post supportMIKE

The gentle art of enthusiastic complaining...
25 October 2007

Christine packed her things up in May this year... yes May and they still haven't arrived.

The movers told her it would take between 2 and 5 months. So since then she's been wearing the same suitcases worth of clothes over and over again. So I rang up and complained.

Now I think I'm a good complainer. I used to work in retail so I know what it's like to talk to rude customers... I don't ever loose my temper or get personal. It does help to be a little worked up (enthusiastic is a better term). A conversation might go like this.

"Now I don't want you to take it personally but I'm pretty frustrated right now. We were told that it would take 2 to 5 months and it's now well over that. I just don't think that's good enough. Also you guys have told us several times that our stuff has arrived or is in transit when it hasn't been.

I realise this might not be your fault personally, but I want you to understand how annoying it is not having clothes, books, kitchenware etc for 5 months. Imagine wearing one suitcases worth of clothes everyday for 5 months it gets a little repetitive. So what I want to know is what you are going to do about it? Because right at this moment I don't think your efforts have been good enough. What are you going to do to make sure we get our stuff."

You get the idea... Delivery has been arranged and the stuff arrives next week. Oh and the bloke at the movers calls me "Sir"

11 comments  

tags christine, shameless self promotion

Bad Fashion #5
22 April 2008

I'm going to count down my top 5 really bad fashions faux . This idea all began last week when I visited my good friend Nick. Unfortunately the people who commit these horrendous fashion faux pas are often Christian. So I give you the top 5 bad really fashions and coming in at number 5 is drum roll please...

I spotted this fashion offender on the way to the wedding over the weekend. More about that later. This looks terrible made worse by the fact that the socks are often long (sometimes knee length). No prizes for guessing who this is.

1 comments  

tags stupid award

5 year Plan Part 2
21 June 2006

It was asked with regard to my 5 year plan (see here) why I wouldn’t do ministry in a secluded area on my own. Don't I think that I can rely on God to give me the strength I need? It’s a good question. There is no doubt that a single person can often be particularly effective in ministry (1 Cor 7:32). However for me personally I think the answer is no for a number of reasons.

Firstly in an isolated ministry location on my own I’d probably end up going insane. I’m a person who thrives on relationships but I get burned out as many of my friends can testify to. Having the support of another person for this type of work is essential in my book. Secondly I also could argue biblically (see Gen 2:18). Thirdly I don’t think I have the gift of singleness and temptation is something that needs to be considered (1 Cor 7:9). And finally I really love kids and one day God willing I’d like some of my own.

5 comments  

tags christian, linkage, pictures, shameless self promotion, update

A day (off) in the life of an MTSer
27 September 2007

Well it was a sort of day off as I have a big Saturday coming up.

• 9:15 am Cuddle Christine for extra long in the morning
• 10:30am Eat breakfast then head to lunch with one of my good mates.
  
• 12:45pm Invite him to hear Peter Jensen Speak on Saturday night.
• 2:20pm Hang out with Dave (My bro) for a late lunch and coffee @ Island Espresso.
  
• 2:30pm Bump into Jerome and show him a good bike shop
  
• 2:45pm Bump into Kath and Matt chat some more.
  
• 3:00pm Have a look at the remains of Myer

• 3:10pm Buy Wheel Magazine (my monthly indulgence of car porn)
• 5:00pm Come home and eat tea
• 5:40pm Ride out to Netball
• 7:00pm Win Netball
• 7:30pm Help Chris with his broken down car
• 9:30pm Head home for a shower and bed
• 10:15pm Discover more wedding photos
• 10:55pm Blog and upload pictures that have been on my phone for a while.

8 comments  

tags blog, friends, ministry, pictures, shameless self promotion, update, wedding

MTS a day in the life...
28 March 2007

7:30am Breakfast Pray and read the Bible

8:25am Talk briefly with Christine

9am Meeting at the Inter Faith Centre with Uni head honchos.

10am Long black in the Ref and chat with David Jones minister of Cornerstone. Generally chew the fat and ask him how he does ministry. Try and learn stuff by asking questions

11:30am Meet one of the FOCUS blokes chat about things from Youtube to Theology.
1pm FOCUS public meeting. Take care of MCing and Prayer. Hang around and chat afterward till…

3pm Meet Sam at his house to chat about FOCUS. Discuss infant verses adult baptism.

4:50pm Damo and I touch base about all things FOCUS and pray.

5:25pm Grab some chips for Committee meeting.

5:30pm Meeting with Committee and grab a lift home with one of the guys

6:30pm Dave and I have one of our mates round for tea. Do some light email and get a few little things sorted.

