Goth-tard

I know it's late, but I can't help cracking up from this.

www.hopeisemo.com

Maybe I should just go to bed...

:D

It's all worth it.

Today I realised the potential of Theological study:

"El shaddai, el shaddai,
El-elyon na adonai"

"God Almighty, God Almighty,
God Most High, my Lord"

Now I can understand all those great 80's songs - what more could I want??

(You know I love you Amy...)









(And I know Matt Lemsing loves you too, you pastel-sweetheart)

JT

Hyatt Vs Humiliation

You've got to laugh really :) Had my final exam for the semester yesterday (which equalled a grand total of 1), and in my focus (let's call it) I forgot to hand in another assignment that was due the same day!

But I could either dwell on the humiliation, like I'm sure you're dying to remind me of, or I could brush it off and think about the awesome night we had last night after that little fiasco.

A bunch of us went in to the city for a wander and some drinks/dessert and we wound up at the Hyatt in the Rocks, overlooking the Harbour - how nice is that! I laughed more than I have for ages all because of this legend of a man named Don West. He's the principal of a Bible be College over in WA, but don't let that fool you. He's got the quickest, funniest and most encouraging sense of humour, which is so cool since most people drag each other down all the time (hello, like me severely!). AND he looked at one of essays for me and gave me some tips on it. Maybe I can study something over there one day... (Oh yeah, and he gave his umbrella to two of the girls and walked in the rain. That speaks volumes as far as I'm concerned).




Today was onther bloggable day, but we might leave that for some other non-Rugby time.

When Angels aren't enough

Ok, so sorry for leaving that last post up for so long, you shouldn't have had to endure that... And sorry especailly to those who don't now me so well and may have taken it the slightest bit seriously! For future reference, that's me joking just so you know.


Anyhoo, a lot's been happening not the least of which is the let down by a few angels. Apparently they're responsible for guiding us through life, but usually just the minor peripheral things that don't really matter, are outside of our control, and aren't provable either way; or the things that we want to make sound really special because it gives us qudos with he opposite sex, and acceptance with the 'religious' world.

And so, Angels may have lead Guy Sebastian to some sheila, but they certainly let us down when they let us walk into the same restaurant as him yesterday!


I shouldn't be so harsh. He actually seemed nice enough, he smiled at an old lady who recognised him and he let the owners take their photo with him. AND he even sang a few ideas to his buddy over lunch (something a professional singer friend of mine used to always do, despite the looks, just cos he fully loved his music), so he's cool with me from that point fo view.

It's just the angel thing. It's not really something that many people deal with these days, they've probably got their minds on other things, but for the record here's the verse that song always makes me think of:

"Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize". Col 2:18

Why would we focus on angels when we can speak straight to the God of all things? The one who actually rules and guides and saves us, and who rules angels too. Anyway...


Since we were talking about super heros the other blog, I thought I'd suggest a new addition. We ate at a place called the "Golden Fang" last week, and while Kamal stole the superhero rights, at least I got to be his side-kick - "Golden Retriever"!



I'm planning to get kicked in the head...

Why does this keep happening?

So I got an email today from an old uni friend telling me she had a dream about me! I haven't seen her for years, but she wants me to lead on a camp with her in the holidays.

If there was an off button I'd turn off the charm, but what can I do?...

;P

Gracious Father

Saturday night a bunch of us from College went and saw Les Mis together and I tell you what - how much do I love musicals! Admittedly, for the first like 10 mins you sit there kind of cringing wondering why they're all singing everything to each other, it's so left field, but by the end it's taking everything you've got not to be up there with them belting out the finale at the top of your voice! I love passion and emotion when it's directed at something good, or when it comes out of something virtuous.



The lead character was this biggish guy with a father-like distinguished beard who had what can only be described as a 'velvet opera' voice. He's the kind of guy you just feel safe with, an Aslan-type figure. And he always stood for what was right. Throughout the story he just gives and gives and gives, and by the end the whole story is hanging off 2 characters who are both only still alive because of this guys grace. His name is Jean Val-Jean (or something like that), and it's not hard to see him as the God/Father/Christ figure (apart from when he tried to steal stuff off a priest at the start, but whatyagonna do?). I love being encouraged by God's character in different ways, and I reckon drama can be a really good way to do it.


In other news, Dad turned 60 last Friday, so his brother and wife (my Aunt and Uncle) came up from Melbourne for the night and we went out for dinner. It was really good. That leaves me 34 years to become half as great a man as my Dad.

Unlikely.

JT

PS - Those pics weren't from the musical I saw. Mine was in Ashfield..!

Loving what is Temporary

Look at them - not a dry eye in the house. Straining to muster a smile, broken but searching for optimism, looking for hope but only finding solace in an endless box of Kleenex... It's slack you know, someone should tell them how hard it's going to be to leave Sydney, especially the unique warmth of the good people of St Dude's.



But such is the task before the team from Cedarville University (Ohio), who blessed us all too briefly with their ethereal song and drama skills. Actually, I heard one of them spent the night throwing up from the withdrawal pains they were so bad, God bless her...


But seriously, I loved mission this year! The team were so much fun and so easy to talk to, I wish I could have spent more time with them. It's so cool they get to come out, God rocks!

The thing is, now that we've seen them get on a plane and fly off, the reality is starting to set in a bit more that they are actually gone, and Melbourne may as well be as far away as America. I hate this bit.

It strikes me that falling in love with something that's temporary could be setting yourself up for a fall. Maybe, but isn't that exactly what God has done with us? We may be decaying and on our way to destruction, but God didn't just turn a blind eye and start over with creation no.#2. He literally killed himself to show us how much he loves what is temporary. Not only that, he took what was perishable and made it imperishable. He took what was dying and gave it life. He took a moment and made it an eternity.

If God loves longevity of good relationship, then so do I. So here's to taking temporary realtionships and making them long-lasting. Eternity isn't too long in my opinion.


God bless,
JT