Walking With God ... thoughts of a Christian pilgrim

Changed blog site again www.konradslack.org

2006-03-10T11:15:00.000+10:00

This new site is better (I promise). My new site can be found here! (http://www.konradslack.org/)

This site allows me to have a photo gallery (a work in progress at the moment) and I can do a lot more with it when I have the time.

Month of Misfortune

2006-03-01T16:45:00.000+10:00

It appears that this month is my month to have bad things happen to me. First my car is damaged by a truck driver. Then I was driving back from university today, bought some fuel and haeded home. As I was driving home I saw a kangaroo on the side of the road (it a was an 80km/hr zone and I was doing just that), suddenly the kangaroo jumped in front of my car, I braked, but too late it hit my bonnet. I'm not sure how damaged the 'roo is as it sorta continued across the road. Then I noticed that my bonnet was raised up on the right side a little. When I got home the full extent of the damage was evident: a dent in the front of the bonnet (quite deep) and a pushed back headlight. I have ordered a new bonnet from the wreckers for $220 and Kim will collect it for me tomorrow. The problem will be matching the paint to repaint the new bonnet to match the old one. Also, I had a mechanic check my radiator and he said to keep an eye on the fluid level for the next few days just in case and the temperature (a bit hard as my car has no temperature gauge - what brilliant designer thought it was unnecessary to have a temp gauge as well as leaving out a tachometer?)

Its not as if I drive badly or anything, but its like the world is out to get me when I drive. I dream of a day in the future when I buy a new vehicle: a 4WD with a bull-bar!

On more cheerful news: on the weekend I went to Dalby and visited a friend. We had a lot of fun playing our network games. I had the pleasure of company whilst driving back to Brisbane on Monday. My friend's sister came back with me and I appreciated having someone to talk to for the 3hr drive. I started uni again yesterday and had one lecture. It was all I could do to concentrate after having 3 months off. Today I had another lecture and managed to concentrate a little better.

trucks, traffic and thirst-quenching

2006-02-21T10:24:00.000+10:00

WARNING: this post contains anger, resentment, and abuse of truck drivers. If you are a truck driver - don't take it personally :)

Grrrrhhhhh, rant, rave, (and weep?). My car has some lovely scratches in the side now. Stupid, moron truck driver jerk. Yesterday afternoon I was travelling back from the south side of Brisbane (picked up a sata pci slot add-on: data serial cable adapter for IDE motherboard) and was driving along Kingsford-Smith Drive near the Brisbane River. I was in the left lane when I suddenly noticed a truck next to me in the right lane. The next thing I knew, this imbecile of a truck driver started moving into my lane, and before I could do anything, he had scraped his truck into the back rear door and panel of the drivers side of the car. I was shocked and my heart was racing as I beeped my horn and we both pulled over to the curb. We then pulled into a side street where we got out and I kept my cool as I asked him what had happened. He responded with some kinda comment about his mirror and how he didn't see me (obviously - jerk!). I got his address, rego, license number, and mobile number. Then he said he would contact me later with his insurance details (note: third party liability insurance is useless unless you caused the accident). So I have to go through his insurance company for a claim.

This driver said he would ring me back after work or tomorrow morning (being today) with his insurance details. And did he? no, I have heard nothing from him and have decided to get a quote for repairs and to see a solicitor on Friday. Next I will send him a letter of demand for his insurance company to pay for the damage - I think he will try to get out of this (I called his home after looking him up in the phone book and someone - maybe his wife - tried to pretend that he did not live there - yeah right!). I will change over to comprehensive insurance by next year (bit expensive for this year, but when I have a new job I should be able to afford it).

On a lighter note, I enjoyed my Sunday afternoon as I went for a drive up to Caloundra and had lunch there whilst looking out to sea. I relaxed as I read a novel, and walked along the beach and over some rocks. It was refreshing and re-energising. I need to do that more often.

QUENCH YOUR THIRST IN THE LIVING WATER

Because I have made it a tradition in my blogs to talk religiously or on topics of faith I will talk about thirst. A godly thirst is not as the world see's thirst. It is a thirst that we all have, but only those who believe in Jesus and follow after Him recognise it as a thirst for God. In Psalm 42:1-2 I was reading today how it states:
Psalm 42:1-2
¹As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God! ²I thirst for God, for the living God. I say, "When will I be able to go and appear in God's presence?"

In Matthew 5:6, Jesus said:

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.”

In a another place God invites us:
Isaiah 55:1-2
¹"Hey, all who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come! Buy and eat! Come! Buy wine and milk without money and without cost! ²Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? Why spend your hard-earned money on something that will not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is nourishing! Enjoy fine food!

Jesus also agains invites us to drink from the 'water' He provides:
John 4:13-14
¹³Jesus replied, "Everyone who drinks some of this water will be thirsty again. ¹⁴But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life."

John 6:35
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

John 7:37-38
³⁷On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, Jesus stood up and shouted out,"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and ³⁸let the one who believes in me drink. Just as the scripture says, 'From within him will flow rivers of living water.' "

Let us quench our thirst in Jesus Christ alone. Only He will satisfy us. Only He will satisfy all our needs and longings in Him.

Jesus the great High Priest

2006-02-16T08:40:00.000+10:00

Another week has come and almost passed. On Sunday the church sermon was about service and serving God through serving others. We looked at James 2:14-26, and its theme was about faith without works is dead. James 2:17-18 states:

17So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself. 18But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith without works and I will show faith by my works.

I was encouraged to serve by joining the Blend68 coffee shop outreach to young adults. During this time we had a band (Soulframe) playing and because there were so many people who came along I helped out the shop staff with taking people's orders to them (was an interesting and sorta humbling experience). I was an honourary waiter for part of the night. I had fun though :)

Sunday also brought me an ache in my tooth which worsened on Monday and kept me awake and awoke me in the middle of the night before Tuesday. I made an appointment to see the dentist and they could only fit me in for March 17th (too far away with the pain I was facing). Througout Tuesday the pain was a sharp throbbing pain that constantly plagued me and distracted me from my work. I made another call to the dentists and they rang back later with another appointment for me for Wednesday 9:30am. I praise God that someone else cancelled their appointment. By Wednesday morning the pain had sort of gone but after the surgery (a 'temporary temporary filling' as the dentist told me until I come back for the start of root canal surgery - expensive but necessary) I had another toothache, being pain as my tooth recovered. Fortunately it feels less painful now and is much more bearable (just a little nagging ache).

My plans for the weekend: I might go to Dalby and visit my friend Greg. Should be interesting to visit my old stomping grounds again (went to school there for grade 7 to 10). We will probably spend our time playing games and watching movies or scifi.

Today I started reading Leviticus in the Bible. I find Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy to be mostly boring as they are concerned with so much law and tedious names of people. But at least sometimes there are the rare verses which speak to me and send me searching the scriptures to compare verses. One verse in particular stood our for me:

Leviticus 4:35

So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed and he will be forgiven.

Firstly I decided to research the meanings of some of the key words from that verse such as atonement, sin and forgiven. The word ‘atonement’ comes from the Hebrew word ‘Kaphar’ (pronounced: kaw-far’). It means to cover, purge, make reconciliation, appease, cancel, pardon, for a transgression. Or to coat over or cover with pitch (thus blotting out the error, mistake etc.)
The word ‘sin’ comes from the Hebrew word ‘’asham’ (pronounced: aw-shawm’). It means a guilt, offense, trespass, fault.
The word ‘forgiven’ comes from the Hebrew word ‘calach’ (pronounced: saw-lakh’). It means to pardon a persons transgression. Dictionary.com states that to pardon means:
• To release (a person) from punishment; exempt from penalty: a convicted criminal who was pardoned by the governor.
• To let (an offense) pass without punishment.
Pardoning, in effect (or forgiving) means that God has taken away the punishment we deserved and Jesus paid the penalty by taking upon Himself our punishment for us.

This reminded me of how Hebrews speaks about a great High priest. In Hebrews 4:14-16 it states:
¹⁴Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.
I love that verse. It is good to know that Jesus is our mediator between us and God. He continues to make intercession for us and we come come boldly to His throne of grace to receive His mercy and grace when we are tempted.

I occasionally (very occasionally) write poetry. Here's one that I wrote today that goes along with the theme of this entry:

Jesus the great High Priest
the one who intercedes for me
Shed His blood on the cross
Died He there for me

Jesus, pardoned my sin
Bore the sin and shame
Rose again one bright new day
No longer do I have blame

Jesus, my saviour King
Why did He die for me?
Took my place and punishment
In order to set me free

Jesus, You I love
My praise to You I give
I bow down and worship You
For You now I can live

Jesus, set me free
From my guilt and sin
Pardoned me on the cross
Made me one of His kin

I will conclude this entry with one last verse from Hebrews. Hebrews 10:19-22:
¹⁹Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.

tribute to my great Uncle Philip Donaldson

2006-02-08T07:36:00.000+10:00

Recently my great Uncle Philip Donaldson passed away to be with the Lord Jesus. We will all miss him, but have hope that we will see him again in heaven one day.

I have written a little poem which is not that eloquent, but serves to express some of my feelings:

You have gone
For the moment we stay
Life is a shadow
You have found the new day

You have gone ahead
Carried away
We remain instead
We'll see you someday

At present, grief
Sorrow and tears
The future: joy
happiness, no fears

You were loved
You loved in return
You have gone to your Love
Life on earth was adjourned

Life seemed brief
Joy and pain
happiness and grief
All things loss, now much gain

All the sacrifice for a goal
The race that was won
Now your soul
Is free with the Son

But the bible is very eloquent in this regard:

Matthew 5:4
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

John 11:25-26
²⁵Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, ²⁶and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

1Corinthians 15:51-55

⁵¹Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — ⁵²in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴Now when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will happen, "Death has been swallowed up in victory." ⁵⁵"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

¹³My friends, we want you to understand how it will be for those followers who have already died. Then you won't grieve over them and be like people who don't have any hope. ¹⁴We believe that Jesus died and was raised to life. We also believe that when God brings Jesus back again, he will bring with him all who had faith in Jesus before they died.

