Stayed up last night watching the Aussies level the 1 day series with India. 2-2 now, but I still think it’s uphill for the Aussies.
Slept in this morning, woke up and made a pot of coffee, then made a massive salad for the barbie at Alex’s place this arvo. It’s Johannes’ birthday and Alex has invited a village over for a poolside barbie.
Kiddo received in the mail last night, a note suggesting she passed her grade 8 piano. what a relief this is to us all. Praise God for His goodness to kiddo in particular. She is still in the midst of exams however so will be giving the barbie a miss.
It’s a cool day, a welcome change from yesterday’s 33. It’s tipped to be 20 deg max today.
I drew a horse called Mourilyan for the big one at 3pm today. Think the grog will work better for me than the race.

I have been just swamped by work and to a much lesser extent church stuff. So just a few snapshots of what has been happening

Kiddo

did her first paying job last week by providing music lessons. She was standing in for a teacher and was thrilled to be earning a few bucks.

* Also sat for her Grade 8 piano tests yesterday – keeping fingers crossed for 6-8 weeks before results are back.

Work

Like I said, I have been even busier than before. We’ve moved to our new offices on Level 1 of the same building and they are heaps better than any offices this legal department has occupied before. It is bright, spacious and most importantly, it is a separate area so we no longer need to be concerned with issues of confidentiality. Legal professional privilege is back on the menu.

My workplace is undergoing some changes. Post the AIG bailout brouhaha, AIG is no longer a marketable brand. It has become a dirty word since it escaped the misfortune of Lehman by the skin of its very large teeth. So about 4 months ago the company rebranded to AIA, pulling out its roots as a showpiece of tradition and more importantly, strength and growth potential.

As part of the gargantuan divorce, we had to vacate our current premises which are owned by the general insurance company, American Home Assurance, curiously renamed Chartis. You can actually see Chartis advertising screens on Old Trafford now, instead of AIG. AIG of course still appears on the shirts but not for long. Aon takes over after this season.

So we had to move out. We were meant to move out this Friday but a few weeks ago we were asked to vacate our offices early so 2 Fridays ago we moved to our current office temporarily, with a permanent move scheduled for this Friday. So here I am sitting on Level 4 of 553 St Kilda Road. I actually started work with this company on Level 5. We – the Legal department – were at Level 5 for about 9 months. We moved next door to 549 St Kilda Road, about 2 years ago. We pack up and leave Level 4 on Friday, to go down to Level 1. Just a tad closer to the café on the Ground Floor.

At least this time Legal will have its own area, partitioned from the “peasant crowds”. Haha. No seriously, it is great that there will now be better confidentiality and privacy so that most of the work done can retain its lawyer-client privilege status.

A few days ago I responded to a remark about my being young by mouthing words to the effect that I am now in my mid-forties, what do you mean I am still young…

Admittedly mid-forties should hardly be termed old but neither should I nor anyone else be so quick to call someone in this age group “young”. Only the very old can.

Whatever the stage of my life, I know that increasingly, I want to do something different. I don’t mind – in fact I rather quite enjoy – working at what I currently do. I just thought if I expended the same amount of time and effort on something which means more and have a more direct impact – tangible results, warm fuzzy feeling etc – on people’s lives, I stand a better chance of living my old life in a more rewarding manner as I reminisce on my younger – relatively – more – again, relatively – meaningful feats.

I mean if I looked back and saw 25 years of legal practice (in one form or another) will I feel I have done something meaningful? Will it be – will I feel – different if I did something else? Life is so short. If all I did was to be conservative and do what I have been trained to do and make sure there is a revenue stream for my family and little pleasures of life, will I have wasted my life for being too unadventurous? Or more importantly, will I have forsaken doing something which is perhaps more important in order to do something safe?

Yeah, I’m in a rut. Or, maybe I am not. Maybe I am merely doing something that is now timely, to change the course of my life. I don’t know if Rick Warren’s work a number of years ago may have germinated and is now sprouting so that I feel I now need a more clearly defined purpose to stir the juices each day. I have long wondered if I could better live a life serving causes other than for the present life. I think I now want to do something about this. I started pursuing opportunities recently… but quite honestly, I don’t even know where to begin. Anything with a remote notion of social service or Christian values will be sufficiently attractive for me to have a go.

Somehow my sentiments about the sort of work one does have coincided with a number of events affecting my local church. We have had no pastor for maybe 3 years now. A lay leadership has been holding things together and increasingly the strains have come to the fore.

