Hey
Sorry for the absence. Life is really working on us at the moment but we are in there fighting & let me tell you, Bernie & I have more than a little resolve & conviction about what the next step of our life will be.
It’s (our next step) being fueled by more than a little prayer & as we pray we really feel the Holy Spirit leading us to meditate on a bigger world picture than we’ve allowed ourselves to have for some time. In fact, one of the convictions that is causing us angst & freedom in the same breath, is that we have allowed ourselves to live such small lives. One factor in this change has been seeing our church work to raise $20,000 to build a house for aids orphans in Uganda as part of the Watoto children’s project. Imagine that. $20,000 & you change the course of life for some children who would previously have been forgotten. As a result of this, I find that I now have a reason to get out & play live music again. I want to play & share what I’ve been given with people, but now I also want to use $10 out of every c.d. sale to buy a brick in the Watoto house. So even if you have an inkiling of a thought, invite us to play. It’s for an amazing cause. We’ll play pretty much anywhere, lounge rooms, coffee shops, big events, you name it. Coz you see, I know with great conviction that this isn’t about me, it’s about what I do with the gifts I’ve been given.
Another factor was visiting my good mate Andy Sorenson who is recording indigenous worship albums in Rwanda at the behest of the Rwandan government. the first one “Amani” is out & it’s amazing. The second one (I was privileged to hear a preview of this when I visited the Grove Studios) is just breath taking. Click here to go to his website & get your copy.
Finally, on the weekend just gone, I saw an interview with film maker Richard Curtis, one of the driving forces behind Live 8, make poverty history & comic relief. It was almost as if God was saying to Bernie & I “I’m not going to let this trail go cold in your hearts!” As we watched this 2 minute clip, I looked around the some 600+ gathered in the auditorium; there was scarcely a dry eye. Check it out & get back to me. I would love to read your thoughts. You need to go to http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/video/ & scroll down til you see the video titled “Yellow Dress”
Cheers.
MM
A few weeks ago a dear friend made a passing comment that their soul was empty. It was one short sentence in a big long conversation & yet it was this comment that I thought about all the way home that night. I resolved that I would try to encourage this person with a series of text messages that I titled “finding your soul”. Well we very quickly reached the limits that SMS’ing would allow & I thought that when I finally got back into blog world, I would visit these thoughts & maybe expand a little on them. So here goes…. (more…)
Hey there
I’ve been away; I mean, I’ve been around physically, but in my spirit I’ve been away, contemplating, thinking, reflecting, basically trying to get my house in order. That is never an easy gig, but at least on one level, it explains why I haven’t been writing the blog articles; I think that the changes in my life of late have fuelled this blogging hiatus; change is never easy, & the most recent bout of changes have taken up almost all of my creative & emotional energy. So like the proverbial winter bear, I have withdrawn to my cave & stared at the world as it has drifted by.
One event that caused more than a moment of pause in my life has been the death of my mother just a little while ago. (more…)
The ancient pyramids are an architectural and artistic masterpiece. Technological advances sustain the architectural world today and people are still fascinated and puzzled as to the possibility of these pyramids being created so many hundreds of years prior to any technological/mechanical aid.
Before marriage would occur in 19th century Europe, the male would propose a formal courtship to the Father of the love interest and intimacy would be limited to dinners, walks and dancing at parties until the marriage proposal was placed before the parents to be permitted or rejected.
France used to be governed by an absolute monarchy in the 18th Century in which the monarchical government had complete control over its people without the accountability of laws or legalities. Some religious and cultural authority held influence over the government, but the system generally relied on well-bred monarchs trained well from birth. The result was a mass political upheaval in which the people violently campaigned for equality and democratic privileges.
Generally born and sustained in the early 20th Century was the fact that democracies were the most legitimate, satisfactory and successful form of government. This was campaigned until the only major ideological opposition was the communist system. When this collapsed in the 1980s, the majority of the world’s states transformed into democratic political systems.
Up to the 1950s, the most common (more…)
Do you know what I am sick of? Advice. I’m not talking about that nice little friendly advice that someone who is really close to you and has the permission to speak into your life gives. I’m talking about the, “I have a tiny bit of knowledge on this subject so I am going to tell you everything you shoud do, that I didn’t do, or never intended to do, but you should do it because I’m telling you to.” Oh and by the way “this is not a suggestion it’s a list of instructions so if you don’t do exactly what I am telling you then I will look disaprovingly down my nose at you, or worse, will say I told you so when it all goes south!”
My most recent beef is people telling me how to save water/energy. (more…)
My daughter told me that she had some good serious quotes as opposed to the funny quotes article that I posted yesterday, so this is for you Rosey Nosey.
Take a moment to think of/research any great serious & or stirring quotes that you have come across in your travels. Let me start the ball rolling with this absolute ripper from Tony Campolo. Once, when making a speech back in the 80’s he famously began by saying (more…)
Have a read of the following article from “Lark News”. It’s pretty funny…”
HAMILTON, Bermuda — This year, instead of helping a missions team build a church sanctuary in Honduras, Bill Taylor of Open Bible Church in Wichita is evangelizing at beach resorts in Bermuda.
“Now this is missions work,” says Taylor while striking up spiritual conversation with wealthy resort guests.
As more church-goers tire of spending vacation time in the Third World, churches are taking a break from poverty and targeting the luxury class with the gospel.
“Our worldview had gotten too narrow,” says one pastor. (more…)
I Stole this from www.philbaker.net…..
Came across this quotation just now and it made me laugh. It’s from Agatha Christie whose second husband was Max Mallowan, an prominent archaeologist who specialized in ancient Assyria.
“The great thing about being married to an archaeologist is the older you get, the more he loves you.”
Or what about this one from Bono (more…)
Last Sunday morning I had to make an unexpected trip to pick up my guitar from where I had inadvertently left it the night before. The trip was about 90 minutes return & as I was driving along I found myself tuning in to Melbourne’s Christian radio station “Light fm”.
I tuned in during their presentation of worship music & once I identified this via what I thought was a fairly cheesy song, I went to change the station. It was one of those moments when I felt a distinct check in my spirit; fortunately being the ripe old age that I am, I have learned not to ignore these moments so I focussed in on what the check was about. Here is a little of what transpired as I prayed through the next 10 or 15 minutes of my drive. (more…)
This is an extract from an article that appeared in “Rolling Stone” in April 2007. Have a read, post a comment….
This is how you enlist in the Army of God: First come the fireworks and the prayers, and then 4,000 kids scream, “We won’t be silent anymore!” Then the kids drop to their knees, still but for the weeping and regrets of fifteen-year-olds. (more…)
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