Merry Christmas :-)

Christmas Eve... it seems to come around so quickly, but I love the change that Christmas gives us a real specific time to focus on God becoming a man.

Think about that, God - all powerful, all creating - becomes his creation!

The only way I can liken it is that as a kid I use to build huge Lego cities... I loved Lego, and I'd spend hours putting together buildings, cars, petrol stations, boats and trucks for my little Lego men to live in.

But what kind of jump would it be for me to step out of my human world and to become a Lego man, to live amongst them, confined to their world.  How would I feel suddenly only being able to move if a human put me into motion, or clicked me into a car seat (wonders how uncomfortable those bits of Lego would be plugging into the two holes in my butt :-P).

That's what God did in Jesus though.  A jump for us to Lego men is unthinkable, but that's a good example of what Jesus did.

"Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

but made himself nothing,taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father."

- Philippians 2:6-11

I think that sums up Christmas - let's celebrate the fact God became man, to save us, and to redeem the entire world!

Merry Christmas to you all! God Bless, and if you haven't accepted that gift of forgiveness Jesus offers, really look at how much he loves you this Christmas.

I've seen 96 out of 239 films

SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 films, you have no life. Mark the ones you've seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, then put x's next to the films you've seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun.

( ) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x ) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
(x) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
( ) Airplane
Total: 6

(x) The Princess Bride
(x) AnchorMan
(x) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(x) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
( ) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 11

( ) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
(x) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
( ) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 13

( ) Harry Potter 1
( ) Harry Potter 2
( ) Harry Potter 3
( ) Harry Potter 4
( ) Harry Potter 5
() Resident Evil 1
() Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 15

(x) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
(x) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30 (suddenly 30 - australian title)
(x) I, Robot
(x) Robots
Total so far: 20

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
(x) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
( ) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
(x) Joe Dirt
(x) KING KONG
Total so far: 27

( ) A Cinderella Story
(x) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
(x) Flubber
Total so far: 30

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
(x) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 31

(x) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
(x) Just Married
( ) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 36

(x) Bad Boys
(x) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Slevin
(x) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
(x) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(x) Ice Age
(x) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 45

(x) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(x) ET
() Children of the Corn
() My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 50

( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
(x) Event Horizon
( ) Ever After
( ) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
(x) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 57

(x) X-Men
(x) X-2
(x) X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
(x) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
( ) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
(x) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
(x) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total so far: 69

( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 70

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 76

(x) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
( ) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 78

( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
() Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 81

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(x) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicles Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(x) Waterworld
Total so far:85

(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) The Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 87

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x)Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 93

(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
( ) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
Total so far: 96

Now Add them up and... you've seen 96 out of 239 films

I am the Little Drummer Boy

Loving Christmas and all the Christmas Carols, but listening to 96.5 the other day and a version of The Little Drummer Boy really stood out.

Obviously as a drummer I like the carol, but I really listened to the words and wow!

The second and third verses are what do it for me.

Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum 
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum 
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum 
That's fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum, 
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, 

Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum, 
On my drum? 

Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum 
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum 
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum 
I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum, 
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, 

Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum 
Me and my drum. 

I am so poor and unworthy, and when I play the drums many times I feel it is the only gift I can bring him.

So many times I sit back and think, I'll play my drum for him, I'll play my best for him!  

And the thought of him smiling at me, me and my drum...

That's wonderful!

Storms

We've continued to have some beaut storms up here in Queensland.

Here's a photo I got on Stafford Rd at Gordon Park in Brisbane the other week.

Yes... I went and stood in the middle of the road... busy road, probably not smart, but made for a good shot.

At Peace

I think sometimes we forget what it's like to be at peace with God's will for us.

For the past month I've had something I knew God wanted me to do... but it was big, and scary, and though I didn't 'put it off' I just took my sweet time doing it.

I did it on Friday and I woke up Saturday morning feeling completely different.  I can only put it down to being at peace with the knowledge I've done something God wants me to do.  It means big changes, and it's still a scary idea - but the peace God gave me since Saturday makes me know it will all be alright.

So if there's something God's telling you to do, no matter how big and scary it is, no matter what it will mean for your future; I can tell you that once you do it you'll have a peace that will make everything feel alright.

Don't Be Vomit

Revelation 3:14-22

"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

      These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

Some points on the passage;

• ~This message to the church in Laodicea comes from Jesus himself - John is isolated on an island when the vision comes to him, in which Jesus is telling an someone to send these separate churches a message... this is from the mouth of Jesus himself
• ~Laodicea was a rich industrial town, with a big textile industry producing fine cloth, and a developed medical proess with a mineral that helped with poor eyesight.
• ~Being far from a water source the towns supply was transferred via a series of aqua ducts, and by the time it arrived to the town it was luke warm.

Jesus uses the characteristics of the town to highlight specific issues in the church

• ~They are neither hot nor cold, but luke warm, which like the water in the town was able to give a sickly feeling in one's stomach.
• ~The people in the church from Laodicea believed they were rich, due to what they had, the wealth from industry and self image from knowledge - when from God's perspective they were really more of a wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked group of people.
• ~They were spiritually blind, something that would have dug deep because of the pride the people had in their ability to restore sight.
• ~They were spiritually naked, again digging at the pride the people had in their fine linen industry.

