Christians

Why do they complain so much?

Lyritastic

Well someone asked me why my blogs were so full of lyrics (especially recently). Well generally it's an insight to my thoughts / feelings / experiences of the past day or week. Sometime's it's just because I like a song.

I guess the question for today is, are the following lyrics thoughts / feelings? or because I like the song?

Sound of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel

Hello darkness, my old friend,
Ive come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
'neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of
A neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.

Oh, also the last post was a song by Sneaky Sound System. How did people not know that!?

Pictures!

Everybody sing along now!...

Light, of course,
like a flicker in my left eye.
Push, move,
Could be perfect if you walk by

I've got lots of pictures in my head,
You'd better not turn off the projector!
And I've got lots of pictures in my head,
You'd better not save them all for later

Maybe I, oh get me on fire,
Could take your picture,
oh you could get one too
And maybe I, oh get me on fire!

But keep me on, don't switch me off ...
You can't fight,
Oh what we do what we
Can't do it solo,
But you've got what tickles for me

I've got lots of pictures in my head,
You'd better not turn off the projector
And I've got lots of pictures in my head,
You'd better not save them all for later

Maybe I, oh get me on fire,
Could take your picture,
oh you could get one too
And maybe I, oh get me on fire,
But keep me on, don't switch me off ...

Maybe I, oh get me on fire,
Could take your picture,
oh you could get one too
And maybe I, oh get me on fire,

But keep me on, don't switch me off ...
Keep me on, don't switch me off ...
Keep me on, don't switch me off ...
You'd better not turn off the projector!

Welcome to the Jungle

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Guns N' Roses are touring Australia for the first time in 14 years. Saturday, 23 June, Sydney.

Who's coming with me!!!???

(And if anyone has a wedding on that day, I'm sorry but I won't be able to make it.)

My King

The Bible says My King is a Seven Way King.
He’s the King of the Jews – that’s a racial King.
He’s the King of Israel – that’s a National King.
He’s the King of righteousness.
He’s the King of the ages.
He’s the King of Heaven.
He’s the King of glory.
He’s the King of kings and He’s the Lord of lords.
That’s my King.
Well, I wonder do you know Him?

David said the Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament towards His handiwork. My King is a sovereign King. No means of measure can define his limitless love.
No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shore of supplies.
No barriers can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing.
He’s enduringly strong.
He’s entirely sincere.
He’s eternally steadfast.
He’s immortally graceful.
He’s imperially powerful.
He’s impartially merciful.
Do you know Him?

He’s the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world.
He’s God’s Son.
He’s the sinner’s saviour.
He’s the centrepiece of civilization.
He stands in the solitude of Himself.
He’s august.
And He’s unique.
He’s unparalleled.
He’s unprecedented.
He is the loftest idea in literature.
He’s the highest personality in philosophy.
He is the supreme problem in high criticism.
He’s the fundamental doctrine of proved theology.
He is the carnal necessity for spiritual religion.
He’s the miracle of the age.
He’s, He yes He is, He is the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him.
He’s the only one qualified to be an all sufficient Saviour.
I wonder if you know Him today?

He supplies strength for the weak.
He’s available for the tempted and the tried.
He sympathizes and He saves.
He strengthens and sustains.
He’s God and He guides.
He heals the sick.
He cleanses the lepers.
He forgives sinners.
He discharges debtors.
He delivers the captives.
He defends the feeble.
He blesses the young.
He serves the unfortunate.
He regards the aged.
He rewards the diligent and
He beautifies the meek.
I wonder if you know Him?

Well, my King He is the key, He is the key to knowledge.
He’s the wellspring of wisdom.
He’s the doorway of deliverance.
He’s the pathway of peace.
He’s the roadway of righteousness.
He’s the highway of holiness.
He’s the gateway of glory.
Do you know Him?
Well, His office is manifold.
His promise is sure.
His light (life?) is matchless.
His goodness is limitless.
His mercy is everlasting.
His love never changes.
His Word is enough.
His grace is sufficient.
His reign is righteous.
And His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
I wish I could describe Him to you, but He’s indesc.. Yes, Yeah! Yes.
He’s indescribable. Yes He is. Good Lord.
He’s. He’s indescribable. Yes.
He’s indescribable.
He’s incomprehensible.
He’s invincible.
He’s irresistible.

