Monday, October 30, 2006
Confession on my car
Many people have the impression that I have a “Mr Bean” car. I took that picture on the street and just said in the post that I had bought a car. I need to confess that the car in the picture is not mine. I wanted to see if people made the assumption that it was a picture of my car and most of you did. One person did question this and I thought that may lead others to question it too, but apparently this has not happened. The car I bought is quite different than the one in the picture. It’s very much like a large Oldsmobile. It’s a big car and gives a good ride but takes a lot of gas to run.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Mormons
A couple weeks back I was on the side of the street waiting for a couple of friends and two Mormons came to talk with me. As I saw them approaching, I prayed for guidance and started talking. They went through their normal lines and I asked some questions. As the conversation moved along, there were more and more questions they didn’t have answers for and they got to the point of admitting they didn’t have answers. Part of the conversation went a bit like this:
“My Bible says it’s complete, why are you adding to it with the book of Mormon?” “We’re not adding to it, the book of Mormon only clarifies some things that are not clear in the Bible. Many things have been lost from the original Bible so there are some things that are unclear.”
“Have any of those things been found?”
”No”
“So how can you know that they are missing?”
Blank stare
“So you’re assuming that something is missing and your filling in the blanks.”
“The book of Mormon gives further clarification of these things”
“So the book of Mormon adds to the Bible?”
“In no way does the book of Mormon add or take anything away from the Bible.”
“So what’s the point of the book of Mormon if the Bible is complete?”
“The book of Mormon clarifies things in the Bible that have been lost over time.”
“I’m not sure this makes sense. The book of Mormon adds clarification to the Bible but doesn’t add anything to it. It fills in things that have gone lost over time but these things have never been found and there’s no evidence they are actually missing.”
“There are many different denominations in the world and that is proof that the Bible has changed over time.”
“Really? Isn’t it just proof that people are not perfect and we make mistakes and misinterpret things and some things and have different preferences? The different denominations tell us something about us as people; they don’t say anything about the completeness of the Bible”
They realized my friends were now waiting for me and asked if there was a better time to come back. We arranged a meeting for two weeks later. I promised to look at the book they gave me and asked them to find answers to the questions I had asked.
Last week Saturday, we had the next meeting and they had done little homework in finding the answers. Through my reading, I was able to come up with some more questions and they were once again stumped a few times and caught contradicting what they had told me previously. The best case of this was probably on the idea of worshiping Jesus. They had told me they highly revere and respect him and he is the way to God but they worship Father God only. I made sure to clarify this in the second meeting before bringing them to a passage in their own book that said they do worship Jesus. I felt the meeting had gone fairly well. I had not pushed them or told them they were wrong but had simply asked questions to which they did not have satisfactory answers. At one point they asked me why I believe what I do. This opened up the opportunity to tell them about various things including a short lecture on why the Bible is trustworthy and accurate; going through historical and archaeological evidence as well as evidence within Scripture and personal experience.
As I was praying about the third meeting we had arranged for this past Wednesday, I felt I needed to be more aggressive in my approach. When we met, the two of them basically asked me why I was meeting with them and tried to cut off our contact (I can only guess it was because they had asked their church leaders some of the questions and the leaders had told them to not see me anymore). I asked them if it was because they had a true message, I was going to hell, but they didn’t care; or if it was because they were concerned that maybe they were wrong and I might point them to that and they didn’t want to face that possibility. I thought this question was about as aggressive as I could get. At one point they commented that we were just going back to the same questions all the time so I just told them “That’s because you haven’t answered them!” We talked for another half hour and when it looked like the end had come, I asked them to do me a favour. I have an assignment for one of my classes where I have to talk with someone outside the Christian church explaining one of our beliefs and get feedback on whether I explained it in terms they could understand. After only a little convincing, they agreed and I had a few minutes completely uninterrupted to share with them the doctrine of salvation. They have not yet decided to believe but they did tell me the understood completely what I said. When I got that assignment, I wasn’t sure how I would get it done because of my very limited contact with non-church people but in the end it created an open door to share the message of Jesus Christ with some people who needed to here the truth! Thank you God, for that doctrine assignment!!!
“My Bible says it’s complete, why are you adding to it with the book of Mormon?” “We’re not adding to it, the book of Mormon only clarifies some things that are not clear in the Bible. Many things have been lost from the original Bible so there are some things that are unclear.”