¹⁵Our Lord Jesus told us that when he comes, we won't go up to meet him ahead of his followers who have already died. ¹⁶With a loud command and with the shout of the chief angel and a blast of God's trumpet, the Lord will return from heaven. Then those who had faith in Christ before they died will be raised to life. ¹⁷Next, all of us who are still alive will be taken up into the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the sky. From that time on we will all be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸Encourage each other with these words.

God's glory! What's your motivation?

2006-02-06T12:33:00.000+10:00

Another week over and I thought that it was my last for working. I was looking forward to three weeks of full on holidays before going back to uni. But my boss had other ideas: she offered me more work for the next few weeks and I could not say no (I need the income). I will now be working three days a week for the next three weeks and have a four day weekend (good enough for me). I praise God for His provision each day.

News: I took my car in this morning to the mechanics to have the struts replaced and the wheels balanced. I mentioned the steering problems and hopefully they will fix that as well. I will call them after lunch if I have not heard anything before then. Kim has taken off for some job trip involving being away until Friday. He asked me to pick up his car from work and I will do that later today.

So, what is your motivation for living? I was reading lately in 1 Corinthians 10:31 which states:
So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. [NET].
This leads me to the truth that our purpose in life is to glorify God. That is, we were made for God’s glory. See Isaiah 43:6-7
⁶I will say to the north, 'Hand them over!' and to the south, 'Don't hold any back!' Bring my sons from distant lands, and my daughters from the remote regions of the earth, ⁷everyone who belongs to me, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed — yes, whom I made!

For again in my devotion today I was reading in Psalm 29:1-2 which states
¹Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. ²Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness. [ESV]

Bear with me as I saturate this blog entry in bible verses that will serve to illustrate my point:

1 Chronicles 16:28-29
²⁸Ascribe to the LORD, O clans of the peoples,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
²⁹Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come before him!
Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;

1 Chronicles 29:10-12
¹⁰Therefore David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: "Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. ¹¹Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. ¹²Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.

Psalm 24:6-8
⁷Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
⁸Who is this King of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle!
⁹Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
¹⁰Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of hosts,
he is the King of glory!
Selah

Psalm 51:11
¹¹Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!

Psalm 66:1-2
¹Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
²sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise!

Psalm 96:6-9
⁶Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
⁷Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
⁸Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts!
⁹Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth!

Psalm 104:31
May the glory of the LORD endure forever;

Psalm 108:5
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!

Psalm 115:1
Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,

for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
Isaiah 6:2-3

³And one [angels] called to another and said:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!"

Isaiah 24:15-16

¹⁵Therefore in the east give glory to the LORD; in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. ¹⁶From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise, of glory to the Righteous One.

Jeremiah 13:15-17
¹⁵Hear and give ear; be not proud, for the LORD has spoken. ¹⁶Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness. ¹⁷But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the LORD's flock has been taken captive.

Ezekiel 3:12
Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great earthquake: "Blessed be the glory of the LORD from its place!"

Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Luke 2:13-15
¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ¹⁴"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

John 1:14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 7:18
¹⁸The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.

John 8:54
Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God.'

Acts 12:22-23
²²And the people were shouting, "The voice of a god, and not of a man!" ²³Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

Let us never forget that all glory belongs to God.

Romans 4:20-21
²⁰No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

Romans 11:36
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Romans 15:6-7
⁶that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Romans 16:27
to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

2 Corinthians 1:20
For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18
¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 4:6
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:15
For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

Galatians 1:3-5
³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, ⁵to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 1:13-14
¹³In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:17
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,

I love to saturate myself on a topic or word-topic in the bible. You should too! Giving God the glory should be our motivation for serving Him. To give God the glory we need to know Him more and more. We can develop a closer knowledge of God by spending time with Him through worshipping Him and praising Him at church, and meeting Him outside of church through prayer and bible study.

John Piper says in a sermon (Is God For Us or For Himself?):

Why did God create us? Isaiah 43:6-7, "Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth (says the Lord), everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory."

Piper also says, “the chief end of man is to glorify God AND enjoy him forever.” (book ‘Desiring God’)

In a sermon Piper states that "God is glorified by our being satisfied in him. The chief end of man is not merely to glorify God AND enjoy him forever, but to glorify God BY enjoying him forever. The great divide that I thought existed between God's passion for his glory and my passion for joy turned out to be no divide at all, if my passion for joy is passion for joy in God. God's passion for the glory of God, and my passion for joy in God are one.”In a sermon Piper states that

Therefore I will conclude this entry with the verse I stated at the beginning:
So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.

The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness

2006-01-30T10:04:00.000+10:00

Update: Last Friday evening I went to Koorong again and bought some more books, this time about prayer. I think God has been persistently telling me how important prayer is. I keep coming across a bible verse, a sermon or a devotion that mentions the importance of praying continually. Just this morning my Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening morning devotion states:

“The members of Christ's Church should be very prayerful, always seeking the unction of the Holy One to rest upon their hearts, that the kingdom of Christ may come, and that His 'will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven;’ … We ought then to be doubly prayerful, doubly earnest, wrestling more at the throne than we have been wont to do … You have a peculiar power in prayer; the Spirit of God gives you joy and gladness; the Scripture is open to you; the promises are applied; you walk in the light of God's countenance; you have peculiar freedom and liberty in devotion, and more closeness of communion with Christ than was your wont … that you may be more constant in prayer”. I need to learn and practise praying above every other activity I might contemplate doing. In one of the books about prayer that I bought (Living a Prayerful Life, by Andrew Murray), the first chapter is about the sin of prayerlessness: Father God forgive me for the sin of prayerlessness.

On Saturday I relaxed around the house, mowed the lawn again and on Sunday I went to church in the morning followed by some more relaxing and washing of my car. Whilst at church I heard that they are looking for a Sunday School teacher and that they would like us to pray about that. I am considering and praying about whether I should offer to help in this regard. Please pray for me that I can assist in this. Also, I was also given the opportunity to teach RE (religious education) to grade 7’s. I don’t really know about this as I have my last and most important teaching prac coming this semester and would not have time for RE during that time. Please pray also that I will be able to make the right decision, that the right doors will close and other doors open for me to serve Jesus Christ.

For those of you who don’t mind reading some more, see below for my theological information about prayer:

The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness

I recently had a friend tell me that they don’t quite understand prayer; neither did they feel much reason to pray. Some questions I would like to try to address include:

What is prayer?

Why pray? Why bother praying to God if He knows what we need already?

Firstly, what is prayer? To begin, I decided to look at the different meanings of prayer, pray, prayed in the bible in their original Hebrew and Greek.

In Old Testament Hebrew:

palal (pronounced: paw-lal) to intervene, interpose, pray, or piel to mediate, judge, Hithpael to intercede or to pray. See the following verses:

Genesis 20:7, 20:17; Numbers 11:2; Deuteronomy 9:20, 9:26; 1 Samuel 1:10, 1:12, 1:26-27, 2:1, 7:5, 8:6, 12:19, 12:23, 7:27; 1 Kings 8:28-30, 8:33, 8:35, 8:42, 8:44, 8:48, 8:54, 13:6; 2 Kings 4:33, 6:17-18, 19:15, 19:20, 20:2; 1 Chronicles 17:25; 2 Chronicles 6:19-21, 6:24, 6:26, 6:32, 6:34, 6:38, 7:1, 7:14, 30:18, 32:20, 32:24, 33:13.

athar (pronounced: aw-thar) to pray or entreat (qal), to supplicate (niphal) (hiphil), to make supplication or plead (hiphil). See the following verses:

Genesis 25:21; Job 22:27, 33:26.

In New Testament Greek:

deesis (pronounced: deh’-ay-sis) a seeking, asking, entreating, entreaty to God or to man. See the following verses:

Luke 2:37, 5:33; Romans 10;1; 2 Corinthians 1:11, 9:14; Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 1:4, 1:19, 4:6; 1 Timothy 2:1, 5:5; 2 Timothy 1;3; Hebrews 5:7; James 5:16; 1 Peter 3:12.

deomai (pronounced: deh’-om-ahee) to want, lack, to desire, long for, to ask, beg for something or to pray or make supplication. See the following verses:

Luke 21:36, 22:32; Acts 4:32, 8:22, 8:24, 10:2; Romans 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 3:10.

enteuxis (pronounced: ent’-yook-sis) a falling in with, meeting with (an interview – a coming together, to visit, converse) an interview held to (a conference or conversation, a petition or supplication). See the following verses:

1 Timothy 2:1, 4:5.

euche (pronounced: yoo-khay’) a prayer to God, a vow. See the following verses:

James 5:15.

echomai (pronounced: yoo’-khom-ahee) to pray to God, to wish, to pray, to pray for. See the following verses:

2 Corinthians 13:7, 13:9; 3 John 1:2.

proseuche (pronounced: pros-yoo-khay’) a prayer addressed to God; a place set apart of suited for the offering of prayer. See the following verses:

Matthew 17:21, 21:13, 21:22; Luke 6:12, 22:45; Acts 1:14, 2:42, 3:1, 6:4, 10:4, 10:31, 12:5, 16:13, 16:16; Romans 1:10, 12:12, 15:30; 1 Corinthians 7:5; Ephesians 1:16, 6:18; Philippians 4:6; Colossians 4;2, 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:2; 1 Timothy 2:1, 5:5; Philemon 1:4, 1:22; James 5:17; 1 Peter 3:7, 4:7; Revelation 5:8, 8:3-4.

proseuchomai (pronounced; pros-yoo’-khom-ahee) to offer prayers, to pray. See the following verses:

Matthew 5:44, 6:5-7, 6:9, 14:23, 19:13, 23:14, 24:20, 26:36, 26:39-42, 26:44; Mark 1:35, 6:46, 11:24-25, 12:40, 13:18, 14:32, 14:35, 14:38-39; Luke 1:10, 3:21, 5:16, 6:12, 6:28, 9:18, 9:28-29, 11:1-2, 18:1, 18:10-11, 20:47, 22:40-41, 22:44, 22:46; Acts 1:24, 6:6, 8:15, 9:11, 9:40, 10:9, 10:30, 11:5, 12:12, 13:3, 14:23, 16:26, 20:36, 21:5, 22:17, 28:8; Romans 8:26; 1 Corinthians 11:4-5, 11:13, 14:13-15; Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 1:9; Colossians 1:3, 1:9, 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:17, 5:25; 2 Thessalonians 1:11, 3:1; 1 Timothy 2:8; Hebrews 13:18; James 5:13-14, 5:16-18; Jude 1:20.

