the adventures of tim and caleb

The Truth Hurts

2009-09-03T23:40:00.002+10:00

For some reason I was pondering over something that I heard in a talk last month that rung true, but was difficult for me to entirely digest because it kinda stung;

The worst thing about Christianity is Christians.

So I spent a bit of time de-technicalising, deconstructing and then re-piecing it together again and I came to a simple conclusion that gave me some comfort that I'm doing life right - although the statement reaffirms that humans are depraved, it reinforces our need for God.

God did it, he came out on top again. Nice.

Relativism and Materialism

2009-07-22T22:24:00.001+10:00

I posted this on my blog 16 September 2008. Just some food for thought.

i'll try to keep this simple.

relativism can be defined as, "any theory holding that criteria of judgment are relative, varying with individuals and their environments" and of course my contention cannot be complete without reference to wikipedia, where moral relativism is defined as, "the position that moral or ethical propositions do not reflect objective and/or universal moral truths."

in a nutshell, relativism means that everybody is right and no one is wrong - that one can say what they like but that they can also pass it off as truth.

but does that make sense? the problem with relativism, in particular moral relativism is more clearly seen in how people expect others to behave. a true relativist would agree that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. if that is so, then they would also agree that someone could do anything they wanted and not have anyone else tell them it was wrong.

what's more, relativism is an absolute in itself! relativism imposes the absolute that all truths are valid, so it's a paradox.

likewise, so many people think that all religions are equally valid, that you can take bits and pieces of different faiths and weave them together to find a perfect compromise. one such thinking is the Baha'i faith, which bases its beliefs on the "unity of religions". but how can they be united in belief if they differ from each other? how can you make a Jew believe that the Islamic Mohammed was a prophet? or how do you reconcile that Christians believe the Messiah has already come, when Jews are still waiting? faiths can't be equal when they are mutually exclusive and preclude another from being correct.

the implications are mind-boggling; a child consistently lies - "I'm allowed to lie because I believe it's right." a thief steals - "no one can tell me otherwise because everyone's entitled to their beliefs." a murderer kills - "i take life because i want to and i believe there's nothing wrong with it." this means that no one can say that Hitler was evil and that the holocaust was justified because it was just his point of view. as we know though, that argument is utter rubbish - what Hitler did was wrong.

but how do we know this? what is it that makes us know that murder is abhorrent behaviour? where did our sense of justice come from? people say it was taught to us from birth. true, but then where did our ancestors get it from? im sure evolutionists will argue it's due to survival of the species, that it's in our genes to want to keep others alive but there is inconsistency in that argument from them.

if we truly did evolve as a fish out of water, an organism by chance, then we are purely material. that in the big scheme of things we dont have "souls", we just exist purely due to chance. that we don't have a reason for living and while our actions affect those around us, who cares? a good analogy i heard was if there was a plant, rabbit and child on the road, if you were an evolutionist you wouldn't try to avoid any of them in particular because you would believe they are all equal creations due to chance. "does it matter that the child is a human? they evolved as a result of a sperm and ovum just like the rabbit, no more, no less."

so i come back to what i mentioned earlier, that we "feel" that murder is bad because it negatively affects the continuation of the species. but as an evolutionist, why would you care if the species survived or not? aren't we just creations of chance, with no personal or intrinsic values at all, purely material? and even if for some "unexplained scientific reason" we wanted our species to surive, we'd all be racists. why would a caucasian want to help prolong the survival of asians? aren't we somewhat biologically different and therefore have a desire to perpetuate the survival our own race to the detriment of other races?

Richard Dawkins, a well-know atheist writes in his book, A River Out of Eden;

In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no other good. Nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. DNA neither knows nor cares. And we dance to its music.

If our actions are dictated by our DNA, true materialism, then anyone who has ever murdered has a right to say they were merely "dancing to their DNA" and not at fault, just like if a rabid dog who mauls someone to death.

C.S. Lewis, Christian and well known author argues against this;

My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how have I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? ... Of course, I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too - for the argument depended on saying the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my private fancies.1

a lot of people tend to have the answer stare them right in the face but they refuse to accept, whether by stubborness, arrogance, or both. take Dr. George Wald for instance, a Nobel Prize winner for Medicine and a professor at Harvard University who said;

When it comes to the Origin of Life there are only two possibilities: creation or spontaneous generation. There is no third way. Spontaneous Generation was disproved one hundred years ago, but that leads us to only one other conclusion, that of supernatural creation. We cannot accept that on philosophical grounds; therefore, we choose to believe the impossible: that life arose spontaneously by chance!2

by his own admission, it makes more scientific sense to believe in intelligent design, that we were created by a higher being, who created us with a sense of purpose in our lives. but he specifically chooses to believe the opposite of the results of research, that of the impossible. what does that tell you about the objectivity of science?

anyway hopefully i've generated some food for thought and that you might invest some time yourself to read up about this. because it matters.

1. Tinker, M. "Evil, Evangelism and Ecclesiastes" Themelios 28.2 (Spring 2003): 4-15
2. "The Origin of Life," Scientific American, 191:48, May 1954

2009 Calendar

2009-07-22T22:20:00.002+10:00

Hi guys,

After much yammering on about me putting this up (even though no one really checks this), I've put up the 2009 calendar.

31 July - Ministry Night
28 August - Sharing Night
25-27 September - Youth Camp
30 October - Corporate Dinner
27 November - Games Night
18 December - End of Year Christmas BBQ

2008 Calendar

2008-04-17T14:11:00.002+10:00

Hi guys,

Just so you can pencil these dates into your diaries and know what's coming up, here's the 2008 calendar.

25 April - Revival night
23 May - Prayer night
30 May - Corporate Dinner
27 June - Corporate Dinner
25 July - Corporate Dinner/Revival night
29 August - Corporate Dinner/Quiz night
26 September - Corporate Dinner/Singing & Sharing night
31 October - Corporate Dinner
28 November - Corporate Dinner
19 December - End of Year Christmas BBQ

Ravens and Lilies

2007-12-08T14:02:00.000+11:00

I'm sitting here amused. Only because I think this post will be rhetoric - not sure if anyone even visits anymore, but in the off-chance someone does, I hope this will be useful.

Right now I'm also feeling semi-guilty. Whilst I have an exam on Tuesday (probably one of the hardest ones I've ever done!) I'm guilty to the extent that I should be studying. However I'm on my "lunch-break" so I guess I can let this one slide. I do realise though that whatever I don't do now I will have to do later - if there's time to! Shouldn't take any longer than 15 minutes though.

Wanted to share something from my daily devotion from yesterday, however I realised I won't actually be at Youth Group to share till...next year! I have work functions on the 14th and 21st December, then it's holidays for two weeks for Tim and Caleb.

I digress. I've been reading through Luke recently and yesterday's reading brought me to a section in Chapter 12 titled, "Do Not Worry."

22Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]? 26Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
27"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

Do not worry Jesus says. And how hard it is for us to understand! I worry so much, every hour, every day! For some it can totally consume them, constantly checking their bank balances, their wardrobe and doing regular stocktakes on their possessions. I admit I'm sometimes guilty of these, but how comforting it is to know that mere creatures like ravens have been looked after by God? And surely, as Jesus points out that we are worth so much more to God than birds!

I found the next paragraph more visual which helped run the point home. I pictured lush grassland over rolling hills, dotted with bright lilies. And to think how beautiful each lily is, that doesn't require effort on their part to create their look. Once again, as if God wouldn't look after us if He's looked after flowers!

Anyway, the verses helped me to realise I should just chill out and that it's all good. That God loves us so much more than birds or flowers, plans to prosper and not harm us (Jer 29:11). But I think the passage speaks for itself.

2007-10-21T18:01:00.002+10:00

there are so many things in a lifetime that you have to do, or you should do that really go against what you want to do.

for example, the CA. i should study, but i have so many other things i prefer to do. i think it's exacerbated by the fact that i have limited time as it is with full time work and other commitments. with CA, i don't have any time to do the things i'd like to anymore. but oh well, that's exactly what i mean by things you have to do. i don't like using other people's slogans, but i have to say, Nike really hit the nail on the head because so many, many times i have used the phrase "just do it". it's really quite clever and extraordinary, because of its effectiveness despite its simplicity.

so you find yourself asking questions like "why?" and as painful and against your will it may be, there's the rational, logical part of you that pushes through that and says "because it's the right thing to do." although there are often times that you don't know what is best for you, even though you think you do.

i guess at the end of the day, after fighting and struggling against all those things where i'm asked many little questions every single day, my answers are what defines me as a person. i'm just so glad that i know i have Jesus and i don't have to do it alone.

HAPPY BDAY DAVE!!!!!! i know you read this and frankly your the only one

2007-08-06T23:00:00.000+10:00

Hi there

Dave C is celebrating his 21st b'day and YOU are invited!

It will be on the 18th august (next saturday) from 1.30pm til about 4.30pm!
at scuc church in the hall
food is provided!

for catering purposes
please RSVP to vic --> victorkhor@gmail.com

see you then!

vic

fondue fryday + stOopid games!!!!

2007-07-18T22:16:00.000+10:00

hey there guys

just a shout out to let everyone know that this friday we will be having a hugely fun event :

fondue/fry-day + stupid games

the idea is that we all get together,
fry up heaps of food
eat it
fondue (coat things with chocolate) heaps of food
eat it

then play heaps of stupid, random but hugely fun games

please PLEASE remember to wear normal, everyday clothes (TRAKKIES!) that you are willing to get a little wet and/or dirty!
no heels
no suits
=)

starts at 7.30pm!

at church!

bring friends!
and see you there!

vic

scmc lesson times update

2007-07-15T22:54:00.000+10:00

hi guys

matt and i have decided to push back the start of SCMC, due to the snow trip that falls on the 2nd weekend of august.
it would be weird to have the first session of SCMC on the last weekend of july,
then have to skip the 2nd scmc session because we have no teacher!
--> unless someone, who will not be going to the snow, is willing to step in for matty as teacher for that week....??
(chances are, there won't be that many people, if any, but...just in case...)

so, assuming there's no replacement, we'll start SCMC on the 4th sunday of august
--> 26 AUGUST

interesting convo

2007-06-11T13:57:00.000+10:00

INTERESTING CONVERSATION ON FAITH

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem
science has with God, The Almighty.

He asks one of his new Christian students to stand and...

Professor : You are a Christian, aren't you,son?
Student : Yes, sir.

Prof : So you believe in God?

Student : Absolutely, sir.

Prof : Is God good?

Student : Sure.

Prof : Is God all-powerful?

Student : Yes.

Prof : My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal
him.
Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't.
How is
this God good then Hmm?

(Student is silent.)

Prof : You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is
God
good?

Student : Yes.

Prof : Is Satan good?

Student : No.

Prof : Where does Satan come from?
Student : From...God.. .

Prof : That's right. Tell me, son, is there evil in this world?

Student : Yes.

Prof : Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything.
Correct?

Student : Yes.

Prof: So, who created evil?

(Student does not answer.)

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these
terrible
things exist in the world, don't they?

Student : Yes, sir.

Prof : So, who created them?

(Student has no answer.)

Prof : Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe
the
world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?

Student : No, sir.

Prof : Tell us if you have ever heard your God?

Student : No , sir.

Prof : Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God?
Have
you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?

Student : No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.

Prof : Yet you still believe in Him?

Student : Yes.

Prof : According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science
says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student : Nothing. I only have my faith.

Prof : Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.

Student : Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Prof : Yes.

Student : And is there such a thing as cold?

Prof : Yes.

Student : No, sir. There isn't.

(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat,
megaheat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have
anything
called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but
we
can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold
is
only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure
cold.
Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence
of
it.

(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

Student : What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as
darkness?

Prof : Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?

Student : You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of
something.
You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing
light...But if
you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called
darkness,
isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to
make
darkness darker, wouldn't you?