10pm Head to bed. Read over a commentary for a study I have to run.

11pm Text Christine and turn out the lights.

5 comments  

tags christian, ministry tips, update

NTE Day 5
06 December 2007

And of course Day 5. I forgot to mention that I did have a video planned for Day 4 but it didn't eventuate.



I think it's time to give up video blogging when I'm so tired. I seem quite hazy in this one.
Please keep all of us up here in your prayers as we truck out the rest of Mission here back in Sydney.

1 comments  

tags christian, focus, ministry, shameless self promotion, video

5 christian friends who have influenced me
02 January 2009

1. Mikey – Pastor of Crossroads church. Taught me much about myself and my relationship to ministry and people. Helped me to move more like a ninja when I talk about my faith and showed great belief in me and they gifts I have.
2. Seumas – Bible College and language ninja extraordinary. Seumas always thinks outside the square. He’s from Sydney not Hobart and he’s cool but in weird way. Amazing intellect. We chat regularly on Skype.
3. Benny – Taught me heaps about ministry and University work. He also taught me humility and how to disciple others, helped shape my mind to become sharp. He also stood by me in some really tough times.
4. Sam Green – For preaching and teaching faithfully good solid theology and grounding me in basic understanding of the Bible over my Uni years.
5. Paul Chew – Taught me the basics of Romans 1-5 and put up with my annoying questioning of everything in Bible study when I first become a Christian. Thinks outside the square and puts up with my annoying questions still.

1 comments  

tags christian, christians i respect, friends, linkage, ministry

5 Movies to see before you die
10 May 2013

Donnie Darko - This is a dark brooding hipster thriller movie. It was made in the days before being a hipster was cool and stars an misunderstood delinquent emo kid. Maybe that’s why I like it. It has elements of horror, surrealism and time travel. I love a film that warps your mind and challenges conventional thinking, and Donnie Darko does this well. I should add finally it has a pretty cool sound track. Watch twice for maximum awesomeness.




American Beauty - I love Kevin Spacey. He’s brilliant in this. The interactions between his and Annette Bening’s character are hilarious. He’s a rebel and he sticks it to the man, something I think we’d all like to do sometimes. The film also deservedly won 5 academy awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography.




Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - Violence and black humour. If you don’t like or understand black humour you’ll hate this film. It’s a very cleverly told story, the acting is good and the protagonists thoughtfully sympathetic. There’s a fair whack of violence but the plot will keep you guessing to the end.




The Matrix - The action in this film for it’s time was amazing. I also really like the philosophical idea that you can be living inside a dream world or a world and not be aware of it. This film also illustrates well a number of Christian themes while not being a “Christian” film.





Seven - One of the harshest films I’ve ever seen. Acting is fantastic and storyline compelling. I particularly like Kevin Spacey’s contribution. He’s one of my favourite actors. There is also great skill with which the film shows that given the right circumstances any of us are capable of extreme misdeeds. I could say more but I don’t want to spoil it.

0 comments  

tags movies, review, thinking

Flirting with Christine Part 2
24 May 2007

June 21 - Christine says blokes write gushy poetry when in love ? I reply with some of my own... and she comments.

Don't hide your true nature from the one you love. Blog the worst pictures you can find like this one.

Girls love a man with a plan so I post My 5 Year Plan and My 5 year Plan part 2
then an update in case she missed it the first time.

Then there was the clincher (and it was my idea). Christine and I did a co-post having stayed up for about 8 or 9 hours chatting on MSN (we then shared a sun rise see above). I wrote What women want Christine did What men want. With a whopping 52 Comments this was one of my most popluar posts ever. Interestingly an anonymous commenter wrote;

"all very well to think you know what women want, but can you be that person?"

I guess the answer (for Christine) is a very definite 'yes'.

I then took some time away to think pray and reflect away (during MYC remember the chat Damo?)... it doesn't hurt to show you have a sense of humour.

14th July - Having finally gotten Skype I asked her out at the end of our first conversation. We talked for about an hour or so and then she had to go... so I just asked her.

We took it public July 25th Great Explanations.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. I'm very grateful to all the people who have commented supported and prayed for Christine and myself right through this last year. It's my prayer that in our relationship you can see something of God's amazing wonder and glory in bringing us together in such a seemingly random way. God isn't random. To him be the glory.

2 comments  

tags blog, christine, linkage, shameless self promotion

Work Day 5
27 January 2007

Lots completed today...

