No unwelcome tasks become any the less unwelcome by putting them off till tomorrow. It is only when they are behind us and done, that we begin to find that there is a sweetness to be tasted afterwards, and that the remembrance of unwelcome duties unhesitatingly done is welcome and pleasant. Accomplished, they are full of blessing, and there is a smile on their faces as they leave us. Undone, they stand threatening and disturbing our tranquility, and hindering our communion with God. If there be lying before you any bit of work from which you shrink, go straight up to it, and do it at once. The only way to get rid of it is to do it.
-Alexander MacLaren (1826–1910), Scottish preacher
Do Stuff
I've started reading C.J. Mahanney's blog series on biblical productivity. At the moment he's looking at busyness and procrastination and there's some really challenging and helpful stuff. It's a long series but worth a read. He shared this awesome quote in the one I just read:
Testing
Nick charged me with re-modeling our blog while he's on mission. It's hard to find a template that we both like, but I'm wondering if this one will do the trick (Nick?). I'm not totally happy with this one, but I think it's heading in the right direction.
I really like this one, but it somehow feels like cheating to take a template that's got pretty pictures. I know, that's not very logical but it feels more like nicking someone's personal artwork.
For Nick's benefit - this one, this one and this one might be ok...
What do you reckon?
I really like this one, but it somehow feels like cheating to take a template that's got pretty pictures. I know, that's not very logical but it feels more like nicking someone's personal artwork.
For Nick's benefit - this one, this one and this one might be ok...
What do you reckon?
Everleigh Markets take 2
Q: When would you pay $24/kg for butter?
A: If you had money in your pocket and you tasted Gympie Farm butter. That's when.
Bron and I just had a wander around the Everleigh Markets this morning. It is so hot right now. Our presence definitely brought the average trendiness level down but we had a great time.
I ate a chorizo breakfast roll and it was good. The only time I want to be eating anything other than bacon for breakfast is when I'm having chorizo. In an ideal world both would be on my plate.
The Gympie Farm butter stall also had Bruny Island Cheese. They're there every fortnight which is why Bron didn't see them last time. I tried Mr Palomar, one of Bruny Island's new ones, and I think I have a new favourite! The guy at the stall was really nice and gave Bron a taste of The Bastard when she told him it was her favourite.
We came home with some O.D.O. from Bruny Island and a flat Olive Bread from another stall. If we went there every week we'd be very poor.
And the butter was SO GOOD!
A: If you had money in your pocket and you tasted Gympie Farm butter. That's when.
Bron and I just had a wander around the Everleigh Markets this morning. It is so hot right now. Our presence definitely brought the average trendiness level down but we had a great time.
I ate a chorizo breakfast roll and it was good. The only time I want to be eating anything other than bacon for breakfast is when I'm having chorizo. In an ideal world both would be on my plate.
The Gympie Farm butter stall also had Bruny Island Cheese. They're there every fortnight which is why Bron didn't see them last time. I tried Mr Palomar, one of Bruny Island's new ones, and I think I have a new favourite! The guy at the stall was really nice and gave Bron a taste of The Bastard when she told him it was her favourite.
We came home with some O.D.O. from Bruny Island and a flat Olive Bread from another stall. If we went there every week we'd be very poor.
And the butter was SO GOOD!
Goings on
John Woodhouse spoke to the college on Friday. He outlined 7 crises facing the college and 9 things they'd be looking in to. He also invited students to email him their thoughts. It shows the college is looking to make positive moves and helps students give positive suggestions rather than complaining about things they don't like. He's a great leader.
I'm slowly getting into my Doctrine essay. The question is "What does the relationship between the gospel and the Church tell us about the being and existence of the Church?" This afternoon I read an article by Colin 'C. Gunz' Gunton called 'The Church on Earth: The Roots of Community. It hurt.
Our Ethics class has been looking into Paul's ethics and his use of the OT. B. Roz's explanation of the relationship between Christians and the OT law is the most satisfying I've heard. In particular, he captures both the the discontinuity and continuity of the OT in a way that's more satisfying than either the modified Lutheran position or Calvin's on their own.
