent to circling the equator 8 times or travelling from the earth to the moon.

If it wasn't for the fact that he saved me from growing up in a dreary mining town in England, you wouldn't say that Cook sticking the Union Jack in the sand at Botany Bay even rates that high on his list of all time acheivements.

But stay tuned . . . there's more

Scott

Dum da . . . . dum da . . . .

As I slipped on the wettie, and lowered myself into the chilly waters of Gansbaai the thought, "I could be eaten", never crossed my mind. I looked at Steve, who was grinning like a madman, and said something forgettable - to which he replied, "This is SO cool!!"

Myth number one about shark cage diving. It's scary. It's not.

It is thrilling, amazing, awesome but not scary. The sharks aren't aggressive, they don't want to kill you. They are curious.

The other element no one tells you about is that when you are told to go underwater you enter a world of silence. Not a sound. You see this huge beast swim past the cage (or ram into it, or stick its nose in and bite it - yes that happened to us too) but it is mute - quite a bizzare experience.

Then of course there was Jeff. The 15 year olf British kid who from the second he stepped off the jetty got sick. I saw him hurl overboard into the path of a circling shark. I think if I had asked Jeff, he would have been more than happy for me to tip him off the side. Poor kid.

But by ther end of the day, I was starting to feel a little queezy myself. It probably wasn't helped by the chuming. There were 2 'crewman' on board whose sole responcibility was to fill a big bucket with fish parts, fill it with sea water and then stomp in it until it became a watery soup of shark fragerance. Then they would slop it over board. For 4 hours. After a while when you went under to view the sharks you would see the fish bits float past your mask and no doubt into your nose, mouth and ears. Another hidden gem of shark diving.
(For those of you shaking your heads, apparently chuming does not lure sharks into the beach to eat people as it has been rumoured. So there.)

But, it was unreal. Thanks to Steve for making it happen. Thanks to God for making such awesome beasties. And thanks to Hayley for sending me off with a smile!

Read it and be at peace

Here is a blast from the past my brother posted on his blog.

Read his post and be at peace.

The irony is that I finally used my b'day money and just went and brought some new clothes.
Now I feel like I've let the side down! :)

Scott

(BTW; that is me at the back and Craig in the front. I'm the one with the 'news readers hair piece' loo9k. Oh, hang on, that doesn't really help does it?)

No TV

We've done it.

We've made a stand.

No TV after 7pm at night.

For the next week. (I've long ago learnt my lesson about unrealistic goals).

Which for me is basically no TV (Hayley sometimes slips in a Dr Phil at lunch if she can).
Last night, as Hayley wrote a talk, I spoke to a friend back from OS and then read lots of my book. But after that I couldn't get to sleep.

Still with 1 night down, 6 to go, I'm feeling good.

But (for all you fans out there) I am haunted by the words of Homer . . .

"No TV and no beer make Homer go mad!"
















Good thing I haven't given up beer.

Scott

He's back

OK, CD review time.

Reviewers always seem to me like one of the faceless masses who just couldn't make it themselves, so I'm going to try and not be that guy. I'm doing this shout out cause I love The Boss.

Devils and Dust is pretty good. It grows on you. Some 'one man one guitar' stuff and some band numbers too.

Highlights and Low lights . . . .

Highlights:

• His story telling is alive and well. You will become part of tales of a bareknuckle boxer reflecting on his life, an uncomfortably graphic story of a visit to a prostitue (and how immensly unsatisfying it was) and even the story of Jesus walking up to the cross and the words he used to comfort his mother. Nice and diverse.

• No anthems, but the haunting sound of Bruce comes through loud and clear

• I got the double CD which includes a DVD

Lowlights

• The best story telling isn't always paired with the best musical tracks.

• He is becomiong less and less articulate, to the point that even a seasoned Bruce fan will have trouble working out what the heck he is singing about without the words

• You will have heard some of these tunes before - some of them sound suspiciously re-hashed from previous stuff.

But hey, I'll buy every CD he makes, cause you can't argue with the Boss.

Scott

I don't have much to say at the moment but I thought I would share this:

I just had an afternoon snack of some chilled dates from Libya.

So there.

Scott

Three posts in 3 days.

I must be trying to avoid something. Proctastination is a great inspiration.

Don't skipt the last 2 posts if you just arrived - I enjoyed them both. But also don't miss out on checking out this link

http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/ultimate+showdown/#start

Ever wondered what would happen if all the superheroes fought each other in the ultimate show down?

