Matter under Mind

My blog has jumped ship...

2010-04-16T12:45:00.007+10:00

...and floated away to an unknown desert island somewhere in the South Pacific. Lying in a hammock crafted from a washed up torn piece of sail suspended between two lone palm trees, it now lays in the scant shade, drinking coconut milk and plotting its revenge...

Thus I am forced to begin again, taking a deep breath, stepping out on a limb and burning my bridges to start afresh by turning over a new leaf and starting with a clean slate like a breath of fresh air.

So here it is, in all its glistening, glittery grandeur:

Honourable Mentions, named in honour of myself undertaking Honours in Science this year.

Enjoy it while it lasts...

Angles on Avatar

2010-01-08T13:32:00.005+11:00

"There has been a lot of conversation about the religious imagery in Avatar. Is it pagan? Native American? Eastern? Christian?

Answer: Yes."

I find it a bit irritating when people who review films get obsessed about exposing all the pro- or anti-Christian or religious symbolism in popular movies.

I really enjoyed Avatar, it was a great movie. It has an exciting story with some thrilling moments, amazing visual effects, at times beautiful imagery and an overall weird-yet-intriguing-yet-enjoyable feel to it.

Here are a few interesting (and balanced) thoughts on religious symbolism in the movie Avatar.

Truth and the Christmas story

2009-12-24T12:23:00.001+11:00

John Dickson writing a piece in Melbourne's The Age

In other news...

2009-10-26T20:43:00.004+11:00

I'm engaged :-)

To my wonderful girlfriend/now-fiancee/soon-to-be-wife, Melody.

It happened on Saturday afternoon, down in a little sandstone alcove at Conningham beach, looking out over the water. I had a temporary inexpensive ring to propose with, and this morning we looked for, found and bought a lovely ring at a good price.

The wedding's this summer so after my exams it's all full steam ahead with finalising plans. Everything seems to be coming together very well; we feel so blessed.

All the people we tell are very excited and happy for us, although some are little shocked at the promptness at which it's all happening :-) (But as Sam G says, 'just go for it!'). We are both so very happy, as we should be, and we look forward to everything that will be involved in getting married.

Am I a man then?

2009-03-31T21:52:00.005+11:00

My last day as a one-score (20) year-old person. Am I officially a 'man' tomorrow? Or was that supposed to be 3 years ago? I feel more like 21 now than I felt 18 when I turned 18...

It's interesting, we seem to have left the man/woman designations in favour of guys/girls when talking about our current generation. Is this important? Does this eliminate the transition between teenagers and adults? Should we by trying to reclaim the usage of "man" and "woman" in referring to people over 18? Or 21? Will this prompt people to think of themselves more this way? Will it aid in developing a sense of maturity for younger adults? I know for me "man" feels like it should be used as I've always thought of it, to refer to someone approximately 10 years older than me. But I still feel I should try and make a change...

Anyway, we are going to The Quarry in Salamanca tomorrow to celebrate this great occasion. The menu there seemed to be sufficiently 'normal' for a good feed. insert text against excessively 'arty' food here* Quite a few other places had menus which were just a bit too much on the 'arty' side.

Here's to a new year of being a Man for my Maker...

*I can't be bothered ranting at the moment...

Random signs around Melbourne

2009-03-06T21:42:00.004+11:00

Funny pictures of a guy who puts up very random (but containing very specific yet mundane details) signs around Melbourne.

http://tools.themercury.com.au/photo-gallery/photo_gallery_popup.php?category_id=2741&offset=0

Uni tomorrow

2009-02-22T17:19:00.003+11:00

My (potentially) last year of uni is just around the corner of the dawn... I finish my science degree this year, God willing. I'm going for maths and physics majors. I want to get into oceanography into meteorology, so I'm thinking of doing honours next year if I can get something in those areas.

My timetable is kind of similar to last year. I have Friday mornings off, which will inevitably turn into assignment mornings. But it's pretty good. I can get to one FOCUS/UFC meeting, and the slot for the Forum, so I'm thankful for that.

Yes, this year FOCUS is being renamed to UFC (University Fellowship of Christians), so the international group can be called FOCUS, as most of the other international groups around Australia are. It takes a little while to change the habit of calling it FOCUS. We've almost got an imaginary 'swear' jar going. Anyway... we also have pretty cool t-shirts. I might get a photo up shortly.

I have progressed a little more with Ethics. It will take some time to get through the whole thing, I imagine, but it's still very interesting.

A good read (or two)

2009-01-28T21:52:00.003+11:00

I read the Great Divorce today by Clive Staples Lewis. It is a great story, and an excellent and thought-provoking read, looking at the subject of choices surrounding heaven and hell. It struck me while reading it what a towering intellect he had. Some of the discussions are so profound. Especially a particular one near the end of the book talking about free will.

"If ye* put the question from within Time and are asking about possibilities, the answer is certain. The choice of ways is before you. Neither is closed. Any man may choose eternal death. Those who choose it will have it. But if ye are trying to leap on into eternity, if ye are trying to see the final state of all things as it will be (for so ye must speak) when there are no more possibilities left but only the Real, then ye ask what what cannot be answered to mortal ears. Time is the very lens through which ye see - small and clear, as men see through the wrong end of a telescope - something that would be too big for ye to see at all. That thing is Freedom: the gift whereby ye most resemble your Maker and are yourselves parts of eternal reality.
...
"For every attempt to see the shape of eternity except through the lens of Time destroys your knowledge of Freedom."

Although I imagine the story wasn't intended to be theologically precise, he paints an intriguing picture about the fate of souls after death in order to discuss some interesting issues.

Oh, and I've started Ethics by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, which is also great. I love the way he thinks. I *might* post something about it later. A bit of a long shot though on that one though...

*The speaker here has a Scottish accent

"Finally a SPRTE report" OR "William Tell" *

2008-12-28T21:01:00.004+11:00

Time for a new blog post. Cos I've been lazy. And have been bullied/shamed/coerced into writing another post by Jerome.

Canberra was fantastic. Around 1000 uni students from all around Australia and the Pacific at the huge ANU campus. Philip Jensen (author of several books, and brother of the archbishop) was among the speakers, and gave some great talks. Another guy called Linsday Brown, the former general secretary of IFES, talked about what some of the student groups from around the world have experienced while they were students. He talked about some of the amazing things that Christian uni students have been able to do in the face of all sorts of hardships. Inspiring stuff.

Sydney was great too. We from Tassie stayed with a church in Merrylands and helped out with them. We went to mid-week communion, and had afterwards had a luncheon with all the old folks. A highlight was helping out with an English Language Class. Merrylands is (apparently) the most multi-cultural area of Sydney. But it was wonderful to help them and to hear their stories, and eat their delicious food! Three BBQs in 4 1/2 days was tiresome, but was livened up by me nearly setting one on fire, owing to disgustingly fatty sausages on a grill plate. We also did stuff with the kids' groups, and I gave a talk at the youth group, which I am told was quite good. (Intense preparation though!). It was sad to leave in the end, God was doing some great stuff over there.

We also had a day of being tourists around Sydney. We went through the middle of Sydney, walked across and back over the Harbour Bridge, through to Bondi beach, then around to the Opera House, finishing with a ferry ride up the Paramatta River and home from there. A grand sight going under the bridge, and the view from the Opera house is rather nice too.

*During a semi-logical explanation about the appropriateness of a bow and arrow as part of a Maid Marion costume for a fancy dress party, it was insisted that the William Tell must be a type of cocktail. (It will no doubt contain apple juice and something to make you convinced that you could in fact shoot an apple from someone's head.)

