Adrenaline junkie. Me?

Ha! No. I'm not! I took the test and I passed (kind of).

So there!

Calm down, heart!

Be gone, weekly mild depression!

Hush! Voices who tell me to switch off my computer and sleep more!

I'm good. The ten question test tells me so!

Q&A pain and Sydney's new Archbishop

I watched some of Q&A last night. It was painful. Fred Nile was up against atheist astrophysicist Laurence Krause, Amanda Vanstone and Susan Ryan with only openly gay bishop Gene Robinson to help him. It was awful. Fred did his best and tried to keep Jesus on the agenda, but he was way out of his league.

It made me think. Of course I'm not an Anglican and I'm 3000km from Sydney, but it is really important that Sydney gets a good Archbishop who is not out of his league in that context.

Here's what I think we need.

1. A Christian who loves talking about Jesus.
2. A really clever Christian who loves talking about Jesus.
3. A really clever Christian who has a deep and broad understanding of Christian theology and ethics and who loves talking about Jesus.
4. A really clever Christian who is humble and gracious and who has a deep and broad understanding of Christian theology and ethics and who loves talking about Jesus.
5. A really clever Christian who doesn't present as a fundamentalist, who is humble and gracious and who has a deep and broad understanding of Christian theology and ethics and who loves talking about Jesus.

Please God?

Secular gospel singing

On Friday night, my friend Esther and I went to a gospel singing workshop run by Tony Backhouse. It was great. There were 100 of us and we basically just stood around and sang in 4 part harmonies for 2 hours. It was a buzz. Tony taught us a couple of simple African American Songs (we did this arrangement of This Heart Of Mine.) Then we had a free improvisation session where we had to close our eyes, listen to eachother and improvise on a repeated (spiritual sounding) line. (I think we would have sung that line for 10 or 15 minutes.) Then we learned a South American 'Hallelujah' song.

It was inspiring and moving and good fun. Everyone got really into it. It was just like being in a pentecostal church. But with one difference. No one claimed to believe a word of what they were singing. Everyone sung 'The Lord done change this heart of mine!' with passion and conviction, but possibly only Esther and I believed it.

It made us reflect on a few things.

1. Group singing is a buzz. It's a great gift from God. It gets the endorphins pumping. It's an emotional rush. It bonds a group of people together.

2. A good leader gives everyone confidence to sing their hearts out. But it's not just about singing skill - it's about leadership. You need to draw everyone in, teach them, make them feel secure and encourage them with your voice and body language. We need to pray for people who can do that in church.

3. Singing is not a particularly christian thing. Anyone can have a 'spiritual' moment while singing. Except it's not a 'spiritual' moment. It's a natural thing.

4. Passionate singing in church isn't necessarily a sign of any great spirituality. If a group of non church people can sing gospel sings like we heard the other night, singing well is clearly not about faith.

5. It's easier to get into a song when you sing it 20 or 25 times in a row.

Thoughts?

Things that get my goat #243

Admitting to God (in prayers at church) that "we are not perfect."

"Sorry God, I didn't quite reach the 100% you desire. I'm sitting on a 98 average."

Um. No.

Super Carrot Anthem

I’m super carrot

I am coming

I can see from far away

I’m super carrot

I know you need me

I will come and save the day

Watch me fly, my rockets blazing

Watch me zoom up to the stars

See, I circle all the planets

Land again on Mars

Yay Yay Yay!

I went and spoke to the Art HOD this morning.

A misunderstanding.

They wanted Joel very much but thought he wanted music more than art.

Joel has a place at x High School in 2014 in their specialist art program! We are thankful to God. He has had a very upset year so far. Much grief over leaving Brisbane and friends and family. Much anxiety. This program was the one thing Cairns had that our local high schools in Brisbane didn't.

Thanks for your prayers.

Eurovision

I loved it. A thoroughly enjoyable weekend.

My favourite two acts got first and second!

Syd Ang Archbishop Election

I know that Cairns is a long way from Sydney and that I'm a communion card carrying Presbyterian, but I'm really interested in the Sydney Anglicans' Archbishop elections. A few reasons.

