Year: 2010

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Praying for the World (Cup)

I used to worship soccer. That’s dumb. Worshipping soccer is as foolish as worshipping a scarecrow in a cucumber field. I’ve been getting fairly excited about the 2010 World Cup. Almost too excited! To help keep things in perspective I make it my aim to pray for both countries at half-time of each game I watch. The World Cup is an opportunity to learn about 32 different countries and work out how to best pray for them.

If you’re a Christian. Here’s some ideas for prayer during the World Cup

  1. At half time. Pray for both teams. Don’t pray for one team to win, pray for stuff that matters in the big picture of eternity.
  2. If you’re on twitter use this hashtag #Praying4WorldCup to share what you’re praying and encourage others to pray with you.
  3. Spend some time on Wikipedia learning about the countries
  4. I’m currently preparing a very brief guide with one thing to pray for each team. I’ll post it here when it’s finished. EDIT: It might take a bit long, so maybe not.
  5. If you have Operation World, keep it near the TV
  6. Check out The Joshua Project for stats on unreached people groups in the world.
  7. If you know missionaries or some of the needs in any of the countries, share them in the comments below.
  8. EDIT: New idea – check out the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students website www.ifesworld.org

GROUP A: France | Mexico | South Africa | Uruguay

GROUP B: Argentina | Greece | Nigeria | Korea Republic

GROUP C: England | Algeria | Slovenia | United States

GROUP D: Germany | Australia | Serbia | Ghana

GROUP E: Netherlands | Denmark | Japan | Cameroon

GROUP F: Italy | Paraguay | New Zealand | Slovakia

GROUP G: Brazil | Korea DPR | Côte d’Ivoire | Portugal

GROUP H: Spain | Switzerland | Honduras | Chile

Check out the Latest #Praying4WorldCup tweets:

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Never Be Destroyed – Daniel Part 1

Here are the opening two verses of Daniel chapter 1: “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.” (Dan 1:1-2 NIV)

It sounds terrible! God’s holy city, Jerusalem, has been taken over by the Babylonians. They’ve taken all the bling from the temple of God and carried it off to the temple of Babylon’s gods. Where is God? Is he still in control? Does he still rule? Or has he lost his power?

One of the main themes throughout the book of Daniel is that, despite appearances, God is still in control. Human kingdoms come and go throughout the book, but “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed.” (Dan 2:44).

We’ll meet Daniel and his friends as they seek to live as God’s people in a foreign, sometimes hostile, land. They have some wild adventures with lions, fiery furnaces and some crazily vivid visions & dreams.

The world of Daniel is not unlike our world. As we see the hostility (and even the impressiveness) of the world around us, our belief in God can easily be challenged. My hope is that this blog series on Daniel 1-7 will help teach us to live wisely, while we wait for the return of our King Jesus and his kingdom that will never be destroyed.

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7 Years = Perfect Marriage

It’s exactly a year since our 6th anniversary. You know what that means – today is our 7th anniversary! Very cool. In the Bible, the number 7 is often symbolic of wholeness, completeness, or perfection. It means we have finally attained the perfect marriage!!

Okay, maybe it’s not perfect, but I think it’s getting better. We still love each other and we’re learning more and more how to forgive each other. Love ya Row!

Are you married? Tip: Work hard on your marriage. We’ve been reading this book, What Did You Expect?: Redeeming the Realities of Marriage – it’s brilliant. Check it out!

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If I could run a business…

We spent 4 hours in the car today travelling. One of the games we played was which 3 business would you like to own & run. The aim wasn’t to make lots of money, but rather something you’d be interested in operating. It was fun. Feel free to share yours.

Dave’s List:

  1. Cafe – I like the coffee thing, but probably more so the people thing.
  2. Shoe Shop – during high school and my first few years out of school I worked in a sport shop. I like shoes. The shoe shop would specialise in sports shoes and casual/urban/street shoes.
  3. Creative Suite – web/graphic design, marketing, advertising, PR etc.

Row’s List:

  1. Florist – even though she’s allergic to grass, she likes flowers. That’s cool. (Mental note: buy row flowers)
  2. Travel Agent – not just the opportunity to travel, but help people plan sweet trips.
  3. Art House Cinema – operating an independent cinema. A little bit like the one at Avoca Beach (if you haven’t been there… make the trip one day/night)

If I could run a business…

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Wicked the Musical

Last night, we enjoyed watching Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz. Very clever story line. Great performances. Spectacular set. Check it out while it’s still in Sydney. Not in Sydney? Don’t have any money? Just read about it on Wikipedia!

Have you seen it? What did you think?

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Pinch + Punch // June 2010

During summer, I had an “embracing summer” policy. It just meant I wouldn’t ever complain about the heat, but rather seek to enjoy it. I’m doing the same (or kinda the opposite!) this winter. I’m “embracing winter”. This means I won’t complain about the cold, wet or darkness; but rather enjoy this season in its time. If I complain about something to do with winter and you hear it – you have permission to slap me. Deal?

The high light of June will definitely be the FIFA Football World Cup held in South Africa. During the 1998 World Cup, my trial HSC was significantly impacted by late nights watching soccer matches. This year I have 2 exams at college during the world cup… good luck studying! This month’s Smashing Mag Wallpaper is the better of the 2 soccer related ones (see above). Australia for the win!

Here’s the best of May (according to clicks) and some other stats:

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