Prof : So, what is the point you are making, young man?

Student : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Prof : Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue
there
is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are
viewing
the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir,
science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and
magnetism,
but has never seen, much less fully understood, either one. To view
death
as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot
exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just
the
absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that
they
evolved from a monkey?

Prof : If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes,
of
course, I do.

Student : Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where
the
argument is going.)

Student : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at
work
and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are
you
not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

(The class is in uproar.)

Student : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the
Professor's
brain?

(The class breaks out into laughter.)

Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's
brain,
felt it, touched or smelt it?...No one appears to have done so. So,
according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable
protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due
respect,
sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face
unfathomable. )

Prof : I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.

Student : That is it, sir. The link between man & God is FAITH. That is
all
that keeps things moving & alive.

(The student was Albert Einstein.)

SCMC

2007-05-24T21:51:00.000+10:00

a hoy hoy
peoples of youth group and any other ramdom people that happens to come across our blog
just letting you know that we are starting up a music community with in our church and are proud to announce that it is now on myspace for all you myspacers out there you can add another "friend" to you friend list to make you less of a loner like mi i onli have 2 friends soon to be 3 friends now
HOHOHOHOH
how very sad
anyway here is the link to the myspace page
http://www.myspace.com/scmuscom
God Bless

debate clip

2007-05-10T22:49:00.000+10:00

just a little somthing that i found while on the net
its a debate between 2 christians on being Kirk Cameron and a kiwi guy against 2 athiest
thought it was quite interesting

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3156022

enjoy

you tube clip from vic for all you youtubers

2007-05-04T18:02:00.000+10:00

Hey guys how's it going?
I'm gonna post this blog entry to kickstart again why the blog is here for : dialogue.
So today i looked at youtube for my FIRST time.
and i found this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbO2snqNSFU

it is SERIOUSLY something.
not for the faint hearted though.
it's not your normal wishy washy bible message.
it is full on, and the speaker, at first, comes across as really arrogant.
but as she talks, you realise that she has the right to be; because she's speaking for God.
and the things she says ring so true within myself.

it's the sort of thing you could only get away with on the internet, not in real life.
because people would see it as too arrogant and confronting, and you'd probably get bashed.
but seriously have a look

and if you have something to say about it post a comment.
or email me cos i'm interested to see what you ALL think.

p.s. i know it's 36 minutes long, but it's seriously worth it!
p.p.s. you might have to get over the cheesy beginning credits and music.

vic

Another and maybe final message from Alex and thailand team

2007-04-21T19:17:00.000+10:00

Hey guys,

Hope you guys haven't got sick of my emails yet.

The mission trip is coming to an end as we have done our final VBS today and we give priase to God that he has been working with the children in the 3 weeks program. Some of them show interest in coming to church and will attend to more church programs in the future.

Tomorrow we will concentrate our energy on revisiting the 1st village we went in the early stage to do some following work. Actually last week we have been in two other villages and one of them seem to suffer in poverty and spiritual warfare that the people in there are so broken and so shallow in their faiths. Daniel is considering going back there in the future to help them to rebuild but we need to seek for God's direction first. You see so many dodgy things in a mission field and you can't resist to want to help them all but in fact we are so limited. So we really need to pray hard for God's wisdom and mercy so that more and more people will get to know the awesome God that we are worshiping.

And on Sunday we will have our 2 services as usual. One in Phrao Church and one up the mountain called Mee Wan Noi. These are the last services in this trip and we really hope God is going to do something awesome before we leave to see revival happening.

Oh yeh...forgot to mention, the class that me and Calvin are teaching, high school kids, bought me a surprise birthday cake today and yes its my 20th birthday tomorrow. I feel kinda weird cos me and Calvin struggle a lot in teaching these young people as they hardly respond to us. So when I receive the cake I wasn't really exactly very excited but yeh thank God for these people and I hope He can really speak to them personally and fire them up in ministry.

Anyway, Ken please forward this to YG again and hope everything is going ok with you guys,

Hope to hear from you guys soon.

Cheers,

Alex

Third message from Alex and the Thailand team

2007-04-15T17:08:00.000+10:00

Hi guys,

First of all I would like to say I am sorry to hear such a terrible news from PT, I believe God has His own plan but it must be hard to accept such a sudden incidence.

Anyway, here we are in Chiang Mai city now having our day off, it is Thai new year (water festival) and we had a messive water fight in town for couple hours with loads of people with water bukets, water guns and crazy make ups. I guess this is the best time to travel in Thailand.

Ministry was going all right last week and we are pretty sad to send off Leanne, Matt and Melody on Sunday morning. Anna arrived today with our ''welcoming splash''....which I accidentally splashed on MR SATIT......it was like splahing to a king man....I was terrified but now is all good.

There are just too much to say and sorry if this is getting random....but anyway, please pray for the following points...

1) Pray for wisdom that we can get new ideas in holding the VBS since we are running out of ideas these days

2) Me and Calvin are facing difficulties in teaching our high school group, they seem to be too shy to talk and sometimes murk around that makes us being so annoyed.

3) Pray for revival in Phrao since there are not so many committed Christians and the new generation Christians don't seem to understand how to live a passionate Christian life.

4) Pray for Daniel's asthma since its getting worse day by day, he has pushed his midication to maximum now but seems like he's still coughing a lot and find it hard to breath sometimes.

5) Pray for Leanne matt and Melody so that they can continue with the good relatioship with God and keep on giong with ministry when they are bak in Melb. Also for Anna they she can quickly adjust and fit in the ministry.

We give priase to God that he has blessed this trip so much

Ken pls forward this to YG

Cheers,

Alex

Another message from Alex and thailand team

2007-04-07T13:33:00.000+10:00

Hey guys,

First of all praise God for keeping the mission trip well.

Anyway...its Water Festival here in Thailand...well its actually gonna be next week but people have started splashing already. I got chased by a French guy on the MOTORBIKE with a bunket of water....and yes the whole team ended up getting all wet.

And we will hold on our ministry till the 13th and its gonna be the REAL THING, the local people are going to bring us to the centre of the battlefield and water fight against the other troops. ITS GONNA BE REAL FUN!!

Last night we went to a youth camp and acted some dramas, we had some good realationship going on with the youth and hopefully God will bring revival to Phrao through these guys.

Here are some prayer points:

1) Team bonding, currently the team is getting along pretty well and we are having a lot of fun with the surin team as well. Praise God for that
2) Pray for Daniel's preparation on preaching material since he pretty much has to preach everyday. And its been very hard for him because his family is around and being told to preach in the last miniutes.
3) Daily VBS program, we start to run out of ideas to keep the program as instresting, and you still have 10 more day of VBS to go. Please ask God to give us wisdom and strength to carry on with the program.
4) Pray for the series of services/meetings we are coming across. On Sunday we will have a sunrise service at 4:30am, morning evengerlistic service and an evening revival service. Pray that God will strengthen us and keep us awake in such a long day, and pray for the local people who's involved that they can hear God's word.

Tonight we are having a good friday service, and before that we will walk around the whole town to react Jesus being cricified, so we got a fair bit to prepare.

I should say thank you for those who have read up till now, sorry for such a long email, got too much to say.

Cheers,

Alex

From the April 07 Thailand Mission Team

2007-04-02T18:19:00.000+10:00

Dear all,

I can't wait to tell you guys what God has done to the local people here in Phrao today, and here it is.

During this morning's revival service, SIX PEOPLE came to Christ to accept Him as the personal saviour. What a kick start!! It was a really touching scene to be in and I can't say enough how great our God is.

It was definitely an exciting start of the mission trip as we are all fired up for our daily VBS program now. We are expecting 80 plus kids to attend our program tomorrow and been working our butts off to organise games, craft and stories.

There are some prayer points you may want to pray for us:

1) The whole team's safety and physical adjustment to Thailand weather, apparently it is going to get hotter as it is 35 already.
2) May the holy sprit will give us strength in facing our daily ministry
3) Pray for the local people here, may God open more people's heart
4) Thank God for the team bonding that we have, so far we been working as an union and have brought glory to God.
5) Thank God for the support from the local church. Members have shown their passion to work with us and bring revival to the church

Guys, The Lord is really moving and I hope you all will have the same passion to expand God's kingdom.

Youth Program for Friday 16th March

2007-03-07T18:50:00.000+11:00

Come and support the april mission team: leanne, melody, melissa, matt, calvin, alex, sharon (and kids) and daniel.

They will be serving mee goreng at $5 a plate to raise funds for their mission trip (100 serves altogether).

Also on the night will be rare footage of previous trips, some sharing and prayer... and some extraordinary stunts (eg. calvin shaving his head - if Jade allows him to, And Matty waxing his legs).

So bring your friends along.

the kitchen opens at 7pm. The official program begins at 7:30pm.

Daniel

More pics...

2007-01-12T10:31:00.000+11:00

Fonga...oh sooo wrong!

Ken and Alvin...match made in heaven!

Mickey, Ness, Mel and Tash - The winners!

Find the gum in the flour tray... no hands allowed!

Leanne

Jimmai

Tash

Sally

Fonga

Even more to come!!!
To be continued...

Stoopid Games Night

2007-01-08T11:45:00.000+11:00

Well, for those of you who failed to attend...you missed a whole lot of laughs!!

Ness, Tash, Mel, Mickey and Andrew getting ready to attack balloons

Leanne and Dave trying to steal each other's tiaras. Good shot Leanne!

Daniel and Brian showing their true feelings for one another. Daniel seems to have a lot of inner anger!

Jade and Sally looking very very innocent and sweet!! A very interesting tactic from Jade who then surprised us all by thrashing all the boys in the final round!! Girl power :)

Home made lemonade...the easy way.

Lemon juice, sugar, water...and a whole lot of saliva!

Just make sure you squeeze the lemon juice into Calvin's mouth, Francis...not his eyes! You nearly blinded the poor boy!!

Toilet paper brides!!

Ken will need some counselling to get over all the hands putting toilet paper down his pants...not to mention the sudden acquisition of breasts!

Lovely little Mel...and her team of fashion experts

Adam...what can I say??? You look good in white!

Something's wrong...it won't let me add any more images!! How annoying! Anyway, I've still got a few more pics and very very hillarious video clips so stay tuned.

To be continued.....

Camp stuff

2006-12-18T18:36:00.000+11:00

A little message from David Wong
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi everyone!

I hope everyone who has signed up is excited about camp! It's less than a month away and we're starting to bring together our preparations for the weekend.

We're closing up official registrations on Xmas day so get your rego form in quick-smart! If you have a registration form, give it to James. If you can't find him, pass your form to one of Franky, Brian, myself, or Daniel and they will pass it onto James.

For those of you who are "still considering", we have an awesome like up of activities, messages and worship sessions. If you don't know already, we'll be at Camp Narbethong from the 12th-14th January. The cost is $75 (an ultra-cheap weekend) and the camp speaker is our very own Daniel Loo. The message will be Connection and if you feel that you need to be connected either to each other or through the Spirit (and everyone does!) then you need to be there!

Alot of members within Timothy and Caleb have put alot of effort into this camp and we need to show our support to them as a whole so remember to bring your forms + money this friday/sunday/monday to show that we are a part of this church and our love for each other!

Thanks everyone and see you at camp!!!!!

David.

Congrats to Sharon, Daniel and Sammy!!

2006-11-27T17:57:00.000+11:00

Sharon just had a baby boy today at 5:30pm!!! They are all doing very well. Make sure you congratulate them all the next time you see them.

Perhaps we can gather up some money this Friday to get them a gift.

The baby boom at SCUC has surely begun!!!

From Alvin

2006-11-20T17:04:00.000+11:00

Hi all,

Hail from Sunny Gold Coast!! (It's sunny again) Hope this email finds all of you well.