1. I have so enjoyed hearing gospel centred, sensible Christian comments on current events by the out going Archbishop, Peter Jensen. It makes it easier to be a Christian when there's a voice in the media saying good stuff. I can watch Q and A with my mum and say, "I like what he said. What do you think?" Not so much when the Christian on telly is a right wing raving fundy or a wishy washy liberal or a confused Catholic. Even though I'm not from Sydney or an Anglican, I've felt that the Sydney Anglican Archbishop has spoken for me more than anyone else. So I'm interested in who the next one will be.

2. Andrew and I went to Moore College. We feel indebted to and connected with the Sydney Anglicans even though we've not lived there for 11 years. We know people, we read stuff, we care what happens.

3. I find politics of any sort interesting. (I loved the US election last year! I'm hoping our federal one this year is good (not looking great so far.)) Church politics are interesting too. Both of the guys who are nominated are good candidates. They are gospel loving men with various strengths and weaknesses. I'm fascinated by the non-campaigns that are happening. I have my opinions.

Anyway, here's a prayer.


Sovereign Lord,

As we talk about this election and as the Synod votes, please make our greatest desire not that 'our man' will be elected, but that your Kingdom will advance. Please provide Sydney with an Archbishop who is passionate for the cause of the gospel, who loves you and who is skilled to lead the diocese in proclaiming your word to the world, compelling the lost to seek you, and your people to love and serve you whole heartedly. We are convinced that [candidate x] is the best person for the job but we know that you see what we can’t see. In the coming weeks please guide the process so that the right person is elected. As we speak for our candidate, guard our lips from lies, half truths and slander. Let those who vote see the strengths and weaknesses of both candidates clearly. Help them cast their votes, not on party lines, but on thoughtful and prayerful consideration. Please equip whichever candidate is elected, so that your church is strengthened and more people come to honour the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Amen.

Good news, bad news

Good news. Joel got into the high school that he applied for.

Bad news. He got in on music entry rather than art entry.

Joel is disappointed. Music entry = no art. Art entry = Art + extra curricula music.

The music department is pretty powerful in this school and they want him (the teachers told me that - he has a nice tone on his bass clarinet). I need to talk to the art teachers and see if they wanted him but got steamrolled by the music dept (quite possible).

This comes at the end of a really tough week. Prayers appreciated.

Let the NAPLAN marking begin!

“For in Calormen, story-telling (whether the stories are true or made up) is a thing you're taught, just as English boys and girls are taught essay-writing. The difference is that people want to hear the stories, whereas I never heard of anyone who wanted to read the essays.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia

Please....

... don't write a bio of yourself describing yourself as a 'homeschooling mother' (unless the article is about homeschooling or parenting or education.)

If you have published an article about gardening or electrical circuits or geriatric health we don't need to know that you homeschool your kids. It's irrelevant. I can't think of any good reason why you would put it in.

[end rant.]

the top 5%, concerns and responsibility

I enjoyed Maca's review of Leading On Empty - a book about pastoral burnout. I'm looking forward to reading it. 

A couple of thing stood out as requiring some thought.

1. The Top 5%

Maca says:

[The author] pushes us to identify the top 5% of life. Cordeiro argues that 85% of what we do, anyone can do. These are the things that don’t require any expertise, and many of them can be easily delegated. 10% of what we do, someone with some training should be able to accomplish. But 5% of what I do, only I can do. This is the most important 5% for me. This 5% will determine the effectiveness of the other 95%. Now we could argue the figures, but the overall point stands. We need to work out what our 5% is, and let this get first priority.

I like this. Wondering if it relates to people other than ministers. What do I do that could be delegated to others. What is my top 5%?

But if everyone had this as a rule and prioritised their top 5%, would dog jobs ever get done? There are some tasks involved in running a church that everyone finds tedious. Do we just push these tasks further down the chain of command? 

2. Concern vs Responsibility

A major issue was recognising the difference between a concern and a personal responsibility. Concerns are things we should pray about, and then leave them with God. If we treat them as responsibilities we end up trying to carry the world on our shoulders. Responsibilities are the things that only I can accomplish. They cannot be delegated, ignored, or dumped off onto someone else.

This is helpful, but there are some things that many are 'concerned' about, but no one takes responsibility for. I'm concerned that a whole lot of women in our church aren't getting the pastoral care and bible teaching that they need. How do I know if this is my responsibility? My plate is pretty full at the moment but it could be emptier if I ditched some other things (perhaps like reading and thinking time which I value highly). I guess with this one I can pray about and wait and see.

Wait... a name change...

