I received my Foxtel magazine today and in it was one of those letters starting with the words 'important changes'. That is code for 'you are about to be worse off'. In this case Foxtel have surveyed their customers and they have conveniently told Foxtel that they really don't want the magazine anymore. So, in an effort to protect the environment, they are no longer going to supply the magazine unless their clients ring up and say that they want to continue to receive it.
Now, excuse my cynicism, but companies are often passionate about the environment if they can see an opportunity to make money out of it. A few years ago Westpac also told me how passionate they were about the environment and suggested that I consider receiving my bank statements electronically rather than on paper. How noble of them to consider the environment in that way.
What do Foxtel and Westpac have in common? They both make money out of being passionate about the environment. Foxtel will save quite a bit of money by printing fewer full colour magazines and on postage and Westpac, I'm sure, has saved money by not printing out statements and mailing them. In both cases I have continued to read the letter looking for the sentence that says "We recognise that our company will save money and we are therefore going to reduce our fees. In fact, we are so passionate about the environment that we will halve our fees and take a financial hit in order to encourage our customers to join with us in protecting the environment." Of course, no such sentences ever appear in these letters.
It is rare to find businesses who are willing to take a financial hit in order to protect the environment. If it costs more they will pass the fee on. If they save money they hang onto it.
So, as I write this blog dripping with sarcasm and cynicism, I think of my faith. Do I only get passionate about it when I get something out of it? When there is a direct benefit to me? What about when it costs me? Because in Christianity, to quote a certain environmental campaigner, it is 'an inconvenient truth'. Christianity costs. And I need to be as passionate when it is going to cost me as when it brings me great benefits.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Am I in His hands?
It's only 9.30am but I have already come across examples of the extreme variety of life's circumstances. Mike Pilley & I met for breakfast this morning and our readings for the day came from Numbers 1 & 2 and Acts 24. Numbers 1 & 2 are all about the census of the Israelites and the ordering of the tribes. Mundane stuff to read about but very important in the ordering of their lives at the time.
Acts 24 sees Paul up before Felix on trumped up charges. Because Felix is more interested in politics and trying to get a bribe out of Paul than administering justice, Paul was still awaiting a decision on the case 2 years on when Felix was being replaced.
And then, on the front page of The Age is the heart wrenching picture of this poor little nine year old chap who lost his parents in the tragedy at Christmas Island.
As I look at that picture, a song runs through my head as it has done for a couple of days now; "I'm in his hands". We have been practicing this piece at band practice to the newer tune written by Phil Laeger.
How do I reconcile this thought of being in God's hands when looking at a picture of an orphaned boy? "The days I cannot see have all been planned for me" - I believe that, yet I see the little fella's face.
Life is never simple or predictable. Sometimes it is utterly boring, such as times of census. Counting, collating, organising. Sometimes it is frustrating, such as Paul's time under house arrest awaiting for the corrupt court's decision on his case. Imagine what he could have achieved in those two years if he had been free. And sometimes life is utterly tragic, as it is at this time for Seena who will, no doubt, become a political football for Labor & the Coalition as they try to make political mileage over him.
Is he in God's hands? Yes, I believe he is, despite the circumstances which tend to say otherwise. But, we also have to do our bit to ensure that justice is done.
If you would like to hear Phil Laeger's version of the chorus, here is a link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ighpk8Dlwz4
Acts 24 sees Paul up before Felix on trumped up charges. Because Felix is more interested in politics and trying to get a bribe out of Paul than administering justice, Paul was still awaiting a decision on the case 2 years on when Felix was being replaced.
And then, on the front page of The Age is the heart wrenching picture of this poor little nine year old chap who lost his parents in the tragedy at Christmas Island.
As I look at that picture, a song runs through my head as it has done for a couple of days now; "I'm in his hands". We have been practicing this piece at band practice to the newer tune written by Phil Laeger.
How do I reconcile this thought of being in God's hands when looking at a picture of an orphaned boy? "The days I cannot see have all been planned for me" - I believe that, yet I see the little fella's face.
Life is never simple or predictable. Sometimes it is utterly boring, such as times of census. Counting, collating, organising. Sometimes it is frustrating, such as Paul's time under house arrest awaiting for the corrupt court's decision on his case. Imagine what he could have achieved in those two years if he had been free. And sometimes life is utterly tragic, as it is at this time for Seena who will, no doubt, become a political football for Labor & the Coalition as they try to make political mileage over him.
Is he in God's hands? Yes, I believe he is, despite the circumstances which tend to say otherwise. But, we also have to do our bit to ensure that justice is done.
If you would like to hear Phil Laeger's version of the chorus, here is a link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ighpk8Dlwz4
Friday, February 4, 2011
Death or Glory
"Then a voice came: "Go to it, Peter—kill and eat."