Last Wednesday I met with Frank Hawkes. He's the missionary guy I've mentioned before who's been instrumental in shaping our plans for church planting. It was great to catch up and share how things have been progressing. This Wednesday I'm meeting with Paul Dale of CBTB fame to see what I can learn from him. I'm really looking forward to it.
I'm slowly getting into my Doctrine essay. The question is "What does the relationship between the gospel and the Church tell us about the being and existence of the Church?" This afternoon I read an article by Colin 'C. Gunz' Gunton called 'The Church on Earth: The Roots of Community. It hurt.
Our Ethics class has been looking into Paul's ethics and his use of the OT. B. Roz's explanation of the relationship between Christians and the OT law is the most satisfying I've heard. In particular, he captures both the the discontinuity and continuity of the OT in a way that's more satisfying than either the modified Lutheran position or Calvin's on their own.
Last Wednesday I met with Frank Hawkes. He's the missionary guy I've mentioned before who's been instrumental in shaping our plans for church planting. It was great to catch up and share how things have been progressing. This Wednesday I'm meeting with Paul Dale of CBTB fame to see what I can learn from him. I'm really looking forward to it.
Hammondville
Stories from the Great Depression have always had a bit of an emotional impact for me. Now, with all the global financial crisis stuff, this is the case more than ever.
I was reading through Michael Jensen's Moore College Blogroll (more on that later) and came across a short post on Tim Escott's blog about the Sydney suburb of Hammondville. I don't know Tim but I hope he won't mind me reproducing his main paragraph as he's summed up the story quite well:
I was reading through Michael Jensen's Moore College Blogroll (more on that later) and came across a short post on Tim Escott's blog about the Sydney suburb of Hammondville. I don't know Tim but I hope he won't mind me reproducing his main paragraph as he's summed up the story quite well:
During the great depression of the 1930s, an Anglican minister by the name of R.B.S. Hammond saw all the families struggling in Sydney and had compassion on them. He took his proceeds of his life insurance, bought stacks of land out near Liverpool, and began to give plots to families who were unemployed, homeless, destitute, have at least three children, and were "of good moral character". Small weatherboard huts were built by unemployed tradesmen, and supplies were given to the families to help them to built vegetable gardens and poultry yards. [source]How incredible! What a moving example of generosity. And what a reminder about Jesus who gave up his life - not just his life savings - for us rotten sinners.
Confession
I don't know how flickr works. I'm sorry, but I just don't know how to use it. I can't even navigate it properly. I haven't even tried to figure it out.
I just made some Baileys
You should come round and we'll have a drink on the stoop (ok, I know it's not really a stoop but we can still have a drink).
Completely Random: Small Rabbits, Telstra and Drinkable Bacon
- Pregnancy update: I'm now almost 25 weeks (that's about 5 1/2 months). Baby B is kicking away. This morning I thought to myself, she is about as powerful as a small rabbit.
- You Can Drink Bacon: yes - as John Birmingham tells me, they've made a Bacon and Maple Syrup Manhattan. Well, I could drink bacon if a) I actually wanted to and b) I wasn't pregnant.
- Telstra Online Billing: It's hard to comprehend how absolutely utterly filthily awful their online billing "service" is. After several months of utter confusion I've decided that it's worth screwing the environment. Why oh why could they not just send me a pdf like the bank does? Grrrr.
Sitting with Solomon
When I did MTS I started reading Proverbs with a few of the people I
met up with. Just the other day I got back into it again with a guy
I'm meeting up with.
met up with. Just the other day I got back into it again with a guy
I'm meeting up with.
Because Proverbs is so devoted to understanding how to live life,
it's fantastic for discipleship. I really love it and look forward to
it every week. It gives a fresh way of thinking about things and
covers topics that don't get dealt with much elsewhere.
We generally read one proverb (just working slowly through a chapter)
and we talk through these generic questions:
1. What does it mean?
2. Can you think of examples in the Bible that illustrate it?
3. How does it fit into the gospel world-view?
4. How does it speak to us?
So... anyone on Facebook will have noticed some pretty significant changes! First off, I thought 'this looks ugly and confusing'. To find out what was going on I checked out Facebook's page (organisations have pages now, just like people). Here's their explanation:
What are they trying to do? Well, they're moving Facebook away from being a place and more towards being a channel (and one which includes ads at that!). They want to move away from the pick and choose model. They want you to feel like you have to have it on all the time or you're missing out. And commercially they're delivering a massively improved product which has far greater potential for advertisers and marketers to connect with you. I mean, that's what it's all about isn't it?
