Sorry that these Pictures have taken so long to put up on my blog, It is a mixture of procrastination and technical difficulties which have meant that it has taken me a longer time than I desired to put these photos up. Anyways, I hope you enjoy them, I have to go back to my books to learn how to be a successful urban guerrilla.

The Baker Family, enjoying the comapany of one another and showing thier different characteristics

Mmm Cake!!!!

The Three Baker Boys posing for the camera

A very embarassing Picture of me

More Recommendations

Check out Mike Brantleys Latest Blog. Wrestle with the question "what is the gospel", and "who is Jesus". Remember your first love and become smitten with him and his saving power once again. Wrestle with how you are going to fulfill Gods call on all christians lifes, that is found in mathew 28:19-20 Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.

I recommend reading the gospels in thier fullness, if you like short readers digest books go for mark, if you a theologian at heart go with the dense, spiritually fulfilling book of John, ask for a heart for the lost as you read the gospels.

Christine Caine - "Stop acting like a christian and Just be one!"

I ordered a couple of sermons from parachute which there has been aparently unpresidented demand. I would like to recommend the sermon by christine caine. It is a brilliant sumary of living missionally in the world we live in.

I would like to state a few points that I've been thinking about lately
1- Read the gospels - look into these great books, look at how Jesus related to people, compare it to the criticism he gives about the religious people in those books.
2- talk to your nextdoor nieghbours - form relationships with them and find out what stuffs going on in thier life. You will be amazed at what you find out about them, what needs they have and how you can help them. It might just be caring for your next doors nieghbours kid while they go to a meeting, it might be helping someone through a viscious breakup, just be there for those around us.
3- Being is better than doing, look into the bible, being a christian is about having a relationship with jesus and letting that permeate our every action. It is about taking on the mind of christ (look at Romans 12 - sorry my references are bad or look at phillipians 2 in the context of that epistle, you will be amazed what you will discover about how to be a christian in the context of the world we live in.)
4- Read the bible, pray, listen to the heart of Jesus - let him challenge you. He will, I know. Be willing to be angry at injustice and do something about it, be willing to preach truth to the blind, be willing to listen to peoples problems, be discomforted with the words of Jesus and challenged enough to do something with them in your own life.

I know this is all hard stuff, I went through a number of years of my life knowing the truth of the gospel but not living it out in my actions. I have been at many times a performer, looking holy, acting holy, but my life not living up to what it really should look like. For me to change to the point where I am I had to go through the most painful period of questioning in my entire life, arguing, fighting with God, trying to find out what the hell he wanted from me. I was humbled severely by God, my faith has grown, developed and changed because of this. I go through periods of discomfort in my faith and thank God for this. I want to be sold out for his will for my life. I want to show the lost the way back home to thier father, I want to show people that Jesus is the only way to salvation.

Life, Coffee and Stress

Life has taken on a change for the crazyness, I've just started my honours year in politics up at victoria and I now understand why people have no social life and look like a wreck by the end of the honours year. Its becuase there is just so much work to be done in so little time. I am starting to get used to this experience, even though for the last week, i've been wondering if i'm taking the right step. My prayer is that I will keep focused on the big picture, keep hooked into my relationship with my lord and saviour and that nothing really blows up in my face to badly in the next year. I will keep trying to write my thoughts on life, religion, faith, politics, mission etc. This year is the most exciting and scary year of my life, and seems to look like it is going to be one of the greatest tests of my faith ever. Bring it on!

The Pursuit of Happyness Review

The Pursuit of Happyness
Me and My Brother went to see The Pursuit of Happyness last Sunday evening. It was a very moving and powerful movie for me and my brother. My Brother said that he spent most of the movie with tears in his eyes. I thought it was an awesome movie myself and was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. The Movie is based around Christopher (Will Smith), a poor black man trying to make a living by selling Bone Density Scanners, which produce a picture a little bit better than a X-ray, but are twice as expensive. He is a bright man, who used to get the best grades in his class, but because of poverty and ill-fortune he is forced to attempt to sell these scanners, which most doctors see as an expensive luxury item. One day he sees that there is an internship at Dean Witter Investments. He gets the chance and through the rest of the movie we see him go through the trials of getting to his dreams. The whole movie is a pursuit of happiness!

This movie is a great exploration of healthy masculinity and the father and son relationship. The man will do everything he can do for his son so that he can have a better life than he did. At the beginning of the movie he expresses his goal in life “I was 26 years old when I first met my father, I made a promise to myself that if I had children I would never leave them or not care for them.” He wants to set wrong all that was done by his father, men all have ghosts of the failures or successes of their fathers, and spend most of their life trying to be more successful than their fathers in how they live their life. Throughout the movie Christopher aims to fulfil his promise to his son that he will never leave him and he will always care for him. The displays of affection and care shown for his child and his desire to teach him how to survive in a fast paced vicious world are amazing. The affection showed by his son for Christopher was amazing and just got me every time. The son listens to his father, and follows his every word, trusts that the decisions made by the father are in his best interest, while his father spends sleepless nights trying to improve their place in life. It got this twenty-one year old crying many times throughout the movie. It shows what a man should do for his family, fight, lay down everything and fight for his and his family’s survival. For many of course this can be an uphill battle, some can’t cope, and turn to drugs or suicide. It’s a hard up road battle for many who are down and out. Christopher is lucky, but he virtually goes through hell for his Son so that that he and his can pursue a life of happiness.

Another thing that got me were the scenes of poverty, the down and outs that live in our streets and the streets of America. Throughout the movie we see Christopher and his son survive on virtually a few dollars. They spend nights in homeless shelters as they are faced with no income from the internship, they join the lines of people waiting for a space in the homeless shelter, some nights they miss the opportunity and have to stay out on the streets, attempting to survive. The First night of their plight they spend in a subway toilet where Christopher cares for his son and gets through the night, never wanting to go back to that experience again. The hopelessness faced by many is harrowing. Again, I stress that Christopher is lucky. He’s determined, smart, proud and willing to give his all for the cease. Those characteristics help him in his pursuit of happiness, but I wonder how many like him there are who aren’t as lucky as he is, who don’t achieve through all the crap that is thrown at them. Many fall into hopelessness and just can’t get out.

This has to be the feel good movie of the year, I spent a lot of my time crying or on the edge of my seat, this man survives through all the crap so that his family can have a better future, what an amazing testament to mans will to go through all that and survive. It’s an example of this mans resolve in a cut-throat world.

MyLibraryThing

I finally figured out how to put up a widget for MyLibrarything. This is a cool website which allows you to catalog your books online and display them proudly for the rest of the world to see. Its really quite fun.

Amy Winehouse=Rehab

There is so much awesome innovative music coming out at the moment. Rehab is the first single off the Amy Winehouses second album Back and Black. She sounds like Sherley Basey, and has the sas of the likes of UK hip hop artist, Lily Allen. Listen to this song, its really really catchy!

Update: Sorry that the original post of this song didn't work, YouTube Has been causing me many hassles over the last couple of week.

RazorLight In The Morning

These Guys are one of my favourite bands at the moment. I just bought thier latest album on thursday and their songs have been stuck in my head since I bought the CD. It is such a beautiful song from a supurb Band. You can listen to their music at http://www.razorlight.co.uk/

Mika - Grace Kelly

Listen to U.K artist Mika, he sounds like Freddy Mercury from Queen and attempts to pull off some of the moves of Freddy Mercury aswell. Try Hard Freddy Mercury? You Decide. Its a very catchy song!

Political Spectrum Test

The Oz Politcs Blog has a Politics Test which tries to place you on the political spectrum. I came out most closely aligned to the Family First Party at 71%, At second Place was the Australian Democrats 69.3%, the third the Liberal Party 67.8% and then Labor at 67.6%

The Breakdown for my political leaning was that I was -12.5% which is a centrist position of this scoring system.

The Economic Policy was -4.6%. Whic again was a centrist position/

On Social Policy I score exactly 0% which means that I'm dead centre for social policy.

And on Traditional Values I'm -6.7% again a centrist position.

This is pretty close to being right, I said recently to someone asking where I stood on the political spectrum I said that I was centrist, and I have moved back towards the very centre left in my political views.

Take the test, the votes may or may not surprise you.

Hat Tip: David Farrar

Revelations from a Trash Dump

Me and mum went out to Happy Valley Landfill today. We went there to drop off our rubbish. One thing you discover at a landfill is how dirty and disgusting it is. The dust goes up your nose and you feel dirty as you work in the conditions to clean out the back of your trailer or car and you want to get out of the situation that you are in. As I was thinking over this I thought of the urban poor in many nations around the world and in particular Asian countries such as Bangladesh and the Philippines. In these countries (and in modern western countries as well) the urban poor and the untouchables live in conditions like dumps.