Now that is a lot of verses. To put these meanings altogether I have come up with this definition of prayer: A communication or a meeting with God in order to intervene for oneself or another by asking or begging/pleading or making supplication. Prayer is communication with God. It involves many things. The best way to look at some form of structure for prayer is to read the prayer Jesus taught His disciples to follow (but He didn’t say to completely copy but it should be used as a model):

⁹So pray this way: Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored, ¹⁰may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. ¹¹Give us today our daily bread, ¹²and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors. ¹³And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Matthew 6:9-13

Broken down it can be seen that proper prayer involves worshipping and praising God, denying oneself and bringing one’s life into accordance with God’s will, confessing our sins, asking for what we need, and asking for strength and help to resist temptation. A later structure for prayer I sometimes follow is one called ACTS. This stands for

Adoration

Confession

Thanksgiving

Supplication.

This form of prayer begins with worshipping God, confessing our sins, being thankful to God, and finally making supplication to God.

So now that we know what prayer is, we come to the question: why pray? Why bother praying to God if He knows what we need already?Again, the Bible gives us clear direction in this as well. For starters, see above for the multitude of verses about people praying. That gives us some indication of how important prayer is:

Ephesians 6:18

With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.

Luke 18:1-8

¹Then Jesus told them a parable to show them they should always pray and not lose heart. ²He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. ³There was also a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.' ⁴For a while he refused, but later on he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, ⁵yet because this widow keeps on bothering me, I will give her justice, or in the end she will wear me out by her unending pleas.' " ⁶And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unrighteous judge says! ⁷Won't God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay long to help them? ⁸I tell you, he will give them justice speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

So we should always pray, being persistent in it.

Philippians 4:6-7

⁶Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

We should always tell God our requests.

1Timothy 2:1

¹First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people, ²even for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. ³Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Savior, ⁴since he wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

We should pray for and intervene for others.

James 5:13-20

¹³Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praises. ¹⁴Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up — and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness. ¹⁷Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months! ¹⁸Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land sprouted with a harvest. ¹⁹My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, ²⁰he should know that the one who turns a sinner back from his wandering path will save that person's soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

We should pray at all times, bringing our requests to God and intervening for others.

Matthew 21:22

“And whatever you ask in prayer, if you believe, you will receive."

Trust in God that He will hear our prayers.

Romans 12:12

Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer.

Again, persist in prayer.

Ephesians 6:18

With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.

Pray at all times through the assistance of God’s Holy Spirit. For as it says in Romans 8:26-27

²⁷In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. ²⁷And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God's will.

Our prayer is assisted by God’s Spirit.

Colossians 4:2

Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.

Devote yourself to prayer.

1 Peter 4:7

For the culmination of all things is near. So be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of prayer.

Prayer fortifies us and strengthens us for the spiritual battle.

Matthew 26:41

“Stay awake and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Prayer is needed to strengthen us and to receive God’s strength to resist temptation.

Matthew 6:5-8

⁵"Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. ⁶But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. ⁷When you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the Gentiles, because they think that by their many words they will be heard. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Yes, God knows what we need before we ask, but that is not an excuse not to pray. Focus on the phrase ‘whenever you pray’, which implies that we will pray. Pray is not just about asking God for things though. It also includes talking to God, communing and meeting with Him, as a child meets with his father, or one person meets with a friend.

Mark 11:22-25

²²Jesus said to them, "Have faith in God. ²³I tell you the truth, if someone says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. ²⁴For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your sins."

God answers our prayers.

Luke 11:5-13

⁵Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him15 at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, ⁶because a friend of mine has stopped here while on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.' ⁷Then he will reply from inside, 'Do not bother me. The door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything.' ⁸I tell you, even though the man inside will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the first man's sheer persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. ⁹"So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. ¹¹What father among you, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? ¹²Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

God is good and gives good things to those who ask. But, focus on verses 9-10 which state, “ask, and it will be given to you … seek … knock … the door will be opened”. God knows what we need, but how will we receive unless we ask?

We must then be diligent to continue to pray and spend time talking to God.

The Weight of Sin – Reason to flee? (Which way? Towards God or away from God?)

2006-01-24T10:14:00.000+10:00

Hebrews 12:1-3 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us, 2keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up.

Do you ever feel like sin weighs you down, and that everything would be easier if we were ignorant of our sin? I feel this from time to time. But recently I came across an e-book by Richard Strauss (The Joy of Knowing God). In it he states:

Have you ever felt as if you wanted to run away from God? Maybe you thought the responsibilities of the Christian life were too heavy for you, or you just could not be the person you were supposed to be and do the things God was asking you to do. If you could just get away, things would be better. Or maybe the model of a Christian husband or wife was too overwhelming and you could not live up to it. Or you knew how a Christian parent was supposed to treat his children but you seemed to fall short several times a day. Or you knew you ought to talk to those unsaved neighbours about Christ but you could not bring yourself to do it, and now they are gone and you are embarrassed and ashamed. Maybe you committed yourself to teach a class of children for a year but you just did not want to face them another Sunday. Or you knew God expected you to flee temptation but you could not seem to resist it, and now you feel as though God is on your back. If you could just get away from Him for awhile, go someplace where He could not see you, then everything would be all right.

That is exactly what the prophet Jonah thought. God told him to go to the city of Nineveh and preach against its wickedness, but that was the last thing in the world Jonah wanted to do. Nineveh was the capital of a proud and powerful nation, and he was sure the people there would reject him, maybe even try to kill him for pointing out their sin. If they did repent God would probably hold back the punishment He had predicted and Jonah would become the laughingstock of the whole city. As far as he was concerned there was no way he would ever go to Nineveh.
“But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare, and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD” (Jonah 1:3). It is mentioned twice in that verse that Jonah wanted to get away from God’s presence. Somehow he had developed the ridiculous notion that God did not live in Tarshish (a city which some scholars believe was located on the Atlantic coast of Spain). Do you share his sentiments? Do you think there might be some place on this earth where you can hide from God?

I have recently become a fan of a band called Kutless. In one of their songs they talk about our fleeing from God and ignoring Him through our ‘busy’ lifestyles. God is waiting for us to come and commune with Him through prayer.

Artist:Kutless
Album:Kutless
Song:Run

Why do you run why do you hide oh don't you know I
just, just want to be with you.

Looking down from above as you watch TV
Wondering why, oh you're ignoring me
Do you remember, remember when I came to you
And you loved me
And I'm waiting for you
And I'm waiting for you

Why do you run why do you hide oh don't you know I
just, just want to be with you, to be with you
Hey, why do you run why do you hide oh don't you know
I just, just want to be with you, to be with you...

Whatever happened to the love, the love you had for me
When you first came to me
Don't you know that I died, died so I could be with
you forever.
And I'm waiting for you
And I'm waiting for you

Why do you run why do you hide oh don't you know I
just, just want to be with you, to be with you
Hey, why do you run why do you hid oh don't you know
I just, just want to be with you, to be with you...

Find a place of solitude, and I'll speak to you
As you pray to me
Don't you know I'm waiting here, waiting for you to
read and hear my words
I'm waiting here missing the time the times we shared
oh, please come to me

So, why do you run why do you hide oh don't you know I
just, just want to be with you, to be with you
Hey, why do you run why do you hide oh don't you know
I just, just want to be with you, to be with you...

God is always there for us and is just a prayer away. King David wrote the following in Psalm 139:7-12:

7Where can I go to escape your spirit? Where can I flee to escape your presence?
8If I were to ascend to heaven, you would be there. If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be.
9If I were to fly away on the wings of the dawn, and settle down on the other side of the sea,
10even there your hand would guide me, your right hand would grab hold of me.
11If I were to say, "Certainly the darkness will cover me, and the light will turn to night all around me,"
12even the darkness is not too dark for you to see, and the night is as bright as day; darkness and light are the same to you.

The Apostle Paul felt that sin also weighed him down:

Romans 7:15-25 15For I don't understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want – instead, I do what I hate. 16But if I do what I don't want, I agree that the law is good. 17But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me. 18For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it. 19For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want!
20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.
21So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me.
22For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. 23But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members.
24Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

John Piper preached a sermon about brokenness and rising above our sins. This sermon is titled 'When I Fall I Will Rise'. In this sermon Piper refers the listener to some verses from the prophet Micah:

Micah 7:8-9 8My enemies, do not gloat over me! Though I have fallen, I will get up. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. 9I will endure the Lord's anger, for I have sinned against him. But then he will defend my cause, and accomplish justice on my behalf. He will lead me out into the light; I will experience firsthand his deliverance.