When we were first confronted with the scenario of the laity taking charge, to many of us the immediate concern was how long the leaders could do this before they burn out. All of them have full time work and most of them have dependent children and working spouses. If an ordinary person like me had to always plan ahead before I found any time to perform other or additional tasks, how will these leaders play the roles of shepherding a church (albeit on a collective basis) while holding down a full-time job, attending to your family and putting in the requisite hours to prevent your home turning into a mouldy cave? And to their credit, I don’t see them resorting to fast food too often either. We were assured then that they were ok. The story was that this was how the NT churches functioned anyway. How misconceived that view turned out to be, maybe even delusional.=

The bold claims made 3 yeas ago that we could survive under a laity are now proving to be so mistaken that the very leaders who made those claims are now making a dash to the recruitment office to get a full time pastor in. Suddenly a pastor who has not been in service for over a year looms large as a potential candidate and a couple of people whose qualifications or credentials can be verified also feature in the background as a candidate.

When I advocated looking for a pastor at my very first board meeting about a year and a half ago, I was cautioned against rushing into this which tends to be reactionary and likely to end up with the church engaging a less than suitable candidate. In some ways I wondered if this view was right at all. If we are asking a shepherd to come and tend to us, unless he is leading us to the barbeque stove with wolves standing around in mittens and aprons and forks and knives or thongs in their hands, surely all we require is that he feeds and tends to us. All that will be required is for him to be sufficiently trained to be able to give us a good feed and teach us how to exercise (our faith)? To that end it isn’t a very intricately shaped mould and most will be able to fit the job description, or am I being too simplistic? If we had taken aboard this requirement for a pastor 18 months ago we would likely be working with a pastor now instead of plastering over a badly cracked model using mortar scraped together in haste.

The reluctance to plan ahead has now resulted in a haste to put plans and even actions together within a very short period of time. The earlier reluctance was on account of “letting God lead”. How destructive this approach often is. Doesn’t God in a vast majority of instances, lead us by asking us to use the mind and other resources He has provided for us? This attempt to spiritualise everything can be so frustrating. The accusation of making church administration more business like than it should be is often levelled but the potentially chaotic end is the price we pay for not being secured enough to say detailed planning is not unspiritual and taking a business like approach to church building isn’t a cardinal sin to be avoided at all costs.

We can be blinded by chasing after revelations such that we fail to see what we have been tasked to accomplish. We are asked to “go therefore and make disciples”. This mission requires planning and execution wherewithal’s, not unlike planning and executing business strategies. We have not been asked to pontificate over whether God has revealed something to us. Again and again I am reminded of that joke with the man stranded on a roof as a result of tidal floods. Having rejected rescuer attempts using a float, a dinghy, a boat and a helicopter, this fool was given a ride on the Styx but won a reprieve and as he arrived at the pearly gates he complained about God’s failure to deliver him. The response invites us to just get on with the work of saving or getting saved, not chasing after additional revelations. That fool perished while waiting for revelations when all that is needed is a choice of or execution of a plan using our God given grey matter. Church boards are to plan and implement strategies to help and attend to members’ needs and win souls for God. Not only is it wrong to shy away from being business like in this context for being beneath us and being unspiritual, it is irresponsible to ourselves and others placed under our care. More importantly, we shouldn’t be chasing after revelations and failed to obey Him in the process.

Storm reigns. Sure, the NRL laity north of the border will rightly think I’m just talking about the Mexican invasion and conquest of their beloved code. Closer to home however, a different storm reigns.

The roller coaster ride I wrote about a couple of entries earlier is now well and truly in full swing. The church board met over the weekend. The casualty list now reads: 1 has resigned and left. 1 has formally notified intention to resign and leave. This person did not attend the meeting. 1 verbally informed the Board, during the meeting, of a request for a 12 month leave of absence. 1 verbally informed the Board of a need to return to the Board member’s homeland to care for an ailing and ageing parent. The anticipated absence is at least 6 months, starting maybe first quarter of next year. Not forgetting the 1 who left earlier this year and we now have 5 of the original 9 gone or leaving. That isn’t the end of the list. 1 actually intended to provide notice but didn’t get around to doing it because the meeting requested with the Elders (during which the notice was to have been provided) did not materialise.

Finally – I have so far kept my (earlier) intention to leave, to Tress only. It had a purely theological basis and with hindsight it was the most benevolent, benign or pure reason. Given the present circumstances, I couldn’t possibly contemplate proceeding with that decision. Assuming I did, that is 7, out of 9. Of the remaining 2, 1 is often away for work and the other – my mate – has a family of 4 young boys, with the youngest a mere 6 weeks old.

Roller coaster now doesn’t sound apt – OmahaBeach is probably a better depiction.

Right on cue, TT Quah spoke a message of hope on Sunday. It was titled “Friday’s here but Sunday’s coming”. It was themed around renewal, that when something looked like it is finished it is not necessarily the end. To be honest from the perspective of substance, it had aplomb and little else. Even the title was plagiarised. I distinctly remember a video featuring Tony Campolo where he echoed a black preacher who preached on precisely that theme: It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming. TT didn’t mention Tony Campolo in his sermon. I suppose in the context of a non-academic setting that mattered less but it certainly sounded like the title was his idea. That is less than the whole truth – which matters.

