WEC Highschoolers Camp 2007

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What a week. What a great week - It was a big week, and a big weekend, so this is the first chance I've had to mention about how great the WEC Highschooler's Camp was this year.

I was lucky to get to spend a night up on Camp A, see some of the leaders and campers who I spent time with last year. It looks like they had a great time.

Camp B though was where I spent all of last week. Camp Bornhoffen is a beautiful place - set in a long valley right on the QLD/NSW border it's a stunning landscape to hold a week long camp. The campers were great - we were able to create a really unified atmosphere where everyone got along, and everyone was included.


My cabin boys were all in grade 11. My co-leader Patto was a champion, and I'd have to say we probably had the most fun over the week doing our group stuff. I've never had 8 boys in my cabin before, and the larger number was a different dynamic - but because they were such a great bunch we just connected so well. Our focus country was Sri Lanka and we looked at all the things WEC are doing there (I can't say too much more due to sensitivity issues).

We decorated our room with pictures of Sri Lanka, and Dilmah tea - we had tea bags hanging up and a picture of the Dilmah man on our front door. The memory verses were learnt well - it was great to see the whole cabin helping out one of the guys who hard a bit of a hard time remembering - working as a team we were able to help everyone learn the verses and figure out a short Mission Focus skits each morning.

"Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God" Matt 5:8

"As the deer pants for streams of water so my soul pants for you, Oh God" Psalms 42:1

"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable. If anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things." Philippians 4:8

"I can do all things through him who gives me strength" Philippians 4:13

We sang our memory verses - putting Matt 5:8 and Psalms 42:1 into Breakfast at Tiffany's (the verse as Matt and the chorus as Psalms), Philippians 4:8 fitted nicely into Ronan Keating's You Say it Best When You Say Nothing At All (with a nice little tag on the end having a go at a competitive cabin next door :-P).

Maybe we dropped the ball a bit with the cleaning of the dorm part of the comp, but we gave it a red hot go. We didn't win the competition overall, but we had some fun trying so there are no complaints.


The music and message times were just awesome - God spoke through so many people. We heard from Amy who has been working as a missionary in Cambodia, also Jono told us about his short term trip to Nepal and trekking to Everest Base camp (while handing out Bibles along the way). Patto spoke on the first night about "What is a Christian", and my brother Brett gave an amazing Gospel message one night. About 20 young people either recommitted or made a first time committment to God. There was no 'selling God', there was no emotional hype, there wasn't even a fancy sound system, good lighting or plasma screens - all we did was build a relationship with the campers over the week and then let God talk through Brett and present a simple Gospel message of 4 points

1. God wants to have a relationship with you

2. Nothing can separate you from God's love

3. Your price has been paid

4. God is knocking at your heart


I love the way WEC Camps happen... you meet your campers, you muck around with them - you work with them to clean the dorm and learn the memory verse, you play stupid games with them, you sit and do a Bible study with them.... all this builds an awesome relationship in a short period of time - then when God starts to talk to them during a message like Brett's they know they can turn and talk to you. Every year it works so well and young people's lives are changed... maybe it's why I cringe a little at the huge productions Youth Alive put on - but that's a totally different topic...



Talking of stupid games and mucking around - our ice slide this year was manic! 800kg of crushed ice, strategically placed on a grassy hill - then boogie boards to slide down on equals hours of fun... well until someone decides to use some rocks and another boogie board to make a wicked jump - then it just becomes insane funtimes!!!!


The jump was fantastic - some of the things the guys were doing were just crazy - there were some great spills, but when Patto started pulling off barrel rolls we knew we'd found something special....






2007 would have to be up there with some of the best WEC Camps I’ve been on. Even having to perform as God in a Ballet about the story of Gideon and the Midionites didn’t lessen the fun I had (it made a lot of people laugh though believe me!!)

I’ve put a heap of photos here in this blog post but go to the WEC Camp Photo Blog to see a whole heap more (not just mine) and hopefully soon some videos of the ice slide as well.


If you’re in Qld, and in highschool or know someone in highschool – seriously get them along to WEC next year.

It will change their life!

That Time of Year.... WEC

Hey - well tomorrow marks the start of WEC Highschooler's Camp B... so I'm off to Bornhoffen on the QLD/NSW border for a week.

Pray for the leaders that we may be a genuine image of Jesus to the campers, and pray for the campers that God may work in their lives freely.

Cheers - see you all on Friday

MP3/iPod Quiz

1. Put your music player on shuffle.
2. Press forward for each question.
3. Use the song title as the answer to the question.
4. Marvel at how the answer in no way makes sense to the question
5. Realise that you wasted another 5 minutes of your life.

