Cool Guys Don't Look At Explosions

Hmmm is this what I've been doing wrong for all these years

I need a Hero

Today we had a training day for school chaplains. Dave walker spoke and one of the points he made was that once we understand where we sit with God that is where we put our ministry in perspective. We aren't to be a hero- Jesus is the hero. He merely allows us to be a part of his ministry. We realise we need to rely on him more and more. I like this song- even though it isn't overtly religious- but I I think it shows how we do need a Hero- and there is only one Hero who can be trusted to save us just in time.

I'm just a step away
I'm just a breath away
Losing my faith today
Falling off the edge today

I am just a man
Not superhuman
I'm not superhuman
Someone save me from the hate

It's just another war
Just another family torn
Falling from my faith today
Just a step from the edge
Just another day in the world we live

I need a hero to save me now
I need a hero, save me now
I need a hero to save my life
A hero will save me just in time

I've gotta fight today
To live another day
Speaking my mind today
My voice will be heard today

I've gotta make a stand
But I am just a man
I'm not superhuman
My voice will be heard today

It's just another war
Just another family torn
My voice will be heard today
It's just another kill
The countdown begins to destroy ourselves

I need a hero to save me now
I need a hero, save me now
I need a hero to save my life
A hero will save me just in time

I need a hero to save my life
I need a hero, just in time
Save me just in time
Save me just in time

Who's gonna fight for what's right?
Who's gonna help us survive?
We're in the fight of our lives
And we're not ready to die

Who's gonna fight for the weak?
Who's gonna make 'em believe?
I've got a hero, I've got a hero
Living in me

I'm gonna fight for what's right
Today I'm speaking my mind
And if it kills me tonight
I will be ready to die

A hero's not afraid to give his life
A hero's gonna save me just in time

I need a hero to save me now
I need a hero, save me now
I need a hero to save my life
A hero will save me just in time

(I need a hero)
Who's gonna fight for what's right?
Who's gonna help us survive?

(I need a hero)
Who's gonna fight for the weak?
Who's gonna make 'em believe?
I've got a hero

I need a hero
A hero's gonna save me just in time

The beautiful game

Well I was was going to comment about how some people did have no idea about football and that you could tell a lions supporter from the way they support the team only when they are winning or in the world cup... but I wont. :)
Instead I'm going to post this link just to enjoy it over and over again and enjoy the memory of a thrilling game and one which I believe might of even have convinced some of the eggheads supporters, whose idea of atmosphere is the sound of chip packets opening, that football truly is a beautiful game.
Nathan also posted a similar post which is well worth checking out here

Book Sale

I love books. I love reading. Coincidentally I love reading books. I've been trying to track down some books I read as a kid which I wanted to re-read. Now I went down the e-bay route and google searches and stumbled across this site: http://brotherhoodbooks.org.au/ It is a site done by the brotherhood of St Lawrence with all profits going back into the charity. It made me fascinated- so often our Christian charities are no up with it technologically and resort to waving around collection tins or little side street op shops. Added to that the books I ordered were cheap- in good condition and arrived promptly. Now admittedly they have a smallish range but well worth checking out first.

Karma???

Sometimes people get what they deserve. Case in point the Brisbane Lions. Daniel Bradshaw a long time servant of the club- from all accounts a decent bloke father of 4, had taken a pay cut to play at the club, was stunned to hear his club offer him as trade bait for Fevola- talented footballer but a real grub. Eventually they got Fev without having trade Bradshaw and trumpeted how good they would be with the dual strike force of Fevola and Bradshaw. However Bradshaw no longer wants to play for Brisbane (or Fevola maybe???). Better yet he told them after trade week so brisbane get nothing for him. Love it. Wonder how many supporters they'll lose too. Is is worth winning a final by losing everything your club stands for? (the family club)

Funny goals

I've have a fair number of own goals scored on me over the years.... As a keep all you can do is laugh... but trust me people who have scored against me while on your team- these wouldn't have been as funny

autistic basketball player (Jason McElwain)

I'm sure most of you guys have seen this clip- but with the discussions on Carly and Nathan's blogs I felt it was relevant enough to post.

