The Pingu Factor

hey

2007-06-26T22:42:00.000+10:00

I hear the whole world is on Facebook now. I feel so out of the loop! I really enjoyed this cartoon from Elsie's blog.

Apologies to swurple, jade, and jely cos i only just read ur messages. I wish I had read them earlier.

Its recently passed 11 months since I broke up!

Also, life is actually ok! Things with God are a lot better, things with myself are heaps better, and things with people at church are better.

I'm a tad tired after a sudden swamp of commitments are Church and family and work, but it should improve soon.

This passage means a lot to me atm:

27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me,^[a] is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30I and the Father are one."

Psalm 88

2007-04-23T22:17:00.000+10:00

Psalm 88

I Cry Out Day and Night Before You

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil^[a] of Heman the Ezrahite.

1O LORD, God of my salvation;
I cry out day and night before you.
2Let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry!

3For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
4I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am a man who has no strength,
5like one set loose among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
for they are cut off from your hand.
6You have put me in the depths of the pit,
in the regions dark and deep.
7Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves.
Selah

8You have caused my companions to shun me;
you have made me a horror^[b] to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
9my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O LORD;
I spread out my hands to you.
10Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the departed rise up to praise you?
Selah

11Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12Are your wonders known in the darkness,
or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

13But I, O LORD, cry to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14O LORD, why do you cast my soul away?
Why do you hide your face from me?
15Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.^[c]
16Your wrath has swept over me;
your dreadful assaults destroy me.
17They surround me like a flood all day long;
they close in on me together.
18You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
my companions have become darkness.^[d]

Contentment

2007-04-04T00:22:00.000+10:00

Hebrews 13

1Let brotherly love continue. 2Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. 4Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 5Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." 6So we can confidently say,

"The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?"

1 Tim 6

Teach and urge these things. 3If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound^[b] words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 6Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7for we brought nothing into the world, and^[c] we cannot take anything out of the world. 8But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Phillipians 4

10I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

2 Cor 12

7So to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations,^[a] a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Graduation

2007-03-21T22:46:00.000+11:00

Plants

2007-03-11T02:09:00.001+11:00

I went to this really nice place called Eden Gardens where they had some really nice garden designs and sold plants there. Me and my brother bought some cactus like plants and a flowery kind of plant. I figure that if I can keep this plant alive, maybe in a few months I might get some fish.. And if I can keep the fish alive for a few months maybe in a few months after that I might consider progressing a bit further in some human relationships as well..

But I'll see how I go with the plants first..

Uncertain..

2007-03-09T14:48:00.001+11:00

I had a long lunch with Wayne and we had a really good conversation.
After a lot of thinking I realised that these are the 3 questions plaguing me:

1. How does one become a Christian?
2. How does one stop himself from sinning?
3. How can one change to be more holy?

2007-03-05T01:29:00.001+11:00

Mr Howard says voters deserve to know what went on in the meetings
between Mr Rudd and Mr Burke in 2005.

He says the Opposition Leader is not being honest.

"Mr Rudd keeps avoiding, dare I say it, the inconvenient truth," Mr Howard said.

"The inconvenient truth is that he hasn't told the truth."

The Prime Minister says voters want their leaders to be candid.

But Mr Rudd says Mr Howard is being hypocritical by questioning his integrity.

"I tell you what didn't happen at these meetings and at this dinner," he said.

"What I didn't do is I didn't take Australia to war on the basis of a lie.

"I didn't say that when it comes to children overboard, that people
deliberately threw their kids into the water.

"I didn't authorise $300 million to be paid in bribes to Saddam
Hussein's regime."

Mr Rudd says he is happy for honesty and integrity to be front and
centre of the next election campaign.

on the plane..

2007-02-16T16:22:00.001+11:00

I'm on the plane right now from Hong Kong to Sydney, the last trip of
a very, very long holiday.. I was counting the other night, and I
realised that in the past 3 months, I've slept in 20 different beds…

1. Home in Sydney
2. Home in HK
3. Dorm room in Beijing
4. Hotel Room at the Westin, Beijing
5. Overnight train from Beijing to Xian
6. Hotel Room in Xian
7. Overnight train from Xian to Beijing
8. Overnight train from Beijing to Taiyuan
9. Hotel Room in Taiyuan
10. Overnight train from Taiyuan to Beijing
11. Overnight flight from Hong Kong to London
12. Hotel Room in Zurich
13. 2nd Hotel Room in Zurich
14. Overnight train from Zurich to Venice
15. Hotel Room in Venice
16. Hotel Room in Florence
17. Hotel Room in Barcelona
18. Hotel Room in Berlin
19. Overnight Flight from London to Hong Kong
20. Overnight Flight from Hong Kong to Sydney (now)

Of all the nights, the worse was easily no. 10, where I wasn't able to
buy a sleeper ticket, and had to settle for the A$10 "Hard Seater"
ticket – essentially China's bottom class seating. It was so bad I
wrote 2 pages in my journal recounting the experience of nearly
suffering a nervous breakdown that I was going to blog but I never got
around to it. There was smoke everywhere, the lights were on all
night, I was squashed with 3 other large mainlanders in very tight
seating, all the while keeping an eye on my luggage, and trying to
pretend I wasn't a wealthy foreigner. I managed to sleep an hour or 2
before the shaking of the train pulling into a station at 4am woke me
up. I got back to my dorm at 6am, slept an hour and went to class.

My trip to Xian was great, although spending New Years countdown on a
hard sleeper bed wasn't very exciting. On no. 7, this drunk
Queenslander who was there with us got left behind in LuoYang while he
was trying to go to the toilet. The train left without him and he was
stuck in freezing temperatures at midnight with no phone, no money, no
jacket, and not even a train ticket or identification. Its lucky he
ever got home alive!

No. 14 was also eventful. I expected European overnight trains to be
far surperior compared to its Chinese counterparts – it was at least
10 times more expensive for a similar distance. Unlike Chinese trains,
we got rooms with real doors. Unfortunately, this only gave us a false
sense of security, since at 4am a thief picked the lock and tried to
steal our wallets. Thankfully my Dad is a very light sleeper and
didn't get any sleep all night, and accidentally scared the thief
away.

Right now (no. 20) is my 3rd night on a plane and I think its worse
than the sleeper trains in China. Cathay's come out with another new
range of Economy Class seating that gives even less leg room, if that
were possible. All 3 times we tried to get Business Class seats but
the economy must be booming since 2 out of 3 times they've been
completely sold out.

ARGHHH

2007-02-12T03:00:00.001+11:00

Sometimes things are just so difficult, life is so complicated,
emotions so overwhelming... hopefully things will be improve after i
return, but what if they get worse...

Barcelona..

2007-02-01T07:21:00.001+11:00

is more dangerous than I expected.. and they have the weirdest
business hours. shops and museums open from 9 - 1, then close for 2 or
3 hours, and close around 7 or 8. Restaurants serve lunch at 1-4, and
dinner from 8-midnight!!?? Apparently everyone has long afternoon
naps..

But yeah theres a lot of petty thief here so I hope I get to Berlin in
one piece!

In Venice

2007-01-28T06:39:00.001+11:00

I arrived in Venice this morning after 3 days in Zurich. Its really
beautiful here but its a bit stressful since we only have 2 days here
and I am the tour guide to my parents.. Last night on the overnight
train someone tried to break into our room and steal our stuff at
4am!! Fortunately my Dad was awake and scared him away. So scary!!

On Monday morning I'm catching a train to Florence for 2 days then
over to Barcelona (3days) and Berlin (4 days). Then after 5-6 days in
HK I'm back in Sydney! =)

赞美耶和华

2007-01-18T02:46:00.000+11:00

I'm leaving Beijing on Friday, and going to London next Tuesday. My Europe trip was pushed back by 6 days unfortunately, but that did mean I got to stay in Beijing for another 3 days - a very precious 3 days. Its incredibly hard to leave all the friends I made here behind. In particular, my tutor, who studies Accounting in Beijing RenMin DaXue, and a couple of Korean and Japanese students I met on our Xi'an trip. This trip was really memorable and heaps of interesting things happened that I think will have a big effect on my Christian life and my planning for the future in terms of work and ministry.