“Have any of those things been found?”
”No”
“So how can you know that they are missing?”
Blank stare
“So you’re assuming that something is missing and your filling in the blanks.”
“The book of Mormon gives further clarification of these things”
“So the book of Mormon adds to the Bible?”
“In no way does the book of Mormon add or take anything away from the Bible.”
“So what’s the point of the book of Mormon if the Bible is complete?”
“The book of Mormon clarifies things in the Bible that have been lost over time.”
“I’m not sure this makes sense. The book of Mormon adds clarification to the Bible but doesn’t add anything to it. It fills in things that have gone lost over time but these things have never been found and there’s no evidence they are actually missing.”
“There are many different denominations in the world and that is proof that the Bible has changed over time.”
“Really? Isn’t it just proof that people are not perfect and we make mistakes and misinterpret things and some things and have different preferences? The different denominations tell us something about us as people; they don’t say anything about the completeness of the Bible”
They realized my friends were now waiting for me and asked if there was a better time to come back. We arranged a meeting for two weeks later. I promised to look at the book they gave me and asked them to find answers to the questions I had asked.
Last week Saturday, we had the next meeting and they had done little homework in finding the answers. Through my reading, I was able to come up with some more questions and they were once again stumped a few times and caught contradicting what they had told me previously. The best case of this was probably on the idea of worshiping Jesus. They had told me they highly revere and respect him and he is the way to God but they worship Father God only. I made sure to clarify this in the second meeting before bringing them to a passage in their own book that said they do worship Jesus. I felt the meeting had gone fairly well. I had not pushed them or told them they were wrong but had simply asked questions to which they did not have satisfactory answers. At one point they asked me why I believe what I do. This opened up the opportunity to tell them about various things including a short lecture on why the Bible is trustworthy and accurate; going through historical and archaeological evidence as well as evidence within Scripture and personal experience.
As I was praying about the third meeting we had arranged for this past Wednesday, I felt I needed to be more aggressive in my approach. When we met, the two of them basically asked me why I was meeting with them and tried to cut off our contact (I can only guess it was because they had asked their church leaders some of the questions and the leaders had told them to not see me anymore). I asked them if it was because they had a true message, I was going to hell, but they didn’t care; or if it was because they were concerned that maybe they were wrong and I might point them to that and they didn’t want to face that possibility. I thought this question was about as aggressive as I could get. At one point they commented that we were just going back to the same questions all the time so I just told them “That’s because you haven’t answered them!” We talked for another half hour and when it looked like the end had come, I asked them to do me a favour. I have an assignment for one of my classes where I have to talk with someone outside the Christian church explaining one of our beliefs and get feedback on whether I explained it in terms they could understand. After only a little convincing, they agreed and I had a few minutes completely uninterrupted to share with them the doctrine of salvation. They have not yet decided to believe but they did tell me the understood completely what I said. When I got that assignment, I wasn’t sure how I would get it done because of my very limited contact with non-church people but in the end it created an open door to share the message of Jesus Christ with some people who needed to here the truth! Thank you God, for that doctrine assignment!!!
Christmas is coming
How weird it is to be walking down a sidewalk in shorts and a t-shirt and hear Christmas music coming out from a store. Isn’t it a bit early for that? The snow hasn’t come down yet, I don’t have to plug in my car, and I haven’t even seen frost on the ground in the morning when I get up. Yep, it’s definitely too early. But not so, said the store manager. And all the other stores agree. They haven’t all started playing the music, but they’ve been putting out the merchandise for a while now and for the retail world, Christmas is starting. A friend of mine works in a clothing store and was told she could buy clothing at 50% off for her husband any time and for her friends over Christmas and the other day I was in there and her boss said she could give me the discount (neither of us had asked, I had just been introduced as a friend).
Monday, October 23, 2006
Plumpton School project
Here are some pictures from the school renovation project. In the end we had about $150,000 donated for this project and had 2,300 church people out for the event along with some teachers and students from the school and members of the local police force – not to mention the people and time involved in preparing for the event. One of the students from the school said he realizes now that he needs to work on transforming lives of other students like the school has been transformed and make this a lasting change.
This hallway was a little worse than most hallways in the school but it was still quite typical of what we saw coming in.
Over a hundred people were out on Thursday prepping the school for the rush of people on Saturday. This was typical scene for the afternoon.
