Bible Verse of the Day

But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.  Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time.  After that, have nothing to do with him.
Titus 3:9-11

A Timely Rebuke

There has been a fair bit of discussion about the end of the world lately. American Harold Camping predicted the earth's last day would be the 21st May 2011, and now there's Alan John Miller and Mary Suzanne Luck from Queensland who are claiming to be Jesus and Mary Magdalene returned to earth (and have atttracted a number of followers).

While we can say those people are nutcases, Carolyn McCulley from Radical Womanhood offers a timely rebuke to those who of us who claim to be Christians and say we believe Jesus will return.....but live like He never will.

Read her post here.

The Winner is Sydney

The countdown is on!  Duncan and I fly to Sydney this Friday.

When deciding where we would like to go this year, Sydney was the winner for a number of reasons.  Neither of us have been to Australia's most populous city before, plus we have friends who moved there from Perth at the start of the year.  They are studying at Bible college and we want to encourage them and give them the joy of seeing some familiar faces.

We will be gone for about five days and will be staying with our friends on campus at the college in their tiny apartment.  That's one reason why our trip will be short.  We can't afford hotels and eating out all the time, and we figured our friends might get sick of us if we stayed any longer.

But don't nobody go nowhere.  Scheduled posting will be in full swing (I hope).

So Sydneyites or those who have been to Sydney.....where should we go and what should we do? 
What are the must sees (besides the bridge and Opera House) in a short period of time?

Image is from http://www.freestockphotography.com.au/

Remembrance and Resemblance

Six months ago today I said goodbye to my dear Nan.

I'm aware that as time goes by memories may fade.  I still want to remember the touch of her hand, what it felt like to give her a hug, her voice....I don't ever want to forget.

I felt her absence most on my birthday.  I kept thinking there would be a card from her when I checked the mailbox.

Sometimes when Duncan and I are in Albany and my family sit down to dinner, it feels to me that we are like a pizza with a piece missing.

Life goes on, life is still good, but we still miss her and always will.

(I've been told I look a lot like her.  Here we both are at 17).

5 Books That Changed Who I Am

Thanks Meredith and Karen for tagging me.  I love quizzy meme thingies. :)

This one I actually found quite hard because it is asking me to list books that actually CHANGED who I am - not merely books I enjoyed.  I have read plenty of books that I enjoyed immensely, but they didn't change who I am.

I'm not going to include the Bible in the five because I think that's a given.

1.  Promoting the Gospel by John Dickson

God drew me to this book in 2005 when I was still recovering from a very low period in my life from the previous year.  I had started to feel that I wasn't a true Christian because evangelism scared me silly, and it was at a camp bookstall that this book caught my eye.  Written in Dickson's usual down-to-earth style, this book breaths grace on every page by showing that there are many ways to promote the gospel, and that we are all part of the body of Christ - different yet with the same mission.  It brought me great comfort and encouragement and I plan to do a proper review on this blog later.

2.  Unpacking Forgiveness by Chris Brauns

Another book God used to help me.  For the past few years I'd been concerned and sceptical about the strong belief in what Brauns calls 'therapeutic forgiveness' - that is forgiveness offered without repentance.  This book will challenge many people and some people won't like it for that reason, but it is very biblical and practical.  It was just what I needed after a conflict-ridden past few years.  I'll review this one properly as well when I get it back from a friend who has borrowed it.

3.  No Compromise: The Life Story of Keith Green by Melody Green and David Hazard

This is one biography I cannot stop thinking about.  As confronting as he is inspiring, Keith's life and passion for God continues to challenge me.  He shows me how far short I fall, but that we serve a gracious God.  I found myself nodding as he journeys through a series of thoughts, sometimes swinging too far to the side of judgementalism, because I've been there myself.  I was inspired by the way he and his wife, Melody, took in so many homeless and drug-addicted people, showed them love and told them the gospel.  It makes me realise how addicted to comfort I am and challenges me to believe that nothing is impossible with God.  Read my review here.

4.  Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges

I admit I picked up this book because I felt sure it would be a great book to give to Christians who I considered to be annoying hypocrites, but when I read it, I felt it challenging me and stripping me of my pride.  The book shows how different our standard of holiness is compared to God's.  Bridges writes in such a way to show us how serious sin is (even the things we don't consider to be sin, such as gossip, anxiety etc), but he also writes 'from the trenches' as he shares the struggles from his own battles with sin.  The book showed me that we have a holy God.....but also a God who is committed to refining His people.  Read my review here.

5.  Looking For Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

Fiction doesn't usually make as big an impact on me as non-fiction, but this is probably the book that has impacted me the most.  I saw the movie when I was in Year 12 and read the book after I graduated.  Although I've never suffered racist taunts, I found myself being able to relate to Josie's struggles of not fitting in (she is Australian-born, but of Italian heritage).  Like Josie, I care too much of what other people think of me and burden myself with trying to live up to their expectations.  Josie's coming of age at the end of the book is something I often remember when I feel like a dork.  Some people like to feed off other people's insecurities so the key is not to give them that opportunity.  I may not be popular, but I have the best friends in the whole wide world.

Now, this is a meme so I get to tag a few people at this point. Here are the rules.

• Tag between 3 and 5 people
• Link back to this post
• Call the post ’5 books that changed who I am’
• Enjoy

I tag Iris, Bek and Jenny.

Quote of the Day

All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware.
- Martin Buber

Be Thou My Vision translated by Mary E Byrne

Despite the things that have gone wrong over the past six months, something has become very clear to me - I've lost my focus.  I've been so worried about the different challenges I've faced that I've taken my eyes away from God.  Instead of prayer being my first port of call, it's often been the last as I've prioritised doctors' appointments, phone calls and other things that I assume will 'fix' the problem.  Being the new person, it's very easy to try and make fitting in your priority.  There's nothing wrong with taking action, but my first action should have been to kneel before my Heavenly Father. 

This song is my prayer that I will see things through God's eyes and make Him my vision.

Be Thou my vision, o Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my wisdom, thou my true word;
I ever with Thee, Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father; I thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

Be Thou my battle shield, sword for my fight,
Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight.
Thou my soul's shelter, Thou my high tower.
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
Thou and thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heav'n's Son!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O ruler of all.