Now it's Palmer United Party.

Clive's name makes this political party even more marketable to the Australian population.

Is Palmer so delusional as to think he has a chance in the next election, or as Anthony suggested, is this just one big tax evasion?

United Australia Party

Wow! The UAP! With quality people like Peter Slipper on board, it's hard to imagine that this party won't be a massive force for the good of our country!

Singing assessment?

I had an interesting chat with someone yesterday about whether it's fair to mark kids on their singing ability. It was in the context of year 1 report writing.

The arguments against it were:
1. Not everyone can sing, and
2. Kids might be too shy/nervous to sing in front of the class for assessment.

In my prep and year 1 classes, I keep a close check on who is singing in tune in group and solo situations. It is certainly part of my assessment of the kids because:

1. In tune singing is a learned skill. (I think this is what many people don't understand.) I'm teaching it in much the same way that classroom teachers teach kids maths. I start at the beginning and break it down. Certainly some kids are more natural than others, but all can (should!) learn. I will assess what I am teaching to monitor how well the kids are learning.
2. Kids have to stand up and speak in front of their classmates from the start for English assessment. If they get used to singing in front of others as well when they are little, it won't be such an issue later on. I want singing to be normal. This week I had 150 preps sing by themselves in front of their classes. Only 2 of them wanted to just sing softly into my ear. We shouldn't project our hangups onto kids. (I may have had stickers to use as added incentive!)

At this stage of the year, I'm basically dividing kids into 3 groups:

A = Child basically sings in tune
B = Child shows understanding of pitch differentiation (e.g. So is higher than Mi) but singing is not always in tune.
C = Child struggles to differentiate pitches a lot of the time (C- kids sing with a speaking voice)

Of the 120ish prep kids I listened to this week, I had 33 singing somewhere in category A, 54 in category B, and 35 in category C. I noted that 6 kids may have underachieved because of nerves.

Thoughts from parents, other music teachers...

Viola one year update

I've been playing my viola for a year now. I had the idea of learning a new instrument when Andrew and I first started thinking about moving to Cairns. It was kind of my happy thought. My initial plan was to start learning when we moved up here. Something to help fill in the long empty days. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to start learning straight away. A friend offered me her viola, I bought a bow and started learning just after Easter last year.

Here are a few observations about being an adult viola student.

1. String instruments are really technical. Before I had any lessons, I taught myself to play a few songs. I shouldn't have. It took the first month of lessons to undo my mistakes. I was holding the bow completely wrongly and I'm not sure I was doing anything right with my left hand. Tamsyn, my fabulous Brisbane teacher, worked very hard on my bow hold and by the time I arrived in Cairns it was  reasonably 'secure'. That was after 9 months! My new teacher spent the first three months of this year getting my left hand working decently - and it's not like I didn't do any left hand stuff in Brisbane! So basically I've spent a whole year learning to hold the instrument. If I had known there was so much to even the basics, I'm not sure I'd have been brave enough to start. But I'm glad I did.

2. My progress has been slower than I imagined it would be (I'll be doing a grade one exam mid year) but I've had to learn to trust the teacher with this. She is all for not cutting corners. There's no value in rushing ahead and playing difficult pieces badly. But I am progressing and while I'm only doing a grade one exam, I'm sounding much better than I imagined I would.

3. As an adult learner I know how to work hard. Intrinsic motivation has come with age. I know that the more I practice, the better I will play.

4. The viola is a big and heavy instrument. And mine is only 15.5 inches - medium sized, as violas go! My left hand knuckles feel different now. They can stretch quite a bit further a part and ache a little. If I was a kid, I think it would hurt less.

5. The alto clef is still a dog. If I was younger, I think I would have internalised it better. I can play it fine, but don't ask me to name the notes. I just know that a note on the middle line means 3 fingers down on the g string.

6. I'm really glad that I spent a lot of money on my viola and bow. Hearing it's rich dark tone is such a motivation. If it was a flute or clarinet, a beginner model would have been fine. But with string instruments, quality really matters - especially for adults. I love my viola. I love my bow. When I decided to learn, I had no idea how much more expensive violas were than violins. I'm glad I didn't!

7. I love technical exercises because they work! Throw some sevcik at me! I don't care how boring it is - it's like eating vegetables. I know that it's good.