In reality when I think of it, the conditions of these places are even worse than those dumps we see in New Zealand. Our country is so rich and modern that all the refuse is not thrown into one pit all area, but is sorted for its usefulness. While in these poorer nations the dumps have everything thrown into them. From bags full of old food to tyres from the middle classes cars, these produce the living conditions for those who have to live there, the poor, the destitute, Deserted women and their orphaned children. They live in tiny houses, created from rusting corrugated iron, old clothes, broom sticks and tyres so they can have a means of coverage from the monsoon rains, the cold (which killed 120 or so in the city of Bangladesh in a week while some missionaries I know were there.) The conditions are dirty and disgusting and seem unliveable. Some short term missionaries who I know who went to Bangladesh talk about how the dirt, grime and pollution filling every orifice. When they arrived back in Hong Kong, they ended up filling the baths up with hot water and washing themselves clean to get rid of the grime that had covered their whole bodies. These missionaries lived in better conditions than many who lived on the street aswell. The urban live in refuse, their own sewer and face dysentery etc. They don’t live here by choice, it is seen as their proper role in society, dumped their because they are the untouchables who live in their place because of the worldview that because of their past life they have to live in that caste, poor, forced to beg and live in unliveable conditions for the rest of their rotten days on the earth. The others are forced their by the result of unfortunate circumstances such as the death of family or desertion.

Jesus in the bible used the picture of a dump to describe hell. Gehenna is the word used in the Gospels by Jesus for hell. Originally it was used by Jews to practice detestable acts for the god Molech. By the first century AD it was a big pit used to place all the refuse of the city of Jerusalem. Gehenna had continuously burning fires produced from Gas of the waste that was put into it. So in the eyes of Jewish people, a rubbish dump was an image of hell. Drawing the analogy further, those who live in the rubbish tips/slums live in a physical and spiritual hell that not many of us have never seen or heard of in the west. Many will never have the chance to hear the Gospel and receive the freedom found in this or find economic and social freedom. It saddens and angers me and forces me to look at myself, the life I live and how I react to injustice around me and around the world I live in. I’m pretty lucky. I live in the suburbs of Wellington. They are a very clean, very respectable. We live in large houses where we have luxuries that millions in other countries will only see when they are producing the items. It would take them years to be able to purchase the Item that takes us a couple of months to acquire. So how am I going to deal with this? So how are we going to deal with this? Think about it the next time you go to the rubbish tip or you throw your rubbish out in Bin.

Discover What Josh is Discovering

My very talented younger brother Joshua has set up his own blog, http://supremeedible.blogspot.com after a bit of pressure had been put on him from me and others to set it up. Go, read it, and discover a little bit more about the world around you and the universe around you.

Conversation with Mike Brantley

One of the many issues I have been wrestling with over the last year or two is the church and the shape of church in this millenium. I have a number of people who are on the journey with me showing me, enlightening me on approaches to church in the new millenium. I have the priviledge of having numerous great mentors who have helped me along the journey to figuring out the centre.

One of them is my friend Mike Brantley. Mike Brantley attended Onslow community church while I was there and provided me with some of the background, and helped me take some steps to where I am now in my faith. I learned from his style of leadership, speaking and his ability to teach the word.

As I went through the hard times in my faith over the last year and went through thinking about what is church really about? How it should be shaped, etc, etc, Mike Brantley was one of those people who was in the back of my mind to get into contact with. A few weeks I ago decided to contact him and start a dialogue. Read where we are up to in the dialogue here. Hopefully it provides you with some richness as it has me. I am wanting to become more passionate for my Lord and saviour. I want to see New Zealand changed, I want to bring people into the kingdom. I want to spread the kingdom further and wider. Not based on institutional models or systems, but based on christ. More on this later....

Faith Journeys – Part 1 - Wrestling and questioning God

This is going to be a messy, real section to my blog where I explore the bible and relate it to where I am going on my journey – at the moment it will be exploring the Old Testament and the discoveries I am finding in the Old Testament at the moment. Much of the Stuff I’ve discovered I’ve found through reading and the occasional accidental truth I’ve found on this adventure through life so far. I plan to try and be a bit provocative in this section (as that is how I feel I should be at the moment.)

Wrestling With God
At this point on my journey with God I am truly wrestling with him and trying to discover what he wants from me and where he wants me to go in this journey and the adventure with Him. I spent a lot of the past couple of years rediscovering faith and rediscovering the truth of the Gospel. I have argued, questioned God on his character, his sovereignty, doubted over the truth, then came crying in repentance for my sins with a new desire to serve him, but continually wrestling with him, asking him what to do next, why I am where I am where I am, why he allows bad things to happen to good people around me. I have prayed, petitioned and questioned. I come to this point I will make the point “its not what you know its who you know”

Faith is real, it isn’t boxed in, and God isn’t boxed in by our images of him. It has to deal with the real harsh facts of life. In the world we live in nothing is rosy. We struggle with suffering, death, pain, hardship, doubts, fears and many other things. I know this for myself. The reality of the Christian journey is that it isn’t easy. It is messy confusing and sometimes damn depressing.

Our faith journey is one of “Following knowing and seeking after [God], living a life motivated from a loving relationship with him” … which is … “much different than adhering to a code, an ideology, a worldview. That reduces the person to facts, truths, propositions and truth. (The words of Mike Brantley. A Friend, Mentor, Brother in Christ in an email recently to me). The result is faith is inherently messy and difficult. It allows for doubts and questions of God.

I will look at the Old Testament because it contains the stories of Gods relationship with People, but also the relationship of People with their God. These people are real people, dealing with real questions (Such as “How can God, who loves us, formed a covenant with us and said that he would always honour that covenant, let bad things happen to his people. Such as the enslavement and exile of our people, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and lead us into a pagan land where we cannot serve our God.) Many of the people in the Old Testament have tough testing questions that they ask of God, they wrestle in their prayers with God, they physically wrestle with God and nearly win, and they ask God for an audience with him. They shout, scream, cry, fight with God and show their disappointment with God, then on the next page they sit quietly listening to God, they dance through the streets of Jerusalem praising him for his power, showing joy which makes them look like a drunken madman, they praise and honour God in the temple and throughout the world. They have bad days with God, so so days with God, Great days with God, and sorrowful days with God. All emotions are shown in this relationship.

Faith is real, its tough, it allows us to ask the hard questions of God, to be real with him, to sit at his feet and just listen, to argue, to praise, to be who we are, true humans, dealing with the messy reality we live in. Through this, we learn, we are changed, we develop hope, perseverance, love, compassion, joy and many other qualities. Through true relationship, we come to know God more and more, and come to learn more and more about who he really is to us. Then we can share this with those around us


Job, Faith and the Ingredients of Discovering a Real Faith
I am taking some of what I write from Philip Yanceys Book “The Bible Jesus Read” as well as my own struggles through the pain of losing my father to cancer for this section. Jobhas come to relate well to many people who have faced the hardships of Life. Its one of the books that I’m amazed managed to get into the Bible because it struggles to actually answer the question that we usually apply to it “If God is Good, then why do good people suffer?” Many modern Christians have come to believe that having faith in God means that Life should be safe happy, healthy and easy going, which in my view is just crap. Prosperity preachers do this all the time, saying that if you send a “faith offering” to their ministry you will receive good health and a good life. Sometimes I wonder if it’s the total opposite to this in reality. Those who have the strong faiths are not the ones who everything are going happily and well and they are eating from the best vines, drinking the best expressos etc but those who seem to be forsaken by God, those in prison for their faith in China, those who live in poverty in India for the sake of the Gospel, those martyred for the faith in many other countries, facing scorn and ostracism from their country man. So if God is good, why does he let good people suffer? Is it because God is a sadist? Is it because God doesn’t really care? Is its God punishing us for sin?

There is actually no answer to this in the bible. As I write these words I struggle with them myself.

So what is Job about, why is this book in the bible, why do I consider this story full of depression, suffering, hardship, abandonment one of my favourite bible stories, why does it scare me, make me hopeful and change me!

The beginning of this story shows us the cosmic scene been played out in Heaven. God shows the devil his most devote follower on earth, Job. The Devil questions the reason for Jobs devout behaviour. He argues that God has given him an easy road because of his faith. He believes that Job would curse God and give up on God if it wasn’t as easy. For God, this is a risky situation; he is being challenged on his character. Does his subject love God know matter what the pains of life throw on him, or will he fall because of the pressure of what crap he goes through. God tests out his subject in an epic wager of character and faith.