____________________________________________________

What does next year have in store for you?"
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything (Relient K) ~ awesome i'll be a pirate and i won't have to do anything!

What's my love life like?"
Things I Like (KJ52) ~ True

What do I say when life gets hard?
Between You And Me (DC Talk) - alright then

What do I think when I get up in the morning?
Hungry (Bryce Davis Band) - hahaha yeh for sure!!!!

What song will I dance to at my wedding?
Troubled Heart (Kutless) - ahhh won't be troubled that day (and that's a pretty grungy song to dance too...)

What do you want as a career?
Teach Us How To Worship (Soul Survivor) - I could be a worship leader full time... no worries

Your favourite saying?
Home (Paul Colman Trio) - home james!!!

Your pet's name?
This Week the Trend (Relient K) - So I'll be making up a new name every week???

Favourite place?
Unqualified (Eli) - fine I'll stay here then

Describe your sexlife:
The One Thing (Paul Colman) - that one thing with that one person... very true.

What do you think of your parents?
Teenage Dirtbag (Wheatus) - well maybe that's how they see me i don't know...

What's your Pornstar name?
Dip (Paul Colman Trio) - I really don't want to think about that too much

Where would you go on a first date?
Lost Without You (Delta Goodrem) - awwww how sweet

Drug of choice?
Where can you hide? (Paul Colman Trio) - wats with all the PC3 songs!!! dunno how this is a drug, maybe I'm still lost without you???? :-P

Describe yourself:
Loved (Soulframe) - Amen to that.

What is the thing I like doing most?
So I Have To Say The Words (Brian Adams) - looks like i'm not telling

What song best describes my school principal?
Worthy To Be Praised (Planetshakers) - well I don't know about that...

What is my state of mind like at the moment?
Forever (Bryce Davis Band) - Eternal Perspective... I like that

How will I die?
You Gave Me Love (The Screaming Jamacian) - I'll go when the God who gave me love wants me to I guess.




Well that was a bit of fun - your turn now!

Never Give Up

WOW!

I'd left the Bombers for dead just then, but in the last 10 seconds Lloyd takes a mark, and kicks to Lucas who punches a goal putting Essendon 2 points ahead of Melbourne for the win!

The Bomber's shouldn't have won that one, but what a buzz to see them pull that out!

Impromptu Cover...

Some mates down at WEC Camp A with a bit of a funky cover of Jack and Dianne.

What it means to us....

I'm sitting here, listening to the rain hit our tin roof... I went to bed last night listening to the rain, and woke to that sweet sweet sound this morning.

I got to work late, and had to park in the spots the furthest from the building, but I enjoyed walking in the rain to and from my car.

Constant rain isn't something we've seen much of here in Queensland. I wonder how many people in England run outside and praise God as soon as it starts to rain??? I think they'd be more inclined to be praising God on sunny days. Where I was living in Africa we expected the rain at a certain time of the year, so knowing it wouldn't rain during winter was ok.

Here in Qld each time it rains like it has these past days it really feels like God has reached out and physically touched the earth. Maybe it's because He's giving us something we need so desperately, or maybe because we spend so much time asking God for rain. All I know that when I see rain, or hear it on the roof I feel like I'm just sitting watching God answer prayer.

I just keep praying I get to see more of it.

How much is your blog worth

I have no idea how it's calculated... but if someone agrees and offers me the amount below I guess http://jarrolspot.blogspot.com/ can be yours

:-P

My blog is worth $3,951.78.
How much is your blog worth?

Be Nice to the Customer...

I always feel slightly guilty when I buy something under $10 and only have a $50 note to pay for it. I remember when I worked at a servo that finding large amounts of change was a touch annoying, and if too many people did it then you were left with a badly stocked change drawer.

So whenever I’m in that situation now I usually apologise to the attendant saying it’s all that I have. At least then I usually get a bit of a smile and a sense of understanding from the person behind the counter.

As usually we went to Hungry Jacks after church last night – and not feeling like anything to eat I decided to get a sundae… $1.95 – and I only had a $50 note. So I apologised to the store manager who was serving me, he half grunted then made some smart remark about if I was gonna give him a big note then all he could give me was bad change – and he proceeded to give me four $10 notes and eight $1 coins to cover the change.

I can understand that at 8:30 on a Sunday night he may have to dish out some small notes and coins for change, but if I was polite enough to apologise for using a large note, maybe he could have been polite enough to apologise for having to give out all the small notes and coins for change.

He came off quite rude: I’ve been noticing as ‘managers’ seem to get younger, or maybe just as I’m getting older, levels of service from all staff at certain establishments is getting worse and worse.