Jesus points out that the only true healing can be provided from himself.

• ~(v18)"I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see."
• ~(v19)"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."

I'm not sure if you've ever had a rough tummy bug, I'd assume most people have.  I remember when I was in Africa - I'd eaten a BBQ with some British mates, and the meat had not been quite right.  I caught some bug (Banjul Belly all the Misso's called it) and was crook for days.  What I distinctly remember though was lying on the floor of these British friend's house, feeling terrible... my stomach hurt, my head hurt, my throat hurt and I felt totally weak.  I knew I had to go home so I started walking back to my place. I can remember I couldn't even walk in a straight line and I felt faint.  Suddenly I knew whatever was inside of me needed to come out.

I threw up in the street - and instantly I felt much better. All that gunk that was in my belly, making me feel so ill wasn't there anymore.  My body knew what was making me feel sick and expelled it.

Some versions of this passage say that God is going to vomit the Laodicea church out of his mouth, because they are luke warm.  In essence the luke warmness makes God feel so ill that he will feel better by expelling that from his body.

That's a very harsh though, that we could make God feel ill.  I know in many cases I am luke warm in my relationship with him - and I strive to heat it up.

Here are 5 principals to live by which should heat up your life;

• ~Repent of any kind of sin in your life
• ~Put right any wrongs with others
• ~Get rid of any doubtful behaviour
• ~Obey the Holy Spirit promptly
• ~Proclaim a faith in Christ publically

1Year Today

12 months ago today I said goodbye to me 97 Falcon XR6 and hello to my brand new Mitsubishi Lancer.

(My final thoughts of the Falcon last year)

Well a year on and I can honestly say I haven't regretted the decision. I miss my old XR6, but the Lancer has been brilliant.  

I've spent hardly anything on servicings, the fuel economy has been simply fantastic and the Lancer is still a fun car to drive.

The Odometer clock for today was 33 999kms, so basically I've done 34 000ks in the poor thing this year, so it hasn't been taking it easy.

The Lancer has been exactly what I wanted it to be - a comfortable, reliable and cheap car.  I miss the excitement and exhilaration of driving a big powerful car, but that's something I can live without for the moment, as the more important things are certainly covered in the little Mitsubishi.

Though at the moment it is in desperate need of a wash!

Memories Past

I just put my new rego sticker on my car.

I remember as a kid, that was one of the most exciting things to watch Dad do.  It only happened once a year (twice later on when my parents were able to afford a second car), and I can remember each year tottering out after Dad to sit on his lap while he peeled the old sticker off with a knife, then cleaned the window with alcohol before applying the new one very carefully so it was straight and didn't have air bubbles in it.

By the time I was 10 he would allow me to put the sticker on, but his hand would be over mine, guiding, and making sure the sticker was on right.

These day's it's just another chore... and you no longer need the knife to peel these modern stickers off.  But it does give me time to think as I clean down the spot and then apply the new sticker just like I watched Dad do so many times, pushing the air out and re-adjusting the line so it's straight.  

It's funny that something most people would do in a 5 minute job on a Sunday afternoon becomes so much more because I do it just like Dad, take more care than most people probably would, and then usually smile at the end of it amazed that something I use to think was such a 'big person's job' was now something I do all by myself.

Dad always looks after his cars as well as he can, and it's something that has rubbed off on me.  So being the little tyke back in the day in awe of sitting on Dad's lap while he worked on his precious cars really makes me reflective as I find myself doing it these days.

And also makes me look forward to maybe one day having a little boy of my own sitting on my lap thinking that changing the rego sticker is the most exciting thing in the world!

Work Place Health and Safety

We've had a WH&S audit here this week. One thing they didn't pick up, and I feel I will have to lodge a complaint about is the dangerously bad substance they store in our kitchen for general consumption.

97 cents per litre

I put 40 Litres of petrol in my car tonight, and it didn't cost me $40.

Nice to see fuel drop below that 1:1 ratio again- high time!

Photo

I took this on my phone as i was driving home yesterday. The weather round here recently has been totally chaotic. This storm pretty well missed us last night, but hammered the Gold Coast. Looks like we get a days reprieve today, but they are predicting a huge storm on Saturday.

Aftermath

Waking up this morning it was kind of strange to see blue skies.  When I went to bed at 1am last night it was still hammering with rain, as it had been for about 3 hours.

It wasn't until I drove to work I saw what had really gone on.  I knew we'd had a massive 200+mm of rain over night, our gauge fills to 170mm and it was full, but others had said their 200mm ones were full too.

Driving down my street I saw a house a few down from us with its fence hanging out over the road, obviously not where it was suppose to be.  Grass had been swept away... basically we're pretty well at the top of a hill and everything from just below us down had most of their garden, fences and anything else lying around swept down to the bottom of the hill (there was a nice pile of dirt and belongings in the intersection). People were turfing out water soaked gear they'd left outside, one veranda looked totaled with wood collapsing from under it.

The schools were closed, and driving past I could see fences leaning over and moved... ovals flooded (Mum told me later it was actually the sewage that had flooded and covered the oval - nice).  