Canberra Ahoy

2008-11-28T20:49:00.002+11:00

Tomorrow I'm off to Canberra, city of dreams*, to take part in the AFES conference SPRTE (pronounced 'sprite' usually). This is where a whole pile of Christian uni students from around Australia and the Pacific for a conference for 4 days, then off to churches in and around Sydney to help out churches with missions and programs. Should be a blast. Although I have to get up at 4:30am for my flight. Oh well, who needs sleep?

*Poetic licence

What to do with my time off...

2008-11-19T23:07:00.005+11:00

I am currently on holidays... what should I do with my 3 months off?

Fruit picking is planned again for a few weeks after Christmas, but the other time could (should!) well be spent productively...

Some options potentially are:
a) learn more Greek
b) get into creative writing
c) take up running
d) read excessively
   (i) non-fiction: Christian books
   (ii) non-fiction: oceanography (a potential area of interest for my physics degree)
   (iii) fiction
e) learn web design
f) resume scripting a level for an old game called Dink Smallwood that I started last summer
g) lego stop-motion :-P
h) gardening
i) become a curry master >:-D
j) I dunno... knitting?
k) all of the above
...
x) your suggestions?

PS: I am going to try and move my blog from this old google account to my newer gmail google account for convenience. Hopefully this groovy trick works.

Rainbows over my horizons...

2008-11-13T22:12:00.003+11:00

Today I saw the biggest, most vivid rainbow I've ever seen in my life. It was a double, with the outer semicircle spanning about a quarter of the horizon. I could even distinguish the repetition of colour in the inner rainbow, as happens with interference patterns. It was bright, majestic and brilliant, and I don't know if I'll see anything like it again. It makes you wonder at the glory of creation.

One rainbow on my horizon will be a trip interstate. I am going to Canberra (well at least they have the rain) in two weeks. 'Why?' you may ask. The reason (providing the sunshine for the rainbow) will be national AFES training event SPRTE (South Pacific Regional Training Event) is happening then, and it's being held in Canberra, with a followup mission around Sydney. It should be great, they get thousands of uni students going to it from all around Australia and other countries too.

Another rainbow will hopefully be exam results, marking the end of second year of my science degree. Maths I reckon I got close to an HD, I think I passed Physics ok and intro to oceanography was sort of open book, so maybe a distinction for that? It's hard to tell.

It's been a big break from blogging, but as Jerome has instructed me, I now have no excuse...

I'm slack... but I'm back?

2008-09-21T23:56:00.004+10:00

Slack, aren't I. Blogging is something with which you have to keep up the habit. Maybe I'll try and make the habit stick again.

Four weeks of uni left for this semester now (plus exams) then I'm 2/3 the way through the ol' BSc. I am thinking I might end up doing oceanography or something, it seems quite interesting.

I had a chat last Saturday with some JWs who rocked up at the neighbours while I was house sitting. It was my first real chat with them; it was an older man and his wife who came. It was very interesting to hear how they present what they believe. They are polite, and say they believe what the Bible says about things. They keep telling you that God will 'wipe away every tear' and the like. He said he was 'surprised that young person has such a good knowledge of scripture', of which I don't claim at all. But I suppose the majority of people they'd encounter would have very little knowledge of the Bible.

At the end of the conversation, they sort of suggested that they might come back again at some stage, so I did some reading up on them. This site here has some interesting information and telling quotes from their own literature. One reason it can be hard to convince JWs of the Christian perspective is that they receive all their doctrine and interpretation as well as their Bible translation from the Watchtower Organisation, which claims to be God's only true visible organisation on earth. Trouble is, they've predicted the coming of the 'Millenial Kingdom' about 4 times in the past, which they made efforts to hush up.

Anyway, if they come back, I'm ready for them! Well, actually, just a bit more informed about their beliefs and some good points to help share the truth with them. It's still hard to keep in mind the fact that you're not just there to pridefully beat them with your awesome arguments, but to lovingly show them the truth of the Gospel.

Scientists on The Edge

2008-07-31T22:21:00.011+10:00

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."
Proverbs 9:10

I have been perusing The Edge Question Centre trying to get a feel for the general attitude of scientific community in regards to religion, society and the human purpose.

It seems (to generalise) that the main views are that:
- religion is equivalent to ignorance and/or irrationality
- science is equivalent to knowledge and rationality
- religion is usually associated with causing conflict and inflicting harm
- therefore religion is pretty much 'bad' (one opinion piece was entitled "Science must destroy religion")
- evolutionary biology/psychology can explain everything about us
- (because?) the material world is all there is

The question asked for 2006 was "What is your dangerous idea?". In this, scientists could provide a response detailing an idea which could be controversial or unpopular, but would change the world dramatically (for the good or ill).

Well known evolutionary biologist and anti-theist Richard Dawkins gave this response, detailing how a natural consequence of materialism is an elimination of the concept of responsibility and, therefore, retribution as a method of dealing with a crime.

"...doesn't a truly scientific, mechanistic view of the nervous system make nonsense of the very idea of responsibility...? Any crime, however heinous, is in principle to be blamed on antecedent conditions acting through the accused's physiology, heredity and environment."

"Isn't the murderer or the rapist just a machine with a defective component? Or a defective upbringing? Defective education? Defective genes?"

So therefore his proposed solution to crime is not retribution, but to somehow 'fix' a 'defective machine'. But to what standard do we attempt to 'fix' a 'defective' human being? A machine is created for some intended purpose, and if it is defective, we fix it to restore it to its original condition so that it may fulfil its original purpose. But the problems are thus: we can't do either. Science attempts to explain how things work, but it can't provide us with any sort of original purpose, no ultimate standard to which people should live. And we're also unable to really 'fix' anyone either, regardless of what standards we have adopted. This is because "...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23

Interestingly, there were arguments made in other articles that murder (and perhaps rape) may at one point have played an advantageous role in the evolution of the human species.

In some of the responses to the question, it was remarked upon that in many aspects of society what could be seen as logical conclusions of materialism are not held to. For example, if the mind is just a machine governed only by, as Dawkins says, "physiology, heredity and environment", then concepts of 'good' and 'evil' are merely "mental constructs" picked up along the winding path of human evolution. Free will, and hence responsibility, are also imaginary, as is anything relating to spirituality.

Generally, however, most people would operate on the basis that they are 'free to choose' in what they do; that there is 'right and wrong' (I suspect most people would agree that rape is 'always wrong, although it is possible to argue that it could be beneficial for passing on one's genes), and that they are (at least sometimes) responsible for what they do. And a large amount (a surprisingly large and disturbing amount, from a materialistic perspective) would believe in some sort of spirituality and life after death.

There was, interestingly, an acknowledgement in some of the responses that the human being does indeed have an innate desire for something more than the material; to be part of something bigger than the mere self. Some said that this desire was something that needed to be overcome and destroyed, others that the quest for knowledge, or the survival and development of the human race may be the thing which is something bigger than the self, and still others that science itself must fulfil this need.

Scott Atran's 'dangerous idea' was that science could not properly fulfil this desire, and as a result may actually encourage religion. He says "Science is not particularly well-suited to deal with people's existential anxieties, including death, deception, sudden catastrophe, loneliness or longing for love or justice. It cannot tell us what we ought to do, only what we can do.Religion thrives because it addresses people's deepest emotional yearnings and society's foundational moral needs". He sees 'science' and 'religion' coexisting, as "factual knowledge as such is not a principal aim of religious devotion, but plays only a supporting role."

On the other hand, Carolyn Porco's 'dangerous idea' was for science itself to fulfil this human longing for spirituality. She proposes that, "the same spiritual fulfillment and connection (as religion provides) can be found in the revelations of science". She envisions the idea of an (organised!) religion of Science. Scientists are the high priests of a religion seeking understanding of nature, with scientific observatories as places of worship "where these revealed truths, and the wonder of our interconnectedness with the cosmos, are glorified". This religion of science is just returning to the worship of nature.
Romans 1:25 "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen"

For all the discoveries that can be made by science, it is nothing if we do not know God, a mere "chasing after the wind".