8. Sometimes I question why I'm learning viola. Is it selfish? Is it a waste of money? I can already play other instruments. Should I be doing something for other people instead? Clearly, I'm not going to make a career out of viola playing... Then I decide that learning music because I want to learn music is a good thing. My kids probably won't make a career out of their instruments either, but I insist that they play because I know that it's good. It's fun. It's satisfying. It brings joy. Not everything needs to have a 'purpose'. (But I am looking forward to being good enough to play in an orchestra and in church. Not too far away, I hope!)

9. String players need to be a lot more perfectionistic than brass / woodwind players. Every little thing makes a difference. I'm a big picture person but I'm learning about details. I think this is good for me.

10. I love learning viola. I'm so glad I started. I'm thankful for my teachers (Tamsyn and Amy) who are brilliant players and so motivating.

The Hammer of God

I've just finished reading Bo Giertz' novel The Hammer of God: A novel about the cure of souls.

Set in Sweden in the early 1800s, the late 1800s and the 1930s, The Hammer of God is the story of how three Lutheran pastors each learn to rely on Jesus. Each is converted twice. The first conversion is an awakening from various forms of liberalism to the law, whereby they preach of the necessity of obedience. Their congregations experience mini-revivals and people embrace temperance and upright living. But after a while it's evident that something is lacking. Next the pastors experience an awakening to grace. Their revivals turn a corner in maturity, the pastors rediscover the liturgy and historic prayers of the church, stop talking about themselves so much and are actually able to help people.

It's a great book. You should read it. Here are a few thoughts.

1. This book is a tract. It's a novel, but the author's aim couldn't be clearer. He's not writing this primarily to tell us a story. He's writing it to make us understand that we are saved by grace and not works.  However....

2. This book is thoroughly engaging. The characters feel real - particularly Torvik, the third pastor, who many scholars say is modelled on Giertz himself. At the beginning of his story he is fairly unbearable- awkward, a bit pompous and taken with liberal theology. He mellows through his conversions, and you start to like him, though tend to agree with his wife who

"often thought that her husband was a bit theatrical with his violent way of making problems out of everything and his melancholy disposition to wrestle with the windmills."

3. This book puts fire in the belly. I was moved and motivated to pray and speak and step up in obedience.

One further thing. This book has made me wonder more (I was wondering already) if we set ourselves up to fail at prayer by disregarding the disciplines of previous generations and not using prayer books or pre-written formulas etc. On looking through a prayer book his friend left lying around for him to find,  Torvik (the third pastor) concluded:

Was not this the way he must go, if he should get away from this everlasting fluttering between vague feelings and hopeless inertia? If he were faithful in its use, such a framework of intercession would at least keep his prayer life from running dry, as it now so threatened to do.

He thought about it as he climbed the stairs. Was it not a fixed form, a settled pattern, that his spiritual life needed? Everything tonight had preached to him about the significance of the old heritage, about which the external Word and sound doctrine, which were not just a weapon with which orthodox fanatics fought one another, but rather a medicine for tortured souls and an antidote for one's own egoistic inventions. On top of it all, this little prayer book now came with its demand for a self-evident faithfulness and firmness also in prayer.

Thoughts?

Anyone read The Hammer of God?

West Wing Fans...

Here's a new TV series for you.

Borgen.

It's Danish. It will take you a little while to get used to the subtitles, but you really should watch it.

Wednesday night. SBS.

Or online.

Got an hour now? Give it a go.

Do leaders need to be good followers?

Mikey puts some interesting thoughts out there. He concludes:

Some people have skills in collaboration, support, anticipation, reflective listening, humility and so on that make them amazingly gifted followers. And some have temperaments that PREFER following. They are not necessarily more spiritual or godly, they just like being behind the scenes.
Some people are great at reflecting, analysing, synthesising, clarifying: they may overthink things and overcomplicated things in a way that makes them indecisive or clumsy as leaders - and yet they maybe be BETTER at explaining how great leaders do what they do.
Some people might struggle with leading things on their own, or struggle managing a small team - and yet be extraordinary at leading a team of leaders - or providing an even higher level visionary leadership. We would miss out on their unique high-level leadership skill set, if we required them to rise up through the ranks.

In a way, there's nothing controversial here. Different people have different gifts. But I find where it ends concerning.