For some of you who are heavily involved in ministry already, may I let you know that I empathise with possibilities of burn out. In fact, I myself may have been burnt out for a little while at SCUC, and therefore may have had to ask for forgiveness from the Lord that I may not have served as effectively as perhaps I could have in Melbourne. Therefore, I encourage you to, if the Lord gives you the opportunity, sow into your legacy - develop others to be able to replace you so that you do not have to do all the work yourselves - and seek by all means to simplify your life so that you can focus on what is most important - the growth of your walk with and your development in the Lord - so that you may return and serve Him with all your heart when the right time comes again.

Meanwhile, having been better rejuvenated while I have had my "break" in the Gold Coast, I am glad to be able to "minister" again... and this time I have had the opportunity to receive from one of the organizers of praise & worship from a 200 strong convention to be held Malaysia, who also happens to be organizing his portfolio from a distance, again right here in the Gold Coast (and he regularly attends my church in the Gold Coast!!) Clinton is a man full of fire for God, and plays a mean guitar - even wrote an awesome song which was shared in front of the church congregation to match!! As I shared with him that I am doing what he is doing, although at a smaller scale, in Melbourne... he admonished me to believe - to believe in a God who can & will do great things - to believe in a God who has RECLAIMED each and everyone of your lives, and now can use each and everyone of you again for His purposes and His own glory.

It is good to be able to be enthusiastic about serving the Lord again... and for those of you who may have been bogged down by the everyday humdum of life and ministry, my prayer for you is that you may find or rediscover your passion for God again... so that in this camp you will not simply be fulfilling a role for which you have been put in SCUC for such a time as this, but that you may speak life into your praise & worship at camp or any other purpose at church simply because CHRIST'S LOVE COMPELS US (II Corinthians 5: 14a). Hope this email encourages you.

God bless,
Alvin

from the mouth of james ...

2006-10-26T09:50:00.000+10:00

Guys and Gals.
I just wanna say. A very big thank you from the bottom of my heart.
From doing 40 hour famine I experienced 2 very opposite things. Extreme hunger and also Seeing the great generosity in people.
with 1611.10 You guys made me the highest individual fundraiser for the 40 hour famine in Scotch history a record that I hope wont stand for long.

It doesn't really matter how much you gave, the amount went to Kids in east timor, who just needed the bare essentials to live.

with the money raised (1611.10) you guys have helped 24 kids for a whole year. Giving them the basics. Food, water and education.

24 kids... Thats 1 classroom, thats around roughly half of SCUC YG. You have made life alot easier for a short time for people less fortunate than ourselves.

I urge you keep giving to charities, because thats what we are called to do.

Together we can MAKE POVERTY HISTORY.

God bless

Encouraged!

2006-10-02T11:22:00.000+10:00

It was so great to see so many people at our prayer breakky on Sunday morning. It's really encouraging to see that we're not just talking about becoming a praying church, but actually doing something about it. I think that the vision that we have for our church is more than a vision...it's a prophecy. If God has given us this vision, and given us the heart to pray for it, then what's to say that it's not going to actually happen?? It's a scary thought...so scary that it's exciting! Just think, in 5 years time our church could seriously have 500 members. That means, we could all have about 350 new friends :)

I'd really like to encourage everyone to continue praying for our 5 year vision. Pray on your own, pray with your cell group, pray with your family and friends, and encourage others to keep praying.

And just incase you've suffered some sort of short term memory loss, or if you've got no idea what I'm talking about...here is the vision:

That in 5 years time our church will have 500 members, 50 cell groups and 150 cell leaders.

It's actually a lot more detailed than that, so when I've got more time, I'll post it all up.

And finally, here are some more pics from the retreat!!

Calvin modelling his new earing design.

The "sit on each other's lap" game (or as I like to call it the "let's violate each other's personal space" game)

Cell Leaders' Retreat - September 2006

2006-09-27T11:55:00.000+10:00

For most of the leaders, the trip began on Friday evening around 6:30pm when the majority of the Tim and Caleb cell leaders met up and had dinner at church.

The plan was to leave pretty much straightaway but after having a few chicken rolls and packing the four cars, our convoy left around 7:30pm.

Having made two stops along the way, we finally reached Aroona Lodge in Marysville at around 9:30pm and were greeted by the adult cell leaders along with the Amos leaders. There was a friendly (or was it?) game of poker had by a few which was rounded up soon after by Uncle Isaac for our first meeting of the camp at 10:00pm. This involved some of the leaders sharing how their cell had been going since the 40 Days of Purpose campaign last year.

The first night proved difficult for some, particularly the boys who were all 'sardine'd' into one room save Peter who opted to sleep on the couch in the main living area. So the other ten of us had to problem solve our way to sleep, and battle other life-forms like a particularly pungent beast of human methane. I can personally vouch that the stories you may have heard are true, about the viciousness of the smell and its ability to burn the inside of your nostrils.

We all began the next day early, waking up at around 7:30am and having breakfast which offered a variety of cereals and toast with different spreads. God bless the adults who actually care about what they put into their stomachs!

After breakfast we had devotion and were introduced to Edmund who is a chaplain at a university. He talked to us about the need to evangelise and tools which dispell the common notion that evangelising is just bible-bashing. We then broke up into groups to study two of the three options of the Alpha course, EE3 and Wycliff which proved to be useful sessions for us as leaders.

Again it came time to fill our stomachs and lunch was roast chicken with bread and salad. Straight after having our meal, we congregated again to listen to Edmund who gave us examples of different and creative ways to engage people. This included getting in a circle to give each other back massages, as well as being very up close with each other to form a "sitting circle" .

The day continued with free time afterwards where some napped, some went for a drive, some played sports, some got haircuts and others chased chickens.

After our free time we had an activity where in four teams, searched the property for little pieces of paper which Aunty Nancy had hidden. Team Three ended up winning (my team!) with a find of 7 out of 16 hidden pieces. Go team!

Soon after we had another reflection session to allow leaders who hadn't yet shared about their cells in the previous night to let everyone else know how they were going. After the sharing, there was a frank discussion about healthy sizes of cells, which the majority deemed to be around 6-8 people on average.

We were given more free time after this to shower and prepare for dinner. Our meal was rice with roast chicken again (can't get enough of the chicken! Mmm...) with a healthy dose of bok choi (pardon the French...I mean Chinese...'coz I don't know any!) and sweet corn soup which was all pretty tasty! So tasty that it made some dance - like Jade!

After dinner we had a final meeting to discuss the church's vision and mission as a whole. We discussed our roles within the vision that our church is a praying church, and ironed out the details of achieving this. There were some good views and concerns brought up here and it was also decided that as cell leaders, and consequently the whole congregation would meet once a month and have breakfast and prayer on the first Sunday of each month.

Saturday night ended with an intense round of poker, and a few watching Training Day on TV. For the boys, the finale of the night was two "stacks on" sessions which rounded up proceedings.

Sunday morning began bright and early at 7:00am with a flurry of activity - getting up, packing, cleaning, loading the cars and shovelling down breakfast. Most of us left around 8:00am and made it to church early, even with a short stop at a nice little Chinese deli in Box Hill to have a bit of hot food like dumplings.

Anyway, just wanted to remind people about the monthly prayer meetings on the first Sunday of each month before service. Breakfast starts at 8:00am and prayer begins at 9:00am. The first of these will be this Sunday, so I encourage everyone to come for the first inaugural prayer breakfast!

Ciao.

new link in sidebar

2006-09-25T21:51:00.000+10:00

Just put a link to worshipcentral in the sidebar.

Enjoy peeps =)

james hoey says ...

2006-09-25T21:07:00.000+10:00

Hey guys
For those of you who were wondering what happened to tim hughes and soul survivor and why he wasn't here this year. And who is this new guy.. ben cantelon??

The reason is "www.passionforyourname (formally soul survivor owned)" is now being run in partnership with Holy Trinity Brompton and they formed worship central which is a few uk churches coming together to talk purely about worship leading and other things such as balancing life with theolegians etc. They also have a very interesting interview with Brian Doerksen (canadian worship leader [refining fire, come let us worship just to name a few of his famous worship songs] )

Tim Hughes is now apart of another church and alongside with Al Gordon run the podcast which i HIGHLY recommend it started in July. So get itunes and download the podcasts because it will teach you alot bout not just worship but living life as a christian.

Another REALLY REALLY cool feature which i REALLY REALLY like is the fact they have new songs every month. Which you can also download the chords to and learn. Since its been going it has produced 1 new song each month. new songs from Al gordon "glorious", Tim hughes "Oh happy day", Ben Cantelon "I've found a love"

www.worshipcentral.org.uk

Christian Movie Industry

2006-09-21T14:01:00.000+10:00

hey guys,

found this article in The Age that i thought was really exciting! i've copied and pasted below:

Fox launches Christian unit
September 20, 2006 - 11:30AM
Twentieth Century Fox launched a Christian home-video label today, becoming the first major studio with a unit devoted to the church-going audience that turned The Passion of the Christ into a blockbuster.

The new FoxFaith banner will acquire Christian-themed films produced outside the studio and release them on DVD, with the help of a marketing network tied into 90,000 churches and 14 million households nationwide, said Steve Feldstein, a spokesman for 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

FoxFaith also plans to help market theatrical releases for six to 12 such movies a year, most of them small-budget productions in the $US5 million ($A6.63 million) range, through a deal with specialty distributor the Bigger Picture, he said.

Many of the films are direct-to-video adaptations of Christian books that have sold tens of millions of copies.

The first one, planned for theatrical release under the new Fox label, is "Love's Abiding Joy," based on the fourth installment of "The Love Comes Softly" series from best-selling Christian novelist Janette Oke.

The film, directed and co-written by Michael Landon Jr., son of the late star of TV hits "Little House on the Prairie" and "Bonanza," centres on the hardships that tested the faith of American pioneers.

It is due to open October 6 in 250 theatres around the country, Feldstein said.

That number pales in comparison to a typical big-studio release of 1,500 to 3,000 theatres.

But Fox sees a largely untapped, potentially lucrative niche audience among devout church-going Americans who are turned off by conventional Hollywood fare.

"We saw an opportunity to fill a need in an underserved market," Feldstein said.

Fox Home Entertainment is a division of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp Ltd and is a corporate sibling of the Fox TV network which has long rankled conservative groups with such shows as "Temptation Island" and "The Simpsons."

Feldstein said the biggest impetus for creating FoxFaith was the stunning commercial success of Mel Gibson's 2004 crucifixion tale "The Passion of the Christ."

The Aramaic-language film grossed $612 million worldwide, driven in large part by a marketing campaign that targeted evangelical Christians.

Fox, like much of Hollywood, passed up an opportunity to release "Passion" theatrically but ended up with US home-video distribution rights, selling more than 15 million units of the film on DVD.

Reuters

you can view this article yourself here

Welcome Eugene!

2006-09-13T17:00:00.000+10:00

Good news!!

PT and Sandra had a little baby boy on 7th September!! His name is Eugene :) A new friend for Sammi!!
They would like to thank everyone for all the prayers and encouragements they have received. I think it would be great if we could all pitch in to get them a gift. I'll discuss it at the leaders mtg tonight and see what everyone thinks.

Keep praying for Sandra to have a quick recovery from the trauma of childbirth, and pray that God bless their new family.
Don't forget to congratulate them the next time you see them!

