So I’m out of a job and uni is on break for the summer. What should I do with my time? I have endless bounds of time to do all the things that I used to love doing… now what were they? That’s right – games and dvds, the stuff that everyone else seems to love doing that I’ve never had time for because I’ve been working and studying.

After a month out of work and uni, I’ve realised that I should have left games and watching movies in the past, I’ve grown out of that now – I’m 22. My friends bought me half-life 2, counterstrike source and World of Warcraft for my birthday/christmas present this year, and whilst I was extremely thankful for the gifts, I quickly realised that a pack of cigarettes and some beer would have done less damage to my lifestyle and my relationship with God.

Firstly, I take offence to the amount of fantasy, mysticism, magic and downright evil content in the game world of warcraft, but I chose to live with it to be part of the scene. Quickly I became addicted to the point where I would spend up to 5 hours a day playing this ridiculous game, it was slowly, but surely sucking my life away. This morning I uninstalled World of Warcraft and Half life 2 in a bid to get my life back. The real world was moving all around me but all I cared about was that game, and now I’ve got sooo much catching up to do, did you know that it’s december? I barely acknowledged it.

With watching movies, I’ve realised that watching them does nothing for me, just fills my head with images which in a lot of cases i shouldnt be filling it with. I want to spend time with friends where I actually get to know them better and share life with them, rather than watching movies.

So, I’m kind of in a no man’s land right now, I really want to watch star trek: voyager, but I know that there’s no point in watching it again, and I am just looking for comfort activities, things that used to make me happy in high school, where I should be spending time with God, reading books and actually earning a living.

Sigh. Guess I’d better do some work today.

A few weeks ago, ade gave me a photocopy of a section of a book called
‘Esssential habits of an affective teenager’ (or something like that).
In it it asks me to answer several far out and personal questions. So
here are my answers:

1. Think of a person who has made a
positive difference in your life. What qualities does that person have
that you would like to develop?
Adrian Wauchope:
Adrian is my mentor and my big brother in Christ. He has helped me to
mature as a Christian man and release some of my potential. Adrian is
outgoing and friendly, he is never shy and eager to give handshakes and
or hugs. Adrian is all about encouragement and wants to help younger
men to develop thier Christian walk. Adrian would never leave a man
behind, no matter how unpopular.
Michael Crocombe:
Michael is my boss and has been for a few years. I am like an
apprentice to him, learning business and life skills. Michael is wise
and discerning, never quick to anger and never rushes in. Michael will
put all of himself into something he believes in.

2. Imagine 20 years from now you are surrounded by the most important people in your life. Who are they and what are you doing?
I am in a dissused factory in the heart of bombay directing a team of
skilled workers to install Information Technology and production
equipment for an upcoming major evangelistic event, At my side is a
young man in his late 20s – my apprentice – he is learning the finer
points of managing IT and production as he will take my place when I
retire. At lunch I am joined by my pastor, a german evangelist with a
heart for India. He depends on me to provide the technological support
for his ministry. I am also joined by my wife of eleven years and my
nine year old daughter Kathrine. She is practicing playing the flute,
which she is learning to supplement her existing vocal and piano
talents. She has only a healthy interest in technology and has plenty
of friends at school.

3. If a steel beam (6 inches wide)
were placed across two skyscrapers, for what would you be willing to
cross? A thousand dollars? A million? Your pet? Your brother? Fame?
Think carefully….

a) If that action were necessary to bring about the salvation of my friend Nathan or someone I am friends with in the future.
b) To prove that I am a worthy husband to my wife to be or to her parents
c) To save any of my children form any serious harm

4. If you could spend a day in a great library studying anything you wanted, what would you study?
The early church: 1ad-200ad

5. List ten things you love to do:
(not in any order)
  1. Worship God
  2. Write software
  3. Run production
  4. Hack (install difficult software, make changes to existing software)
  5. Listen to music
  6. Play music
  7. Learn to do something new
  8. Create visual art
  9. Write
  10. Serve God

6. Describe a time when you were deeply inspired
I was once inspired when I went into the bush and talked to God and
took photos of his beautiful creation. I was inspired by the grandure
and intracacy of His creation.

7. Five years from now, your local
paper does a story about you and they want to interview three people…
a parent and two friends. What would you want them to say about you?
I would want them to say that I really care about people, always do
what is right and fight against injustice. I want them to say that
Jesus is always first in my life. I want them to say that I built my
house upon the rock and cannot not be moved.

8. Think of something that represents you… a rose, a song, an animal… why does it represent you?
I am a lighthouse built upon the Rock. With Jesus as my firm foundation
I will weather the storm. With the light of the world inside me, I will
shine his light in the world, even in the darkest night. I will not be
moved.

9. If you could spend an hour with any person who ever lived, who would that person be? Why that person? What would you ask?
It would have to be Jesus disciple; Peter. Though he stumbled  and
fell, he gave his all for Jesus, and God made him a solid rock to build
his church upon.