Leaders don’t necessarily need to be good followers - except in one way. To be Christian leaders they need to be good followers of Jesus. It sounds very pious to point this out but I think it needs to be said because (as I’ve said before) some of the personality traits and practices that we value in ‘high level visionary leaders’ are contrary to the gospel. There is a ruthlessness, an drive to succeed at all costs, a lack of concern for the little people, an arrogance that is closer to narcissistic personality disorder than it is to godliness. 

The fierce imagination of some 'visionary' type leaders makes them very uncomfortable in a 2IC position or in a small church. But being an uncomfortable 2IC or small church pastor does not mean you should have your own bigger gig. Churches and christian organisations are notorious for letting s*** rise to the top.

So while I mostly agree with what Mikey's saying, caution is needed. If someone feels he is capable of greatness and the size of his current church/staff team is holding him back... I'd be asking questions. But people with NPD interview very very well, so I'd want to speak to everyone they've ever worked with.

Top 10 Psalms

Ps 2

⁴ He who sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord scoffs at them.
⁵ Then He will speak to them in His anger
And terrify them in His fury, saying,
⁶ “But as for Me, I have installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

Ps 19

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
⁸ The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
⁹ The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
¹⁰ They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.

ps 22

My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Far from my deliverance are the words of my  groaning.
² O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer;
And by night, but I have no rest.
³ Yet You are holy,
O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
⁴ In You our fathers trusted;
They trusted and You delivered them.
⁵ To You they cried out and were delivered;
In You they trusted and were not ^[f]disappointed.

ps 32

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
² How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit!

ps 37

Do not fret because of evildoers,
Be not envious toward wrongdoers.
² For they will wither quickly like the grass
And fade like the green herb.
³ Trust in the Lord and do good;
Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
⁴ Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.

ps 46

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
⁵ God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.

ps 62

My soul waits in silence for God only;
From Him is my salvation.
² He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.

ps 103

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
² Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
³ Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
⁴ Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
⁵ Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

ps 131

O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
² Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
³ O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.

ps 137

How can we sing the Lord’s song
In a foreign land?
⁵ If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
May my right hand forget her skill.
⁶ May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.

psalm 131 prayer

Loving Father,

As a child rests against his mother, I rest against you.
My understanding is small, but yours is great.
My arms are weak, but yours are strong.
My future’s uncertain, but you are Lord over eternity. 

I find my understanding in knowing you, 
my strength in trusting you, 
my hope in your promises.

Loving Father, my heart is anxious. Calm me. 
My soul is dark. Cleanse me.
My mind’s corrupt. Change me.

That I may be like your Son, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

scribble men

More Joel Pics

Monkey

Animal Tessellations

Caterpillar

Mr Kaleidoscope.

Flame Overkill Gun

Despite the subject matter, I like this one a lot. Joel did it on his computer.

Art Therapy

Here are some more pics that reveal as much about Joel's mental state as they do about his artistic ability...

This first one is called 'Stolen Hope'. Notice the little guy on the left running off with a bit of letter? What word is left? (Imagine you are dyslexic!)

This one is called 'The Stranger'. The dude is scared. 

Super Catralia

Joel's done lots of drawing of 'Catralia'. Here are a few. Can you find Joel in each pic? Can you work out what he's getting at? 

high school entry

Big day today. Joel (currently year 7) had his high school interview and audition day. We don't live in the (very small) catchment area for the high school we want him to go to. It's in town, right near church. We got Nathan (year 8) in on special music entry before we knew where we would be living. But the school has no sibling policy and so Joel has to get in on his own merits. There are many, many kids wanting out of zone entry and a limited number of places available.

Joel has had a hard time settling this year. He's been very anxious (about all sorts of things - most of which wouldn't have ever been an issue in Brisbane) and quite unhappy. But hearing about the possibility of a special art program at this high school brightened things considerably. If he gets in, he'll be part of an art extension class that gets 3x 70 min art lessons per week. How cool would that be! For the first time, his future in Cairns wasn't all gloom. But getting in is far from certain. Today he had to submit a portfolio of his art work. He had an interview where he had to talk about a few pieces and he had to do a still life drawing test.

Yesterday we stuck some of Joel's pics into a visual art diary. Most of his best stuff seems to be done on little bits of paper. All rather messy... But I felt there was enough there for the teachers to see his style and the fact that he has good ideas.

Apparently it went well. The teacher took lots of photos and said his work was the most original of all she had seen that day (not sure how many she had seen!) So we are hopeful.