Philip Yancey in his book The Bible Jesus Read profoundly suggests that the book of Job is not about suffering, but is about faith. Like the rest of the Old Testament it deals with life with “flagrants realism and a tantalizing glimpse of Hope” (Yancey, The Bible Jesus Read, p.47)

On earth, Job loses everything, goes through losing everything that he holds dear. His friends, holy, astute, learned men, assume that because God is good, righteous, and punishes those who are bad people. They come to Job, who has suffered the death of his children, his wifes abandonment, the loss of his entire income, household, etc and say that the reason this has occurred is because he has sinned and God is punishing him for this sin. For Job the facts do not add up. He’s the type of guy who will pray to God for the whole day, fast, pray and sacrifice animals for the protection of his own family and never cursed God. He probably believed that the reason he was so well off and God has blessed him because he was such a righteous man. His worldview is damaged and destroyed as he sees the destruction of all he owns. He believes that he has done nothing wrong, and argues constantly for 33 chapters with his friends on his character and the character of God. He asks why a just God allows suffering to strike those who are Righteous and the Ungodly get to live in wealth, happiness and good fortune. He questions, desires answers, and finally asks his God for an audience.

Throughout this, his friends look on, trying to convince Job that he is in the wrong, how can he question Gods righteousness, his justness, his power. The probable point for Job is that he has nothing to lose in questioning God, if he dies, he stops suffering! Anyway I digress. Job asks his friends to just plain shut up, they don’t understand, and he just wants a bit of peace and quiet. They continue to berate him, and can’t understand why he won’t confess his sin, his sinfulness can be seen by the way he talks about God, questioning Gods character, how can he do this, then the nerve of asking God for an audience. God is all powerful, all loving, all knowing, he has done right, that’s that, deal with it, they say. This just continues to make the matters worse for poor Job.

Job has the nerve to ask God for an audience, and God turns up in a whirlwind, upsetting the situation a bit further. God responds in a magnificent speech, talks about his grandness, his power. It doesn’t deal with suffering at all! God comes out and steals the show, putting Job in the dock.

And the Lord made answer to Job out of the storm-wind, and said,
Who is this who makes the purpose of God dark by words without knowledge?
Get your strength together like a man of war; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers. (Job 38:2-3)

The Whole tale of Hardship, suffering, questioning, throughout the book, has been about Jobs faith, and whether it can weather the storms and hardships of life. Whether when all is lost, whether Job can hold onto God, and believe in his character, Job questions much, and probably ends up believing in a much different God than he believed at the start of the Journey, but he never cursed him. Jobs response to Gods questions of him is to fall down with awe at Gods feet and give him praise. Job is overwhelmed with God and can only do one thing, give him praise.

God wins his wager with Satan, he shows that Humanity can trust in God even when it all turns to crap for those under the microscope. Gods character shines through.

So what have I learned from Job over the years as a Christian?
For me the thing I have learnt is that it is Ok to question God. I believe wholeheartedly that God is strong enough to deal with our hard messy questions that we bring him and he will listen. He won’t always provide the answers we want for our questions, but he will listen to them.

Let people question, wrestle and find God. Let people just fall to their feet and cry and seek after him, even if it is angry, hurtful, hard and messy. God wants us to be real with him. At times we miss the point, but God wants to listen to us. He wants us to be real and have real relationship with him.

It is our job to sit, listen, pray and mourn with those going through the hard times, and try to provide them with loving caring support in anyway possible. But we shouldn’t try and provide answers where there are none possible. I know from my own doubts and searching, those who sit and are wise in their listening and response are the ones who sit still and listen and don’t reply. They are just there. I hate people trying to provide answers when there are none that can be really provided.

The Faith Journey isn’t meant to be easy, I know from my own journey that the times I have grown most in my faith have been the most difficult points in my own faith. At times I haven’t really known whether I’ve been in the right scene and have had to trust in God that there is hope at the end of the tunnel. God cares about our faith. He seems to want us to be totally reliant on him and wants us to let go and have faith in him.

God will shake us up to change us. I have an image running in my head at the moment of a Tsunami, going across a piece of land changing everything, it is destructive and creative. For me it is an image of revival. The way revival of saints and change of nations happens is the shaking up of Christians. This is going to be hard, painful change in peoples of life (or I reckon it is) and causes people to be totally reliant on God and his character.

Job has provided for me hope and realism in the hard places. I thank God that He put this book in the bible so that I can come to it with my questions and wrestling’s with God, my father, friend and comforter.

Del.icio.us

I have put "My Delicious" up on my blog. This is my online library of websites, blogs, etc on different subjects that are of interest to me. Have a look and see what you can find. It needs further work, but its a start.

Also, does anyone know anything about Javascript. I have a Library thing account and I want to do some fancy stuff on my blog with a link to that. Have no Idea how to do this as I an HTML and Javascript illiterate (all the work I do with these langauges is cut and paste)

New Years Resolutions

This Is a New Year. Wow Scary! And as usual we have the New Years Resolutions that we make, but many fail to keep. I longed to keep the ones I made last year, becuase they were so important to me. I have learned alot more about my failings, about Gods grace, maybe what I want to do in the future and what God wants to use me to do in the coming years of life. I'm so young, with so much more to learn and so much to discover. I want to have Jesus on side as I live this life.

So what are my resolutions for the coming year.

1) To Love the Lord My Lord My God with all my heart my and soul

2) To love my nieghbour as I love myself. To see my heart break for those around me and go out of my way to show them the love of Christ.

3) To seek to know Jesus more and put Gods will as first priority in my life. To learn again what it is to have a faith of a child and be able to sit at the feet of my lord and saviour and just listen to him.

4) To not be a hypocryte and realise that I need Gods' grace everyday - God is my sustainer, my father, my friend. I find my Identity in Christ Jesus, not in any other thing. Christ means everything to my and I want to follow and serve him with my whole life everyday, every hour, every moment.

From Brick to Camera Phone

I have finally got rid of my old brick. It didn't die on my (even though I have given it more puninishment than any phone deserves in its life time.)


I got a new Sanyo 3100s. I chose this phone becuase the sales people at a number of shops said that they were reliable and easy to use.

The Staff at the Wharehouse in town were hopeless, they only sold me the phone because I knew what I was looking for. I then had to go upto dukes arcade telecom to change my number (Aparently they could have done the number change over at The Wharehouse themselves!) I changed my number over to my new phone and got all my contacts put over to my New Phone. So I could use my new phone without having to put all my contacts into my New Phone - Very Impressive!

So far I have been impressed. When I turned on the phone I could basically do everything I wanted to do with the phone without looking at the instruction manual. The amplication on the phone is excellent and I'm happy I no longer only have monophonic ringtones. Didn't really need to camera on the phone becuase the screen resolution on the phone is awful and so if the picture qaulity (only 0.3 Megapixels!!!!), but it will give me something to take pictures with until I get a New Camera (The camera lens is totally stuffed and one salesperson estimated it will cost over $500 to get a new lens so I'll have to get a new one :-( )

A concise history of World Religions

This is just a little history lesson on the worlds major religions. Hope you enjoy

21st Birthday - The Ups the Lows and the drops

I turned 21 today it has been a mix of emotions today, with some surprises and one real low!

I'm pretty tired and it has been an emotional roller coaster of a day

We went out for lunch today as a family. We went to Zillis Cafe. This was a really nice small cafe which mainly does turkish meals. It wasn't really flash, but it was nice and intimate. The owners were nice, cherpy and really really freindly. We all had a enjoyable time and felt rather full by the end of our meal. It is a recommended place to go and eat.

Me and Ben at Zillis before Lunch

Benjamin with his Calamari Rings

The Worst moment of my day though was when I managed to drop my camera on its lens! I think I've probrably damaged it and it will probraby not live to see another day. Might be out tomorrow trying to find another camera. Don't know why that would happen to me, oh well God Knows! Pretty Unhappy about what happened! Like I said God Knows why it happened!