My Internet is going to end in 23 minutes time; no net for me tomorrow. I'm going to spend my last day just packing and chatting to my tutor, Dong Mei, 冬梅, and hopefully follow up on our trip to Haidian Church 海淀教堂last Sunday.

I miss everyone in Sydney a lot and I wish I could have contacted you guys more but the Taiwanese Earthquake made that incredibly difficult. I am so thankful to God for all my brothers and sisters in Sydney, and we dont know how lucky we are in Sydney to have a such a clear physical manifestation of our Spiritual family. Please pray for all those in Beijing who have been elected by God, who may or may not have
already come to Christ.

Amazed...

2007-01-14T04:07:00.001+11:00

I'm so amazed at God's work. Miraculously I'm bringing a non-Christian
to church tomorrow and I pray he will continue to work miracles
tomorrow.

Update

2007-01-05T03:11:00.001+11:00

I havent blogged for a while because the net in China is painfully
slow, and many US sites cant be visited at all.

Last few days, I've been in Xian with other students from my uni, and
went to the Terracotta soldiers. Sleeping on an overnight train in
China is very interesting.. I got back yesterday morning (Wed) but I'm
leaving again tomorrow night to Taiyuan, and returning to Beijing on
Monday morning - within 8 days I will have slept on the train for 4
nights!

I hope I will have a really good trip in Taiyuan =)

Earthquake in Taipei...

2006-12-28T00:24:00.001+11:00

... has killed my access to MSN and a lot of non-Asian websites.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-26T02:57:00.001+11:00

Hello all,

There's another 5 minutes left of Christmas in Beijing; I've spent the last few days showing my parents around Beijing, and living with them at the Westin Hotel (much more luxurious than my dorm). I just came online and realised I missed spending Christmas with all my friends so I thought I blog something!

Merry Christmas!

While You Were Sleeping

Oh little town of Bethlehem
Looks like another silent night
Above your deep and dreamless sleep
A giant star lights up the sky
And while you're lying in the dark
There shines an everlasting light
For the King has left His throne
And is sleeping in a manger tonight, tonight

Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
For God became a man
And stepped into your world today
Oh Bethlehem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King
While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping

Oh little town of Jerusalem
Looks like another silent night
The Father gave His only Son
The Way, the Truth, the Life had come
But there was no room for Him in the world He came to save

Jerusalem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
The Savior of the world is dying on your cross today
Jerusalem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King
While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping

United States of America
Looks like another silent night
As we're sung to sleep by philosophies
That save the trees and kill the children
And while we're lying in the dark
There's a shout heard 'cross the eastern sky
For the Bridegroom has returned
And has carried His bride away in the night, in the night

America, what will we miss while we are sleeping
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay
America, will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King
Will we be sleeping?
Will we be sleeping?

United States of America
Looks like another silent night

tianjin

2006-12-17T02:15:00.000+11:00

I've arrived safely in Beijing, I havent had much time to blog because I've been a bit sick, but I'm better now, and I went to Tianjin today with some friends. Was a 1.5 hour train trip each way, and there wasn't that many good sites there but I reckon I took some nice photos. I miss my SLR though.

From Tianjin

Going to Tianjin...

From Tianjin

Haihu (The "Sea" River??)

From Tianjin

for some reason chinese people think you'll kill grass if you step on it

From Tianjin

Ancient Culture Street

From Tianjin

My friend in a balaclava

From Tianjin

Wanghailou Catholic Church

From Tianjin

10 Commandments in Chinese

From Tianjin

Interior

From Tianjin

what the..?

From Tianjin

Great Compassion Temple

I am running/ a hundred miles an hour

2006-12-12T02:39:00.000+11:00

I'm leaving tmr morning for Beijing. I'm really sad because I feel like I've just gotten into a good routine here with friends/people and with my quiet times and stuff like that. Just 2 weeks ago I was really sad that I'd be leaving people who are important to me in Sydney, now I'm really sad about leaving behind important people in HK. Maybe in 5 weeks I'm going to be depessed about people in Beijing, but I dont know..

I'm pretty much all packed, I've got like 5 kilos of cables for laptop, camera, iPod, PSP, ext HDD... I think I've travelled too much in my life, and I've never really felt at home. I was reading Inside Out by Crabb the other day, and it said:

Ever since God expelled Adam and Eve from the garden, we have lived in an unnatural environment, a world in which we were no designed to live. We were built to enjoy a garden without weeds, relationships without friction, fellowship without distance. But something is wrong, and we know it, both within our world and within ourselves. Deep inside we sense we're out of the nest, always ending the day in a motel room, never at home. When we're honest, we see we handle our discomfort by keeping our distance from people, responding more to our fears than to another's desire for love.

When I read that, I thought, I feel like I've been in a motel room everynight my entire life. And even though to some extent in this life, we'll always be away from our true home, we are at the same time in constant connection with God; his Spirit dwells in us, and we experience a taste of heaven when we have fellowship with one another. Tomorrow night I am going to be in a dorm room, completely disconnected to my Christian brothers and sisters, but I need to remember that I will still be in constant connection with God.

A song that's really meant a lot to me lately is Does Anybody Hear Her by Casting Crowns. I think anyone who's ever struggled seriously with sin will empathise with the song, as well as anyone who has genuinely cared for a brother or a sister. Parts of the video makes me want to cry.

She is running
A hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction
She is trying
But the canyon's ever widening
In the depths of her cold heart
So she sets out on another misadventure just to find
She's another two years older
And she's three more steps behind

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even knows she's going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?

She is yearning
For shelter and affection
That she never found at home
She is searching
For a hero to ride in
To ride in and save the day
And in walks her prince charming
And he knows just what to say
Momentary lapse of reason
And she gives herself away

If judgement looms under every steeple
If lofty glances from lofty people
Can't see past her scarlet letter
And we never even met her

He is running
A hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction

----

I am running
A hundred miles an hour...

A fork in the road

2006-12-10T03:29:00.000+11:00

Australian politics is suddenly getting so exciting, I'm so sad to be missing all the coverage on Australian TV. There is hardly any video footage of Kevin Rudd on YouTube or ninemsn. I'm trying to read everything I can on smh.

Today

2006-12-09T04:13:00.000+11:00

Today I had a really really meaningful day, and by the end of it.. I was really depressed and I just felt such an urge to be a missionary.

Just had a really meaningful conversation with someone really important to me about things in our lives, and hearing about Christians persevering in HK..

69.625

2006-12-07T22:40:00.000+11:00

So close to a 70 overall WAM!!

Got my first HD since 1st year. I should have done more Philosophy courses!

Why I was a terrible Sunday School teacher...

2006-12-05T02:55:00.000+11:00

Talking to my 11 year old cousin (who I thought was 8 or 9)...

So... are you happy with School?
No

Umm... are you happy with ... life?
No

Well... what do you think are some things you can do to change that?
*Blank Look*

I guess primary schoolers arent quite as reflective as I expected...

My cousin's been going to Sunday School at a charismatic church because my auntie wants him to make more friends, and she's been going as well. Apparently she's quite enjoying it and she's also reading the Purpose Driven Life in chinese. And today another auntie of mine who is probably a Christian (but denouces the eating of ostrichs...) lent my mum that book as well. Hopefully she'll read it.

in HK

2006-12-03T02:59:00.000+11:00

I've arrived safely in HK. The turbulence was crazy on the plane, I near threw up! Ummm.. I watched Pirates 2 again on the plane, as well as Inconvenient Truth and My Super Ex-Girlfriend. I'm on dial up atm, so things are going pretty slow . . . . . Net will be faster when I get to Beijing in 10 days time.

Arriving in HK is pretty sad, reminds me of a time when I was happy..

Going mountain walking with my Dad tomorrow, then maybe go shopping for a camera.

leaving tomorrow

2006-12-01T18:02:00.000+11:00

leaving at 4pm tomorrow. I was tossing up today what books to bring to China and Europe. At the moment I think I'm going to bring:

Inside Out
Sinners Guide to Holiness
Possessed by God
How to Read the Bible Book by Book
PTC OT1 Notes

Dont know how many of these books I'm actually going to read though!

