Crookwell

Themes: Crookwell, Personal

Emma and I recently bought a property with my parents, in Crookwell, north-west of Goulburn. It’s a 4.5 bedroom cottage with 3 hectares of land right in the middle of town. The house is on the corner of the block with a huge poplar tree in the yard. The land slopes down to Kiama Creek, there’s a white wooden bridge, and over the other side is the main street of town. (This photo was taken when we first inspected the house.)
It’s pretty rustic but we really like it.
Crookwell is a great little town, people who live there obviously care for it a lot.

On Friday night we travelled down from Sydney to spend the night, we have a lot of cleaning and work to do to make the place ready for a tenant. The lady we bought the house from has left junk and rubbish all over the property. On top of that, the wet spring and summer seasons have also made the grass grow into a jungle. She also had dogs that lived in the house, so it’s a bit stinky inside. We need to clean the carpets, walls, windows, kitchen, everything; paint the inside (at the moment the rooms are painted in a remarkable assortment of ugly colours); tidy the gardens, remove all the junk. And that’s not even starting to think about the paddocks – full of weeds and thistles.
In short, there is lots of work to do.

We woke up to the sound of a rooster crowing on Saturday morning and found this bloke and his lady hen checking us out. He kept trying to come through the door so I had to put up a barricade. The sheep also turned up early to trim the grass in the yard before taking off to the bottom of the paddock near the creek to escape the heat. The sheep and the chooks all belong to the previous owner, the sheep are still there because she’s going to keep grazing the land for a while, since she’s only moved down the road, and the chooks just keep coming back because they have pea-brains.

We walked over the bridge to town for some breakfast, a very nice bacon and eggs at a cafe. The menu offered a ‘shearers breakfast’ – including lamb chops, bacon, sausages, mushrooms, eggs, tomato, who-knows-what-else, and thick toast. I wasn’t allowed to have that. But maybe I can when we finish work.
Anyway, I can recommend Catherine’s Cafe, “Crookwell’s Premier Refreshment Lounge”.

Here’s a video I made of the house and our first days work.

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Christmas Letter

Themes: Personal

Emma and I have now been living in Sydney for 1 year and 3 days, there’s a nice little milestone. The big Plane Tree that shades our front balcony has dropped all its leaves (on our front balcony) and re-grown them completely. I’ve finished my first year at College (I found out yesterday that they’re letting me come back again next year). And Emma has made me and the Tree feel like its worth it.
Probably of more immediate interest to you folk, is that Emma is enjoying her work at the Anglican Diocesan Secretariat. She works with a good team of Christian people, with a variety of strongly held beliefs and quirky habits. Which is a good things when you get on well with them (which she does). At this point I should come out and say that the following (and previous) opinions are entirely my own – Emma hasn’t even looked at what I’m writing, she’s at work.
Emma’s boss has been great at making her feel welcome, giving good feedback, and finding ways to help her grow in her job. She recently got to take part in a round-table discussion on the Sydney Anglican response to Climate Change. It was a group of scientists, conservationists, theologians, less interesting types, and Emma! Emma’s communications role would involve her in presenting and communicating Climate Change management programmes to the Diocese. I reckon this sounds like fun, maybe she’ll give me a job?
I’ve had a busy December, but there’ve been two big highlights. First was the AFES National Training Event. This year was the 10th Anniversary Edition. I’ve been to every one. The conference had a big impact on me back in 1997, it was a major step in understanding how the parts of the Bible work together to tell the one story of God’s work in Christ. I went home from that conference and read everything I could get my hands on that had to do with Biblical Theology (which completely spoiled the strand 2 material the next year…) This year I was back again, but now I’m leading strand 1. It was a privilege to be able to pray for and lead a group of young guys and see some of the pieces fall into place for them. There’s a good lesson about ministry for me in that: our service is not to know new things or more things, but to pass on old things, passionately and faithfully. Honestly, it was a great refreshment and relief to be studying and interacting with people over the Scriptures. My time at College is a great blessing from God, and I’m learning and being stretched – but I went there so I could train to be a better servant of God’s people, particularly through teaching. The reality is that College doesn’t provide many opportunities for the hands-on ministry that is the rationale and inspiration for Studying Like a Maniac during the rest of the year. Conferences like NTE and Focal Point keep me sane.
The second highlight was preaching at Church last Sunday. I very rarely enjoy preparing a sermon, and this was no different – but I always learn something new. This time I’ve been challenged to think more deeply about Jesus’ incarnation. I preached a sermon on the Magnificat, Mary’s Song from Luke’s Gospel. At the same time I was finishing off a book that I’ve been reading with a group of friends at College called God Crucified by Richard Bauckham. It’s a great little read and it reminded me of some important truths about Jesus’ birth and death. In particular, that when Paul says,
“Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage.”
Paul is not saying that ‘Jesus was equal with God, but chose to give it up for a while…’ Rather, he is saying, ‘Jesus, who is God, demonstrated what it means to be God by coming as a servant’.
Serving was not something that Jesus volunteered to do on behalf of the Trinity. Serving is what God does, its what he is like, it goes all the way down. This is not something that we discover only in the New Testament, it is stated loud and clear through the words of the Prophets.
For the High and Exalted One who lives forever, whose name is Holy says this:

