Was going to write about Recharge tonight...

but earlier I was getting dressed to go out for dinner with my parents and bent over to pick up some shorts and pulled something in my back. I felt the 'click' and the pain... it was like on TV when someone bends over and can't get back up. Slightly dramatic... well anyway, it hurts and I can't sit here too long so the Recharge study write ups will have to wait.

If you'd pray for healing, or just some relief I'd be thankful.

:-)

Light Play

This week's assignment over at the Digital Photography School forum is "Light Play"

I really wanted to get a shot of a Top Fuel drag car at last weekends Australian National Drag event, but I didn't get out there to see them. Nothing lights up the sky like a Top Fueller burning its Nitros Oxide!

So instead I opted for some Birthday Cake... anyone want some :-P

Refreshed, and Recharged...

I'll do some more thinking and blogging about the studies later... but just a wrap up of my weekend...

I took Friday off and headed down the coast to lie on the beach and have a swim. Work's been real tough these past weeks and I just needed some alone time to chill out for a while. Burleigh was great, a bit windy to lie on the beach too long - but that was good cause I didn't get sunburnt :-P... The surf was pretty good, the blowy conditions were whipping up about 1m - 1.5m swells, which though coming in a little choppy were ok for body surfing.

After that I met an old friend Liz for coffee - so I'd had my alone time and was then able to enjoy a good coffee and a good chat with someone totally unconnected to any of the worries I'd had over the last few weeks - it was great!

I then headed up Mt Tamborine for Recharge 07. I actually went up the mountain a way I never have before (by mistake it seems), it was very steep, and windy... not as much fun as the usual way from home, but more fun than the normal Gold Coast road up the mountain.

Recharge was fantastic, 3 days of good times. The main speaker, Rob Coyle was excellent, and I got a lot out of his messages... the electives were really informative and mind-streatching, and I had a great time catching up and spending time with people I haven't for a while, and also meeting some awesome new friends.

I've come home feeling really refreshed from my day off, inspired by the teaching, and recharged by the time with friends new and old.

Sheep or Goat?

Matthew 25:43 "I was a stranger and you did not invite me in..."

How do you think Jesus feels about the hundreds of strangers in our land who are locked up in Detention Centres?

"...I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me."

Where does that leave us who ignore those same people? We mightn't be able to get them out of Detention Centres, but that doesn't leave us off the hook does it????

Working Class Anthem

Vawz over at No Gurantees posted this today. I remember seeing it on TV a while back, we even did this in church on Australia Day a few years back.

Gives me chills, she's a total beauty and I think we should hear it more often.

Jimmy Barns, you have a lot to answer for...

God Talked To Me...

As the track chaplains for Willowbank Raceway, Dad and I were able to chat to Phil Lamattina yesterday after his amazing survival of that insane Top Fuel accident on Saturday night.

(Full Story of the crash here)

I wasn't at the track Saturday night, and missed witnessing the accident where Phil's Top Fuel drag car split in half doing over 500km/h, flinging the compartment with him still in it 10m into the air before crashing back down, bursting into flames and sliding 50m upside down.

I was pretty amazed however at how calm, jovial and care free the whole Lamattina team were on Sunday when they turned up just to sit back relax and watch the day's racing.

Phil said to Dad though; "When I was up in the air I think I heard God talking to me... he said "It's not your time yet" and even as I crashed to the ground, and don't remember much else, I kind of knew I was going to be alright."

Phil walked away from the accident.

Reviewing the footage of the accident - it's amazing Phil is alive, yet alone walking away from the wrecked drag car. Phil even says he didn't understand how serious it was until he saw the footage, it was then he realised how lucky he was.

We met the Lamattina team the first drag meet we were chaplains at, and have been building a good relationship with the guys (particularly the 3 Lamattina brothers running, and driving for the team). Hopefully we can continue to do this in the aftermath of this event, and it can be used for God's glory.

<Still photo from the video footage of the accident. Phil is in the larger ball of flame just about to hit the ground. Amazing stuff!

Weathered

This week's mini comp assignment over at the Digital Photography School forum is 'Weathered'.

Here's my submission.