On Tuesday I was talking to Dan Au, my MTSer, and after a long discussion he said, you know, with some people, after you talk to them you feel really encouraged and joyful, but with you, its completely different . . .

2006-11-30T01:53:00.000+11:00

I think there is some light at the end of the tunnel..

confused

2006-11-26T23:59:00.000+11:00

very emotional.

Last week at church until 18/2/06. Not going to see everyone for a very very long time. How sad.... I'm not going to remember anyone by the time I come back.

Hollis Hurlbut

2006-11-19T23:47:00.000+11:00

Hollis Hurlbut - from "Lisa the Iconoclast" - Springfield town historian. He discovered the secret that Jebidiah Springfield was a pirate, not a hero, and he couldnt live with the fact that his entire life's work had been a fraud. So instead of revealing the secret to the world, he kept the secret to himself, lying to others and himself.

I think as Christian leaders we should be aware of him. Not that we will find one day that Jesus is a fraud, and God doesnt really exist at all. But I think sometimes Christians leaders have doubts about God and the gospel and they arent really willing to acknowledge the reality of these feelings, because they have given so much to ministry and to serving people. Its like.. we've given so much to the gospel that we'd be like Hollis Hurlbut if we ever found evidence that God doesnt exist. At times we'll all have doubts, and we need to be willing to address them when they arise; go back to the gospel and the reasons why we first believed.

Star activists 'don't acknowledge progress'

2006-11-18T22:33:00.000+11:00

from smh.com.au:

Prime Minister John Howard has taken aim at rock star activists like U2 frontman Bono for failing to acknowledge how globalisation is helping lift millions of people around the world out of poverty.

Mr Howard today had terse words for "pop culture" figures who criticised world leaders for their efforts on poverty but didn't take account of how improved global trade had already done much to help millions better their lot in life.

"It's popular of course to be in receipt admonitions from leaders of pop culture, if I can put it that way, and others to do more to lift the world's poor out of their current state," he said during a keynote address to business leaders.

"Some of those commentators are not so ready to acknowledge the extraordinarily large number, the billions of people in this region and in other parts of the Asia region, that have been lifted from poverty over the last 25 years as a result of the application of the principles of innovation and globalisation."

...

He believes removing trade barriers to be a more effective way of lifting countries out of poverty than just throwing money their way.

...

"The point I was making is that the economic growth that's occurred in countries like China and other countries in the Asian region has lifted tens of millions, indeed hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.

"And in the criticism that is made of poverty, and it is a criticism and concern I fully share, there is rarely any acknowledgement of the progress that is being made in fighting poverty.

"The world has made progress yet you would imagine ... from some utterances no progress had been made at all."

It is finished

2006-11-16T23:36:00.000+11:00

My last test was quite anti-climatic; usually when I walk out of a stressful exam and I know I passed I'm really excited but todays exam is the lamest exam I've had since the School Certificate in Year 10. "Philosopher means... (a) Lover of wisdom or (b) a wise lover....." There were 40 questions like that and I finished in 15 minutes.

So walking out of that exam wasnt that exciting. Now I feel a bit aimless, dunno what to stress about in life anymore. wow.. never have to care about marks again, or tutorial homework or studying.

24

2006-11-15T16:45:00.000+11:00

hours until I finish uni forever!

No stress anymore, I'm pretty sure I cant fail now, I think I'm on 46/60, so just need 4/40 tomorrow..

So excited! Looking forward to my 2 weeks in Sydney; planning to meet up with some long lost friends, throw out all the notes and textbooks I've ever kept from Year 1 onwards...

Yep

2006-11-15T00:01:00.000+11:00

Yep, I'm stressed again!

Dont know why, I'm 90% sure I wont fail tomorrow.

But I'm just so worried! What if I crash my car tomorrow on the way to the exam and I fail and I lose my job???!

I'm not good with coping with pressure...must pray.

Locked out of home...

2006-11-13T14:47:00.000+11:00

I went out today with my Mum and she forgot the house keys! My bro has keys but he went to Brisbane today, so we have to wait til he gets back. Now I'm stuck in the library. Had to print out all my lecture notes and bought a pen. The library computers dont let you use gmail or web msn or anything.. blogger is the only way I can communicate with the outside world! I feel so unconnected..

sigh

2006-11-13T04:38:00.000+11:00

All I want is to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. SIgh...

yay

2006-11-12T00:42:00.000+11:00

I finished my maths test yesterday, I think I passed; I only needed about 33%, so didnt even need to pass! Sometimes once you leave a test you forget everything straight away, but when I had answered half the questions yesterday, I already started forgetting stuff. Its my last maths test ever.. no more maths ever again. When Pete mentioned at SOTE that the word of God is self authenicating, I was thinking of RSA codes, digital signiatures and authenication.. so glad all that is behind me forever!

Only got 2 more exams on Wed and Thurs, then finished forever. 5 more days!

I should probably start studying for my exams, but I spent all day watching DVDs and writing congregational prayer - I dont have any creative ideas at all :(

Another stressful night...

2006-11-09T23:25:00.000+11:00

This is my 7th semester (out of 8th) where I've had a subject where I'm really close to failing. To think of all the sleepless nights and stressful days where I cant even eat or breathe properly, I wish I had failed back in first year. Tomorrow is my 3rd last exam and I just dont know if I'm going to pass. I really want to pass obviously, and I pray that I will but I just dont know. I am really really anxious right now, if anyone could pray for me I'd be really appreciate it. I just want to pass and be able to trust God no matter what happens.

Ordered this today

2006-11-07T22:08:00.000+11:00

From Misc

I was going to engrave it with "yet will I hope in him", a reference to Job 13, but I opted to go with the more traditional Jesus Christ is Lord. Its going to take 2 weeks to be delivered, I'm going to have finished uni by then!

My last day of uni ever!

2006-11-03T01:58:00.000+11:00

From Last Day of Uni

My last train to uni

From Last Day of Uni

Wayne performing at the Colonnade

From Last Day of Uni

whats Jade doing up there??

From Last Day of Uni

me Seb and Boris

From Last Day of Uni

playing frisbee in the quad

From Last Day of Uni

Commerce leaders meeting

From Last Day of Uni

apparently the girl is Jeff..

From Last Day of Uni

Seb Mike Felix and Wayne

From Last Day of Uni

me and Dan

From Last Day of Uni

Sundial in the quad

From Last Day of Uni

walking on the main walkway for the last time

From Last Day of Uni

QVB Christmas Tree

好男不与女斗

2006-10-27T12:43:00.000+10:00

其实我不放手
并未等于接受
独行共独断
是你自由
随时在候命
你间中敷衍我不足够
常为了工作是藉口
而其实是感觉已陈旧
不过不是时候
反正可占有
倦了
我会不会受够
难道退居幕后
亦是成就
任我怎风光
栽了在你的手
为何神奇从你手中偏化作腐朽
你会不会内疚
惟独是胜过没有
爱隔着鸿沟
心里这样难受
不过不跟你斗

Google translator says:

Actually, I do not let go. Did not amount to acceptance. You were arbitrarily going free. Readily available.You occasionally stringing me not enough. To work is often an excuse. And it is already feeling old. But not often. It may occupy. tired.I will not be enough. Is retreated behind the scenes. How is my success as a landscape plant in your hands. Why magic from your side into corrupt hands. You will not guilty. The only difference is better than no love across the divide. But not with your heart so hard struggle.

Week 13

2006-10-27T00:08:00.000+10:00

2nd last week of uni today. Unfortunately cant relax, got to write 1500 words by tomorrow night, I meant to come home early today and start working but I got home and fell asleep for an hour. I'm on 500 words atm, and its just past mid night... Why must I be so last minute :(

Oh I also bought my last ever travelpass today! I only have 4 more days of uni and 20 days until my last exam!!!

Its iTunes Australia's 1st bday, so if you have an iTunes account, you can get the entire unabridged audio book of "The Power of One"! I've downloaded it all already but its 300megs. Its one of my favourite books. Well I havent read many fictional books...I had to read it for year 9

interpreting dreams..