Anyone else seen stuff like this?

Obadiah Parker

Amazing the talent you find on MySpace.

I heard this song on a friends MySpace profile, and just had to check it out more.

"Obadiah Parker is not what you’d expect. It’s tough to nail down their sound. With influences from artists like Stevie Wonder, Dave Matthews Band, Counting Crows, Miles Davis, and Bill Withers, their sound incorporates elements of funk, R&B, gospel, blues, and folk through a singer/songwriter’s lens. Upon listening to this original and natural blend of styles you can’t help but admit that this band’s got soul.

The three members of Obadiah Parker have been together for seven years. Mat Weddle, Jessie Young, and Daniel Zehring met at a church in Scottsdale, Arizona before they were really musicians at all. In that setting, literally starting from scratch, they picked up their instruments and learned how play together. As they honed their individual talents playing in churches and youth camps throughout Arizona and California they formed an understanding about the music they made collectively and organically discovered a distinctive musical style."
http://www.myspace.com/obadiahparker

Their cover of Outkast's "Hey Ya" is brillient - here's Mat Weddle's solo performance of the song, with a bit of editing to include some of the original clip. This has become a bit of a YouTube classic since it was made in 2006.

Tragedy

???

Is it ok to ask God why?

New Paul Colman Solo Album

Yes that's right. Aussie singer/songwriter Paul Colman is releasing another solo album. After 12 months in the Newsboys Paul has felt it's the right time to release a 'different' sort of album;

“I started making a singer/songwriter album but after about a month I stopped because it just didn’t feel like the right time to make this kind of record. These songs are still around and I will definitely record them sometime. After a few months to consider what I would do I started getting very excited about making a very different kind of record. I am now 3 months into a record where I am recording 10 cover songs. These are songs written by other people. They are songs that I really connect with and feel I can do something very original with. It has been really really fun. I am not going to say which songs I am doing but I can tell you that I am recording songs by Delirious, Larry Norman, Reuben Morgan, DC Talk, Whiteheart and Michael W Smith among others. Classic hey?"Paul Colman ~ www.paulcolman.com

I have to say I'm probably one of PCs biggest fans, I absolutly loved PC3 (Paul Colman Trio) and they are still some of the most played songs on my iPod.

I've loved Paul's work in Newsboys, and got to catch them live at AGMF 06, but I'm really happy to see another solo album coming out. I also quite like the idea of covers of songs that have meant something to him.

I can't wait!!

One Mistake Ruins it All

I guess it doesn't matter how many times you do something, it only takes one little thing for everything to go horribly wrong.

SEVEN people have been killed when an out-of-control drag car crashed into
a crowd of spectators at a children's charity event in Tennessee.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21923424-2,00.html

A simple burnout and straight run, which this professional drag racer had probably done hundreds of times, went terribly wrong due to a slight difference in track surface.

It also seems people overlook some of the in-place safety regulations at these smaller charity events when trying to create an atmosphere for the people attending.

A witness who said he was only metres from the spectators who were hit, said:
"It ain't really safe to do anything with drag cars on a city street. They shouldn't have done it".
Another spectator said: "There should have been guard rails, but even if there had, it wouldn't have mattered".

The US modified dragster which crashed into specators on a charity run

As a chaplain at the local drag track here in Ipswich, I’ve had a behind the scenes look into how a track is prepared for a race event. Glue is laid down on the track and then a tractor drags sets of old tyres across the glue leaving a sticky, rubbery surface which produces huge amounts of grip for the drag cars.

Track officials spend hours getting their surface to the optimum grip levels so that drag cars car run straight and true as full power. If it begins to rain the track is automatically closed, and once the rain has stopped the officials set about laying another layer of glue and rubber so that there is no chance of a slippery track. They vacuum the track regularly to make sure there is no dirt, car parts or other alien objects lying on the track. Even if the smallest amount of oil or water is dropped by a car they stop the racing long enough to ensure it has been mopped up.

For this driver in the USA to do a run on a city street it would only take a slight change in the surface grip, or even a small amount of water or dirt on the road to unsettle a car with that amount of power.

To run with spectators lining the street is pretty crazy, and dangerous. I don’t know who should cop the blame for this, the organiser or the driver.

The body [USA drag racing authority] later said the driver was a 20-year veteran of drag racing and that road conditions had caused the loss of vehicle control, AP reported.
The accident took place during an annual "Cars for Kids" charity day, which raises money for disadvantaged children. Drivers were performing "exhibition burns" in which they smoke their tyres on a road before tearing off down a track.
Cars for Kids, which holds similar events across the US which raise hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, said on its website: "The loss is deep within our hearts and we will carry the scars of each loss forever".

