Not About The Chocolate

Pro Palestine groups recently marched on a Max Brenner outlet in Parramatta in order to promote their cause.  What doesn’t make sense to most would be their choice of protest venue.

Max Brenner is a fine chocolate house.  His products are amazing.  So what do they have against it?

Is it their products?  Too sweet perhaps?  Too rich?

Perhaps their mugs?  They are odd shapes and sizes.

No, they don’t like Max Brenner because their parent company provides chocolate to the Israeli defence forces.  That’s where their actual protest is directed.  Then why not get on the first flight to the Middle East and join the Palestinian forces.  Surely a much more effective form of venting ones disgust at a perceived enemy.

I would not expect them to do such a thing, as they are too cowardly.  Their alternate form of protest suits this trait well.  Plus they are just plain wrong about their cause.  They will use anything they can to insult Israel.  They abhor its existence, for no particular reason, and will do whatever it takes to eradicate its people.

Daily Bible

It’s always an achievement to read the bible in full.  I recommend everyone do it at least once.  That’s regardless of whatever belief system you follow.  I had done it once using the easy to read “The Message” version of the bible.  Now I’ve finished it again using the ‘Daily Bible’ in NIV.

Firstly some stats.  It took me approximately 15 months to complete from 8^th June 2011 to 19^th September 2012.  This equates to 470 days.  It was read in 278 sessions with an average of 5 pages and 19 minutes per session.  Thanks to the ‘Read More” app of iPhone for statistics and extra motivation to keep reading.

The ‘Daily Bible’ has chunks of around 3 – 4 pages with duel columns that take about 10 – 20 minutes to read.  It is organised to have an Old Testament portion, New Testament portion and a Psalm or Proverb portion per day.

What I liked about the format was accomplishing a book more frequently.  For example while reading a long new testament book you will be finishing a shorter old testament book, or vice versa.  Also if one portion was quite droll then the other portion was usually very interesting.  Don’t forget as well that reading a small chunk of the bible every day is a good habit to forge.

I was surprised at how small the daily chunks were.  I’m not a fast reader and most days only took 10 mins to read.  Meaning that sometimes I read multiple days in one hit.  Sometimes you just have to keep reading while you have the energy. 

Each day was dated, intended for you to read every day starting January 1^st and finishing December 31^st.  I didn’t stick to this however.  I knew my shiftwork would make that impossible.  But I’m rather chuffed at 15 months.

Some of the ordering of the Old Testament was interesting.  It seems that they attempted to be somewhat chronological while breaking up the longer books with shorter books.

Post reading ‘The Message’ I asked, “What next?”  My answer then was to read it in this different format.  So now this effort is completed and I have to ask it again.  As reading the bible is not a once off read and then put it on the shelf to gather dust.

Although as I’m doing some study through Moore College I think I’ll give the daily reading a break and catch up on other books I’ve been wanting to reading.  After study is completed I’m keen to try out Max Lucado’s bible adaptation, ‘The Story’. 

Keeping Right

‘Keep left unless overtaking’ doesn’t seem to exist anymore.  It now appears to be ‘keep right for as long as you deem necessary and do whatever speed you think appropriate.

On occasion it has been the left lane that moves freely while the right remains slow.  This shouldn’t happen.  There’s something lacking, somewhere.  Training? General attitude?  Culture?

It’s a quickly forgotten rule post gaining a licence.  From that point self importance takes over and no other drivers on the road at that moment in time matter.  What they have to do is obviously very important.

People need to get over themselves.  You’re no more important than the next person on the road.  So relax, consider others, and most importantly if you want to go slow then keep left.

Worshipping Gold

The worship and idolisation of gold medallions at Olympic games has probably been going on for as long as the Olympic games.

With the lesser than expected gold haul from the Aussie contingent and the resulting calls for funding inquiries our worship has become more apparent in London.  How else would we get the headline “Salvation” after Sally Pearson’s win in the 100metre hurdles?  Salvation is not gained by winning gold.

Australians seems to think that we ought to win gold.  That we deserve them. That we have an entitlement to them.  When the best medal prospects don’t win the question gets asked, “What went wrong?”  It was asked of the men’s hockey team when they lost their semi final to Germany.  The correct answer should have been, ‘nothing, they were just better’.

We are quick to condemn.  It has happened to our national cricket team in recent years.  If they win they are heroes, if they lose they are no good and never will be.

It seems forgotten that other athletes have been working just as hard if not harder for exactly the same goal.  They also deserve reward for their efforts.  There’s nothing so special about us that makes us more deserving of gold.

Frankly, the Olympics have been very enjoyable because of the international spread of medal winners.  One should just watch and enjoy the athleticism instead of living vicariously through our Olympians.

Arm Raising

I used to make fun of arm raising in church.  I even made up names such as the light bulb, the touchdown, the catch, depending on your arm orientation. 

 It just seemed weird to me, as well as confronting to watch.  To a degree it was intimidating.  My thinking was that they had some sort of spiritual connection to God that I wasn’t getting.  Therefore there must be something wrong with me.

On the flipside I thought it may just be a show.  A way to get noticed and have the appearances of connecting with God.

It took a while to let all that go.  If it’s just for show then what should I care?  They’re lying to God, not me.  And there was nothing wrong with me by not wanting to raise my hands.  Although I needn’t be anti arm raising.

Louie Giglio made the point at the recent Hillsong Conference that we raise our arms in celebration.  I lift my arms at the football all the time so I obviously know how to raise my arms.  One ought to raise their hands to a powerful lyric or a poignant moment of preaching.  It’s for the one who died so we can have freedom in Christ. 

It’s worthy of raising arms in celebration!!