everything old is new again

I'm currently finishing up at the National Youth Ministry Conference on the Gold Coast (I know... suffering for Jesus), so I'll make this pretty brief (more thoughts when I get back to business next week).

As I've blogged previously, I've been doing lots of contemplating about contemplative practices. I've found these have been referred to a number of times up here (which both pleases and encourages me), but what I've heard (assuming it's true - it came from Tony Campolo, so you'd think it would be) today shows me that this is not the first time contemplation has been back in vogue. Apparently a lot of John Wesley's (yeah, that old guy to the left) theology and practice was shaped by these same practices, from reading St John of the Cross, St Ignatius and the like). I know my Dad (who has done a thesis on Wesley) will be pleased I'm looking into this, and I'm sure he'll have lots of resources waiting for me when I return...

I'll be very interested to look into that and see exactly how this man who shaped a movement was shaped by these amazing early Christian thinkers. Stay tuned.

oh my...

Well, another month passes very quickly. Thankfully, I haven't been just sitting around doing nothing (I'd go mad!) I'm currently in the middle of a month off, which has been very refreshing, in lots of ways. I've accomplished two major goals which I'm very proud of...

Firstly, I've pretty much finished the renovations. All of the major, big jobs are done, and I'm really happy with the result. The most satisfying bit has been the landscaping out the front, because I did pretty much all of it (as opposed to the internal renos, which I finished off. There's something very satisfying about having a nice garden with a cool retaining wall that you've built yourself...

Secondly, I completed the 12 km City-Bay run on Sunday. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make it, but my couple months of training paid off, and I did it in 1 hour 9 mins, which I'm pretty stoked with. Next year, my aim will be to break the 1 hour barrier.

Hope life's going well for you, too.

more on renovations

We've been doing some renovations for nearly a year now. The builders finished long ago, but I've been slack and haven't finished off the painting and landscaping that needs to be done.

Ali made a comment the other day about not being able to remember the last time that she didn't feel "unsettled". When we talked more about it, we realised it was before our renovations started, and I agree. Our house isn't a mess or anything (well, no more than usual), it's just that as we walk around, subconsciously we know that things aren't as they should be.

So, I finally bit the bullet the other day and started to get back into painting, and as I was, I realised how much I need things to be "complete" - I love clean lines, clean painted walls, rooms that are arranged as they should be.

As I was painting the cornices in our passage on Tuesday night, I realised that God must be a renovator at heart. I'm passionate about getting our house looking "right", and I didn't even make it. How much more passionate must God be, then, about restoring us, renovating us - his creations? How much must he long for things to be "as they should be" - knowing how much more "settled" we'd feel, if only we'd let him do a DIY job on us? Sure, we function as we are, but there's so much more than merely functioning...

the miracle of renovation

I read this awesome quote today...

When a new day dawns there speaks a voice, for those who have ears to hear, the voice of God, proclaiming: ‘Here is a fresh, unspoilt opportunity! Here is a clean page of the book; and even though some of the earlier pages have been full of blunders, smudges and mistakes which shame you bitterly to think of them, here is this page, untouched and spotless, waiting for the story you will write on it today. All the past is finished and forgiven. This is your hour of opportunity. I make all things new.’

That miracle of renovation can happen every morning. And all that you require, in order to know the joy and thrill of it yourself, is the resolve to begin each day by surrendering your life to God, as definitely as if you had never done it before… Every morning, to go down on your knees and say, ‘Dear God, I don’t ask to see the distant scene; but here, for the next twenty-four hours, is my life – I give it back to you, to guard, and bless and control!’ That is why the morning seasons of prayer and communion with God before the business of the day begins are so important – they give the daily divine miracle its chance to work out in your experience, and will make all things new and fresh and fair.

JS Stewart – The Strong Name (1940)

I love that comment - "the miracle of renovation can happen every morning". Wow.

what Josh is teaching me about God #5

Last night, Josh was getting ready for bed, putting his pyjamas on, when I was struck by one of those "moments". We're trying to teach Josh how to do up buttons at the moment, but before we got to that, Josh asked me to help him put his top on (knowing that the button thing was next). I said to him "no, you can do it", to which he replied "help me, Dad".

My first instinct was to do it for him - put his shirt on, do up his buttons, but a remarkable thing came out of my mouth instead. I said "No, you do it - I am helping you, Josh". I knew that I wouldn't actually be helping him if I did it for him, but would be helping him far more if I helped him learn how to do it.

I immediately wondered how many times I call out to God, "help me, Dad". I also pondered how often God's first instinct is to take away our pain, remove our suffering, fix our problems, but in God's infinite wisdom, he chooses not to - knowing we learn far more by working through it ourselves, and that we can't become whole if someone always does up our buttons for us...

learning from sore muscles

Yesterday, I had a personal training session at my gym, and I'm pretty sore today. I told my trainer to hammer me, and he certainly did that! But I feel good, because part of the reason I wanted to see him was because lately, when I've been at the gym, I haven't felt terribly sore after, so I've wondered how much I'm achieving. I know I achieved something yesterday!

There were a bunch of things I learned from him, but one which stood out was that part of the reason I've possibly not been hurting after my sessions is because I'm trying to do too much each time, rather than focussing on one muscle group, working that hard, then working another the next time I go.