The Pogues with Kirsty McColl / Fairytale of New York

My Favourite Christmas Song :->

C4 Christmas

U2 - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Awesome picture of New Zealand from Space

This is just the most awesome picture of New Zealand from Space. It was taken on the last space shuttle mission when they were doing work constructing the International Space station. You can download your own free copy of this in Hi Resolution or Lo Resolution

Revolution In World Mission

Revolution in world mission is written by Dr KP. Yohannan. The Book was first published in 1986, but has been updated regularly so its observations are still rather worthwhile and contemporary. The main argument of this book is that the tide in missions has changed. Once upon a time, those who did missions were white middle class men, sent during the 1800s, many a times with a joint mission to bring the gospel Jesus Christ with western imperialism. With the nationalist movements of the mid 19th century, and the overthrow of western imperialism, many Asian nations were closed to western missions as western missionaries were linked to imperialistic goals. The result was that Native missionaries took over where the western Christians left off. There has been massive conversion within countries such as China and India, but western churches have neither know of these developments or have supported the churches. The western church became introverted and selfish. Missions that were sent to developing nations in Asia could only focus on social justice issues without evangelism. The hope for missions in Asia, asserted by KP. Yohannan is the native missionary movement. This is because they can adapt to the cultures and are accepted within the cultures they minister to, and the cost of sending them is only a fraction of the cost ($2000 at most, compared to $50,000)

I came to this book with a critical mind and believe that this book has a lot to offer – it is a goldmine for good missiology, and for training missionaries. There are several important points that I got out of this book

1) The western church and western Christians are so well off. We have a responsibility to support our less well off Christian brothers and sisters in developing nations.
2) In the past, western churches have become selfish, focusing introspectively, not using their resources to build the church of Christ, but to fund buildings and other other projects that have no real impact (other than aesthetics!)
3) We need to allow these Christians to develop and minister in ways which are acceptable to the context they preach to. We should not be pushing a certain denomination or line – we should allow Christians go into cultures and allow them to contextualise the gospel.
4) “Contextaulisation” – this means preaching and teaching the gospel in the language of the people. Taking on the cultural dress of the group, preaching the gospel in a way that the people group will understand. For example if you go to a group of African Americans living in the Bronx you wouldn’t give them a soapbox sermon – the likelihood is you’ll get beaten up and your money taken and left in a trash can half alive or with a gun to your head if you are unlucky. No, you would come dressed up in the cultural costume and speak in the language (Baggy Jeans and speak in Snoop.)
5) The Focus of missions should marry both evangelism and social justice together. In the context of missions to countries such as India it can be seen the spiritual blindness that people live in worsens their poverty. K.P Yohannon tells that because Rats are sacred to Hindus and cannot be killed, plagues of rats go and eat the crops in India, meaning there is a lack of food. K.P Yohannan tells of how the ministry of Gospel for Asia has focused a lot on the untouchables, the lowest of low castes within Indian society. This caste has been created as a result of the religious worldview of the Hindu people. Gospel for Asia offers education where untouchable children can learn to read and write and also get told the gospel of Jesus Christ. As a result the families are changed, they get given spiritual freedom as the familty comes to know christ and economic freedom through the children getting an education.


I have some criticisms with this book though.
1) Yohannan only gets the rationale for missions half-right. Yes we are called to mission but we are called to mission so that people will come to worship God once again
Again I sight my good friend John Piper on missiology.
“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the Church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship does not”
Worship is the Fuel and goal for missions. It's the goal of missions because in worship we simply aim to bring the nations into the white hot enjoyment of God's glory”
(John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad)
The whole purpose is to see all humanity give him the glory he deserves and enjoy the freedom that Christ offers.
2) Short Term and Long Term western missions are still important . They are important as it gives a stakehold for western Christians in the whole church. Western missionaries provide information and reconnaissance in a way that pieces of paper and articles cannot offer. They provide an eyewitness and encouragement for further mission worldwide and locally. Missions trips also challenge also challenge peoples mindsets on the way we do things. They provide an intensive environment for Christians to grow and change and get out of their comfort zone. They give western Christians a means to grow and develop and to come to rely on God fully. They expand peoples views of the world and the way God works and the fact that God doesn’t work in the same way everywhere. They usually ignite Christians to find ways to engage with their own cultures back home and ways to change the world around them back home. They are also a real witness to people back time. How many times have I been able to talk about what I did in Siberia and share what my faith means to my friends because of the missions trip.
The “Mystical” nature of missions to other countries or places.
I have blogged about this before, because this has been an important moment in my life and journey I will go continue on about this. There is something really special when you worship with a whole group of people from another country and place. You speak entirely different languages but you can connect at a deeper level that what you could. Also it feels like you an enacting a scene from what heaven will be like – where people from thousands of different cultures, backgrounds, ages, all worshipping and praising the same God who saved them and made them whole. It is really special, and something that I’m happy that I have been able to share in.

3)Yohannan comments only on the bad that has happened within western missions.
I can name on the top of my head numbers of cases where western missionaries are doing awesome jobs in nations around the world and seeing peoples lives changed because of the ministry they are involved in. It’s not all bad news, but the need for balance between western missionaries and National missionaries. I totally agree that native missionaries are more affective, more adaptive on their mission field and that more funding and support should be given to these missionaries than what is given to western missionaries – but the approach should be balanced. It must also be remembered that we cannot stop the call of God. If someone is called to be a missionary into a culture by the spirit of God we cannot stop them from doing this and we must trust in the faith of God that he will enable them to reach out to that culture. Some may be given the missional gifting of tongues to reach out to a particular culture (this is quite an amazing gift when you see it at work!)


All in all, I enjoyed this book. It was a real challenge. Particularly on my priorities in giving and how selfish I can be at times. I want Gods will fulfilled on earth. Many times this will be costly to myself. Am I willing to listen to the call of God and sacrifice those things that I want for what God wants?

Another thing I saw was the dedication many non-western Christians have to God. Many of these missionaries pray and spend real time with God for hours and pray for the people they minister to for hours as well. As a result they develop hearts for those people. Am I willing to lose sleep over the lost sheep in my cultural context? The suffering I endure for the Gospel seems so little compared to the floggings, stonnings and electric baterns that Christians receive in other countries, but many a time I go quite, saying nothing about God, why is that?

All in all, this way a really challenging book. I enjoyed it. Have a read, I’m sure you will be challenged too!

B Collision – David Crowder Band

I discovered the David Crowder Band around a year ago when my brother got given Illuminate for his Christmas present, as a result they have grown to be one of my favourite bands in Christian contemporary worship. They are one of the most musically innovative Christian worship bands today. They have moved outside the box of most worship bands, explaining their relationship with God in real ways that connect with contemporary culture through metaphor and imagery. They don’t stick with the clichés in their lyrics or their music and are attempting to move Christian worship forward. The reason why I have grown to love this band so much is that they are musically really good! I enjoy listening to these guys at anytime, they are really fun to listen to at any time. (You can hear the fun they are having on the CDs when they have some of their interludes.) I walk to work listening to their stuff, or I can sit in my bedroom praising God. They are musically and lyrically talented and well educated.

They are an indeed creative exciting refreshing group within the “Christian Genre”. They are probably one of the most revolutionary groups since delirious came out with their cutting edge CD’s in the mid 90’s. At times this band can go a bit over the top, and sometimes their overuse of synths can get a bit painfully annoying!

B Collision is a follow on album from The Beautiful Collision, basically remixing the originals of The Beautiful Collision and doing them using bangos instead of guitars. This might sound lame, but it an amazingly awesome album, because that band has the ability (and probably a good enough producer!) to pull it off. They have used the bangos to create an awesome fresh listening experience.

Another thing I love about the David Crowder Band is they take old classic hymns and make them contemporary with the use of guitars and synths. I love old style hymns because of the doctrine and ideas that are contained in classic hymns. Songs that they have sexed up earlier include All Creatures, and I Saw the Light. On this album the do I Saw the Light again using bangos and Everyone Wants to Go to Heaven, and the redo I Can Hear the Angels singing. In redoing these songs, their meaning and the truths that they hold can be carried onto future generations and to the culture of contemporary western society.

Musically these guys are awesome; this is one of my favourite albums by these guys so far. I recommend this album to anyone who enjoyed the O Brother Where Art Thou CD or contemporary Christian worship music that sounds fun, fresh and innovative. Actually I recommend these guys to anyone. Try them, they are really cool!

Social Justice - Reid Monaghan

I read an article by Reid Monaghan on social justice. I think this gives quite a balanced view on social justice and christian mission. As a christian I feel I am called to help those who are less well off than I am. I know from my own life that the saving power of Jesus christ was partly shown through the love of christian families for me and my family when Dad was ill with cancer. Thier care, support and love for us gave me an understanding of what God had done in thier own lives and in the lives of my own family. Our family has been blessed by many people who have shown there love for God by helping those who are less fortunate. I came to know that God was real partly through the love of people who provided for us. I probrably would not be a christian if it wasn't for these people showing the love of christ through these actions of charity. I am grieved when people see evangelism as only preaching the gospel and saving people from hell. This is an important part of the redemptive plan of God, but got wants to save people from their situations as well on this earth. We need to take a wholistic approach to what the kingdom of God really means.