Only 3 more months for Sharon ;)

steamboat n singster night

2006-09-04T16:51:00.000+10:00

hi guys!
just another reminder that the steamboat night is this friday at 7pm.
its $10 pp with lots of yummy food.

if u can come early, please do... i would need help for setting up.. etc. & if you hav a steamboat stove and pot, please bring them along also!

if you're coming but havent told your cell leader, please let me know asap - cgs_calvin@hotmail.com or 0413 121 781

see you all there!!

new links in the sidebar

2006-08-14T17:43:00.000+10:00

just want to alert people to the new links in the sidebar.

there's the tim and caleb website, which contains a very useful Google calendar outlining upcoming events.

then there's i like to soccer, a very funny blog written by vic, chronicling the adventures of an indoor soccer team which contains a few members from tim and caleb.

updated singing and sharing night

2006-07-27T17:28:00.000+10:00

After our cell meeting we ( the cell leaders) have decided to extend the date of the singing and sharing night to i think 3rd week of August so that it gives more time for people to think of what they would like to share as at this current point the only person who is sharing a song is Isaac that i know of.

Comon people I'm sure u have somthing to share , so if you do just come to either myself or your cell leaders so that they can pass on the message to the worship cell so that we can organise a very enjoyable and lengthy singing and sharing night cya at church

Ken

EXTRA! EXTRA! SINGING AND SHARING NIGHT IS COMING YOUR WAY!

2006-07-27T16:43:00.000+10:00

Hey Guys and Girls,

This is a plug for the Singing and Sharing night,

Prepare your heart, We're gonna sing,
Get ready to rock and worship the King.
Open your heart and open your ears,
It's time to erase all your fears.

You can sing, You can jump, You can dance, You can shout,
You can tell the world what Jesus' all about.

He is perfect, He is kind, He loves us so much, I kid you not!

We jump, We sing, We dance, We shout,

It's time to rock the House of God!

Singing and Sharing Night will be happening on the first friday on August, So bring your friends to this great event, because there will a lot of worship and a lot of sharing.

It's time to get deeper with God!

Isaac

Missions Conference

2006-07-21T11:34:00.000+10:00

This year CCCV is hosting what is hoped to become an annual Missions Conference. (They insist that next year will be our turn!) The conference will be held over 2 days where churches and missions organisations will get together and share stories, information and knowledge. Everyone is welcome to attend and the main churches involved in organising are CCCV, City Gospel Hall and us. The organisations who will be involved include CNEC-PI, Pioneers, Student Life, Scripture Union, some other's I can't remember and our very own SURIN FOUNDATION.

The conference will be held on the 19-20th August and speakers include Dr. Felix Chung, Jake Abraham (I think he spoke at one of our Caleb camps) and Daniel Loo. Saturday will focus on "Understanding modern missions" and Sunday will feature talks, interactive displays and learning, cultural performances, workshops and a multicultural luncheon.

The Surin Foundation will set up a stall and I need volunteers to help share their testimony, tell people about the Foundation and organise a Thai dish to share for lunch. I would really encourage the "Stud Team" to attend! If possible, can someone prepare a 10 min presentation on something to do with Thailand?

If you want more info, or can help out, please let me know. Thanks heaps :)

Aileen

2006-07-20T18:45:00.000+10:00

From the Saturday English Adult cell group.

Our cell group is hosting the Cafe Night on Saturday, 22 July 2006 commencing 7:30 pm at the Church Hall.

Members of our cell group should be there at 6:30 pm to help in the setting up of the venue.
Please bring some snacks to share.

People at last Friday night's meeting have been committed to bring something each (e.g. I am to bring nuts).

It will be an informal and relaxing evening for people to chat and share over cups of coffee or tea.

All relatives and friends will be welcome.

All age groups are invited.

There is no fixed agenda and everyone is free to participate and contribute in sharing a friendly Saturday night gathering.

Please pray for a heart warming and spiritually rewarding gathering.

Thailand July 06

2006-07-20T13:14:00.000+10:00

Okay, so I did this on my blog, but a few ppl have asked me to put it on Tim and Caleb so everyone can have a rough idea of what happened in Thailand...with pictures, so here you go!

I'm baaaccckkk!

Yeah, seriously, I wanted to make at least one entry while I was overseas but I could not find the time or the access to the internet to blog. While I was in Thailand, or more specifically Phrao, I used the internet for two blocks of 30mins and that time was spent replying to emails, checking soccer scores and doing netbanking.

So yes, for those of you that weren't aware, I left for Thailand on the 28th June and came back last night around 9pm.

There is so much to write I really can't do any justice to the trip unless I hang out with you for 10 hours straight, and talk for around 9.5hrs with you interjecting with questions every now and then. So I'll just mention the major points etc.

So we spent the whole of the 28th June travelling (all times are in local time):
12:15am flight from Tullamarine to Kuala Lumpur.
6:30am arrive at the new KL airport - here Karl realises that he left my digital camera on the plane so we spend about 45mins tracking it down and thankfully retrieve it at lost and found.
10:00am flight from KL to Bangkok.
12:30pm reach Bangkok airport, catch a bus to the next terminal to catch a 1pm Thai Airways flight to Chiang Mai.
3:00pm reach Chiang Mai and finally get to leave a world of airports and duty frees to get our first taste of Thailand. The ten of us were herded into a mini-van and a ute then shopped around for a few hours getting drum sticks, amps and arts and crafts.
8:00pm reach Phrao and had a very spicy dinner at a local hawker store opposite the church.

Phrao is a small town about a 2hr drive from Chiang-Mai, where we taught English at the local Banjaengkuruang primary school and the Prowittayakom high school. I myself taught some P5 classes (equivalent of Grade 5s) and the M6s (Year 12s). That was a great experience, I quickly learnt that the youth there loved us since we were foreigners and we were almost like celebrities! The whole town eventually got word we were there and we had a few visitors come to the church and talk to us.

The high point of the trip for most of us (or mainly the boys) was the concert we held on Tuesday (4/7) especially for the high school. What happens is that the language classes are predominantly female since the boys usually take subjects like metal work or something. Anyway, so only the language classes were invited to come to the concert in this big hall they had, and they went nuts! All the girls were screaming and shouting it was so weird! I felt like I was Taylor Hawkins or Flea! That motivated me to let loose on the drum kit and I felt pretty relaxed. Haha but yea, all the boys loved it, we were gods among men, or in this case, among women. So that was definitely something that will stick in our minds for the rest of our lives.

Apart from the teaching, we also managed to get some free time to look around the local shops. Ken was dying for some khao man gai (Thai chicken rice) and Sunday (2/7) after the church service, we went looking in earnest for some KMG with the help of some of the local M6 girls Justin and I taught. The first store we went to were closed! Ken was sad about that, but eventually we found a store that had a chicken hanging up in the window and we all had our first taste of the KMG this trip.

Another feature of our Thailand expedition was the sleeping conditions. We had to sleep in mosquito nets otherwise we'd wake up with half our blood drained from our bodies. So in Phrao, each night we were forced to set up these nets over our matresses (if you were lucky enough to have them, otherwise it was 5 sheets of blanket laid on the floor).

Seeing as food was high on the list of things to do, we ended up making friends with the local "Pancake Girls" who made and sold pancakes (with blueberry or chocolate or banana jam) on the street corner down the road from us. The coincidental thing was that the older girl, Maria, was in mine and Justin's M6 class that we taught at the high school. So on the last day we were there, Maria with her two best friends came to the church to give us all free pancakes! That it was really sweet of them.

Here are the two classes Justin and I taught the most while we were in Phrao with Peter helping out. The P5/4s and the M6/3s.

After spending about a week in Phrao, we made our way back to Bangkok via a flight from Chiang-Mai airport. That Wednesday (5/7) we spent another full day travelling, leaving Phrao at 9am, arriving in Bangkok at around 3pm and then spending about 2hrs in a shopping centre that only had IT stuff and food. That was pretty crappy. But at 9pm it was off to the train station to catch an overnight train to Surin. We took the 2nd class carriages, which had beds on them, as opposed to the ones in 3rd class which had upright seats. That would've sucked. First class had beds, but had other amenities like showers, porters to carry your luggage and other things like that, but at double the price (1000 baht = $35) we thought 2nd class would do nicely. The ride was okay, at least I got some sleep, but we all had to wake up at 4am and quickly rush out the door because we woke up late! Who knows where would've ended up if we missed our stop!

We headed to Banchok village, which is a 40min drive from Surin town and we were met with loud blaring Thai music because one of the girls in the village, actually next door to where we were staying, got married. Apparently this music began at 4am in the morning everyday and went well into the night where there was lots of drinking as well, over a period of about a week. Luckily for us though, that was the last day of the festival and so we had some sleep that night.

Since we lived in the village, we got to know the kids really well. They came round to the house every waking moment when they didn't have chores to do, or school. It was a world apart from Phrao even, because this was a rural country village. If mosquitos and red ants were a part of life in Phrao, Banchok village had it all! It was common to see poisonous (only to foreigners) toads hopping around at night, or even baby toads hopping in the shower! Bright red centipedes which were also poisonous, but not to locals, crawled around the front yard and if you went a day without a mosquito bite, you'd count yourself extremely lucky.

The kids were something amazing! Apart from being really cute, they were extremely tough. They ran and played, fell over, grazed their knees and got back up immediately. Climbed trees, shot down birds with slingshots, the whole deal. Justin being the first aid dude on the team ran out of band-aids patching them up, but it was not needed. After Juzzy patched up one boy who cut his finger and had blood pouring out if it, within about 20 mins, he took off the band-aid and was playing around again. They ran on the extremely hot tar on the road in barefeet, and also on sharp rocks like it was carpet!

The teaching was at a school our church had never taught at before, but they were very welcoming and greeted us enthusiastically. Here, Justin and I taught one of their pre-school classes, and their P3s as well as one P2 class on the last day. We also taught at the Poomsatterng school which we had been doing in the last few trips. There I taught their P3s. Below are photos of the P3 class, P2 class at the new school and the P3s at Poomsatterng.

We left Banchok village around 6pm on Friday (14/7) and took the overnight train from Surin to Bangkok at 9pm. We arrived in Bangkok around 4:30am and hung around the airport till about 11am where we boarded our flight to KL. I won't talk about KL here, might decide to blog about that in the next entry, but arrived there about 4pm on Saturday (15/7) and departed Tuesday (18/7) 10am flight.

Anyway our team had a great time, working hard, having little sleep, dealing with sickness, food poisoning and not ripping each others' heads off. I learnt a lot about myself and the rest of the team and I can't imagine any tour or holiday coming close to offering what I experienced over the last three weeks. So thank you God, I am thoroughly satisfied and wouldn't trade it for the world.

james says...

2006-07-12T21:34:00.000+10:00

I have a prayer request it is rare occasion when someone dies close to you, even rarer a shooting. On Tuesday at school i heard about my friend Nick Robinson father (David Robinson) was killed in a shooting. My friend nick, or we call him squirrel, is a nice guy never really out to hurt anyone, i've never even seen him mad, i've known him from year 7 and the rest is history. But hearing of his fathers death under those circumstances for him must be horrible.

For those of you who dont know ~ 8:30 at night Nick and his Dad went to his lawfirm to print of Nicks assignment, and they found that it had been broken into (this wasn't realeased in the media) David asked nick to stay behind in the car and call the mum, while nicks dad went through the office and found a person at the back, check the age and crimestoppers you can find his description there, there was a fight and several shots fired and he was hit once or twice im not sure. Nick didn't realize this, a bystander flagged down an ambulance and the mother came by and found her husband dead upon arrival.

I have never known anyone i know to be killed, for someone's family member to die from disease or old age that can be handled but a life cut so drastically short is just for me i guess unbelievable. The past couple of days at school has been filled with all kinds of emotions and I would like to ask for a prayer for all scotch yr12s and the Scotch community, i am in a few of nicks classes and have met his father back in i think yr 9.

On tuesday there was lots of gossiping and lots of discussion upon what happened and who did what, and vice principal called an assembly for all yr12s for the first time, i have never heard a whisper in a year level assembly there is always someone talking but this time was different. The school has offered us (student body) alot of support and offered many teachers to provide counselling, which i know of a few students are undertaking , i also ask you to pray for these teachers that God gives them strength.