Well you can’t get Him out of your mind.
You can’t, you can’t get Him off of your hands.
You can’t outlive Him and you can’t live without Him.
Well, the Pharisees couldn’t stand Him,
but they found out they couldn’t stop Him.
Pilot couldn’t find any fault in Him.
The witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to agree.
Herod couldn’t kill Him.
Death couldn’t handle Him and the grave couldn’t hold Him.
Yeah!
That’s my King. That’s my King. Yeah.
And thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever and ever and ever… How long is that?
And ever and ever.
And when you get through with all of the forevers then Amen.
Good God almighty.
Amen!

A budget

So I thought I'd keep track of where my money's going...

Since one of the foremen has moved in with me I'm spending twice as much on beer as on food.... Is that healthy?

Drunks

Why is everyone at work an alcoholic? Why am I expected to spend every waking moment outside of work drunk? Why is it so hard to be different?

I've been doing ok living alone. It gives me some respite from the expectations of womanising and drinking. But now my boss wants to move one of the foremen in with me. I didn't think this would be too bad. Then he opened his mouth... (This is seriously the first thing he said to me)

"Have you been drinking much?"

"Not much this past month."

"We'll change that."

Great. Now I'm going to be living with a drunk.

Other conversations I've had in the past couple of days include one of my bosses telling me there's nothing wrong with sleeping with a prostitute...

Lord, is it meant to be this hard?

What is wrong with these people??? They're all such shallow, SHALLOW people!!! There's a lot more to life than money, sex and drinking. But not according to them.

Better

Another month, another Guns N' Roses leak...

If all I knew was that with you
I'd want someone to save me
It'd be enough
That just my luckI fell in love and baby...

All that I wanted was...
Now I know you better
You know I know better
Now I know you better!

So bittersweet, this tragedy wont ask for absolution
This melody inside of me, still searches for solution
A twist of fate, the change of heart kills my infatuation
A broken heart provides the spark for my determination

No one ever told me when I was alone
They just thought I'd know better, better...
No one ever told me when I was alone
They just thought I'd know better, better...

All that I wanted, was...

I know, you know, you know better
You know, I know, you know better
Now you know me better

I never wanted you to be so full of anger (anger)
I never wanted you to be somebody else
I never wanted you to be someone afraid to know themselves
I only wanted you to see things for yourself

All that I wanted, was...

Now I know you better
Now we all know better
All that I wanted was...

I Know Better,
I Know Better,
I Know Better,
I Know Better,

If I were you, I'd manage to abhore the invitation
Of promised love that can't keep up with your adoration
Just use your head, and in the end you'll find your inspiration
To choose your steps and won't regret this kind of aggravation

No one ever told me when I was alone
They just thought I'd know better.. better...
No one ever told me when I was alone
They just thought I'd know better.. better...

Directions, please.

I have 18 months in Coffs... Already 1 has gone.

Am feeling a little lost as I don't know where God wants me or what I'm meant to be doing. I asked for a sign as to the direction of my future. God answered me the next morning. Where I thought God may want me has come back negative... Now I'm lost.

Where am I meant to be, Lord? What am I meant to do? Who will be with me? I'm wasting time here. I've stalled.

I need direction.

Telstra, I love thee.

I'm a little over Telstra at the moment...

I have a prepaid phone with a company called Revolution. This company uses the Telstra network to provide me with all the phone goodness I need. So you'd think that if I bought a phone that worked on the Telstra network, it would work with Revolution? Right?

WRONG!

Telstra, being the cheapskates that they are, have somehow managed to lock their prepaid phones so that only Telstra Prepaid sims work in them. Even Telstra postpaid sims don't work on these phones!!!

So my options for a new phone are:
1. Buy a phone that's unlocked.
2. Buy a prepaid phone from Telstra and pay $50 to unlock it.

Considering I have already bought a phone from the lovely Telstra shop it looks like I'm another $50 out of pocket... And considering payday isn't until February 15, this could turn into an interesting month!

Time to go.

I'm tired. And I'm sad.

I'm leaving Sydney and all my friends. Now I have no option but to rely on God completely.

baby steps. baby steps.

What Christmas Means to Me.

By C.S. Lewis. (apologies for the copyright infringement)

Three things go by the name of Christmas. One is a religious festival. This is important and obligatory for Christians; but as it can be of no interest to anyone else, I shall naturally say no more about it here. The second (it has complex historical connections with the first, but we needn't go into them) is a popular holiday, an occasion for merry-making and hospitality. If it were my business to have a 'view' on this, I should say that I much approve of merry-making. But what I approve of much more is everybody minding his own business. I see no reason why I should volunteer views as to how other people should spend their own money in their own leisure among their own friends. It is highly probable that they want my advice on such matters as little as I want theirs. But the third thing called Christmas is unfortunately everyone's business.