When feeling tempted to sin, let us hold onto God’s promises:
Hebrews 4:14-16

14Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. 16Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.

God provides all that we need to defeat sin in our lives. The prophet Isaiah says of God:
Isaiah 40:28-31

28Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is an eternal God, the creator of the whole earth. He does not get tired or weary; there is no limit to his wisdom. 29He gives strength to those who are tired; to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy. 30Even youths get tired and weary; even strong young men clumsily stumble. 31But those who wait for the Lord's help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles' wings, they run without getting weary, they walk without getting tired.

Paul also speaks about God providing the strength in Philippians 4:13:

I am able to do all things through the one who strengthens me.

And again in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10:

9But he said to me, "My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in me. 10Therefore I am content with weaknesses, with insults, with troubles, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

The band Caedmon’s Call play the following song about God’s mercy. One particular line states that: ‘Without Thy Sweet mercy I could not live here, sin would reduce me to utter despair’ …See below:

Artist: Caedmon's Call
Album: In the Company of Angels: A Call to Worship
Title: Thy Mercy

Thy mercy, my God is the theme of my song
The joy of my heart and the boast of my tongue
Thy free grace alone from the first to the last
Hath won my affection and bound my soul fast

Without Thy sweet mercy I could not live here
Sin would reduce me to utter despair
But through Thy free goodness my spirit's revived
And He that first made me still keeps me alive

Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart
Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart
Dissolved by Thy goodness I fall to the ground
And weep to the praise of the mercy I’ve found

Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Great Father of mercies Thy goodness I own
And the covenant love of Thy crucified Son
All praise to the Spirit whose whisper divine
Seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine

All praise to the Spirit whose whisper divine
Seals mercy and pardon and righteousness mine

The good news is that we have been forgiven our sins and as a result no longer have a reason to feel guilt. Furthermore, we should feel a reason to flee towards God for shelter and strength. One reason Paul states is that:
Romans 8:1

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30:

28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry."

Psalm 55:22

Throw your burden upon the Lord, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the godly to be upended.

If you would like to read further verses on forgiveness please click here.

Let us rejoice in Jesus Christ our Saviour!

Mother, music, money, and Mitsubishi

2006-01-18T14:53:00.000+10:00

Well what do the keywords in the title of this blog have to do with each other? Read on.
Not much news to report. I did not do much over the weekend and it came and went so fast. I have 'discovered' the use of a Visa card and have been taking advantage of it - with some thought because its only a debit card afterall and the money comes from my own savings account.

I used to read lots of fantasy - and still do :)
But now I am enjoying reading and purchasing Christian theological books and buying Christian music albums. Yesterday I bought three CDs by a band called Kutless. I have become a fan of their music obviously. Check them out here.

Tomorrow my parents are arriving in Brisbane by plane and I will be picking them up after work. I look forward to seeing them. They will only be staying a few days (sigh) but at least I don't work on Friday. They will be driving my littler sister's 'new' car (a Mitsubishi Colt) back down to Sydney.

self-service or Christ service?

2006-01-12T08:06:00.000+10:00

In Matthew 6:24, Jesus says: "No one 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. You cannot serve God and money." [NET]
That is what I have been pondering lately. Sin is us serving ourselves, and interestingly it doesn't lead to satisfaction and joy. In contrast, serving Christ leads to joy, fulfilment, satisfaction, well-being, etc. So why don't we serve Christ 24/7? This is something we must work at through Jesus Christ and ask Him to give us a deeper knowledge of Him, and a passion to serve Him.

I received an e-verse which said to pray continually (see my previous post). This made me look up the context and this is what it says:
1Thessalonians 5:16-18: Always rejoice, constantly pray, in everything give thanks. For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. [NET]
Isn't this good? It tells us another part of God's will for our lives, i.e. always rejoice, keep on praying and be ever thankful to God.

Further another aspect of God's will is stated in
1Thessalonians 4:3-8: For this is God's will: that you become holy, that you keep away from sexual immorality, that each of you know how to possess his own body in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God. In this matter no one should violate the rights of his brother or take advantage of him, because the Lord is the avenger in all these cases, as we also told you earlier and warned you solemnly. For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness. Consequently the one who rejects this is not rejecting human authority but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

That is, God's will is that we be holy or sanctified, set apart from the world for service to God, to glorify Him through our bodies.

1Co 6:19-20: Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

Therefore, because our bodies belong to God, everything we do should be done for Him.
So, what does God require of us?

Deuteronomy 10:12-13: Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere Him, to obey all His commandments, to love Him, to serve Him with all your mind and being, and to keep the Lord's commandments and statutes that I am commanding you today for your own good?

Mic 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is proper, and what the Lord really wants from you: He wants you to promote justice, to be faithful, and to live obediently before your God.

I do not mean to preach to those reading this, but am just typing some thoughts I have been pondering and wished to share it with my readers. On the topic of my own service, I spoke to my home groups leader and she asked if I was still interested in some area of service with young people, I said yes. She said she will put me on the roster for around 4 times this term for me to get to know them, I am not quite sure exactly what it is, probably a children’s youth group. This response to a prayer of mine was good, because I want to be used by God.

Whilst travelling to Jen's (the leaders) place last night I was singing along to a new music album I bought recently by Jeremy Camp. One of his songs states:

You want to be real
You want to be empty inside
You want to be someone laying down your pride
You want to be someone someday
Then lay it all down before the King
You want to be whole
You want to have purpose inside
You want to have virtue and purify your mind
You want to be set free today then lay it all down before the King

Chorus:
This is my desire
This is my return
This is my desire to be used by you

You want to be real
You want to be emptied inside
And I know my heart is to feel you near
And I know my life
It's to do your will
It's to do your will

(Chorus)

All my life I have seen where you've taken me
Beyond all I have hoped and there's more left unseen
There's not much I can do to repay all you've done so I give my hands to use
(Jeremy Camp: Restored Album. Song: My Desire).

Thus, my desire is also to be used by God, serving Him through all that I do.
Colossians 3:23-24: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. [NIV]
Also in Joshua 24:24 it says:
And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!” [NKJV]

Let this also be our pledge.

Hot and Humid

2006-01-07T14:16:00.000+10:00

Well, I have just installed the new blogger for MSWord on my computer and am typing this entry outside of my internet browser. Sure makes blogging a little easier. I’m back in Brisbane now and not at all enjoying the heat and the humidity. We have been having some lovely rain for the last couple of days which has caused some road flooding at times. Yesterday I went to see the movie ‘Dick and Jane’ which was quite funny. I arrived back at my home train station by 11pm and was glad to be picked up by car. On the drive home we encountered water perhaps as high as 40cm across the road – I would have had trouble walking home that way.

On Wednesday we left NSW at 5:45am EST daylight savings (so really 4:45am) and drove for a 15 hour trip to Brisbane. My backside was so sore by the end of the trip; fortunately it was overcast all the way, cutting down on the heat. I’m quite enjoying be able to use my computer again although I would like to purchase some more RAM soon to increase the processing speed.

My parents and younger sister are heading back down south again tomorrow and I will miss them. It will be just me and my brothers again boarding together, with me speaking to my parents and sister by phone. Monday sees me back at work for another 4 weeks, with long weekends to enjoy.

One last note is a couple of bible verses to meditate on:
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21 [NKJV]
How many of us actually do everything for God? Do you work at your job for God? Charles Spurgeon says: ‘Jesus is to believers the one pearl of great price, for whom we are willing to part with all that we have. He has so completely won our love, that it beats alone for Him; to His glory we would live, and in defence of His gospel we would die; He is the pattern of our life, and the model after which we would sculpture our character.’

Another difficult passage is the following: Then he said to them all, "If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me”. Luke 9:23 [NET]
How do we deny ourselves? Albert Barnes states about the Christian: ‘let him surrender to God his will, his affections, his body, and his soul. Let him not seek his own happiness as the supreme object, but be willing to renounce all, and lay down his life also, if required.’ This is a hard saying; also, what does it mean to take up our cross? This means that we must be prepared to be hated by the world just as Jesus was, and to suffer persecution jus as He did, as it is said:
Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution 2 Timothy 3:12 [NKJV]
But let us not give up, but trust in Jesus to supply all our needs. As Jesus declares:
“… and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:20b [NKJV].

partings are such sweet sorrows

2006-01-03T17:16:00.000+10:00

or something of that sort. Tonight is my last night staying with my parents. I will miss holidaying down here where there cool breezes blow (except for Sunday which went as high as 42.9 degrees celsius in town, and hot winds blew away those cool winds) and cool water laps at the sands on the beach.

Today I went to town with my Dad to see the latest Zorro movie - it was quite good and the swordplay was great. We both enjoyed it. I don't look forward to tomorrow though, because we are waking early (5am) to head up to Queensland in a one day trip of 15 hours in the car. I wil be looking towards each town as progress in our trip and counting down the hours when I'm not reading. I bought the Chronicles of Narnia book with all seven books in one today and will probably read it in the car.

Tomorrow is my little sister's birthday and she will be 19. Happy birthday Karin!
Tonight we will celebrate her birthday early and give out some presents.

