words from spurgie

Just wanted to share with you all some choice words from my old buddy Charles Spurgeon. I couldn't agree more with how he puts this and I think it's a lesson worth learning.

"Avoid foolish questions."

Titus 3:9

Our days are few, and are far better spent in doing good, than in disputing over matters which are, at best, of minor importance. The old schoolmen did a world of mischief by their incessant discussion of subjects of no practical importance; and our Churches suffer much from petty wars over abstruse points and unimportant questions. After everything has been said that can be said, neither party is any the wiser, and therefore the discussion no more promotes knowledge than love, and it is foolish to sow in so barren a field. Questions upon points wherein Scripture is silent; upon mysteries which belong to God alone; upon prophecies of doubtful interpretation; and upon mere modes of observing human ceremonials, are all foolish, and wise men avoid them. Our business is neither to ask nor answer foolish questions, but to avoid them altogether; and if we observe the apostle's precept (Titus 3:8) to be careful to maintain good works, we shall find ourselves far too much occupied with profitable business to take much interest in unworthy, contentious, and needless strivings.

There are, however, some questions which are the reverse of foolish, which we must not avoid, but fairly and honestly meet, such as these: Do I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Am I renewed in the spirit of my mind? Am I walking not after the flesh, but after the Spirit? Am I growing in grace? Does my conversation adorn the doctrine of God my Saviour? Am I looking for the coming of the Lord, and watching as a servant should do who expects his master? What more can I do for Jesus? Such enquiries as these urgently demand our attention; and if we have been at all given to cavilling, let us now turn our critical abilities to a service so much more profitable. Let us be peace-makers, and endeavour to lead others both by our precept and example, to "avoid foolish questions."

six months to live

What would you do if you knew you only had six months to live? This question came up in our Bible Study tonight and my mind started racing about all the possibilities. Quit my job (fo shizzle!), witness to my friends and family, tell people how I feel about them and what they have meant to me in my life, tell people things I have been too gutless to say, maybe head off to somewhere like Myanmar and serve God somewhere out of my comfort zone, street-preaching, give away my belongings, eat 'sometimes foods' all the time, spend time with my loved ones.

I could think of so many things! Things I have always wanted to do, but never have because of embarrassment, pride or fear (haha sounds familiar huh?). The thing is, it made me realise that a lot of the things I am working towards now (as a twenty-five year old, with supposedly many years ahead of me) are totally different the things the Rowena-with-only-six-months-to-live would work towards. But why the discrepancy?

Are the things in my life at the moment THAT meaningless? Am I wasting my time doing this or that? How much of what I am doing counts in an eternal perspective?

Living in the light of eternity is something that has been drilled into me during the countless youth camps and Bible studies of the past 10 years or so, but I think it's always good to be reminded of what our current priorities are and what they should be. As the Bible study material puts it 'contemplation of death gives us the wisdom to live'. Amen to that!

O-what-a-lot-of-fuss-about-bama

I haven't really been following the US Elections much - I just see whatever happens to be on the TV. I caught all the nonsense like Michelle Obama dancing on Ellen, and then her husband, the future president of the United States, Barack Obama, do the exact same thing. And I have learnt recently that the new President of the United States will be the 44th one, the first one of African-American descent, and that the Obamas will bring to the White House the youngest children to live there in over 50 years.

The victory for Barack Obama was a landslide, and it seems as though the guy also has a lot of support all over the world. I didn't think too much about all the hoo-ha until someone mentioned something about Obama being the Anti-Christ.

I googled 'Obama anti-christ' and got quite a few results - the first of which was a blog entitled 'Barack Obama The Anti-Christ?' which contained quite a lot of amusing, if not creepy, articles and videos about this very topic. My mind couldn't help but keep returning to the though of this fella...

I mean, he is a very charismatic fellow, he's into World Peace (I heard on Channel Ten News today that 'the UN look forward to working with Obama to unify the world'), he's coming into a time of global recession, he seems to have the rest of the world supporting him, and Oprah worships the ground he walks on.