I mean of course the commercial racket. The interchange of presents was a very small ingredient in the older English festivity. Mr Pickwick took a cod with him to Dingley Dell; the reformed Scrooge ordered a turkey for his clerk; lovers sent love gifts; toys and fruit were given to children. But the idea that not only all friends but even all acquaintances should give one another presents, or at least send one another cards, is quite modern and has been forced upon us by the shopkeepers. Neither of these circumstances is in itself a reason for condemning it. I condemn it on the following grounds.

1. It gives on the whole much more pain than pleasure. You have only to stay over Christmas with a family who seriously try to 'keep' it (in its third, or commercial aspect) in order to see that the thing is a nightmare. Long before 25th December everyone is worn out - physically worn out by weeks of daily struggle in overcrowded shops, mentally worn out by the effort to remember all the right recipients and to think out suitable gifts for them. They are in no trim for merry-making; much less (if they should want to) take part in a religious act. They look far more as if there had been a long illness in the house.

2. Most of it is involuntary. The modern rule is that anyone can force you to give him a present by sending you a quite unprovoked present of his own. It is almost a blackmail. Who has not heard the wail of despair, and indeed of resentment, when, at the last moment, just as everyone hoped that the nuisance was over for one more year, the unwanted gift from Mrs Busy (whom we hardly remember) flops unwelcomed through the letter box, and back to the dreadful shops one of us has to go?

3. Things are given as presents which no mortal ever bought for himself - gaudy and useless gadgets, 'novelties' because no one was ever fool enough to make their like before. Have we really no better use for materials and for human skill and time than to spend them on all this rubbish?

4. The nuisance. For after all, during the racket we still have al lour ordinary and necessary shopping to do, and the racket trebles the labour of it.

We are told that the whole dreary business must go on because it is good for trade. It is in fact merely one annual symptom of that lunatic condition of our country, and indeed of the world, in which everyone lives by persuading everyone else to buy thins. I don't know the way out. But can it really be my duty to buy and receive masses of junk every winter just to help the shopkeepers? If the worst comes to the worst I'd sooner give them money for nothing and write it off as a charity. For nothing? Why, better for nothing than for a nuisance.

Cherry

Cherry,

Thanks for your friendship. For your laughs. For your sense of humour.

Thanks for your love. Thanks for making me human again.

I will be praying for you.

As Tracy Chapman once sang:
Although you've travelled far
I always hold a place for you in my heart

- Matt.

Love Song Dedications

As you all know I went to Melbourne last weekend. But this time I decided to fly Qantas instead of Jetstar. (It was only $15 more expensive) For this $15 I got to land in Melbourne (not the 2nd Melbourne airport which isn't anywhere near Melbourne), had food on the plane, could choose my seat and got free headphone things to listen to the on board entertainment.

Speaking of entertainment Qantas has its own "Love Song Dedications" style radio station!!! Unfortunately you need to ring up two months before your flight for your dedication to get through though... There goes my dedication to my Kenyan wife to be!

Ahhhh, an hour of Bryan Adams...

"Look into my eyes - you will see
What you mean to me
Search your heart - search your soul
And when you find me there you'll search no more
Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for
You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you"

Guns N' Thesis

Well it's 13:30 on Saturday and I have about 2 days to finish my thesis. Unfortunately due to the complete lack of experimentation I have it is only 25 pages... While everyone elses will be 50.

I don't know how I can double those 25 pages...

On a brighter note, Guns N' Roses have a new song entitled "Better" on a Harley Davidson commercial to be aired in late October... Chinese Democracy is coming!

The Commercial

New rumour: December 5 for album release.
In other news, Ajenta loves Graeme Wood.
**UPDATE**
Well it seems as if Harley Davidson has pulled the Better commercial... Now we're back to the Paradise City version. And for some reason all talk about this commercial is being censored on GnR forums. Weird.

The Baptists

Is this not a really, really good idea?

Xpose

That's why I'm proud to be a Baptist. Much better than those Anglicans!

Thesis

Thesis is still very far behind.
It also makes me unhappy. I don't like that.

