Quote of the Week

Saw this on Pure Christianity and liked it enough to put here. It speaks true I feel.

"Two thousand years ago God started a revolt against the religion He started. So don't ever put it past God to cause a groundswell movement against churches and Christian institutions that bear His name. If He was willing to turn Judaism upside down, don't think for a moment our institutions are safe from a divine revolt. I am convinced that even now there are multitudes of followers of Jesus Christ who are sick and tired of the church playing games and playing down the call of God. My travels only confirm that the murmurings of revolution are everywhere. I am convinced that there is an uprising in the works and that no one less than God is behind it."
~Erwin McManus

A tad stiff and sore today...

I played my first game of soccer in 2 years yesterday. Almost 2 years ago to the day I torn the ligaments on my left ankle playing soccer for Whitehill (posts on it here, and here for those playing along at home!), it's been a real long recovery and I still don't think my ankle is as strong as it use to be.

The other issue I've had is that with the injury I've not been able to run or do too much, plus then after a while I just got lazy cause I hadn't been able to run for so long. The past few months I've been working really hard on my fitness and building the strength up in my right leg again - I've been jogging in my lunchtimes at work most days and trying to cycle a bit as well as the usual sit-ups ect... So physically I'm getting fit again so when someone mentioned that the Division 6 team for City North needed some fill in players yesterday I thought I'd give it a go.

Apart from loosing 9-2 I felt I played really well. I haven't even trained for soccer for those 2 years, but I found the old ball skills still remained and Div6 was a fairly slow paced game to come back into, so I found I had plenty of time to think about where I was kicking, and even try one or two passing and running through player moves.

I didn't pace myself too well at the start - I've been doing lots of jogging and long distance work, so to run out onto the soccer field and sprint for the first 5-10 minutes left me stuffed... Once I figured that out and paced it out a bit more I felt fine.

Overall I'm just stoked to have a game of soccer again, you don't realise how much you enjoy something until you're forced not to do it.

Legs are a bit tired and sore today though, but nothing too bad.

Karting Champ!

The men's ministry night for the City North Baptist blokes was great fun last night. We headed off to Archerfield Karts for a night of manly head to head racing.

I'm use to heading out karting with some blokes from Ipswich who are insanlly good at it, so without them around I was hoping for a good result in the final race.

I had a hiccup with one of the pace cars in practice... I was following a guy who was a tad faster than me, and he saw the pace car and I didn't... after some evasive action I spun and was sitting in the middle of the hairpin - just as Waz came round and forgot the back of his kart is wider than the front... his rear wheel drilled my kart and knocked me sideways hard - I have a nice big lump on my back today where I was slammed back into my seat.

I qualified 4th fastest (but hey I'm probably 10-20Kgs heavier than the faster blokes), and headed into the race quietly confident I could pass and then hold the lead.

I was in second place by the first corner and then spent the rest of the race swapping 1st and 2nd with young Josh Burstow. We had a great dual with him getting me out of the hairpin and me able to carry much more speed onto the straight for overtaking and sliding up under breaks to pass. The whole 15 laps were spent trying to pass and loose Josh, except I couldn't loose him and I'd end up having to chase and pass him again.

In the end though I was able to get a little gap, and then trying to hard Josh almost spun on the hairpin giving me a comfortable 1.5sec win!

For a 17 year old Josh showed a lot of maturity on the track... he didn't make any silly passing moves, and was really patient, knowing which part of the track he was faster and waiting to have a passing go there.

I really enjoyed it - the win was awesome :-) - but also I got to meet a group of the older men at the church whom I haven't really had any chance to get to know before... so all in all a fantastic night!

Meet Maria

Steven Curtis Chapman's 5 year old daughter Maria was killed in a tragic accident the other day (as I posted yesterday)

Only back in April did SCC post this video on his blog, giving an insight into the special heart of his little girl.

What a gorgeous little thing, and what has happened is so sad - looks like there will be many fond memories though.

Sad news ~ Steven Curtis Chapman

Terrible news coming from Tennessee today. I've been keeping up to date with Steven Curtis Chapman's blog these past months, so to hear tragic news in his family is really saddening - more so to following his family news these past months...

Singing star's son runs over daughter

The five-year-old daughter of American Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman has been struck and killed by a sport-utility vehicle driven by her brother.

Authorities in Tennessee say the girl, Maria, was hit in a driveway at the family home today south of Nashville and died later in hospital.

The Toyota Land Cruiser was driven by the girl's teenage brother, said Tennessee
Highway Patrol spokeswoman Laura McPherson.

McPherson says several members of the Chapman family witnessed the accident.
The brother apparently did not see the little girl, she said.

Chapman won his 50th Dove music award, the most of any artist in gospel music history, in 2006 for special event album of the year for the Chronicles of Narnia project.

He toured Australia in 2006.

McPherson said no charges were expected to be laid, "It looks like a tragic accident,'' she said...

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/05/22/1211182968194.html

Trevor - a little surprise

As with most people, I enjoy reading the daily comic strips each day in the paper. A couple I glance over since I don't find them too funny, but Trevor, Overboard and Garfield are the ones that make me giggle.

However I got a surprise the other day when I read the Trevor strip, simple, brillient and truthful. I don't know if the artist was meaning to put forward a Gospel message, but if he was or not I have a feeling this strip was God-inspired.

Completed the Walk through Middle Earth

Back in January I posted about starting reading through the Lord of the Rings trilogy again. Well I finished 'Return of the King' last night, completing my venture through Middle Earth.

