Well this weekend I will be traveling back up to Coolum for the Gathering.  


The Gathering is the south Queensland big event.  3 days of seminars and sessions.  It sounds like it will be fun.  Plus the upside is I get to see some of the other leaders from camp. 


I'm going up early this afternoon with Greg Baker (Stan's son) and we might hang out on the beach or just walk around Coolum.


I just got over being sick and the place I'm staying in is like camp.  A whole bunch of bunks in the same room.  So I'm a little apprehensive about it, I'm a little scared I might catch another cold.  So pray that I don't.  That would make me really sad :(


Played a game of Heroscape last night.  It came down to two characters and I barely lost.  


I got wiped out in Settlers this week too.  On Monday I played with my friends Matt and Michelle.  We played at a coffee shop down in Redcliffe.  It was really nice, kinda reminded me of being home.  Anyway, I lost big time.  Two games in a row!  It was a disaster.  


Well anyway that is enough for today.  More after the Gathering.  

encouragement

Today has been a good day so far.

I got about 7 this morning to get over to Hungry Jacks (Burger King) for the Wednesday pastors meeting. The local pastors get together weekly to discuss community and world issues. We talk about the church, about events that are going on in the area and plan for the future. It really is a great time of fellowship.

After that I went home briefly, did my bible reading for the day and then I came out here.

It was encouraging to get so many emails in response to my newsletter. Encouragement was definitely needed this week.

I started reading Blue like Jazz again. I really love that book but as I was reading it again I realized...there are things I don't like about me. And that is really frustrating at 24 because you feel so...locked in to who you are.

I just started getting really frustrated with myself, my walk with God and God himself. I've been in a pretty crappy mood actually. Irritable is probably a better word for it.

So that has been going on for a couple days. The thing I think that has irritated me the most is the road system of Australia. I'm just going to get this off my chest.

The Australia infrastructure is crap!!!!

You can't make a right hand turn in Caboolture. You have to drive another block to do a U-Turn at a light and the lights go way too quick. It is just frustrating. The highways have no discernible pattern to them. I really believe that who ever designed the layout of the road system here must have gone to the same school as the guy from Atlanta DOT. Seriously, it is terrible. I know the world makes fun of Americans for being stupid, Australians do it a lot. But one thing we do have going for us is a great road system. I mean it really is genius. Odd numbered highways go North and South. Even goes East and West. Simple. Thank you Dwight. D. Eisenhower! Can't you tell how frustrated it has made me? It really has gotten under my skin. Haha and now I end this rant!

One of the other things that I am frustrated by right now is the concept of success. What does it mean to be successful in ministry. I just really don't know. The only answer I feel it should be is seeing people meet Jesus and developing a relationship with Him. But honestly at times I feel like that even though that is the right answer...I'm wrong and about to be told no thats is not what it is and then I'm going to have to sit through a long lesson on what ministry success is. That just rubs me wrong. And i feel so unsuccessful and like I'm doing nothing at times. It is just really taxing on the soul.

So yeah. That is today. Frustrated and soul tired.

So pray for that.

Thanks for the encouragement

out of it

I want to apologize for the length of time that has passed between my last post and this one. There have been a number of factors involved in the reason why.

1. I've been sick. It was nasty. I just laid in bed for like 4 days. I hate not doing anything, but that is honestly what I did.
2. I honestly didn't have too much to write about
3. I was preparing a sermon. Thats about the only thing I did while I was in bed. I even neglected my newsletter while I was down. My newsletter should be hitting your inboxes on Monday morning.

Stan is sick today so we aren't going to have a Monday morning meeting. I'm sitting in my favorite parking lot doing my thing.

The only thing that has happened of really any significance over the last couple of days is I have developed an attitude with myself. There has been a little verbal sparing match going on between me and my brain. I've been a little frustrated about a couple things and keep yelling about it in my brain. I should be okay eventually but...prayer would be nice too.

I still don't really have a routine here. It is kinda hard to establish something like that. Everything I do here is mostly spur of the moment, oh yea that is a great idea, lets do that kinda thing.

I will probably be going to visit some church folk in a little bit. I hope I don't get re-sick. That would probably make the screaming in my head get really loud and I really don't want that.

My friends Hank and Kristie are moving out of our old apt and into a house! Thats awesome. They are busy moving and stuff but I hope to see pictures soon.

anyway. gonna run.

My South Korean friends

This blog is coming to you from a dark parking lot across from the Caboolture library. Don't ask.

Today was kinda a blah day. I tried to stay up and watch the Dream Team vs China game. Stupid TV schedule.