10. Everyone has one or more talents, what are you good at?
Technology
Production
Music
Visual Art
Writing

What kind of conclusion can I draw from all that? I havn’t a clue.A few weeks ago, ade gave me a photocopy of a section of a book called ‘Esssential habits of an affective teenager’ (or something like that). In it it asks me to answer several far out and personal questions. So here are my answers:

1. Think of a person who has made a positive difference in your life. What qualities does that person have that you would like to develop?
Adrian Wauchope:
Adrian is my mentor and my big brother in Christ. He has helped me to mature as a Christian man and release some of my potential. Adrian is outgoing and friendly, he is never shy and eager to give handshakes and or hugs. Adrian is all about encouragement and wants to help younger men to develop thier Christian walk. Adrian would never leave a man behind, no matter how unpopular.
Michael Crocombe:
Michael is my boss and has been for a few years. I am like an apprentice to him, learning business and life skills. Michael is wise and discerning, never quick to anger and never rushes in. Michael will put all of himself into something he believes in.

2. Imagine 20 years from now you are surrounded by the most important people in your life. Who are they and what are you doing?
I am in a dissused factory in the heart of bombay directing a team of skilled workers to install Information Technology and production equipment for an upcoming major evangelistic event, At my side is a young man in his late 20s – my apprentice – he is learning the finer points of managing IT and production as he will take my place when I retire. At lunch I am joined by my pastor, a german evangelist with a heart for India. He depends on me to provide the technological support for his ministry. I am also joined by my wife of eleven years and my nine year old daughter Kathrine. She is practicing playing the flute, which she is learning to supplement her existing vocal and piano talents. She has only a healthy interest in technology and has plenty of friends at school.

3. If a steel beam (6 inches wide) were placed across two skyscrapers, for what would you be willing to cross? A thousand dollars? A million? Your pet? Your brother? Fame? Think carefully….

a) If that action were necessary to bring about the salvation of my friend Nathan or someone I am friends with in the future.
b) To prove that I am a worthy husband to my wife to be or to her parents
c) To save any of my children form any serious harm

4. If you could spend a day in a great library studying anything you wanted, what would you study?
The early church: 1ad-200ad

5. List ten things you love to do:
(not in any order)
1. Worship God
2. Write software
3. Run production
4. Hack (install difficult software, make changes to existing software)
5. Listen to music
6. Play music
7. Learn to do something new
8. Create visual art
9. Write
10. Serve God

6. Describe a time when you were deeply inspired
I was once inspired when I went into the bush and talked to God and took photos of his beautiful creation. I was inspired by the grandure and intracacy of His creation.

7. Five years from now, your local paper does a story about you and they want to interview three people… a parent and two friends. What would you want them to say about you?
I would want them to say that I really care about people, always do what is right and fight against injustice. I want them to say that Jesus is always first in my life. I want them to say that I built my house upon the rock and cannot not be moved.

8. Think of something that represents you… a rose, a song, an animal… why does it represent you?
I am a lighthouse built upon the Rock. With Jesus as my firm foundation I will weather the storm. With the light of the world inside me, I will shine his light in the world, even in the darkest night. I will not be moved.

9. If you could spend an hour with any person who ever lived, who would that person be? Why that person? What would you ask?
It would have to be Jesus disciple; Peter. Though he stumbled and fell, he gave his all for Jesus, and God made him a solid rock to build his church upon.

10. Everyone has one or more talents, what are you good at?
Technology
Production
Music
Visual Art
Writing

What kind of conclusion can I draw from all that? I havn’t a clue.

Yesterday I went to the scrutineering session for a local rally through ourimbah state forest to test out a software package that I’ve been writing for that purpose. For those who don’t know. Scrutineering is like a rego check, only a little more strict and thourough. Our program is designed to manage the registration of persons into events and the generation of scrutineering reports and other documentation upon the checks taking place. Our system was intended to be run side-by-side with the existing paper system, since it is not exactly stable at this point, unfortunately the old system failed miserably, so the scrutineering depended upon our program working propery. Thankfully it did.

We printed pass certificates on the spot, and reports back down to the admin room over a wifi link, in fact everything was running on a wifi link, it was great. Once again I got a job offer from some guy looking for young web-savvy guys to work for him. Not sure If I’ll take up his offer, since I already have a good job and I’m overworked….

Also, speaking of overworked: I was not feeling too great on thursday night but instead of taking it easy, i was up until 1am the next morning programming, then I got to the scrutineering at about 9:00am and left at 9:15pm, so I was almost dead when I got home, and Was rather sick last night. Must rest….