Top 20 Singles

A list of the most popular songs in the last 20 years has been released. Nirvana's great teen anthem "Smells Like Teen spirit" came out first. The Gunners dropped to third, even though the song is much better than "Hey Ya!" by Outcast. I don't understand why there are not any songs by Michael Jackson or the Spice Girls on the list ("Wannabe", should have been a contender! - even though I hate the song myself) . I don't also understand how Oasis "live forever" got on the list as I would have thought that a better track would have been "Champagne Supernova", or "Wonderwall". I find it funny that some of the songs on the top twenty I have never heard of before, but maybe thats my bad! And as good as The White Stripes "7 Nation Army" is I don't think its one of the Top Twenty. One thing I'm happy is, the crazy frog did not claim a place on the list.

1. "Smells Like Teen Spirit"- Nirvana
2. "Hey Ya!" - Outkast
3. "Sweet Child O' Mine" - Guns N' Roses
4. "Unfinished Symphony" - Massive Attack
5. "One" - U2
6. "Live Forever" - Oasis
7. "Bitter Sweet Symphony" - The Verve
8. "Common People" - Pulp
9. "There She Goes" - The LA's
10. "7 Nation Army" - The White Stripes
11. "Song 2" - Blur
12. "Crazy" - Gnarls Barkley
13. "Angels" - Robbie Williams
14. "… Baby One More Time" - Britney Spears
15. "Personal Jesus" - Depeche Mode
16. "Like A Prayer" - Madonna
17. "Firestarter" - The Prodigy
18. "Brimful Of Asha" - Cornershop
19. "Stan" - Eminem
20. "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" - Arctic Monkeys

Blog Changes

I've just taken the risky choice of moving my blog to Blogger Beta. I was worried that I was going to lose all my HTML and that would have sucked as I don't know any HTML at all. I have got to say that it was worth the move. It was easy, which is really good considering my illiteracy and my stupidity when it comes to anything that is to do with my blog. It opens alot more doors and lets you create and customise your blog alot more, especially photos and other peices of Java script. Another good think is you can arange and rearrange things with ease and when you post a blog you don't need to republish the entire blog again like you had to do in the old blog which is a real time saver! I think I'm going to have alot of fun with the new engine, also I'm worried that I might make a number of mistakes with this new engine, and that I could go through some really stressful periods. Can't understand why anyone would think the New engine sucks though! Looks all good to me

Baby Got Book

Parody of the song "Baby got back". It is quite funny!

Key's Speech

Heres the full speech of John Key in his opening speech as new leader of the National Party

Speech to North Shore National Party luncheonNorth Harbour Stadium

It's a real pleasure to be giving my first speech as Leader of the Opposition here in my own electorate of Helensville. The opportunity to do so means a great deal to me.
In 2002 and again in 2005 the voters of Helensville expressed their confidence in me as their representative. Even though being Leader of the Opposition brings its own workload, I will continue to serve the people of Helensville to the best of my abilities, and I will continue to spend as much time in this electorate as I can.
And in 2008 I will be asking the voters of New Zealand to express their confidence in me as Prime Minister of New Zealand.
On many occasions I have read in the media that John Key did a good job against Michael Cullen at the last election, that John Key knows his stuff on finance, but that no one knows what John Key really stands for.
Well, I'm pleased today to have the opportunity to say a few words about what John Key stands for, because I know him rather better than most commentators. I would like to share with you something of what drives me, what I believe in, and what I will be bringing to the job of Leader of the National Party.
You may know that before entering politics I had a career in international finance. That career was sufficiently successful that from time to time the media likes to question me about what I might be "worth".
Such questions imply that in the totality of my life, my investments are the most important assets I have accrued. How wrong that is.
As a husband and father, the things I value most in life are not anything you'll see listed on the Stock Exchange.
I think all New Zealanders would agree that the security, happiness and welfare of their family, which is also dependent on the security and welfare of their community and country, is the most precious thing to them.
No amount of money insulates against the anxiety that every parent sometimes feels for, and about, their children.
No amount of money enables a parent to buy happiness and self-fulfilment for their sons and daughters. Those, like most of life's most valuable achievements, are earned, not bought.
I support families. In modern New Zealand they come in many shapes and sizes, so let me tell you that I for one will not pre-judge the construction of them. They are in my view the most important institution in our society, and any government I have the privilege of leading will do what it can to support them.
My views on parenting, on families and on society, are shaped not only by my experiences during my career, but even more by my own upbringing.
My father died when I was a young child. I do not remember him.
I was raised, along with my sisters, by my mother, in a state house in Christchurch.
Back then I thought I was poor and, by most standards, we were. As I grew up, though, I recognised that what my mother gave to my sisters and I was far more valuable than money.
She instilled in us the desire to improve ourselves by our own hard work, the confidence that we were able to do it, and the hope that it was possible to do so. She instilled in me an ethic of hard work and determination and a genuine belief that "you get out of life what you put into it".
The State gave me the education that allowed it to happen. Those fundamental characteristics that were instilled in me – and the opportunity that was given to me, which I seized – I believe readily translate to New Zealand society as a whole.
There will always be a social welfare system in New Zealand because you can measure a society by how it looks after its most vulnerable. Once, I was one of them. I will never turn my back on that.
Yet, also, you can measure a society by how many vulnerable people it creates – people who are able to work, and able to take responsibility for their own lives and their children's lives, yet end up depending long-term on the State.
My mission is to raise people's sights, to be fearless and imaginative in policies that encourage people to set their aspirations higher.
A government I lead will have fair policies that encourage enterprise and hard work, and trusts people to get on with their lives and make the best choices for themselves.
The government, of course, has an important role to play in the modern economy. But the appropriate role for the government is in the background, not in the foreground. We need to improve the regulatory and institutional conditions under which firms operate, and then step back and let them establish, grow, export and hire staff.
So, whether they are school leavers stepping into first jobs, mothers venturing back into the workforce, graduates, iwi or entrepreneurs courageously starting their own businesses, or New Zealanders abroad thinking of returning home – I want them all to know that the way to a better future is in their own hands.
I want to give them the confidence that improvement is possible, and to assure them that policies are in place that will reward, rather than discourage, their industry.
I am ambitious for New Zealand and I want New Zealanders to be ambitious for themselves.
I believe in equal opportunity for all, and in the State playing its part to ensure this. How people choose to use that opportunity is up to them. They have everything to gain.
I am by nature an optimistic person. I am, after all, a Blues supporter.
I have enjoyed my work as an MP and as Finance spokesman, and I will continue to do so as Leader of the Opposition.
I have lived overseas, in Asia and in Europe, but I chose to come home.
It is a privilege to be a New Zealander, not only because, as they say, it is a good place to bring up children, or even because we produce the world's best oysters.
It is also a good place to achieve your ambitions.
The tyranny of distance is reducing, with a billion people now having access to the Internet. The growing economic powerhouses of the world – China and India – are located, if not in our backyard, then in our street. New Zealand businesses have access to the world.
However, though I think there's no better place in the world to live, we all know New Zealand can be a better country still.
We have some companies achieving world-best standards, but too few. We have some world-class tourism operations, but too few.
We are inclined to say educational standards are good enough, because they are better than some other countries.
I heard someone say recently that crime rates have been improving, as though averaging more than one murder a week is something we should all be relaxed about.
Well I'm not. National has never been a party that thinks mediocrity is good enough, nor will it be under my leadership. As a boy, I had high aspirations for myself, and as a politician, I have high aspirations for my country.
Building our nation's confidence, instilling a real pride and a sense of what it is that binds us together as New Zealanders, striving for excellence, and ensuring we use our past successes as a bridge to even greater achievements, will be paramount should National become the government.
If you are looking for a guide to my political philosophy then I suggest you look no further than the core values and principles of the National Party.
Personal freedom, individual responsibility, a competitive economy, and support for families and communities are the very principles under which the party was formed 70 years ago, and they are as relevant today as they were then.
Individual policies – those that deliver on the core values and principles – will of course be specific to each generation as our nation changes and as the challenges we face change.
To not do so would argue that what worked in 1976 will be just as effective in 2006, and for a variety of reasons I doubt this is so.
What you can be assured of is that our policies will always be measured against our core principles. Let me be also clear that I make no excuses for saying those polices will be harvested from wherever we see the best results being achieved.
I am interested in what works, and not what should, or could, or might work in theory.
I do not intend to blindly follow an ideological path without ever challenging the concept or considering its appropriateness in our unique New Zealand setting.
And New Zealand is unique. That is quite clear. Our peoples are unique and our environment is unique.
While there is only one New Zealand, it is made up of people from many backgrounds. There are people whose parents, or grandparents, or great-great-grandparents came from Europe, from the islands of the Pacific, from Asia, from all around the globe, together with the indigenous people of this country.
The National Party will always believe in one standard of citizenship and I want to make this very clear to you today.
Yet within that standard of citizenship we should celebrate the cultural, religious and ethnic differences we all bring to New Zealand.
Maori are the tangata whenua of this country, and we have nothing to fear by acknowledging that. It is part of what makes New Zealand unique.
I welcome the Maori renaissance, and some of the great initiatives like the kohanga reo movement which have come from Maori, for Maori.
It is encouraging to see Maori using the resources they have to help address the obstacles that are standing in the way of their own young people achieving their potential.
It is in the interests of no one, and to the shame of us all, that an under-class has been allowed to develop in New Zealand. This under-class is represented by all ethnic backgrounds, and when I talk about lifting people's sights, I am talking about all New Zealanders.
It is not the New Zealand way, and if left to fester it will impinge upon us all. My party is deadly serious about addressing these issues.
As I just said, we have a unique people and a unique environment.
When I left university, if anyone had heard of global warming they were keeping it to themselves. Now, no one with any awareness of the world can be ignorant of it.
It is a mystery to me why the political Left acts as if it has a monopoly on environmental policies, when it is obvious to anyone who cares to look that all of us, across the political spectrum, with the exception perhaps of the Greens, have taken too long to put the protection of our environment at the forefront of our thinking.
That needs to change. In the National Party we have taken steps to do this, and we will be taking more steps.
I hope this gives you a brief overview of some of the core principles that motivate me as Leader of the National Party.
There is much, much more to come, and I relish the challenge of building the policies and vision that will help create for New Zealand a more dynamic future.