A Prayer

Dear God,

Thankyou for Telstra. Thankyou that their mobile phone system has not been working all afternoon. I thankyou for Sol.

I also thankyou for John Howard. Thankyou that he has ripped all money out of the university. Thankyou that my experiment tank is 2 months late. Thankyou that it leaks out of every single bolt. Thankyou that I have to fix it myself.

Please help me to forgive these people as you have forgiven me.

Amen.

GUNS N' ROSES - CHINESE DEMOCRACY!

Ladies and Gentlemen. It's been 15 years since Guns N' Roses' last proper studio album. And it's been 10 years since Chinese Democracy was started. There have been tours. There have been cancellations. There have been riots. But as of today it is official.

GUNS N' ROSES WILL RELEASE CHINESE DEMOCRACY THIS YEAR.

OFFICIAL TOUR STARTS OCTOBER 20.

Thirteen more Tuesdays left in the year - thirteen possible release dates.

Chinese Democracy starts now.

Get excited people!

rock4rights

Hey people!

I'm back from the lovely Gold Coast where the sun is always shining, the ladies are all good looking and the beer never stops flowing. I went up with my cousin for 3.5 days to attend a concert my uncle was organising for Amnesty. It's entitled rock4rights and you can check it out here.

The bands that played were:

• Grassroots Street Orchestra

Who were really, really cool. They have an electric violin with a wah-wah pedal!!! That's right a violin that sounded like Hendrix!

• the President's Bush

These guys rocked loud and hard but didn't take themselves too seriously. What more could you want?

• the Black Market Rhythm Company

They have a trumpet!! A trumpet!!!

• the Winnie Coopers

Funny name and not my kind of music but the crowd loved them, so who am I to comment.

• Transport

I didn't get to catch these guys... It was late in the day and the Red Bull hadn't kicked in...

• Shifter

Aussie pub rock. Nothing more, nothing less. Good.

• Kate Miller-Heidke

5 foot nothing. Opera trained. A true performer, Kate was the highlight of the day. If she ever comes down to Sydney I'm taking everyone with me to see her. Her songs were funny and honest and more often than not very catchy.
Oh, and she's got a babe for a backup singer. But that could have been the Red Bull finally kicking in... She also plays violin. That's right 2 bands with violins in 1 day!!

I just checked out her website Kate Miller-Heidke and she's playing the Basement on October 5th, 8pm. Anyone interested? Don't make me go alone...

Exams

Today I completed my last ever university exam.

Maybe I should have studied...

To Beard?

Advantage: No shaving.
Disadvantage: Less appealing to girls.

Jobs

So I finally applied for some jobs and within 24 hours I got a reply from some guy in Brisbane. He asked me how long left I had on my degree, and I told him about a month, and he asked if I could do that by correspondence...

So I'm thinking that they're reeeeaaaalllllllyyyy desperate for engineers in Brisbane at the moment. The guy then asks when I was thinking about moving and I told him mid-January. He then tells me to give him a ring about a month before I'd like to move up there; apparently he can get me a job within 3 days.

I guess it depends on Sydney jobs now. Will I get any? Will they pay me more than $30,000 (bloody URS)? But it's nice to know that I have a career just waiting for me in Brisbane.

In summary: I can have a job!!!

Sickness

Still sick. But getting better.

That is all.

Sickness

Still sick.

That is all.

Sickness

I am sick.

That is all.

The Greatest Song?

From Heaven You Came

From heaven You came, helpless babe,
entered our world, Your glory veiled,
not to be served but to serve,
and give Your life that we might live.

This is our God, the Servant King,
He calls us now to follow Him,
to bring our lives as a daily offering
of worship to the Servant King.

There in the garden of tears
my heavy load He chose to bear;
His heart with sorrow was torn,
"Yet not my will but yours," He said.

This is our God, the Servant King,
He calls us now to follow Him,
to bring our lives as a daily offering
of worship to the Servant King.

Come see His hands and His feet,
the scars that speak of sacrifice,
hands that flung stars into space
to cruel nails surrendered.

This is our God, the Servant King,
He calls us now to follow Him,
to bring our lives as a daily offering
of worship to the Servant King.

So let us learn how to serve
and in our lives enthrone Him,
each other's needs to prefer,
for it is Christ we're serving.

This is our God, the Servant King,
He calls us now to follow Him,
to bring our lives as a daily offering
of worship to the Servant King.

Family or Faith?