He also auditioned for music entry on bass clarinet. His playing is okay and we wanted him to do this as a back up. But Joel doesn't want music entry. Music entry would mean he doesn't get to do any art at all (in yr 8). (And art entry means that he won't do classroom music - but at least he can still play in concert band etc.)

Joel will be pretty devastated if he doesn't get in. The move to Cairns has been really hard for him. This is the one thing he is looking forward to. If he doesn't get in, we'll reconsider our address. The thought of having our kids at three different schools is just too hard!

Four myths about extroverts.

Introverts often feel misunderstood. Every few weeks there's a new blog post or something up explaining introversion both to introverts who struggle to understand themselves, and to the extroverted world which seems to sits in judgement of them.

But I think there's at least as much misunderstanding of extroversion as introversion out there. I'm a thorough extrovert (according to the Myers Briggs tests) so people expect me to love small talk, think shallow thoughts (if any thoughts at all!), be the life of the party and in constant need of company.

Myths, baby. All of 'em. (Almost)

There's as much variance within extroversion as between an extrovert and an introvert.



Myth #1 - Extroverts like small talk.

The truth - Some do, some don't. Of the 8 Myers Briggs extrovert types, only 4 are into small talk. I have a friend who is a master of social chit chat. He delights in it. He can engage any random in a sparkling stream of nothing until, well, it's time to do something else! Good for him! Personally, I hate small talk. It's boring and we all know that there's nothing worse than being bored. I'd prefer to fast forward through the pleasantries and have a real discussion. Tell me what books you've been reading. Tell me what you've been thinking about!

Myth #2 - Extroverts don't think 'deep' thoughts.

The truth - Some do, some don't. Probably in much the same proportions as introverts. (Don't think an introvert is thinking deep just because he is quiet. His mind might be completely blank!) The difference is that extroverts will want to tell you about their 'deep' thoughts. And nothing makes deep thoughts seem not-so-deep, as saying them out loud. Try it! When you think you are thinking something 'deep', verbalise it. Record it on your phone and play it back to yourself the next day.

Myth #3 - Extroverts are the life of the party.

The truth - They can be. Not all will want to be. Some will try to be the life of the party and be the death of it instead. But without extroverts, there's probably not much of a party to start with so this myth is probably more than a myth.

Myth #4 - Extroverts aren't interested in time by themselves.

The truth - Some are, some aren't! Me, I need it and love it more than my introverted husband - but I take my cave time in places where I can see others (but they need to be strangers who won't talk to me!) and where there is a bit of noise and motion.

Okay misunderstood extroverts. What other myths can we bust?

kids talks on love

I'm helping out with kids talks in church this term.

The grown ups are looking at 1 Corinthians (up to the 2nd half) so we thought the kids could learn about love, which will kind of work in pretty well. We'll get up to the love is patient, love is kind bit around the same time they hit chapter 13.

But the framework we're taking isn't based around 1 Cor 13. It's based around 1 John 3:16. This is how we know what love is - Jesus Christ lay down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for one another.

For the first few weeks we're looking at God's love for us. After that, how we lay down our lives for one another. In the second bit we'll get to 1 Cor 13:4 etc. We lay down our lives by being patient, kind, not self seeking etc.

For the first 4 weeks our stories will be told using our puppet Lenny Cool.

Week 1 - Introduction. Jesus loves us. [Song - Jesus Loves Me This I Know]

Week 2 - Jesus doesn't love me because I'm good. [Song - He Overflows With Love.]

Week 3 - Jesus shows what love is by laying down his life for me. [Song - So Great Is Jesus' Love]

Week 4 - We copy Jesus and lay down our lives for one another. [Song - So Great Is Jesus' Love]

We've got heaps of ESL kids and so are trying to keep the talks really simple. Our kids feel like it's preschool stuff compared to what they've had before, but that's okay, it's not about them.

I thought I'd post up the talks in case anyone's interested. I know what it's like on a Saturday night to be cruising around the internet looking for inspiration... [Click here for talks 1 and 2. I've not written 3 and 4 yet!]

thoughts on organising your work?

Here.

Praying doubt

I spent a couple of hours today thinking about the issue of gay marriage and how we should pray about it. >95% of the time I'm absolutely convinced that God is against homosexuality. It's not what he intended for humanity and promoting it as a good option will be really bad for society. But there are other times when I doubt. Maybe homosexuality isn't that big a deal. Is the bible really that against it? It's hardly a major theme...