Muscle is built most effectively by ripping the muscle, then allowing it to rebuild, then ripping it again (I can vouch for that today - ow!) When I go to the gym and work too many groups at once (arms, back, legs), I don't spend time on any particular area, drilling it, ripping it, so that it rebuilds. I just give them a little workout and don't achieve much. On the other hand, if I was to go and maybe work my triceps and calves one day, then back and biceps, then shoulders, core and upper legs, I would achieve much better results. By doing less each time, but being more focussed, I would in fact do more.

That made me reflect on my personal spiritual training. I probably operate the same way as I have been at the gym - generally covering some areas, but not in a focussed way. Perhaps I would be better served to "hammer" certain areas in prayer, Bible reading, other reading - working one area part of the week, and another at other times. Could be interesting to consider...

I also think there is possibly something there about working and resting - that again, muscle is build by drilling it, then giving it time to rebuild. That seems to give me even more reason to believe that rather than thinking of life (or ministry) as a marathon (as so many have said), my notion that it is rather a series of sprints (with adequate rest in between) is more valid, because if we just keep plodding (marathon-like), we'll get somewhere, but probably lose body weight, etc. By living by working real hard, then resting well, then working again - in theory, this should make us stronger. What do you think?

soul cravings

I know - 2 posts in 2 days... incredible!!

I've just finished reading Soul Cravings by Erwin McManus. Here are some key thoughts that stood out to me from the book (I can't give you page numbers, because McManus breaks the book up by theme (cravings, destiny and meaning), then writes as journal entries - not sure how one would reference that in an essay!):

"God calls us out of the life we have known and calls us into a life we have never imagined"

"It's important to fully live each moment, but equally important to make sure that we do not live only for this moment."

"When you give up on hope, you become paralyzed in the present and begin to live in the past"

"Spirituality is more identified with tradition and ritual than it is with a future and a hope. Too often discipleship equals standardization"

"While religions have historically tried to make us the same, Jesus calls us to be different"

"Clearly we can't know everything ... Genius might be less how much you know and more the ability to know the right things."

And finally a quote from Cheng Yi which I think sums up my blog... "To exert thought is like digging a well. At first there is only muddy water. Later on, after one has done some drawing, clear water will come out. One's thoughts are always muddy at first. After a long while they will naturally be nicely clear"

another year older... amongst other happenings

Well, once again, a number of weeks have passed, with no blogging. Ah, discipline... how you mock me...

Here's a brief overview of a couple of highlights of what's happened during this time. If you want any more info, you should leave a comment!

I bought a new camera - Panasonic FZ7 - very cool
We've run multiple "crazy" nights in our evening gatherings at RBC - been a lot of fun
In one of these (last Sunday night), I had part of my head shaved during the service
It's been really cold - and I've had 2 colds...
Watched the end of Heroes - brilliant
Prepared for the last episode of Lost (tonight, our time)
Josh and I just celebrated our 4th and 33rd birthdays last weekend.
We gave Josh a slot car set - sooo much fun (but it is his present... right?!)
I bought the new Smashing Pumpkins CD (I didn't even know they had a new one coming out) - Zeitgeist - as well as On a Clear Night (Missy Higgins) and Neon Ballroom (Silverchair). I've been wanting to get Neon Ballroom for ages, and finally found it for $10! Yeah!
I started a Facebook page - not sure why, yet... seems like the thing to do at the moment.

Obviously more than that has happened, but they're some highlights. Once Ignite (our evening service series) is over, I intend to make it a priority to blog at least once a week - you can hold me to it!

been a while...

I confess I've been pretty slack on the blogging front of late. I'm not quite sure why - I think that it's probably because blogging is a discipline, and like lots of disciplines, I'm not great at keeping them. No, it doesn't take a lot of time to log on, write a few words, and post, but actually having something useful to say (I think there's more than enough trash on the internet without me adding any) is a different matter.

It's not because I'm too busy, either. I made a vow a number of years ago to never use that as an excuse for anything. I feel there are far too many people who wear busyness as a badge of honour - trying to say "I'm the busiest person ever". To me, if you say you're too busy to do something, it's because of one of two reasons - either your time management needs work, or you can't make whatever is being discussed a priority. (I don't have an issue with people prioritising, either - it's healthy - but don't use busyness as an excuse to get out of something you don't want to do!)

The fact of the matter is, I just need to bite the bullet and take some time out more regularly to reflect more. I'm meeting with my good friend Andrew Turner this afternoon, and I'm sure this will be one of our topics of discussion...

learning from a learner driver

On the way to church this arvo, we went past a learner driver, and on the back of the car was a big sign saying "Be Patient".

It's so easy to get frustrated with people who are learning, and easy to forget that we all had to learn at some point, too. What a great reminder that if we are sitting behind a learner driver, we should be patient with them (something I excel at... ahem...), because the last thing they need is pressure, and they're not going to learn and develop if they can't be "on the road".

For all parts of life, I think the same applies - it's easy to get frustrated with those who are learning skills, and easy to forget our own path. What's more impacting for me, though, is that I need (humbling as it is) a big "Be Patient" sign stuck on my head, to remind myself to be patient as I'm learning, to remember that others had to develop over time, and weren't instantly great at the things they do.

Be Patient...