I wasn’t quite sure what to think about this one. On Thursday as we were prepping the school, I came across this. Did they think we would actually paint the computer??? Actually I know better (they were making signs for some rooms that they didn’t want painted) but it made for an interesting picture…
Graffiti removal team
A typical hallway as the work was being done
In addition to the inside of the school, professional landscapers were brought in to oversee some outside work. A bunch of trees were removed and an ugly brush was turned into a nice lawn with new sod, new pathways, and flowers and shrubs. By the end, it looked like a nice park that just needs some time and water to get settled in.
One of the classrooms at the end. I’m not sure why, but the blog is not allowing me to post more picture to this entry so I’ll just leave it. This classroom is now typical of the rest of the school.
This hallway was a little worse than most hallways in the school but it was still quite typical of what we saw coming in.
Over a hundred people were out on Thursday prepping the school for the rush of people on Saturday. This was typical scene for the afternoon.
I wasn’t quite sure what to think about this one. On Thursday as we were prepping the school, I came across this. Did they think we would actually paint the computer??? Actually I know better (they were making signs for some rooms that they didn’t want painted) but it made for an interesting picture…
Graffiti removal team
A typical hallway as the work was being done
In addition to the inside of the school, professional landscapers were brought in to oversee some outside work. A bunch of trees were removed and an ugly brush was turned into a nice lawn with new sod, new pathways, and flowers and shrubs. By the end, it looked like a nice park that just needs some time and water to get settled in.
One of the classrooms at the end. I’m not sure why, but the blog is not allowing me to post more picture to this entry so I’ll just leave it. This classroom is now typical of the rest of the school.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Beach pictures
I was invited to take a day off with some friends so we went to the city and also spent some time at Bondi Beach.
Far left, facing the ocean is Stephen (also in picture below). Next to him and looking very cold is Ryan, another fellow Canadian. Then is Paula, the lone American with us this particular day (she’s been learning the Canadian national anthem!!!) Next, in the pants with wet pant legs (with a face you can’t see in the picture) is Amy, Ryan’s wife. And the girl in the white shirt on the right side is Coral from South Africa.
We had heard the weather forecast and hoped it was as wrong as it often is in Canada. Unfortunately we were wrong; but we had a great day anyways. I got some very interesting color on my arms by the end of the day – actually I should say arm (singular) because one of my arms got a really mild sunburn and the other got nothing at all. It looks like I spent the day with one side of me facing the sun.
Apparently some people are having a hard time believing I’m actually in Australia because there have been no pictures of me on my blog so I made a point of taking one on one of the most recognized areas around here. Like my hat? I bought it one day when I was away from home and expecting to be indoors most of the day and found out when I got to my destination that I would be outside all day in 36 degree weather with hot sunshine. The other guy in the picture is Stephen, a fellow Canadian. He also happens to be one of the few other guys here who have some sense of cleanliness. I'm actually hoping to move out of my current apartment and rent a house together with Stephen, Ryan and Amy (in picture above) and one other couple. If it works out as planned, we will be living in a spacious house closer to school and paying less rent. Looks like we won’t be able to do this until after Christmas but hopefully it works out then.I’ve had a question here for a long time about the sun. When you’re at risk of sunburn more quickly, the UV index is raised. In Manitoba, a UV index of 7 is about as high as we get on a hot summer day and that is officially called high; so with the hotter climate here, I wondered if the same scale was used. I found out that the same index is used and we are just in a higher category. Yesterday was not a hot day and the sun was blocked by a lot of cloud (see pictures of cold people) but even so the UV index was 9. I have yet to find out what it is on a hot and sunny day.
Lest you start to think I’m here for a holiday, I’m still very busy with school and church. I’ve been spending time this week doing assignments and even on this day off, I did some homework. I’ve also been asked to become a connect group leader. I met the pastor in charge of this the other day and after talking for 2 minutes or less, he suggested it. Within 4 hours, he had told my connect leader about our conversation and she talked with me about it too. About a week later (yesterday) he had his assistant call me to talk with me about it. I will likely be taking up this challenge starting after Christmas with some preparation beforehand.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Summer/Winter
It's 6:30 AM and I just opened the window to let in a cool breeze since its quite warm inside and much to my disappointment, it makes basically no difference. I take some condolence in hearing about the weather conditions back home because yesterday I spent most of the day including the hottest three hours standing outside at an entrance to a youth event. We hit 36 degrees Celsius with virtually no wind - and the hot weather isn't even here yet...Then I find out that the forecast was right for my homeland and you had snow - up to two feet in one area! Thank you for sharing some of you weather information with me. It helps me appreciate the heat out here! Today, I'm heading out to a local high school to work on a renovation project the church is doing. We've got over $100,000 worth of money and materials donated and are expecting over 2,000 people working on it today. The plan is that the students will hardly recognize their school when they get back on Monday and if the previous projects like this are any indication (today's is the biggest yet) there will be a complete transformation by the end of the day.