• I finished my Bible Study on John 6:1-15 (concluding that the big idea was; Jesus is the prophet like Moses [Deut 18:17-22].)
• I also revamped my prayer list (if you'd like to be included on it please let me know as I have space for Blog readers.)
• Attended the Preachers Workshop down at Kingston Reformed church run by David Jones (Not particularly well attended which was a shame... either there aren't many people wanting to preach or the ones that do think they know it all.)
• Felt slightly better and managed to eat a meal.
• Sent a bunch of emails off regarding the Yamba mission including my Teenagers Bible Study on Romans 1-5.
• Decided that Thursday will continue to be my day off.
• Drew up a little time conversion sheet so I know the time where Christine is in the US.
  

The last word tonight goes to my mate Jonny who once allegedly gave this piece of advice

"A client came to me once and said 'I am good friends with a girl but do not know if I should make a move because she does not fit the dream image of a girl I used to have. Wrong colour hair.' I said 'so what'. Then the client paid me the money and went away."

supportMIKE salutes you Jonny Rochester

2 comments  

tags christian, ministry, ministry tips, shameless self promotion

Bad fashion #1
11 July 2008

The worst fashion crime of them all. Jeans with runners/trainers/joggers (whatever you call them).

Here are links to the rest of the top 5

Number #5 White Socks with Black Shoes
Number #4 The Mobile Phone on Belt
Number #3 The Tucked in Shirt
Number #2 That Top button

22 comments  

tags pictures, stupid award

5 year plan update
30 June 2006

I’m sitting in a car with four 10 year old girls all talking at once. The conversation is about boys, boy germs, staying up late watching Lost (not that I was allowed to do this when I was 10).

Why am I talking about this you ask? I was reminded just how entertaining kids this age can be. Back when I was teaching I loved sorting out girly fights, kicking the footy with the boys outside and generally being the most popular teacher around.

In light of this I have decided to register to do relief teaching between now and the end of the year. I’m also planning to purchase a very nice laptop computer to help me through my MTS apprenticeship in the next two years. Working doing relief will help pay off this expensive purchase. However I’m convinced that it will be worth it, especially if my 5 year plan goes ahead.

supportMIKE thinks maybe he’s just a big kid who doesn’t want to grow up.

5 comments  

tags linkage, thinking, update

2008 reviewed blog style
31 December 2008

Here's the year in review as seen through the eyes of my blog. Enjoy.

January (9 posts) - Tasmanian Leadership Convention, Yamba Maclean Mission and my bro lost his crappy job. Things were looking like pumping for 2008 FOCUS work.

February (12 posts) - I bought Mark Driscoll's book I still haven't finished reading it. We made the move to Jane, I crashed my bike and still have the scars. Most significantly I probably made the hardest decision in my life so far goodbye FOCUS.

March (5 posts) - Dark Times. I posted very little this month in fact a record low for this blog. Looking back there is very little substance to any of these posts. I was feeling really really crap. On a positive note I revived my ipod.

April (15 posts) - The month started poorly. I blogged about the problem of pornography not once but twice. I followed this topic all year. I began my series of posts on bad fashion now one of the most Googled set of posts on my blog. Christine and I also took a nice holiday up the east coast of Tassie.

May (16 posts) - I bought that car. Laura arrived from the US of A. I blogged about divorce (and offended a anonymous regular reader). I also blogged about porn again. This was the month I preached a fairly average sermon at Tuesday Crossroads and really began the battle to organise the the MTS Tasmania Conference.

June (18 posts) - We did some beer tasting with Laura before she departed. I posted a couple of rants one on hybrid cars (Which I still standby). For some reason I posted stacks of pictures some of them quite good. I should add my good friend Benny got hitched in poo paddock. I also think my friend Adam from Jane began reading my blog. He has become one of the people I hold in my mind as I write. Oh and in a very subtle way we announced we were having a baby.

July (14 posts) - I got sick. It was a bit of a ranty month and I got plenty of comments. The two most commented on posts were Pro Consistency where I argued that Christians should name their children before birth. (With hindsight I would have worded the post differently as it wasn't intended to cause offense. Provoke people, yes but not offend). On the other post I ranted;

I think often Christians already come across as bunch of right wing George Bush loving, Today Tonight watching latte sippers. You can be a Christian, believe in climate change, appreciate art, drink fairtrade coffee and vote left wing too.

That post drew one of the harshest comments on my blog to date. Finally for July there was bad fashion number #1.

August (12 posts) - I smashed up my body not once but twice. I Got sick again but completed the mammoth MTS Challenge Conference which rocked even though I didn't go. I also began a new series of rants on how to use email properly.