Money raised for kids is great, but to fore-go the safety measures when dealing with these amazingly powered cars is irresponsible.

And all the money raised could never replace the lives now lost. I hope this sparks a look into armature racing events and their safety. Because I’ve seen it done properly at Willowbank Raceway and the safety levels there are fantastic. Motorsport is dangerous, but the amazing work of officials is not to be taken for granted, they ensure the safety of both specators and drivers.

Mercy St - via The Journey

Here's a post from my mate over at The Journey. I agree with everything Rodney had to say here and thought I'd post up his blog for everyone here to read as well.

---

http://www.rodneyolsen.net/2007/06/mercy-street.html

Mercy Street
If you're like me, and you generally avoid any blog posts dealing with Paris Hilton, can I ask you to try to make it through to the end of this post?

I can't say that I've been following the soap opera that the Paris Hilton prison episode has become but it is difficult to avoid news of her on again, off again, on again drink driving sentence.
The story so far as I understand it is that she was sentenced, had her sentence reduced, went to prison, was released, was taken back to court, then sent back to prison.

It's not right
When the judge announced that she would have to return to jail to complete her original sentence she was taken from the court screaming "Mom, Mom, it's not right".

So what's not right? I guess it's the fact that she's been able to live without consequences for so long. It would seem that her parents, her friends, the media and her adoring fans have failed to let her know that we need to live within boundaries. It's also not right that at her age she hasn't woken up to those facts herself and started taking responsibility for her own actions.

My initial reactions are that she should be punished and that she deserves all she gets but I must say that I'm glad that I don't get treated the way I deserve. I'm glad that people are ready to forgive me and give me another chance when I screw up.

Give me mercy
The older I get the more I see the beauty of mercy. When my natural reaction is to say, "She's a spoiled little rich kid who deserves all she gets", mercy says she's a fractured person, just like me who needs healing and restoration. She might not realise that she needs that healing and restoration but that shouldn't change my attitude toward her.

I know that a lot of people say that they'll only offer forgiveness when someone else shows contrition. Is it right that we only offer mercy and forgiveness when the other person has recognised the error of their ways and shown remorse? I'm reminded of the example of Jesus ho was prepared to endure a violent death to offer forgiveness. Was that because we had shown remorse? No. It was while we were still his enemies that he made that sacrifice. His offer of forgiveness was not based on our actions but on his love for us.

Am I suggesting that we just let Paris, or anyone else for that matter, do whatever they like and that we should keep forgiving? Yes I am.

Am I suggesting that peoples actions shouldn't attract consequences? Absolutely not. There are natural consequences to everything we do and there are other consequences when we step over the line and operate outside the laws of the land in which we live.

I think it is right that Paris serves her sentence but I can't take any pleasure from her suffering. I also think it's up to the legal system to judge her and prescribe the correct sentence. It's not up to me. Thankfully that lets me off the hook from having to keep score of everyone else's wrong doings. I don't have to compare everyone else's record against mine and complain when others behave more badly than I do.

Getting it wrong
We all make mistakes and Paris seems to have made more than most. Maybe mistake is the wrong word. I understand that we sometimes mess up unintentionally and at other times we quite willfully make the wrong choices. Either way, we need forgiveness and restoration.

How are you going with mercy? Are you only able to show mercy when someone else's transgressions don't exceed your own? Do you take delight in the suffering of others while still crying out for someone to help ease yours?

---

Amen Rodney, mercy is something hard to grasp, and harder to give away.

Go Whitehill Go!

I spent last weekend out in Gatton at the 2007 Qld State Youth Games. As always Whitehill was the ‘loudest’ team – these year aided by an amazing little air horn invention which I totally loved!



It was a great weekend of sport, with Whitehill doing very very well. I think we won the Touch Football, Soccer, Volleyball and Female individual and team fun run. Having the largest team there helped, allowing us to put in 3 teams to most competitions.

All this added up to Whitehill finally knocking Springwood Church of Christ off the SYG Champion podium.

I played Basketball, Ultimate Frisbee, Netball and Volleyball – and not one of my teams won a final which was slightly disappointing. However playing the volleyball final against the other Whitehill team was a bit of fun, just a shame we couldn’t beat them.



This year I really enjoyed interacting with some of the other churches a little more. We had a great time playing basketball against a very young Vicky Point team, such a young bunch of dudes, but they gave it such a huge effort. Also just chatting with people from Springwood, Oasis, Redcliffe and Hills was a nice change from spending most of the time within your own church campsite.