I'd already heard a bit about this in a blog post from my old work. I'd grasped some of the implications for like, marketing and stuff. But I had no idea of how much it would change the nature of Facebook itself. This is pretty massive. You really are being forced to use it differently. It's more about presence than content. It's so much more immediate. Of course, they say it gives you control over everything, but in reality I think there's much less control. It forces you to use it they way they want you to.
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
One way to think about this is as a timeline—or a stream. As people share more, the timeline gets filled in more and more with what is happening with everything you're connected to. The pace of updates accelerates. This creates a continuous stream of information that delivers a deeper understanding for everyone participating in it. As this happens, people will no longer come to Facebook to consume a particular piece or type of content, but to consume and participate in the stream itself.
What are they trying to do? Well, they're moving Facebook away from being a place and more towards being a channel (and one which includes ads at that!). They want to move away from the pick and choose model. They want you to feel like you have to have it on all the time or you're missing out. And commercially they're delivering a massively improved product which has far greater potential for advertisers and marketers to connect with you. I mean, that's what it's all about isn't it?
I'd already heard a bit about this in a blog post from my old work. I'd grasped some of the implications for like, marketing and stuff. But I had no idea of how much it would change the nature of Facebook itself. This is pretty massive. You really are being forced to use it differently. It's more about presence than content. It's so much more immediate. Of course, they say it gives you control over everything, but in reality I think there's much less control. It forces you to use it they way they want you to.
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
There's bound to be a mistake in this post...
Ahem, excuse me. I need to have a little rant:
Ok, I know my grammar isn't perfect. But lately several things have been driving me crazy.
*In general apostrophes indicate possession or contraction. Ask yourself, does something here belong to something else? OR, have I left letters out? If the answer is no, you probably don't need an apostrophe.
There are a couple of minor exceptions, one of which is the plural of lower case letters eg "p's and q's" and some time clauses eg, "two days' time" or "6 weeks' holiday". This is only when the time phrase modifies a noun. When it modifies an adjective eg, "nine months pregnant" or "three weeks old" you don't need one.
If you don't know the deal with its and it's here's a simple rule: 'its' is intrinsically possessive, therefore you don't need the apostrophe because it can't mean anything else. Use the apostrophe where it's needed, to show you've shortened 'it is' to 'it's'.
...ok rant over. Phew! Thanks, I feel better now.
Ok, I know my grammar isn't perfect. But lately several things have been driving me crazy.
- Unless we're talking about Monday's child, days of the week don't need apostrophes. Neither does the word days! Nor do any other plurals eg, fees, coffees, errors etc! Do people throw them in just for good measure? *
- 'Apart' and 'a part' mean the opposite thing. If you say "I'd like to be apart of something" it doesn't mean you want to be involved!
- My goodness, how hard is it to get words right! It takes more effort to type "I swore something" than to say you saw it. Nick had something recently where a whole document repeatedly talked about different positions in ministry as "ministry rolls". Yeah, do you want butter with that?
*In general apostrophes indicate possession or contraction. Ask yourself, does something here belong to something else? OR, have I left letters out? If the answer is no, you probably don't need an apostrophe.
There are a couple of minor exceptions, one of which is the plural of lower case letters eg "p's and q's" and some time clauses eg, "two days' time" or "6 weeks' holiday". This is only when the time phrase modifies a noun. When it modifies an adjective eg, "nine months pregnant" or "three weeks old" you don't need one.
If you don't know the deal with its and it's here's a simple rule: 'its' is intrinsically possessive, therefore you don't need the apostrophe because it can't mean anything else. Use the apostrophe where it's needed, to show you've shortened 'it is' to 'it's'.
...ok rant over. Phew! Thanks, I feel better now.
