Prayer for the Day...

Psalm 25, verse 16-18

Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.

Relieve the troubles of my heart
and free me from my anguish.

Look on my affliction and my distress
and take away all my sins.

Amen.

From the "That's rich coming from you..." file:

NRL chief executive David Gallop has put the heat on the IRB regarding the defection of Sonny Bill Williams move to French Rugby powerhouse, Toulon for what seems to be a 2-year contract worth around $3.9 million.

Gallop believes Williams' defection could damage both codes, that the IRB needs to take a stand against this form of "...international piracy..." lest it cause instability among both Rugby League and Union.

I can only assume his concern was for both codes because my question to Mr. Gallop is this, where was you concern for "Both Codes" back in the 90's when many top All Blacks were drawn to Rugby League because of the top dollar being offered?

Darker with the Day

Finding comfort in song... no coincidence that he last two songs have been dirges...


As so with that, I thought I'd take a final walk
The tide of public opinion had started to abate
The neighbours, bless them, had turned out to be all talk
I could see their frightened faces
peering at me through the gate

I was looking for an end to this, for some kind of closure
Time moved so rapidly, I had no hope of keeping track of it
I thought of my friends who had died of exposure
And I remembered other ones who had died from the lack of it

And in my best shoes I started falling forward down the street
I stopped at a church and jostled through the crowd
And love followed just behind me, panting at my feet
As the steeple tore the stomach from a lonely little cloud

Inside I sat, seeking the presence of a God
I searched through the pictures in a leather-bound book
I found a woolly lamb dozing in an issue of blood
And a gilled Jesus shivering on a fisherman's hook

Babe
It seems so long
Since you've been gone away
And I
Just got to say
That it grows darker with the day

Back on the street I saw a great big smiling sun
It was a Good day and an Evil day and all was bright and new
And it seemed to me that most destruction was being done
By those who could not choose between the two

Amateurs, dilettantes, hacks, cowboys, clones
The streets groan with little Caesars, Napoleons and cunts
With their building blocks and their tiny plastic phones
Counting on their fingers, with crumbs down their fronts

I passed by your garden, saw you with your flowers
The Magnolias, Camellias and Azaleas so sweet
And I stood there invisible in the panicking crowds
You looked so beautiful in the rising heat
I smell smoke, see little fires bursting on the lawns
People carry on regardless, listening to their hands
Great cracks appear in the pavement, the earth yawns
Bored and disgusted, to do us down

Babe
It seems so long
Since you've been gone
And I
Just got to say
That it grows darker with the day

These streets are frozen now. I come and go
Full of a longing for something I do not know
My father sits slumped in the deepening snow
As I search, in and out, above, about, below

Babe
It seems so long
Since you went away
And I
Just got to say
That it grows darker with the day

(Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - 2001)

Transcript from the only real James Bond...

From Goldfinger, Sean Connery as James Bond.

Bond: Felix! How are you?
      Dink, meet Felix Leiter.

Dink: Hello!

Bond: Felix, say hello to Dink.

Felix: Hi, Dink.

Bond: Dink, say goodbye to Felix.

Dink: Hmm?
      
Bond: Uh, Man-talk.

[Slap!] 

Oh My God

Oh my God, look around this place
Your fingers reach around the bone
You set the break and set the tone
Flights of grace, and future falls
In present pain
All fools say, "Oh my God"

Oh my God, Why are we so afraid?
We make it worse when we don't bleed
There is no cure for our disease
Turn a phrase, and rise again
Or fake your death and only tell your closest friend
Oh my God.

Oh my God, can I complain?
You take away my firm belief and graft my soul upon your grief
Weddings, boats and alibis
All drift away, and a mother cries

Liars and fools; sons and failures
Thieves will always say
Lost and found; ailing wanderers
Healers always say
Whores and angels; men with problems
Leavers always say
Broken hearted; separated
Orphans always say
War creators; racial haters
Preachers always say
Distant fathers; fallen warriors
Givers always say
Pilgrim saints; lonely widows
Users always say
Fearful mothers; watchful doubters
Saviors always say

Sometimes I cannot forgive
And these days, mercy cuts so deep
If the world was how it should be, maybe I could get some sleep
While I lay, I dream we're better,
Scales were gone and faces light
When we wake, we hate our brother
We still move to hurt each other
Sometimes I can close my eyes,
And all the fear that keeps me silent falls below my heavy breathing,
What makes me so badly bent?
We all have a chance to murder
We all feel the need for wonder
We still want to be reminded that the pain is worth the thunder

Sometimes when I lose my grip, I wonder what to make of heaven
All the times I thought to reach up
All the times I had to give
Babies underneath their beds
Hospitals that cannot treat all the wounds that money causes,
All the comforts of cathedrals
All the cries of thirsty children - this is our inheritance
All the rage of watching mothers - this is our greatest offense

Oh my God
Oh my God
Oh my God

(Jars of Clay - 2006)


The Story of my life... Oh my God.

"Critique from Within"

I am looking forward to spending time listening to and experiencing the latest class I have enrolled in at BCNZ, Issues in Pentecostal/Charismatic Theology and Pastoral Practice, It will help me trace my roots and foundations back to my Pentecostal past and hopefully help me understand a little more of who I am.

I began my Christian walk at City New Life Church and found it difficult reconciling what I experienced at church and what I read in the Bible.

Joyce Meyer last week helped me see a little more of that world I had been born into. As I wrote last week on a friends blog, "I had been a little skeptical towards her coming here to speak..." But I now know from what I saw and experienced 'from the inside' that her ministry touches many lives in unique ways which can only come from God's spirit working through her.

So I think it is about taking the good and the bad, the amazing experiences of what it means to be part of the People of the Spirit and some of the more forgettable moments which kinda make you cringe and wonder if you really just heard that!

There is still a part of me which identifies with the Pentecostal/Charismatic tradition and misses it in my current situation. I am glad I heard Joyce Meyer, she has been a part of my Journey in rediscovering part of who I am and I am looking forward to hearing more from God over the next 4 months in class.

The Sharks are circling!

Disturbing picture of a shark circling as two divers have their photo taken!


Another photo of a shark circling from Sunday Night...


The offering receptacle...