The Background:
My cousin's getting married, so he's having an engagement party.
At church we have an annual camp for the kiddies years 6 - 12. To be a leader you have to turn up to 4 / 6 meetings. BUT I'll be in Melbourne for 1 meeting and Kenya for another. Therefore I can't miss out on any others.

The Problem:
My cousin's engagement party is on the same day and at the same time as one of the camp meetings.

The Conversation:
Mum: "Matt, are you coming to the engagement party?" (even though she already knew my answer was no)
Me: "Unfortunately I can't. I have a meeting at church."
Mum: "But surely family comes first?"
Me: "Silence. Silent grumble. More silence."

What was Going on in my Head:
Didn't Jesus say that we should give up everything to follow him? It's not as if I'm barring my cousin. I'll be at his wedding and I'm going to the Gold Coast with him in September to a concert to support Amnesty International.
And as for the question, "Surely family comes first?", isn't the answer "No"?

Luke 9: The Cost of Following Jesus
57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
58Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

59He said to another man, "Follow me."
But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

60Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

61Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good bye to my family."

62Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."


Or am I wrong? Have I missed the point?

Smoke Alarms

The background:
7:15. There I was lying in bed, semi-conscious, trying to get another couple of minutes sleep before I have to get up.

That's when the smoke alarm decides to start beeping. "That's ok" I thought, "because Mum hasn't left for work yet, she'll take out the batteries."

The question is, why did the smoke alarm go off? There are two options:
1. Someone was cooking toast (even though toast has never set the alarm off before)
2. The batteries were dieing (probable considering it's fairly old)

So which option did my mum think it was?... Option 1.

So the alarm gets turned off and mum goes to work.

7:45 Smoke alarm goes off again.
I'm still in bed.

7:50 Smoke alarm turns itself off.
I'm still in bed.

7:51 Smoke alarm turns itself on again.
I’m still in bed.

7:57 Smoke alarm is still on. I get up.

7:58 I get up and start stumbling down the stairs. My eyes are a little blurry and the high pitch beeping of the alarm leaves me a little disoriented. I blindly make my way downstairs and walk into the kitchen. I look above the cupboard where the alarm normally lives. It's not there.

7:59 I try to find the source of the disorienting noise.
I find it in the hallway near the front door. I pick up the alarm and without pressing anything it turns itself off. "What the..?"

So anyway I'm still blind and decide to work out how I turned the stupid thing off. So I hold the alarm near my eyeballs to try and read the writing and I found some genius had put white writing on a white background.

I finally find the section of the alarm I'm meant to press to turn it off and think, "But I didn't even touch that section of the alarm..."

The alarm goes off again.

So now I'm blind and deaf and angry.

I press the area of the alarm to turn it off and lo and behold it turns off!! Now to work out how to take the battery out.

I look closely at the alarm and can see inside the vents to the battery. But how to get to the battery? And why does an alarm need cooling vents??? Is it to let the smoke into the alarm to melt that battery and spread molten lead or mercury (or whatever heavy metal they use these days) everywhere? Or is it just to spite me? To make me able to see the battery but not get to it?

My parents, in their infinite wisdom, decided that the best smoke alarm to buy is the one where there is no noticeable way of taking the battery out. Yes, that's right: Some designer genius out there has decided to make a smoke alarm more difficult to operate than a Rubik’s cube AND my parents decided to buy it.

I finally find the way to open the Rubik’s cube (I had to search for the white writing on white background again) and take the battery out. But not before the sucker had deafened me once more.

So overall, not a bad way to start the day. 4 Gold stars.

A Franciscan Benediction

May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answer, helf-truths and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and
To turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

Street Child

I watched Street Child by Elan today.

It got me thinking about the homeless, the drug addicts, the alcoholics, the prostitutes. All the people Jesus hung out with.

Jesus says in John 13:34 & 35 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another."

So who did Jesus hang out with? Apart from his disciples he seemed to spend a bit of time amongst the poor, women, Samaritans, lepers, children, prostitutes and tax collectors. Or in today's world, the poor, disadvantaged (eg Aborigines), people from different cultures / countries, children, prostitutes, drug addicts and alcoholics.

How many of these people have I hung out with recently? I walk through Redfern every weekday to get to uni. I walk past mentally disturbed people in Burwood every day. I've done this for years and yet how many of them have I initiated a conversation with? How is this showing my love for them as a Christian? Do I even love them or am I too caught up in my own self-centredness to care?

My question is now, how do I change this?