2006-10-25T02:10:00.000+10:00

Found this on a website..dreammoods.com

Torture

To dream that you are being tortured, indicates that you are feeling victimized or helpless in some relationship or situation. Alternatively, you may be exhibiting some sadomasochistic desires.
To dream that you are torturing others or see others being tortured, suggests that you are punishing yourself for your own negative or bad habits. You are projecting yourself onto the person or animal being tortured. Consider the symbolism of who is being tortured. Alternatively, the dream may indicate repressed feelings of revenge which you are not able to act on in your waking life.

sadomasochistic desires....?

Summer Holidays

2006-10-21T22:00:00.000+10:00

This is what my holidays looks like at the moment, hopefully I'll stay safe, especially at London airport!! Things look pretty tight at the moment, I'll be starting work on 19/2/06.

EDIT: Might I also say, I hope I stay well fed spiritually while I'm away. I got really good news today when I realised that a few friends from Church will be in Beijing at the same time doing the same Mandarin course as me. Yay, Christian fellowship!

15 Years

2006-10-18T17:51:00.000+10:00

Woah yesterday was the 15th anniversary of our family moving to Australia!

We arrived on 17th October, 1991.

homesick

2006-10-18T00:47:00.000+10:00

No, I'm not talking about heaven.. although I wouldnt mind that
either. I'm looking forward to going back to HK in a little over 6
weeks time. I miss my room and my relatives and shopping..

Life is stressful, its not quite like the suffering in Job, but
assignments are getting me down. Only 10 more uni days left.

Assuming the Gospel

2006-10-14T01:45:00.000+10:00

I just realised how easy it is to assume the gospel. Last night I thought, it'd be good to remind myself why I became a Christian, how great God's grace was. So I tried to find some passages which spoke particularly about that. I skimmed a few of the epistles and gospels, but I wasnt sure what I got out of them. Grace just seemed to me like a theological concept rather than something that meant something to me. I went to my bookshelf to try and find a book that talked about the gospel or something evangelistic. But all I found were books about ministry and theology. Concise Theology, According to Plan, commentaries, How to lead better Bible studies... etc etc. Not a single book about the basics of the gospel and how amazing it is. The closest thing I had was DB Knox's Everlasting God, a chapter on "God who is rich in mercy". It was about predestination. Right. Put me to sleep after 2 pages. (It wasnt that bad, it was just 3AM)

Its so easy to move beyond the gospel in the Christian life, to do everything else but continue to trust in the gospel. Its so easy to become a Christian and start reading books about theology and ministry skills and forget your personal relationship with God. Its so easy to think of Church as a place where you do your "Ministry", rather than being the gathering of Christians who meet to encourage and love and serve each other.

Tonight while I was praying, I suddenly remembered that the gospel was about the forgiveness of sins. The gospel is bigger than that in one sense, but for me, thats what the gospel meant for me, and I should never forget that I am forgiven through the message of the gospel.

Houseparty

2006-10-09T19:37:00.000+10:00

Got back from Houseparty last night but had to study non-stop for my test today. I think I did ok, I'm glad I didnt give in to temptation and stay another night at HP.

Overall it was a really good conference but these things are always bitter sweet. I'm so use to the happiness of being with all these Christians who love one another, then having to go back home, that now even during the camp I already feel depressed. The talks were quite different from what I'm use to, and its hard to not be over critical when your not in a good mood. I guess I found it hard to get much out of them. But I really really enjoyed the fact that I got to meet older Christians who were heaps encouraging. I had a bad impression of elders but I talked to one who really helped me think about how to share the gospel with my family, and I just wanted to talk to him all day. I talked to two older Christians about problems of self esteem and depression and that was great as well. Got the chance to talk to people heaps; its so sad for me that other than during camps, I only feel like I am in Christian fellowship 2 days a week.

Another highlight was going to the seminar on Family.. yeah everyone who went would know why it was good and why it made lots of people cry. One thing they talked about was the 5 love languages; I remember reading it while I was still going out, thinking how I could apply it in my relationship. It never even crossed my mind to apply it to my parents, or that they should have loved me in any way. Love and parents seem like pretty distinct concepts. Its pretty sad to think about my own family but I know other people have it much worse. I guess the good thing is to know that there is hope for me because God loves me and I'm only partially (not fully) screwed up, and I can hopefully break the pattern if I ever get married and have kids.

Forty-four

2006-10-04T21:58:00.000+10:00

44

is the number of days before I finish uni forever.

November 16 is the date of my final exam =)

Sitting in class..

2006-10-04T13:37:00.000+10:00

My first philosophy lecture since Week 2.. its pretty interesting, but yeah I'd rather be at EU right now. The lecturer's talking about justification - not that kind of justification though..

Uni would be so fun without classes.. and exams

Things..

2006-10-03T00:04:00.000+10:00

Things should be better now, but I'm not too sure. Seems like it might just be 2 steps forwards and 3 steps back sometimes. Especially now with the stress of uni growing, I just feel more despair and loneliness. I've had a lot of thoughts in my mind recently, and I guess I know they're not true and its a bit silly and maybe dangerous..

But if you're not important to anyone, then whats the point of living ?

Biblical Theology

2006-09-26T01:27:00.001+10:00

Found this in Billy Graham's "Peace with God":

The message of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, is the story of the Bible - it is the story of salvation. Profound students of the Bible have traced the story of Jesus Christ from the beginning of the New Testament, for He is the true theme of the Old as well as the New Testament.

In Genesis He is the Seed of the Woman.
In Exodus He is the Passover Lamb.
In Leviticus He is the Atoning Sacrifice.
In Numbers He is the Smitten Rock.
In Deuteronomy He is the Prophet.
In Joshua He is the Captain of the Lord’s Hosts.
In Judges He is the Deliverer.
In Ruth He is the Heavenly Kinsman.
In the six books of Kings He is the Promised King.
In Nehemiah He is the Restorer of the Nation.
In Esther He is the Advocate.
In Job He is My Redeemer.
In Psalms He is my All and in All.
In Proverbs He is my Pattern.
In Ecclesiastes He is My Goal.
In the Song of Solomon He is My Satisfier.
In the prophets He is the coming Prince of Peace.
In the Gospels He is Christ coming to seek and to save.
In Acts He is Christ risen.
In the Epistles He is Christ at the Father’s right hand.
In Revelation He is Christ returning and reigning.

An alternative version had:

In Psalms He is My Song.
In Proverbs He is Wisdom.
In the Gospels He is God in Christ Jesus, come to redeem.
In Acts He is alive in the Church.
In Revelation He is the Mighty Conqueror.

I think that its pretty profound and its an awesome way to express the centrality of Christ in the Bible. Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon are two that I'm a bit uncertain about. (To say that Jesus is my "goal", is he saying that he is the one who deals with meaninglessness/vanity? And sure Christ is our bridegroom, but isnt calling him our satisfier reading Song of Solomon too allegorically? I have no idea!)

I pray that as we read our Bibles, from Genesis to Revelation, we can say:
In my heart, He is my Saviour and my Lord.

More from the Red Tree...

2006-09-19T22:12:00.000+10:00

Sometimes you wait .. and wait .. and wait .. and wait .. and wait .. and wait .. and wait .. but nothing ever happens

Then all your troubles come out at once

Wonderful things are passing you by

Terrible fates are inevitable..

Camp Timothy

2006-09-17T21:51:00.000+10:00

Got back from Camp Timothy today, and I'm just hoping that I'll remember a lot of things I learnt from the talk and from the many important conversations that I had. I was feeling a bit dead all the way through it because I haven't had a proper sleep since last Tuesday, but I definitely had a good time. It just feels a bit too short. The accomodation was the best ever at a conference; I had a double bed and room all to myself! The highlight of the camp was the music videos at the end; I hope I get to see the tape of it.

The 2 Corinthians talks spoke to me about the power of the gospel, the joy of suffering, and God's strength in our weakness. I had good conversations with several people about some of the things I've been struggle with both godliness wise and theology wise. I wish the camp was longer because I still don't feel like I really know that much about the other ministries and the unique struggles that they have.

