Jubilee Man's 100th Post

For Jubilee Man's 100th post, I've been tagged and am required to admit six quirky things about myself!

The rules of the meme are these:

1. Link to the person that tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog.

3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.

5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Here goes.

1. The person who tagged me is my lovely wife. You can find her here: http://www.loveasunnyday.blogspot.com/

2. Well, I've posted the rules of the tag above!

3. This is the meat of the tag. Six non-important quirks or habits about yourself. So, without further ado:

a) I flick my toes a lot. So much so that I wear holes out at the front of socks pretty quickly.

b) I go to bed usually between 12am-1am every night and get up at 6-6.30am.

c) I clean my study every Monday morning because there is so much paper around.

d) I am frequently frustrated at not having enough time to read books.

e) I read the Between Two Worlds blog (see link on my list) every morning.

f) I usually have to have a window open in the room where I am or else I feel claustrophobic - especially if someone else is in the room!!! I like fresh air and not someone else's!

Jubilee Man Answers That Personal Questions Thing

1. Were you named after anyone?

Not first name. Second name is William (my Grandma Paterson's dad, who was a jockey). My third name is Tuipiri - named after my grandfather Paterson.

2. When was the last time you cried?

It's been a long time, many years. Occasionally I might feel very emotional.

3. Do you like your handwriting?

Yes, I think it's very beautiful!

4. What is your favourite lunch meat?

Smoked ham thinly sliced.

5. Do you have kids?

Three (see below)

6. If you were another person would you be friends with you?

I'm not sure I would be patient enough. It takes a while - and a fair bit of space - to see me at my best in a friendship. I ease into friendships rather than put myself out there before someone.

7. Do you use sarcasm alot?

All the time.

8. Do you still have your tonsils?

Yes - they're in a box under my bed (joke).

9. Would you bungee jump?

No, for two reasons: firstly, a friend did it and the blood vessels in his eyes burst; secondly, another male friend of mine jumped wearing a shirt - it lifted revealing his need to wear what Kramer would call 'The Bro' (it put me off the whole thing after that). Weird story I know, but true.

10. What is your favourite cereal?

I would mix cereals for my ultimate cereal - Sultana Bran with Nutri Grain.

11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?

Yes.

12. Do you think you are strong?

Physically I am under-rated...mentally I think I am pretty tough.

13. What is your favourite icecream?

I don't eat ice cream usually. However - maybe a cornetto.

14. What is the first thing you notice about people?

Good question. Ummm - their sense of style combined with their speaking voice.

15. Red or pink?

Red.

16. What is the thing that you like least about yourself?

My lack of self-confidence.

17. Who do you miss the most?

Some of my friends from Bible College who I prayed with and opened my life to.

19. What colour pants and shoes are you wearing?

Blue jeans, brown shoes.

20. Have you ever re-gifted?

Oh yes!

21. What are you listening to right now?

The sound of the dryer.

22. If you were a crayon what colour would you be?

Sky blue.

23. Favourite smells?

Rain following a muggy afternoon. A new book. Double Delight roses.

24. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?

John Beasley asking me to come to church to hold a ladder for him while he replaced lights 40 feet up.

26. Favourite sports to watch?

Cricket in any form. A fast international Rugby match is hard to beat.

27. Hair colour?

Red turning to brown.

28. Eye colour?

Sky blue.

29. Do you wear contacts?

No.

30. Favourite food?

Caesar or beef salad, Lamb Korma with naan.

31. Scary movies or happy endings?

A scary thriller (as opposed to a horror movie) can be exhilarating.

32. Last movie you watched?

Amazing Grace - a fabulous film that heartened me to keep following Jesus as Lord!

33. What colour shirt are you wearing?

Dark blue with thin pale blue vertical stripes.

34. Summer or winter?

Winter.

35. Hugs or kisses?

Kisses.

36. Favourite dessert?

Vanilla or caramel mudcake with cream.

39. What book are you reading now?

Confessions of a Reformission Rev by Mark Driscoll; The Unnecessary Pastor by Marva Dawn and Eugene Peterson; Contemplative Youth Ministry by Mark Yaconelli.

40. What is on your mousepad?

I don't use one, I find them clunky and unnecessary.

41. What did you watch on tv last night?

America's Top Model with Cecily; news.

42. Favourite sound?

Heavy rain outside.

43. Rolling stones or Beatles?

Beatles.

44. What is the furthest you have been from home?

Physically, Singapore. Mentally and emotionally - a million years away.

45. Do you have a special talent?

I think I create goodwill and diffuse tension in people - making them feel at ease and more willing to open up to me.

46. Where born?

King George V Ward, Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney.

Here's a Label for You

Hi all - if you are a Christian this is a little quiz that will give you an idea of what Christian tradition you loosely fit into!

My result is below (for some reason some words have been cut off - sorry about that!).

Post your result! With many thanks to even the smallest.