The Hills guys ran the music on Sunday night, wasn’t what usually excites me but I think the majority enjoyed it.



Tim Mander was the speaker. He was great – telling some stories from his old Rugby League Refereeing days and then giving a simple Gospel love message with no emotional hype or undue pressure. He didn’t make an altar call, but invited anyone who wanted to come and get a Bible off him at the end of the service, he had a stack of Mark’s Gospels there to give out (I think it was a Rugby League edition or something).



Most of my photos have a very Whitehill flavour of course, but there are a few general ones so if you went, or you want to see how awesome it was check out my flickr account.





So Whitehill are the SYG07 Champs, great to be apart of, but looking forward to a good competition in 2008.

Introducing...... DEANO!

Well I've had a whole heap of new people checking out this blog. I've also got a new haircut (well if you can call shaving your head a haircut??) so I thought I'd revamp my 'about me' bit a little.

So if you're new (or if you're not) have a look to your right on the sidebar and read about me, and why I blog.

After writing that new blurb I also decided to change the Title of my blog. So welcome to 'My Jarrol Spot' and thanks to all those who have been reading "My Little Spot in the World"

Update your blogrolls with the new title if you can, just to save confusion.

Thanks.

Breaking the Unbreakable

What a dang day!

Work was pretty horrible, one of those days when something really important stops working and everything you seem to do just makes the issue worse....

...until 5 hours later you find out that Telstra is actually having a problem with their new 'NextG' network right where you've set up your system that relies on NextG.

I love computers and especially Telstra....


ANYHOW! - on a day like today you just think things can't get any worse. You feel that even though you're stressed you're still handing things really well, doing Jesus proud and all that. I was working with a guy that can be difficult to have a round, but I've always felt I still have a responsibility to make the time to develope a relationship with him. So even in the stressed times today I was making an effort to be positive, selfless and Christ-like.

To jump to another thread of this same theme....

I have an awesome pair of sunglasses. I love them. They cost a lot, but I don't mind because they are such good quality. They are made from T6 grade aluminum which just happens to be the same grade that the US military use on the jet aircraft. They are machine forged, and tough as nails. The lens can supposedly take a 12 gauge shotgun round from 44 feet! They are marketed as the virtually ‘unbreakable’ pair of sunnies.

See where this is going???

Yep well while working on our NextG problem today I sat my uber sunnies on the bench. While crawling under a table another RACQ lady knocked the sunnies onto the floor and my co-worker then took a step back and ‘crunch’! The unbreakable break and I’m left with a couple of really expensive pieces of aluminum.

My co-worker said later that he was quite amazed at my reaction, and the fact I kept a semi-positive attitude for the rest of the day. He said if it was him he’d probably sworn, hit the guy who'd broken them and taken the rest of the day off.

So I should feel like a good witness hey??? Well no – maybe my outside appearance looked Christ-like – but inside I was in turmoil. I was angry (mostly with myself for putting my glasses on that bench at that time). I felt like it was so unfair… I was sick of the computers not working… I was annoyed at working with this guy, and then having him stand on my glasses (I know it wasn’t his fault).

How Christ-like is it to brood over it all on the inside? To the world I did a good job, even gaining a comment on how Christians handle things differently. I didn’t let my feelings out… I kept looking ‘Christian’ but inside was having my own private tantrum.

Isn’t that hypocritical?

Praise God for Rain

We had 47mm at home since 6:30 last night - and the rain is still falling.

Wait expectantly on the Lord and he will answer your prayers.

God is good, and he is answering the prayers of many Queenslanders today.

Just look.

While you were Sleeping...

Oh little town of Bethlehem
Looks like another silent night
Above your deep and dreamless sleep
A giant star lights up the sky
And while you're lying in the dark
There shines an ever lasting light
For the King has left His throne
And is sleeping in a manger tonight, tonight

Oh Bethlehem what you have missed while you were sleeping
For God became a man
And stepped into your world today
Oh little town of Bethlehem you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King
While you were sleeping

Oh little town of Jerusalem
Looks like another silent night
The Father gave His only son
The Way, the Truth and the Life had come
But there was no room for Him in the world He came to save
Jerusalem what you have missed while you were sleeping
The Savior of the world is dying on a cross today
Jerusalem you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King

While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping

The Land Down Under
Looks like another silent night
Every son deceived by philosophies
That save the trees and kill the children
And while lying there in the dark
There's a shout across the eastern sky
For the Bridegroom has returned
And has carried His bride away in the night, in the night
Australia what will we miss while we are sleeping
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay
Australia will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King

Will we be sleeping
Will we be sleeping

Wow! I love this song by Casting Crowns. First off, yes I changed some of the words (the ones in italics) just to make it a little more personal to an Aussie, obviously the original lyrics spoke of the United States of America.