I hope that post-camp I'll be able to keep building on those relationships and also take God more seriously (and less academically).

Relationships - I recently said to someone, everytime you see a Christian, you should either be (a) building your friendship and/or (b) building the person up as a Christian. (I dont know if thats exactly true but it sounds true..) So I hope I can know how to do both.

When I was doing Mission Minded, one thing I wasnt sure about was the place of relationships between Christians, because in the "Edification" section, they just had Follow Up, Nurture, and Training in Ministry. I guess if I'm playing basketball with a guy, I'm not exactly edifying them, but it seems bad to try an analyse every activity you do in life based on those categories. Its a bit mechanical to think that you can edify someone without doing non "Word" stuff together.

Anyway, I need to learn how to build those friendships, because I always want to have deep 1 to 1 conversations but don't really know how to just have superficial group conversations; especially since most of my interests seem different to other people at church. Or maybe that's just my perception.

Taking God more serious, and just taking things more personally. What is your reaction if I said.. I have a friend who is struggling with his faith and said to me recently that he hates God?

If you're like me, you'd ask why they hate God, then try to analyse the situation, diagnose the problem, and come up with a solution. When I told a girl last night about this guy who hates God, her initial reaction was just .. sadness? I thought it was so godly of her to empathise with real people rather than just treating people like projects. I want to be more like her :)

Its just hard for some guys to feel things and its easy to live the Christian life in an overly intellectual way, and have a facade of godliness with all this knowledge. Then its easy to stop relating to God personally.

untitled hymn

2006-09-13T22:09:00.000+10:00

I quite like this song..

sometimes...

2006-09-09T03:02:00.000+10:00

sometimes you just don't know what you are suppose to do..

or who you are meant to be

or where you are

(from The Red Tree)

the danger of music as ‘worship’

2006-09-05T01:12:00.000+10:00

By PETER JENSEN

At the moment there seems to be a lot of emphasis on experiencing God through music. I am all in favour of music and I particularly love congregational singing. Sometimes I am caught up in the expression of our faith and my emotions are heightened to the point of tears of joy.

But what I need to remember is that music and singing in themselves may be of no spiritual value and indeed may be harmful if they lead me off in the wrong direction. I am sure that the prophets of Baal were pretty good at singing songs to their fierce and false lord. They may even have been beautiful and appealing songs.

So far I have not heard the equivalent of Baal worship in any of our churches and I am not expecting to! But I have heard singing which, while addressed to Jesus, falls very far short of a piety which is shaped by the Bible. In particular there is a sentimentality which poses no challenge to us at a spiritual level, and seems to serve only to give the singers a private emotional high.

That is why we must remain Bible people. Our minds need to be captured by the word of God and our spiritual lives need to be understood through the teaching of the word if we are to grasp what God is doing, and save ourselves from counterfeit experience.

ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

2006-09-03T00:54:00.000+10:00

stupidest assignment ever

so depressing.

About a Boy

2006-08-29T03:26:00.000+10:00

I watched About a Boy over the weekend; it was pretty funny but actually a bit meaningful as well - especially on the issue of loneliness and relationships. Here's part of the script:

H is Hugh Grant. K is the kid.

H: I heard you were about to commit social suicide, so I dropped by.
K: My accompanist left!
H: Brilliant. You don't have to do it.
K: I can't do that.
H: Yeah, you can. Just tell them: Artistic differences. You can't work without him. He had a drug problem.
K: My mum wants me to sing it. It'll make her happy.
H: Look, mate, nothing you do can make your mum happy, all right? Not in the long term. She has to do that for herself. What I'm saying is, the important thing is to make yourself feel happy.
K: I've tried just making myself happy. She's tried making herself happy. It doesn't work. You need other people to make you happy.
H: But that's just it. If other people can make you happy then they can also make you unhappy.

Being in relationship with someone means they can make you happy, but that also leaves you vulnerable to them hurting you. From God's perspective, his gracious creation of us actually means, I think, that he makes himself vulnerable to hurt. Because God loves us, we can make him happy or unhappy with the way we live. When I think about my own life... I don't know why he thought it was worth it...

I cant do this anymore...

2006-08-28T16:18:00.000+10:00

I failed a 15% test pretty badly today.. probably 5/15

Then had a group meeting for an assignment; had no idea what was happening.

Reminds me of.. every other semester I've ever had

Sunday..

2006-08-21T01:33:00.000+10:00

Today was ok.. I had to teach Sunday School which was partly why I was so down yesterday. But in God's grace it worked out well; the lesson ran quite well.. I played some basketball in the arvo.

But when I got to Church I just felt like leaving straight away. I dont quite know why now but it felt really clear to me at the time. I just feel like I need people to talk to so much but I don't want to be so needy. I thought things would be better now but its just much much worse. I just want to get back to normal as quickly as possible but its just not possible.

X

2006-08-20T01:53:00.000+10:00

Right now is probably the lowest point I've experienced maybe in my entire life

Don't know how I'm going to face church tomorrow..

I hope theres no point even lower than this one

PDL

2006-08-18T02:20:00.000+10:00

"God won't ask about your religious background or doctrinal views. The only thing that will matter is, did you accept what Jesus did for you and did you learn to love and trust him?"

Rick Warren should read 1 John. Perferably using the same translation.

Dreadfully Depressed...

2006-08-14T01:39:00.000+10:00

sometimes you think things are getting better...but they're not

things just seem to be getting worse, especially when other things go wrong as well

thinking..

2006-08-08T00:30:00.000+10:00

A wise Christian brother once said to me that theres always two sides to every argument, and especially given that Christian theology is full of tensions, we need to think of both sides of an argument in order to better understand Biblical truth, to see where the tensions are, and to understand where the other person (the one you disagree with) is coming from.

Its been great recently thinking through some issues and talking with people about them. 3 that I have been thinking about are (a) social justice, (b) singleness, (c) women teaching. Its easy to assume the evangelical conservative position and find reasons to justify your position, but its very beneficial to try and justify the opposite position.

Trying to think from both sides of the issue, these are some of the questions in my mind..

(a)
- in what ways is evangelism more important than social action, in what ways is it equally important?
- what should individuals do, and what should the church corporately do, and how should it differ? (I can't believe how many hours I've spent thinking about Matt 5:16.. cough. its all someone's fault)
- what about politically charged issues, and where it isnt clear what the bible says on the issue like.. the Middle East Conflict (I see it as being extremely unjust, and want to tell everyone how ridiculous America's pro-Israel stance is, but many Christians would disagree with me, and non-Christians might not want to listen to me tell them the gospel if they disagree with my politics..)

(b)
- why is it ok to be single in the NT. Is it because (1) in light of the importance of new creation work, marriage is now less important? (2) given the new creation marriage between Christ and the Church, we don't need to get married? (3) the Spirit gives us a fuller experience of God so that the relational desire for a spouse is no longer there. (I think 1 Cor and Eph suggests (1) and (2) are true. Interestingly if (1) is true, how can people say that old and new creation work are equally important..)

(c)
- I found a good paper on this issue by Simon Manchester here.
- I'm still trying to find good reasons why people argue that women should be able to teach and have authority over a man. Very BAD arguments come from Galatians and Judges. Moderately bad (i think) arguments come from Acts and 1 Cor. The worse arguments come from human wisdom.

These are just my thoughts and not really my final positions on anything.

small annoucement

2006-07-31T00:41:00.000+10:00

I don't want to be one of those people that breaks up and then nobody knows until 3 months later. So even though I'm not really comfortable talking about my personal life, I thought I should say that.. unfortunately I broke up a week ago. I am not doing so well, but I know they are just slight, momentary afflictions, and even though emotionally I feel like crap now, in the long run its the right thing to do.

My immediate reflections are:

- its so important to be content with singleness. Since I've never been single and Christian at the same time, I never really thought about this, but being content in singleness is really important in not having premature, sub-Christian relationships, and in protecting yourself from relating to people with wrong motivations.