On Monday I start working again for the next 4 weeks and don't exactly look forward to it - just the income. I have been thinking lately about how important it is to spend time in prayer. As Spurgeon has said:

"Continue in prayer."
Colossians 4:2

It is interesting to remark how large a portion of Sacred Writ is occupied with the subject of prayer, either in furnishing examples, enforcing precepts, or pronouncing promises. We scarcely open the Bible before we read, "Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord;" and just as we are about to close the volume, the "Amen" of an earnest supplication meets our ear. Instances are plentiful. Here we find a wrestling Jacob-there a Daniel who prayed three times a day-and a David who with all his heart called upon his God. On the mountain we see Elias; in the dungeon Paul and Silas. We have multitudes of commands, and myriads of promises. What does this teach us, but the sacred importance and necessity of prayer? We may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in his Word, he intended to be conspicuous in our lives. If he has said much about prayer, it is because he knows we have much need of it. So deep are our necessities, that until we are in heaven we must not cease to pray. Dost thou want nothing? Then, I fear thou dost not know thy poverty. Hast thou no mercy to ask of God? Then, may the Lord's mercy show thee thy misery! A prayerless soul is a Christless soul. Prayer is the lisping of the believing infant, the shout of the fighting believer, the requiem of the dying saint falling asleep in Jesus. It is the breath, the watchword, the comfort, the strength, the honour of a Christian. If thou be a child of God, thou wilt seek thy Father's face, and live in thy Father's love. Pray that this year thou mayst be holy, humble, zealous, and patient; have closer communion with Christ, and enter oftener into the banqueting-house of his love. Pray that thou mayst be an example and a blessing unto others, and that thou mayst live more to the glory of thy Master. The motto for this year must be, "Continue in prayer."

And again in Acts the disciples said: - 'but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word' Acts 6:4. Let us be as vigilant as possible to continue in prayer to God, our Lord, Master, Creator, Redeemer, Saviour and Friend.

Christmas comes and Christmas goes

2005-12-28T20:10:00.000+10:00

Another Christmas has passed. That doesn't mean that we should continue to live our lives as we always do- we should treat each day as the day to celebrate Jesus' birth. Jesus gave Himself for us and we should give Him our lives in service to Him:

Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Now to some news - my news, he he:
On Christmas eve we went to a carols service which for some reason started at 10:30pm and went until 11:30pm. Then we stayed for the communion service which went until after midnight - was different to what I'm used to as it was run by a traditionalist minister and was very ritualistic. I was in bed to sleep after 1am and then had to get up at 7:30am to head to church again for the Christmas service. I was quite tired throughout the day. When we arrived back we had some morning tea and then began giving out our gifts to one another. I like seeing people happy with the gifts they receive (yes, I also like receiving too). We spent the afternoon lazing around the house and sorta dozing.

On Monday we went to the local beach which was good, although the water is a little cooler than I'm used too :)

Tuesday we went to town to do some shopping and I bought about 6 new shirts. Then we went to the beach again for another swim.

Wednesday (today) we planned on going to the 1:30pm session to see Narnia, but when we arrived at the cinema complex we found that session booked out and so had to go to the 4pm session: for those of you reading this, Narnia is a great movie and you should go see it - NOW!!!

When you watch the movie take note of some Bible references: 'sons of Adam', 'daughters of Eve', Aslan the lion: Jesus anyone?, the stone table: the cross, the sacrifice of an innocent person for a guilty person - Jesus died for us to cleanse us from our sins and to give us eternal life. The movie is thoroughly enjoyable, although little kids will not quite understand all of it, and I do like Harry Potter, but Narnia far surpasses it!

holiday time at last

2005-12-23T10:29:00.000+10:00

I started my holidays yesterday and have been looking forward to them for a while. When arriving at Brisbane airport I changed my seat on the plane to an exit window seat for the added leg room. The flight was very brief (1hr 30mins), but it took around half an hour for my bag to come through at the baggage claim (perks of checking in early and having my bag be one of the first on the plane and one of the last off).

The drive from Sydney to my parents place was uneventful and we arrived safely at their home. The weather is so much cooler here for summer than up in Brisbane. There are nice sea breezes blowing and the house is decently insulated as well.

I was able to sleep in comfortably this morning for the first time in a while and that was nice. I don't have much other news so I will conclude this entry with a verse I read today:

Hebrews 12:²⁸Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. ²⁹For our God is a consuming fire.

Christmas as Christ's Mass

2005-12-20T08:48:00.000+10:00

For too many ppl the meaning of Christmas is about 'family' and presents and sleeping in. Some are aware that it has some significance to Jesus birth, but those of us who know, we believe that Jesus was born to save us. I have heard it said that Jesus is the reason for the season, but within that there is another message: that Jesus was God's gift to us - we are the reason for the season (i.e. God sending His Son to be born to live and be tempted as we are, yet without sin, perfect and holy, showing us the way of salvation, and ultimately dying for us - not to mention also rising from the dead and thus giving us newness of life in Him).

I am also reminded of how we celebrate Easter time by remembering the One who died for us, whereas others celebrate this as a time of an easter bunny who brings eggs (more materialism again). This world is such a materialistic place with so much focus on 'me, myself, and I' for what we can get out of it.

An interesting fact is that Christmas falls on the dates of a pagan celebration. So its no wonder that many ppl don't look at it as a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. One person says the following:
Theologian R. C. Sproul states

"It just so happens that on the twenty-fifth of December in the Roman Empire there was a pagan holiday that was linked to mystery religions; the pagans celebrated their festival on December 25. The Christians didn't want to participate in that, and so they said, "While everybody else is celebrating this pagan thing, we're going to have our own celebration. we're going to celebrate the thing that's most important in our lives, the incarnation of God, the birth of Jesus Christ. So this is going to be a time of joyous festivities, of celebration and worship of our God and King."

I can't think of any thing more pleasing to Christ than the church celebrating his birthday every year. Keep in mind that the whole principle of annual festival and celebration is deeply rooted in ancient Jewish tradition. In the Old Testament, for example, there were times when God emphatically commanded the people to remember certain events with annual celebrations. While the New Testament doesn't require that we celebrate Christmas every year, I certainly see nothing wrong with the church's entering into this joyous time of celebrating the Incarnation, which is the dividing point of all human history. Originally, it was intended to honor, not Mithras or any of the other mystery religion cults, but the birth of our King."

For more information go to the following: A History of the Celebration of Christmas

The meaning of Mass can be: to gather, or a gathering of people, such as in Church to worship God. Let us not forget this Christ Mass to gather together to remember and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ as God's gift to humanity.

2 and a half days to go to holiday

2005-12-19T13:54:00.000+10:00

I now have the remainder of today and two more days until I head down to see my parents for Christmas. I am really looking forward to it.

Update time:
Friday - late afternoon I travelled over to Josh's place to stay the night. I was so tired that eveving when I drove Josh to the local Woolies to do some shopping and as a result I ran a red light (interesting phrase 'ran' a red light) on my way back. I made sure to have a shower and some food after we got back. Sleeping on the floor was a little uncomfortable, as was being woken in the morning by the pigeons that inhabit the roof (a whole flock of pigeons roost in the ceiling).
Saturday - We travelled to Garden City shopping centre so that I could do some last bit of Christmas shopping. It was so crowded with other Christmas shoppers and we has a hard time finding a parking space. After this we returned to J's place for lunch and then took the train this time to the cinema to see King Kong. This movie was 3hrs long, and we both had massive headaches when we left.
Sunday - Not much to tell except that I slept in and did not attend church (which I regret).
Monday (today) - I have been listening to some audio sermons from a great Christian sermon website: www.sermonaudio.com/main.asp
One interesting sermon I am currently listening to is about the relation of Narnia as symbolic of some of the Christian life.

I have been thinking about Hebrews 11, particularly the following verses:
Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God.
Heb 11:6 Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
I am meditating upon the point made that without faith it is impossible to please God. In order to please God we must have faith in Him. Charles Spurgeon said: 'The chief end of man is to please God'. Furthermore 'without faith there is no union to Christ. Now, union to Christ, is indispensable to our salvation. If I come before God’s throne with my prayers, I shall never get them answered, unless I bring Christ with me ... it is impossible to persevere in holiness without faith (this sermon on 'faith' can be found as a text file or as an audio file).

This leads to the question: How can we please God? By trusting in Jesus and living by following the example He set.

don't you just love weekends? I do

2005-12-13T08:03:00.000+10:00

I am really enjoying having weekends to relax. I don't exactly enjoy working most days of the week because of the cycle of getting up early, driving to work, boring working, heading home, a few hours to myself and then start all over again. [sigh - yes, I know others have much harder days, let me have my little winge will ya!]

Its good to earn some money though, to increase my savings, be able to pay bills, etc. So how was my weekend? It was good. I didn't do all that much: mowed the lawn, read a book, played the computer. On Sunday I did not feel like going to my current church service so went along to Kim's one instead. It was ok. I at least had some ppl to talk to afterwards (saw Sam Coates and his wife Sarah - they already have one or two kids now). Whilst Kim had the microwave going per normal, we heard a funny buzz noise and went out to see that the microwave had lost all power (Kim suspects the fuse). So I went and bought a new one yesterday (alo LG model but not quite as big, our old one must have been a 30L whilst this one is only 26L, still its a good one).

On Sunday evening I went to the break-up of Blend68 (Dash Coffeshop, North Lakes). Haven't been to it before, it was good. I was chatting to a girl named Kristie who is very talkative but friendly (and also very short, I thought she was quite young at first, but she is actually 19 but the size of some 12 year olds). A few games were played, which included the classic pass the parcel (quite fun :P).

Yesterday (Monday), I woke up early for work and felt exhausted (did not get enough sleep) so I decided to take the day off instead of Friday. This was good in that it allowed me to get some things done such as ring the plumber (he came Friday and fixed a drip in our cold tap in the bathroom, but later we noticed a larger leak in the pipe under the sink - maybe something he did, so he is coming this evening to fix it). I also spent a while trying to contact Centrelink to get them to re-setup my reporting for Youth Allowance (it became automatic when I was no longer earning for a while). I now owe them $140 because of an overpayment as I earnt in the last four weeks (which sucks, because I could not report until I received my timesheet details of what I would earn). I also took the time to buy that new microwave and do some Christmas shopping (some ppl are hard to shop for, I am still having to think about them).

