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Archive - December, 2010

Jesus is Speaking. Are you Listening?

December 30, 2010 in Jesus with 2 Comments

Who or what are you listening to? There are a stack of different voices competing for our attention. Some of those voices are positive, some are negative. Parents. Teachers. Television. Magazines. Friends. The internet. Billboards. Employer. Authors. Celebrities.

The Bible says that we are made by and for Jesus. That means we belong to him. Therefore, the most important voice we can listen to is the voice of Jesus.

In Luke 6:46-49 Jesus shows what it will be like for someone to truly listen to his voice.

Jesus says that not all who claim to be his followers are actually his followers. “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46) There are people who claim to be Christian, but don’t really follow through with what Jesus has said.

In verse 48-49, Jesus then compares 2 different types of builders. One of them “dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built”

Check out what Jesus says about the other builder: “But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

How do you show that you are listening to Jesus? By doing what he says.

As you get ready to kick on in to 2011, build your life upon Jesus. He is the Rock. Get dug down deep! Listen to THE voice and obey.

DMDC – Best of 2010

December 29, 2010 in life with 0 Comments

Greetings earthlings. In 2009, I wrote 303 blog posts. This year, I have written significantly less. This is number 253. Yet readership has grown. So thanks for reading. I’m looking forward to reloading the blog in January, and will hopefully be more consistent in posting in 2011. If you didn’t know, I’m trying to raise $2000 to help provide clean water for 3 communities in India – would value your help (last year we manage $1741 for Rwanda). Below are 2 ‘best of 2010′ lists. Peaceout.

Top 10 posts according to clicks:

My favourite 10 posts:

It’s interesting to note that there is only overlap with one post on my list and the clicks list. It’s probably skewed a bit, some of the ones on the first list are aided by searches on google and have nothing to do with the quality (or lack thereof) of the blog post!

Clean Water for 601 Children in India

December 26, 2010 in life with 4 Comments

I’m incredibly wealthy. I have 10+ access points to clean water in my house!! One of my responsibilities as a follower of Jesus is to be generous with the much that I have been given, because not everyone has access to the resources I have on tap.

Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease. But these deaths can be prevented by providing them with clean water. I’m partnering with Compassion Australia to help provide hundreds of children access to clean water through purification systems, rain water tanks and other water-harvesting systems.

Funds raised will be used to help fund water projects in 3 Indian towns:

Kehri Guan (215km NE of Dehli)
Rasha Farm, Gumaniwala (259km NE of Dehli)
Garhwali (450km N of Dehli)

Direct beneficiaries: 646 (601 children, 45 adults)

Last year $1741 was raised by readers of my blog for a project in Rwanda. I think it’s incredible to be able to use social media and a blog to raise money for something useful! This year I’m aiming for $2000. Any amount would be appreciated.

DONATE NOW. Aiming to reach $2000 by the end of January. Help spread the word…

CLICK HERE TO SHARE ON TWITTER | CLICK HERE TO SHARE ON FACEBOOK

DONATE NOW.

DONATE LATER.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

December 25, 2010 in Jesus with 2 Comments

Merry Christmas!! On our road trip around NZ, we listened to an Advent/Christmas playlist (including these albums that don’t suck!). One that come up from 4 or 5 different artists was O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. Emmanuel. It means ‘God with us’. This particular song, written 1000 years ago, reflects upon the Old Testament promises of God himself coming to save his people. In the New Testament, with the coming of Jesus, we see God with us. Jesus is the long awaited fulfilment of all of God’s promises.

At Christmas, we are reminded that God isn’t aloof, but that he has come near in the person and work of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Creator has entered into his creation. He is able to sympathise with us in our weakness and suffering. He experienced the full array of human emotion. This Christmas our church family is mourning the sudden loss of one of its young members. The fact that Jesus has come near brings great comfort. The fact that Jesus has come near means that we can draw near to God, and have a certain hope that will never perish, spoil or fade.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel lyrics are below:

What we tell our kids about Santa

December 24, 2010 in culture with 0 Comments

We’ve got another year before we really need to have a definitive answer for our son regarding Santa. For the moment, Sam knows that the “pretty” Christmas decorations and the dude dressed up in red have got something to do with celebrating Jesus’ birthday. I think I like what Driscoll has to say in his recent Washington Post article.