Yesterday was a pretty great day. After church I went home and had a quick sandwich. I then headed to the local park, my Korean friends invited me to come play basketball. It was three guys from my Bible study group and three of their house mates. I am terrible at basketball but i managed to make a few shots. We played for an hour or so and then sat around and talked and then we kicked a soccer ball around.

Later we drove into Brisbane to see the Doulos. The Doulos is a ship that sails around the world with a Christian crew. They distribute books and do work in many different countries. We took my small group to tour the ship. We had 9 go and we all had a great time. On the way home me and my guys talked about basketball, specifically the '92 Dream Team. The one with MJ on it. Koreans seem to know about Michael Jordan and North Carolina pretty well (Take that Duke). So i decided to invite them over for snacks and to watch the Olympics tonight.

Yes, I'm watching the Olympics. I decided to for many reasons one of which...China doesn't care if I don't watch. I think the reason for my blog about all that stuff was. 1. I think what is going on there is wrong. 2. Wish I could do something to change it. 3. Have come to the realization that as Christians we can change things. Politicians and government follows the direction of the wind and if we change the direction of the wind....they will be forced to follow it. Example: Martin Luther King Jr. getting LBJ to come through with the Civil Rights Act.

That whole thing over there bothers me as I know it bothers a great many believers and other people as well. I just wanted to be a voice, to offer a position or even an idea. I mean anything really, a personal view of the situation but I realize the media has over saturated us with that already. I just wanted to maybe start a good breeze. But the games are on and there isn't anything we can do now....and plus...I have asthma...I don't create breezes...I wheeze. Anyway, I digress.

So I had my friends over and we had chips and sat around and watched the different events for a bit. We also got the chance to just hang out. We talked about all kinds of different things. We talked about North Korean and China, pollution, school, money, cars, freedom and interestingly enough military service. See what I didn't know is that every South Korean male at the age of 22 has to serve in the military for 2 years. They said it was very boring and they have forgotten most of their training now. They laughed about that. I'm hanging out with South Korean Army Veterans!

Wow! So they told me about that for a bit. They talked about how North Korea is very poor and the people have no freedom. It was strange to see one of them mime holding a gun to explain that is what happens in North Korea. People are executed. They said that a lot of people don't believe in God. Very bad place is what they said.

One of the guys was on the phone with his sister. They talked for a bit and he asked me if I wanted to talk to her. So I did. I was surprised to hear a person with very good English skills on the other end. Turns out she goes to school in South Carolina. Interestingly enough...she goes to Bob Jones. Her brother told her I live in NC, I explained to her that I am from NC and I live in Clemson. We talked for a few minutes about things and then I let her talk to her bro some more.

How cool is that. I'm an American leading a Bible study for South Koreans in Australia and one of their family members is in America and lives not far from where I do! God is crazy, crazy awesome. The last thing she told me to do was to pray for her brother. Heavy stuff.

Talk about a six degrees of separation moment.

Talk about a God moment.

So we watched the TV some more and I took them home. They have to get up and pick strawberries.

It has been a lot of fun getting to know them. Pray for me and for them.

Well...I'm tired and its only 10:45...I'm getting old.

highs and lows

Well after many days of not writing I thought I would.

It has been a good week. Today is my "day off". Do you ever really get one in ministry? I'm actually having lunch with a guy that used to come to our church that Stan was watching out for. Tough family situation and we are just trying to stay in touch with the kid. Good kid, the first time I met him he was wearing an Atlanta Braves hat...I gotta give him points for that.

Fuel consumption is eating my budget like none other. I have 190 bucks budget for gas and at this point I want a bike. I drive all over the place. Mainly because I'm in Caboolture which requires you to drive everywhere. Probably the most frustrating thing is that everything is expensive. Gas, food, everything. I assume that the Aussie cost of living is higher and therefor they also get paid more. I however am on a fixed budget. Ah well you make do.

The only good thing is that my dollar has significantly gained more worth over the last week. It was .96 to a US dollar. Now it is .88 to a US dollar. So my wealth has increased....YAY!!! Go US economy go!!!! This just in, the DOW dropped 200 points...sigh. So long temporary wealth.

Australia is a beautiful country. You have city but once you get out...its wild again. And even in the cites it is all too common to see a kangaroo crossing sign. Everything is just spread out.

It is getting warmer here which is very nice. They don't have daylight savings time here, but New South Wales does. Odd. They need to step into the 21st century and get with the program. Some Aussies like it, some don't.