September (22 posts) - With the completion of the MTS Conference it felt like the fog had lifted and I increased the number of posts to a high for the year. Christine crashed my hard worked on car. No one really read this post. This was contrasted with the 2nd highest read post in the history of my blog about Mark Dricoll and his 18 points in Sydney. Other topics covered included; How annoying Sydney people are, How to run a successful blog, more Driscoll, and still more Driscoll.

October (20 posts) - My email etiquette series continued . Christine voted in an historic election which saw her cop flack (mostly on facebook) for daring to suggest a vote for Obama. It really frustrated me but this made me laugh. Of course in a reoccurring theme for 2008 I got sick with the flu again. I wrote a review of one of the post powerful pieces of TV I've ever seen and in a popular post taught my mates how to clean a shower.

November (19 posts) - I swapped a friends lunch, took a weekend break, won some cash on the Melbourne Cup. Quite a few posts linked to other people's opinions rather than my own.

December (32 posts) - I've been going blog crazy this month. I've had long stretches of duty here at Jane in which to think, reflect and write. This has meant I've posted some of my most personal and juiciest stuff to date. I also posted one of my best bits of writing this year complete with a follow up. I've also written a some longer posts and introduced my 5 things posts an idea I thought of late one night while I was sick (again). December has been a good month.

Total posts for 2008 194 and counting...

4 comments  

tags blog, linkage, review, shameless self promotion, thinking, update

Thanks to...
29 June 2007

To bring people up to speed. The wedding will take place at 5:00pm on Friday in the Garden of Hanover International Bible Church. This translates to 1:00 am Saturday morning Aussie time. And we'll be back in Aussie land on the 8th of July. This will probably be the last you'll see from us for a bit.

Thanks again to all the people all around the world who have prayed for us emailed us over the last few months. For the advice and help you have offered. Thanks heaps to all people at HIBC for all the work they have put in organising the wedding and making it run smoothly. Thanks to Christine for being the best most beautiful girl in the world and for saying yes to marrying me.

Lastly thanks to my God and saviour Jesus for all that he done for the both of us. May our marriage be for his glory.

15 comments  

tags travel, wedding

Baptism of the Spirit (Part 2)
11 June 2006

The question arrises. How then should we think about experiences where people seem to have had some kind of life changing infilling of the Holy Spirit type of event?

I think it is more helpful to view Christian life as a continuum of growth and infilling with the Holy Spirit. A “baptism of the Spirit event” (in the Pentecostal sense) may be simply explained as a large leap forward on this continuum. Often these types of events comes as result of confessing all known sin repenting of unknown sin and committing themselves whole heartedly to him. It shouldn’t surprise us that a person experiences a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit as a result of this. Quite often such leap results in a renewed focus of prayer, reading of God’s word and growth in spiritual gifts.

Hence Grudem prefers to use the term being “filled with the Spirit” or the exhortation to go on being “filled with the Spirit”. This moves the focus from, a one time experience for the Christian, to something which is ongoing and may occur throughout their lives.
The scriptural evidence for this? Most obviously Eph 5:18 “be filled with the Spirit”. This has, according to Grudem, the implication in the original text of being an ongoing process. The repeated filling of the Spirit can also be seen in Acts 2:4, 4:8 & 31, 9:17 and 13:52.

Using our new terminology, (“filled with the Spirit”), we must note that being “filled with the Spirit” doesn’t always result in speaking in tongues. To check this for yourself here is the link for all occasions of "Filled with the Spirit" (click here).

0 comments  

Retirement
31 December 2006

I have officially retired from window cleaning. It has been my working life since I finished my teaching degree in October 2004. My last day was on Friday where I finished battling a 2 story high atrium of death including my favorite glass roof.

I want to give a big shout out to my boss Paul for his generosity and Christian servitude. For those who don’t know, my boss and all the people in our company are Christians. Paul has been a excellent boss and a great friend for the last couple of years.

I want to thank all the blokes I’ve worked with and help train including...









Caleb and Pryderi (sorry no pics of them)

Also to Derek and Aaron and the “Grubber” who taught me much about how not to window clean… but I digress.


Do I have any regrets you ask? Haven’t you wasted the last two years of your life? No dear reader I have not. I have been working in active ministry and have been able to do far more than I could have done working as a teacher. I have had a relaxing relatively stress free two years in which to recover my sanity and refocus my Christian life.

Here are some pics from my final few days working.