This is a well crafted speech by John Key. Probrably one of the best in recent New Zealand Political history. It was what I expected from John Key and more. It sets out his strategy for the National Party, which is centrist, but also sets out the distinctives of the National Party. I suspect that we will see John Key using his card of poor boy to rich man a few times before the election. But he will have to be careful not to use this too often otherwise it will lose its gloss. He might not use it at all as people could become suspicious about his exploitation of this quality.

I'm happy that he has moved back to the centre. He sounds a lot more appealing and a lot less devisive than Brash did, especially on Race and Welfare. I suspect that National will end up cozing up to the Maori Party in the long term. I'm still sceptical about what the environmental policy will entail.

It looks like that John Key wants to move New Zealand forward. Creating a Society that is economically prosperous, culturally vibrant and cares and stewards the country its given wisely. I look forward to see the policy that the National Party comes out with in the coming years

Craig Stories

One of the guys craig who was staying with us up in Auckland is one of the most funny guys i've ever met. He's a loose cannon and a pretty laid back guy to hang around with.

Ok, he offered us a ride back from the U2 concert to annabels house. The only thing he forgot to organise was space in his van to take us and a designated sober driver. So we ended up pilling into a car, with a driver who we beleived was sober, and drove back, hoping not to get stopped as we would have been so busted!

The Second story is related to the first. We were supposed to wait for one of Craigs mates Dan, but craig decided that Dan was taking so long, so we went back home. At four o'clock in the morning he got a call from his mate (waking me up, which nearly forced me to punch to guy.) We latter found out that Dan had gone to meet craig at Auckland airport, managed to walk in a southwest direction and ended up somewhere in Manakua and then had decided to walk the other way back to the airport. He had been walking for like six hours and was picked up in the morning by craig.

Craig is hillariously disorganised, another case can be seen in the fact that he had two surfboards. He was going to go and "surf" at Piha where there were three meter swells. The only problem with his bright Idea is that he cant surf and he has no fins on his board so he was going to have no balance or ability to steer whatsoever. So he was going to have a lot of fun wipping out constantly!

U2 One Tree Hill Auckland November 24th 2006

The U2 Concert - "A Beautiful Day"

After waiting nine months I finally got to go to the concert of the year. The U2 concert at ericson stadium. With 11 others we hurried ourselves into a taxi and headed off to ericson to see one of the biggest bands play the most anticipated concert of the year. I have got to say they didn't dissapoint.

The concert started off with one of the biggest reactions I have seen from the crowd I have ever seen. There was an air of anticipation within the crowd. The crowd eagerly awaited the band, entertaining themselves through mexican waves. When one of the sound crew came onto the stage and played a chord on the Edges guitar the crowd went crazy with excitement. 5 Minutes later the entry music came on, the crowd went crazy again, the lights went down and we all knew the show was about to start.

The Band came on and played city of blinding lights. From then on I realised why these guys are one of the most popular bands in the world. The set is just astounding, and the lighting was amazing. I have never seen such an amazing set in my life.

Our group, which had arrived later than anticipated (7:30) still managed to get a good view of the band, and even when you couldn't get a view of Bono, the Edge and the other guys, we could see them on the big screen.

The Stand out performers in the Band are Bono and the Edge. They still give thier all in the performances. It seems to me that the other two (Larry Mullin Jr and Adam Clayton) are in it just its a good source of income, and without them U2 wouldn't exist and they seem to be really good mates as well.

Bono shined through the whole performance. He has a really passion for what he does and to me seems like a genuine character. His passion for Peace and social Justice and seeing a better world shines through. His campaigns for making poverty history and aids and everything else are awesome. He genuinely wants to make the world a better place. In Pride (in the name of love) there was a part where the show showed the international convention of human rights and it had a kid talking over the top. For me this was the one of the most emotional parts in the show, as I realised how far we still need to go. I thought about where it said that everyone has the right not to be enslaved, and realised how far we still need to go to achieve the removal of systems that enslave people and create oppression. In many ways I play a part in reinforcing these systems and it made me cry and think of what I can do to change that.

During Lov and Peace Bono put on a blindfold, started lighting sparklers and fireworks and was handing the sparklers out to the crowd. Bono then went and banged hard on the drums and then the band started to play sunday bloody sunday. When Sunday Bloody Sunday played, I was basically stamping My feet shouting and punching my fist in the air. Its funny, becuase this song has become more of an anthem to acheiving peace and tolerance, and fighting for peace and tolerance, rather than taking the violent way out (something you wish the ulster unionists would realise before trying to blow up parliament a couple of days ago!) The Other two songs that I found the most emotionally stirring numbers were One Tree Hill - the song written for thier Friend Greg Caroll who died in a car accident, and Sometimes You can't Make it on Your Own, a song Bono didicated to his father, Brendon Robert Hewson, who died in 2001.

The Concert for me was a really refreshing time. I enjoyed screaming my head off and singing some of my favourites songs in the world. The set list was a good mix of newer songs and older numbers. I was really glad to go. The only song that really dissapointed me was The Fly, which is one of my favourite songs by U2, but it didn't sound as good live. I was so happy I didn't miss this concert. It was awesome!

The Next Morning when we woke up, the youngest member of the group got a call from her friends. From the phone call it sounded like the caller needed reassurances. The response from the girl was "Everything Will be Alright, Your going to U2!" Very cute response!

The Jesus I Never Knew Review

The Jesus I Never Knew – Book Review



Rediscovering the man Jesus in the Gospel is something that as a Christian I constantly seem to have to do, put behind my preconceptions and past impressions of Christ and look at him once again afresh. In Philip Yanceys The Jesus I Never Knew, I found a fresh rousing rendition of who Jesus is in ways that I have previously not understood. Yancey portrays to his readers a Jesus which is not as easy to pin down as many have come to conceive him and view him. Philip Yancey Portrays Jesus in a way that is radical and shows the radicalism of Jesus’ mission, life, death and resurrection. He does not let his past preconceptions tame who Jesus is, but allows his discoveries challenge himself and his readership to live in a different way.

It very much seems to me that Yancey writes from a journalist’s perspective. He wants to get some answers to the questions he has. He wants to discover who Jesus is and find out the truth from the scene of the crime. It is a very personal story of discovering who Jesus was and what Jesus means to Yancey now. Yancey has both shared in and rebelled against churches which have portrayed Jesus in different light to the reality. He is a recovered racist, fundamentalist etcetera who has wrestled with God. Many of the books he has written have been about his own disappointment with God – for example Where is God When it Huts?, and Disappointment with God this. Out of it you come challenged to learn more about Jesus and to apply Jesus’ teaching in your own life.’ I found the writing of Philip Yancey honest and refreshing. Last year I did a paper on Jesus and the Gospels and the Kingdom of God. As much as this was good, I found the Yancey’s book a lot less state than the academic study of Jesus I did at university. As much as I found the Jesus I read about last year was challenging, I found reading about Jesus in The Jesus I Never Knew even more compelling and more challenging than some of my past academic study.