Facebook has stolen my (blogging) soul...

2008-07-28T19:54:00.003+10:00

Facebook has sapped my will to blog. According to my shrink (Alan), 'I don't know what to write because I have been expressing the things that are meaningful in other ways' (ie on Facebook).

There are various ways in which one may express oneself on Facebook (the obvious one being the "status"). Though these are only small, it's still enough to sate the desire of self-expression.

As a curiosity, there are many different ways of making funny little smileys in the Facebook chat. (Which, incidentally, has probably made the end of MSN, etc, but perhaps not as it has an annoying habit of dropping out). For example :v renders a little pacman-esque face, which provides minutes of fun when combined with ......... What joy.

Facebook can be subtly addictive (probably releases dopamine or something). I find myself just 'loitering' in the hope of something happening. Loitering is a process different from 'Idling'. Idling is just having it sitting idle in another window, Loitering is the immensely timewasting process of checking it, rechecking it, looking at a random person's photos with people you've never met (and unlikely to ever meet), checking yet again, adding an application, removing said absurd application, rechecking... etc. Hideous. Loitering on Facebook should be made an offence.

So in light of this, I hereby declare that I will no longer loiter in a public Facebook.

So, here is a blog post, in spite of everything. Even if it IS all about Facebook.

Happy now Alan?

Losing the plot...

2008-07-17T19:28:00.010+10:00

I seem to have forgotten how to blog. Maybe Facebook has drained my will to live. Evil-useful-timewasting-fun-stupid invention! Argh! I'll try to remember back to the good old days...

I am sitting here listening to a very dramatic piano piece on Classic FM. Not sure who the composer is. Maybe by the time I've finished writing this post, it will have concluded and I'll have found out. You'll have to wait...

Semester 2 of uni has started again. I managed to kick off the year with a bad cold, which I haven't had for quite a while. And as it's the first week, barely any tutorials or pracs were running. I had 4 hours of class in 3 days. Made me feel like an Arts student. Except without reading to do. I have a grand title of one assignment at the moment.

Oh yes, MYC was in the last week of the holidays. It was great! Check out the report on the FOCUS blog, or for a different take, Beck's blog (please, she needs more publicity!). A few personal comments to add:

The Barefoot Magician works his magic...

Story: I saw something interesting on YouTube about popping popcorn with mobile phones. I wondered if it worked or not. Best way to try it out? In front of 40-odd people at MYC's Got Talent night! End result - 'catastrophic failure'. (Which, I am assured, was hilarious).

I watched a video of my performance (which I may or may not upload). In the end it was much better than I thought it would be, which was a relief.

One thing I got out of MYC again was a realisation of the importance of prayer. Having 20 minutes each morning is such an excellent way to begin the day. It puts your mind and thoughts in the right place.

By the way, I think that particular piece was by Rachmaninov, as part of many played in the Sydney International Piano Competition.

Interesting thought

2008-05-19T18:28:00.002+10:00

Why is it that calling George Bush a monkey is just an insult, but calling Andrew Symonds a monkey is a 'racial slur'?

No particular title, just a rant about myself

2008-03-30T23:10:00.005+11:00

A month on, still lazy. I am slowly (though I hope it will be fast enough!) getting un-lazy with all my uni work I have to do, and perhaps this will follow. Perhaps not. But I don't really plan on letting this thing die...

I have only 1 day or so left of being a teenager. My birthday is on Tuesday. Not sure what I'll do though. I am glad that I've managed to make it here without being a complete teenager. I am still, to quote Paul, putting childish ways behind me, but I hope that I will continue to do that and become a better man for myself, for others, and for God.

But I still haven't found that inner passion that so many people seem to have to do well in something just for their own sake. Maybe I don't see exceptionalness as something personally attainable, and so am content with just knowing a little about stuff, perhaps having a brief go, rather than throwing myself completely into something. At the moment, a career seems to me like a means to an end - to provide for a family (God-willing) and to support His work financially. And the fact that I could enjoy it and feel accomplished doing it makes it a bearable and even perhaps pleasurable thing. I suppose that there is something intrinsically good about working and that it is good to find a certain satisfaction in a career, but at the moment a career doesn't seem important. Maybe I just haven't found the right thing to get enthusiastic about yet. Maybe I haven't made enough of an effort to find it.

Back to uni

2008-02-25T23:09:00.003+11:00

I see I am being very lazy with posts. But now I'm back at uni, I feel like I have something to write about, or perhaps more accurately, something to procrastinate for. So the frequency may increase again. We'll see. Oh yes, for those interested, I am doing Maths, 2 Physics and Chemistry. Next semester I swap a chem instead of physics.

Today I went in to uni, even though I ended up not having any classes. The physics people neglected to specify in the timetable that the tutorials and pracs don't start until week 2. Anyway, I did manage to get some stuff for uniprint and catch up with some friends, so it wasn't a total loss.

While deciding on what to do, I spent some time perusing some blogs, and found Astrid's short review of Freakonomics. I have seen the book somewhere else, but I forget the exact location. So I promptly went and borrowed from the library. I've read halfway through it and enjoyed it so far. It has some very interesting insights into incentives and motives people have in the things they do, and the unexpected economics that can be used to analyse it.

Cherries, conferences and committees

2008-02-02T20:31:00.000+11:00

Hmm. No new posts recently. Not so good, oh well. What to say...

Anyway, I've been doing... this and that, vaguely.* I've been trying my hand at fruit picking. Raspberries, cherries, apple thinning. And now cherries again, starting Monday. I've been staying down with Miriam's family. They are lovely people, very hospitable. It's a little chaotic at times, but I felt quite comfortable being there. (Probably because our house is also a little chaotic at times...)

After all this work had taken a break, I went off to the Tasmanian Leadership Conference (TLC), and had a quality time there. We had the chance to create and prepare a bible study from a passage in Ephesians. It was good to be shown a method for making a bible study which identifies and brings out the big idea in the passage. The talks were great, especially one on marriage from Ephesians 5:15 - 6:9, which I'm listening to now, as it was recorded. It's excellent, I recommend everyone to listen to it. There is a link to the talks here. There were also some photos taken, so check them out too.

I also went to our FOCUS committee meeting in Campbell town (for the sake of our Northern brethren), and had a good time there too. Got a lot of stuff sorted out, and I typed up the minutes afterwards as part of my role as secretary. For a detailed report on the goings-on, the new FOCUS blog has a pretty good run-down.

*I think this covers most of my catch-phrases :-P

A merry new year

2008-01-02T14:42:00.000+11:00

Another New Year celebration has come and gone. I had the privilege and pleasure of sharing it with some wonderful friends; Alan, Miriam, Andrew and Mark. Unfortunately we didn't have all of the gang there, but it was good anyway. We saw the 12 o'clock fireworks on the shore from across the river, which was really good. Then we walked along the shore for a while, then returned to Al's place, where we finished off playing Mandarin (a board game) until past 2 in the morning.

Another year come and gone. 2008 here, 2007 behind.

And what a year it has been, praise God: short hair again, uni, FOCUS, a life-changing MYC, this blog, amazing new friends, my profession of faith, a discovery of self-discipline, memorising Colossians, a mobile phone (at last), a beard (which doesn't look too bad, in the end), and finally, starting to learn ancient/biblical Greek.