“I live in a high and holy place,
and with the oppressed and lowly of spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly
and revive the heart of the oppressed.
(Isaiah 57:15)

It is God’s nature to give himself in love.
Our response is trust. 


How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me! She who has believed is blessed because what was spoken to her by the Lord will be fulfilled!” (Luke 1:43-45)

Notice how Elizabeth changes from the 2nd person greeting (for you see… the sound of your voice’) to the third person statement (She who has believed). It’s a great little twist that Luke uses to make this a thematic statement for the whole section. It’s like Elizabeth looks outside the frame of the picture and talks straight to us. Mary is blessed, and anyone who believes will be blessed, because God is going to keep his word to Mary.
There is nothing so blessed as having nothing but Jesus. I’ve got to keep reminding myself of that, Emma’s work keeps bring in money, I’m doing well in my courses, there are lots of other things that we could trust in, but none of them ever really bless us in this way.
Anyway, I always rabbit on when I sit down to write anything. We hope that you’ll come and visit us soon. If this letter does nothing else, it’s reminded me to pray for you, and I hope you will keep us in your prayers.
This year we are planning (under God) to travel to South Africa with a Moore College Mission team. Emma and I are hoping to spend a little while travelling in South Africa and checking out ministry opportunities over there. We don’t know what will come out of this trip, but we are praying that we can be an encouragement to the people we are serving with while we are there, and that we will get some more ideas about how to use these lives to serve Jesus. Praise God for contacts and some very generous financial support that is making this a possibility.
Here we are, at the End. You really are very special friends. Thanks for reading and lots of Love.

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Back

Themes: Personal

We’re back on the Air!
It’s been 20 days…
Back then, Basil was battling the Pneumatomachoi, America was celebrating its independence from Britain, and Dr Haneef had yet to reveal that Australia well on the way to being run by the Stasi.

How times change…

I’ve been on a four week break from College, which also turned out to be a Blogging Sabbath. I had no idea that such a thing existed, but apparently the Spirit rushes upon you and your Blog must lie fallow.

It’s a good thing: we were designed for rest.

The first week of the Break was dominated by a College Bibliography Assignment on Basil of Caesarea’s Doctrine of Humanity, must of which was inflicted on the world at large through this website.
I got to spend some time with my brother Sam, who was down from Brisbane as well. We took some photos of the city lights from over at Lady Macquarie’s Chair.

The second week was more relaxing, though I still got stuck into the books. I set myself a goal to read through the Pentateuch during the break (the first 5 books of the Bible). I got into the habit of heading down to Starbucks each morning for a couple of hours to read, then spend some time studying Greek and Hebrew. For a while there, it felt like I was getting more College work done without the annoying lectures to get in the way.
Reading large sections of the Biblical narrative is really exciting when you can find the time. Often we read small portions of the Bible and reflect on them devotionally. That’s a great practice, but it can make it hard to see the grand sweep of the Bible’s story.

I spent the third week in Canberra. Monday to Wednesday on the Focal Point – the annual Mid-Year Conference for the Uni Christian Fellowships. This was a real highlight of the Winter Break. I was able to spend time with friends from Canberra that I haven’t seen all year, and to be encouraged by brilliant Bible teaching. Most encouraging of all was to see young Christian people hungry to know God better.
The conference focussed on the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (the reason why so many Blog posts where along those lines as well). There is a real need for Christians to be thinking hard, talking, and teaching each other about the Holy Spirit.
We live by the Spirit

After Focal Point and the time in Canberra, Emma and I snuck off to Tumut for the weekend.

The final week I was back into the books, and trying to get my head around Hebrew for a Class Test this Friday.

It was a full few weeks, I read, thought, met, travelled…
I didn’t write.
Now I will.

“If we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit.” (Gal 5:25 HCSB)

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Studying Hebrew

Themes: Exams, Moore College, Personal

1. I’m starting to see the world backward

2. I think I could sing like Tom Waits

3. and I have a strange desire to commit genocide…

Yes, I’ve been studying Hebrew.