There are not many times where I end up with tears in my eyes over a song, Keith Green and Michael W Smith have been known to do it to me a couple of times, but this morning driving to work this song touched me deeply. This morning I was reading about Moses and the Israelites, and their golden calf. God wanted to wipe the Israelites off the face of the earth, but Moses talked him out of it. Moses interceded for the nation, and I just had the feeling that maybe we need to do that in the face of the drought we’re in. Is there something behind this drought – is God trying to wake our nation up, but do we continue to ignore him.

All this was going through my head when this song came on the iPod in the car this morning. And I cried for our nation. The eastern sky – representing the Eastern Church (3rd World) is where God’s trumpet sounds so loudly, and here in Australia and the USA are we going to miss it because of all the ‘worldly’ philosophies we get caught up in. Sure nuclear power, recycled water, tree logging and koala’s are important issues, but I have a hard time putting that in front of starving kids in Rwanda, kid soldiers in Uganda, girl prostitution in Cambodia and the general disregard for life in Zimbabwe. I get the feeling God is calling us to save these people – and we’re ignoring that call and getting ‘caught up’ in the politics of our nation. We can start with looking after the people in our own communities, especially those who are underprivileged which in most cases included our local Aboriginal communities. Whitehill supports the local Salvation Army Indigenous church, and I think I need to find a way to be a little more involved there.

But my tears today were for all those other people driving with me on the motorway – the majority of them are in the dark, they’re sleeping while God’s plan is being revealed, and when that trumpet call happens they will be the one’s caught sleeping while the Bridegroom returns and carries his church away. Even my workmates – I feel so helpless in helping them, yet I know that’s because of my own short comings, they’re a great bunch of guys yet as the song says they’re the ones sleeping, with no idea Jesus is coming back one day soon.

As Christians it’s our job to wake everyone up, God’s presence on earth these days is through the lives of the people he dwells within. So does that mean the duty falls to us? I think it does.

I so don’t want Australia to go down in history as a nation with no room for its king!

As a bit of a Post Script - here's what Mark Hall has to say on the Casting Crowns website about his motives for the song.

"I set out to set the classic hymn "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" to new music and, in the process, rediscovered the song and its message. They slept through it. Bethlehem missed the birth of the Savior of the world. Jerusalem did the same with Jesus' ministry among them. Seems crazy - 'til we as a nation look in the mirror."

Written by Mark Hall

Children's Church Picnic

Last Sunday was the Whitehill Children's Church Picnic - well the whole church was invited but there was heaps of stuff there just for the kids.


It was a great time where everyone just hung out and laughed as some of the antics of various kids during some of the activities.

There was a great family atmosphere, and it was good to see so many people interacting with others of different ages, backgrounds and families... the 'oneness' of Whitehill was really put on display.


And with every good church event there was an excellent (and huge) BBQ, I even stepped up to the plate (hot plate) and cooked some of the steaks for a while.

Great Fun!

Bring It On!!!!

Time for Whitehill to whitewash the competition!!!

Building on a hobby

I've mentioned on here that I am growing in my enjoyment of photography. I just thought I'd share some of the recent 'shots' I've taken around the place.

These are a little old, so if you've looked at my flickr account you may already know them, I'll be putting some new ones up soon - so my post some of them here too.

I've found flowers (even simple 'weedy' ones) make for some impressive shots


A road I know well up on Tamborine Mt - a simple early morning shot

An old abandoned camp sit on Tamborine Mt.


My aunty's back fence.


Cresent Head NSW, the bridge is the landmark of the site, I like this shot because it just seems to have some sort of 'arty' feel about it.

5 - 4

Looking good again – the Bombers are back to more wins than loses in their for-and-against!

The last 2 weeks have produced 2 great wins for the Dons! The Brisbane thrashing was precious! And last Saturday’s Richmond game was a close but good win. It was good to see Essendon not drop their game under pressure, for them to keep the intensity up and come back with the last 4 goals of the 4th quarter to win shows a team that’s developing confidence!

For a man supposedly playing his final season James Hird is having a corker! Best on ground the last 2 weeks and playing some of the classiest football I’ve seen in a while. I love Hirdy, think he’s an absolute champion – wonders if the Bombers look like they could make a run at the premiership next year if he’ll actually hang up the boots at the end of 07?

Loving some of the photography up on Essendon FC

Authentic Christianity – Like Chinese Food.

I was eating some Chinese food for lunch the other day, one of the dishes that was being served was ‘Crunchy Chicken’. I didn’t get it (choosing a freshly cooked soup over the pre heated dishes out the front), but noticed that the majority of customers were ordering the Crunchy Chicken.

