Saturday, April 03, 2004
Stuff
Lots of coding work happening
Just arranged my first lot of travel away fro work again - the last week of April I'm away traveling - off to the mines! Lets see how much of the next 4 months I can stay at home :(
The Home Icecream truck came today - we bought yummy ice creams.
Cafe Pack
Cherry Choc Delight
Vanilla and Butterscotch (Hokey Pokey)
Boysenberry Yoghurt
Serenetta Toffee Log
Orangutan
I am back riding my CBR1100 XX now my collar bone has healed and loving it. It handles so sweetly and the power and acceleration is awesome. Tonight I sat at a set of lights behind a Holden Commodore SS Ute and a Toyota Supra - they took off together and I just whipped round the front of the Supra (which was losing and flashed past the Ute like it was standing still - and I started behind them and I was still in first gear! - I think I've seen 100km/h (or more) as I change into 2nd gear.
I am also popping more nice power wheelstands as I figure out how to find the sweet spot on take off. Most of them are only a few inches off the ground, but I've also figured out how to lift the front right up. Wind smoothly to 4000 RPM and then back the gas off hard and quickly wind it on again. Depending on how much nose dive you got from the back off will assist the front to lift up. This is a useful technique when taking off over speed bumps in a car park. Successfully did it at church the other day! I could talk all day about what this bike can do. The Super Blackbird sure is super!
Indoor soccer tonight was great. I played as a keeper for an A grade Game - we won 8-7. It was very tight and all the goals they scored against me were far post or cross court passes that the defence wasn't able to cut off. It was great to win that game.
Following that it was straight on to another court for my team Parklife. We also romped away with an 8-4 win. I only let in 2 in the first half and I played out in the field in the second half scoring a nice goal with a 1 touch half volley from a cross court pass from Mike. (I also missed 3 or 4 easy ones!)
Tomorrow (today now) is Jadeen's birthday party. It is gonna be a lot of fun. Jude has done a fantastic job getting the house ready and the party supplies - it is gonna be a blast!
Doug and I have been busy speculating on BlogShares. Its a lot of fun. I have already made over $B 8 million!
Thursday, April 01, 2004
Blogger Idol Week 11 - Blogger Pageant
This weeks topic is "Blogger Pageant" - and I have to answer a question. I choose...
"What's my favourite football team?"
First up - what do you mean by Football?
As most of the world knows it football is played with a round ball with hexagons and polygons. 11 players a side, one of whom is a goalkeeper and can touch the ball with his hands within the goal box. Duration 45 minutes each way.
Ok next question what league?
If it was the UEFA Cup then Manchester United, If FA Cup and English Premier League (First Division) then Manchester United again. If 4th Division then Brighton. If World Cup (most watched sport in the world - even beats the Olympics) then Paraguay, (or Australia if we qualify!)
If we are talking about indoor soccer then Parklife
Ok now if we are talking about Australian Football League played with an oval ball, 18 players per side, four 30 minute quarters, bouncing the ball and kicking and marking then The Brisbane Lions are the team - lets make it 4 championships in a row boys!
Why?
The most important question of all. I love sport - playing, watching, coaching, talking about it. I will stay up late to catch AFL games throughout the season and scream at the news reporters who show the scores minutes before the game is delayed broadcast on TV (Idiots!) I play indoor soccer and sponsor my team. I play outdoor soccer for my church on occasion and I love my Footy!
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Emergent Theology?
I have been reading a lot recently on the emerging church. I have posted links on this site and referenced a number of the other weblogs also discussing this. I have also taken the step of thinking outside of the online community and started cross referencing some ideas and thoughts with other people.
Here are some basics that I think need to be successfully dealt with for this "new" phenomenon to really survive ("There is nothing new under the sun" Eccl 1:9)
I would love to see your comments, and will myself add to this in the future as I think through it more.
Theology
Theology (or the study of God) is broken into many schools of thought. There are major schools of thought and within each there are splinter groups. For the emerging church to be truly trans-denominational than a lot of these schools of thought will need to be harmonious (at least on the major items). Note I didn't say all. I believe there are some schools of thought that are heretical, and would not therefore fit into this mold. These would be self evident by their unwillingness to join the ranks and agree to agree.
Standards and principles (beliefs)
I think that there must be some compulsory belief statements. Some will hold their hands up in horror, but I stand by this. The Bible is clear that there are certain issues on which we must be clear. I'll take a stand and say no to gay clergy, (not no to gay members), no to liberal theology that does not hold the whole of the Bible as the revealed word of God, No to cults that add their own "inspired" piece of dogma, and not to anti-biblical and anti-God attitudes and practices. Eg Moloch worshippers, pagan rituals and other occultist practices. There are more but you get the idea. The Bible is clear on these matters, and I have no problem stating these as fact.
There is a thought that the Emerging church must have an emerging theology; that is redefine theology. I disagree. We have 2000 years of church history and many creeds and confessions that define statements of belief for us, the Westmnister Confession of Faith and the Nicene Creed, the London Baptist Confession and many others. The emerging church needs to identify itself, not with one of these, but with most of them, and from there define itself by its other qualities of community and tradition.
Community
One of the criticisms leveled at the traditional church structures are their lack of relevancy to the masses. 10% of Australia regularly attends church on a Sunday. What do the other 90% do? Why don't they attend, when 50 years ago over 50% attended. Is it really lack of relevancy, or is it simply apostasy and agnosticism. I would suspect a mixture of the tow, and would go as far as to say that the emerging church will still not be relevant to all or even most of the population. Yet we must realise that a cultural battle has been fought and largely won by the anti-Christian culture, in most cases without the Christians even knowing it was going on. That is why I agree with Gary North that the battle that Mel Gibson has started is a battle for the culture of our western nations.
So an emerging church has the chance to develop its own community, of ordinary everyday people, waitresses and barmen, students and teachers, plumbers and electricians, public servants and taxi drivers. Relevance will come from meeting where they are at, authenticity will come from adherence to the Biblical standards and principles espoused above.
Leadership
Alan makes a valid point regarding the superstructures of institutionalised churches, and the power corruption that can occur. Here's his final comment on the linked post "That's why when we read the New Testament we find no evidence of denominational superstructures; we find no complex hierarchy. We find the local church overseen by elders. When we go beyond that we'll always run into trouble."
Local community should have local leadership. Leadership comes from within the community and is chosen according to the New Testament principles for Godly leadership found in Timothy and Titus. Anything else is to suggest we know better.
Tradition (or practices)
Just as people relate to anecdotal stories when learning, so communities, whether they be churches, sport clubs. community minded lions clubs or even extended families, have traditions that they feel comfortable with. These create a sense of identity and belonging that help people connect. Initiation ceremonies are a way of enforcing tradition upon newcomers. I'm not suggesting initiation here, rather well thought out practices that become traditions We don't have to look too far for the obvious, the sacraments, the Lords supper or whatever name you know it by is the most obvious, singing songs and praising God also. Each community will find its own idiosyncrasies will turn into traditions. The key to remember is that tradition for tradition's sake is largely meaningless. Tradition is merely a method of connection, and should not be performed as a ritual or by rote. Rather it should be like a comfortable old pair of slippers; slipped on to provide the function of warmth.
There are probably a few other major headings, and I will not pretend that I have either covered all of the major topics, or even covered these well. Rather I am laying out for discussion a number of items for discussion and debate. Feel free to comment.
Monday, March 29, 2004
Real Live Preacher has got a Raccoon
RLP is a site I read regularly. However his recent posts are a little different from the normal repartee. He is wrestling with a resident raccoon. (I refuse to apologise for the alliteration)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Check back later for the continuation of this story.
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