Peter said, "Oh, no, Lord. I've never so much as tasted food that was not kosher."
The voice came a second time: "If God says it's okay, it's okay." Acts 10:13-15
It was an interesting group of chapters today with two seemingly different Gods talking. In Exodus 35 the order came out - if someone works on the Sabbath they must be put to death. People couldn't even light a fire on the Sabbath.
Then in Acts there is Peter who has only ever eaten kosher food being told to eat none kosher food. No wonder he was reluctant given that he comes from a tradition where even breathing the wrong way in Old Testament times was likely to get you killed.
Peter received a word from a voice that he identified as the Lord, "If God says it's okay, it's okay".
It's sometimes a bit difficult to know exactly what God is asking us to do, but it's likely that God, at some time, will ask us to do something quite radically different to what we think, or have been brought up to believe, is correct.
If God says it's okay, it's okay.
Help me God to have the courage to act when you tell me to do something which, for whatever reason, doesn't seem right to me.
Peter said, "Oh, no, Lord. I've never so much as tasted food that was not kosher."
The voice came a second time: "If God says it's okay, it's okay." Acts 10:13-15
It was an interesting group of chapters today with two seemingly different Gods talking. In Exodus 35 the order came out - if someone works on the Sabbath they must be put to death. People couldn't even light a fire on the Sabbath.
Then in Acts there is Peter who has only ever eaten kosher food being told to eat none kosher food. No wonder he was reluctant given that he comes from a tradition where even breathing the wrong way in Old Testament times was likely to get you killed.
Peter received a word from a voice that he identified as the Lord, "If God says it's okay, it's okay".
It's sometimes a bit difficult to know exactly what God is asking us to do, but it's likely that God, at some time, will ask us to do something quite radically different to what we think, or have been brought up to believe, is correct.
If God says it's okay, it's okay.
Help me God to have the courage to act when you tell me to do something which, for whatever reason, doesn't seem right to me.
Friday, January 28, 2011
High Council
Not a religious blog today. Just a few random thoughts about the Army and the High Council.
As an aside, I get frustrated with the really poor standard of the Army's official web pages. They are old, slow and lacking information. Trying to find out the appointments of the relative High Council members has been almost impossible, as it has been to find their ages, let alone a bio of the members. Pictures - easy, but information - not so. Surely we can do better...
Anyway, Ten nominees for General with Comm. Knaggs declining leaving nine candidates. All of them white. All of them either male or single female, i.e. no married women nominated ahead of their husbands. All of them relatively old - but so are most of the high council members as it's almost impossible to reach Commissioner rank until retirement is looming large.
Why, if the Army is growing in Africa and the Sub Continent whilst declining in Europe, USA & Oceania, are there never any Africans or Asians nominated for General? And what does that say about the Army, its structure and priorities? Is the Army so fixated now on programmes that only Europeans have the nous to run the organisation?
The age of people reaching senior leadership positions is a real problem. Not that it is wrong for someone in their sixties to be in a senior leadership role, more that it is wrong that someone in their mid forties or early fifties (if not younger) cannot, it seems, under our current structure reach a senior position at those ages. Secondly, the military structure almost means that any entrepreneurial thinking has either been beaten out of a person by the time they make it to Commissioner rank, or they will not make it there in the first place either by reason of being overlooked or having resigned in frustration.
Get the feeling that I don't like the Army's structure?! I'm sure that the person elected to be the next General of The Salvation Army will be a fine candidate and will lead well. But, despite the fact that I have been following the High Council proceedings daily, I almost feel the appointment of the next General will be largely irrelevant to me. It will be more of the same. Will there be a General who makes me feel that Army is inspiring again? Or is the problem mine and my attitude, not the Army's and it's structure?
One final thought. Bear in mind that I am almost 50 years of age and I think the structure is outdated. What do teenagers and people in their 20's and 30's think?
As an aside, I get frustrated with the really poor standard of the Army's official web pages. They are old, slow and lacking information. Trying to find out the appointments of the relative High Council members has been almost impossible, as it has been to find their ages, let alone a bio of the members. Pictures - easy, but information - not so. Surely we can do better...
Anyway, Ten nominees for General with Comm. Knaggs declining leaving nine candidates. All of them white. All of them either male or single female, i.e. no married women nominated ahead of their husbands. All of them relatively old - but so are most of the high council members as it's almost impossible to reach Commissioner rank until retirement is looming large.
Why, if the Army is growing in Africa and the Sub Continent whilst declining in Europe, USA & Oceania, are there never any Africans or Asians nominated for General? And what does that say about the Army, its structure and priorities? Is the Army so fixated now on programmes that only Europeans have the nous to run the organisation?
