On Loving Jesus

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs."

He said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep."

He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go." (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, "Follow me." (John 21)

There is something about that sentiment that I struggle with. Essentially we have a man saying that he loves another man. It’s not a normal thing to say these days and I don’t think I would be the only dude to feel even a little uncomfortable. Churches have turned blokes off attending by overusing such sentiments. Just check out my review of David Murrow’s book, ‘Why Men Hate Going To Church’.

The obvious truth was put to me though. That we can love others in a non-romantic way. Yes, but blokes express that love differently to woman. So blokes don’t say I love you to their best mate. Instead perhaps saying, “I love your work”, a personal favourite. While the women can get away with saying to their girls friends that they love them, and be sincere about it.

That being said, I do love my brother, just don’t tell him I said so. I find it ironic that just when we are getting on better than ever he goes back to university in country NSW.

I also love Jesus, I love his work even more.

Now to counter balance all this guy love I shall roam aimlessly wearing a footy jersey and have a beer in hand. Any dudes want to join me.

Hanging On To Life

It is seen everyday in our job. As a result we become somewhat desensitised to it. I am referring to our elderly people living in nursing homes in various levels of comfort and mental function.

At times I think: what life are they really having? Is it worth living? Are they afraid of dying or are they actually enjoying this?

As Christians we shouldn’t be afraid of dying, as it is our belief that we will join our heavenly father. Dying is a natural part of life. Yet some persist with endless treatments such as renal dialysis.

What sort of life can one have in a nursing home? There are some nice nursing homes but generally speaking I wouldn’t want my mum to end up in one.

Tell Me To Come

Heard a sermon recently by a lay preacher at church. It focussed on the experience of Peter when he saw Jesus walking on the water.

Matthew 14: 22-33

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid."

And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Jesus said, “come”, so Peter came. But was it due to his faith or his impetuousness. After all his doubt made him sink and he had to call out to Jesus in desperation.

We are all invited to “come” and it is up to us to take up the invitation.

A main point of the sermon was that we should ask God, “If you’re in this (the circumstance), tell me to come (and do your will)”. Then we need to listen for an answer.

I wonder about this ‘answer’ though. Do we perceive an answer that might be pure coincidence? I have done a post on that topic based on my own circumstances.

I once thought I was being led into teaching when all three applications for a dip ed were successful, I wasn’t expecting one. Then again when I was exposed to some emergency jobs as a patient transport officer, just as I was mulling over my paramedic application. There have been many trials and tribulations, but now that I’m in the Ambulance Service, I love it.

So maybe that’s the answer. Prayerful thought about everything and having patience for the response. Not being impetuous like Peter.

Why Do They Smoke?

Picture this:

I attend to a patient complaining of shortness of breath. After attaining a history I discover they have chronic emphysema due to a lifetime of smoking. Sympathy for patient immediately declines.

As it is my job I transport the patient to hospital. I handover to a nurse that was earlier having a smoke in the ambulance bay.

Patient now comfortable on a hospital bed while my colleague is smoking with other nurses from the emergency department.

It’s an all too common sight. You would think they know better.

Poor Atheists

Dr Greg Clarke, co founder of the Centre for Public Christianity (CPX) suggested to me and the rest of the crowd at a Christian men’s convention to respond kindly and not in kind to opposition from non-believers. After all, Jesus said to love your enemies, to turn the other cheek and to love your neighbour as yourself (Matt 5: 38-48). It is also not for us to condemn people, that’s for God. But why would you bother anyway when it seems the atheists’ condemn themselves.

The atheists had their own convention last week in Melbourne. CPX was shut out but Andrew Bolt in the Daily Telegraph did attend. Bolt, a self proclaimed agnostic, instead of feeling at ease with the thought of there being no God felt like he needed God even more due to the vitriolic attack by speakers on prominent Christians in Australia. Bolt says,

“My near conversion occurred because three of the speakers managed to confirm my worst fear………that if the Christian God really is dead then there is not much to stop people in our society from behaving like barbarians”.