We have our first major Hebrew exam tomorrow morning. You know you are dealing with a demented language when the word from which you learn the Regular Verb Paradigm is ‘to kill’.

Qatal – ‘he killed’ – use that to impress all your friends.

Well, if I’m going to become inseparable from my prepositions, I better hit the hay…

… that’s a Hebrew joke.
hmmm

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Electric Shadows

Themes: Personal

One of my favourite memories of Canberra was the late night movie screenings at the Old Electric Shadows Cinema.

The cinema is closed now – it fell victim to the giant Dendy in the new Canberra Centre Mall.

To set the scene, the Electric Shadows Cinema was a crazy underground twin cinema complex. The theatres were ridiculously long and thin with old red vinyl seats. Someone once described it as like ‘watching a movie inside a telescope.
The theatres weren’t particularly well designed or comfortable but at least you knew where you were. Every cinema I go into now is a clone of every other. (wow, I’ve turned 28 and developed curmudgeonliness)

The quintessential Electric Shadows experience was the Late Night Screenings screenings on Friday and Saturday nights. The films started at 11pm and were nearly always cult classics.

Anyway, my favourite was The Princess Bride which was on a three monthly rotation.

Whenever the Princess Bride played the theatre was packed out. One night I sat in front of two rows taken up by a school excursion.
Everyone knew the lines, the picture quality was rubbish, but people cheered when every Westley came out with a cheesy one-liner. We all clapped and whistled when Westley and Buttercup kissed.
And everyone yelled out together,

“My name is Inigo Montoya,
You killed my Father,
Prepare to die.”

Ah, the glory days…

Anyway, If you’re feeling nostalgic, I have a copy of the Princess Bride script.
You can download it here

And here’s a little taste…

(from the duel above the Cliffs of Insanity)

INIGO
I do not mean to pry, but you don’t by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?
He glances up — the question clearly baffles him.
MAN IN BLACK
Do you always begin conversations this way?
INIGO
My father was slaughtered by a six- fingered man. He was a great swordmaker, my father. And when the six-fingered man appeared and requested a special sword, my father took the job. He slaved a year before he was done.
He hands his sword to the Man In Black.
MAN IN BLACK
(fondling it-impressed)
I have never seen its equal.
CUT TO:
CLOSE UP – INIGO.
Even now, this still brings pain.
INIGO
The six-fingered man returned and demanded it, but at one-tenth his promised price. My father refused. Without a word, the six-fingered man slashed him through the heart. I loved my father, so, naturally, challenged his murderer to a duel … I failed … the six-fingered man did leave me alive with the six-fingered sword, but he gave me these.
(He toucbes his scars.)
CUT TO:
THE MAN IN BLACK,
looking up at Inigo.
MAN IN BLACK
How old were you?
INIGO
I was eleven years old. When I was strong enough, I dedicated my life to the study of fencing. So the next time we meet, I will not fail. I will go up to the six-fingered man and say, “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

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Elephant Boy Cafe

Themes: Personal

On the weekend Emma and I went for a trip up to Bowral. It was nice to get away from the city and breathe some fresh air.
Bowral seems to be having an actual Autumn, unlike Sydney. The trees are turning and the air is crisp. I could smell the damp, earthy smell of the leaves on the ground. We walked around the town a while before settling into The Elephant Boy Cafe – a truly delicious spot. There are an incredible number of cafes in Bowral and the Elephant Boy is the pick of the lot. Last time we were in town we tried to eat there but the place was full, this time was nearly the same but a table became free just after we walked in. If you are ever hungry in Bowral, go here.
We walked up Mt Gibraltar – the hill looking out over Bowral and Mittagong, spent more time walking and driving around the town – there are some amazing old houses throughout the town, and finished up by going to see The History Boys at the Empire Cinema.
(Don’t bother with this film – it’s trying very hard to be clever and poignant but only ends up being immoral.)

Of course, I squeezed in a few visits to second hand bookshops. I worked through all the theology shelves (quite a large collection) at Antiquariat. This is an unfailingly disappointing exercise. Antiquariat is offering 50% off all theology titles and even at that discount I couldn’t find anything worth buying. I had more pleasure in a little shop called Eccleston’s, down by the railway line. They didn’t have much in the way of non-fiction but did have a good selection of paperback novels. I picked up William Golding’s The Spire for $5. I’ve been after that one for a while.
It was a great day for unwinding, just having the physical distance from the city gave the feeling of stepping outside the pressure of daily life.
Praise God for Autumn!

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