Serendipity is a lucky coincidence, or making an accidentally fortunate decision. This must be the personification of its antithesis.
Woman who missed Flight 447 is killed in car crash.
“An Italian woman who arrived late for the Air France plane flight that crashed in the Atlantic last week has been killed in a car accident, it has been reported.”
Bugger.
Just in case any of you out there are actually wondering where we’re up to in terms of plans for the future…
I have an interview with representatives from the Presbytery of North Queensland this afternoon as the penultimate (I think) stage of enrolling at QTC as a candidate.
Exciting stuff. I hope they didn’t find my little betting sheet at church last night…
Ben (from Vanishing Point fame – not to be confused with occasional guest blogger Benny) says you shouldn’t see the movie “August Rush”. And with a review like this (in the comments of his post) who’d want to:
“This August Rush movie on the other hand thought it was so life-affirming and wonderful, but really was like the demonic love child of Hallmark and Anne Geddes.”
Perhaps a movie for the U2 fans amongst us…
Justin Moffat (another one of my favourite bloggers – his series on things he’s learned about preaching is worth a read) has a list of ten things he observed about Tim Keller’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church during his time in New York (where he worked in a church plant).
Here are my favourite bits from his list:
3. Redeemer seeks to ‘exegete’ the city. They ‘walked the streets’ early on to breathe in and consider the needs, drives and fears of New Yorkers. They didn’t generalise, patronise, or assume that they knew the needs before they began their project. But when they decided, they were specific.
5. They assume that people can be involved in a ‘service project’ (Mercy Ministry) without sacrificing their commitment to the Gospel.
6. They speak in church as though new people and not-yet-Christians are always present.
7. Tim Keller is positive, insightful, and a good example of the new apologetic. He has clearly identified and articulated certain ‘defeater beliefs’, and he systematically goes about answering them.
It’s a useful reflection – though doesn’t touch on the whole theology/idolatry of the city issue (though he teases a future post on the matter in the comments.
I was going to mention this the other day – but didn’t – but dad paid Redeemer a visit once upon a time during a whirlwind visit of the states – and wrote this useful article about Missional Churches (PDF) (back in 2004 before it the buzzword reached zeitgeist status) – he also wrote something about Redeemer that I can’t find on his old, abandoned blog (again in 2004 before blogging was cool – isn’t he such a trendy/geeky dad) … but I’ll keep looking.
If you’re at a church meeting and you decide that running a betting pool on the people most likely to ask a question about a contentious hot button issue would make proceedings less tedious then don’t lose the bit of paper you’ve written on.
Especially if you were silly enough to write a heading above the list of names.
This will ensure a much better night’s sleep.
That is all.
I suspect I’m starting to understand the utility value of Twitter. Here’s an update on the Slayer Espresso Machine that I’m so excited about – straight from the designer’s mouth…
More bad news at the Sharks. This time about some “creative” accounting.
“The then chief executive Tony Zappia initially told the community relations officer, Jenny Hall, the money was to offset her salary and enable her to go out into the community and attract more sponsorships that reflected well on the club. Hall vehemently objected to that suggestion. She believed the money was specifically for the Guide Dogs NSW and should immediately, and in full, be passed on to it.”
If there’s a lesson to be learned (other than “don’t do the wrong thing”) for CEOs from this situation it’s this: If you’re going to punch a staff member don’t punch a PR worker…
Or perhaps – make sure every PR related employee who knows about your dirty laundry leaves on good terms.
For those who missed it – Flight of the Conchords is now on SBS on Mondays after South Park.
Last night Murray invested the band’s emergency funds with a Nigerian friend he met on the Internet.
Brilliant. Here’s a sample of their brilliance.
Anglican Churches in England are trying really hard to be “cool and hip”*. So it’s a shame they think “cool and hip” means singing U2 songs in church.
“Among the alternative services explored in the book, which is co-edited by the Rt Rev Steven Croft, the new Bishop of Sheffield, are so-called “U2charists”, services in which the congregation receives communion but sings the songs of the Irish rock band U2 instead of traditional hymns.
The services, which include such songs as “Mysterious Ways”, “One”, and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, have been pioneered at St Swithin’s church in Lincoln.”
You’d hope that people in church have, in the majority, found what they’re looking for. That’s kind of the point. Isn’t it?
There are also churches praying for the executives of companies like Google.
Some of the ideas for being “cool and hip” are just plain weird. Not that singing U2 isn’t…
“One Holy Communion service promoted in the book, called Ancient Faith, Future Mission, begins with the congregation being shown a video clip from the YouTube website about a United Nations anti-poverty campaign.
Worshippers are told that “our planet is messed up” and that “things are not right”.
They are then asked to approach the altar and rub sea salt on their fingers to represent tears, before walking around and meditating at eight “prayer stations” representing themes such as “gender equality” and “environmental sustainability”.”
* My term, not theirs.
Right. So the post I wrote on singleness over the weekend has prompted a couple of follow up points (from the discussion in the comments).
Here are two extra ideas. And they’re for the guys (mostly).
There was a comment that attempted to point out that while the point of my post was that you shouldn’t necessarily be stressed or impatient, I personally had made significant life changes in order to pursue a girl.