- being single and wanting to be going out really tests your trust in God and his promises. Some of the people who have comforted me make it sound like God has promised a hot, godly, ministry minded, family minded wife for godly guys. He doesnt. But his promises are even better, and even if there is no such wife for me, then I need to be content anyway.

- my relationships with my sisters has suddenly changed. Its weird now. And if its not, maybe it should be. I know that within the next 12 months I will definitely not be ready to go out with anyone else, and also not think about anyone in particular in a romantic way. So hopefully I can continue to have normal non-weird friendships.

- a lot of people have been particularly nice to me in this past week and I cant express how much I appreciate it. Its unbelievably hard to be crying in my room then having to eat dinner with my family pretending I'm completely fine.

- loneliness gives rise to all kinds of sinfulness.
Have mercy on me, a wretched sinner.

2006-07-25T21:04:00.000+10:00

Maybe I didn't love you
Quite as often as I could have
And maybe I didn't treat you
Quite as good as I should have

~

If I made you feel second best
Girl I'm sorry I was blind
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

~

And maybe I didn't hold you
All those lonely.. lonely times
And I guess I never told you
I'm so happy that you're mine

~

Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

~

Tell me..
Tell me that your sweet love hasn't died
Give me..
Give me one more chance to keep you satisfied
I'll keep you satisfied

~

Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind..

~

2006-07-25T10:56:00.000+10:00

18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

26Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because^[f] the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,^[g] for those who are called according to his purpose. 29For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

iRelate

2006-07-22T01:27:00.000+10:00

Got home today from my last MYC ever; I didnt realise how sad I am about it.. I have so many good memories at Merroo, all the things that I have heard and learnt, all the people I have had deep fellowship with.

I had a great week but there were a few negatives:
- extreme lack of sleep. Hours I slept each night: 6, 6, 4, 5, 3..
- the size of Commerce and the amount of fringe Christians we had affected our culture, making it hard to have genuine fellowship at free times and at nights. (I hate spading...)
- didnt have much time for reflection because I had to spend most of the time preparing stuff. When you're leading the seminar, you can't really think about your own application that much!
- really didn't like the music. I almost wish I was the only one who didnt like it but... no.
- oh yeah, and having people ask me when I was getting married. Please don't ever ask me that question =(

But there were definitely lots of things to give thanks for:
- really good fellowship with some of the guys. We shared a lot of stuff about our struggles as men, especially with girls. We spent hours just confessing all the things we've done wrong in the past.
- a lot of deep thinking. Paul's talks were great although I cant believe he didnt talk about FTM at all!!! Its not MYC without FTM! I've heard tapes from at least 10 MYCs, and in all of them, FTM was a massive theme. But his talks on relating to people were practical, and theological in terms of thinking through from Creation to the Gospel to the End. Archie Poulos' elective on emotions was helpful as well.
- very encouraged by first years, especially those from CCC. But ARGH, whats with all the spading?! I feel like such an old man..
- the seminars I led and co-led went well, I thought.

For the semester to come, my final semester, there's so much stuff to do. What can we do organisationally that will help us to feed all 100+ of our active members with the word of God regularly, and best reach out to the lost on campus. What can we do to make sure that even if we lose both our MTS workers next year, and basically all our main leaders, we will still run smoothly. If you are thinking of doing MTS next year, please consider Commerce! Or better yet, give CBS lots of money. I dont think it would actually cost that much to resolve a lot of our problems. Perhaps something in the region of $100,000 would be pretty useful.. Thinking about what MYC has done for me and everyone in Commerce in the past 3 years makes me appreciate this ministry.

I found out after I got home that for some reason my choice of subjects for next semester has been REJECTED (?!?!) by the Faculty or Science. I don't know what I'm going to do now because if I have to do what they want me to do, its going to take up much more time. One of the subjects I would have to take is taken by Jim Franklin, a maths lecture who has published an article called "Is Jensenism Compatible with Christianity?" I wonder if I can make an argument that being in his class would be offensive to my religion...?

Snacks for MYC

2006-07-16T02:32:00.000+10:00

so bored..

2006-07-15T17:54:00.000+10:00

Usually on Saturdays I eat dinner with my bro but today he left home before I woke up and I assumed he was coming back for dinner... He didnt pick up when I called him, and finally, at almost 6pm, he tells me he's not coming home. And he's taken the car. So I cant even go out with anyone else or go anywhere to eat...

Off to MYC I go...

2006-07-15T01:26:00.000+10:00

I cant believe MYC is so soon, theres so many things I havent done! I'm so stressed out this year cos I actually have to do stuff this year, instead of just sitting and listening =(
Hopefully it'll be good. There's just so much I feel like I have to pray for, I don't know where to start.. have to pray for...
- all the newbies at MYC, that they wont feel left out.
- all the upper years, that they'll make everyone feel welcomed
- all the MTSers who'll be leading seminars, electives, faculty planning, that they'll have wisdom, creativity, faithfulness, adequate preparation, the Spirit guiding them...etc
- Grimmo
- admin
- people who have registered will turn up
- God to be glorified.
- God to show his mercy to us.
- God to change us for the better, in a way that lasts...

so many things, I cant pray for them all, hopefully someone reading this will do it for me!

Today I went out to eat Jap food all by myself; so depressing! I was just so tired of eating lunch at home everyday but I have no one to eat with.. then did some shopping for MYC snacks in Chatswood, then went to Koorong to buy "Connecting"... sounds so much like a book teaching you how to pick up girls.

On Tuesday I went to Dan and Teresa's HG in Artarmon and I was so encouraged by the people there in so many ways. I definitely have to try and go there more often even after uni starts. I really miss having a weekly bible study group like that.

I've chosen all my subjects for next semester. My last chance to dedicate myself to serious academic study. I really want to show myself that I can do it, otherwise I don't think I could survive at Bible College. The good news is, I got all my results from this semester and I passed everything again, quite comfortably. My highest grades since 1st year; even got a D in Intro to European Philosophy - despite 0/10 in tut participation/attendence.

Katharine Jefferts Schori

2006-07-12T01:54:00.000+10:00

Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first woman elected primate in the Anglican Communion, in an interview with TIME magazine:

What will be your focus as head of the U.S. church? Our focus needs to be on feeding people who go to bed hungry, on providing primary education to girls and boys, on healing people with AIDS, on addressing tuberculosis and malaria, on sustainable development. That ought to be the primary focus.

Is belief in Jesus the only way to get to heaven? We who practice the Christian tradition understand him as our vehicle to the divine. But for us to assume that God could not act in other ways is, I think, to put God in an awfully small box.

What is your prayer for the church today? That we remember the centrality of our mission is to love each other. That means caring for our neighbors. And it does not mean bickering about fine points of doctrine.

Hillsong Conference

2006-07-04T23:30:00.000+10:00

Just realised that the Hillsong Conference has started after reading an smh.com.au article about Rick Warren telling people that they should make lots of money in order to give it away.

"It's not about you," he told a Sydney crowd last night. "The purpose for your life is far greater than your personal happiness, your personal fulfilment. It's not about passions, possessions, positions or power."

"I don't think it is a sin to be rich, it's a sin to die rich,"

I think that's great and we should probably pray for them over at the SuperDome. For all the heresies, at least they have an evangelical speaking this year, and hopefully what Rick is saying will help the people there understand more about God and what being a Christian is about.

Resolutions

2006-07-03T00:05:00.000+10:00

But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. (Daniel 1:8)

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power. (2 Thess 1:11)

This is going to be my first holidays I've spent in Sydney since I became a Christian, and the first time in a long time that I've felt like I don't have anything to do. So just as Daniel resolved to be godly, and as God worked in the Thessalonians to fulfil their resolve for good, I am resolving to use these 2 weeks Christianly and productively, praying for God to work in me. So, for these 2 weeks, I resolve to -

Read the Bible and Pray everyday
Write my mini talk for SOTE by Friday
Prepare my Sunday School lesson properly
Prepare for my MYC Seminars
Finish reading Chapman's Love Languages
Read Romans and Romans PTC notes
Study for my finance and maths subjects for next semester
Spend time with Christians - just hanging out rather than "meeting up"
Stop wasting time watching TV and chatting to people on MSN
Try to sleep around 1am each night

and if I am lucky,

Read Peterson's "Possessed by God"
Write a series of Bible Studies for my Faculty Group next semester - either a series on Sanctification, or Mark, or Romans, or Acts. I'm pretty undecided at the moment.