Today i signed a card and talked to another student who is closer to nick than I, he went to visit him afterschool, we talked for a whole period about what to do and what to say, and we started talking about God and his impacts and how in chapel we were suppose to sing almighty God, and amazing grace, but we axed almighty God considering the circumstances. its weird the friend has never met the dad but is so devasted by the occurances of monday night, I shared with him how God could help heal the pain how there is nothing we can do but support, encouragement and prayer.

What really enrages me is the media how pityful they are the herald sun claimed that it was a gangland, which is absolutely untrue, and proved wrong by all the other sources, they have made false allegations and made it much harder for the robinson family, so i urge you all not to buy herald sun papers, as it is filled with (excuse my french) bullshit, they said nick was 21 and studying in university, nick is 18 and sits behind me in further class. Police are looking for a suspect and may God have mercy on him.

Last and Final prayer request, Pray for Nick especially as he feels its his fault his father is dead, that God will give him the strength and comfort he needs through this ordeal. and pray for the robinson faimly that they will be able to find God in such a difficult time.
Thanks guys..

2006-07-10T16:16:00.000+10:00

Heey!!

If you're on the Soul Survivor mailing list, then you should have received info regarding the SMB and Soul Sista days that are coming up. If you're not, then here's the info for ya!!

Soul Sista
Saturday, 5th August 200610:00am - 5:30pm
Salvation Army, Camberwell7 Bowen St, Camberwell
$15 at the door. You don't need to pre-pay, but please RSVP

SMB
Saturday, 5th August 200610:00am - 5:30pm
South Camberwell Uniting Church910 Toorak Rd, South Camberwell
$15 at the door. You don't need to pre-pay, but please RSVP

(Yup, that's right...it's going to be held at OUR church!!)

After the Soul Sista and SMB, everyone will get together from 7pm at Salvation Army Camberwell (7 Bowen St) for A Night of Soul. If you're not interesting in the daytime events, just rock up for the night event which is free!!

Check out the Soul Survivor website for more info.

Amos Camp

2006-07-04T16:38:00.000+10:00

just thought i'll do a plug for AMOS camp dis wkend!!
topic: relationships between people, society and GOD. (in canto, english translations avail)
date: 7-9 July @ Lyrebird park, Yellingbo. $95

Anna, Vic and I will be going on Sat for a day trip. (arrive after lunch, leave after dinner) cost $30. if you're interested plz gimme a buzz 0402 296 516 i can org transport.
it'll b a great chance to c what the Amos are doing and learn much more about God.

for more info : www.yourchurch.org.au/amos
contact: Kathy 0433 227 984 geminikathy@hotmail.com

Cheers!!
jaDe

Email from Thailand

2006-07-04T16:33:00.000+10:00

Got this from Karl via Jade

sawadee kup!!!

hi there to everybody back home!!

just wanna thank God and his grace for keepin us alive (barely) just enough to endure the horrific flight to Chiang Mai where we had to catch 3 planes in less than 24 hours how bizarre is that!!

who says you can last 30 hours in one day with just one glass of Berrocca or metamuseal which ever one it is..

the kids here welcomed us and there has been heaps of laughter which made our hearts quite tender. the weather here is quite the opposite to back home where we are gettin an average of 35 degree days where there is no escape of sweaty shirts and smelly body odour which Greg has dubbed as the 'MANKY THAILAND SMELL' or 'MTS'. the following day the team went to the schools both primary and secondary where the teachers assigned us in pairs to teach english to the majority of the top band classes which were the renowned as the SMARTEST KIDS alive in Chiang Mai.

The other day when Greg and Juzzy were teaching the year 12's. Juzzy approached and asked a 'MALE' student to answer a question only to have the teacher of the class to say ' NO NO NO that's a woman!!' needless to say the whole class laughed and applauded Juzzy while he held his head in shame.

the embarrassment didnt stop there however, because in the next hour, one of the girls, after plenty of giggling, worked up the courage to ask both greg and justin if they were "single". the boys were met with loud sighs when they shook their heads for 'no'. (anna and mel take note - brownie points?) daniel decided to include this into their english lesson and went on to ask greg and justin to draw their gfs on the blackboard. the climax of the lesson came at the very end when daniel asked the predominantly female class if they wanted to see photos of the girlfriends to which they squealed YES with delight! greg, perhaps wisely said he didnt have a photo, while justin reluctantly handed daniel a photo, where all the girls virtually climbed all over the desks, chairs and even each other to have a peek at the photo!!

SLEEP!!! where we havent had much of it because of 2 main reasons and its nothin to do with our busy schedule. One member in our team who sounds like a roaring chainsaw is our resident snorer PETER LIN and Calvin his sleepin neighbour has evidence of his activity where he has recorded Peter's horrendous sound on his iRiver every half an hour in the hot steamy night.

Talking bout steamy hot nights, Juzzy aka 'DOUBLE SPOONER KHOR' has been having hot intimate steaming moments with Ken and Greg where they have been violated in the night. wandering what he was dreaming about! MOVE OVER MEL!!

Anyways the team has been getting along well doing God's will and sharing his his love to the people of Thailand. We have been building good relations with the kids and community of Phrao. To Alex and Mikey the pancakes are better than ever and Maria is taught by Greg and Juzzy so we are their regulars on the rate we're going those greasy fattenein heart disease pancakes are making our road to death much quiker. 'Clogging my heart with yellow gold' quoted by Homer Simpson. In the next few days ahead the team has been kept busy in performing 2 massive concerts for the primary and secondary schools on monday and tues. The team has very little time to prepare for this but we are all willing to give it our all and show the people God's love.

right now we have to go to rehearsal so keep safe and keep praying for us and we'll be keeping u posted with future events love the THailanD Farang Aussie Team JUly 06'''!!!!!

victor could u forward this to the rest fo the Youth or share it out on a friday nyt with the youth thanks!!

To Gossip or NOT to gossip...

2006-06-05T18:45:00.000+10:00

"I heard on the grapevine..."
"Someone told me that___..."
"I heard from ____ that ____...."
"Did you hear about ____..."
"A little bird told me that ___"

I just thought I'd start a discussion, since this IS a blog, but there hasn't been much discussion happening.
So i thought i'd start a thread on a topic which i believe ALL of us can relate to.
And i'm talking about...
GOSSIP.

SO...
what is it?
when is it gossip and when is it "discussion"?
when is it gossip and when is it "sharing someone else's life"?
is it only gossip if you are doing it with more than one person, or can u still be talking to one person (your best friend, or your girlfriend or boyfriend, or even your family) and still be gossiping?
why do ppl gossip?

and most importantly, is gossiping wrong?

This topic has been on my mind the last couple of years, and especially the last few months.
I've seen relationships and friendships break down, I've seen minor issues escalate into major issues. I've seen anger, rage, disappointment, sadness. I've seen people who've left church for this sole reason.
And that is : gossip.

So it's time to open the can (or barrel!) of worms and bring it out in the open.

What do you think about the above?
What do u define as gossiping?
Where do u draw the line?
Do you think gossiping is wrong?
What do you think God thinks about gossiping?

Leave a comment.
Chuck in your 2 cents.
Have a go.
Say what you think.

There is to be NO textbook answers, only what you honestly think.
There is to be NO judgments or accusations, only respect what others say, and if you want, make a response.

And here are some things to think about (and comment on) :

29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

- Ephesians 4:29

(Paul talking to the Corinthians)

19Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? We have been speaking in the sight of God as those in Christ; and everything we do, dear friends, is for your strengthening. 20For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. 21I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged.

- 2 Corinthians 12:19-21

11Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

- 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Victor

p.s. feel free to put in a comment anonymously. But give yourself a random name, so that if another person wants to respond to an anonymous person's comment they can refer to that name.

CNC Wednesday night worship!

2006-05-17T02:15:00.000+10:00

hello guys!!!!!....i know its last to post this up....but yeh......tonight on the CNC conference the singing worship is provided by AMOS.......they will be singing chinese and emglish songs.......this is a trail run for their july concert.....but yeh if u guys have time please come along and feel the never before been done concert in our hall!!.......it starts at 7pm
thanks guys for ur support!

Youth Mission Sharing Night

2006-05-11T18:34:00.000+10:00

Youth Mission Sharing Night
Friday, 12 May 2006
7:30pm @ Melbourne Chinese Baptist Church
75A Cotham Road, Kew 3101 (Corner of Highbury Grove)

Don't know why it's taken so long for someone to give it a plug but better late than never. I know most Tim and Caleb cell groups are going but I thought I'd give it another plug.

The focus for the night is sharing about missions and I'm sure many will be inspired to consider or even pursuit short and long term missions.

Btw...can someone write a plug for the CNC conference?

Soul Survivor Mission Trips

2006-05-01T19:44:00.000+10:00

Hi,

Just got word of upcoming Soul Survivor Mission Trips. Details below:

Soul Survivor Mission Trips
East Timor and Swan Hill - 18-30 June 2006 (I'm guessing it's two separate mission trips running at the same time. It'd be quite weird going on a mission trip to both Swan Hill and East Timor)
The Philippines - 1-15 July 2006
Applications close soon! For more info, check out www.soulsurvivor.com.au,
or call Steph Dubbeld on 9457 4293.

Post-mission reflection

2006-04-24T12:28:00.000+10:00

You know those days when satan gets into your head and you start asking, "Where is God right now? What's He done for me lately? Why do I feel like my life is a confusion of uncertainties?" Well, that's just how I was feeling before Thailand. Thanks sooo much to those of you who prayed for me and sent me messages.

God is amazing and I have come home refreshed, revived and with answers to my millions of questions. Before we left Oz, I was worried about so many things. I began to think to myself, "Why are you going to Thailand? Why can't you just live a quiet, simple life at home and stay out of trouble? What are you going to do if you get sick over there?" But for the first time on a mission trip, I didn't get sick once and physically I felt really good the whole time. Even the heat and humidity didn't seem to affect me in the same way that it has on previous trips. Everything that I was worried about prior to the trip turned out to be a non-issue, I had been stressing myself out for nothing.

This trip was by far one of the best I have been on...and I'm not just saying that coz it's fresh in my memory. This is the first time I have been able to pray with the kids, not at them. It's the first time we've read the Bible together and sung praises together. It's the first time kids have asked me, "Do you love Jesus?" not just coz they want my attention, but coz they really want to know. God really is working in Surin and I'm so so happy to be a part of that work. One of the most significant moments is when I watched Mr. Satit break bread and distribute it to all of his family for communion. Lek, Nom and Rot stood before everyone that Sunday morning and took the communion so seriously why the rest of us watched. I really felt that I was witnessing something great and I prayed that it would not be long before they renounced their Buddhist beliefs and declared their love for the true God.

God really is great and I wish that I wouldn't forget that so often. The answer that He gave me was simply a reminder that He is in control and I never will be. That's the way it ought to be coz if I were in control of my life, I'd probably be lying face down in a gutter somewhere. When I step back from my selfish state and look at myself from an outsider's point of view, I can see just how blessed I am. I am who I am, and I have what I have because of what God has done for me, not because of what I've done for myself. God reminded me that all I need to worry about is focusing my life on Him...He will worry about the rest. He will worry about how and when I will finish studying, He will worry about who I'll marry, He will worry about where I'll be in 10 years time. I just need to focus on Him and stop getting distracted and stressed by these things that blind me, make me selfish and take me away from Him.

Colossians 3:1-2 "So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ--that's where the action is. See things from his perspective."

What does Easter really means to me?

2006-04-20T11:15:00.000+10:00

Every year we celebrate Easter and the meaning of Easter is always the same, which is cool -- Jesus dying on the cross, giving us the real salvation. But to many Christians, we have this real salvation already when we invited Jesus into our lives and accepted him as our Lord and Saviour. And it's good to reflect on the story of Jesus' death, but we need to look really deeply into God's heart. Sometime when I pray, I usually put these quote in "Whatever breaks your heart, God, I pray it will break my heart aswell""Wherever you are God, I wanna be there with you." In the passage in Acts 13:22, King David was refer to as a man after God's heart (After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.') I wanna chase after God's heart, I wanna see where God is leading me.