Two weeks ago, I was given the instruction: ask God to tell you what he thinks of you, ask God if you have what it takes. I was told that God would definately give me an answer, and for all I could see it would be some sort of clear-concise message. On Wednesday of this week I spent some time with God, and at the end I asked him, God, what do you think of me? – I heard nothing, I felt nothing, I saw nothing. Nothing. I was disapointed and upset with God. I was really quite angry. I said: why can everyone else hear you say things to them, and I hear nothing. Why have you never uttered a single word to me?
But I noticed something this week. I still hold out hope that one day, I’ll have some clear revelation of God, but for now I can see that God speaks to me through circumstances and events. This weekend I’ve successfully engaged in a number of activites. I talked to a guest at our outreach program and really connected with them. I prayed for a friend like I’d never prayed before. I stepped out socially – I succeeded in something I thought I was awful at. I’ve done so many things this weekend that I never thought I could do. And I’ve had that drive to do them, that there had always been too much resistance in the past to act on it. Thankyou God for working in my life. I still yearn to hear your voice, but for now I will believe your hand is on my life, and that with your blessing, I have what it takes.

Good news, I’ve finally got my new glasses. I really like the way they look and they go dark in the sun. They’re the glasses that I’ve always wanted. And more importantly, they are all in one piece, unlike my last pair… Also on the same day I got myself a haircut. I felt pretty good about the way I looked by the end of the day.

Also, my boss bought a laptop for me to use exclusively and take home, to uni, to church, anywhere. I’m using it now to write this blog, It’s so cool.

Well, here I am on the other site of the most awesome week of the
year for our church, our anual winter youth camp. How does it feel,
pretty good. Surf camp is usually a time of chalenge for me, since it
is way out of my comfort zone, and every year I get a little better at
interacting with people.

This year I’d have to say that I really missed having Ben on
camp. He’s got to be one of my best friends ever, poor guy couldnt
afford to come on camp, and nobody even offered to help him out So I
had to try to make new friends, and to a degree I had some ‘success’. I
get on well with all the guys that were in my dorm / cell group, and I
think that Than man Is really awsome! I spent alot of time with my
older friend steve though, who doesnt really have any other friends in
one80, which kinda sucks. So that was a bit of a challenge.

Also it was my youth pastor Kristie’s last ever surf camp as
leader, wich was quite sad, and It kinda made me anxious, because I’m
quite attached to her. But at the same time I was really loving our
guest speaker for camp Tim. He was a really great guy who could
encourage and befriend me in ways that a female pastor just cant. So
after that, Im really exited about Kristie’s brother Adrian taking over
the reigns at One80, especially since Ade and I are already in a
mentoring kinda relationship, Ade rocks. Anyway, that’s personal enough
for today

A big thanks goes out to all those on production during the
week. Life-of-purpose, you did a wonderful job of lyrics, and I hope
that you’ll be on team this coming term. There’s still more to learn
and practice makes perfect, but you’re off to a great start. I only had
to do production twice out of eight times, wich was an incredible
blessing from God, that I cant thank Him enough for. I’m hoping this
year to create two unsupervised teams, so I can spend more time in
worship and just soaking up God’s presence.

I went for a sunrise walk on the first day and it was
magnificent, I was reminded of how glorious God is, and how much he
cares for us that he would paint a new sunrise for us every morning. I
also went for a bushwalk with Rod, Kristie, Kate and a younger guy Paul
who I talked to a bit and I think he’s really cool. (super smart).
Also, we made our own way back to the camp – stuff the trail, we’ll
just go this way – awesome. There’s probably heaps of other stuff to
talk about, but let’s just say I had a good time

For a while now, I’ve been wondering what God wants me to do with my life, and I’ve had a basic Idea of the direction that He wants me to head. Just recently, though, I’ve realised how I might go about fulfilling this dream. Basically, the idea is thus: I’m not called to be a missionary or a pastor – that’s just not who God made me – although I am ready and willing to share the Gospel with people who come into my life, and to share my testimony with them. I am also willing to be a mentor to younger Christians, and help pass on what I have learned from others. What I beieve God wants me to do is to go to other small churches and bless them with the talents that God has given me with technical things. The two things that I do that are the most fulfiling are coordinating production for our sunday services (that means sound, lights and song words) and handling the technical requirements of our church office. Basically, I believe that God wants me to take this to other churches and bless them. I figured out today, that in a sense, this is what soul survivor does with their ‘Soul Teams’. They go to churches and give their band a night off, and bless them with their awesome musical talents, and preaching. I think that in the future I would like to join them and give other churches tech teams a night off, and if asked, show them how to do what I do.

It’s been over a year since I last wrote a blog entry. I guess I just got to busy to keep it up. Lately however, there has been an urge to write stuff down again, especially since a lot of stuff is happening in my life right now that I would like to remember, and since my memory for these things is horrible, Microsoft has provided me a convineient way to memorise it all (Take care of my blogs Microsoft!). Nonetheless, a quick summary of what is happening right now. I’m still at University when I should have finished last year, and I’ll be there for another 12 months, I’m working and I love my Job as a programmer. I’m now production coordinator for my church and youth group and hence I look after anything technical that the church needs or wants. Personally, I am working on being slower to anger and quicker to love, being self-controlled, and ebracing God’s Holy Spirit more. Since I’ve stared on this, God has taken me on a wild journey, challenging what I thought were the limits of Christianity. So that’s about it for my summary, I’ll be speaking in detail every now and then.