Finally Finished

2006-06-30T17:03:00.000+10:00

My exams finished today. I'm so relieved, after my last exam finished today I ran to my car and screamed! I'm pretty sure I passed everything, although I definitely don't deserve to. Last few days I was feeling so depressed and I didnt think I'd get through it. I had never studied so much in such a short time frame before. I hope I don't forget this feeling, so that next semester I'll remember not to slack off.

2006-06-27T03:20:00.000+10:00

I feel like throwing up...
unbelievable...
dunno how im going to be able to study for exams!
so depressing, just feel so sick seeing all those replays

Faith / Plan of God

2006-06-21T14:58:00.000+10:00

Scenario 1:
Sam decides to go overseas for secondment (or international exchange), away from Church, his Christian brothers, family, and girlfriend. When I express my concern that he will struggle to be a Christian overseas, he says: it'll be fine, its all God's plan.

Scenario 2:
Jenny takes up a job that require ridiculous hours, causing her to struggle to find time for quiet times, church and ministry (say Investment Banking, Law, or even your average Big 4 Auditor). I ask: Do you worry that you will be too busy to keep doing mninistry? Response: I have faith in him and the plan he has for me.

What is God's plan for us and why should we have faith in it. Why should they trust that God's plan will work out fine for them? What do people mean when they say that? What does the Bible mean when it talks about God's plan for us?

What people mean is that God is sovereign, and so they don't really need to worry too much about what will happen. While its good to not be anxious, it could be that the person is being fatalistic and not recognise that in our discipleship, we work as God works in us. Rather than questioning his original decision, Sam thinks he can just do what he wants and God will make everything fine.

Sometimes people say that because they know God is sovereign but they substitute their own plans for God's plans. If our goal in life is to grow more like Christ, how can we choose to take a job that is helpful to our Christian growth, then just say we trust in God's plan. What are you trusting in? Are you trusting that you can NOT deny yourself, NOT take up your cross, NOT follow Him, and he will still keep you in Christ?

28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,^[g] for those who are called according to his purpose. 29For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8)

God's sovereign work will be for "good", and the good is not that we can pursue our own desires and still be in Christ. "No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other." The good is that we will be conformed to the image of his Son, so that Jesus might be the firstborn among many brothers. That is God's desire for us, so "be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall." (1 Peter 1:10) Don't trust your own desires, and don't have faith that your plans for your life will keep you in Christ.

These things should be clear to all of us, so let us not be like the people in Jeremiah 4:

22"For my people are foolish;
they know me not;
they are stupid children;
they have no understanding.
They are 'wise'--in doing evil!
But how to do good they know not."

Joga Bonito

2006-06-12T15:30:00.000+10:00

Surely this ad is fake..

For more videos, nikefootball.com

Cool T-shirt

2006-06-11T15:56:00.000+10:00

2006-06-09T12:31:00.000+10:00

World Cup Predictions

2006-06-09T01:06:00.000+10:00

Group Stage:

Group A
Germany, Poland

Group B
England, Paraguay

Group C
Argentina, Holland

Group D
Portugal, Mexico

Group E
Italy, Czech

Group F
Brazil, Australia

Group G
France, Switzerland

Group H
Ukraine, Spain

Round of 16

GER v PAR
ARG v MEX
ENG v POL
POR v HOL *
ITA v AUS
FRA v SPA
BRA v CZE *
UKR v SWI

Quarter Finals:

GER v ARG
ITA v FRA *
ENG v HOL *
BRA v UKR

Semi Finals:

ARG v ITA *
ENG v BRA *

Finals:

ARG v ENG *

* must watch

2006-06-08T22:51:00.000+10:00

Just heard smeone on the news say we should teach year 1 kids about sex education... so that with the correct information they can have safe sex...

........

stupid

Exams

2006-06-07T20:47:00.000+10:00

People say that when you're in a ditch, everyone believes in God.

I reckon when you're stuffed in an exam, everyone believes in post-modernism.

I would never pass my philosophy exams if it wasnt for post-modernism.

socceroos

2006-06-05T01:13:00.000+10:00

Watching the socceroos makes me feel so ashamed! I think they dont understand the concept of "friendly". If I was another country, the last team I'd wanna play is the socceroos; for no reason someone is going to try and injure your players. They're just like little school children; when people are better than you, you use lose your temper and try to hurt your opponent.

The commentators and the media are worse, they actually think the result is important, as though 1-1 means we're as good as Holland, even though we were completely rubbish and couldnt string 2 passes together. The last game against the amateur side, the news actually said it was such a wonderful result and Kewell was spectacular for scoring two goals (thats like an adult team playing against kids...) And you know exactly what the media are going to say... tomorrow they're going to say, what a gutsy performance with 10 men only, it was a very important result going into the world cup, great performance. NO, all wrong...

Totally outclassed. We'll be lucky to score a single goal at the world cup. Pretty unlikely to get a single point. Its OK to be crap at a sport. I'm not being unpatriotic.. its good we got into the world cup, but stop acting like an arrogant kid in the world stage.

It is shameful that we are injuring the Dutch players so that they cant even go to the World Cup anymore. Totally Childish.

more stupidity

2006-06-03T16:34:00.000+10:00

And now Howard says

"There's absolutely no comparison, the public will not see any comparison between the sale of Telstra and the sale of the Snowy, and to suggest there is is ludicrous."

No, you're ludicrous.

If he's going to popular demand over the public interest (what is actually best for the people in the long run), then its exactly the same. In both cases, public interest would be served by ignoring the economic irrationality of people.

stupidity

2006-06-02T22:55:00.000+10:00

Politics in Australia is so ridiculous... the whole Snowy Hydro affair is nonsensical; Howard changes his mind because the public sentiment is wrong, then Beazley (who wanted Howard to change his mind) criticises Howard for changing his mind, then tells him to change his mind on Telstra as well (another deal where the public sentiment is non-sensical and economically foolish).

X-Men 3

2006-05-29T01:09:00.000+10:00

Warning - this post contains spoilers to the X-Men 3 TV ad's. If you have not yet seen the commercial, don't read on..

In the middle of the movie, when they're were talking about the "cure" (as they mentioned in the Ads), I turned to Grace and said, this is just like homosexuality. She looked at me like.. whats wrong with you?! And when I said to friends that I thought X-Men provoked a lot of thoughts about homosexuality, they all thought I was weird.. But now! I've been justified =p

From Sydneyanglicans.net:

This may sound kooky – judge for yourself – but I'm really starting to wonder if The Last Stand is actually meant as an argument for homosexuality.

haha
you heard it here first!!

Google Trends

2006-05-24T00:19:00.000+10:00

Good to know that Sydney leads the world in searches for Don Carson

http://www.google.com/trends?q=don+carson&ctab=1&geo=all&date=all

Studying for NT1

2006-05-22T20:21:00.000+10:00

Mark's Gospel

1 Cor 11

2006-05-19T17:42:00.000+10:00

I'm doing 1 Cor 11 in my faculty group next week. I want to have a proper communion at the end of it, but I dont know if thats allowed..

Luther Poem from CBS

2006-05-11T02:53:00.000+10:00

Take they then our life,

Wealth, fame, child and wife,

Let these all be gone,

No triumph have they won.

The kingdom ours remaineth.

I actually got a job!

2006-04-25T22:10:00.000+10:00

I got an offer yesterday from EY in valuations; I'm so happy! but I'm really anxious for contract to arrive, in case they change their minds..

I don't really know the details at the moment, but this is the best job that I could have gotten, so I'm really thankful.

The World

2006-04-14T23:40:00.000+10:00

I've been talking to my Dad about my job hunting, and he's always saying I should go to China because there's more opportunities there.

Anyway, tonight I was showing him "The World", the new development in Dubai... (watch the video, its so cool).