Recharge = 1 week away

Missed out on registering for the weekend? Don't worry, you can still come for the Saturday (22nd Sept). The program for the weekend is jam-packed. Here’s just some of what’s on offer on

Saturday….

Jumping Castle and Rockclimbing 2:30 – 5:00pmBounce your booty on the jumping castle and test your guns on the climbing wall.

JC Epidemic BMX Stunt Show 3:00pmJC Epidemic will take to the skies with their talented crew of BMX riders.

The Panel 4:00pm How can you change the world? Come, engage and find out about the opportunities to serve with SU, GiA, BCQ and Compassion @ the Recharge Café.

Live @ the Café 9:30pm ‘til late Relax and enjoy live music and good times @ the Recharge Café.

Footy Finals Replayed 9:30pm A complete replay of Saturday night NRL and AFL finals on the big screen baby!

Missions Night 9:30pm Could this be your mission? Sip on South American Hot Chocolate while listening to WEC, Interserve, NTM and Pioneers share cross-cultural experiences and opportunities.

So don't sit there and wonder what you should do next Saturday. Come check out Recharge at Mount Tamborine. It will be AWESOME!!Hope to see you there!

First Published Photograph

On the back page of the latest INTO Newspaper (Published by WEC Australia) is an article on this years WEC Highschooler Camps. The above photo is used in the article and is my first ever published photo.

I guess it's a bit of a cheat considering the work I'm doing and have done for WEC, but it feels good to see my photo in print.

My Spelling Sucks

Oh man sorry for that - the last post had so many spelling and grammatical errors! I was just re-reading it after I posted it, and had to edit it about 4 times.

Sometimes I can't believe I survived 12 years of schooling, plus university!

A Challenge from 12 months ago.

Looking through some old blog posts today, here's part of one I stumbled across that continues to challenge me.

It's a story I heard told, it packs a punch. So have a read and leave a comment.

___________________________________________________

-All around the world these events happen at the same time.

Julia is in Brisbane, she’s 19 years old and driving into the Chermside Shopping Centre car park at around 8pm. Suddenly she starts praying to God with as much passion and faith that she can muster, because she has a situation that needs prayer.

At the exact same time Sara is waking up and getting her brothers and sisters ready for school. She is in Bulawayo Zimbabwe, and she spent all last night making some little craft items to take and sell at the now illegal market place just outside of town. She needs to make these sales to help feed her siblings, whom she looks after now that both her parents have died from AIDS. Sara is only 16. Before she leaves, she kneels and prays to God, please help me sell my items today, please don’t let me get arrested by President Mugabe’s police because he has tried to stop us from making money. Please keep my brothers and sisters safe while I have to leave them alone.

Back in Australia, in a Western Australian Aboriginal community, Lisa is sitting on her back porch. The ambulance has just left, taking her mother to hospital. Her father came home tonight, after going to a secret binge party. Lisa hid while her father beat her mother until some of the elders came and pulled him out of the house. The ambulance picks mother up, but her father has just returned inside and though Lisa has gotten use to the beatings, tonight her father seems even more violent. In fear she cries out to God to help her survive the night safely.

In a remote refugee camp in Somalia, Wilfred is standing in line. He’s been there for 2 hours already, and there are still so many people in front of him. But today may be the day. Today he might get to the front of the line and find out his name is on the list, the list of families granted asylum in a foreign country. Wilfred has heard Australia is a good place, and that is his first choice, but anywhere away from the war and hunger, anywhere where his 3 children can grow up safe will be fine. Wilfred stands in line and prays his name is on the list, he prays that God will save his family from all the troubles of his country.

Back to Julia, she’s still driving her 2002 model Hyundai Accent through the car park, and praying hard. You see she heard at church last Sunday that God wants to be part of every aspect of our lives, and tonight is Thursday. She’s meeting some friends for a quick dinner before heading to see a movie, and she’s a touch late. So she prays… Please God, give me a car park close to the entrance, I don’t like walking much anyway, and I’m already late. Please let there be a park, near Myers would be best, cause that’s close to the food-court… As she turns the corner she sees a white Magna reversing out of a parking spot, about 6 away from the door. “THANK YOU God!” she exclaims, waits for the space to clear, parks and walks in to meet her friends.....