Here’s a snippet:

When it comes to cultural issues like Santa, Christians have three options: (1) we can reject it, (2) we can receive it, or (3) we can redeem it.

Since Santa is so pervasive in our culture, it is nearly impossible to simply reject Santa as part of our annual cultural landscape. Still, as parents we don’t feel we can simply receive the entire story of Santa because there is a lot of myth built on top of a true story.

Redeeming Santa

So, as the parents of five children, Grace and I have taken the third position to redeem Santa. We tell our kids that he was a real person who did live a long time ago. We also explain how people dress up as Santa and pretend to be him for fun, kind of like how young children like to dress up as pirates, princesses, superheroes, and a host of other people, real and imaginary. We explain how, in addition to the actual story of Santa, a lot of other stories have been added (e.g., flying reindeer, living in the North Pole, delivering presents to every child in one night) so that Santa is a combination of true and make-believe stories.

We do not, however, demonize Santa. Dressing up, having fun, and using the imagination God gave can be an act of holy worship and is something that, frankly, a lot of adults need to learn from children.

What we are concerned about, though, is lying to our children. We teach them that they can always trust us because we will tell them the truth and not lie to them. Conversely, we ask that they be honest with us and never lie. Since we also teach our children that Jesus is a real person who did perform real miracles, our fear is that if we teach them fanciful, make-believe stories as truth, it could erode confidence in our truthfulness where it really matters. So, we distinguish between lies, secrets, surprises, and pretend for our kids. We ask them not to tell lies or keep secrets, but do teach them that some surprises (like gift-giving) and pretending (like dressing up) can be fun and should be encouraged. We tell them the truth and encourage them to have fun watching Christmas shows on television and even sitting on Santa’s lap for a holiday photo if they so desire. For parents of younger children wanting them to learn the real story of Santa Claus the Veggie Tales movie Saint Nicholas is a good choice.

Read the rest, including a history of Santa.

3photos: Dunedin Escape

December 19, 2010 in design with 1 Comment

The Kiwi Odyssey has been choice bro. Sweet as. Lots of quality time with the family. Our second night was in Dunedin. It’s a beautiful city with beautiful buildings. I noticed that many of the older buildings have fire escapes on them. Kinda like the ones you see in New York movies. Here’s a trio of Dunedin fire escapes for my 3photos series:

Two more after the jump:
Continue Reading…

The Good Shepherd + Humble Orthodoxy

December 18, 2010 in Jesus with 0 Comments

We’re currently on holidays on the South Island of New Zealand. We’ve seen more sheep than people. Below are some local sheep posing for the camera. While on the subject of sheep, I recently spoke on the Youthworks YMC – Some to be Shepherds. I gave the opening and closing talks. The first one was on John 10 – I think it was a good place to kick off the conference reflecting on Jesus the Good Shepherd. The final talk was on Humble Orthodoxy – which is all about speaking the truth without being a jerk.

Here are the mp3s for both talks:

To get all 6 talks on Video, contact Youthworks (they have a swanky new website!!).

Pray for Sudan

December 9, 2010 in culture with 1 Comment

All this info is from the SIM Australia website. Five years of peace… Five years of rebuilding Southern Sudan following decades of war… Now Sudan stands at the crossroads… A referendum is scheduled for 9 January 2011 to decide whether Southern Sudan will become an independent country. This is part of the 2005 Naivasha Agreement between the Khartoum central government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M).

The way forward has the potential for major instability. After 5 years of peace; the return of refugees to their homeland and the investment of many mission workers and other NGOs in rebuilding the devastated Southern Sudan, the fear of a fresh outbreak of violence is real.

Will you pray with us for the country of Sudan, for its people, and for a peaceful resolution to the question of an independent Southern Sudan?

Check out the SIM Australia website for more detail on the issues surrounding the referendum and also a list of comprehensive prayer points. Pray for the a month, from now until 9 Jan. Peace.