So today I wrote two prayers (posted below). I wrote the second one first (the one for me 95% of the time!) but as I was writing it a nagging voice in my head kept asking me what I should pray when I'm doubting. So I wrote another prayer for me on my doubting days.

A couple of people have commented on it - expressing some unease. I used corporate language (us, we etc). Was this prayer intended for church use? (Not particularly - I just used that form to make it match the other one.) The prayer doesn't seem to say one way or another if gay marriage is right. If it is for corporate use, shouldn't we be more definite about what the bible does say?

These prayers are for myself, but I'm interested in working up a prayer that could be used in church. I'd like to include something in it for the doubters. Any ideas?

Two prayers about gay marriage

Dear Father

Many of us are troubled by the so called ‘marriage equality’ debate. We're confused about what we should think. It seems right that people should be able to marry whoever they like. Do you really forbid it? Father please help us to look carefully at your word. Give us the honesty to read what it actually says and the courage to obey it - whatever it might say. Please make us people who desire you ahead of all other things. Please help us to live for you so that Jesus may be honoured in all the world.

Amen

Father,

Many of us are troubled by the so called ‘marriage equality’ debate. We’re convinced that homosexual marriage isn’t your will and we can only imagine bad consequences for our society if it's allowed. As we see our world march further away from you, some of us feel threatened, some are frightened, and some are confused. Please help us not to be anxious. Let us be confident that Jesus is king and know that you are in control of all things.

Please guide us as we participate in the debate. Give us courage to speak when when we ought to speak and wisdom to know when we should stay quiet. Give us a good understanding of the issues and let us speak with compassion and graciousness, clarity and winsomeness. Father, it’s in our nature to be proud and self-righteous. Please dig this out of us. Make us always remember our own sin and be eager to speak about Jesus and the forgiveness he offers us.

Father, please be merciful to our world. Spare us from the worst consequences of our disobedience. Please provide stable, loving homes where children can grow up happy and secure. Please help men and women in the next generations to avoid actions that will cause them long term harm. Give us, your people, hearts that want to obey you and the self control we need to follow through on our convictions. We ask that in whatever the future holds, we will continue to preach your gospel with power and conviction so that Jesus’ name is honoured in all the world.

Amen

sign #13 that you might be a narcissistic pastor

13. You brag about your smokin' hot wife.

You do this to:
a.) show other men that you are better than them because you scored a more attractive woman.
b.) indicate to other men that you are having more/better/kinkier sex than they are (even if they don't find your wife all that hot) so they should respect and envy you.
c.) remind your wife what she owes you. She exists for you. She better deliver.
d.) make every other woman in the room wonder (even for a moment) if greater sexual fulfilment could  be found in your arms...

Signs 1-12 here.

rock choir

I've got the go ahead to run a boys rock choir for year 7s. I talked it up at school yesterday and have heaps of boys keen. Now I just have to make it work... I want to start with an achievable song that's charted well (probably top 10) in the last two years. It needs to have a melody, uncrass lyrics and work with an unplugged sound.

I had thought of this, but would need a girl.




Ideas?

my shoulders hurt

Andrew and I did swimming squad training this morning. 1.5 hours. 3km. I want to play piano, but holding my arms up is awfully hard...

Saving Eutychus - Review

I’ve just finished reading Phil Campbell and Gary Millar’s book Saving Eutychus. It’s an excellent book. Easy to read, engaging, and more useful than any book on preaching I’ve encountered before. I think it should be compulsory reading for, well, everyone.

The great strength of this book is that it’s realistic about the fact that most preachers aren’t naturally all that great. The default is to be boring. It’s hard to find the big idea of a passage. Then it’s hard to craft a sermon around that big idea. It’s hard to maintain a clear chain of logic. It’s hard to script your talk so that it sounds like normal spoken language rather than an essay. It’s hard to deliver a talk in an energetic and engaging way. And it’s hard to move people’s hearts. Gary and Phil admit that for them, preaching well is an ongoing struggle. They give other preachers permission to admit that their own current efforts might not be all that successful. And they show them how to improve.

Here are 5 thoughts I’ve had after finishing this book.