This Easter, God was leading me to the unsaved, when I look around the city of Melbourne, I see a lot of emptiness, this country used to be a country that loved God so much. Now I see a lot of negativity, I see a lot of violence and hate, I see a lot of unfairness, I see a lot of deceptions and greed, I see a lot of idol-worshipers and cults, I see a lot of people putting their life, their careers, their studies, their future, their dreams, their goals before God. This country needs REVIVAL, starting from this Easter, I pray that God will bring revival in this Great Southland. But for this country to be revived, we need to start at Melbourne, we need to start at Sydney, we need to start at Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Darwin. We don't need to start rumours, we need to start evangelizing, we don't need to use God's name in vain in public, we need to start praising God's name in public, we don't need to hide away because we are Christians, we need to stand up for Jesus and say to people, we are not ashamed of Jesus, we are not ashamed of God, we don't need to lie about what we did on Sunday, we need to be honest and say "I was with God on Sunday, but not only Sunday, but Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.'

We need to see what God wants from us, we need to see what God wants to see in this world, we need to share what God wants to share to this world. I live in God and God lives in me, I love God and God loves me, God has renewed my life and he has renewed my mind, I once was lost but now I'm found, I was spiritually blind but God has opened my eyes to a new way of evangelizing.

Refresh my heart Lord
Renew my love
Pour Your Spirit into my soul
Refresh my heart

You set me apart Lord
To make me new
By Your Spirit lift me up Lord
Refresh my heart

And I will worship You Lord
With all my heart
And I will follow You Lord
Refresh my heart

Lift, Lift, Wherefore Art Thou Lift?

2006-04-13T09:55:00.000+10:00

Hey guys!

How is the short week winding up for you all? Well, I'm looking forward to this big Easter weekend - a welcome break! Also excited about tomorrow night's quasi singing and sharing night!

Anyway, just wanted to put it out there to anyone who needs a lift on Friday nights, please inform me so I can organise transport for you. If any of you guys have friends needing lifts too, feel free to ask me. Then I'll advertise for people who are from that area who can offer lifts and voila! A match made in heaven!

You can contact me on gregoryw9@gmail.com.

Anyway, have a good one people, see you guys on Good Friday!

james H says ...

2006-03-29T17:05:00.000+11:00

jan 12-15
I wont forget what you did
i wont forget what you sacrificed..
i will lift u high and bow down low... i will sing praises to u ...
i wont forget even though the seminars arent gonna be having the one i want most i wont forget what it has taught me.. .
JOAM has stayed quiet.. u have changed me shaped me moulded me and i thank u
thank you for keeping me strong thank YOU for putting up with me perservering with me ... your love shines strong, where mine dwindles out in the darkness
worship i will try to mimick ... no ... worship i want you to lead in me God .. this friday God LEAD in ME ... tell me the songs of praise u want to hear... mayb we should jus stand... maybe we should jus pray... mayb.... mayb...

i turned away, i ran away, i hated , i was bitter, u knocked on the door of my heart... i padlocked it shut ..
u showed me ur love , u showed me care u broke me down not with a axe in the door... but nails on a cross... i feel u now, holding my heart in ur hand, and i trust u with my heart , i trust u with my life,

I want change and i want to be apart of it, but it doesn't matter what i want God , show me ur way ur path thr your word [psalm 119 (thanks bex)]
[btw... to u doubt u'd read this.. dont blame God for shit... u put urself in there.. its up to u whether u want to battle a continuous unbeatable uphill battle.. or grab onto God.. and never let go.. im praying]

i keep hearing of people wanting to leave scuc, i hear people going to bigger "somewhat better" ask around people i have been in the same situation , Church is Christ's bride , church is not just a place where u get good teachings it should be a place of prayer and fellowship, i am gettin baptised over easter, i dont care what happens this time round, i would still get baptised on my death bed, it is not the baptism that i want u all to see, it is not me wanting to show of, it is what God has done in me,

last year this time i wanted to leave church but never felt a real urge until i went to bnbc, after the first time i had long long emails with bex, anna, and vic about my views on the church, rattional but still uncalled for, its easy to sit back and nag and whine but how many of u get in there and try to make a change, why is yg growing but sunday not? is God with us on friday but not sunday?, mayb were letting God use us on friday but not sunday?honestly i dont know..

is there issues at our church? yes many.... is the problem to leave to find a better solution? i dont think so ... i know its not.. church is a place of worship, if things are hindering u from worshiping at 1 church the solution is not to leave but to fix the problem and worship together, PDL think about it maybe even read it again hell i am... what r the 5 things ? fellowship is one, evangelism another, worship, prayer, figure it out guys come on... ok mayb im jus a bit too atttacking

it is not about the speaker if ur heart isn't right if ur prejudice is there... too late there is no point whether u agree with what he \ she is saying it wont get through i've been there, ur ears are shut even before he \she starts preaching... and most importantly .. .ur heart is closed... ur heart not willing to accept...

Just because u cant feel the vibe , the presence of the holy spirit thats something u need to take up and something i have, if u can only feel the presence of the holy spirit when ur at church then thats something u need to take up, the church is not there to build u up, it isn't... im sorry... its not there to make u go " o i love god so much more now.." that is not hte work of the church ,the churhc is a place of fellowship worship, prayer , encouragement , support etc... u go to church to WORSHIP your GOD not there to make urself feel good until the next time u go back, no offence to big churches...

i've been to planetshakers, i've been to some big churches i will even say this about soul survivor, alot of people go to get the thrill , to get the adrenalin, to hear the music pumping, to see the hands clapping , to feel the feet jumping , thats why some people go, not all obviously, it is very easy to be caught up in the big church of the people , the boys the girls the music the "atmosphere" the passion for me died down very quick after soul survivor, and im glad, because it made me realize that it wasn't soul survivor that connected me to him, it was Jesus. he was the connection , "i am the truth the way and the light no one goes to the father except through me"

maybe thats wat we need to do get some thumping music get some jumping pits ... are we gonna do that for sunday? im still praying , but i would like to get some change i would liek to see a difference, i will tread on toes i will make some people cringe i will make enemies, i will try to sort things out to see ur point of view (if u are an enemy) if not come along i want ot see change and i cant do it alone , we cant do it alone, we can get the whole church goin but we will never be able to do it.. it says in the bible we can do all things thr christ who strengthens me (phillipians)

Jesus: I love you
James: I love you too Jesus
----------
post a comment to complain, to clarify (its late so yea..)
yea i noe u must all hate me think im a hypocrit for posting this up.. its your choice whether to believe and trust me in this or not... i never planned on writing this blog... it took me a lil over an hour its like a poorly written essay i noe .. but it all jus came out in one big blurb...
I think what i challenge you guys to do is quite simple... stay, get involved .. and perservere... something that i struggle with not jus with church but with life in itself...
I know myself i am not the best in expressing myself ask people around me takes me hours to say something that can be summed up in a sentence, i am jus speaking out of experience and this is how i feel if i offend it was not my intention..
God bless
james

Prayer please

2006-03-24T11:23:00.000+11:00

Heey!!

Just want to ask if you could all pray for the upcoming Thailand trip please? The dates are 30th March to 16th April and the people who are going so far are Daniel, Jen, Jack, Wing, Aunty Ivy (Carol's mum), Daniel's parents and a supporter from Singapore. (The most diverse team yet!)

This is possibly the worst time of the year to go to Thailand as it is their wetseason which means that it is stinking hot 24/7 and rediculously humid. It also rains every few days and when it rains, it floods! I remember the last time I was there during the wetseason, I walked from Future park back to Rangsit in thigh high flood waters which took me over an hour making me miss curfew. If I had been brave enough to submerse myself into the brown gushing water (with so many floaties you would have thought you were in a swamp) to swim, I probably would have gotten back in half the time. It took me so long coz I spent most of the time looking for my thongs which kept getting swept of my feet while trying to wade through the water. The next day once the waters had subsided, we saw heaps of stray thongs belonging to the people who didn't bother chasing after theirs.

Anyways, please pray for us. Pray for unity within the team, pray for our health, our travels and most importantly our ministries. We plan to use music and drama as our main ministry tools on this trip, so please pray that God makes use of all the gifts he has given to each of us. Through your prayers, you are all members of this mission team and jointly responsible for the work God will do through us.

new blog template

2006-03-21T14:38:00.000+11:00

chose a new blog template because the extreme amount of green of the last one was getting to me. i hope people like the new skin.

Listening to God

2006-03-21T14:23:00.000+11:00

God, Are you real?

******************

The child whispered,

"God, speak to me"

And a meadowlark sang

But the child did not hear.

So the child yelled

"God, speak to me!"

And the thunder rolled across the sky

But the child did not listen.

The child looked around and said,

"God, let me see you"

And a star shone brightly

But the child did not notice.

And the child shouted,

"God show me a miracle!"

And a life was born

But the child did not know

So the child cried out in despair,

"Touch me God

and let me know you are here!"

Whereupon God reached down

And touched the child.

But the child brushed the butterfly away

And walked away unknowingly.

Take time to listen.

****************************

Often we are caught up with our priorities and we forget to listen to God, we are caught up with our jobs, our studies or whatever and we forget about God's priorities! We need to listen to God carefully to know what God's priorities are. And the nature world is a way that God can communicate with us, so take time to walk around the parks and listen to God. Once we first listen to God, all our priorities will fall to place as God wanted it!

I hope what I post on this blog, can inspire you to listen to God more.

Laters...Ikevandaminator (Isaac)

UU vs ______ [freaky good random team] (19-03-06)

2006-03-20T18:51:00.000+11:00

back!...BACK with a vengeance...
just like the wicked wings i had last night

just a tip to all of you out there.
never eat ANY wicked wings the night before your FIRST day at work!
it's a pain in the ass.
literally.
("someone get me my haemhorroid floatie chair!")

so onto other less painful (not for peter! as you'll see later) topics... INDOOR SOCCER

we actually started off quite well! ie. we didn't let any goals in for the first 1o or so minutes!
however, the opposition slowly but surely crept up to us, like a looming 7 hour exam on a saturday (who has exams on saturday anyway?!) on all topics medical.
before we knew it we were a couple of goals down.

indeed this was the proverbial fire up our asses (not the wicked wing type thankfully) because it FIRED us up to score the next 2 goals to equalise with them!

in the end however, due to many factors unknown to yours truly (since i don't know much about good tactics OR good play. and anyway, i can't remember.) the opposition managed to get away with 3 goals in quick succession! in 2 minutes! WOW...talk about fast kicking! i can't even kick my pants on in 2 minutes!

the final score : we lost 4 v 9

justin started on the field indeed, bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready and pumped to put in for the team.
as usual his hard running, good positioning and fancy dribbling paid off in a nice goal, right in the back of the net, causing an eruption of supporters to shoot up and shout glee. (the only other eruption being the drink in my open bottle splattering everywhere as i, myself, shot up in the middle of drinking, and shouted my encouragements to the man of the minute. yes, my friends, overspill is never good, even if you are doing it for a winning goal. and even if it's water. and even if it only spills onto your shirt.)