And what a year it will be, God willing. I'm on the FOCUS committee this year, which is looking good, my role being "Secretary (without skirt)". (For some news of our last meeting, see Mike Jolly's post here.). My second year of uni starts in two months, in which I hopefully will discover what particular direction I want to take my science degree, whether chemistry or physics. Also, I hope to be continuing in learning Greek, studying God's word, playing piano, possibly some singing lessons, getting some work cherry picking, maybe some casual work after, and many more things. But all in God's will.

Here's wishing you all a happy new year.
God bless.

Video diary experiment

2007-12-28T15:43:00.000+11:00

I have a new toy. A webcam. A 'Logitech QuickCam chat' webcam. Well, maybe not a new toy. We've had it for a while, but I've been playing with it a bit so it feels like a new toy.
Anyway, I decided to experiment and make a video diary. Well, perhaps a not-so-serious reflection of a video diary and the things people do in them. This was done as a first attempt at anything longer than about 10 seconds, so it's not great, but you might find it amusing.

The video quality isn't excellent, and the sound was very low at first, but I think I increased the volume enough to hear. The focusing scene probably should have been edited a bit too. Oh well. Note the farmyard sounds in the background from which this poor geek seeks to escape from.*

*I'm not really trying to escape. Well, not all the time.

Christmas time

2007-12-26T16:00:00.001+11:00

Another Christmas has come and gone. Hmm, I feel like neither cheering nor sighing...

We didn't do a whole lot for Christmas. Just a nice dinner together and a few presents, it was nice and quiet. I got some M&Ms, dark chocolate and socks! ("Why is it that no matter how many pairs of socks a man buys, he never seems to have any?") Oh, and a fantasy book from my friend too. :-)

I bought a sort of Christmas present for myself last week, Bill Bailey's Part Troll. I got it from JB Hi-fi, which was, as everyone says, "Huge!" The comedy show was hilarious. He's an amazingly talented and quick, naturally funny comedian. Nothing try-hard in his act and he doesn't have to resort to crudeness for laughs, which I always appreciate. Go in and get it before it's gone!

And of course, it wouldn't be Christmas without the hideous defying-all-the-odds-to "make Christmas happen" (either by rescuing/being Santa, or getting home in time for dinner, etc.) Christmas movie. Why is it that if, for whatever dastardly reason, Santa is incapacitated and unable to fulfil his philanthropic duties to all the lovely children that "there won't be a Christmas (gasp)"? Surely this time of celebration does not depend solely on receiving presents from a secretive altruistic gift-giver? Well, I reckon a good twist would be that Santa does in fact fail to get his sleigh back from the mechanic in time and so makes a public appeal to all the children to get a gift for someone else, and make Christmas happen by themselves. Or something like that.

And I also caught the Queen's Christmas Message, which was on a little before midnight. It was interesting, although it would strike a chord most with someone who was British. She mentioned that Mary and Joseph had no place to go, and so we should remember those who are also poor and without people to celebrate Christmas with. But it feels so weak, that exhortation, when there is so much more in the Christmas story. We should remember the poor and disadvantaged not because his family was poor, but because Jesus came into the world to save those people, and we should show them love because he first showed us love.

After that, at around 10 minutes past midnight, there was an ad for a non-Christmas orientated stock-take sale. And then suddenly, Christmas was over again. It's sad, now, for a large part, that the shops now define the Christmas season. But after the TV was off, I did spend time in quiet reflection, thinking about how much has happened this past year. But I think I'll save some of those things for a New Year's post.

Confessions of a middle-class snob

2007-12-24T16:26:00.000+11:00

Although this could be a great title for a blog in its own right, I will now expound on the idea that I am, or at least was, a sort of middle-class snob. Please hold your loud affirmations of agreement till the end. So, here goes.

I am a middle-class snob. Not an upper-class snob with the rich, important relatives and social superiority, nor a lower-class snob who despises anything of material possessions, but a middle-class snob, one who sits in the middle, scoffing at both upper-class self-pride and lower-class commonness.

I didn't grow up much with the affluence of the upper-class, nor the hardship of the lower-class, having enough, but not whatever I wanted. At school, there wasn't really an upper-class to speak of, and I was never one to fit in well with the 'in' crowd. I'm sure you know the saying, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em". Well, I could definitely not "beat 'em", and I couldn't "join 'em" either, so I took the lesser-known third option: "develop a mentality of cultural superiority so you can feel better than 'em".

Essentially, in my mind I never let myself "descend to their level". Scoffing at 'popular' music and the enslavement to the latest album, fashion in all its forms, soapies, American drama and sitcoms, I kept comedy British, music 'proper', adherence to fashion merely accidental, the TV off most of the 'popular' shows and the radio oft tuned to the ABC...

But over the past while, I have seen that there are those (with whom I have a very agreeable association) who have been involved in some of the aforementioned scoffed-at activities, and yet they seem to have somehow resisted 'boganification', which I assumed would naturally result. Not only have they been exposed to these things and have actually derived enjoyment out of them, but they have managed to survive and emerge as normal* and interesting human beings.

The fear of becoming anything like a "bogan" has sometimes driven me away from doing things with other people, even if it were to enjoy other people's enthusiasm for it. (Although now I still don't particularly enjoy most of that stuff, I think I have changed enough so that I can appreciate others' interest in it and enjoy that.)

(At this point, I would like very much to launch into a lengthy discussion in the form of a nature journal about the creature commonly referred to as a "bogan", but I am rather unknowledgeable about the various types and their distinguishing characteristics, and so I would most likely do an injustice to it.)

More recently I have I often find myself expressing my disdain for the bogan culture with a silent or quiet comment such as "Hmph, bogans, tsh." or "Arghh! Bogans!". Of course, many would agree wholeheartedly with me about this particular element of our society. But how many of us wouldn't parabaicly** cross over to the other side of the road if we saw someone like that in need of help? Why of course we wouldn't, I hear you say, if we saw a person in desperate need of medical attention on the side of a country road, we would definitely stop and help. But would we have the heart to reach out to someone, despite their "bogan-ness", in just the mundane? Would we consider them socially acceptable enough to give them time to share with them the things of God? I know I find it hard to let go of my pride and vague sense of superiority, which really limits my compassion for others. But I hope in time God will work in me a spirit of humility which cares for others, no matter who they are.

*whatever normal means... "Everyone's normal until you get to know them." ;-)
**is that a legitimate part of the 'parable' word family? Hmm, if not, use something like 'metaphorically'

The Word in my Head

2007-12-04T09:55:00.000+11:00

I have now finished memorising Colossians, all 4 chapters, 97 verses and 2026 words of it. Well, mostly. I can go from start to finish, though not completely fluently. I can't give chapter and verse yet, but I suppose that is something I can work on.

I started about 4 months ago, so that works out to be a chapter a month, or about 5 verses a week. Which, considering I didn't really do it on weekends, does amount to around a verse a day.

Verses that stood out (I'll look the verse numbers up for you)

1v28,29 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

Not struggling with all my energy, but with all his energy. It really highlights Paul's reliance on God and his realisation that it is only through him he can labour effectively.

(In speaking about the human-imposed religious rules of this world)
2v23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

This is very true when looking at many of the world's religions. They can have all sorts of rules and customs, even harsh ones, but often are full of hypocritical indulgence. Even Christians do this when they exchange the Godly way of living for a self-imposed and legalistic way which 'relies on human commands and teaching'.

And of course, the well known commission:
3v17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This has been a good experience, and considering I can memorise stuff reasonably well, it is utilising my gifts in a positive way. I do hope that I will continue to refresh it in my head once in a while, and not just let it go now that I've finished.

So, straight on to Romans?

Mobile Me

2007-11-30T17:52:00.000+11:00

I have finally taken the plunge and got a mobile. In the end I went with telstra prepaid (ho-hum), although only because of the better coverage.