I asked him after if any of the Board members had spoken to him which contributed to a choice of sermon. He said no so perhaps that was divine timing. I hope that response would not later prove to be an integrity issue I might have with him.

Whether we plough through from that blood soaked shores of OmahaBeach and fight on for VE Day remains to be seen. The only comfort I draw is that it really isn’t my battle; it is the Lord’s and He has his reasons and timing for all things. How we all need to sit at His feet and wait on Him at this time.

We were watching last night, China’s massive display of the Communist Party’s reign for 60 years. Mao took control on 1 October 1949. He then subjected the country to a systematic annihilation of personal or individual thoughts, freedom and well being and elevated the Communist Party’s interest above the people’s and his own interests above all else. He murdered, tortured and incarcerated without trial, millions. He stands with Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot and such other ogres as mass murderers while holding the reins of government. The Communist Party of China has done a great job in whitewashing history so that its young people remembers next to nothing of the dark past prior to the current economic boom which began probably in the mid to late eighties. It was hell before that.

Things aren’t exactly rosy now either. Millions more suffer “for the good of the nation”…

We make our way to Babe Town tomorrow morning.

Robertson is in NSW, just inland from Kiama, a little to the south of Wollongong. It’s the town the movie “Babe” was shot in. Our cousin Ruth is getting married there…

It was such a loaded weekend. It was really good and at the same time, it was distressing.

It was really good because I had dinner with 2 really good mates of mine here in Melbourne, on Saturday and Sunday. It was distressing however, because it is one of those weekends where the family members you have suspected of not getting along were confirmed to be in confrontation with each other.

Unfortunately the Sun night dinner was intertwined with this “family discord”.

The weekend started out reasonably well. Tress, Kiddo and I decided to on Friday to just remain in the city after work/school and have dinner there. After dinner we walked around a bit, and decided to shop for Kiddo’s shoes for the upcoming wedding next weekend.

We spent about an hour walking around, got her shoes and went back home for a DVD. We watched this movie with Daniel Craig as Tuvia Belski. He and his brother Zus (played by Liev Schreiber) lead a Jewish resistance movement against Nazi occupation in Belorussia/Poland. It wasn’t bad, but I had trouble recalling what the movie was called so it isn’t particularly memorable either. We watched “Up” about 1-2 weeks ago and it was such a memorable movie, especially the opening scene with the storks and the clouds.

The next morning Tress and I went for coffee and brekky at Coffee Club as per usual, after dropping off some dry cleaning. We then made our way to church for some spring cleaning and ridding off some hard rubbish. That took us through till almost 4pm. Jason and I caught up and had a bit of a chat about the goings on in church. I’m just sad and a bit lost given my own thoughts and plans recently.

We got home just after 4, I pottered around the garden a little bit, then had a cold one before leaving for dinner at Alex’s. We had a good time, as always, talking and this time we stayed up late – it was almost 12 when we got home.

I had to be up early the next day to cook for a church lunch. At lunch Jason and chatted a little bit more, before the issue he talked about played out on the very same day and later in the evening as well.

Right after lunch kiddo had one of her nose bleed situations so we stayed on a bit till the damn cleared. We got home around 2.30, I did some work and then around 4.30 Alex showed up in his toy – a Mercedes SLK200. I took it for a quick spin, came back and shared a beer with him on our deck. This is life, but the topic of conversation wasn’t great – it was still on the goings on in church.

That night we went to Jason’s house for dinner and chatted again. Again we ended up going home late – close to 11. I caught the first half of United’s game against City, little did I know the drama which was to unfold in the second half.

But here I am, a little broken hearted. With my thoughts on The Elijah Challenge and wondering where this will take the church and its implications on my family and I, the last thing I imagined would be events overtaking me. Greater turmoils unrelated to my opinions were and are boiling. Like Jason said, we probably have to brace ourselves for a “white knuckled ride” for the foreseeable future. I don’t really want to come along for this ride but to walk away now will be unthinkable.

At work today, the team did the usual thing when a member has a birthday.

Early in the arvo, I was on the phone talking shop when the departmental EA carried the cake to the area and asked everyone to crowd around. I ended my phone call, braved the awkwardness, thanked everyone and then recounted to a couple of colleagues the tragic fact that I am turning 44 in 3 days’ time.

The fact that I thoroughly enjoyed the tiramisu cake on offer was testament to my age. 10 years ago I would have baulked at being so decadent. A piece of tiramisu cake is likely to sat my 10k time a good minute back, or I would have felt less than cruising. These days, I hardly crack 8k on the treadmill and I cannot remember the last time I was on the road. My routine now centres mainly on a less destructive machine – that of a cross trainer. The elliptical contraption that makes you bob up and down while you wring your arms may still work up a sweat (my shirt is still more or less soaked after 45 minutes) but it is no where near the sort of work rate one generates from a 45 minute run at 12k/hr pace. I have a younger colleague who does his 10k in under 40 minutes so even though that puts him on a different planet, it cant help but make me feel every minute of my age.