Things I did do… or the toll

• 1 lost pole $200
• 1 lost squeegie $50
• 1 damaged TV aerial (no charge)
• 1 smashed pot (no charge)

supportMIKE is enjoying retirement.

2 comments  

tags friends, shameless self promotion, windows

Top 5 reasons I'm a SNAG
13 June 2006

1. I’m very moody especially when I’m tired.
2. I own CDs by the Spice Girls, Mariah Carey, Cleine Dion and Dido.
3. I get tongue tied and nervous when talking to attractive girls.
4. I watch the OC and have a favorite character.
5. I pretend not to know or care for fashion but really it's something I always consider when going out.

9 comments  

tags shameless self promotion

5 Albums I bought in the last 6 months...
04 April 2013

Lana Del Rey - Born to Die
I’m not really sure of the story here. Maybe I heard her voice on Triple J. I added a playlist of her album on Spotify and listened. Her husky tones bring to mind smoke filled men's clubs and Film Noir made the 30s 40s and 50s. The songs are poppy and catchy.

Owl City - The Midsummer Station
Total trash. I would never defend Owl City as good music. I bought this album because I have a couple of other Owl City Albums. I first listened to Owl City when Googling around about The Postal Service (another band I really like). From memory a number of critics mentioned that Owl City is similar to The Postal Service. I listened to and I liked it straight away. It’s very definitely pop and it’s great to dance and jump around to. Olivia and Ella like anything with the beat and some lyrics they can shout. They also picked up the tunes pretty easily.

Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
I like and own Kanye West’s album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I think he’s a very good producer... but you wouldn’t let your Mum listen to that album. Frank Ocean is Mum friendly. A more palatable, gentle version, abate with a sprinkling of bad words. His style is probably closest to R&B with electronic keyboard, samples and subdued rhythms. I not really sure how I came to hear of him. He’s also pretty relaxing to listen to.




Ellie Goulding - Bright Lights
I saw the beautiful above video advertising an Octocopter last year (watch the video if you don't know what an Octocopter is). The video uses a remix of the track "Lights". Olivia and Ella really liked the video and the music. Again I added a Spotify playlist of album and began. I managed to also catch a performance she did in London as part of the iTunes music festival. Watched it on my big TV at home. It was very impressive. I enjoyed listening to her youngish girly voice.

Air - Moon Safari
This is a strange one. When I checked I was very surprised I bought it less than six months ago. I had the feeling that bought this album a few years ago. This is possibly because this is the oldest album here (1998). I think this was on high rotation on Triple J back in the early 2000’s when I lived at the Castle with Bernie and Chris. I’ve liked it ever since and finally got round to buying it. I find it dreamy and relaxing to listen to. If you were harsh you might call it chilled, electronic, elevator music.

0 comments  

tags linkage, music, review

bits and bobs
15 March 2008

It’s been a bit of a convoluted start to MTS at Crossroads. I’ve been feeling pretty run down burned out as well as bit crap about the whole leaving FOCUS thing. To make matters worse I got what is known at Jane as the “fresher flu”.

This one has knocked me down harder than usual. I spent about the last four days at home struggling in and out of bed. If you are inclined to pray for me that might be a particular avenue worth investigating.

The upside to being sick is that I’ve gotten a lot (read more than usual) of reading done as well as beginning a project of looking at harmonizing the resurrection accounts that I’ve been holding off on for about 12 months.

I’ve just finished 5 perspectives on the emerging church which I really liked. I might post a bit of review when I feel more able. I’m continuing to read parts of the books I posted that I was reading some back at Christmas. I must be one of the world’s slowest readers.

Today I’m stuck up at Jane on duty all day which means that I’m confined to the grounds of Jane. Speaking of confined… they have a crazy 1gig monthly download limit. Yup that’s right 1 gig for Christine and I. We were on a 12gig plan back at St Georges…sheesh. I’m off to do some more reading and watch TV.

5 comments  

tags christian, ministry, update

Tim and the Slater collection
15 August 2006

This is my friend Tim.

Tim is a top bloke. We used to flat together up at “The Castle” a famous Crossroads share house that I ran for about 5 years.

Our house had several famous infestations including scorpions, slugs and slaters. Tim and I were famous for starting a collection of live slaters in a small jar in my bedroom*. Here is what one looks like.

The problem was that as the slaters died and smelt really bad. We had to throw them out. It was a sad day we were hoping to give them to our landlord to convince him that our house needed some work to stop the infestations. Slater collection and Tim supportMIKE salutes you.

* Disclaimer This was mostly my idea.

6 comments  

tags friends, linkage, shameless self promotion