Anyway, this blog is long enough, so I will close it with a couple of bible verses I am meditating on today:
1Pe 3:15 But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess.

Psa 8:3-6 When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made, and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place, I think, "Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them? Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them, and make them almost like the heavenly beings?" You grant mankind honor and majesty;

congrats to my sister

2005-12-07T15:38:00.000+10:00

My sister has only recently finished high school and now she has been accepted for a childcare traineeship job which she was just interviewed for today. I'm very happy for her.

On other news, I have been offered four more weeks of work after Christmas througout January. It will be good to have some savings in my account again. I don't like waking up early though - maybe I should go to bed earlier (then again, maybe not!).

I have recently read in Hebrews 4 about God's grace to us. Two verses that stand out are:

Heb 4:14 Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. Heb 4:15 For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. Heb 4:16 Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.

I find this very encouraging for one such as I, a sinner. God is merciful to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness - imparting to us the righteousness, holiness and purity of His Son, the Lord Jesus. Doesn't that just make you want to praise and worship Him?

i like rain - but severe storms are not nice!!!

2005-11-30T11:07:00.000+10:00

We have had more rain over the last few days, resulting in our lawn looking quite overgrown in places as the grass shoots up. Yesterday was very interesting for me because when I left work there was some thunder, but it did not look too bad. It wasn't until I was driving along Lutwyche Rd that I saw some lightning and it started to rain. After a bit of fat drops falling, a downpoor started and began covering my windscreen and the road with a lot of water. In places the water covered the road to a depth of probably 10-15cm deep. I was at that stage travelling in 2nd or 3rd gear for a fair way.

I had to pick up some fuel before coming home, and when I was filling up at Deception Bay (cause its cheap there - haha, double meaning) I could see quite heavy, dark, massive and threatening cloud covering the western sky. I was in a hurry to get home. The rain was falling quite heavily with fierce winds when I arrived home. I was worried of hail so I moved my car to the back patio (a little squeeze, but my car just fit under there with me being careful to corner my car around). When I went inside I was unpacking my shopping and was hoping we did not loose power - which we did, shortly after I had entered the house. I hate losing power. All that I could do was wait until the power came back on (which it did about 40mins later).

The weather report is telling us that we will have more storms today and tomorrow afternoon, so I hope its not as bad as yesterday when I drive home. On a different topic, this morning I read in Spurgeons morning and evening about 2 Chronicles 25:9.
2Ch 25:9 Amaziah asked the prophet:18 "But what should I do about the hundred units19 of silver I paid the Israelite troops?" The prophet20 replied, "The Lord is capable of giving you more than that."

One commentary writer, Matthew Henry, states: 'A firm belief of God's all-sufficiency to bear us out in our duty, and to make up all the loss and damage we sustain in his service abundantly to our advantage, will make his yoke very easy and his burden very light. What is it to trust in God, but to be willing to venture the loss of any thing for him, in confidence of the goodness of the security he gives us that we shall not lose by him, but that whatever we part with for his sake shall be made up to us in kind or kindness'.

This passage speaks about not holding onto nor being concerned about our finances (which I usually am), but to give to God and trust Him for the rest. As Jesus said "Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." (Mathew 22:21). Philippians 4:12-13 says: I have experienced times of need and times of abundance. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of contentment, whether I go satisfied or hungry, have plenty or nothing. I am able to do all things through the one who strengthens me.

Another passage also says not to worry. Mat 6:33: But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (see Mat 6:25-34 in context, about not worrying).

rain is good

2005-11-23T15:19:00.000+10:00

Its nice to be having some more rain again. We definitely need it. I thank God that he sends us this rain, and pray for more too. I am currently at work just hoping it does not pore down when I need to walk the 10mins to my car. I have done some budgeting as well for my own shopping with Kim and Kendal not sharing in shopping except for some bathroom and toilet item e.g. toilet paper, toothpaste.

I was going to stay home today for a rental inspection but realised last night that they are coming on the 24th which is tomorrow, so I decided to go to work instead. Working 9.5 hours is quite draining even when your not doing much work there. It will be nice to leave in under an hour.

I have no main news at present except that I have been working four days a week each week of 9.5 hrs a day from this week (making up Thursday 22nd December when I will be catching a plane down - but I still earn the money from that day by spreading 30 minutes over all of my other days). I spent some time cleaning up the house yesterday, using steel wool on the oven screen which was effective in eliminating the grime.

I feel that my blog thoughts do not evince much of my faith so that might change a little. I have been reading about how the pharisees ask Jesus to explain where he got His authority from and He shows them up by asking them to admit to explain where John the Baptist got his from. The only thoughts I had about that is that Jesus is Immanuel or God with us, He is God, with all the authority from God. He is also our Saviour with the authority to forgive sins and give us new life through His Spirit.

This also reminds me of how a soldier displays his faith to Jesus by stating that he also has authority over his servants who obey him, akin to Jesus' authority to heal the sick and brokenhearted. So this soldier also is obedient to trust Jesus to heal his servant. Matthew 8:9 'For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”'

We must trust God that he knows whats best for us and can heal our broken hearts and spirits. I will finish with one last verse: Proverbs 3:5-6 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight.' [NET version]

end of first week's work

2005-11-18T18:16:00.000+10:00

Another week has gone by and its good to have a weekend to relax on. I was quite tired yesterday evening and so got quite frustrated over a little thing like setting up my wireless network card.

Today was a better day, especially as I drove to work instead of taking public transport. Public transport is just that: public - many people everywhere, taking up space, coughing, stinking of cigarrette smoke, its also slow transport. I drove to work but found the free parking taken up by construction workers and probably some students having exams. So I drove out of the campus and across the road to a side street where its is free to park.

It took me only around 50-60 minutes total, 50 minutes to drive to where I parked and another 10mins to walk to the workplace. I quite enjoyed my private transport. It was also nice to drive home today despite peak hour traffic (took me an extra 8 to 10 minutes).

I don't have any large plans for this weekend - chill, clean up the house, take extra rubbish to the tip. No assignments and no study! Kendal, bet your glad to be finished too.

holidays at last! :)

2005-11-11T16:45:00.000+10:00

Finally I can have a break from assessments. Holidays are here at last. I had my two exams this week and although I'm not sure about science, I might have done enough to pass the subject. The maths one I'm not so sure about - we have not even received our marks for the major assignment yet either and so I did my best in the exam and wrote around a page or more for each of the four questions - I will have to wait and see.

I just received a reply from my boss at work and she has offered me work through to December and perhaps Christmas with a possibility of more work after Christmas as well - should be good because I need the money to pay bills and replace my shocks in the car.

My nephew is staying with me for the moment and it is interesting to say the least. I had the priveledge of picking him up from his parents place this morning. It was such a hot day though, but at least it is cooling down now.

I start work on Monday, but will have a delay for my pay of probably more than a couple of weeks in order to process my casual employment (takes time for this).

science down, maths to go

2005-11-08T16:11:00.000+10:00

I have just finished my science exam. It was hard. The questions asked things about biological features or terms of animals with strange scientific names and I could not remember them. I hope I passed this exam by making up marks with the questions I did know the answer to.

I am not happy with what happened to me on the way to uni: a car rear-ended me, did not dent my car but scratched some paint off small areas at the back. There was not really anything I could do except keep driving as their was a lot of traffic behind me (this was at Lutchwyche Rd somewhere past Chermside & Aspley). I pulled over later and checked for damage - thankfully it can easily be fixed with a spray can of touch up paint. There are so many morons on the road speeding, acting like the speed limit does not apply to them (this particularly person must have braked too late - poor judgement and was probably following me too closely). I saw more moronic drivers zipping in and out of lanes on the way home and I was watching to make sure they kept well away from me.

My next exam is Mathematics (how to assess and the changing nature of teaching maths) on Thursday. I have tonight, tomorrow, and tomorrow night to try and learn these theories to be backed up with practical examples. I hope I can learn this stuff, I don't feel too confident about it. I'll see how I go and then I can relax regardless by 3:15pm Thursday (exam goes from 1:30pm for 1hr 30mins, not very long - I have 22.5mins for each of four questions).

I plan on doing some more study tonight - not that I feel much like it at the moment, but will try to do some anyway.

study times

2005-11-06T14:55:00.000+10:00

I have done alternating study on and off during the past week. I wish I had another week to study because I feel not very confident about my exams. I had to spend all of Thursday until 12am Friday preparing my prac portfolio to hand in. At least that is out of the way now.

I have two exams: one on Tuesday for Science, and one on Thursday for Maths. The science one is proper primary science knowledge whilst the Maths one is not even real maths - it consists of theory about assessing students and the changing nature of mathematics teaching. Very dry and boring stuff, I need to learn 6 to 7 different key questions for the first and 6 to 7 key questions for the second topic. This theory needs to be supported by examples of teaching (I can use examples from my prac if I want or ways to teach and model - that part in some instances is the easier, learning the theory is not!).

By 3:10pm on Thursday (4 or so days and nights) I will be on holidays finally. Currently we are enjoying some slightly cooler weather and steady rainfall today - I like rain. I pray that we receive a lot more of it.

2 days to go of prac (only have to teach 3 more lessons)

2005-10-26T17:04:00.000+10:00

I only have 2 days of prac left, and tomorrow i don't have to do any teaching: ball games carnival and both year 5 teachers are going so I am coming as well (yay).

I had quite a good week this week, with most of my lessons going according to plan and my feeling more in control (or as much as any teacher can be with children). I have my maths lessons down pat, and the social studies and science lessons are getting better as well (especially when I spend so much time trying to plan for everything). My teacher mentor has praised my smooth lessons, given advice about introductions (which I have followed) and I have learnt much from observing him in action and from his suggestions. Quite a good prac actually - probably better than my last one.