The Oprahfication of Oz

December 8, 2010 in culture with 1 Comment

Mark Sayers ripped it to shreds at the Youthworks’ Youth Ministry Conference this year!! He shared some profound thinking on his analysis of culture and identifying dominant idols that need to be smashed in proclaiming the gospel. He had some fascinating observations on talk-show goddess, Oprah Winfrey, as she arrived in the country.

Here is an article he has linked to on his blog. The author forms a bunch of parallels between Oprah and Australia. Here’s a snippet:

Ouch. There is nothing so unsettling as feeling you are unloved or unaccepted by your own family – but this does go some way to explaining Oprah’s fixation on drawing out the minute details of other people’s lives [...] the over-sharing of her own life, and also one of the hallmarks of her enterprise: bestowing gifts on others to gain approval.

And here we are bestowing gifts on Oprah to win her approval. The parallels between Oprah and a country born of a convict past, which oppressed its native inhabitants (guilty!), still suffers the cultural cringe, desperately seeks acknowledgement on the international stage, built on Christian values (calls itself Christian) but who eschews Christ, wants to stand apart from the Mother Country (but secretly harbours a desire to gain its love and approval), and is consumed by a culture of materialism and food obsession, are uncanny.

I’m not sure who’s the more insecure: Oprah or Oz.

Read the rest here.

Don’t Waste Your Life – Vanuatu 2010 Talk MP3s

December 7, 2010 in Jesus with 0 Comments

Each day on Scripture Union Schoolies in Vanuatu 2010, I lead the team through some studies in Ephesians. The big question we thought through concerned what to do with the rest of your life. Having just finished 13 years of schooling, it was perfect timing to urge the 25 fantastic schoolies to not waste their lives. The encouragement from Ephesians is to live a life on purpose bringing glory and honour to Jesus in all things.

Here are the MP3s from each talk (right click to download):

If you were on Vanuatu and happened to fall asleep in any of my talks… go crazy with these bad boys on your iPod! Peaceout.

Think Hard, Stay Humble: The Life of the Mind and the Peril of Pride

December 4, 2010 in Jesus with 5 Comments

I had a mild case of preacher crush watching this sermon the other night. It’s Francis Chan from the Desiring God National Conference 2010. Some really really good stuff. His main text is 1 Corinthians 8:1-3. We need to be those who don’t just think hard about the scriptures, but also think hard about loving people. Chan’s passion for people and particularly for lost people is a rebuke and challenge to me.

Rather than plagiarising some of the content, I might just play it on the big screen at a conference I’m speaking at this week!

If you can’t see the vid above – click here to watch/download.

Yesu Azali Awa – Esalaik String Band

December 3, 2010 in Jesus with 6 Comments

One of my highlights of Vanuatu 2010 was a rather boisterous sing-a-long to and from our kayaking adventure. The kayaking was slightly sketchy: bad kayaks; risky conditions; overpriced; and lame sharks to feed. That didn’t matter. The trip was worth it. String Bands are a popular form of music in Vanuatu. We enjoyed listening to the Esalaik String Band on the bus. In one of the songs we recognised some of the lyrics and began to sing along. The bus driver liked this. So he kept repeating the track.

After both legs of the journey, we probably sang the song over 50 times!! The song was called Yesu Azali Awa – which I think means ‘Jesus is my Lord’. The chorus basically repeats the line ‘Hallelujah Jesus’ over and over again. And so we repeated it over and over again! So much fun.

Here are some vids from the experience that made it onto facebook: vid 1 and vid 2.

And above is a vid of my son dancing to the same song. :)

Pinch + Punch // December 2010

December 1, 2010 in life with 8 Comments

I’m back and super encouraged from Vanuatu. Stay tuned for some fresh reflections and highlights in the next couple of weeks. I think I’ve got at least 5 posts in me, I’m planning to post them before the end of December. In the meantime, check out the gear from last year. While on the subject of December… wow! The year is almost over. It’s time to crack out the advent and Christmas playlists on your portable music device. Check out my 5 Christmas Albums That Don’t Suck (they’re all free + legal to download). Might be a little sporadic blogging during December, but looking forward to the re-load in January and kicking it with St Faith’s Narrabeen full-time! Peaceout compadres.