At the moment, my knowledge about this topic is limited and as such I can't comment much more than this, but I would encourage everyone to keep watching this space in the news to see what happens. One thing is for sure, the time we have here on earth is limited so we need to keep shining our light and seeking that which was lost.

cup day

The "race that stops a nation" was on again this year. But to be honest with you, I forgot all about it until this morning when I was on my way to the train and a lady walked past with a really nice clip in her hair - I just thought, 'Wow, she went to a lot of effort to do her hair for work' and thought nothing further about it. As I got on the train, I saw another lady with a pink fascinator in her hair, and then it clicked! It's really quite interesting that the thing that stops this nation of Australia, is one that is based ultimately on gambling.

Apparently, this year, Australia spent up to $150 million on this one race! That's quite incredible when you remember that our world is going into what is going to be potentially a global recession.

But I guess, I can see how one can be lured into the temptation of gambling through things like the Melbourne Cup. Last year, I entered the Office Sweepstakes (it cost me $2), and I came out winning second prize - which ended up being something like $6. Afterwards, I started thinking things like 'man, if I put $20 on it I would've won $60!' and so on. I never ended up going to a TAB after that (my conscience kicked up enough of a fuss about contemplating the initial 'what-if' thoughts), but it just became quite clear to me how people can get carried away by the thrill of winning to keep chasing that thrill again and again until the point that they declare bankruptcy. I dunno, it may seem like a harmless day of fun, but it just seems as though there are so many seemingly-harmless things in this world that make us turn our eyes away from Jesus.

appreciating hymns

Regeneration and Youth180 had the second Hymn Appreciation Night on Friday. And ever since then, I think I have learned to appreciate hymns a lot more. I guess the committee's did their job with at least this girl hey? Or I should say, God did His job hehe.

Eight hymns were presented in total, with each including the story behind the hymn, or the reason why that hymn was special to them. All presenters did really well, and now every time I sing those songs, I see them in a completely new light.

I was particularly encouraged by Barry and Juanita's sharing about William Cowper (pronounced 'Cooper', not COW-per hehehe), author of 'There is a Fountain'. The story was quite touching - you can read the whole thing here. I have always loved this song, and every time I sing it, it really touches my heart. But to know that it was written by Cowper, who was just such a broken and troubled person, made me realise just how much hope and meaning Jesus gave to people like Cowper, who had little or no reason at all to hope again.

There is a fountain filled with blood
drawn from Immanuel's veins
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there may I,
though vile as he
Wash all my sins away

Dear dying Lamb, thy
precious blood
Shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God
Are saved, to sin no more

For since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply
Redeeming love has been my theme
and shall be till I die

When this poor lisping,
stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave
Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I'll sing thy power to save

What beautiful words. The amazing thing is that the more you study the history of hymns, the more you realise that so many of these beautiful lyrics were written by people who were going through some serious emotional, physical, spiritual pain. God is really such an amazing God - to give His children a song in the midst of such trials is what grace is all about.

smoke on..

The Red Bull Air Race is COOL. The speed, the acceleration, the precision, the g-force, the hilarious commentry, the scorching sun, the blue skies, the iconic Perth sky-line as a backdrop, the bored little kids playing in the Swan River, the tasty and highly nutritious food from the caravans, the vroooooooooooooooom sound as the planes wizz by, the ice-cold red bulls, the pretty paint jobs on the planes, the plethora of large-lensed cameras clicking away in attempts to capture the perfect shot, the oo-ing and ahh-ing of the crowd, and the schwaarzaneggar-sounding control tower guy who gives the pilots the green light to start and to turn their 'smoke on'.

This year I had to go again because I actually thought it was the last time it was going to be in Perth (but it turns out that it's back next year too! Woohoo!). We caught a ferry from the city-side to south-perth and settled in a spot just next to all the silly people sitting in the grandstands who actually paid for a seat at this free event - suckers! To the right were the commentators and the control tower, to the left was the grandstand, and in front, the chicanes for the first stretch of the track. Though it got pretty warm sitting in the sun for a few hours (as a result, we were both a few shades browner after it al - despite several applications of sunscreen), it was totally worth the while.

Bring on Red Bull Air Race 2009!

the South Perth foreshore

the pretty green plane

'Perth' in case you forgot

the view from our possie

display





where the Schwarzaneggar-Control-Tower-Guy says 'smoke on' from

they had a better view than us

pretty green plane again

ice-cold red bulls mmm...