1. The preaching skills taught in Saving Eutychus are equally applicable to giving good kids talk. A strong big idea that captures what the passage is saying. Logical progression. Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. Stories told in present tense. Varying pitch, pacing and volume to give ‘zing’ to the delivery... I’ll certainly be passing this book around to those involved in kids ministry.  Similarly to youth leaders and bible study group leaders and ...
2. I think women should be reading this book. Even if you only preach once a year, show kindness to your audiences and read this book.  A lot of us have trouble assessing our own scripts. Saving Eutychus gives a really useful talk analysis sheet. We should use it ourselves and then get friends to use it on our talks before we inflict them on crowds.
3. As a regular online sermon listener, I appreciated the warnings about being self indulgent and preaching your own ideas rather than what the passage is actually saying.
4. I like Phil and Gary’s line that if your congregation isn’t with you when you preach (because they are sleeping or counting the bricks) then it’s your preaching that’s at fault. No point blaming the congregation. It is hard to listen to boring stuff. Being a woman I usually give talks at craft evenings or events when the preaching isn’t the draw. It’s no use for me to feel cross if the women are more interested in their gingerbread house than the bible. My talk needs to distract them from their gingerbread house!
5. The magic of this book is that Phil and Gary manage to confront the preacher with his/her preaching inadequacies in a way that isn’t disabling. The reader isn’t confronted by a Big Preacher Man With His Stuff Together telling everyone else how to be as grand as him. It’s not like that.    Phil and Gary give practical tools that will make anyone a better preacher. The skills in this book will take many ministers from ‘not good enough’ to ‘good enough’, and many more from ‘good enough’ to ‘good’.

This book will be released in Australia really soon. We'll be buying 10 copies and giving them to everyone we know.

I'm writing a talk - help?

Talks to women need to conclude with a touching story about someone who has lived out the application point. Don't ask me why. It's just the genre.

I'm writing a talk about Mary and Martha (Luke 10) for a women's craft day next weekend. I've basically finished it but I'm all out of touching stories. I got nothing. The cupboards are bare.

Maybe you have one to spare?

Here's what I'm after: a story about a woman who is a modern day Mary - someone who puts listening to Jesus as her number one priority. Even better if she has to defy social norms to do it.

Ideas?

Do people listen to online sermons because their pastor's preaching sucks?

Stuart thinks so (see comment on Al's blog)

So I think it's right to make the effort each week to listen humbly (and to yearn/pray/work for a day when it's not such an effort) [to their pastor's preaching]. But I'm not convinced that all the blame lies with the listeners rather than the speakers (pace Christopher Ash) [for listening to big guys online].

So I hope that at some stage we can also have honest discussions about the quality of preaching in Australian evangelicalism — not just about our intention or our trying hard to deliver good sermons, but whether we actually achieve it. Sure, preaching elsewhere in the world has its problems (e.g. some preaching I've heard outside Australia has made only passing reference to the Bible). These are serious problems. But we're not responsible for those. I'd love for us to admit that we've got our own serious problems that we are responsible for. (That is, if my assessment's right. I'd be delighted to be shown that it's not!)

I'm not sure I agree. A few points.

1. Yes. Many sermons suck. Many preachers habitually write and deliver very poor sermons. The exegesis is not insightful or even thorough. The writing is illogical and wandery. The language is dull dull dull. The application is predictable and the overall effect is sleep inducing. 

2. Most pastors don't naturally have the personality to hold a congregation's attention for any length of time. With careful training, experience and continued hard hard hard work, many can learn to do it anyway. (I'm currently reading this book which I think should be required reading for everyone who ever stands up in a pulpit.) Some will always struggle.

3. Most of the big guy online preachers that the masses are drawn to are just natural communicators and inspirers. They could have been stand up comics or company directors or cult leaders or military dictators. They love the limelight. The come alive on stage. Some of them teach the bible as well. Bully for them, but don't imagine that is normal in any way.

4. I suspect a lot of people listen to online sermons for a buzz. You want something to shake you out of your mid-life christian stupor. You want to recreate some definitive christian experience from your past - maybe a uni camp or something. There's nothing wrong with this, but the harder gig is obedience when there's no buzz.

5. I suspect a lot of people just listen to sermons because they like noise. It's not about any inadequacy in church preaching, it's just the christian equivalent to listening to the radio. I'm an extravert. I like to hear voices around me and hearing John Piper is more edifying than SeaFM.