I just thought of it, that's a great illustration of how Christ wants to come in and completely transform our lives. Just like only some schools accept the offer to be transformed, so only some people accept Christ's offer. In this school, there are some classrooms we are being told not to fix, in the same way, even those of us who are allowing Christ to change our lives have areas we try to keep Him out of. Just like our church has put a big investment and a lot of people into this project, so it is with Christ investing in us and putting many people into our lives. Just like the renovation offer is the initiative of the church and not of the school, so Salvation is the initiative of Christ and not of us. Just like it is offered completely free; with no strings attached, so is salvation. Just like the it takes work on the part of the school people to maintain what’s being done today, so we need to continually work at improving out lives even after Christ does the work in us.
I’m sure there’s more comparisons and I know these fall short of bringing out the truth of what God has done for us but hopefully it helps someone to realize a little more of the reality of Salvation.
I just thought of it, that's a great illustration of how Christ wants to come in and completely transform our lives. Just like only some schools accept the offer to be transformed, so only some people accept Christ's offer. In this school, there are some classrooms we are being told not to fix, in the same way, even those of us who are allowing Christ to change our lives have areas we try to keep Him out of. Just like our church has put a big investment and a lot of people into this project, so it is with Christ investing in us and putting many people into our lives. Just like the renovation offer is the initiative of the church and not of the school, so Salvation is the initiative of Christ and not of us. Just like it is offered completely free; with no strings attached, so is salvation. Just like the it takes work on the part of the school people to maintain what’s being done today, so we need to continually work at improving out lives even after Christ does the work in us.
I’m sure there’s more comparisons and I know these fall short of bringing out the truth of what God has done for us but hopefully it helps someone to realize a little more of the reality of Salvation.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Thanksgiving
Two thanksgiving parties in a country that doesn't even know what the holiday is... Now that's how to start influencing another land. I had one on Saturday with a small gruop of some of my better friends then had another one on Monday with about 25 other Canadians. They were both great and I had to make sure I didn't eat too much on Sunday because of the two days of feasting before and after. I've got details below of the one on Monday but thought I'd put a link http://ryamy.blogspot.com/ to another blog where one of my friends here has posted details about the one on Saturday (From his perspective).
We had a Canadian Thanksgiving party on Monday which we all really enjoyed. It was great to be together with people from my homeland who ask where you’re from and mean which province – and it means something to them when you answer; who know my national anthem and more importantly, the theme song for Hockey Night in Canada J; who speak somewhat similar to me; who know what a toonie is; and who have some idea what snow is all about. In this meeting I was actually able to play the Mennonite Game!!! The closest connection I found was that I know part of the family of one of the girls’ uncles but she knew my home town and has some friends living in the Osler and Warman area!
The most important thing for a Canadian Thanksgiving party is food, and specifically dessert; at least that’s the conclusion I’ve come to since we had a potluck lunch and had just enough regular food but lots of extra desserts.
Notice the pie with "EH" on it...I was told you can't find pumpkin in Australia and most people here have missed pumpkin pie for a long time so I found pumpkin and made a few pies!!!! They were the best pies I've ever had - or maybe they just reminded me of home.
What's anything about Canada without Tim Hortons Coffee?!!! No, I didn't have any, but it sure felt more like home and many others almost thought they were in heaven
Some of the people decided to act like they were in a parade and started "playing the bagpipes" by plugging their noses, making a horrendous sound through their mouths, and hitting their throats at the same time. It sounded about as good as the real bagpipes - don't believe me? I got a video I can show you when I get home.
This man is amazing! He's actually an Australian but he has a heart for Canada like no one I know. God has just laid a burden in him for my home country. He's never seen an NHL hockey game but ask him a question about hockey and he can talk for hours. He knows more stats about the NHL and CFL than most Canadians. Even though He's not from our country, he was invited to our party and I've dubbed him the honorary Canadian.