You scored as Reformed Evangelical, You are a Reformed Evangelical. You take the Bible very seriously because it is God's Word. You most likely hold to TULIP and are sceptical about the possibilities of universal atonement or resistible grace. The most important thing the Church can do is make sure people hear how they can go to heaven when they die. Reformed Evangelical 96% Neo orthodox 79% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 75% Emergent/Postmodern 50% Charismatic/Pentecostal 36% Fundamentalist 32% Modern Liberal 18% Classical Liberal 14% Roman Catholic 11% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Preaching and the Positive Mind

My preaching is an evolving animal - it is still developing and forming. They say the first year of full-time ministry is a year of preaching experimentation for the young minister!

I have been inspired recently to preach positively - at least as much as the context of the bible passage I have on the day will allow.

Some reflections on this:

My first minister as a Christian, Richard Quadrio, said to us once to always preach grace, not guilt. Guilt, he said, is always a 'too easy' default.

Guilt doesn't achieve anything. Lots of sermons follow this route:

• This is what God says in this passage
• You should do this
• You are not doing it
• Try harder

Sure, God can work within this pattern of preaching. But this gives so little motivation for real change. Also, it tends to focus attention more on us than God.

People are motivated to do what God says when they hear how loving and how good God is, not just how bad we are. Guilt brings on bad feelings with no hope for change. Preaching grace brings hope and desire to change because God is so good.

I keep reading quotes such as this:

Preach with such life and awakening seriousness...and with such easy method and with such variety of wholesome matter that the people may never be weary of you. Pour out the rehearsal of the love and the benefits of God, open so to them the privileges of faith, the joys of hope, that they may never be hungry. (Swinnock, The Christian Man's Calling, 3:905)

One of my mentors, David Miles (a wonderful preacher and example of grace-filled preaching) recommended the book Preaching and the Positive Mind by P T Forsyth, which deals with this subject. I am about to read it. With the link you can read it with me!

With thanks to I Love a Sunny Day who wrote some of this post.

Cars

* Was in one for nearly four hours today to Sydney and back
* One we own has a massive repair bill thanks to an electrical problem
* It's no fun being surrounded by many unmoving ones
* Put lots of them next to each other underground in the CBD and it's like a sauna
*'Nuff said!

Don't Take This Drug

Was listening to the second lecture of a series called 'Public Faith in a Postmodern World' this morning (Miroslav Volf).

Three reasons for an idle Christian faith:

1. The character of believers - faith demands so much that they pick and choose (like leaving the broccoli uneaten on the dinner plate but eating the potatoes)

2. Old faith - born in particular circumstances - seems mute when facing new issues (such as the environment and nuclear energy)

3. When one is constrained by systems in which one lives and works - one feels one must obey the logic and rules of the systems rather than the Christian faith one embraces

And the drug reference? Volf suggests that God can be seen as a performance-enhancing drug...being used for improving performance when we need it only, rather than influencing our entire lives for him.

Stuff I've Been Reading/Listening To

Exclusion and Embrace (Volf)
Still going!

A Voice of One's Own: Public Faith in a Pluralistic Culture (Volf)
An MP3 series of three lectures Volf gave at Regent College, along with replies from Regent lecturers. I've heard the first one on 'Malfunctions of the Christian Faith'. Volf certainly has his finger on the cultural pulse and this was a really helpful lecture. Really looking forward to getting the time for Lectures 2 and 3.

The Way of Wisdom (Sven Soderlund and J I Packer (eds)).
It's a collection of essays on biblical wisdom dedicated to a guy called Bruce Waltke, a distinguished OT scholar. Wisdom in the bible is a theme I followed through last year as part of a bigger project on Biblical guidance in the context of working out one's future vocation. I want to understand biblical wisdom more - and apply it! Job 28:28.

Serving the People of God (Vol 2 of 4 Vol set) (J I Packer)
Been reading this for a year and a half now...


Stuff I'm getting to eventually:

Finishing the stuff I am reading now!

Postmodern Apologetics MP3 series (Alister McGrath):
Addresses in part the aggressive attacks of Richard Dawkins, the atheistic scientist/author

Finishing Serving the People of God and moving on to another volume in the series, Honouring the People of God (vol 4), which contains mini-biographies of important Christian theologians of the far and recent past.

And yes, that is me being ordained...had hair then too...

Things I...

My beautiful wife has come up with a list of things that have shaped her life and things she wishes she cared more about. Here's my off-the-cuff equivalent list using her categories:

Things I think about a lot - and which have shaped my life

• Discovering new things from God through his word


• The underdog, the not-so-popular, the dysfunctional personality type, the 'worker bees' as opposed to the elite, the oppressed, the strugglers, the left behind, the marginalised


• Respect and dignity for those that fall within the above list


• A need for structure and order


• Researching anything and the process of learning new things


• Listening and giving space and time to people to present their true selves and shed their defensive layers


• Aesthetics (ie trying to make things look good!)