Well, now you know.

Scott

The greatest adventure story ever told

It's a big call for the title of a book, "The greatest adventure story ever told", and I must admit, I was skeptical. But if you've got some spare cash, you'd be hard pushed for a more mind bending adventure. It might be a boy thing, but I'm pretty sure this will bake your noodle either way.

Shackelton started off to cross the Antartic - but before he even landed, his boat (The Endurance) got caught in an ice flow and over a period of a week or 2 the most modern and expensive ice going vessel of 1914 was crushed into pieces no bigger than your dining room table.

Thus began a 2 year (that's right, 2 year!) trek of survival. They spend most of it camped out on an ice pack drifting slowely towards a deserted island (no palm trees and coconuts here though - just a frozen lump of rock) from where they could launch their row boats for the 650 mile journey across the worst sea in the world to another lump of rock where there was a whaling station.

For 2 years they ate penguin and seal blubber, were almost never dry, spent 3 months in south pole winter (24 hrs of darkness) all got frostbite, had to kill and eat their sleigh dogs . . . the list goes on. But instead of re writing the book here, I'll let you go read it yourself.

It taught me 2 things.

1. The burden of command. For those of us who have people under their charge it can be a weighty load to bear. Most of us aren't trying to keep 27 others alive on an iceberg, but to be a leader is like being a parent, you worry that your best might not be good enough.

2. You can always push harder, go further, last longer. I now believe that we usually fail because we give up, not because all is lost.

"Success is never final, failure is never fatal. Courage is what counts.”
Churchill

Wortelgat 2006

Just got back from another great camp. It's our fav. spot with some of my fav. kids.
It is very photogenic, esp when it comes to QT's. Also had lots of first timers on camp who all clicked really well. We are tired but thanking God for another great weekend.

The only trouble was the bus. We got the campsite late, bouncing down a dirt road in the country. We went down the wrong path, ended up in a neighbours farm, and when we tried to reverse out got bogged! So at 9:15pm we unpacked the puss, got cars to shuttle the luggage, and Leights lead the kids on a night hike to the cape site. Then a tractor came and pulled the bus out. We ate dinner at 10pm and then all crashed.

Then on the way home on sunday, our bus had to stop 5 times becuase it was getting air in the fuel line. The bus driver 'knew' how to fix it, but is repair work was a bit scarey (he threw out one of the fuel filters!) We made it home an hour and a half late.

But ingoring the buses, or maybe because of them, it was a pretty memorable time.

Pray for me as I do it all again this coming weekend with the juniors . . . .

Scott

For a top thought on something serious, check out Monday the 18th on my brothers blog.

http://www.tubemantravels.blogspot.com/

Just go and spend the cash

Two nights ago I found a recipe for home made humus.

I love humus and it was a easy recipe so I thought I would give it a shot.

It looked like the real deal but . . . it tasted like dog food.
No really, if you don't respect the chick pea it becomes evil.

Bad humus

Scott

Legend!

On Sunday, my brother from another mother, ran his first full marathon (42km!)

This is a picture of him finishing whith his 'coach' (and soon to be father in law) the enegmatic Trevor. Coming in in just over 4 hours is a awesome feat (see the clock) and brother, you have spured me on to bigger and better things . . .


Scott

Hell in 6 hours

I had to get my car new second hand registered. Pretty simple right?

Yup.

I left home positive and up beat. I was in control, or so I thought. 6 hours and 14 min later I arrived back home again - mission comlete. But it took me 6 hours and 14 min to finally hold my weary sword arm high and let out the loud 'yarp' of victory.

Here are a few flashbacks to my 'adventure'

• Discovering that the traffic department don't accept passports as legit ID. Airports do, banks do, police do, but not the high and mighty traffic dept.

• Needing to pick up a form to take somehwere else, only to discover that need to fill out a preemptive form so that they can give me the actual form I really need. And to do this preemptive form, I need 2 passport photo's. Which I didn't have.

• Trying to withdraw R150 from the ATM only to hit the wrong button and withdraw R1000

• Driving out to some crazy place a long way from home and missing the turn off on the freeway and then get stuck in construction traffic as I'm heading off in the wrong direction.

That was my day. It was hard. It was painful. But now I have my new car in my name. But it wasn't easy. Damm, it wasn't easy.

Scott