I’m not suggesting for a minute that guys should not pursue girls. I’m not suggesting you sit on your backside and wait for a girl to fall into your lap (though that quite literally worked for someone I know). It’s like prayer – no reformed Christian that I know prays about something and does nothing – you pray and act accordingly. It’s the same concept.
So, two points.
1. If you’re a guy and you want a specific girl – pursue her (until she either says yes when you ask her out) or makes it clear she’s not interested (though my theory is you get three strikes – because you want to be sure).
2. If you just want a girl in general, then don’t be desperate. Desperation is a turn off. For either gender. In my opinion. You’re better off being patient and content.
This time I can’t claim to have received that advice from my wise old grandfather.
No doubt you’re all as excited about the Slayer coffee machine as I am. You’ll be happy to know the following details:
“Seattle’s newest espresso machine, the Slayer, will start shipping in the next month from its new factory in the old Sicks Rainier Brewing bottling building in Georgetown to coffeehouse customers in San Francisco, Michigan, Canada and Australia.”
“It’s also a beauty with Art Deco-looking groups (those are the nozzles from which the espresso pours) fitted with Peruvian walnut handles or “paddles” that let the barista control brewing pressure. Cost: $14,000 for two groups; $18,000 for three.”
So, get saving.
I’m harnessing the power of Twitter to find out if there’ll ever be a one group version. Will keep you posted.
The best Liberal Party MP never to lead the country has called time on his career (at the next election). Ending over a year of speculation and no doubt taking some pressure off Turnbull.
I like Costello. Particularly during Question Time.
Today both K-Rudd and Turnbull had some nice things to say about him – his Costelloesque* response (appropriate given that he is Costello…):
“It is just possible both sides of the dispatch box are happy with the announcement I’ve made,” he said.
“It is a very nice thing to actually come here and not be quite departed and hear the kind of speeches one hears as eulogies. In fact, I might come back tomorrow, I’m enjoying it so much.”
*the coining of a new adjective.
Tim Keller is pretty much the thinking man’s Mark Driscoll. Well, not really, Mark Driscoll is intellectually brilliant too – and communicates brilliant things in a clear way. Keller doesn’t seem to worry as much about the everyman – he knows his audience.
Christianity Today has a rather long feature about Keller’s church – Redeemer Presbyterian in New York. It’s a worthy read.
“The Kellers stick to a few rules. They never talk about politics. Tim always preaches with a non-Christian audience in mind, not merely avoiding offense, but exploring the text to find its good news for unbelievers as well as believers. The church emphasizes excellence in music and art, to the point of paying their musicians well (though not union scale). And it calls people to love and bless the city. It isn’t an appeal based on guilt toward a poor, lost community.”
Sherman [a guy interviewed for the article] relates Keller’s vision to the apostle Paul. “Paul had this sense of, I really should go talk to Caesar. He’s not above caring for Onesimus the slave, but somebody should go to talk to Caesar. When you go to New York, that’s what you’re doing. Somebody should talk to the editorial committee of The New York Times; somebody should talk to Barnard, to Columbia. Somebody should talk to Wall Street.”
That’s all good. But then he gets on the city high horse…
“Surely God’s command to exiled Israelites applied to Christians in New York: “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you” (Jer. 29:7). Long before that, God had designated cities as places of refuge when Israel entered the Promised Land. They remain so today, Keller noted—which explains why poor people, immigrants, and vulnerable minorities such as homosexuals cluster in cities. They attract people who are open to change. Paul did most of his missionary work in cities, and early Christianity flourished within them. Revelation portrays the final descent of the kingdom of God to earth as a city, although a garden city, with fruit trees and a life-giving river at its center. Keller suggests that, had Adam and Eve lived sinlessly and obeyed God’s directions, they would have made Eden into just such a city.”
I wonder where he thinks his food comes from? It annoys me that people feel the need to scripturally justify the heart they have for the place in which they minister. Surely we’re all called to do so in different places (unless I’m missing something and the “ends of the earth” only includes cities).
But then he gets back to the good stuff.
On Morality
“Redeemer holds high moral standards, but Keller puts all 10 commandments under the first one—to have no other gods. Preaching about idolatry—the sin of putting something or someone else in the place of God—enables Keller to communicate with relativists, who would respond to Christian moral standards by saying, “That’s just your opinion.”
“When you say the ultimate sin is to put things in the place of God,” Keller says, “you take that argument away. You find that they say, ‘Hmm, I don’t know if there is a God.’ When I describe sin in such a way that people wish there were a God, I’m making progress.”
This next bit is perhaps my favourite. It’s a refreshing approach to interdenominational relationships. And perhaps even tempers my opposition to Mars Hill’s plans for global domination… (though I still hate church by video as a model, perhaps some people prefer to get their pastoring from a big screen…)
“Keller’s PCA denomination proclaims classic Puritan doctrine. Keller not only adheres firmly to that doctrine, he also is a student of it, with a first-class knowledge of such luminaries as Jonathan Edwards. Yet he balances this doctrinal narrowness with catholicity, appreciating not only the Reformed theology of his heritage, but also actively supporting the efforts of charismatics, Lutherans, and the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Of the 65 churches that Redeemer has helped to plant in the New York area, only 10 are PCA. The largest is Southern Baptist.”