Then at the 10 minutes later he came back into my room and said, Tony, if you work in Australia, you'll never have a chance to buy one of these islands. ....

nooooooo

2006-04-04T19:24:00.000+10:00

Blahhhhhhhhhh so sad
Got rejected by Westpac after the 0th round, didnt even get an online assessment. come on!! it doesnt cost them to give me one first..

I'm looking at Masters Programs now.. I don't know if I have much chance of getting a job next year =(

Why couldnt I have a D average?!?!?!

2006-04-01T02:42:00.000+11:00

o that's right, I never did any work.

so depressing..

Jobs I would like:

2006-03-25T01:39:00.000+11:00

These are currently my ideal jobs:

Institutional or Corporate Banking at any of the Big 4 Banks
Corporate Finance/Transactions at any of the Big 4 Accounting Firms
Equities Research (or any Research or Quantitative Analysis type jobs) in an Investment Bank

If I don't get any of these, I would like to work for the Treasury in Canberra..

It was interesting that just tonight at SOTE we were talking about work in creation and in the fall. Reminds me that I shouldnt be looking for job satisfaction and personal fulfilment in any job. Also I have to admit the investment banking jobs that all say they will train you for 12 weeks in London and NY do sound particularly attractive.. But when you hear you will have to work 80-100 hours a week, I dont think I'll get much of a Sabbath..

The first of many..

2006-03-23T20:41:00.000+11:00

"The standard of candidates was very high and unfortunately we will not be advancing you to the first round. Please be assured that this was a very difficult decision to make."

From Mercer Oliver Wyman..

Yes I am so assured now.

Whats the goal?

2006-03-22T00:49:00.000+11:00

After a whole year of ministry at CBS I realised that I have no idea what the goal is behind my ministry here (besides the obvious one of serving God). What I mean is, what do I want the people in my group to get out of my studies? Most people in my groups, I know will only be with CBS for 1 or 2 years, and I dont really think too much about what happens to them after.

I suppose in my sinfulness, some of the goals I have had for particular people are:
- by the end of the semester, I want them to want to lead a group next semester
- I want them to realise that they should really consider doing full time ministry
- for them to realise they want to be more involved with CBS..

Doing Growth Groups should have made it obvious what the real goal should be, but maybe I never really applied it. Why should I want "growth" for the group? What does it do for them? In terms of a whole life time of teaching that they're going to get, all the sermons they're going to hear, the conferences they're going to go to, my studies surely would not make much of a difference.

Like realistically, if this guy im ministering to is, on a universal scale of Christians, a 5 out of 10 Christian. At the end of his life time, statistically he's more likely than not, only going to be a 6 or 7/10 kind of Christian, and its going to be people like Phillip Jensen and conferences like MYC which is going to move him up a notch, so my role as a bible study leader is to convince people to come MYC and Club 5. (its probably wrong to grade Christians against each other, but if you grade everyone against Jesus, that makes my point even more obvious - what does it matter cos everyone's going to be 0/10 from beginning to end.)

Ok, obviously I don't think that's right, but sometimes that's the way I'm behaving. So what should I be aiming for in my bible study group? Growth? What is growth?? Does it really matter in the context of eternality?

----

I think one problem is, I don't care enough about glorifying God, and the eternal importance of every choice you make, to choose God or Satan.

84!

2006-03-09T21:48:00.000+11:00

is the number of firms I need to apply to for jobs.

Slow..

2006-02-28T01:41:00.000+11:00

It just struck me that the crap coming out of Howard's mouth is related to AWB.
I'm so slow...

Pictures

2006-02-01T02:16:00.000+11:00

This is what I have been doing in the last 2 months:

Sight Seeing in BJ

1-3. YongHe Temple, 4,7-8. Forbidden City, 5-6. People's Congress, 9. Tiananmen

1-3. Great Wall, 4-7. Summer Palace, 8. QuanJuDe, 9. Temple of Heaven

1-3. Tiananmen Square, 4. Forbidden City, 5. Tiananmen, 6. Nice picture of Forbidden City from a book, 7. LiuLi Chang (Antiques Street), 8. Place where I had a facial and massage, 9. Postcard of Forbidden City

1. Tiananmen, 2. Where Mao's Dead Body can be seen, 3. Tiananmen Square, 4. Northern Cathedral, 5. Frozen Moat of Forbidden City, 6. Forbidden City, 7. Tai Miao Temple, 8. Diarama of Ancient Beijing, 9. One step ahead of Mao.

1. White Pagoda, 2. Ming City Walls, 3. Peking U Library, 4. Panda, 5. in the limo of Mao's wife, 6. My class, 7-8. Snow Scenes, 9. Outside Imperial Restuarant

Eating in BJ

1. Peking Duck at QuanJuDe, 2. Peking Duck at the Peninsular Hotel, 3. Eat a SCORPION!! 4. 12:03AM 1/1/06 at Starbucks, 5. Squid Balls, 6. Raw meat, Squid, etc on sticks, 7. Pouring Tea, 8. Goubuli Baozi, 9. Deep Fried Ice Cream

1. With Friends at Italian Restaurant, 2. Restaurant serving the favorites of Communist Party Heads, 3. Hot Pot, 4. GuiZhou Hot Pot Fish, 5. Tibetan Restaurant, 6. Tibetan Yak, 7-8. Imperial Resturant - Deer Meat, 9. Hot Pot

In HK

1. Peng Chau, 2. My very cute cousin, 3. Seafood Platter at Sheraton, 4. From the Peak, 5. Star Ferry, 6. Ferry and IFC (Highest Building in HK), 7. HK's version of Imax, 8. Local Park, 9. Cheng Chau

1-8. Looking at Chinese NY Fireworks from the Sheraton, 9. Looking down on the masses

Back in HK

2006-01-30T03:19:00.000+11:00

I've been back in HK for a week now, but I'm on dial up so I havent been too keen to go online. Anyways, the last few weeks in Beijing were really fun, I tried yak meat, deer, monkey (i think), NOT dog, but scorpion. I went to see almost every site recommended in Lonely Planet, and I had to take exams for my course. I made a lot of friends over there and now I'm really going to miss them =(

I've also been infected with the Travel Bug that lots of people seem to have nowadays; I've borrowed Lonely Planets of "Greek Islands" and "Barcelona", hoping to go there some time in the near future. I hinted to my dad that I want to go to Europe with him in mid to late Feb but he hasn't really responded to my hints - and I really should go back to Sydney for O Week anyways I guess.

Chinese New Years pretty good, I always enjoy spending time with family that I haven't seen in a while. But its just really hard keeping up with quiet times when you are overseas.

The Pingu Factor

hey

Psalm 88

Psalm 88

I Cry Out Day and Night Before You

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil[a] of Heman the Ezrahite.

Contentment

Graduation

Plants

Uncertain..

on the plane..

ARGHHH

Barcelona..

In Venice

赞美耶和华

Amazed...

Update

Earthquake in Taipei...

Merry Christmas

tianjin

I am running/ a hundred miles an hour

A fork in the road

Today

69.625

Why I was a terrible Sunday School teacher...

in HK

leaving tomorrow

confused

Hollis Hurlbut

Star activists 'don't acknowledge progress'

It is finished

24

Yep

Locked out of home...

sigh

yay

Another stressful night...

Ordered this today

My last day of uni ever!

好男不与女斗

Week 13

interpreting dreams..

Summer Holidays

15 Years

homesick

Assuming the Gospel

Houseparty

Forty-four

Sitting in class..

Things..

Biblical Theology

More from the Red Tree...

Camp Timothy

untitled hymn

sometimes...

the danger of music as ‘worship’

ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

About a Boy

I cant do this anymore...

Sunday..

X

PDL

Dreadfully Depressed...

thinking..

small annoucement

iRelate

Snacks for MYC

so bored..

Off to MYC I go...

Katharine Jefferts Schori

Hillsong Conference

Resolutions

Finally Finished

Faith / Plan of God

Joga Bonito

Cool T-shirt

World Cup Predictions

Exams

socceroos

more stupidity

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil^[a] of Heman the Ezrahite.