One of the many things that makes The West Wing great is that it's never cheap on character. Even the minor parts are interesting. It never just fills in the background characters with CG, they're all lovingly hand drawn. I love that.
Note to self:
When pregnant, sick and vague don't try to do more than one thing at a time! This week I've almost; burnt pine nuts, boiled pans dry, flooded the bathroom... the list goes on.
I do housework by association. I'm putting a load of washing on and there are some dirty tea towels. So I put the wash on and the tea towels in to soak. But the soaking bucket is in the same sink as the washing machine empties into - blocking the drain. Thankfully my addled brain worked it out... this time!
I do housework by association. I'm putting a load of washing on and there are some dirty tea towels. So I put the wash on and the tea towels in to soak. But the soaking bucket is in the same sink as the washing machine empties into - blocking the drain. Thankfully my addled brain worked it out... this time!
It looks nice but what does it do?
It's awesome that there's going to be a national church planting network. I think that at this stage it doesn't even really need to do heaps, its existence is enough. The danger will be that it tries to do too much and gets bogged down. There are three things I'm really looking for from it:
- Giving people a vision beyond their own church or city or state. I think it's important to put a target out in front of us to help us see where we need to go.
- Networking. The recent church planting conference was great because we heard from and got to meet a bunch of different people doing all kinds of different things. The gathering of wisdom, experience and enthusiasm that this network could provide would be invaluable.
- Church planter selection. Humanly speaking, one of the best ways to increase 'success' in church planting is to have a good screening process. A church planting network would be ideal for this.
Repent Well
I'm at home sick with a cold and this morning I've been listening to the live streaming from the Acts 29 Boot Camp which is going on in Seattle. I was sitting on the couch knitting and listening to Mark Driscoll speak on endurance and this point, which he finished on, really leapt out. So I jumped up to type it out for you:
Those who don't endure are those who don't repent. And they don't become sanctified versions of themselves, they become self-righteous versions of themselves.... If you want to endure, repent well.
More than you ask or imagine
We didn't really know what sort of response to expect when we planned to come down to Tassie to share our church planting plans. We hoped that we'd get around 20-30 people praying for us but didn't know if that was realistic. We were asking for a big commitment and worried that it would seem a bit presumptuous.
But what's happened on the two visits I've made has been amazing. We have far more people praying for us than we'd hoped for. God has blessed us with a huge amount of support; ministers weren't just willing for me to come and talk to their congregations, they were eager and thanked me for it! People have responded really well, with ideas, names of people to talk to and most significantly, willing to bear the load in the work of prayer.
Thanks everyone for the prayers and love, it's so good to know we have such support. You give us more reasons to praise God.
But what's happened on the two visits I've made has been amazing. We have far more people praying for us than we'd hoped for. God has blessed us with a huge amount of support; ministers weren't just willing for me to come and talk to their congregations, they were eager and thanked me for it! People have responded really well, with ideas, names of people to talk to and most significantly, willing to bear the load in the work of prayer.
Thanks everyone for the prayers and love, it's so good to know we have such support. You give us more reasons to praise God.
Today's been fantastic. The highlight was the prayer meeting I had with some of the Glenorchy Prayer Team. It was beautiful to be praying with brothers and sisters, sharing in something transcendent and special, pouring our hearts out to our Father. Because prayer is an exercise of faith, sometimes it feels like it's not doing anything, it doesn't feel real. Today wasn't like that at all. Good times.
Everleigh Markets
This morning Ann-Sophie and I went to the Everleigh Markets. It's a new produce market (ie, foodie heaven) in the Carriageworks sheds at the northernmost tip of Newtown. It was amazing! I'd been asking Nick if we could go, but now I have photographic evidence that may just persuade him! Nick, this is why we should go to the markets:
Meat. Oh yes, glorious meat. But there was more:
The lamb people had to re-stock their fridge because it was selling fast! The markets are open from 8am - 1pm. We got there just before 11 and it was really pumping. Given that this is only the second week it's been open I reckon they're doing pretty well.