I wonder exactly what ties Crunchy Chicken has to authentic Chinese dishes, and if the dish is more produced for an Australian audience, and that’s created the high demand.

I like Chinese food, but the distinct thing I remember when I went to China back in 1995 was how different the food is over there. My favourite dish was Gou lao ruo, which was pork pieces wok tossed in a sweet sticky BBQ sauce with some sour (or more savoury) herbs and chilli flavours… (Gou lao ruo translates into English as sweet and sour pork). Now if you order Sweet and Sour Pork in most Chinese Restaurants in Australia you get deep fried pork balls with a sweet and sour sauce, which is runny, not BBQ flavoured and has pineapple in it.

There was no pineapple in the authentic Chinese dish I loved in Beijing!

See most Chinese Restaurants in Oz cater for an Australian customer base. They also have access to different cooking styles. In both cases this has altered the traditional style of the food to be modelled on an Australian ‘flavoured’ dish. The desire to be a successful restaurant usually overpowers the traditional cooking styles so that they compromise on the authenticity to give the consumer what they want. Over a long period of years we all in Australia have come to accept this is Chinese food, many restaurants advertise ‘authentic’ dishes, but are serving the Australianised version of authentic Chinese food.

To the point where we now expect Sweet and Sour Pork to be a serve of deep fried pork balls with a runny sauce (with pineapples) to pour over them. In some cases places that don’t serve it this way may be questioned as to why they’ve changed…

Are we a bit like that in the Church? To appeal to the society around us, or because of some of the ‘access to different styles and mediums’ we have at our disposal, do we change slightly from our authentic beliefs? Has this been going on so long that now the general population just assumes that’s what authentic Christianity is? Has it been going on so long that we believe that’s what authentic Christianity is? Do we compromise on our authenticity to give the 'customer' what they want?

Has the culture of music, entertainment, risky thrills, wanting to fit in, wanting to be uncontroversial, consumerism and materialism added ‘pineapple’ to our faith? Does this compromise the core biblical basis the church was founded on?

Like the Crunchy Chicken that was the obvious favourite for most of Brisbane’s CBD, are people outside the Church drawn into churches that offer a culturally acclimatised experience? Is that because they haven’t seen how good the authentic stuff is?

All I know is that if I had the choice of pork balls or traditional Gou lao ruo I’d be going the original and the best! I just pray that I’m also seeking an authentic faith of the same kind.

Watoto Childrens Choir

From Uganda East Africa!

They're back in Australia so check out their schedule online and make sure you get to one of their performances.

Not only do they raise money for a great ministry, I can guarantee that everyone who goes to see them will be touched deeply!

If you don't go, here's what you'll be missing out on.

Saying Grace in a Restaurant!

Got this as a foward in my email today. Says a lot about kids and their faith, but also a lot about some adults and their stiff and stale 'faith'.....

_________________________________________________

Last week, I took my children to a restaurant. My six-year-old son asked if he could say grace. As we bowed our heads he said,

"God is good, God is great.

Thank you for the food, and I would even thank you more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert.

And Liberty and justice for all!

Amen!"

Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby, I heard a woman remark,

"That's what's wrong with this country. Kids today don't even know how to pray. Asking God for ice cream! Why, I never!"

Hear ing this, my son burst into tears and asked me,

"Did I do it wrong? Is God mad at me?"

As I held him and assured him that he had done a terrific job, and God was certainly not mad at him, an elderly gentleman approached the table.He winked at my son and said,

"I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer."

"Really?" my son asked

"Cross my heart," the man replied.

Then, in a theatrical whisper, he added (indicating the woman whose remark had started this whole thing), "Too bad she never asks God for ice cream. A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes."

Naturally, I bought my kids ice cream at the end of the meal. My son stared at his for a moment, and then did something I will remember the rest of my life.

He picked up his sundae and, without a word, walked over and placed it in front of the woman. With a big smile he told her,

"Here, this is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes; and my soul is good already."

Our PM is the Criminal?

An article on news.com.au (here) today is saying that the Zimbabwe government is labelling Prime Minister John Howard a criminal with "Gestapo tendencies".

"The Australian people should really stand against John Howard's Gestapo tendencies and interference with other states. He wants to cause insecurity in our country and that we will not allow," Dr Ndlovu said on ABC radio today.

"He is the international Gestapo and a criminal ... he is worse than anybody else, his actions in banning the cricket is just one example of being the Gestapo," Dr Ndlovu said of Mr Howard.

Our PM had this to say on when banning the tour earlier this week.