• Making systems work better

Things I think about a lot - but about which I haven't done very much

• Making people aware of the importance of overseas Christian mission
• Making my day more efficient
• Making friends with parents at my kids' school
• Walking more
• Fixing my rear bike tyre (8 months now)

Things I don't care much about - but they shape my life anyway

• Detail


• What I eat


• Housework


• Mobiles


• Getting kids in and out of cars

Things I wish I cared about a bit more

• Saving money


• Maintaining any kind of neat garden


• Housework of any kind


• Keeping in touch with people from the past

Things I thought I didn't care about, but it turns out I did

• Other people's manners


• What people think of me


• Baldness!


• Computers and cars


• Being interrupted


• 'Cave time'

Latest News in Laundry List Format

• Our third bub has started taking his first steps (the magic of that never fades, even after three)


• Now over a month into being an assistant minister


• Have made a few gaffes already - my boss is patient and kind!


• Got ordained as a deacon at St Andrews Cathedral Sat Feb 3rd


• My first baptism is on Sunday - pray I remember the name of the bub (it is an exquisite African name...which I have already forgotten!)


• Have driven over 2000km already from Sydney to Mittagong and back


• Was given a car by a member of my church - such incredible generosity!

There's probably more but that's enough for now!

Some Things I'm Reading/Listening To

Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey - Simply put, it proposes that the truth of Christ deeply affect our public and private lives (hence the title). It gives a history of how Christianity in the west has moved largely into the private sphere of life alone, and how this has shaped western Christianity as a result. Nancy Pearcey is a student of Francis Schaeffer. Definitely worth reading so far and very helpful in thinking through a Christian worldview and responses to culture, science and our work.

Genesis (Iain Provan) - an MP3 lecture series I downloaded from Regent College Vancouver. I've listened to one lecture so far. One thing he proposes is that the Spirit hovering over the waters in Genesis 1:2 implies God's authority over chaos (in contrast to Ancient Near Eastern creation stories).

The Black Echo (Michael Connelly) - every year at Christmas I am given a crime/mystery novel (last year was the Da Vinci Code). This year's one was great! Go Detective Harry Bosch! Can't wait 'til next year.

Effective Youth Ministry (Ken Moser) - I'll be involved in youth ministry next year so am re-reading this. Having experienced four years of youth ministry I think Ken Moser has the right idea. Youth group is about growing Christian disciples.

Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (Packer) - an oldie but a goodie.

Pastoral Leadership (Rod Wilson) - another MP3 series from Regent (its principal). I thought it was interesting and it is from an experienced Christian leader. He is surprisingly and refreshingly self-deprecating.

Relationship Development Intervention Parents' Objectives - reading this every night together with Cecily to help rehabilitate our middle child who has Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

Future Reads/Listens:

Admin/whatever church or the ministry team is reading

The Soul of Prayer (P T Forsythe)

More Michael Connelly!

Apologetics in a Postmodern World (Alister McGrath MP3 series)

Exclusion and Embrace/Free of Charge (Miroslav Volf)

The online papers and kids books galore!

Some Advice To Heed Before Entering College

Some advice that comes to mind for those entering any Bible College:

1) You are about to learn a new language. Remember to keep translating it to your congregation.

2) Knowing more about God does not translate to you knowing God better. Remember Matthew 23 and 1 Corinthians 1 and 2.

3) Pray pray pray and more prayer! Don't forget to speak to God as you learn. This is so vital for how you learn...

4) Your way of reading the Bible is about to be challenged. Be humble and be prepared to have your ideas and things you always assumed to be true about God and his Word to be challenged.

5) You are about to have four years of reading the Bible for information , unlike now where you read God's word for transformation. Be prepared for this!

More advice coming!! Do you have any more to add?

The End of College

Well College is over for this man as of yesterday. It hasn't hit yet as I am still a bit wasted from exam preparation...maybe it will seep through over the next week or so. College was an intense experience. Some spontaneous thoughts as of tonight at least...more will come upon more reflection:

Best Subject (Nominations from Each Year):

2003 - Biblical Theology/Old Testament

2004 - Church History (Reformation)

2005 - Doctrine (in particular, Union with Christ and Church and Sacraments)

2006 - Modern Trinitarian Thought

And The Winner is...

Modern Trinitarian Thought

Highly Recommended

Old Testament in any year - an excellent OT department covered basically all the parts of the OT in a brilliant way over the three years - well done all!

Studying Romans in Year 1 (thanks PWB)

Galatians in Year 3 (PHK)

Extra-Curricular Activities

'Split chapel' (ie splitting when chapel was on to go to Campos/Cafe Connection/Green Iguana - I mean, Kikis - I mean, Phuzes - I mean, what next?). Our group experienced much growth over the period!

Study group for theology (years 2-3) - I didn't understand half of what they said but hey! Got through!

Cricket - without playing at lunchtime my brain would have fried

A couple of amazing friends from college who I played golf with, prayed with, opened up to, gave support to, and loved. Thank you fellas. It meant a lot and still does.

If you went to college, what were your nominations for the above?