If you check out news.com.au there are photos from around the Ipswich area and the immense flooding - it seems in the span of maybe 5 or 6 hours between 200 and 300mm of rain fell over quite a large area, causing the worst flooding we've seen here since 1974.

As I've been writing this the rain has started again and BOM shows another big storm front moving through, so we haven't seen the end of this yet - it is quite amazing.

I'll leave you with this photo - take note, the river usually flows at least 40 feet if not more below this bridge (though the channel is quite narrow this is a huge rise!).

Wow

So it continues

Reporting on location

Laptops and wireless are wonderful things.  Internet in the middle of a cracker storm.

Nothing destructive as yet, but the rain is amazing, so much, so hard, so fast - everything is getting overrun.

And BOM just keeps impressing!

Incoming

Ahhhh check this out.

Current radar image from BOM on the Brisbane weather radar. I think we're about to be hit with a doozy of a storm... hopefully not as destructive as the one that hit The Gap on Sunday - but I'm turning this computer off now just in case.

Looks like Ipswich is right in the path of a big patch of red!

See you on the flip side...

Still Raining

Driving into work this morning... The rain hasn't let up since the storm on Sunday. So please remember those people who lost roofs, windows or had holes punched in their homes. The rain is expected to last all week, so it's really hampering the clean up efforts.

Membership

As of yesterday, I am now a member of City North Baptist Church.

Big Storm

Brisbane was hit pretty hard from a huge storm last night. We didn't cop to much out Ipswich way (well at our place anyway), but as I headed into church I saw tree after tree which had been felled in the high winds.

Parts of Brisbane have actually been declared a natural disaster zone.  Friend of mine have 30m trees down in their yards.  One friend told me that he turned up to his church and there was no power, and carnage everywhere, so instead of holding a service they walked around their church's neighbourhood and helped people move trees, clear yards and cover holes in roofs.

We had a small number at City North, and had power, so held a cut-back service before heading to Macca's - though everyone else had too cause it was the only fast food joint around that had power.

250 000 homes without power, some friends in Brissy are still without power over 24 hours later. Some suburbs are being told to boil drinking water because a huge water tower had it's roof blown off.

Feel very strange being right in the middle of it all - but not overtly effected by it at all.

Remembrance Day

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24628065-5016619,00.html

THE guns may have fallen silent at 11am on November 11, 1918, but for many Australians like Penelope Ransby the personal stories of the Great War sound out as strong as ever 90 years on.

When war broke out in 1914, her grandfather, Evelyn Wilton, was working on a farm he owned with his two mates, Lance and Chris Andrews, in Western Australia's Margaret River region.

Few places could have been under less direct physical threat from the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire) than their farm but, sure enough, the three men left to serve the British Empire in battle.

In time, two of them would make the ultimate sacrifice.

As Ms Ransby prepared with the nation today to remember the fallen with a minute's silence at 11am, she shared her family's story with news.com.au.

"These guys had so much to offer and it was all taken away from them," Ms Ransby said.

"There is no longer any living memory of what they did so I think it's more important than ever that we remember them.

"Unless we do that it will be forgotten forever."

The brothers Chris and Lance were thrust into Gallipoli but did not serve together. Chris was in the Australian Imperial Forces, Lance in the Royal Marines.

On April 27, 1915, Lance was shot in the leg at Bloody Angle. But he could be considered lucky because at a time when many were dying as he was evacuated to England for medical treatment.

As Lance was heading to England Chris was sitting in a Gallipoli dugout writing letters to friends and family.

"I am longing to get back to the dear old Margaret (River) and never want to leave it again," he wrote.

"I did not like leaving Margaret at all. I am sure it is one of the choicest spots in the world. I fully expect to be back before the end of next year."

Instead, as he stepped out of the trench to hand the letters to his Colonel, he was unaware he was being watched by a sniper. The bullet hit him in the stomach and he died on died May 11, 1915.

"A mound, a small wooden cross and a few pebbles alone mark the last resting place of as brave a gentlemen as ever walked," wrote Chris's comrade-in-arms Private Horace Bruckshaw.

Lance would return to the front and even volunteered to join the Australian forces in Gallipoli so he could see where his brother had died.

After four long years of service, and only three months before the armistice we remember today, Lance was killed in action as the Allies captured the French town of le Barque on August 25, 1918.

Evelyn would have his own brush with death when the ship he was serving on, the Drake, was torpedoed by a German submarine on October 2, 1917. He survived but 19 of his shipmates did not.

There would be a final cruel blow to the dream of three men who had looked forward to the war's end and a return to their Margaret River property.

The task of running the sheep and horse farm proved too much for one man. The frontier lifestyle also took its toll on Evelyn's wife and young children who would return to England without him.

Evelyn ended up selling the farm moving to Hobart to live with a  sister he barely knew. He died in her care in November 1960, aged 60.

More Indy stuff

Continuing to process things I did at Indy.

Here's a crude video off my mobile phone of a pitstop during the race.  Their efficiency is impressive.

This is where I stood (in a medic station) for the entire race... tough job being the chappie :-)