I realised through this book how much more I need to find out about my saviour and Lord, I learned more about his radicalism and his radical message. I realised that my attempt to put Jesus in a box many a times through my systematic is probably not the best thing to do. Containing Jesus is not the thing to do. Its funny the things that Philip Yancey says about God and Jesus continue to shock and challenge my thinking. Some of the things that Yancey says seem incredibly heretical when you first read them, and then you understand they have an aspect of truth to them that you didn’t earlier realise about God. I picked up new and challenging ideas about God and the character of God through reading this book.

My favourite parts of the book were on the incarnation and on the Sermon on the Mount. In Yancey’s reflections on Jesus’ birth into the world I again began to marvel at the fact that God became man and lived on earth. God took a risk in becoming human. I found Yanceys insights into the incarnation of God very revealing.

I enjoy Philip Yancey’s mix of allegory, personal experience, biblical reflections, and dead guy’s reflections; it makes for an enjoyable reading and diverse experience. I particularly liked his reflections on the sermon of the mount. Like many he has struggled with the radical message of the sermon of the mount. I myself have struggled with the teaching and message that Jesus gives. Both because it is radical, and I don’t know how it plays out all the time, and I am continually challenged to play it out in my own. Philip Yancey devotes a lot of time talking about Jesus’ teaching. He talks about the truths behind both the ethical teaching and the blessing that he has seen on those peoples lives who live out the sermon.

As usual Philip Yancey devotes a large amount of time on his favourite subject. That is, grace, linking it to the issues behind the sermon of the mount. He believes that we can never fully follow the strict ethical teaching we find in the Sermon on the Mount. I think he is probably right in some ways. He talks about Tolstoy, a man who became obsessed with his inability to fulfil Jesus’ ethical teaching. The man tried to promote peace, but his own temper stopped that from being possible in his own life. Though his treatises on the sermon of the mount have inspired both Martin Luther King and Ghandi’s own pacifism and have seen the world changed in amazing ways. Both through Ghandi’s establishment of a free Indian Nation-State, and Martin Luther Kings fight for civil rights in America. Tolstoy himself obsessed over this fact, and fell into depression and sorrow because of this. He failed to realise that at the end of the day, we have to fall back on grace. We are not perfect yet, and because of that we have to rely on the love and goodness of God. We strive to build the kingdom, live in a way that honours God, which is shown through the sermon on the mount and many other passages in the bible, so that Gods Kingdom will be established on this earth.

I must admit that I found this an enjoyable and refreshing read. Yancey is very graceful in his writing, and I found the book challenging, and it God me thinking about a lot of stuff again. I don’t want to constrain Jesus, or put God into a box, because I don’t agree with that part of the character of God or Jesus. I still want to be challenged, to come and know my saviour and friend more fully. I want to have my heart broken by the things that broke the heart of Jesus. I want to be fired up against Sin, injustice, poverty, destruction of the environment, pain in people’s lives ecetera. I want to honour God and live to see his kingdom established on earth.

Time Magazines Interview with Katherine Jefferts Schori – A Response

The Episcopal Church Movement has elected Katherine Jefferts Schori as the new national leader for the Episcopal Church in America. I have numbers of problems with her appointment to the position, mainly for her support of the consecration of a Gay Bishop and for what she has recently said on Jesus not being the only way to heaven

In an interview with Time Magazine when asked “Is Belief the only way to get to heaven?” She Replied:

“We who practice the Christian tradition understand him as our vehicle to the divine. But for us to assume that God could not act in others way is, I think, to put God in an awfully small Box.”

Ok, I’m sorry to say this but that is just bollocks! Yes Jesus is the only way to heaven, and not because I say so but because it says so in the Bible, its not just in one place which is proof text, but is throughout the Bible.

John 3:16-21
John 14:6
John 10:7-10
John: 6:35-40
Acts 4:12
These are only a few places where it is said

Ah, if it is a small box that God is in, than its God who put himself into that box, not Humans. If there are many ways to God, then why did Jesus have to die on the cross for our sins? Couldn’t we just rely on Karma, and hope for the best that we have lived well in this life and we won’t come back as a fly or something else in our next life. I’m sorry but it just doesn’t work.

Christ says:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life and the life; no one gets to the father except through me” John 14:6

I don’t know what Schori is thinking but it seems she’s spent too much time reading “The 101 reasons why Universalism is the Shizz” instead of reading the Bible and finding out the 101 reasons why Universalism is a fraud and is going to lead you down the road to hell.

On another angle, I feel totally sorry for those within the Anglican Church who love God, and who want to see the Kingdom of God built on earth. Particularly the churches in developing nations, who know God and know the hardships of living out the faith in places where they are persecuted and risk life and limb for the truth of the Gospel. It undermines the Gospel, and the good work they are doing when others within the greater body are going off on the wrong track, preaching things that are wrong and are not biblical.

Another Problem I found with Schori is that throughout the whole interview with Time she only mentions Jesus once and that is not even that impressive. When asked “What will be your focus as head of the U.S. church?” She Replied:

“Our Focus needs to be on feeding people who go to be hungry, on providing primary education to girls and boys, on healing people with AIDS, on addressing tubuculosis and malaria, on sustainable development. That ought to be the primary focus”

Ok, don’t get me wrong, these are all great things, and as a Christian I believe that we should be passionate for social justice and helping improve peoples lot in life, But! But! But!

Where’s Jesus in this mission?

It seems that Schori and others have turned the Episcopal church in America into a liberal social club, rather than a group that puts Christ as their first priority and all the teaching of Christ and the Apostles in place (which does include caring for the sick and the needy). In the last couple of years the church leadership of the Episcopal movement also voted down a declaration that “Jesus is Lord” 70% to 30% because saying that type of stuff is not inclusive or ‘loving’ enough. If they keep on going like this, making poor theological discions; there are either two things are going to happen, the Episcopal church in America is going to split between those who proclaim Jesus is Lord and those who want to be inclusive, whatever goes, hippies, or the Episcopal church will die a long painful death because it fails to acknowledge Jesus as Lord, and the leadership of the church will be judged by God harshly for their decisions and poor teaching.

It seems to me that many in the Episcopal movement’s leadership see Liberal social objectives A what the kingdom of the God means, but the reality is that it is much bigger than just liberal social objectives. As Gary Shavey writes in another article about similar problems in the emerging church movement:“If one leaves out Jesus there really is no redemptive value or even purpose in Kingdom of God.” Jesus’ Life and teaching and mission is where all our further mission and action should flow from, it is our cornerstone. Anything else leads to shaky ground, shaky theology and bad decisions

Missions – A Glimpse of Heaven

I got an Email from one of my Russian Brothers in Christ on Thursday. It was awesome to receive an email from him as I had not heard from him in ages and I was having a really bad day and feeling kind of depressed. Anyway, in this email he said to me what he believes was the best moment together in Russia

You know the moment of that I remember best of all, when we were worshiping God together on the river bank in Ashan.

I have to agree with him on this. Worshiping God together in Ashan was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. I treasure the friendships I have with the Russians and the time I have spent with them and keep on praying for them and the journeys God is leading them on. Anyway back onto repeating this story.

For the first couple of days at Ashan, I suffered from not having any language and found the worship times really hard as the songs were in Russian and I couldn’t read the Russian Language at all ( I still can’t read Russian that much and my Russian is Ploika). Anyway at one of the worship sessions in Russia I had an epiphany. I realised that we could worship God and that it could cut past the cultural barrier. Especially with the songs that were translated in English to Russian or the really fun simple songs like the la la la la la song. It showed us what we had in common. I came to realise that in worshiping we were participating in a version of heaven on earth. In The reason is that we were both from two different countries, backgroundss, languages, and we were worshipping the same God. This for me this is a glimpse of what heaven will be like. In Revelations it says

Then they sang a new song, "You are worthy to receive the scroll and open its seals, because you were killed. And with your own blood you bought for God people from every tribe, language, nation, and race.
(Rev 5:9)


Mission has the aim of bringing “the nations into the white hot enjoyment of God's glory.” (John Piper) In many ways I felt that this was one of the most spiritual moments of my life. Its funny because many would see the times which are sensationalised, quite overdone. But for me it was the occasion where I discovered a profound truth. Seeing what the aim is of our life is on earth. To see people come to know Jesus, worshiping for him and living for him passionately.

Something else about heaven, we are going to see the end of hate, pain, suffering war. Imagine it. Peace will be finally achieved between once warring tribes. Hutus and Tutsis, Irish Catholics and Protestants, etc, etc, will be worshiping the same God in heaven. They will at last get past their differences, and actually get to see the similarities between one enough (they both know God, and have been changed by his love and grace.)