We had a Canadian Thanksgiving party on Monday which we all really enjoyed. It was great to be together with people from my homeland who ask where you’re from and mean which province – and it means something to them when you answer; who know my national anthem and more importantly, the theme song for Hockey Night in Canada J; who speak somewhat similar to me; who know what a toonie is; and who have some idea what snow is all about. In this meeting I was actually able to play the Mennonite Game!!! The closest connection I found was that I know part of the family of one of the girls’ uncles but she knew my home town and has some friends living in the Osler and Warman area!
The most important thing for a Canadian Thanksgiving party is food, and specifically dessert; at least that’s the conclusion I’ve come to since we had a potluck lunch and had just enough regular food but lots of extra desserts.
Notice the pie with "EH" on it...I was told you can't find pumpkin in Australia and most people here have missed pumpkin pie for a long time so I found pumpkin and made a few pies!!!! They were the best pies I've ever had - or maybe they just reminded me of home.
What's anything about Canada without Tim Hortons Coffee?!!! No, I didn't have any, but it sure felt more like home and many others almost thought they were in heaven
Some of the people decided to act like they were in a parade and started "playing the bagpipes" by plugging their noses, making a horrendous sound through their mouths, and hitting their throats at the same time. It sounded about as good as the real bagpipes - don't believe me? I got a video I can show you when I get home.
This man is amazing! He's actually an Australian but he has a heart for Canada like no one I know. God has just laid a burden in him for my home country. He's never seen an NHL hockey game but ask him a question about hockey and he can talk for hours. He knows more stats about the NHL and CFL than most Canadians. Even though He's not from our country, he was invited to our party and I've dubbed him the honorary Canadian.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Snake in picture "Day off" post
OK, I've kept you curious long enough. I have to admit the snake was fake. It was in the wildlife park in a hallway and I thought it could give a good picture. However, there are snakes in this country that do get to that size and I'm hoping I don't meet one up close and personal.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Blue Mountains hike
I had a chance to go for a hike in the mountains. When I was invited, I had the understanding it would not be a very difficult hike. When I got to the meeting place to head out, I was asked if I was going "bushwalking" and by the time we were done I had climbed down and back up many hundreds of feet along narrow trails with "stairs" made of rocks in the path, some of which were challenging enough I needed to help some of the other (shorter) people to make it down. We spent 3 hours walking in some incredible scenery. It was so good. 
View from the top of the highest point in the Blue Mountains. The reason they are called the Blue Mountains is the blue haze you see from a distance (like in this picture). The haze is caused by oil coming out of the leaves of the Eucalyptus trees that cover the mountains.
We walked down to the bottom of this canyon on the other side of the mountain then walked back up to the point this picture was taken from. Although the mountains are very small compared to the Rocky Mountains, the views are still spectacular and the views along the trail were amazing.
There were many views like this as we walked along the bottom. There were also many rocks haning over the trail and some caves along the way making for some interesting sites and a few heads being bumped along the way.
This was one of the most beautiful sights I've seen. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it's the best I could get. It's a small stream about half way through our walk; right at the bottom of the canyon.
It was a tiring walk but well worth it. I was really energized by being out in the fresh air, away from the 4 million people of Sydney, enjoying God's great creation with a small group of friends. Given the chance to do it again, I will jump at the opportunity!
View from the top of the highest point in the Blue Mountains. The reason they are called the Blue Mountains is the blue haze you see from a distance (like in this picture). The haze is caused by oil coming out of the leaves of the Eucalyptus trees that cover the mountains.
We walked down to the bottom of this canyon on the other side of the mountain then walked back up to the point this picture was taken from. Although the mountains are very small compared to the Rocky Mountains, the views are still spectacular and the views along the trail were amazing.
There were many views like this as we walked along the bottom. There were also many rocks haning over the trail and some caves along the way making for some interesting sites and a few heads being bumped along the way.
This was one of the most beautiful sights I've seen. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it's the best I could get. It's a small stream about half way through our walk; right at the bottom of the canyon.
It was a tiring walk but well worth it. I was really energized by being out in the fresh air, away from the 4 million people of Sydney, enjoying God's great creation with a small group of friends. Given the chance to do it again, I will jump at the opportunity!
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