Because I am not teaching tomorrow, I don't need to plan any lessons so can finally go to home groups again - they are studyin Romans 4 and 5, so I will need to do a bit of reading beforehand. Should be good to get back to the Bible study group again, I have really missed it.

Saturday I have a birthday party to go to (for those who know: Jamie Alford's sister's birthday party). I look forward to Saturday and the end of prac. After a weekend break I have to concentrate again on study for exams - don't really look forward to that though!

my birthday today!!!

2005-10-21T18:50:00.000+10:00

Happy Birthday to me!!! A quarter of a century young. (Happy Birthday for Kristan yesterday)

I have just finished my 3rd of 4 weeks prac. I have 5 days prac to go! Looking forward to finishing. This week was not too bad, although i am tiring of prac now. I have not received any presents as yet because I think Kendal is waiting for Kim to get home later from soccer. I have found teaching gets easier, although managing students does not. They still play up and are a bunch of babies (spoilt brats in a private school too).

I don't really have any other news at this point - I have now had my licence for a year. In another year I will be on my opens. Talking about cars, etc.: My shocks are causing my steering to be a little loose at higher speeds and I hope my boss has plenty of work for me during the holidays so I can afford to fix them. At least my car has mostly dried out after the fiasco last week (when we put blankets over the windows and secured them through the door seals - which let water into my car all over the seats and the floor). Still a little steamy after a day in the sun though :)

end of week 2 (yay)

2005-10-14T18:14:00.000+10:00

I am now half way in my practicum. I have 2 weeks to go and am looking forward to finishing. I really have got into the process of preparing lessons, writing reflections, making observations and getting some sleep too. Planning lessons is not quite so hard for me now, I can always ask other teachers for what they would do for a topic.

I had such a tiring lunch period today. The teachers had a staff photo going on so I had to watch all of the year 4s, 5s, and 6s and ensure they remained seated until the teachers arrived back. The students have a 10 minute eating period when they are to remain seated, but they had to wait another 20 or so minutes (30 minutes of their lunch) seated. I had to tell some children off for moving around (running and annoying others). I had one follow me and pick up rubbish for a while. Eventually they are started chanting "Ring that bell" (a hand held bell we ring). I held up my arms in acclamation as if they were my loyal sports fans.

I am currently at Josh's place using Jamie's computer. I will be seeing a movie tonight, going home, sleeping, maybe purchase a few clothes, and planning next weeks lessons.

busy times

2005-10-12T18:41:00.000+10:00

People are probably waiting for a new post now so I have decided to update. Firstly, it is my second week of prac now (12 days of 20 to go) I'm almost halfway now!
I am really looking forward to finishing though - the world of teaching is not something I'm expecially looking forward to in 2007.The long hours (not just at the school but the plannng and marking that goes on after 5pm) and stress of managing brats can be a little daunting.

I am slowly starting to practise effective managment techniques and strategies to hold the control over how the lesson goes and what the students do. My last lesson today I felt good afterwards because I knew more what to do to keep control (standing up, students sitting on the floor to listen - waiting for attention and telling students to listen, etc) and the teacher said it was good to see me relaxed with the kids.

I have three lessons to plan for tomorrow (although in maths I only need to think of a last activity because we did not get through two of 3 today - one of them took a long time). I have to do a maths lesson as usual, an English one (more like a sose one - a timeline poster) and a social studies one about the first fleet's preparation for sailing. I really look forward to Friday afternoon and finishing this week for a weekend break.

I was only told yesterday that the school has a dress code (no - no one has said anything about me wearing jeans and semi formal shirts, but my teacher decided it might be best if I was seen to conform by wearing formal pants and a tie. I hate ties - stupid illogical and useless things -despite how good some ppl think they make people look. I also detest my black shoes. I have not worn those shoes since about 3 years ago when I applied for a job. They are still stiff and are a little loose around my ankles. I definitely won't be running in them. It got hot again today and I was glad to get home to a cold shower. It might also storm tonight - we'll see.

2nd day of prac (2/20)

2005-10-04T16:50:00.000+10:00

Today's lessons went quite well. I dealt a bit more with students b/h and also modelled concepts before letting them work on such work individually. But school students are such slow writers! The teacher did not even bother to comment on my lessons which seems to indicate that they were fine. At one point he intervened by telling off some students mucking up, though, which means I need to work on my b/h - although this will get better with more practice.

I like the fact that usually I don't have to hang around at the school but can leave shortly after 3:10 (getting me home around 3:40/3:50pm).

had day one out of 20 of prac (1/20)

2005-10-03T18:33:00.000+10:00

In case your wondering why I did a fraction for my prac: I was teaching a maths lesson involving fractions today :) I was so nervous leading up to this maths lesson, but when it came down to it, I did my best in following my lesson plan, keeping an eye on the time and in giving individual students help. But after the lesson I felt a certain dissatisfaction with my performance. This was probably as a result of students being a little restless and trying my patience by talking when they were supposed to be working quietly and indivdually (I ended up keeping one student in for 5 minutes at morning tea). The teacher gave me some good feedback and his only criticism was that I needed to never assume that the students know the material being taught but to model the problem or concepts before setting them off to work by themselves. I will follow this up in tomorrow's lesson and keep striving to use the constructive feedback my teacher gives me to become a better teacher - sounds like I'm spouting from my own reflection - maybe I will put some of this into my reflection on the lesson which I must type up later :)

My room is so hot tonight - no wonder I have been feeling so tired since I got home. I might turn on a fan ... ahhh, that makes a difference - I now have a revolving fan sitting on my desk right in front of me. They say that it will be up to 35 degrees celsius on Thursday (yuck :0). I am really looking forward to spending Christmas down in NSW where its cooler on the coast. If I get some holiday work at QUT I will also appreciate the a/c in the office.

prac starts tomorrow

2005-10-02T22:55:00.000+10:00

I have been feeling so anxious about my prac. I start teaching tomorrow with an hour long maths lesson. I prayed to God to take away my fears, and I feel a little more calm about it. Prayer from those reading this would be good.

Kendal arrived back safely tonight from Cambodia and has preceeded to take over the lounge room to relax and enjoy watching a movie with some friends whilst eating pizza - I don't blame him for wanting to chill out. I just wish I could sleep easily with the sounds of bass vibrating through my bedroom wall (I should be in bed but can't sleep - not with the knowing that I have prac tomorrow).

My most busy week will be the week after next when I am supposed to teach all week - ouch :(
I really look forward to studying for my last exams and finishing this semester, but for the moment I have a practicum to progress through. There's a song that 96.5 keeps playing: 'Wake me up when September ends', I could say the same for october :)

Our lawn really is starting to need mowing again but I won't have time until the weekend - I have to plan lessons when I get home from school each day - fun fun fun [sigh]. Oh well, I will take each day and week at a time!

nearly finished my week break

2005-09-29T18:26:00.000+10:00

[sigh] I have three more days and four nights until I start my teaching prac. I will be doing some lesson planning this weekend. It has been good having Mum and Dad here this week. I will miss them as they are somewhere travelling in NSW at the moment.

I have moved my computer back into my room now and plugged Kendal's computer back in again.

I don't have much news about this week: Sunday went to night church, Monday got my car wheels aligned and front wheels also balanced, Tuesday had the steering checked (mechanics found nothing wrong) and my front left tyre pumped up as the pressure was quite low - probably as a result of something beaurepaires did when aligning my wheels, Wednesday I veged out.

Today I thought the real estate had pest control people coming to check for termites and spray the place so I got up 8:30am, and put the cat in a cat box (which the lid does not hold down properly) and prepared to sit in my car while this was going on: then I thought to check the date of this and found out it is for the 29 of October not September. When I went to bring the cat out of the car she had made a houdini escape by forcing up the lid and was staring out at me from the back seat. I put her back inside, turned on Kendal's a'c and went back to bed for an hour or so. I will probably veg out some more until saturday and start lesson planning then and mow the lawn again.

I live such an exciting life don't I? [with a touch of sarcasm]

car steering problems

2005-09-27T09:11:00.000+10:00

I just got all my wheels aligned and the front wheels balanced yesterday but found out that my car still pulls to the left - something is wrong in the steering wheel parts somewhere.

I have taken my car to a mechanics for checking and possible repair and hopefully they can fix the problem without it costing too much. Now I either wait for their call or ring them myself by about 1:30pm.

time for a new blog :)

2005-09-23T18:45:00.000+10:00

I am so exhausted now. I stupidly left my research on a major maths assignment until this week and so did not read through the articles until yesterday and last night and the began taking notes and typing up a part of my essay. I was planning on staying up all night and skipping sleep to finish the assignment as it was due today at 5pm. Intsead I decided that sleep was more important and went to bed by 11:45pm.

I got myself up about 7:45am and got back into it feeling much more alert. Unfortunately, there were two parts to the assignment - one being describing a unit activities and the other being the essay. I was in such a rush this afternoon to finish Part A and then interweave or back up part A within the essay itself. I needed to leave by 3:30pm to drive to uni, but did not leave until 3:40pm. I arrived at uni 1 hour later and rushed up the hill with about 15minutes to spare. I got my assignment in just before 5pm. [phew]

It is such a relief to have that assignment out of the way - I know I will be losing marks in areas where I have not had the time to fully develop them - can't do much about that so no point in worrying.