I am using a second hand one from my dad's work which is alright. Not too many 'options' but it's small and has a reasonable battery life.

Mobile machinations

2007-11-23T17:09:00.000+11:00

I fear it's time for me to submit to the reality that I need a mobile. (Silence, all you cheerers!)

Anyway, I've decided on prepaid for the moment, as I'm not really sure how much I'll end up using it. I've looked at a couple of deals from a few companies.
One is with Virgin Mobile ('Bean Counter' plan), which has very cheap call (25c + 10c/30s) and sms (10c) rates, but is only available online and credit must be recharged online by credit card in $25 lots, which lasts for 45 days. (A minimum of $200 a year). And they use Optus as a carrier, and I'm not sure how good their coverage is at our place in Margate. I've looked up their coverage map, which says it does cover Margate, but the reality may be different.
Telstra is alright - they have their reasonably expensive call charges and stuff, but you have much wider options on recharging credit. And you can choose to have 1c texts to other telstra mobiles, which would be useful. It may be cheaper if I don't end up using it all that much, and the coverage thing shouldn't be too much of an issue.
Vodafone is another which has reasonable deals with free texts and free call time to other vodafone mobiles, but again I'm not completely sure about coverage.

As for a phone, a camera and the various other bits would be rather fun, but I don't particularly need them. At the moment I do have my sister's old phone lined up as a possibility, but the battery isn't particularly long lasting (overnight charging required daily - or nightly). So, I welcome any advice or offers of free/cheap secondhand phones (as long as you don't try and offer me a holiday in the pacific at the same time).

image from http://www.freeimages.co.uk/

Singin' a cappella

2007-11-05T22:49:00.000+11:00

On Saturday I went with my mum and sister to a concert by The Idea of North.

They are an amazing a cappella style quartet (singing without accompaniment). They do have a few accompanied tracks on their CDs, but usually, and at the concert they sing without. You can even listen to a couple of their songs on their website (look at the bottom right). The bass provides excellent vocal percussion, and the harmonies are so close and they are still really tight in their presentation. An excellent example of this is "It's alright with me", (on their website) which was arranged by James Morrison.

The concert was great. They did several of their well-known songs, as well as some newer ones from the DVD they're launching. I think my favourite was a very entertaining rendition of Stayin' Alive as a curtain-call. The tenor (left in the photo) can do really good falsetto (a must for that one :-p).

So I recommend going out and buying either the CD or DVD, and listen to some amazing voices.

Self-discipline

2007-10-29T12:45:00.000+11:00

Hmm, I seem to have failed to keep up my vague goal of about 1 post a week. I hear you saying, "It's been a while, where's the next one?" But I haven't really had that much I wanted to say (that isn't somewhat private). I have been reading Desiring God by John Piper, which has prompted much thought and reflection, but I want to read through it again before I write something on that. However, something else has now come up...

Yesterday I came to a realisation of what had been bugging me about what I often saw as a rather pathetic-looking way of going about my life. It is the issue of self-discipline (and the lack thereof). I had thought about it before, and even tried to put some into practice, but I wasn't particularly successful. I knew I had to be better there, but never had a conviction to change. I was reading through Desiring God and got to a bit talking about a husband's role in marriage and the great responsibility and self-discipline needed in that. As I considered myself in that situation and role (which I think I would like be in), it really struck me: self-discipline is important! And not just in marriage. And I am pretty bad at it. And I should probably start on it now...

I see self-discipline slightly different to self-control, which, in the way I think of the word, is about controlling your actions, or more often, your reactions to situations. Self-discipline, is much more proactive than reactive. It requires you to consciously decide to do things that you need to do and do them NOW. I have found that to be really hard (and for the most part I have failed miserably when I have tried) and it has led me to not getting around to do things which I should, especially where it depends only on myself and not on others. I have found that there is a certain satisfaction in succeeding in exercising self-discipline, even in just basic stuff, and I assume that I will find more as I continue.

It also is, perhaps, the reason that I have not pursued my interests with any great passion. I have often told myself (and others) that I didn't pursue stuff because I like too many things, which is a possible reason, but I don't think it's the main one. I enjoy starting things, but often I haven't had the self-discipline to spend time continuing many of the things I have started. I have found that it is all to easy to just get a basic enjoyment out of TV, computer games, and just generally not doing much, rather than trying to get more enjoyment out of other stuff that I like doing, which could be either vaguely useful or enjoyable later on.

I also need to find the self-discipline to do my prayer and bible reading at home like I do at uni, which I usually get to early and so have the time to spend anyway, but at home I have to make time and do it, which will be hard. But I thank God greatly that he has brought about this realisation in me, and conviction to work on it, and I hope and pray that I will continue in it.

Anyway, I must now exercise some more self-discipline and get back to studying for my Chem exam tomorrow...

The art of swordplay

2007-10-17T23:06:00.000+11:00

Bringing some formality to my inner child, over the past few weeks I have been attending the Stoccata School of Defense. It is taught (in Hobart) by Steven Hand, who has studied medieval European fighting manuals, which teaches how to actually fight and not go home in a box, to use Steven's turn of phrase.

I met him while he was doing a prac at Calvin as part of his teaching degree. I have been wanting to do it for a while, but never got around to it (depressingly like me...). But I've really enjoyed what I've learned so far, and it's good exercise too.

And no, we're not using real swords at the moment. It's like a pen license: using them is a privilege, and you can only use them when you have demonstrated enough control.

And so if you ever meet me in a dark alleyway, pray that I've left my broadsword with my other suit...

Oliebollen Festival

2007-10-10T21:44:00.000+11:00

The great annual dutch Calvin fair, the Oliebollen Festival, is upon us again.
It's on this Saturday (13th) from around 10am-2pm at Calvin Christian School in Kingston.

"Enjoy a great day, why not try an oliebol - a Dutch donut delicacy. Or try some satays and croquettes, spoil yourself with a Dutch treat from one of stalls; hot dogs, chips, milkshakes, cakes, sweets, wedges, and BBQ food and spit roast etc, all at very reasonable prices.

Bargains galore - White and golden elephant; Pre-loved clothes (children and adults); Pre-loved toys and books, fairy floss, and crafts etc.

Entertainment includes - Jumping castles, mini train, merry-go-round, pacer Cars, wood chopping, plus jazz band, Cake Walking Babies."
(write up from Events Tasmania Website)

A hair cut

2007-10-02T22:42:00.000+10:00

I am doubtless many will be interested that before January this year, I didn't have a hair cut for about 3 years (from end of year 9).

I decided to have it cut because it was getting a bit too annoying and I felt like a change.

Don't worry, by this stage I was wearing it in a pony tail.

The deed!

Heath Ledger impression?

Happy for it to be going...

The finished product

Don't know if/when I'll be growing it again. It will probably be unlikely to get to the full length again though.

Word of the day/week/month

2007-10-01T21:52:00.000+10:00

defenestrate: to throw someone or something out of the window

In protest, BS-Jerome stormed the palace and defenestrated President Jolly.

Can Christians be Evolutionists?

2007-09-26T23:27:00.000+10:00

This week at FOCUS we had a guest speaker as part of a 4 part series with the Jesus: All About Life campaign. The topic was Science and Religion, and the speaker was Assoc Prof Alastair Richardson from the evolutionary biology department here at the uni in Hobart. He did make some interesting points, including responses to questions such as "hasn't science disproved God?" But afterwards I didn't feel that he had really said a huge lot apart from "Evolutionists can be Christians". Also, after talking with some other people about it, I agree that there wasn't a lot of Gospel message in the talk. I'm not sure what the intention was though, maybe it was just to say that there are some Christians who believe in Evolution, and leave it up to us to talk to non-Christians.