“We don't do this lightly, but we are convinced that for the tour to go ahead there would be an enormous propaganda boost to the (President Robert) Mugabe regime.

"The Mugabe regime is behaving like the Gestapo towards its political opponents. The living standards in the country are probably the lowest of any in the world, you have an absolutely unbelievable rate of inflation.

"I have no doubt that if this tour goes ahead it will be an enormous boost to this grubby dictator."

(John Howard - http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,21718816-23212,00.html)

Good call Mr Howard I say, and for the Zimbabwe government to turn around with a big “No I’m not You Are!!!!” really highlights (I think) the indwelling selfishness, corruptness and ‘un-care’ they have for their nation.

I’ve lived in Africa, in a country where the government cares more about itself than it does its people. In no way is The Gambia anywhere close to the state of Zimbabwe, but I have witnessed a nation with a self absorbed head of state. Obviously it’s the worst possible thing for a country, and so why do so many other nations turn a blind eye to the struggles of the people. If a nation’s government will not help the people, someone else HAS to!

Here at Whitehill Church of Christ we have a strong focus on Zimbabwe as a mission field, mainly due to the passion of a few members of the church who have been there numerous times. We now send a team yearly to Zimbabwe to encourage believers and help churches in any way they can. It’s only small, but if we can encourage the believers there it is a start to getting the country back on track.

Same with cancelling the Aussie Cricket tour, we can’t just keep accepting a government as it is. They are hurting their people so badly, we have to stand up and say no! Mr Howard has done that with cancelling the tour. The same thing happened with South Africa’s apatite – Mugabe is killing just as many if not more people today!

God gives leaders their positions, he told Moses that he’d put Pharaoh in power for a certain reason, even if he wasn’t honouring God. I struggle with this when I look at nations like Zimbabwe and The Gambia. My feelings are we should rid the nations of these dictators, in the case of Zimbabwe the entire government. My anger even goes as far as hoping one day soon Mr Mugabe will meet a bullet face to face. However I know God has a plan, and all we can do is continue working with what we can handle – in Whitehill’s case the Church of Christ churches in Zimbabwe.

My mind is tormented with this though – what would I do if I came face to face with Mugabe????

An Answer for Everything.

http://thatsmyanswer.com/

Have a look at this blog. Saw a link on Rodney Olsen's blog and thought I'd check it out. Interesting idea, and a good way to get your brain thinking for a little period each day!

Actually I like it so much, it's straight into my blogroll :-P

Manly Worship

So yeah, went to City North last night. Now I'm usually one to say that we put too much emphasis on music as worship these days, but I also know that musical praise and worship is a biblical principle and something God enjoys - it's just not the only aspect of worship or the most important...

I love to sing, and I feel I'm a good singer. Well last night I had the most amazing praise time, because of where I was sitting.

I sat in the second row with two other guys, so right in front of us were the singers on stage, but it was the little group of guys around me that emphasised my worship experience. Standing between two guys, and having another guy right behind me created an atmosphere I haven't experienced in a while. All 4 of us could sing, and I think all 4 of us were listening too each other because there were 4 distinct parts happening. I think I got the best deal being right in the middle.

Something about 4 guys whole-heartedly and unashamedly singing praise to their God really touched me. I got a real sense of ‘corporate worship’ as through listening to the other guys I was able to not just sing, but sing as a part of a group and together we were praising God.

It’s something you don’t experience everyday, and I felt it was a real special time, especially between a group of young men - when it’s so easy for men just to hold in their emotions and feeling and hide behind a tough looking exterior.

So thanks to Johnny, Matt and Dave for helping worship God so deeply. And Johnny beat me to it when as the sermon started he leant over and said “I like singing next to you”

All I could do was smile and say “Same to you”… Looks like I wasn’t the only one to realise the joy of corporate worship.

Helping Other's Mothers

Happy Mother's Day.

Went to City North Bapo tonight - Guest speaker Andy Coller works for Australian Baptist Mission board and spoke on Helping Other's Mothers.

James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

The Bible speaks alot about caring for widdows and orphans. And this verse is one of few that speaks about 'true religion', other's like it also speak on social justice, caring for orphans and widdows and more actions than beliefs.

So I hope you spoilt your mother today (I did), but also today remember the mothers all over the world, and in your own church and community who lack the support they need to confidently care and provide for their children and to feel like they are leading a fullfilling and positive life. There's so much we can do for people in our own community - and there are programs we can involve ourselves in to help 3rd world mothers and widdows.

Let's get serious about a religion God accepts as pure and faultless and ease up on sounds and actions that waft up to him like a bad smell...