He goes on to describe three examples that are just as bad if not worse than any of the bad statements spouted by noted Christian leaders, mainly in America. They were insulting and downright rude. Bolt was expecting a better example from these intellectuals

It is a big part of Richard Dawkins’ (prominent atheist) argument that you don’t need the bible to have a morality. This may be partially true, but Dawkins would claim his morality is superior. Yet this example of behaviour and attitude shows the opposite.

Hence to display a superior morality one can’t react in kind, but kindly. As hard as that may seem. remember to pray for those who persecute you (Matt 5:44)

The Drama Queen

A particular creature unveils itself to emergency health care occasionally. Predominantly it comes in the form of a female, of no particular age.

An incident occurs, usually a fight or break up with a husband or boyfriend. This sets off a chain of events that leads to the presentation at hospital or the calling for ambulance services.

There was one such incident the other night. An 18-year-old girl had just been dumped by her boyfriend. Being swept up in the emotion of it all she proceeded to refuse to eat for three days. Her parents called for an ambulance (when perhaps she needed a psychologist) and all were whisked off to hospital. The parents appeared distraught when they were sent to the waiting room until a doctor could see them.

There is a reason why such cases don’t receive much sympathy from health care workers. It is because these people are drama queens and are manipulating those around them to feel sorry for them. This is apart from the irrational outbursts of emotion. Parents or former partners are sucked into the performance and made to feel guilty for what is going on because generally they are decent people. When really all they need is a dose of tough love and a reality check. Sure, be hurt but don’t be ridiculous. Believe me, we’ve all been there, done that.

The drama queen never seems to consider that it may have been such acts of irrational behaviour that led to the break up or argument in the first place. This latest course of action can merely justify the break up. Instead the guilt-ridden dumper may be led to continuing the relationship, as it was before, unknowing that the manipulating behaviour has now been given positive reinforcement. This will only lead to more drama and an even harder break up in the future.

Indoctrination

Was up early one Saturday morning after a rigorous night shift. By chance I caught some of Good Morning America. On it was a story about a couple going threw what appeared to be a very bitter divorce settlement. They have a 3-year-old daughter together

The woman had it stipulated in the settlement that her husband not take their daughter to church while she was in his custody. The father thinking this was utterly ridiculous went on to take his daughter to church. Now the mother wants to take him to court and send him to jail.

When asked why she doesn’t like her daughter going to church, she said that she “fears the indoctrination” of the church.

If you are gong to endorse such a hard line approach with church then you could really apply it anywhere. Parents bring up their children to have values resembling their own. This could be viewed as indoctrination. I want my kids to grow up with an appreciation for sports, especially AFL and my beloved Swans. Is this indoctrination and if so is it even a bad thing?

So really her beef is that she wants to indoctrinate the child with her ideas and not those of her ex husband. But because the justice system is so skewed towards the women the father gets royaly kicked up the bum.

I’d say it’s all about the method employed. I grew up in a Christian home but never felt pressured or indoctrinated into Christianity. I found it by myself with help from very supportive and helpful parents.

I fear that this little girl’s life is already messed due to her parent’s madness.

Ron Barassi – The Coach

“The Coach” by John Powers

This is the story of the 1977 season of North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League. John Powers had an all access pass and did nothing else except observe all facets of the footballs club from pre season to finals, to premiership glory.

The focus of story is on the coach, Ron Barassi. He commands a lot of attention when instructing his players. He is a hard taskmaster, knowing what he wants and how to get it. He wants to win but win fairly by having the toughest and most skilful team in the competition. His record stands tall with multiple premierships both as a player and a coach.

North Melbourne was a club languishing near the bottom of the ladder before Barrassi too over and made them a powerhouse club. One that played in four consecutive grand finals, winning two.

It’s a marvellous read for those interested in the game. Especially if you are a fan of North Melbourne Football Club or Ron Barassi, or both.

Books on the Job

Having recently gotten into reading like never before I wanted to make the most of every spare moment to eat through my large to read collection. This led to me choosing books not on their content but rather their size and thickness. They had to be the right size to fit snugly into the side pocket of my work pants and not impede me during work. That way when stuck in bed block (at Westmead it’s an all too frequent occurrence) I would whip it out and get through a few pages at a time. Of course these books are not heavy with intellectual content. I would be reading them at all if that were the case, regardless of thickness.

