Labour day

It seems my wife and I have differing opinions on what “public holiday” means – and also what “Labour Day” stands for – we’re using our day off for a spring clean – two seasons late, or perhaps two early.

A bunch of links – May 3, 2009

Don’t buy this book: WWJE

I had a fun chat with Robyn, Keagan, Phoebe and Tim today about whether or not it would be a bad thing if Koorong went out of business.

It prompted an idea. I’m going to run a semi-regular (however often I get around to it) feature of the worse books on offer from Koorong.

I thought I’d start with an old favourite (of mine – in principle rather than in actuality) – What Would Jesus Eat and the matching cookbook. They actually exist. Funnily enough the detox diet offered by the cookbook includes “fasting” – I would have thought that too obvious to print.

Here’s a look at the blurb – written by the publisher – because that’s all I’ve read.

The Ultimate Program for Eating Well, Feeling Great, and Living Longer

Though there are many diet programs claiming to be “God’s way” to healthy living, and while some of them are based on biblical principles, and even have proven effective for weight loss, WHAT WOULD JESUS EAT? is the first to note the obvious health benefits of what Jesus ate. In this comprehensive program, Dr. Don Colbert reveals the sensible approach to healthy eating laid out by the ultimate role model.

Wait, what? There are other diet programs based on biblical principles. Why have I not been told?

Seems there’s a lot of substance to this diet…

Readers will discover:
* Why foods forbidden in the Old Testament are unhealthy
* Jesus’ favourite foods, including “fast foods” and dessert
* The health benefits of foods Jesus ate, and the health risks of foods He avoided

Also included are Dr. Colbert’s tools to effectively follow the plan: recipes, nutritional information, and practical advice, including how to follow Jesus’ model of eating with foods readily available today.

Jesus favourite fast food? Obviously not figs. They’re never ready on time. Dessert? Wine vinegar perhaps? Frankincense cakes? Or just bread. And obviously the blanket full of animals dropped in front of Peter in his vision are available in the sequel – “What would Peter eat”… A cursory reading of the Gospels would suggest Jesus ate fish, bread, and figs – and that he drank wine. I’m not sure you can build a diet plan on that information.

What would Moses eat is no doubt a book full of Quail dishes, but no recipes featuring milk or honey.

The End is the Beginning

Ahh, the Smashing Pumpkins, what a band. Who’d have guessed that that title would stand the test of time and become the title of this post…

So, one more reflection from my sermon today and my thoughts on Matthew 9-10.

One of the other things I stressed was the urgency of the harvest – I picked up this little pointer from Tony Robowtham at Spur in Brisbane last week – but that I should have known given the family I married into – the language of the harvest is loaded with a sense of urgency.

It strikes me that your approach to evangelism is greatly influenced by your eschatology – how and when you think the world will end will profoundly effect how you live and how urgently you approach the task.

Given that I’m of the inclination that the world could end whenever God calls stumps – I’m inclined to priorities evangelism over things like caring for the planet. I can see how that’s a much greater concern if you’re a long term thinker. Probably not as profound as it seems in my head, but worth jotting down for when the idea resurfaces in my head in the future and I search for eschatology on my blog.

Pick your poison

I preached today. As I mentioned last night. My passage was Matthew 9:35 to 10:23. All about the harvest. I was very careful to to point out that I think the passage refers to a specific group of people being equipped for a specific time – the disciples were called to proclaim the kingdom of God to the nation of Israel. And they were given the ability to heal people and drive out demons – I pointed out that we don’t have that ability.

A helpful soul came up to me afterwards and quoted Mark 16 – which is contentious – because it comes with this disclaimer: “((The most reliable early manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9-20.)) ”

Here’s the quote this helpful soul gave me while suggesting I had it all wrong and we could in fact heal sick people and drive out demons:

17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

Again, I’m pretty sure the passage in Mark 16 is directed at the disciples – and you’ll find that in verse 15, that I didn’t quote.

I thought very hard about saying something along the lines of – “well I don’t see you drinking poison and playing with snakes” – but that would not have been loving. So I didn’t. Instead, I blogged it.

Hist, hark…

I like CJ Dennis. But that is neither here nor there. It’s late. I have a sermon to polish that I’m preaching in the morning and I did not polish it during the daylight hours because I was at Townsville’s Groovin the Moo. Now, Robyn is in bed asleep and I am making last minute (but suggested) changes. I guess this is what full time parish ministry feels like?

I’m preaching on Matthew 9 and 10. All about the harvest – which means I’m telling farm stories.

A bunch of links – May 2, 2009

Also…

On a subject vaguely related to “commentary” – I watched the football tonight.

I can not come to terms with Manly’s reversal of fortune and or ability after last year’s Grand Final.

I refuse to put it all down to Brett Stewart. Instead I blame the following three players, who I would drop immediately were I the coach:

  1. Michael Bani – ok in attack, rubbish in defense.
  2. Chris Bailey – why was he signed? What does he do? He’s great in attack provided he doesn’t have to pass or think creatively. But he’s a 5/8th. They need to put Lyon back at pivot.
  3. Shane Rodney or Glenn Hall – they are nothing players. Who do nothing. At all. Cuthbertson should be in the run on side. 

Also, I find Billy Slater intolerably annoying. He’s far too good. And he has a face that makes me want to lash out in violent anger. I’d like him to play for a team that I like – but that is unlikely so he is like, unlikeable.

Oh well, at least Manchester United beat Arsenal.

Commentary

One day, just to make someone feel special, I’m going to stay up late at night and have a multi-comment discussion on somebody else’s blog just so they feel special – until they click the link and read that they’re all from me.

I think I’ll pick someone who compulsively responds to every comment they receive.

Seriously though – I have decided I should comment on other people’s blogs more, perhaps then more people will comment here. I know you’re out there lurkers. Just lurking. In the corners, or a feed reader. You know who you are.

Looky loo

If there’s one piece of homeware that is due for an upgrade it’s the porcelain train, the humble toilet, the dunny, the loo, the… you get the point. As far as technology goes the toilet has been pretty stagnant.

Well, here are some developments for your interest.
The “Go with the Flo”

The Flo™ toilet is an ergonomic, sustainable design concept for baby boomers that functions like a squat toilet. Designers maintain that using the Flo™ toilet is akin to yoga – by building and strengthening abdominal and back muscles. Only one-half to one gallon of water is used for flushing and The Flo™ reuses water from hand washing. To flush water from the tanks to the toilet, the Flo™ employs an electromagnetic ball valve that uses electromagnets. Go With the Flo™ also is free of mechanical parts. The toilet is fully self-sustaining and independent of electric power.

Or this one – a World of Warcraft cubby with built in loo

Or how about this one – a toilet with inbuilt RSS capabilities.

The FKF-20M (from ¥55,000/$558) does the trick by generating a unique URL for each visit and beaming it from a wall-mounted infrared panel alongside the usual no-touch flush sensor to any compatible cellphone.

From there, it’s a simple matter of clicking through to a mobile website showing details such as fecal bacteria count, presence or absence of blood, fat content and other delights.

How about the motorcycle toilet – anybody want a pickle?

Feel like Chicken tonight?

I submit to you that this is the worst food ever.

A bunch of links – May 1, 2009

Scanwiches

Scanned sandwiches. Pretty much sums up the content of this site. I love a nice, functional, mashed up name.

Sticky idea

YouTube Tuesday: Now coming to a Friday near you

Latte art is one of my favourite things. I am not very good at it. At all. But I reckon with enough practice I could do this:

The related videos are also pretty cool. Some would suggest the “paintbrush” technique is cheating.