I am gonna relax this weekend and watch some scifi or movies at home tonigh whilst enjoying the rest of my pizza (I bought 2 last night). Time for a shower :)

catching up with my week

2005-09-15T20:58:00.000+10:00

Well, I had a good time last Friday night watching the movie Stealth with Kim and Rachel. And then on Saturday I drove over to Josh's place with my computer to swap some scifi episodes. Josh and I went over to the South Bank to watch Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Wererabbit. That movie is definitely worth seeing - very funny! :)

After the movie I headed back to Josh's place for Jamie's pit roast (meat, potatoes roasted in pit in the ground). I had a chat with Jamie's sister Jenny and her boyfriend Tom. Then we played a game of cards, before I lost (came third out of 5 ppl) and headed for home (left @ 10:30pm) and arrived home by 11:30pm quite tired - glad I didn't lose my way home at night though :)

Monday saw me heading to QUT - Kendal was kind enough to give me a lift to the city from where I walked to Kelvin Grove (took about 30 minutes walking) and arrived a little hot and sweaty. I went to the library there and used my staff privileges to get out some texts on teaching maths and science for my upcoming prac. Then I took the train home.

Tuesday I drove to Bald Hills, picked up my uni friend Sage (yeah, I know the name is a little strange - who names there child after a herb?) and then went to uni for an hour - found out Sage and I got 9/10 for another science assignment. That means I currently have 47% of the total marks and am aiming for a credit through doing well in the last exam!

Wednesday (well that's yesterday) I had the day off and relaxed, read my novel, played counterstrike on the web, and genually tried to avoid anything to do with uni. :P

Today I car pooled again to uni and back and had a lunch time chat with my friend Brian (haven't spoken to him for a while) - we chatted about our concerns about pertrol price rises.

I don't have any other news, I hope I can find the motivation to start on my assignment tomorrow - its due in a week and I have a great reluctance to do any uni work especially after 7 or more years of study [sigh]

had prac today

2005-09-07T16:11:00.000+10:00

I had my last prac observation today - will be teaching when I go back there next term. I have learnt more of the students' names now and hopefully will know them much better at the end of my first week teaching. Was okay today - I observed a maths lesson, monitored an activty station at a jump rope for heart program (received a chocolate bar for helping), and planned my first weeks teaching prac with Allan the teacher.

I look forward to Friday though, can sleep in then. I am going to bible study tonight and we are studying Philippians 3-4 this week. Should be good, we won't be having anymore studies for a couple of weeks after tonight though because the leader is having a holiday.

I might get a wheel realignment done on my car this Friday if possible, if not, then next week!

first proper entry on my new site

2005-09-06T17:56:00.000+10:00

I have changed to this new blog site because of complaints from others about msn logging in with msn spaces. This site has its downside in that I don't know how to place a picture slideshow on the site - if that is possible with this type of blog - maybe I can?

I think you need to become a member of this site to add comments: should I change this? you decide!

my new blog site: archive of previous blogs

2005-09-06T17:25:00.000+10:00

Here are my previous blogs:

04 September

car pooling each week now

I am car pooling with a girl from uni now - she lives about 25 minutes from my house so I travel to her place and either go to uni from there in her car or keep going in mine. Saves a bit on fuel - especially with the rising fuel prices!

I'm feeling a bit down as a result of my performance in my Science exam I had on Friday evening. I studied and reviewed everything and new a lot - but many exam questions were on topics I was weakest at and did not think they would test so much on. I don't think that I have passed the exam, hopefully get enough marks to add to other assessment and still pass the subject overall. I would be happier with even a pass conceded if it came to that!

I went to night Church again because I have a bad habit of staying up late. It was good though - sat with Haley's parents and had a good chat to Greg. The sermon was on John 3:16 and then I checked my email tonight and my subscription to a verse a day was John 3:16-18 - must be more than a coincedence - I should probably meditate on the words: "For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son...".

I have another observation day at the school tomorrow and Wednesday and need to sit down with the teacher and discuss next term and my lesson planning with him. At least I have Tuesday arvo and Friday off - need to start working on my maths assignment this week though - its due at the end of the month.

8:58 PM

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29 August

fun week ahead - study for exam

I absolutely hate studying and doing assignments - probably hate studying for exams more though

I have a science exam at 6pm this Friday and have only looked over a few pages of notes - have more study ahead of me during the evenings this week - at least I have most of Friday to study as well (hopefully I won't procrastinate and waste that opportunity to study - maybe I might go to uni earlier and do some study on campus).

I have about 6 hours total of my job left at QUT including 1 hour today and 5 tomorrow - I won't be working here again until after the end of the semester if more work comes avaliable - this will free up my Monday's and Tuesday afternoons for the next three weeks before prac starts.

I have an annoying cough occasionally as a result of the flu I had a couple of weeks ago. Will be glad when summer comes around. I am not sure whether i should go to my bible study group this Wednesday because of my exam - I really would like to go - I will see how far along I feel in my studies by late Wednesday arvo.

E-sword is a great program I have downloaded for free from internet - it allows the user to view the Bible in many different translations such as the Good News, KJV, Modern KJV, The Message, etc. You can compare verses in all of these different translations or choose to view a chapter of a book of the Bible in parallel mode (up to four different translations at once). You only get KJV already in the download, but can download many others from their website: http://www.e-sword.net/downloads.html for the e-sword program and the following address for the additional translations: http://www.e-sword.net/bibles.html , and finally the following for their commentaries as well: http://www.e-sword.net/commentaries.html

One last feature I would like to mention is that using this program you can also make study notes in which you can add verses to and your own notes to as well and then save it or copy and paste to work to save - quite handy really - a must for all ppl studying the Bible

3:28 PM

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24 August

had two prac observations now

Well my first couple of prac days have gone quite well. Almost a waste of time last Friday because I was moved to another grade class (Year 5 instead of yr 4) as the yr 4 teacher will be doing a chaplaincy from next term.

Still, today's prac day was quite good - the kids had state testing this week and today they were tested on literacy. Was quite interesting observing this. Got bored by the middle of the day though, and then managed to finalise my desk plan of which student is sitting where so I can begin learning their names - not hard for those kids who muck up!

I quite like driving now - will be driving to uni again tomorrow, certainly cuts down on the travel time!

Last night Kim's friend James brought round their old washing machine (much, much newer than the old one we have). I set it up this afternoon and am currently washing my clothes - only problem was that the machine leaked stored water once it was started, I had to grab old towels to place around it!

We had pizza last night, as Kim wanted it and we were all home to eat together - was nice not having to prepare dinner

5:15 PM

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18 August

another day, another blog

Am almost recovered from the flu now. Just left with a cough and throat congestion cold.

Enjoyed a day off yesterday for the Ekka holiday. Was nice to relex and not be home because of being sick. Drove to uni today, its great not having to always take the train. Had a nice clear run back from uni this afternoon by being able to beat the start of the peak hour traffic.

Tomorrow I will be going to my prac school for the first time. I'm a little nervous about it, but at least its not the teaching yet - just observation and familiarisation with the teacher and the kids. Have grade 4 this time and haven't had that age group before. Much better than grade 1 though.

I am supposed to go to the Planetarium for science tomorrow night but have changed my mind and won't bother. Instead I might go see a movie instead - save sitting around home alone as usual whilst the house empties around me. Will be going bowling with the church group on saturday evening at Strathpine - should be fun.

I've been invited to join the associate pastor and a few other guys for a mens bible study group starting possibly next week and meeting every 2nd thursday. Should be good.

9:29 PM

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13 August

i hate being sick

Kim came down with a bad case of the flu last Thursday. On Tuesday I then started to feel fluey - and still had to drive home from uni - didn't help that two lanes were closed on the riverside expressway because of some accident - wasted at least 30 minutes stopping and starting in first gear - not good for any car.

I think that after this week's pay I will buy some new shocks for my car and get them installed and then have a wheel alignment done. Should improve the suspension and steering.

It seems that for some reason, my car is dirty by the end of each week - although I've been too sick feeling to wash it as yet. I have been lying in bed most of the time since Wednesday. Im over the worst of the flu but now have some aggravating congestion in my throat which gargling has not cleared up - makes for a saw throat whenever I swallow and keeps me up at night (or wakes me up as of last night at 4am). Kendal is the fortunate one who has not gotten sick but only had a cough for a day.

I had to skip going to my first prac observation on Wednesday and my compulsory tute on Thursday - got a medical certificate though so should be fine - jus thave to make up that observation day some time.

I haven't really eaten anything today - only drunk water and juice - boy my stomach feels empty and uncomfortable - got myself some soup - but i despise soup. I hope this sore throat is cleare up by Monday as I have a lecture and then have to go to work.

5:18 PM

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Walking With God ... thoughts of a Christian pilgrim

Changed blog site again www.konradslack.org

Month of Misfortune

trucks, traffic and thirst-quenching

Jesus the great High Priest

tribute to my great Uncle Philip Donaldson

God's glory! What's your motivation?

The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness

The Weight of Sin – Reason to flee? (Which way? Towards God or away from God?)

Mother, music, money, and Mitsubishi

self-service or Christ service?

Hot and Humid

partings are such sweet sorrows

Christmas comes and Christmas goes

holiday time at last

Hebrews 12:28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29For our God is a consuming fire.

Christmas as Christ's Mass

2 and a half days to go to holiday

don't you just love weekends? I do

congrats to my sister

i like rain - but severe storms are not nice!!!

rain is good

end of first week's work

holidays at last! :)

science down, maths to go

study times

2 days to go of prac (only have to teach 3 more lessons)

my birthday today!!!

end of week 2 (yay)

busy times

2nd day of prac (2/20)

had day one out of 20 of prac (1/20)

prac starts tomorrow

nearly finished my week break

car steering problems

time for a new blog :)

catching up with my week

had prac today

first proper entry on my new site

my new blog site: archive of previous blogs

Hebrews 12:²⁸Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. ²⁹For our God is a consuming fire.