I'm just in awe of the world J.R.R Tolken created, the history of Middle Earth that is in the back of the books, and the family trees just give such an amazing insight into the actual world where The Lord of the Rings is set.

I've enjoyed just pottering through the books, not reading them all in one go - but just when I've had some spare time... I've read other books during this time as well, but every now and then I'd pick up my 3-in-1 book and keep following Frodo's plight.

My favourite part of the book is at the end when the 4 Hobbits return to The Shire to find it over run by rough men. They didn't even put this in the movies, and I get the feeling Tolken rounded the whole story off perfectly with the 'scourging' of The Shire. It's like all the important stuff Frodo, Samwise, Merry and Pippin went through and accomplish was all melded together to save their own people right at the end.

The many Gospel links, and analogies to Christ and the end times just heighten the enjoyment of the story... and create some good thinking moments along the way.

It certainly is my favourite book series ever!

HOT!

Note to self: What not to do with your coffee.

This afternoon I stood up to hand something to a workmate over the partition, and as I sat back down I tipped over my coffee plunger... thinking only about my precious plunger I made a drastic effort to catch it before it smashed, only to tip hot coffee all over my lap and down my leg.

I'm a tad burnt on my waist, but luckily I was wearing jeans, not dress pants (casual Friday saves the day) so the coffee didn't make it through the denim to burn my leg.

I made a big mess though, the great bunch of guys I work with though made sure I was ok first, then helped me clean up - I ended up just coming home (happened around 3:30) cause I was so wet... and had some pretty sad looking stains on my brand new jeans...

Sponsor a Child

1016 Children sponsored today for Compassion Day 2008.

That's not quite the 1500 they were aiming at, but a fair effort none the less! That's another 1016 children who now have a great chance of surviving and making a life for themselves.

It was great to hear Az Hamilton on the radio all day today. The Nite Alive announcer put in a mammoth effort today on 96.5 doing segments throughout the day, plugging the great work of Compassion, and telling of the recent trip he took to Haiti.

I think I was even able to convince a mate at work to sponsor a child, he just couldn't decide which one out of the vast choice of cute little faces.

There's still an opportunity for you to sponsor a child if you haven't already. $44 a month is nothing for us these days, you won't even notice it coming off your direct debit! And it will change your life for the better... it's worth every dollar!

http://www.compassionday.com.au/

Compassion Day

Tomorrow is Compassion Day - 1 Day, 1500 Children sponsored with 42 Radio Stations involved.

The focus this year is Haiti where one child in 14 never reaches their first birthday and another one in five doesn't reach the age of four. There are few public schools, and not enough teachers. Only 2 per cent of Haitian children finish high school.

It just so happens that my sponsor child is from Haiti. Ernry is a dude! I love getting letters from him, I've been sponsoring him for 7 years now and really have watched him grow up.

I've never actually met the little guy but I love him! He's part of my life in a real significant way, and it really doesn't take much for me to be a life changing influence on his life. $44 a month is nothing within the lifestyle I live, yet it changes kids lives completely.

Honestly I put it to you today, if your living in Australia or the USA, and don't have a sponsor child, tell me your excuse! What is stopping you? Cause I really don't think many people can't put aside $44 a month to save a child.

And in all honestly, you'll get more out of it than if you spent that $44 on a meal with friends, a DVD or new coat, I love getting letters from Ernry, he writes about his life, and I seriously get to see how he is working to learn and improve his way of life - Ernry especially has a special spirit, instead of buying toys with the gift money I send for his birthday or Christmas he writes and tells me he's bought a goat, or a sheep - most recently he has bought a turkey... he's a little farmer, and his sheep has already had babies. My little guy is a thinker, and instead of buying a soccer ball or toy car he's out buying things that are going to help his family survive, and him to grow up strong and healthy.

I'm so proud :-)

Ernry

So I can't urge you enough, go to the Compassion Day website and sponsor a child tomorrow for Compassion Day and save a life!

Weekly Photography Assignment

Missed last week, but back at it this week...

"Wide Open" - Basically it refers to the size of the opening in your lens to let light pass through. The smaller the f-stop the larger the opening.

So with my EFS 18-55mm Lens the smallest setting is f/3.5 so here's my shot using that setting.

In the Moment.

Drumming tonight at City North... last song of the night was Happy Day (Tim Hughs - if you don't know this one, check it out, it's a great song of rejoicing!)

Coming out of the bridge there's a big build up back into the chorus. The fill I did in that build up tonight was awesome... I noticed as I finished and went back into the chorus... but the thing is, I have no idea what I did, how I did it and I know I'll never do it the same again. It just flowed out of me, it was just a response to the worship I was expressing through my drumming, it's how I've drummed all the time, more from feel than technique.

I know I'm playing well, when I'm worshipping God... I don't think I really want it any other way :-)

May Day BBQ

Some of the City North boys trekked out to Ipswich yesterday and we had a good time, eating meat and playing some soccer.

Tim took some photos that he put up on facebook, I thought I'd post a couple here.

I must admit I'm a bit of a whip on the barbie...

Then there was the after lunch soccer (just the 3 of us, 3x 1 player teams of half court, worked well)

Which lead to me kicking the ball over the fence.... :-P

I hate Lemsip!!!!

Had the flu all week... been downing Green Tea which I'm not a big fan of, but I find it helps the hammering in my head...

...and I tried Lemsip to help with my congestion and stuff..... urgh never again!!!!

It may have helped though.... I dunno...

I hate being sick!