Waiting For Heaven

Have heard a few pastors and friends say “I can’t wait to go to heaven”.

Surely their sentiment is based on how they are putting God first in their life. This is a good thing to do. But it really says that they can’t wait to die. It can be taken that the pastors can’t wait to leave their position of church leadership and ministry. I’m sure they don’t mean it like that, then why say it like that?

Others might say it in a fed up mood due to the sinful world we are living in. This might show a lack of persistence when in a situation of suffering.

Obviously heaven will be a fantastic final destination, beyond description. But life is a gift meant to be enjoyed, something to be cherished. Even though there is a better place waiting for those who believe. An analogy is that we don’t throw away a present on our birthday just because there is a better one to come at Christmas.

Our life on earth is part of God’s plan. There are things we are meant to do. Our purpose. To have an effect on humanity. When it is your time to go, God’s perfect timing, then you will go.

“God put me on earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind I will never die” (unknown source)

Living is a good thing. We choose life over death. We still go to the doctor when we are sick. Apparently the great Billy Graham is one who said, “I can’t wait to go to heaven”. He’s still alive in his late 80’s with Parkinsons. He’s been waiting a while. His purpose on earth is not yet complete.

Anti Unions

I used to think of the unions as a necessary evil. A backstop, a support network, if situations in the workplace went pear shaped. In my two careers as a teacher and a paramedic where litigation can occur, having that support seemed a wise thing to attain.

Not anymore. I no longer consider unions as necessary – just evil.

This has been the case since I left the health services union (HSU) in 2008. They are supposedly representing paramedics and have our best interests at heart.

Instead they show themselves as having no heart and being severely self-serving. The amount of ex union officials in Labor party ranks is testament to that.

Within the last week the HSU has outlined a wage claim that it was going to present to the industrial relations commission. They say they are going to fight for a 27% wage rise in an effort to catch up for a lack of wage increases over the years. Sounds good so far, but wait there’s more. They snuck in that the wage rise should only apply for financial HSU members.

This spits in the face of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 which says, amongst other things, that, “a person cannot be compelled to become a member of an industrial organisation” and that “an employer must not victimise an employee because the person does not belong to an industrial organisation”. It’s illegal under the act to have minimum wage claims apply to only part of the workforce as non-union members are being victimised for exercising their freedom of association.

It also spits in the face of the hard working highly skilled health professionals that just want a fair go. Luckily we still have a voice in our apolitical professional association, EMSPA (emergency medical services protection association). We growing and the union is rightfully concerned.

Stealing From Miners

The govt has been elected to govern in whatever way it sees fit. It can put a tax on whatever it likes, that’s its prerogative. Just because it is legal though, doesn’t mean it’s moral. Taxation is stealing and now it is the turn of the miners to feel the wrath of tax.

The issue seems to come down to ownership. Who owns the minerals being mined? Rudd is appealing to our patriotism by suggesting we have a right to these profits as they minerals are owned by Australians.

But these companies have poured in masses of capital to be able to mine these minerals and employ masses of Australians to do so. They are a legitimate business making a big profit. Good on them

By taxing their big profits it is punishing entrepreneurship and business acumen. They shouldn’t be punished for doing well. This creates a culture that doesn’t aspire to succeed. Why bother when you will just be slugged with a giant tax?

Sensationalist Rubbish

The Daily Telegraph reported this on Thursday 6th May 2010 from research commissioned by the National Heart Foundation of Australia.

I’ll Die Before I Pay
Heart attack victims delay calling costly ambulance
By Sue Dunlevy
ONE in five people would hesitate to call an ambulance if they were having a heart attack because of the high cost, a study has found………

Some thoughts….

Stubborn pensioners – they would delay an ambulance regardless of the circumstances. That’s just the way they are. Avoiding a bill is not in their motivation. They have survived through real periods of upheaval, such as World War 2. What’s little bit of chest pain or abdo pain is their attitude. More people should show an ounce of this attitude instead of calling an ambulance for every stubbed toe.

Expectations – so much is given to the general public for free, which really means no direct cost to the public. This creates unrealistically high expectations of the public health system. Endless demand yet limited supply and people want it at their beck and call in their timing.

The Bill – what people are charged (if you don’t have a pension card or private health) is only a fraction of what it costs to put highly trained, highly skilled health professionals on the road. NSW is the most subsidised Ambulance Service in the country.

Adding value – if $300 is too much to pay for highly trained highly skilled health professionals to be at your door within 10 minutes in the Sydney metro region and then transport you to hospital then your priorities are severely mixed up!! Good health comes before money. If not that then perhaps you don’t really need an ambulance after all as your situation is not an emergency.

Just pay something – people take for granted the costs of ambulance services. Fitting out the vehicle alone costs upwards of $100,000. Then there’s training, equipment, uniforms and most importantly, wages of the highly trained, highly skilled health professionals. People need to pay something to realise these services don’t come cheaply and that they are privileged to have such a service so readily available. Perhaps a variable fee scale based on the triage category at hospital could work.

Universal coverage – a good idea in theory but I fear it will result in further abuse of the system as there is no value placed on the service by the general public

Oh The Irony

Wayne Swan was interviewed by Laurie Oakes last Sunday (9^th May) on the Weekend Today Show prior to his budget speech. Some interesting contradictions were found.

“Strict spending limits” has become the buzz word. A bit late though considering the massive recklessness of the last two years.

Swan wants you to believe that he saved us from a recession. Perhaps at least technically this is true as the numbers were positive for a quarter instead of continuing their downward trend towards a ‘recession’. Although many now say that as a result of the stimulus they have sped up the economy too much and now can’t slow it down. This will lead to a fantastically high boom period, and we all now what goes up must come down. Also, unsurprisingly there is no mention of the fantastic economy they inherited from the previous govt.

Whenever I hear “decisive action” I squirm a little bit. Probably because I heard it first and most often from Anthony Albanese, who said, “we make no apologies for decisive action”. Perhaps now with the beauty of hindsight there should be many apologies, it seems like it’s the only thing Rudd does well. Give him credit, the man does a wicked apology. Being decisive doesn’t make the action good.

Groovy Worship Music

I am different when it comes to music in church. I have played in multiple church bands yet could now do without music altogether. Especially with the increase of performance based music, singing at the congregation rather than leading them in signing praise to God. I still like this music, in a concert or playing through my iPod.

There is one church band that I have found purely by accident when surfing through the Mars Hill Church website. Their ‘music’ link shows various bands that play at their campuses as well as the many bands that have since retired. One such band is aptly named The Mars Hillbillies.

Their sound is very bluegrass. Not everyone’s cup of tea I know, but I have really been getting into it lately.

Check it out for yourself here. While there check out the diverse range of bands from other genres. There is something to please everyone.

Random Ad

Came across this while driving in the Penrith area. What do people make of this?

I am sure that everyone would agree with his sentiments regarding the abhorrent act of paedophilia. Yet to promote hatred takes things too far and doesn’t achieve anything good.

Missional Mission

“Confessions of a Reformissional Rev” by Mark Driscoll

This is a biographical account of the birth of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, USA. It follows his successes and failures in launching what is now one of the most influential churches in the world. He learnt the hard way. Driscoll’s podcasts of sermons are some of the most downloaded.

Even though the book is probably targeted towards current and future church planters I found it an interesting and easy read. It helped that I could tune into Driscoll’s sense of humour after listens to sermons repeatedly. Much the same as what happened reading the Cosby books.

Even though I am not an aspiring church planter at the moment this book is still a great story for all to read for some encouragement when going through those tough times.