Year: 2010

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Pray for Sudan

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.

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The Oprahfication of Oz

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.

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Don’t Waste Your Life – Vanuatu 2010 Talk MP3s

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.

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

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.

EDIT: Here is what I came up with my message “Humble Orthodoxy”

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Yesu Azali Awa – Esalaik String Band

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. :)

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Pinch + Punch // December 2010

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.

Above is my Smashing Mag December Desktop Calendar.

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

Long God yumi stanap.

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Schoolies Vanuatu 2009 – Blog Post Summary

I’ve literally got to go and get on the plane for Schoolies in Vanuatu 2010. So this better be quick. Below is a summary of all my posts in reflections on the 2009 trip. It was a wonderful time. Stay tuned for some 2010 reflections soon! (Here’s promo vid)