What a Welcome

Also saw this on Rodney's Blog

What's the most amazing welcome you've ever received?

Well that's easy. When I arrived in Jarrol Village the response was just overwhelming. We had taken a gali-gali (African Bush Taxi/Bus) from the city and were about 3 hours late arriving in the tiny village, but the whole town had been waiting on the street since 2pm (so when we arrived at 6pm - suppose to be 3pm) they were still there and burst into spontanious song and dance.

Here's a short clip one of the girls was able to take as we drove into the village. Totally unbelievable!

Just Scraping in a weekly Thumbs Up.

Haven't had much to write about this week, it's been one of those weeks you just write off, have a break over the weekend and start again.

But tonight I headed down to City North Baptist and met up with a mate of mine who is heading out to Africa to work as an assistant cheif on the Mercy Ship.

Mercy Ships are a non profit organisation who have quite literally a floating hospital which travels the east coast of Africa. The perform free medical checks and surgeries from the ship.

So thumbs up to Tim who's giving up at least 12 months of his life to cross the world and feed the doctors, nurses and dentists who make this important ministry such a success.

Tim's been managing a McDonald's store these past years so I'm sure that experienence will be handy in a ships kitchen.

Not-so-Sunshine Coast.

It seems Thursdays have been my day to get out of the office. Yesterday I headed up the Sunshine Coast for a couple of printer swaps and helping out the Maroochydore Travel office.

Now it’s been raining in Brisbane and Ipswich, but nothing like what I experienced up the coast yesterday. I believe if this rain had been over the Wivenhoe and Summerset Dams we’d have headlines this morning like “Drought Breaks Finally” or “Dams Full”, because they would have had well over 100mm just in the time I was there.

Roads were washed out, and I saw the Maroochydore River just breaching its banks for the second time in 3 weeks.

It’s such a shame that most of that water will have no effect on the drought for farmers, or filling dams for Brisbane and the West.

It was a slightly strange experience though, I haven’t dealt with rain like that for a long long time, and driving through it was pretty tiring. I don’t mind walking in the rain these days, it’s a welcome change, but yesterday’s rain on the coast was so cold, and it was heavy enough that you were pretty well soaked by the time you walked from the car to the office.

I’m praying that today that rain will push a little more west and hit the dam catchments! Even better if it heads further west and soaks the Qld farming regions!

It Feels Different

Raining here in Qld today. It's only been 2 weeks since we've had rain, and it feels different to get some more so soon after. Usually we're hanging out for rain desperately so when it comes it's like this huge welcome relief.

This time it's almost like a continuation of a renewal. Everything was still a touch green from the last rain, and it's just getting more and more so this time. The ground hadn't hardened up again, so this time the rain is soaking more into it.

Praise God for his continued blessings.

Ouch

You pride yourself on how well you do your job. So how do you deal when you make a silly mistake that impacts a lot of people and leaves your whole section looking like a group of people who don't really know what they're doing?

Thumbs Up to Trent

Want to highlight someone making a positive difference?Is there a blogger who deserves a pat on the back or simply something that has you feeling thankful this week?The blogosphere can sometimes be a pretty negative place so I reckon it's great to make a habit of accentuating the positive.
(Rodney - The Journey)

This week I'm giving the thumbs up to a mate of mine who does some amazing photography work. I'm a pretty keen photographer as well, but I am always amazed at what Trent Rouillon comes up with.

Having photography as a bit of a hobby I look at a lot of Trent's stuff for inspiration and just some simple ideas.

I hope he doesn't mind me copying some shots of his over just to show you how amazing he is (all link back to his page).

Trent is great at shooting, but even more than that his photos always seem to display a positive attitude, either through the musicians he shoots or the landscape shots, maybe because I know Trent I can see his great outlook on life being reflected in the photos he chooses to take.

So check out http://www.trentrouillon.com/ or http://www.myspace.com/aka_music_photographer and if your in Brisbane and need a comercial photographer, Trents your man.