Actually everyone in the department is younger than me which in itself can be pretty depressing.

But you know what? One can only be grateful for what one has. 44 can be a real treat.

When I was about 18 years old, I hurt my back very badly. I was preparing for my university entrance exam, so I was desperate to get well and return to my classes. I asked God – pleaded with Him endlessly – to heal me. I attended healing services. I believed He would heal me. He didn’t. I was in and out of hospital for a number of months. I missed my exams that year. I thought I had wasted a year of my life. God didn’t heal me the way I wished He would.

Looking back, I am grateful that He didn’t heal me in the way I thought I needed to be healed. God is sovereign and He has his timing. God in His wisdom will cause His ways to come into effect. The following year I fell in love with Theresa, my wife to be. Just as important, that period of being unwell gave me an opportunity to read the Bible – cover to cover – for the first time. Also, for the first time, I appreciated the message of the Gospel in its entirety. I saw its context. I began to understand the Bible in its entirety, a little better. Several years later I heard a sermon which threw even greater light on what the Bible was all about. In a word: Jesus. The Bible is about God’s salvation for mankind in Jesus. That in and of itself, is the all powerful gospel.

Genesis 1 and 2 set out the creation of the world. It was a very good world. Some call it paradise. Genesis 3 then sets out the fall of man. It became paradise lost. God then pronounced judgment on man and hinted at salvation. In chapter 3 verse 15 of Genesis God said:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

Most readers at this juncture would ask: “Well who is this offspring of the woman who will crush the serpent’s head?”

Then in Genesis 4 we see Cain and Abel. Cain killed Abel. Abel died and Cain was banished. Neither of them is the offspring of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head. Seth came next. Nope, he wasn’t either. Next big guy was Noah. He built a terrific ark to save the world. Would he be the one to crush the serpent’s head? No, he enjoyed his wine too much. Unfortunately He and I share a common weakness. Next was an explosion of world population. Things got ugly. Babel happened. Paradise seems to be disappearing even faster. We begin to despair. Where is that offspring of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head? Will paradise ever return? Who was the next possible candidate to bring salvation? Abraham? Isaac? Jacob? Joseph? Moses? Joshua? Samuel? Or was it David? Solomon? Elijah? Daniel? Or is it Isaiah? As we read on in the Old Testament, one after another the giants and heroes came and went, but none of them was the offspring of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head.

But we begin to see, in Abraham, what God has in store. We begin to understand His plans to usher the arrival of the offspring of the woman who will crush the serpent’s head. We begin to see the return of paradise. We are told to expect great things – in the form of the revelation of God’s salvation to mankind. We are told that the Messiah will come. He would come to restore paradise.

And then Jesus arrived. It turned out that God’s very own begotten Son was to be the offspring of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head. That like Paul alluded to repeatedly, is at the heart of the mystery of God’s glory. However, contrary to expectation, his arrival was low key. He was born in a manger and grew up to be a carpenter. His hometown was Galilee, the ancient equivalent of central Queensland – ie nowhere. But from the time when He was a child, He was special. He taught teachers. He performed many types of miracles. He healed. He raised the dead. He knew people’s past. He made bread and fish multiply. He commanded the storm to be still. He turned water into wine. And then there was the greatest miracle of all. Having been killed on the cross, He rose from the dead. He returns to sit at the right hand of God and promised us that He is preparing to return and take us into His fold.

Against that context, the Bible made more sense. It was always about Jesus being the answer for our salvation and reconciliation with God. That, said Paul in Romans 1:16, is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. It is in the gospel that a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last[c] just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."

So as we gather this morning to celebrate the communion, let us remember the redemptive act of God in Jesus. The death and resurrection of Jesus alone is our salvation. The death and resurrection of Jesus alone is what we are to share with the world.

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your gift of redemption in and through Jesus, Your only begotten Son. We thank You for Your great act of sacrificial love in sending Him to the cross so that we may not perish for our sin. We thank You for His obedience even unto shameful death. The cross on which your Son bore our shame, you have made Your glory. Help us to look at that Cross on which Your Son died and to that Cross alone for our salvation. We thank You for the empty tomb from which your Son rose. Help us to look at Cross and the resurrection alone for our salvation. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

In Matthew 26, it says in verse 26:

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."

Let us eat the bread together to remember acknowledge Jesus’ death on the cross and our salvation He brings.

Verse 27 – Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Let us now drink from the cup and accept the shedding of Jesus blood on the cross for our sin. May God bless and keep us all in His loving care.