Lack of bloggage

Well I've decided to bow to public pressure (who am I kidding???) and follow my esteemed peers Joel and Phoebe (who am I kidding- I just write a blog to try be like them) and write a blog appologising for my blogging or lack there of. I realise I am making a number of assumtions in this statement. Firstly I am assuming people actually check this or haven't deleted me off their google reader. Secondly I am making the assumption that they are actually my friends. Finally I am making the assumption that I will blog more. One or more of these assumptions may be incorrect. Now onto the obligatory excuses for not posting.
Well in all seriousness I've been struggling a fair bit. I guess the closest thing I could call it is depression but I'm not sure if it has been that. Maybe Aloneness (it isn't a I need to find a wife right now- its more of a I feel like my life is on a different orbit to everyone else) might be the better word but it is hard to track down. I've been struggling with this for about 2 years now and it comes and goes. Most people will not have noticed this. Do not feel bad if you haven't- this isn't aimed at you it is me who has needed to open up to people and I've had amply opportunity but haven't.
This affected my life in many ways--- and all of them are inter-twined and I'm sure I've missed noticing some but here are a few.
Firstly when I get depressed I eat- I know its bad for me but... this has meant I've put on more weight. This has impacted the amount of physical activity I do making more depressed and not to mention all the other issues that go with that.
Secondly I'm Kinda like a volcano or a high tensile (sp???) metal rod. I internalise many things and take heaps until I snap- or explode and some of the people I have snapped at haven't been the people I've been annoyed at- for this I appologise deeply. My behavior towards some people towards whom I've snapped mentally (not a big explosion but only in my mind) there has been no excuse for and against every type of behavior a christian should be living for. Again most of you who read my blog probably will not have noticed but I appologise deeply to anyone I've hurt, physically or emotionally, gossiped about or not been more friendly towards.

What this has ment is also an high level of apathy towards many things (especially my blog). Some one told me that I'm willing do do anything to help some one else but unwilling to help myself. I'm not meaning in a greedy way but am not looking after myself either physically, mentally or spiritually. I write this not as a cry for help but rather a step on the road to recovery. A public (again I delude myself) acknowledgment of my failings and a pledge to keep relying on God rather than this world or my emotions.
So hopefully this will mean some more blogs- I realise this will be a change from my usual lack of anything significant, preachy rants and humorous rubbish which I was posting to appear to be cultured. I also wont be hurt if you stop reading my blog if it is getting you down- please mail me if that is the case- as I can be very self absorbed in that or often say things I don't mean.

Listen to me, you islands;
hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the LORD called me;
from my birth he has made mention of my name.

He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.

He said to me, "You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor."

But I said, "I have labored to no purpose;
I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.
Yet what is due me is in the LORD's hand,
and my reward is with my God."

And now the LORD says—
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to himself,
for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD
and my God has been my strength-

he says:
"It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."

This is what the LORD says—
the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel—
to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,
to the servant of rulers:
"Kings will see you and rise up,
princes will see and bow down,
because of the LORD, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."

This is what the LORD says:

"In the time of my favor I will answer you,
and in the day of salvation I will help you;
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land
and to reassign its desolate inheritances,

to say to the captives, 'Come out,'
and to those in darkness, 'Be free!'
"They will feed beside the roads
and find pasture on every barren hill.

They will neither hunger nor thirst,
nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them.
He who has compassion on them will guide them
and lead them beside springs of water.

I will turn all my mountains into roads,
and my highways will be raised up.

See, they will come from afar—
some from the north, some from the west,
some from the region of Aswan. "

Shout for joy, O heavens;
rejoice, O earth;
burst into song, ¹³ O mountains!
For the LORD comforts his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.

But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me,
the Lord has forgotten me."

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me.

Your sons hasten back,
and those who laid you waste depart from you.

Lift up your eyes and look around;
all your sons gather and come to you.
As surely as I live," declares the LORD,
"you will wear them all as ornaments;
you will put them on, like a bride.

"Though you were ruined and made desolate
and your land laid waste,
now you will be too small for your people,
and those who devoured you will be far away.

The children born during your bereavement
will yet say in your hearing,
'This place is too small for us;
give us more space to live in.'

Then you will say in your heart,
'Who bore me these?
I was bereaved and barren;
I was exiled and rejected.
Who brought these up?
I was left all alone,
but these—where have they come from?' "

This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
"See, I will beckon to the Gentiles,
I will lift up my banner to the peoples;
they will bring your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

Kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground;
they will lick the dust at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the LORD;
those who hope in me will not be disappointed."

Can plunder be taken from warriors,
or captives rescued from the fierce ?

But this is what the LORD says:
"Yes, captives will be taken from warriors,
and plunder retrieved from the fierce;
I will contend with those who contend with you,
and your children I will save.

I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;
they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine.
Then all mankind will know
that I, the LORD, am your Savior,
your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."

Isaiah 49