For me though, the main problem with Evolution as a means of creation is coming up with a sound argument as to where the line is drawn between the animals and humans who are made in the image of God. The speaker said that he believed that Adam was our 'spiritual ancestor', though probably not our 'genetic ancestor' (according to the current view in Evolution). When did this distinction occur and then when did the Fall occur? Is the fall of Adam meant to represent the fall of all humans? Did all humans (however many there were) inevitably progress towards sin and take their own piece of forbidden fruit?. And lastly, does an interpretation of Genesis with Evolution directly in mind miss or confuse the intent of the text?

Many questions, ones which will take some thinking about. (But not now as it is too late already...)

I do think that often we hold on rather too tightly to a literal-only interpretation of Genesis, probably as a reaction to the sometimes only perceived alternative, which is Evolution. This can make us somewhat ungracious towards people, including Christians, who do hold to the Evolutionary ideas, and also to present our own views in a rather ignorant fashion.

I personally believe that it takes much more faith and mental and spiritual discipline to be able to hold onto the Theory of Evolution and still maintain a view of God that is consistent with what the Bible teaches. I can see that with weak faith, one could easily remove the need for God in other things, or eventually discount his Sovereignty altogether, and reduce God to 'the guy who pushed the button'.

I am not completely rejecting the possibility of evolution, but owing to the fact that I see that fitting the theory into the Bible is very, very hard, I think for the moment I'll stick with Creation :-)

Inner Peace

2007-09-21T19:42:00.000+10:00

"The only thing that's going to bring me inner peace is a beard-seeking missile!"

Today I had an amazing experience of God bringing me 'inner peace' when I really needed it. I felt rather pained this morning as my 'heart was troubled' (to be non-specific), and I really felt that I needed someone to talk to. I went over to the Ref to see if there was anyone to do that with, but there wasn't. I sort of prayed that God would send someone for that, but no one showed up. So after sitting there feeling bad for a while, I decided that as there was no one for me to talk to there, I would tell God about it. And so I did. And He listened, and in His mercy He gave me the inner peace that I needed to get through the day. And I'm still feeling it now :-)

I have often heard people say, "Just tell God about your troubles", but it really didn't mean much to me until now. Recently I have experienced quite a few of these situations, where I've seen the truth in so many seemingly cliche Christian phrases, through my own personal experience.

Pictures of Photos

2007-09-18T21:49:00.000+10:00

Today I was walking up from the science library at uni, and I bumped into some international students who were taking photos. They saw me and with an excited exclamation got me to take some pictures of them so they could all be in it. After a bit of fiddling and instruction on operation (I am no camera-man), I took a few pictures of the 4 girls at the tables. At the end they thanked me and even took a picture of me with them with an instant-print camera thing, which was lovely. It was quite small, about 4x6 cm, but it came up reasonably good on the scanner. Anyway, they said they were Korean students and asked if I was a Christian. I'm not sure whether I just exude a Christian vibe, or they saw something I didn't about my shirt logo, or perhaps (more logically) that had just finished a meeting with YMI/YIM (can't remember which...), but it was interesting that they asked that straight out. Does anyone know much about the group, as I haven't really heard about it.

Part 2 of the story

2007-09-17T21:02:00.000+10:00

This is my continuation from the last bit. It is still in a pretty unrefined state, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

...
And so Evolution began to cause order within the randomness, and amongst the order came atoms, and atoms clustered together to form clouds of gas. But the randomness was still great, and though Evolution toiled, he could not make it less. For gravity was not enough to make the gas to become dense. And Evolution was sad that none of his labours bore fruit.

And the expansion of the universe continued, and the growing coolness caused Chance catch cold. And the cold caused Chance to sneeze, and the power of the sneeze caused Evolution's gas cloud to form a star. And Evolution saw that it was good. But then Chance looked up and saw all the Order that Evolution had caused out of the randomness, and his wrath was kindled against Evolution. "You have violated The Second Law!". But Evolution was quick in thinking and replied, "Wait! Look at the warmth of the star!", and Chance saw that the heat was good for his cold.

And so Time passed, and Chance and Evolution were pleased with the warmth of the star. As the sun reached the end of its life, Chance realised that although the warmth of the star was good, the decrease in Entropy it had caused was not good. And so Chance said, "Never again shall we cause a star to be born". Evolution begged Chance to reconsider, but Chance would not ,saying, "The baby bonus now comes in monthly installments." And Evolution despaired.

But lo, the star that Chance sneezed into life was mighty, and as it died it became nova, and went "Bang". And the Bang pleased Chance, for he was a Pyromaniac. But the power of the nova caused three other gas clouds that Evolution had made also to become stars. And Chance saw the potential chain-reaction and said "This is going to give me a headache!" But Chance did not destroy the stars as he liked the fireworks of the last one. And Evolution saw all this and decided that it had potential.

And time passed on the universe, stars died and became nova, and then more stars were born, becoming galaxies and super galaxies. And Evolution saw that it was good. And Chance said, "This is getting ridiculous!". But Chance looked out and that there was still only random gas and plasma, and so Chance decided that everything was still pretty good.

But Evolution was not content to watch the fireworks of the stars, and wished for someone who would share his love of order. And as Evolution gazed into the light of an especially bright nova, he saw how might create beings who would love order as he did.
...

Bible story according to Evolution

2007-09-10T21:38:00.000+10:00

Today I read an opinion page in the Weekend Australian magazine by (some bloke) which said how self-important we humans think we are when really we're nothing more than a cosmic/evolutionary accident, and that in the end even the bees are better than us because at least they do something useful.

Anyway, in a roundabout sort of way I got thinking again how much like a religion some of this stuff is, where the great god Evolution triumphs over disorder in spite of Chance, the god of chaos. Inspired by such great works as The Bible According to Spike Milligan, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy and a bit of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, I have started a crazy, satirical, religious-text lookalike of the Bible story according to Evolution. Sort of. I'm not entirely sure what it's supposed to be, but I'll find out as I write it.

Here is a short excerpt, which will probably not be anything like the final version, but anyway, I'm sure you'll love it, Jerome.

In the beginning Chance created the heavens and the earth.

Now there was nothing. But the idea of something coming from nothing made everyone's head hurt. And so instead there was an eternal Singularity. And the spirit of Chance hovered around the Singularity. And Chance set, "Let there be a Bang!", and there was a Bang - yea, a Big Bang. And Chance saw that it was good. And then Chance said, "Let the Bang continue in expansion and create space and time." And Chance's brother Evolution saw the time he had made and saw that is was very good.

Now the universe (for that was what Chance named it) was still very hot, and Evolution said to Chance, "This is all very well, but all this heat is making me sweat." So Chance said, "Let there be a quick inflation of spacetime.", and lo, according to Boyle's Law it was cooler. And so Evolution was able to put his shirt back on. Then Chance said, "Let things randomly bump around for a while", and lo, it was very random. And Chance saw that it was good. For Chance loved randomness, but Evolution loved order.

And Evolution watched all the random bumpings for a long age and said, "This is more boring than Big Brother". Chance said, "Nay, that is not possible." And Evolution said unto Chance, "All this randomness is making my head hurt. Can't we have some order?". But Chance said, "Nay, for that would contradict The Second Law of Thermodynamics, in that the total Entropy of the universe may not decrease." And Evolution cursed this law, and sought to find a loophole.

Now Evolution was more crafty than Chance, and saw that with Time, he may work so that localised entropy may be decreased. And so slowly with time, Evolution began to create Order within the chaos. But Chance missed all this while watching Live Double Eviction.
...

Opinions on dancing

2007-08-29T20:39:00.000+10:00

Found this on Angus' blog today, the comments are rather interesting (especially from a guy's point of view).

A short observation...

