I haven't said it for a while, but...

... I love my viola.

It's up there with the husband, the kids, the dog and my macbook.

School Soiree tonight

My last one.

An Announcement

This morning, Cairns Presbyterian church voted to 'call' Andrew to be their lead minister. Andrew has accepted the call and we'll be moving north in January. 

This has been in the pipeline for quite a while. 

We've been in Clayfield for almost ten years now and have put down roots. It hurts to tear them up. We're horribly sad to be leaving our church and our friends and our families but think that this is right - both for our church and for Cairns.

We're excited and daunted about what's ahead.

We'd appreciate your prayers.

Family conversation about Andrew's desktop publishing

Andrew - This is meant to look like a bible.

Me - I don't see it.

Andrew - It's subtle.

Joel - It doesn't look like a bible. It looks like a bum.

Andrew - [deletes image]

Resurrection song - draft one.

What do you think?

There is a love

There is a love, so fierce a love, 

that breaches death to save

A power great, beyond our laws, 

that has unlocked the grave.

For Christ descended into death

and battled satan’s fury

Armed with faith and righteousness

he rose to life in glory.

His triumph fills our hearts with hope

and strengthens weary frames

for those in Christ have naught to lose

and everything to gain

Love has won the victory

Death’s reign is now defeated

The grave has lost its pow’r o’er me

I stand, in Christ, victorious.

Why would I fear the rolling years?

Or fight the ebbing tide?

The sands of time may cover me,

But I, in Christ, will rise.

The sands of time may cover me,

But I, in Christ, will rise.

sar 2012

song ideas for new little kids cd

We're starting the think about making a new little kids cd in the 'Very Very Very Big God' and 'J is for Jesus' series.

Any thoughts on topics for songs for this age group?

debating is over for the year

Amen and amen.

A new idea - 'forbidding' things as a sign of egotistical leadership

I could be completely on the wrong track with this, but tell me what you think.

In bible study this morning we were looking at 3 John. These verses stuck out...

⁹ I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. ¹⁰ For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church.

This guy, Diotrephes, doesn't accept John's teaching, unjustly accuses John of something, and forbids anyone from showing hospitality to John's ministry friends.


But John's use of the word forbid interests me.

Is the word 'forbid' ever used positively in the epistles. i.e., does a godly christian leader ever specifically 'forbid' christians from doing something?

There are 2 other verses in the epistles that use the word 'forbid'

1. 1 Corinthians 14:39
   Therefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues.
2. 1 Timothy 4:3
   men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.

Paul says we are not to forbid speaking in tongues and warns against people who forbid marriage. Paul certainly tells people how they ought to live, but he never 'forbids' something. Is this because freedom is such a feature of the christian life? In contrast to Paul and John, Diotrephes seems a bit controlling. Don't you think? 

Am I drawing too long a bow to suggest that we should we be wary of Christian leaders who forbid their people doing things? Could forbidding things show a leader to have the kind of love for 'being first' that Diotrephes had?

Thoughts?

5 things I noticed about Melbourne roads

So, for the last 48 hours I've been driving an 8 seater bus around Melbourne. I specialise in the Kew-Airport run, the Balwyn - City run, and the Footscray to Kew run. I've developed an intense relationship with my hired sat-nav.

Melbourne is a different driving experience to Sydney and Brisbane. Five things.

1. There are two types of roads: Freeways (fast but expensive) and tram roads (a challenge to my godliness).
2. Cars aren't a priority on tram roads. The pecking order seems to go: trams, pedestrians, bikes, cars.
3. Melbournians are surprisingly patient about the slowness of travel. Glen Ferrie Road? Yes, I guess it's quite slow. We. Haven't. Moved. For. Five. Minutes!!!
4. If you take a wrong turn in Melbourne, your can recover from it pretty easily. Just do a U turn on a tram line or something.
5. It would be possible to live without a car in Melbourne. More so than B or S anyway.

twisting

Sydney.

Brisbane.

Melbourne tomorrow.

3 cities in 4 days.

Twisted.

Year 6 and 7 compositions

I've been spending a stupid amount of time marking and recording my year 6 and 7 kids' compositions. The task was that they had to make up a song with at least a verse and chorus, attempt to chord it up, and make a rough demo recording (using audacity, garage band, and iPod or smart phone.) From there I did a basic backing track and I'm now in the process of recording the kids' vocals.

It's been a ridiculous amount of work, but I'm pleased with the results so far. Here is one I've finished - Moved On- I think it's lovely. This particular student wrote it all by herself - every word, every note, every chord.

Creativity as a liability. 5 points.

1. I'm not talking about general creativity here. I'm talking about creativity when it's a defining part of who you are. It's compulsive. You can't switch it off.

2. Creativity is a liability because you have to come up with everything yourself. Where's the excitement in second hand ideas? What's the use of doing something that's been done before? It feels pointless and even wrong. Copying other people's ideas is like plagiarism.

3.  Creativity is a liability because it means constantly reinventing your own stuff. Last year's lessons can't be reused this year because there's no energy in reusing stuff. The buzz has gone. There's no energy to be found there. So every year we reinvent the wheel.

4. Creativity is a liability because what energises the creative, exhausts everyone else. Ask anyone who has tried working with one. The creative is always pushing ahead to the next thing...

5. Creativity is a liability because uncreative, mundane tasks will be looked at with distaste or fear and most often won't get done.

Of course I'm not suggesting that we ban creativity - were such a thing possible! I just wanted to point out that it's not all pretty paintings. There's a flip side to it.

Thoughts?

Portal 2: 'Want You Gone'

Loving this song. Joel suggested it as a year 7 leaving song.

Go make some new disaster
That's what I'm counting on
You're someone else's problem
Now I only want you gone.

creativity is a liability

Of course it's more than that.

But it's true.

How to feel and be even more awesome then you already are.

The spammers have gone negative!

At the moment I'm getting around 10 spam comments on my blog a day.

None of them make it past my inbox of course, because I have to approve comments on old posts.

Spammers are usually an encouraging lot. Generally they tell me how great my blog is. Often they ask for advice so their blogs can be as awesome as mine. Last week they started offering to help me write posts. But today the insults have started. What do you think of this?


The next time I read a weblog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me 
as a lot as this one. I mean, I do know it was my choice to learn, but 
I really thought youd have one thing attention-grabbing to say.
All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you can fix in the event you werent 
too busy on the lookout for attention.

5 points on flying

1. Jetstar is a decision you will regret most of the time.
2. Standing in the boarding queue early doesn't get you a better seat on the plane.
3. Long weekend + tourist destination + jetstar + one baggage counter open = long long queue
4. 10cm more leg room would be delightful.
5. Footballers who keep on whistling Flo Rida's Whistle tune on planes and in airports should be locked up.