When I went back to Russia this year, one of the things I really looked forward to was the times of worship. Because of the glimpse of heaven I was able to see in these times.

Vocational Aptitude Tests - Jesus' Disciples

I stole this from someone else. I think its pretty cool.

It seems to me that God likes to choose people who seem useless so he can show how awesome his power is. He doesn't need people who have been well trained, highly skilled, with perfect speach and reason. All he needs are people who are willing to say "I want to be you hands and your feet and I will go where you send me," He does the rest! We aren't expected to be perfect, but we are expected to go out into the world and show people the love of God.

TO: Jesus, Son of Joseph, Woodcrafters Carpenter Shop, Nazareth
FROM: Jordan Management Consultants, Jerusalem

Dear Sir,Thank you for submitting the resumes for the twelve men that you have picked for management positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests, and we not only run the test through our computer, but also arranged for personal interviews for each of them with our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultants. The profiles of all test are included, and you'll want to study each of the carefully.As part of our services for your guidance, we make some general comments. It is the staff's opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education, and vocational aptitudes for the type of enterprise you are undertaking. They do not have the team concept. We would recommend that you continue your search for persons of experience in managerial ability and proven capabilities.

Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The two brothers--James and John--the sons of Zebedee, place personal interests above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale. We feel it our duty to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus definitely have radical leanings and they both registered a high score on the manic-depressive scale.

One of the candidates, however, shows great potential. He's the man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind, and has contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious, and responsible. We recommend Judas Escariot as your comptroller and right-hand man. All of the other profiles are self-explanatory.

Sincerely, Jordan Management Consultants

Hard to Believe Review

I was not looking forward to reading John McArthurs Hard to Believe when it was given to me by Sym, and it has proved to be quite a frustrating book to read. For numbers of reasons. But it also had numerous good points about it.

Reading this book I was reminded with a point from some Americans evangelising in New Zealand through campus crusade. This book is written to a particular audience and to a particular situation. It is written into a culture, particularly the America where going to church in many states equals a way of life. Particularly those who go along to church do it because it is part of the culture and they do not know what it means to be a true Christian. It is written also written as no-nonsense response to those who try to water down the gospel and make it more acceptable to society, and keep numbers of church attendance up. Those who teach that the if you have Jesus all will be well and good. The reality is much different. As a Christian you will be persecuted, you will be forced to live a life of self-denial and change how you live.

The awesome thing about John McArthur is his commitment to the Gospel and teaching the Gospel. He has amazing bible knowledge and that he contends for the gospel with such force. He is uncompromising in his approach, and believes that there is only one way to heaven. He knows so much, and is a great expositor of the bible. I have met few people who have knowledge of the bible like him and can explain what the bible meansin such an authorative way. John McArthur is right to say Christianity is a hard path. It costs much to be a Christian and to live passionately for Jesus Christ.

But I have a number of Issues with John McArthurs book…

Even though I believe that there is only one way to heaven through Jesus Christ. I think that John McArthur ‘narrow’ doorway into the Kingdom means that the eye of the needle has shrunk even smaller than what Jesus was talking about. He seems to have shrunk the eye of a needle to a pinprick. I think this results from the fact that it seems that he makes it sound like if you are still sinner than you cannot be a Christian. While he does not underestimate the total depravity of humanity, I sometimes think John McArthur underestimates total goodness and the grace of God. I found it very interesting in his example of John the Baptist he excluded the piece if the story in which the uncompromising man of God doubted that Jesus was the Lord he had been proclaiming throughout his ministry that the Messiah would come and declared that Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus got a message from John saying "Are you the one we should be looking for? Or must we wait for someone else?" (Matt 11:3) John even though he had spent so much time declaring the message that the messiah had come had become discouraged in prison, he needed reassurance that Jesus was lord. Jesus gracefully replied and reassured him Jesus answered, "Go and tell John what you have heard and seen. The blind are now able to see, and the lame can walk. People with leprosy are being healed, and the deaf can hear.The dead are raised to life, and the poor are hearing the good news. God will bless everyone who doesn't reject me because of what I do." (Matt 11:4-5) John was a prophet and the greatest prophet in the scriptures, he had spent his life preaching and prophesying, but he was also human, and was prone to doubt. Even though it seems he was a very spirit filled and spirit led man. John’s humanity reveals that there are no superhumans, we all needs Gods grace as much as the other and rely on the saving love of God, no matter what.

I think that is what the book by John McArthur lacks, for all its worth, is grace. It talks a lot about the hard road of the Gospel, and this is important, as many people leave this part out, but talking about the struggle of faith and living as a Christian without talking about grace does a disservice to the bible. I think it is as bad as sugar-coating the Gospel. The Gospel has a whole other side that he does not talk about in this book. All the humans in the bible have their struggles with doubts and sin. All the men of faith had their limps, and things that they could look on and not be proud of in their Journeys through their lives. Look at Paul, the greatest missionary whoever lived and writer of many of the letters we find in the New Testament who said the he was the worst of all sinners (1 Tim 1:15). I would like to see John McArthur saying how he has struggled, and continues to struggle to get it right. Because I know I still sin, I hate it, and I struggle with it constantly. I still doubt, and have issues with my faith. But I know through the grace of God that I’m saved, and I live passionately to see his will done on earth. I want people to come to know God, and fall in love with him and follow his will on earth. I believe that Jesus is lord and I will contend for that passionately no matter the cost.

I want to end on a better note; this book is challenging and was making me think through the whole reading of it. It challenged me to know my bible, and to learn more scripture, and to spend more time with God. It challenged me to have a heart for the gospel and spreading it throughout the world and live passionately and see that Gods will is done on this earth. I just want to do it in a way that doesn't compromise the Gospel, shows compassion and is relevant to the situation I live in. I don't beleive that is a sin.

Who said Body Piercing was a Sin?

Discipleship and Faith

Lately I've been really challenged on how I live as a christian. I beleive that Jesus Christ is lord of my life and that he died for my sin and I want to live a life that puts him in the drivers seat of my life. For me this means a number of important things.

1) I want to reach out to those around me. Proclaiming the truth of the Gospel with my words and my actions.

2) I want to see people catching the fire that I have for the Gospel.

Both points are important for me, and frankly at times I'm crap at both these thing.

In my cell group tonight, one person asked why people did not seem to be doing anything in thier lives. I became very self-righteous in my thought and thought to my-self "Maybe they should think about whether they are a christian or not".

I then realised that maybe this wasn't the right response. Considering how lacking I can be on this point myself. I can be rather timid at times in how I share the Gospel.

We were talking about this and it occured to me that there was a solution for this plight I was having. It is that instead of sitting on my ass, being Judgemental, it is better to solve the problem. When we someone struggling along in thier faith we should be there to help our brother or sister out. We should be willing to pray, to listen, offer guidance and if when suitable rebuke.

God wants us to be teaching one another, sharing in the lives of those around us. We are not individuals on the journey. We are a community of beleivers, sharing in the same goal, to see people come to know Jesus.

I know when I've shared my struggles with others and they have offered me advice I have seen change in growth. The challenge for me in the comming while is to be proactive and available for those around me who are struggling. I want to see people grow closer to God, to love him more passionately, to come into deeper relationship with Jesus, and live for him with enthusaism. This can only be done by spending time with people, praying for them, and being an example of christ to those God gives me spiritual responsibility for. This is a challenging road and one that can not be taken lightly.

Fossilized CD Release Party

My Brother Joshua's Band (Fossilized) is having a CD Release Party
It is on the 28 October 2006 at 7.30 PM
@ the Wesley Church Old Hall Taranamki St
Tickets are $4 for entry and $15 for entry and CD
They also have an EP for sale for $5

Come, They are a great band with awesome talent!

Parachute Artists 2006

The Last Artists for 2006 have just been released

They are
Thousand Foot Krutch.

Followed By
Third Day, Falling Up. Rebecca St James, Hawk Nelson, Shawn McDonald. Also kiwi bands Detour180 & The Lads, Nesian Mystic and Spacifix

Sounds like an ok lineup. But I'm dissappointed neither Switchfoot or Pillar are coming

The Petition just keeps growing

Since I blogged Yesterday the online petition agianst labours validating legislation has increased to 27683 people and is the fastest growing online petition in the world which is truly astounding for a country of only four million people!

This again shows how arrogant labour was for passing this legislation without going through the right channels.

It also shows how democratic New Zealanders, and the desire they have to see the democratic system of New Zealand upheld