The age of people reaching senior leadership positions is a real problem. Not that it is wrong for someone in their sixties to be in a senior leadership role, more that it is wrong that someone in their mid forties or early fifties (if not younger) cannot, it seems, under our current structure reach a senior position at those ages. Secondly, the military structure almost means that any entrepreneurial thinking has either been beaten out of a person by the time they make it to Commissioner rank, or they will not make it there in the first place either by reason of being overlooked or having resigned in frustration.
Get the feeling that I don't like the Army's structure?! I'm sure that the person elected to be the next General of The Salvation Army will be a fine candidate and will lead well. But, despite the fact that I have been following the High Council proceedings daily, I almost feel the appointment of the next General will be largely irrelevant to me. It will be more of the same. Will there be a General who makes me feel that Army is inspiring again? Or is the problem mine and my attitude, not the Army's and it's structure?
One final thought. Bear in mind that I am almost 50 years of age and I think the structure is outdated. What do teenagers and people in their 20's and 30's think?
Monday, January 24, 2011
O Happy Day!
19,16,15,14,7,2,0 It looks a bit like one of the questions from an I.Q. test where you have to select the next number in the sequence. What it actually is is the number of blogs that I have written from month to month, starting with July and ending this month. As the initial enthusiasm for the blog waned so did the number of entries. And then we arrived in December when every Salvo's blog entries dropped as we grappled with Christmas caroling. After today the zero will become one.
In life we often start on new things with enthusiasm and gradually drop off. And a drop off in intensity and enthusiasm is something that happens to us as Christians too.
This morning I have been watching/listening to a bit of the Welcome to The 2011 High Council. The advances in technology that allow us in Australia to be a part of the High Council welcome in London are quite remarkable. Apparently the programme is about 3 hours long - even longer than our Divisional meeting last night! Speaking of which....we sang that great song 'O Happy Day' and were asked whether the day on which we were 'saved' was the happiest day of our life, or words to that effect. I'm not sure that it was my happiest day as such. Most momentous and important, yes but I don't recall leaving church that night as happy as I was when I left the MCG on grand final day 2008! But it was certainly the day that my life changed in a way that has eternal consequences.
I often think of 2 Thess 3:13 which says "And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good." I do tire of doing good sometimes. I tire of doing a blog, I tire of being in a band (is that doing good?!), I tire of being in a leadership position and so on. I guess it is important to understand what 'doing good' really means. Being a disciple of Jesus, learning from him and doing what he did is really about 'doing good' I suppose.
So, in a new year, already 24 days old, celebrating the 'happy day when Jesus washed my sins away' and 'never tiring of doing good' are two challenges for me this year.
In life we often start on new things with enthusiasm and gradually drop off. And a drop off in intensity and enthusiasm is something that happens to us as Christians too.
This morning I have been watching/listening to a bit of the Welcome to The 2011 High Council. The advances in technology that allow us in Australia to be a part of the High Council welcome in London are quite remarkable. Apparently the programme is about 3 hours long - even longer than our Divisional meeting last night! Speaking of which....we sang that great song 'O Happy Day' and were asked whether the day on which we were 'saved' was the happiest day of our life, or words to that effect. I'm not sure that it was my happiest day as such. Most momentous and important, yes but I don't recall leaving church that night as happy as I was when I left the MCG on grand final day 2008! But it was certainly the day that my life changed in a way that has eternal consequences.
I often think of 2 Thess 3:13 which says "And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good." I do tire of doing good sometimes. I tire of doing a blog, I tire of being in a band (is that doing good?!), I tire of being in a leadership position and so on. I guess it is important to understand what 'doing good' really means. Being a disciple of Jesus, learning from him and doing what he did is really about 'doing good' I suppose.
So, in a new year, already 24 days old, celebrating the 'happy day when Jesus washed my sins away' and 'never tiring of doing good' are two challenges for me this year.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Santa and car horns
I saw Santa up the street this morning along with one of his elves and a real life reindeer. It didn't have horns so maybe it was a female. I guess that makes the Preston S.A. Band a male band as we have 2 horns! (boom boom). (Actually they would be antlers rather than horns but that would ruin the story. And I think the reindeer is not a reindeer but another type of deer but that would ruin the story too.)
It's interesting watching the reaction of people to this unusual sight. It brings a smile to almost everyone's face and especially the children. There are cars pulling over to the side of the road so that the kids can get out, meet Santa and have their photo taken with him, his helper and the reindeer with no horns.
Just a metre or so away is another kind of horn. A car horn. I wonder if anyone has ever done a study on whether car horns are used more at Christmas than at other times of the year. I'm sure that you could get a government grant to do one. Just say that you are studying global warming and you will instantly get $100,000-.
In that one or two metre space between Santa & the road there is a major difference in attitude. On the footpath there are smiles and joy. On the road there is road rage.
