I will be gone for a week

I have decided to fast from the internet for a week. And from tv.

I have the feeling I need to prioritze prayer and the scriptures for a while so this is my attempt. I would encourage you, whether you are a person of faith or not, to consider fasting with me. Give up something that takes a considerable amount of time, and focus on something worthy of more careful consideration.

I will be writing though so hopefully I'll have something worth sharing when I return. If I am not forgotten by then :)

the rev

This Sunday

We talked about family today. We talked about our own families, and we talked about God's family, and we talked about our church family. Our particular church family is a group of people out in the western suburbs of Melbourne. We meet for dinner on Thursday nights, and for breakfast and some worship stuff on Sunday morning. We can now fill a lounge room, and since there isn't much room for more, we are planning on becoming two groups very soon.

I think that is why thinking of family, and thinking of each other as family was important this week. The thing is, for many, our flesh and blood families are not what we would like them to be. Many of us have lost our families, through death, divorce, or other extremely painful things. Yet there seems to be this innate desire to be family, to be loved and accepted, even by those close to you. This desire is so strong we often find people going back to horrible abuse, because...

its my family.

Well I wonder if I might say something a bit extreme. Jesus is looking for people to be family to those that are suffering, those that are outcast, the poor, the marinalized, the rejected. We might be much more comfortable sending some money, and staying family with others more like ourselves. But I am being drawn continually to go beyond my natural tendencies, being drawn to follow Jesus example. And to truly become a brother to those that maybe don't smell as nice, maybe don't have the best use of their minds, maybe have some horrible addictions or other issues. They sometimes do need money, but they always need family.

One thing I know, families hurt. And another thing I know, thats okay, do it anyways. For the family of God, embraces Jesus, in the least of these.

the rev

Scriptural "what the?" part three

¹On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, ²and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."

⁴"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come."

⁵His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

⁶Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.^[a]

⁷Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.

⁸Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."

They did so, ⁹and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside ¹⁰and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."

¹¹This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

Okay, so not only does Jesus make water into wine, for a wedding where they had already been drinking quite a bit of wine already. But he uses the jars for ceremonial washing. The religious washing fonts. In other words, Jesus is using their religious instruments to make alcohol. And he said a few minutes earlier that it was not yet His time. But wait, he then makes how much? Over a hundred and twenty gallons, for my Aussie mates, thats heaps. Oh, and it is really really good stuff as well.

WHAT THE?

the rev

Art show this Saturday

Hello my friends. Please Join the Red Network at our October Art show REDart. This is a group show featuring the art of Red and their friends. I will have a number of pieces up, as well as many others.

For more information see the ad at www.red.org.au

It will be in South Melbourne and the reception starts at 6pm

Or email me for more info pinnedagain2001@yahoo.com

thanks

the rev

Scriptural what the? part 2

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

¹Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. ²Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."

³At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!"

⁴Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? ⁵Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? ⁶But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." ⁷And the man got up and went home. ⁸When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.

Now look at verse two, when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "your sins are forgiven" Now hold on, who's faith? By the faith of the friends that carried the man to Jesus. How does that make sense?

Makes you go "what the?"

the rev

Scriptural "what the?" part one

The Sheep and the Goats

31″When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34″Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37″Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40″The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

41″Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44″They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45″He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46″Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life"


So Jesus in the judgement says we will be judged not by how we believe, not by how righteous we were, but by how we treated others. How does this sit with our current evangelical mindset. We focus so much on believing the right things, or even doing the right things. But here it seems to be not so much about morals, or theology, but people, and how we recognize Jesus in those that surround us.

things that make you go hmmmmm

the rev

Got to bowl yesterday

I took one wicket for twenty runs off five overs. I was dropped once, and we just missed a stumping on the second ball of my second over, so I am pretty happy. Especially since the conditions were a nightmare for a spin bowler. Wet, cross wind, and mats. My teamate said when I let go of the ball you could see the water spinning off of it. Not easy to keep control of a wet ball.

I love playing, even if it means standing all day in the freezing rain, and howling wind.

the rev

The nerdy kid that got picked last

Well that was me on Saturday. I was the kid that they didn't want on the team but tried to let him play because he was so enthusiastic. It was still lots of fun, but I could tell they put me where they thought I could do the least damage. I am not used to being that guy, I am used to being the guy that gets picked in the first couple of picks, and is expected to win the game for you. To be honest, it doesn't make me feel very good, nor feel good about the kids that had to suffer this treatment in school.

The batted me 11th which is fair enough. I don't bat real well, and don't actually enjoy it that much. I came in and faced three balls, I got bat on ball each time. Actually played a shot once. But scored no runs. And them my partners wicket was taken the next over. So atleast I didn't get out. Maybe next week I can score a run.

They put me at square leg, after instructing the bowlers to bowl off or outside off, which means I wasn't supposed to get much action. But I did get to make a few stops, one was a full length dive that stopped a sure four. So they were happy about that. But they never gave me the ball. I was a bit bummed about that. The wind was blowing a bit and I know if the could have bowled into the wind my balls would have been dipping and bouncing and causing all kinds of problems. If they stayed on the pitch ofcourse :)

I think my best contibution to the team was every once and a while I would put on my thickest california surfer accent and call out, "take a wicket dude" I think that broke the batsmens concentration a bit, cause the first time we took a wicket a few balls later.

Anyways, I will be practicing harder than ever. I want to work my way up to number 9 on the batting list, and atleast get a few overs before the season ends.

the rev