the only thing not so "on-target" and "winning" about justin was his choice of runners.
overheard at the stands of UU supporters : "hey look vic! that guy has the same runners as juzzy! ha-ha! juzzy's gonna be pissed about that!"
(disclaimer : that was ken who said that)

cath as usual was a steady and stable offender, again staying up for some time at our offence end (like a good smell?... she wore deodorant).
but not only did this pint size lady stay up and guard over our offending passes to shoot for goal, she also put tremendous pressure on opponents many times bulkier than herself.
there were a few nail-biting, sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat, fall-off-your-seat-becos-you-were-on-the-edge-of-your-seat, hit-your-head-on-the-seat-becos-you-fell-off-your-seat moments there where cath cleanly kicked the soft, green, bulbous, elliptical, ball-shaped...
ball ...
to either be skilfully blocked by the opposition's keeper (no kids that's GOAL keeper, not the qudditch keeper type. go home harry potter)
or to narrowly miss the goal. much like how i often narrowly miss the ball trying to kick it.
ok i lie, i miss it completely. by a few metres

our UU team was graced by the ...errr...grace of a new player this day. and this person goes by the name of katie. unfortunately previously plagued by injury to the ankle from netball, katie finally fronted up to her first ever indoor soccer game!
ladies and gents this chick is full on!
she gives EVERYTHING a go!
overheard in the UU stands : "oh i feel so weird! i just feel so unco!"
(disclaimer : that was katie who said that)
BUT did this stop her? did this discourage her into defeat? did this debilatate, destroy, deteriorate and delve her into the depths of despair over her apparent (and self-proclaimed) lack of co-ordination?
NO, my friends, katie was RIGHT in the fray kicking it (pun intended) with the bad boys!
and boy did she give those guys a run for their money!
katie fresh from a successful touch career brought her zippy speedliness (is that a word? i don't know. do you know? who cares.) and her ferocious aggression onto this much-too-small field of indoor soccer. she gave it her all. she blocked many a ball, and mostly stayed back in defence, steady, stable and reliable, much like her own personality (you're a great friend kt!).
and you know, after all said and done, kt gave it her all on her first game and that's all we can ask for! so GO katie! we look forward to her development in the indoor soccer arena, much like her touch career ("katie you're my winger!")

colin, as usual, was consistent in offence mostly, and sometimes venturing down into defence to help out. his lightning moves and fancy tricks and kicks in controlling the ball were dazzling, to say the least. my friends, this guy has some fancy moves, even more fancy than those "metro" female looking asian male pop stars (think F4. which one's the guy? which ones the girl? who knows.) that should be modelling velvet woman's clothes and manbags.
those moves might even be as fancy as that bright green number the queen was wearing to the event she attended as a spectator at the commonwealth games. wait. that wasn't fancy, that was just hideous and glaring.

indeed those moves and skilful manipulation of the ball carried our team to 3 extra goals scored by him! yes that's rite my friends, 3 goals! COLIN YOU ROCK!!!!

unfortunately, our HUMAN wall, andrew, was not able to be present (where were you andrew? we were expecting u -_-; )
BUT, he was replaced by another fantastic unbreakable wall, this one of the female variety : JEN!
i'll tell u wat ladies and gents, if i were to build a tall building and i needed a strong wall, i would definitely get myself a piece of jen! she is one strong, impenetrable wall!
my friends, gone were the previous traces of the damsel in distress from last game. this damsel was back! and she wanted BLOOD!
her legs of steel were stuck into every single opponent that dared venture into our defensive zone! i tell u wat, that was no-mans land : that was JEN'S land!
she just WOULD not let up, would not give up, would not kick the ball out and simply let it fall wherever it did. No she would not rest til the ball was safely into our keeper's hands.

speaking of the keeper...HEEEEERE'S PETER!
wow this guy has no match! he continues to astound many with his courage and bravery to CONTINUALLY place his body in the line of fire of a well executed kick to goal!
(SEE PETER NO GLOVES!)
(YOU ARE SUFFICIENT!)
my friends, this guy, even tho he stands at a much lower stature than his counterpart, he successfully saves many many potential goals!
there was many a kick that landed the ball, not at the back of our nets, but at the back of peter's stomach as he made yet another eye-watering save!
this guy jus doesn't let up! he doesn't get scared, tired or downcast! he just keeps going!
like an energiser bunny.
except he isn't a rabbit.
and he's hasn't got a battery shoved up his ________ <- (fill in blank with desired orifice.)
and he isn't a clever marketing idea that was marketed into our TVs many years ago, so much so that it is now a term used in daily Australian english conversation.

mandy, tho was sidelined due to her previous game's SHIN-JOBS, was nevertheless still in the game as much as a player, tho this time with her voice. Thanks to mandy for her constant and tireless encouragements and screams (ooohh! aaah! woaaah!) for keeping the players buoyed by her enthusiasm and passion. and letting us know she was still there.
overheard in the UU stands : "wow that blonde chick is so good, wow did u see that she's so good, wow she kicks so hard, i wanna be like her"
well if mandy continues to throw herself into the game as much as she already does, she will rise above that blonde chick and beat her, cos mandy is just FULL ON!

thanks again to all those supporters who made the effort to come out to watch and support us :
brian, julie, aileen, daz, ken

my friends, if you want to experience the joys and excitement, the highs and lows, the hair raising intensity, the mind-numbing frustrations, the electric atmosphere, the cup breaking frustrations, and the overspilling-glee of a goal scored, then get urself down to box hill this thursday for another match of the UU!

i promise you, you will not be disappointed!
unless you paid for parking.
in which case you should be disappointed.
and angry.
just park free in the next suburb and walk.
it's been done before.

US vs Jagermeister Yobbos (16-03-06)

2006-03-18T16:54:00.000+11:00

INDOOR SOCCER TEAM : Uniting United

well i'm gonna give this game report a crack.
I played my first ever game ever on thursday, i don't know much about rules OR tactics but i'm here to give captain greg a break!

well after my FIRST game 2 words i can say : INTENSE and fun

indeed after the game i had to sit myself on the ground and hang around the garbage bin, like an intoxicated drunk on a saturday night in the melbourne CBD at 3am in the morning, waiting to see if my dinner would come back up! for those who are LITERAL-orientated that means : i felt like vomiting!
the reason being : it was intense!

quick play, and following the soft ball around the small court is hard work!

I can't even remember the progress of the game, but basically we lost 2-5.
I'm told this is a really good score considering our old scores, but I thought we were all winners anyway!..except for maybe mandy (more news lata!)

liang and justin were fantastic, running after all the stray balls, and handling the balls with their superior ball handling skills, dribbling up to the front and passing well! This translated into them being our goal scorers, Justin having his FIRST goal in the season ever! (CONGRATS to you!)
Liang's goal was equally spectacular, a boot from the red line, bounced off the right side post and smacked into the back net!... and then bounced back out!
GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!

Greg, with all his towering indoor soccer experience and fancy ball handling skills played well, dodging and dribbling around many an opposition player. Great calls and advice called from the sidelines and the court!...not to mention the behind the scenes work, like organising training, getting fixtures and rosters sorted out, sorting out the money (show me the money!)...and being an all round humble, good sports, fantastic example of a captain!

Andrew was the HUMAN WALL! This stoic, courageous character faced down many an opposition, and indeed many a ball... OFF HIS body!... indeed andrew saved many potential goals by simply placing his body (and life?!) on the line! GO Andrew!..Take one for the team...make that 5!
yes!, that's how many andrew blocked! FANTASTIC in defence! Stable and hardy! Ladies, if that's not what u want in a man, i dunno WHAT is...
err..
ok that was random
ANYWAY!

Cath (or do u like Cat?...or is it just Catherine?) indeed transferred her Touch Footy skills onto the soccer court, at times hanging up the front (like a bad smell?!...to the opposition) waiting for good passes so she could score (and she very nearly did!), while at other times faithfully and forcefully attacking the ball (not from behind cos u're not allowed -_-; ) and putting GREAT pressure on the opposition! WHo woulda thought that such a little woman could be such formidable intimidation?!

Jen!...another FAITHFUL defender, patiently waiting at the back deceptively like the damsel in distress, but as soon as the ball comes her way, immediately transforms into the BIG BAD WOLF (and all other nightmarish figures u have dreamt of) placing enormous pressure on the looming attackers, blocking many a kicked ball, and giving not ONE inch (even tho they wanted a mile!)...

Mandy...the victim of many a stray leg (INTO SHIN! OUCH!)...TWICE!
at the end of the game, this courageous fighter of a lady sported a huge red mark on the front of her leg so big i could have landed a helicopter on it...if i could fly a helicopter...and if i HAD a helicopter
...
indeed the first kick she took : she had been set upon by a much larger and bulkier female (twice her weight?!...and more?) and took a roundhouse RIGHT to the shin! OUCH! (WHERE'S THE CALL REF?!)...but did this stop this feisty, competitive (I WANT BLOOD!) lady?...no my friends, mandy got right back up, muttered some choice words, and jumped right back into it!...GO MANDY!
...
to be followed up by another swift one to the SAME PLACE on her leg?! (THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS REF!)
...so after some coaxing, and some threats of a broken leg, mandy courageously stood up, dragged her now dead leg and proudly sat herself down, STILL playing with us, but now from the sidelines, with her great encouragements (not compliments!)

...and lastly (but DEFINITELY not least, my friends!) PETER!.....3 words : FAN-TAS-TIC!
Peter is a WONDER in the goals!....seriously!...this guy stares down the opponents...AND the ball!...EVEN if it's coming at his head 100 km/h! ...This guy even claims he'll never get his glasses knocked off!...this towering confidence and bravery, i'm sure, pushed his mind to look past the physical pain of getting battered by the ball, to put HIS body on the line, OVER and OVER again!....saving MANY goals!...stupendous reflexes and a body to boot (pun GLORIOUSLY intended!), peter basically saved our team from a 2-20 defeat!....THIS is the importance of a brilliant goal keeper, and my friends, PETER is that MAN!!!
(and NO i'm not gonna say "PETER u da man"...cos that makes me look like i think i'm ghetto...which is sad)
Peter also follows up his mind blowing saves with equally well thought out throws to free players ready to take possession of the ball and take it up to the other goals!

so, my friends, there you have it!
Another mind-numbing, nail-biting, hair-tingling, leg-smashing, arm-twisting...eye-melting, nose breaking ADVENTURE of the Uniting United team!
stay tuned to this space for more action when we take on yet another set of ruff n ready, psyched up, pushed around, wound up opponents THIS SUNDAY in the peaceful, green suburbia of BOX HILL!

-_-

p.s. thanks to the following people for supporting us! Your invaluable support and powered up shouting (and random "GO!" calls...wait...that's just me...-_-; ) are instrumental to our high morale and good fun!
Matty, Anna, Daz, Mel

the 'chargers' mixed netball blog

2006-03-13T12:54:00.000+11:00

for those who are interested in the progress of the mixed netball team some are involved in, visit http://netballteam.blogspot.com/. keep up the good work guys. i'll be seeing you on the court on tuesday.

anyone know how to skin a blog?

2006-03-10T17:25:00.000+11:00

just want to ask if there are any people who could funk up the site to look something like this? i think looking at all this green makes me want to puke. doesn't have to be something that's done immediately. it could be a long term project.

Portarlington

2006-03-08T23:48:00.000+11:00

While on our summer holidays my cell gourp and myself minus PP ventured off to the land of Portarlington to take part in a beach mission. i found that this mission was very different to the thailand mission that i went to the previous year and really didn't know what to expect, originally i though that the mission team was going to be full of bogans from the beach oh ws i wrong. Most of them came from CCCV and swan hill as well as other churches around melbourne which i for get their name.
One of the arvos we had worship session which i felt was realli nice where we had a good sessiong of worship. I gonna share with you a poem that was written by one of the team member.