It started with some books that I specifically wanted to read. Notably ‘The Dawkins Letters’, ‘God Reality’ and ‘The Dawkins Delusion’.

This led other books that I had forgotten were in my possession. Perhaps they were too thin and small to notice languishing on my bookshelves. I started with a series of books by Mark Driscoll called, ‘A book you would actually read on….’. Then came ‘Hell Island’ ‘The Third Anglosphere Century’ and Sein Language, most of these have received a post. It is a broad array of books that keeps the reading interesting.

The Batt Man

Finally, one of Rudd’s ill-conceived plans has blown up in his face. No amount of spin can cover this one up. Although it seems he may at least be spared some opposition wrath. The plan was Rudd’s but was handpassed to Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, to implement.

Ignoring industry advice he went ahead with rebates for householders to get their roofs insulated. In trying to do something good for the environment and middle class Australians all he really achieved was let dodgy installers loose in people's homes with toxic imported cheap batts resulting numerous house fires and a few deaths of young men.

Abbott is rightfully calling for the head of the environment minister. Suddenly it’s the prime minister who has gone missing in action.

Is He Serious?

In describing the federal opposition, Kevin Rudd has said publicly that they are “untested”, “ill prepared” and they can’t be allowed to “slide into government”. Yet he is proving that these terms more accurately describe his own ascent into government.

He was untested, a newcomer that managed to capture the imagination of the public with his plastic outer shell and personality of a doorknob. Mainly due to a regular fixture on Channel 7’s Sunrise program.

He was ill prepared, as his recent frank admission confirms. He has stated that he had underestimated the size of the task. As if hearing that Australia runs a $1 trillion economy wouldn’t jolt you into a sudden realisation. The man has brought out two budgets. If he doesn’t know the size of the job then he is incompetent.

He slid into government. For some reason the Australian public has a massive case of tall poppy syndrome. John Howard had been in for too long and had to go. Why? Well he’d been in too long. Therefore voting in someone not cut out for the task, as it has now been proven.

Tell me a work place where an individual in a top job could make an admission like that and still have his top job. A demotion surely would occur at the very least. Not for Australian politics though, it has worked for Queensland premier, Peter Beattie for a couple of elections, and our Prime Minister is a Queenslander after all.

It is as if he thought the hard part of the job was over after winning well in the 2007 election. It had only begun, and it will only get harder if he intends to stay there.

Footy Evangelism

Aussie Rules Football is my game (in case you haven’t noticed).

Getting people interested in AFL in western Sydney has to be the biggest challenge since the move of South Melbourne to Sydney way back in 1981. Hopefully learning from those mistakes will create a greater resolve to do things right to make sure the new team (without an official name at the moment) launches as well as possible.

Everyone seems to label this area rugby league heartland. I think league supporters are relying on this adage to maintain their stronghold. However the AFL is cashed up and proactive, spending money on grounds both for professional teams and local teams. Meanwhile the rugby league has been largely inactive and is disorganised with its leadership. Phil Gould has been most critical.

Rugby league is a very different sport and its supporters seem unable (or unwilling) to understand a different sport. They seem to be very rigid to their rules and can’t handle the multi directional nature of Aussie rules.

This is only one aspect of the recruitment of supporters because largely rugby league supporters will stay loyal to league, or at best be a part time supporter of Aussie rules.

There is a large migrant population that are new to Australia and in an effort to assimilate to their new home they send their kids to play the real footy. With long running controversy about the size disparity of junior league players the Auskick program offers a safe and fun alternative for parents to send their children as the physical aspect is introduced gradually.

It is hard to create a passionate supporter out of nowhere. Team GWS has to start from the ground up. Hence their strong efforts to entrench community links. A citizenship ceremony at half time of the Sydney Vs Carlton pre season match at Blacktown I thought was very clever. Those people will remember that game forever and have a positive emotional attachment to the game.

Attaining Kevin Sheedy as coach for the next three years was a massive coup. His marketing ability is priceless. He recently became a league supporter to win (save) the league supporters, heard that method before anyone? He stated that he would buy a membership to the four western Sydney rugby league clubs, if they would let him. Rugby league officials reaction to this only assists in giving greater publicity.

Above all there is a need to stay positive and think about the game before any team support.