The Olympics start today. I was watching the news this morning and a famous Aussie swimmer gave her reasons for not going to China.
1. Her asthma
2. Her issue with the human rights there. She'd been twice before.

She is still gonna watch the Olympics though and guess what so am I. Poop on you China! You're gonna get beat anyway, Yao Ming doesn't have any skills. But he is really tall!

Lord of the Rings is a good book. Still like the movies better so far. Mainly because the movies cut out the pages and pages of prose and just get to the punch. Still amazingly written.

Working on a sermon series. I am enjoying that. More on that soon.

Taking my South Korean small group to Brisbane Sunday afternoon. That is going to be a lot of fun.

Well I think that is enough for today. Laters

Human rights and the Olympic Games

I promised something of substance…here we go.

The Olympic Games are coming up soon. In about 10 days the greatest athletes of many nations will be on the world stage displaying their stuff. The media is in a frenzy of activity over this event, the first in China’s history. The American media has been showing programs about the human rights issues there for over half a year now.

China is now on display for the whole world to see.

China has really tried to put a positive spin on the Olympic Games, to show the outside world a beautiful, powerful, unified and positive China. It has done a good job, but the people who want the world to know that is an illusion have done a better one. Maybe winning the bid for the Games way back in 2001 was a good thing for the Chinese people. Maybe, this will draw the much-needed spot light on the Communist Regime.

There are real human rights issues in China and they can’t sweep them under the rug any longer. More than just America and Australia realize this.

I know many people care and realize this isn’t right, but what do we do?

I am issuing a challenge to anyone who reads my blog.

Boycott the games! Do not watch them on TV! If the IOC (International Olympic Committee) is going to allow this to go on then we have to do something. We have to show them it matters to us. Ratings matter big time.

I know that is hard, believe me I want to watch the games. I mean who do I cheer for this year? America or Australia? I want to watch them and if nobody thinks it will accomplish anything I will think of something else to do, but China wants us to watch and forget that all around that city people are being silenced by force.

People are held for petitioning the government for injustices done to them. You cannot speak against the government for fear of reprisals. Families are broken, homes are stolen and the spirit of the people has been crushed. China is building an image and a society unopposed on the broken backs and spirit of its people.

Do we just overlook this and hope for the best?

What do we do?

Can we ignore our conscience?

We know there is something wrong and it is not the media spinning un-truths. There is no more doubt for me that the Communist Regime of China is oppressing its people.

Dialog with me about this. Post comments here.

Time to take action.

random thoughts

This is just several random thoughts that have shot through my mind over the last day or so.

Enjoy.

I am really want the Boston Red Sox to get into the playoffs again this year. They look good, but seem to be struggling. As for Manny's recent trade tirade. I have this to say.

The Red Sox have upheld every agreement the have had with the ball player. They have showed him favor after favor. And he does this crap again! What they need to do is send a message and trade the bum. Yes, I know there are Red Sox fans that probably disagree with me (Heath, maybe even Rob) I realize that he is one of the hottest bats we have. But lets be realistic here, if he keeps pulling this...I am hurting I don't want to play stuff it is going to do damage to the team. And lets also be realistic here, we are a championship team...people want to play in Boston now.

Personally, I love Big Papi, YooooK, Tek and the rest of the team, to me they are the epitome of a team. I have enjoyed watching Manny play, but he has never been concerned or even cared about the team. The rest of the team does. We will survive without Manny Ramirez, we certainly did without Nomar.

Also, I would like to cite Peter Gammon's Blog.

I agree with him 100%.

whew, baseball rant done!

What is up with the weather in Queensland. Isn't this place called the Sunshine State? My travel agent tricked me! Nah, I'm kidding, I love it here. Things are great, different, but great.

I miss people back home like none other. You really don't realize how much people are apart of your life until you leave them on another continent. Thanks for all the support and comments.

I saw a Kangaroo on Sunday!!!!

I drove out to Bribie Island which is 20 minute away and the surfing bug hit me again. So, sometime soon I gotta go surfing. Anyone got a spare board lying around?

I haven't written anything about The Dark Knight. It was incredible. The wait was well worth it. Cast was amazing, Academy Award winning performances that will probably get snubbed by the academy. What do they know anyway, Titanic got best picture. All the boat did was sink. Who doesn't know that story?

I really need to get a bike.

Did I mention I drove a motorcycle? Yeah, I feel the need, the need for speed. The wheels are turning on a far future purchase. Never thought I'd actually consider that. Gas mileage is great! Safety, not so much.

Well, maybe I'll do a random thoughts part deux tomorrow. I promise I'll actually write about significant things.