2007-08-24T22:14:00.000+10:00

After spending time perusing Myspace and Facebook, I've noticed that a few of my old school friends, who to my knowledge aren't Christians*, still put 'Christian' down for religion. Interesting that - people still may identify themselves as 'Christian' when they need to be put in a box, although they mightn't otherwise.

*EDIT: due to ambiguity, phrase "who I don't think are" changed to "who to my knowledge aren't"

Myspace - blerg

2007-08-23T18:49:00.001+10:00

I've spent the last hour and a half trawling through the online society - blogger, facebook and now a stint on myspace. Don't worry, I only got myspace so I could post stuff on all my friend's ones. I don't like it really anyway, it's too messy for me. And another thing, no one posts on their own comment wall, so you get lots and lots of "Hi how are you? What are you up to?" and no replies from the author. All hail blogger. All that said, it is a pretty easy way to keep in touch, although it does take up lots of TIME.

I feel really tired at the moment - and I've got a physics test tomorrow to study for, and a whole pile of washing up to do, and I wanted to post the last section of the existence of God course video we watched. Hmm, maybe 'later'. Anyway, time to go and do something else.

Ah yes, don't forget to pray for Sam Green doing his talks up in the unis in Sydney.

Bush Dance Reminder

2007-08-22T22:21:00.000+10:00

Reminder about a Bush Dance that's happening on Saturday.

Unfortunately that it clashes with the international thingy on at uni. Should be great though. Sam's taking his wife to it. :-)

Existence of God - Atheist

2007-08-16T10:10:00.000+10:00

Due to me being sort of busy and not feeling like doing blogging (and the atheist's argument not being particularly well presented), this is last week's thing. Sam also said that for some reason he didn't have the full amount of time for his argument, but presented the rest of it in a later rebuttle.

The atheist speaker begain his argument by saying that 'proof' for the existence of God should be based on evidence, such as that able to be discussed by lawyers or scientists. He claimed that if there was any evidence for God to exist then it would of course be in the scientific journals. He then said that wraps it up and he can go home, but he still has 'a few more minutes'.

He quotes the Christian speaker's question, "What good evidence is there that God does not exist?". But then, there are many other things which you can't disprove, for example ESP or UFOs. But should you believe in them just because you can't prove that they do or do not exist? Many people don't. On the idea of proof, he says that God is not a mathematical theorem that you can 'prove'. You cannot prove that he does or he does not exist, like Pythagoras' Theorem. However, you should proportion belief to evidence. Therefore, agnositicism is ony viable when the evidence is equivocal. The evidence is not equal and so agnostics logically should be atheists. And then there is the question of which God to belive in. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Aztec? We are all atheists against many other gods. (To which I must add, isn't an atheist one who believes in no god at all, rather than just selecting one to believe in?)

He then sets out to look at the first cause argument, that whatever began must have a cause. Where did the universe come from? It is a mystery, and one which people have been talking about for centuries. He also admits that it is attractive to appeal to our intuition to talk about what caused the universe. But relying on common sense is not a good idea in this situation because we can't imagine it. There are many things (especially quantum physics) in which our common sense does not give the right answer. Eg wave-particle duality is a known scientific principle (small particles behaving both as particlse and waves at the same time) which we can't imagine, yet it is true. The first cause argument, he says, cannot be applied to the beginning of the universe because it is outside of time. A principle of the universe can't be applied to something outside of the universe. He admits that the idea of no cause isn't attractive, "I don't like it, but we're stuck with it".

He then addresses the argument that the complexity suggests design. He tells of a classic argument for design in the universe, which is like finding a watch on the beach and knowing that someone must have designed it. But can you compare a watch and a universe?

One of the things about accidents is that don't usually look like accidents. If we were in an accident then it is highly likely that we wouldn't even know it. As to the huge unlikeliness of things being the way they are, enormous improbabilities happen everywhere. For example, in the card game bridge, the chance of being dealt the full suit of spades is extremely unlikely. If you did, you would think someone stacked the deck, or you would write to a column about being dealt an amazing hand of cards. But the enormous unlikelihood of this happening is exactly the same as getting any particular random, boring hand. Yet we don't get all excited about it when we get dealt one of those common, random hands. So the enormous improbability of the universe just being the way it is may just be like getting a boring, random hand.

How do we know that this universe is so perfect anyway? He quoted David Hume saying that there are many imperfections in this world - sometimes it looks like it was created by an old retired God, or a one just trying to get to grips with his powers. He then proceeded to run out of time, and finished up with a brief argument against the person of Jesus. He talked about the Aztec god Quetzocoatl, who it is said had a holy book, and performed miracles that many people saw, and 'if we don't put our trust in him we won't go to the great enchilada in the sky for all eternity.'

Presenting his not-so-clear argument from notes taken a week ago (although we did watch it twice) does not entirely do him justice. But most of his arguments do have problems (I think I'll go into them in a comment later). The only argument that I might give him is perhaps the first cause one, that applying a law of the universe to something outside the universe may not be viable.

Memorising

2007-08-06T19:18:00.000+10:00

Upon suggestion from Geovanny, I have begun to memorise the book of Colossians (I actually started last week sometime - Wednesday I think). I am currently up to verse 14 of chapter one, but I haven't got it all down precisely yet. Currently I'm predicting perhaps 2 verses per day on average. At that rate it will probably take me about 7 weeks to do all the 95 verses. It's quite fun actually, I suggest you have a go at a book (and yes, you are allowed to to Jude).

A bit of a rant

2007-08-06T18:36:00.000+10:00

And now for some random ranting...

Sometimes I wish blogs were a little like forums, with the latest commented on posts going up near the top, and temporary spaces for new posts. Because usually any sufficiently large (enough to push the others down past the initial view window) post immediately relegates any post before it, often rendering it 'uncommentable' in the presence of this new post.
(BTW this isn't necessarily a direction to go and post on my not-much-commented-stuff).

And now some techo-rant (as in computer stuff, not a rant set to 80s music)
There are two current reasons why I don't like Microsoft:
1. Internet Explorer is Horrible. They have IE6 on the computers in the library at uni and it is so nasty to use. No tabs :-( . And half the time when I try to some blog-browsing on blogspot, it decides that it can't read the page and so asks if I want to save the page to disk. Often I can bypass it by putting www in (as in http://www.mindingyourmind.blogspot.com/ instead of http://mindingyourmind.blogspot.com/), which requires copying the link, pasting it into a new window and inserting www in the right spot. Incredibly tedious. And today for a couple of blogs even THAT didn't work. (All hail firefox.)

2. Windows Live messenger has dynamic ads. I can't believe that this version of messenger has stupid dynamic ads moving about on the main screen. Outrageous. And they put them on the bottom of the screen, resulting in something that is virtually impossible to ignore. So I promptly uninstalled it and went back to version 7.5.

Hmmm, anything else getting my goat?
(can't think of anything right now, I'll ask him later...)

Existence of God

2007-08-02T19:27:00.000+10:00

Today I did one of Sam Green's courses for FOCUS, entitled The Existence of God. It looks at the evidence that God does exist, and today we looked at the first part of a video on the subject. The speaker presented a really clear, logical argument. He divided into 5 parts:

1. Origin of the Universe
Where did it all come from? Is it eternal, as was thought by atheists until the big bang theory came along, which had to explain the observation that the universe did have a discernible beginning. The old axiom is true "out of nothing nothing comes". How did something come from nothing? What is the first cause?
>>Whatever begins to exist has a cause.
>>The universe has a beginning.
>>Therefore the universe has a cause.
He also argued that this first cause must also be personal, as an impersonal cause cannot 'choose', and so is governed by some condition, which binds it back to the universe itself. However, a personal cause (God) can choose. This is rather confusing but interesting.