PORTARLINGTON 2005 Mission Trip
poem written by Tim Richards

One lone figure…
Standing upon the beach,
He can see for miles
This sight appears to trouble him, as, with a furrowed brow, he lets his gaze fall to the ground.
Nothing moves for several moments,
Nothing, that is, but the waves and the occasional twitch of the mans lips, the only indicator of his inner turmoil.
His head raises, a decision made, and with purpose in his eyes and passion in his heart, he sets out on a journey.
His journey is a simple one, to share his love with those who have none,
To put a sparkle in the children’s eyes, and to their parents, bring hope.
And as he journeys forward, others take up the charge.
First slowly, and then, as confidence grows…
JOY! With running and jumping and dancing too.
One big mess of joy, bounding forth, bringing joy to many hearts
As the days turn to years, people come and people go… and while the team has changed,
The dream is the same.
Share love, bring hope, give joy.
Even now they stand. This year’s force, marching forth.
Their armour is their joy and their banner, held high-aloft… is the greatest symbol of them all,
Jesus’ cross on which he died,
The ultimate sign of love.
This mighty force takes up its march,
Ungawaring and singing
And with great speed, skill and love they come…
But a hidden evil lies ahead, to which they’re ill-aware
The land ahead is Satan’s, and he wants to keep it that way!
And, as only Satan can, he rallies his forces dark.
Demons with strength, for a frontal assault.
But sneaky, as I’m sure you know Satan is, he plans for a flanking charge
For this he brings his forces subtle.
Whose power is greater still,
Stirring mistrust and contempt among our troops…
Therein their powers lie.
And so, forces gathered, Satan prepares for battle.
And it is Satan’s force that meets out troop as it bound over the crest of the hill.
Their hope, it drains, their smiles fade, and their singing slowly dwindles.
Darkness falls upon the battlefield
Despair comes.
Satan’s forces charge with all the power of darkness behind it
Fear comes
But then one soul,
One brave soul
Shouts above the rest
“Oh Lord, please help us!”
Rumbling in the sky signals the parting of the clouds.
Light, in narrow fingers strike down from on High…
Heavens light, God’s pure radiance smite down into the darkness.
The demons howl in fear, the darkness groans with pain.
But still they come.
Now, with a renewed sense of hope, out troop sets to prayer, and every head is bowed.
And now, here we are… for that troop is us, and the evil indeed is near.
Will we fight the good fight, praying and trusting or in the face of such opposition give up?
Will we, when our brothers or sisters fall, turn to pick them up?
Or instead will we stumble and leave God on the sideline, forgot?
For our God, He is awesome and in Him, we must trust. For His strength alone is enough.
And so, we acknowledge, and with our voices proclaim
That our God is an awesome God!

I do encourage that you guys take part in a mission team of some sort as i found it highly rewarding God truly speaks to you just as he spoke to me thats another story ill blog up later

God Bless ken

UU v New Team Thursday Mxd 3 (02-03-06)

2006-03-08T10:01:00.000+11:00

Haven't set up a blog like the netball "Chargers" because I think it'll take too long since I'm organising other stuff. Someone else from Uniting United want to take up that role?

Doesn't matter, we'll just post up match reports here.

First game and I felt a bit nervous, naturally. I had no idea what to expect from our opponents, would they be huge and physical, would they be really quick and skilful? These questions actually took a backseat for a while as I was more worried about our team itself.

Mandy had successfully recruited five girls to play however in the few days leading up to our first foray into indoor soccer, four girls pulled out and one got injured. Luckily we managed to call in Vanessa and Teresa to play. The rules stipulate we need at least two girls on the field at any one time so I was a little edgy when realising we only had two girls who were able to come. This meant they wouldn't have any break since there were no girls to sub with!

Anyhow, we all arrived and then the match finally got underway. I was somewhat relieved because our opponents weren't as fearsome as I had expected. Even so, they managed to get a few lucky shots in the early exchanges. It didn't help when we gave away two penalties but Colin in goals saved the penalty he gave away so kudos to him.

Before we knew it, even though we were on par in terms of skill, we were a few goals down. By half time we were 0-6 down. I think lack of positioning and organisation cost us. A lot of times we were left wanting in defence after a failed attack. Everyone would run up to the forward line, we'd shoot and their goalie would save it. Then he'd piff the ball to a guy who was totally unmarked and alone to basically have the luxury of a one-on-one with our goalie. The majority of their goals were scored from quick counter-attacks, so the lack of defence is something we invariably need to address in future matches.

Second half, and we began to settle. Colin was dazzling with his oversteps and shimmies which were much appreciated in a new team struggling to maintain possession. Liang was strong and decisive at the back just as Andrew was a solid presence in defence. Justin was a workhorse chasing everything down and Peter was a revelation in goals, only letting one past him in the whole second half. I was tiring out really quickly due to a combination of a lack of sleep and food but I managed to put us on the scoreboard after some indecisive defending by the opposition let me slip in and toe bash it home. 1-6.

The girls were holding themselves rather well too. Teresa, Bex and Vanessa were not afraid to get stuck in and give the guys a few kicks. I was really worried the girls would get hurt because I know how rough guys can be, but it was largely unfounded since I still fail to remember the physical differences in mens and mixed indoor soccer. Unfortunately, while one of our opponents was riduculously having a shot from the halfway line, Bex was in the way and the ball hit her. I've been hit many times in the legs from blocking shots and believe me, it stings. Bex got hit in the shoulder/chest area. Nuff said. Later on, she was hit again, this time by one of our own trying to clear the ball from defence. Ouch. In the later stages, Colin added two goals to our score to make it a reasonable 3-7 loss. Not bad for our first go!

Amazingly, our loss somehow translated to a win on the ladder. I presume that the other team forgot to pay their fees or broke the rules in one way or another, therefore giving us a 6-0 win and 6 pts (four for the win, two bonus points). Because of that, we're now sitting high and pretty on top of the ladder, although I expect a tougher match this Thursday. Nonetheless, I give the team a 6-0 for effort. Good first game guys, now all we need is discipline and organisation and we should be alright!

those who play sport

2006-03-06T18:35:00.000+11:00

to those who are involved in tim and caleb related sports teams i.e. tuesday netball and thursday soccer, could you please post match reports? it'd be good to keep everyone else up to date about how you guys are going.

I wish

2006-03-02T11:30:00.000+11:00

Hi everyone! just thought i'd post something up :D give drew a bit of a break. Hope people like this.

I wish

I wish I can unchain
the boulders dragging you down.

I wish I can hold you in my arms
and strip away your burdens.

I wish I can break down the dam,
wrench out that plug
so your tears can flow.

I wish I can bestowe upon you
sweet dreams
and see you resting with a smile.

I wish I can command the elements
so you can arise to
the sound of birds
and stormless skies

I wish I can soothe your heart,
pour fresh water over your desert.

I wish I wasn't so helpless
able to do naught but spectate.

But I will pray for you,
that one day you will find permanent comfort in His arms.

That one day you will permit Him to set you free.

That one day He will collapse the dam within you
and let loose the flood of tears.

For there is nothing I can do for you.

But for my Lord Jesus
all this, and so much more
is certainly possible.

Morievna Danaan

こんにちは！

2006-03-01T23:00:00.000+11:00

hello all

to help stop this blog from becoming another DREW blog i thought i'd say a big こんにちは！ (KONNICHIWA!) to everyone

yes indeed i'm blogging from a FREE (YES FREE!) net place in kyoto!

it has been fantastic to be here!...after all the years (9 years!) of studying jap, and all the accompanying hype, i have finally been blessed enuf to venture into the land of the rising sun for the FIRST TIME!

indeed there r many things that i expected but also many not...

i've been to kyoto, oosaka, nara, hiroshima, himeji
and am at this moment waiting for an overnight bus to take me to the famed TOKYO!

i hv been staying with a host family who have been FANTASTIC....i seriously feel part of their family...the host mum has cooked a DIFFERENT jap dinna EVERY NIGHT!

and YES i am keeping a food diary.....i have taken a foto of every meal i hv eaten here....and you will all get to see it..... and drool

i m also keeping a "ENGRISH" diary
basically fotos of signs of things which sound ok in jap...but DAMN HILARIOUS when translated into english!
gotta love them for trying tho!...helping out the gai jin (foreigner)

well it's nearly time for dinner..mm...jap food.....
so i'm off
and it's さようなら　(sayoonara) for now

VIC

chemistry one

2006-02-28T18:04:00.000+11:00

anyone out there have a copy of chemistry one (3rd edition - the current edition)? i've got a copy at work but i'd prefer to have a copy at home so that i don't have to lug it around (not that i really use it).

on other stuff...if you'd like to post on this blog, just drop an email to anyone from le petite bon bons and we'll happily add you to the members of this blog.

keep posting people! i don't want this to become the quasi-blog of drew.

thanks for the waffles

2006-02-25T09:51:00.000+11:00

the bon bons want to thank brian and alvin for their waffles and punch. they were ace and went down a treat in the heat. hope everyone enjoyed their supper as much as we did.

supper for another group

2006-02-22T22:30:00.000+11:00

just a reminder to all that each cell group is bring supper for another cell group this friday.

2006-02-17T14:57:00.000+11:00

i'm sitting in my office on a 30+ degree day with no aircon and a huge stack of paper work!! why is life so cruel??!!

well... as promised, here are a few photos from the cell leaders retreat.

The first night was...well...quite eventful to say the least. Vic, Juz, Ken and I were the first to get to the retreat in Marysville after a very nausiating car ride. At one stage, I made Vic pull over on the very winding road coz I could feel my food travelling the wrong way up my asophagus!! But it was a false alarm and after some fresh air I jumped back into the car to some very amused boys - Juz is pretty good at making vomit sound effects!

We arrived safely, and then waited for about an hour for the others to arrive. When we got sick of waiting and aimlessly squatting abnormally oversized mozzies in the dark, we called the others to find that they had all stopped for food!! Even worse, we found out that they key was just under the mat!!

We unpacked, and enjoyed exploring the 13 bed unit. That night, everyone surprised Juz and i with a birthday cake which someone had dropped on the ground!!

The focus of the retreat was cell growth. We also wanted to get to know each other a little more through some bonding activities.

We had lots of worship...

(Juz passionately playing an egg shaker)

(Greg and Vic worshipping in the great outdoors...literally!)

sharing and prayer as well as an outdoor activity.

Nancy was kind enough to drive up and give us a talk on cell leadership on Sat morning, and on Sat night Daniel gave us a talk on evangelism.

The boys were really great at bonding...even more so than the girls! They were able to bond through poker....

cleaning...

PS2....Bathing together....

and showering together....

All in all, it was a great weekend and you can all be assured that your cell leaders are as close as we'll ever be!!! Did you notice that there are only boys in all the photos??? There were 10 boys and only 3 girls...our YG is becoming very male dominated!!

Finally, just a few random pics

Juz...I was sooo tempted to put up your dreddy photo, but I know you'd kill me!!

Matt...wanted to put up your moonie photo but it would probably give our junior youth kids nightmares!!

SCUC Indoor Soccer

2006-02-13T14:19:00.000+11:00

Hey guys!

Just want to advertise for anyone interested in playing mixed indoor soccer on Tuesday nights. The venue will be Box Hill Indoor Sports Centre off Middleborough Rd.

The new season begins around the 14th March.

We need about two more girls and a few more boys to start the official SCUC team so if you're keen on knowing more, please get back to either Mandy or myself.

Anyway, have a great week!

guys in a spa

2006-02-08T17:53:00.000+11:00

i think the picture speaks for itself

welcome to the adventures of timothy and caleb

2006-02-07T20:24:00.000+11:00

welcome to those who are reading this. this is the official blog of the timothy and caleb cell groups of the south camberwell uniting church. it's been designed as an online equivalent to our monthly (or possibly bi-monthly) printed cherub fanzine. hopefully it'll be much more casual and fluid than cherub because people (mostly the cell leaders and cherub editors) will be able to add posts at any time.

the following are some of the photos from the recent cell leaders' retreat. if you want to see the dodgey male spa photos (which are hilarious by the way), i suggest you look elsewhere.

stephenson's fall

splashing about

juzzy and matty getting completely soaked

practicing before worship