When Jesus was walking the road he managed to extract wildly different reactions from people too. On the one hand he was swamped with people looking for healing. There must have been a lot of joy and smiles as lepers were healed, as blind people saw again. And just a couple of metres away were the religious leaders seething with rage, looking for a way of killing him.
As we play carols at Christmas we get all sorts of reactions. Some people are thrilled to hear us. Others ask us to move on!
People's reactions to Jesus today are varied too. Some will embrace him with joy. Others will react with rage and want to shoot the messengers. We need to remember that as we minister to people. Not everyone appreciates God and won't appreciate us but the message has to get out there whatever the reaction.
It's interesting watching the reaction of people to this unusual sight. It brings a smile to almost everyone's face and especially the children. There are cars pulling over to the side of the road so that the kids can get out, meet Santa and have their photo taken with him, his helper and the reindeer with no horns.
Just a metre or so away is another kind of horn. A car horn. I wonder if anyone has ever done a study on whether car horns are used more at Christmas than at other times of the year. I'm sure that you could get a government grant to do one. Just say that you are studying global warming and you will instantly get $100,000-.
In that one or two metre space between Santa & the road there is a major difference in attitude. On the footpath there are smiles and joy. On the road there is road rage.
When Jesus was walking the road he managed to extract wildly different reactions from people too. On the one hand he was swamped with people looking for healing. There must have been a lot of joy and smiles as lepers were healed, as blind people saw again. And just a couple of metres away were the religious leaders seething with rage, looking for a way of killing him.
As we play carols at Christmas we get all sorts of reactions. Some people are thrilled to hear us. Others ask us to move on!
People's reactions to Jesus today are varied too. Some will embrace him with joy. Others will react with rage and want to shoot the messengers. We need to remember that as we minister to people. Not everyone appreciates God and won't appreciate us but the message has to get out there whatever the reaction.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Asleep on the job
"Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter." Matt 26:40
I am not a great tv watcher, especially when it comes to reality tv shows. However, in recent weeks I have become interested in a show called "Great British Chef", where some of the best chefs in the UK were competing to cook one of the four courses to be served to Prince Charles and one hundred others at a banquet.
The final programme was the banquet itself and the four chefs who had previously cooked their dishes for four judges now had to replicate it for 100 people. The day proved a real problem for some for various reasons but, in the end they made it through. One of the reasons was because the four chefs who had previously been competitors worked as a team to ensure that each of them got their dishes out even though seemingly insurmountable problems came up along the way.
On their own they couldn't have achieved their goal. It would have been a disaster.
When Jesus and his disciples headed to Gethsemane it would have been fair to assume that Jesus could have expected that group of men to offer the support that he needed at that time. But, unlike the chefs who all pulled together at a time of crisis, the disciples offered Jesus nothing. They fell asleep. It must have been a real disappointment to Jesus that at his time of greatest need his most devoted followers didn't discern the gravity of the situation and fell asleep leaving Jesus to cope alone.
Being able to discern when people need help is not always easy. We don't all have the ability to see past the outward appearance to the inner core of turmoil. But sometimes it is not so much a matter of lack of ability but more a habit of not looking beyond our own circumstances to see what should be obvious to us.
God has created us to work together, to help each other when circumstances are such that individually, no matter how talented we are, we can't do it alone.
I hope that I am not found to be asleep when my friends most need me be to be alert and helping them through their problems.
I am not a great tv watcher, especially when it comes to reality tv shows. However, in recent weeks I have become interested in a show called "Great British Chef", where some of the best chefs in the UK were competing to cook one of the four courses to be served to Prince Charles and one hundred others at a banquet.
The final programme was the banquet itself and the four chefs who had previously cooked their dishes for four judges now had to replicate it for 100 people. The day proved a real problem for some for various reasons but, in the end they made it through. One of the reasons was because the four chefs who had previously been competitors worked as a team to ensure that each of them got their dishes out even though seemingly insurmountable problems came up along the way.
On their own they couldn't have achieved their goal. It would have been a disaster.
When Jesus and his disciples headed to Gethsemane it would have been fair to assume that Jesus could have expected that group of men to offer the support that he needed at that time. But, unlike the chefs who all pulled together at a time of crisis, the disciples offered Jesus nothing. They fell asleep. It must have been a real disappointment to Jesus that at his time of greatest need his most devoted followers didn't discern the gravity of the situation and fell asleep leaving Jesus to cope alone.
Being able to discern when people need help is not always easy. We don't all have the ability to see past the outward appearance to the inner core of turmoil. But sometimes it is not so much a matter of lack of ability but more a habit of not looking beyond our own circumstances to see what should be obvious to us.
God has created us to work together, to help each other when circumstances are such that individually, no matter how talented we are, we can't do it alone.
I hope that I am not found to be asleep when my friends most need me be to be alert and helping them through their problems.
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