2. Complexity and ordering of the universe
There is a complex ordering required in the universe to allow for life to exist. The fine tuning of the laws of physics are so precise that the probability of it turning out by chance is minuscule.
These could be explained in three ways:
>>Natural law - It was proposed that the laws of physics deem that this is the only possible universe to have been formed. (now one of the goals of the "Theory of Everything") However, this is not the case. Many theoretical universes (including a majority of life-prohibiting ones) have been postulated based on the laws of physics.
>>Chance - The odds of arriving where we are purely by chance are incredibly tiny. (The only way to justify this is with either an infinite or eternal universe or some sort of multiverse, so that there are an infinite number of chance arisings and this one just happens to be a good one to live in. However these theories are either false or untestable.)
>>Design - It seems that the most logical conclusion to explain the incredible order and complexity in the universe is a designer, a powerful, all-knowing God who could create the amazing and complex order of the universe.

3. Objective morality
If there is no God, there are no absolute moral standards, and morality is just what is right for you. However, something like the Holocaust is always wrong, even though the Nazis thought it was right. Even if they won and imposed and brainwashed their views onto others, it would still be wrong. If God does not exist, then morality is merely an aid to social survival and reproduction. Rape, for example, is only wrong if it is harmful to the survival of society. If it is not always wrong, then it is sometimes right. (A good argument to all those existentialists. However, we all do have this innate sense of some things being wrong, an objective rather than subjective morality. Therefore, God, the source of this morality must exist.

4. Jesus
If Jesus did in fact rise from the dead then it is evidence that God exists. There is strong evidence that:
>>Jesus' tomb was found empty.
>>Different groups of people, both believers and non-believers, saw him alive after his death.
>>Jesus disciples believed so strongly that they were willing to die for this belief.
Explanations such as 'the disciples stole the body' or 'his followers made it all up' have been refuted by many experts.

5. Experience
His last point was not evidence as such, but that we aren't limited to just arguing whether or not God exists, but that we can experience him for ourselves. For those who seek him, God can make himself know to them.

So that was the talk. Next week, the atheist's argument.

The origin of oil

2007-08-02T10:40:00.000+10:00

How long does oil take to form?

This cropped up from the world view survey yesterday.
An interesting article from Answers in Genesis answered the question well.

There's also a lot of other good articles there defending the Bible with science.

Bush Dance!

2007-08-01T08:46:00.000+10:00

For those of you who liked the MYC bush dancing, my sister told me about this one being put on by the Folk Federation of Tasmania. Hopefully all the info's on the brochure pic thingy.

A better place

2007-07-28T22:18:00.000+10:00

In the process of writing a reply comment to the last post, I remembered the whole thing about 'going to a better place'.

When a person has died, it often gets said that they have 'gone to a better place', whatever that means. It gets mentioned at funeral services, and also in the media, when talking to friends or family of the deceased.

"We miss him so much, but we know he's gone to a better place."

But where have they actually gone? What is that 'better place' that people like to think about? Is it 'heaven' in the Christian sense, or perhaps it is someplace that is just indefinable enough so as to remain distant from Christianity (and God's justice), while still giving the sense that the person still exists somewhere where it is 'better' than this life.

It seems that many of these people are largely in denial. They can't accept the fact that the person who was so important to them is now completely non-existent, which is the understanding put forward by our largely atheistic and humanistic society. They rarely identify heaven as being the 'better place', as this gets too close to Christianity, and it's generally believed that it is reasonably difficult to get into heaven. Instead it is a sort of warm, fuzzy version of the earth, where there are decidedly more trees and flowers and less cars and trucks, nature has triumphed over industry, and the one thing that gave most pleasure and fulfillment to the individual in this life can be done in abundance. It seems to be a lot like heaven, but without God and only his gifts.

The inherent problem with the idea of 'a better place' is who made it. Where did it come from and why is it there? Who decides which people get to go there? Where are all the 'bad guys', the Saddams and Hitlers of this world. No matter how you try to not think about it, God of some description has to enter into the equation. In our western culture, God sometimes does get a look in, but generally he is a nice but somewhat distant God, one who just wants people to get along, isn't too quick with the holy stick of justice, lets people in because they're 'not too bad a person', tells the angels what to do and (occasionally) gives people things when they desperately pray for them.

Contrast this with the LORD God Almighty who reigns over heaven and earth. The great I AM of the Bible, the First and the Last, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The God of power, justice and love, creator and sustainer of all things. To Him is owed all glory, honour and praise. How can we let the 'God of nice' to be before the Almighty? We shall have no other gods before him. Let us show the world the one true God, and fear him only. Praise be to God!

(man I feel like Paul just now...)

If life is an exam...

2007-07-26T20:08:00.000+10:00

then the pass mark is not, as is commonly thought, 50%. Nor is it 75%, or even 90%. Yes, the pass mark set by God is 100%. Anything below that is a FAIL. Even one little error along the way makes it impossible to achieve that 100%. There is no way to eliminate that mistake, no matter how many other events you 'pass'.

I was kicking this idea around my head for the past couple of days. It is not a terribly good analogy, and any attempt to take it further will result in it falling down around your ears*, but it doesn't seem too bad. It knocks down the idea that if the 'good stuff' outweighs the 'bad stuff' in our life, God will let us in.

*You know, the whole "...and if God is like the examiner and he had a plan so that we could all pass..." (shudder)

Big Breakfast

2007-07-25T14:25:00.000+10:00

Another FOCUS Big Breakfast this morning at Sam's place. This time it was a variation on the usual cereal, toast and pancakes: (real) coffee and delicious fresh croissants with cream, jam and fruit.

Mmmm croissants... I think I ended up eating 4 :-). I could eat one for breakfast every morning...

Discovered!

2007-07-23T09:20:00.001+10:00

Now that I have at least one view (thanks Mike) I have a legitimate reason to post all my wild, random thoughts, as my ego is not inflated enough to allow me to do it merely for my own enjoyment.

As I am new to the blog world, I hope to add a dash of humility to my posts so as not to appear completely arrogant. (My self-importance should naturally increase with the number of comments to my posts).

Anyway, now to a topic perhaps worthy of a comment.
One of my pet annoyances briefly cropped up again in church yesterday. It is in regards to introduction of songs. Not the introduction itself (while sometimes good) but the playing of music OVER the music leader speaking. I find that it trivialises their introduction into happy waffling, as everyone is thinking, "yeah, good, can we sing yet?" If what they are saying is of genuine importance, then it doesn't need to be set to music - I thought that's what the song was for.
I've seen this done over prayer also (on some program I think), which just grates against me like anything. I suppose it could be ok sometimes, but I again I feel it can easily trivialise what's being said. I dunno - maybe it's just me.

(in light of my previous comment, feel free to knock me back :-) )

Enter me...

2007-07-20T17:58:00.000+10:00

Hello all!

Here we are, another web logger added to the countless others out in the cluttered cyberspace...

I am basically new to the blogging phenomenonen, but it looks fun.
I have three reasons for coming aboard HMS Blogger:
1. A desire to subject the world to my random thoughts of brilliance
2. Mike Jolly's blog (A bit of inspiration)
3. MSN Space* sucks (It is incredibly slow and has an horrendous, clunky interface)

No, FOUR reasons:
4. Delusions of grandeur

No wait!
Among my reasons are: A desire to subject the world...

More posts will follow (probably in quick succession until the novelty wears off).

*(previously erringly stated as Myspace)
EDIT I seem have done a great disservice to MySpace, confusing it with stupid old Windows Live Spaces, which gives itself a title of 'My MSN Space' (thus producing the confusion).
EDIT 2 Myspace DOES suck. All previous comments apply.