It's always a good sign when you see satisfied people walking out of something. Wilson St (usually pretty quiet) was a stream of happy shoppers with all sorts of good produce peeking out of their bags. Check out some of the stuff that was on offer:
Mmmm. Delicious! The photos aren't great, but I'm sure you could look up any of the Sydney food blogs and find some awesome pics. There were several people wandering around taking pics and looking pretty pro.
It's not cheap, but it's a really nice place to have a look around and try a few yummy things. I reckon it would make a great Saturday morning date. Just... limit the amount of cash that you take! I had $5 in my wallet and readily handed it over for some homemade halloumi.
I don't have any cheese photos, but there was plenty of cheese and lots of stalls were happy for you to try. Most of them I couldn't have, but there was a nice lady who gave me some Labneh, fresh yoghurt cheese marinated in rosemary, garlic and chilli olive oil. It was awesome! And I know Soph enjoyed the Duetto - a marscapone and gorgonzola mix which is mild but very tasty. Sadly we didn't manage to find the Bruny Island Cheese Co. stall that Soph said was there before. Oh well, yet another reason to go back!
One final curiosity - square flowers:
Meat. Oh yes, glorious meat. But there was more:
The lamb people had to re-stock their fridge because it was selling fast! The markets are open from 8am - 1pm. We got there just before 11 and it was really pumping. Given that this is only the second week it's been open I reckon they're doing pretty well.
It's always a good sign when you see satisfied people walking out of something. Wilson St (usually pretty quiet) was a stream of happy shoppers with all sorts of good produce peeking out of their bags. Check out some of the stuff that was on offer:
Mmmm. Delicious! The photos aren't great, but I'm sure you could look up any of the Sydney food blogs and find some awesome pics. There were several people wandering around taking pics and looking pretty pro.
It's not cheap, but it's a really nice place to have a look around and try a few yummy things. I reckon it would make a great Saturday morning date. Just... limit the amount of cash that you take! I had $5 in my wallet and readily handed it over for some homemade halloumi.
I don't have any cheese photos, but there was plenty of cheese and lots of stalls were happy for you to try. Most of them I couldn't have, but there was a nice lady who gave me some Labneh, fresh yoghurt cheese marinated in rosemary, garlic and chilli olive oil. It was awesome! And I know Soph enjoyed the Duetto - a marscapone and gorgonzola mix which is mild but very tasty. Sadly we didn't manage to find the Bruny Island Cheese Co. stall that Soph said was there before. Oh well, yet another reason to go back!
One final curiosity - square flowers:
Summer
Mikey didn't need to go to Seattle to find rain and cold, I've managed to find it on my slightly less glamorous trip to Tas. It was about 13 degrees yesterday and I cleverly forgot to bring my jumper.It's fun being down again and especially nice because I'm taking this trip is at a pretty slow pace. Sunday is the big day when I'll be visiting 3 churches and asking people to commit to praying for us, but otherwise I'm pretty free. I crashed an MTS training meeting yesterday, spent some time with the Shepheards, we're having a Glenorchy Prayer Team meeting on Saturday and aside from that I don't have much else to do. Good times.
But it is very cold.
Small equals cute
Last night I helped sort clothes at Grapevine (the college op-shop). I came home with a massive bag of baby clothes. When it comes to wraps, suits and singlets we're totally sorted. Thank God for the generosity of people at college! Basically, I've pretty much got everything I need for the small stuff. Between the baby shower which mum threw for me in Tassie and Grapevine last night I've pretty much got all the clothes, linen etc covered. Baby clothes are so cute they're hard to resist buying... but please dear friends and family - ask me first! It could actually be much more helpful contribute towards the bigger things that we'll need (not that I'm wanting to presume or anything!) Or you know, as I realised today... even something like more pegs for the washing line! (just kidding)
Things that go 'bump'
Baby B seems to be growing well. Certainly, the bump is getting bigger and her kicking is getting stronger. You can even see my tummy move when she kicks now!
On Saturday we went out for breakfast so here's a nice dressed up photo of me and the bump. Yes, it looks small but hey, that was before breakfast!
[edit: I'm 22 weeks at the moment]
On Saturday we went out for breakfast so here's a nice dressed up photo of me and the bump. Yes, it looks small but hey, that was before breakfast!
[edit: I'm 22 weeks at the moment]
