Tim Goldsmith

So, it’s a big day when your first child spends their first day at daycare. It’s not that we haven’t been away from “the Pumpkin.” It’s just that when one of us has been away, the other has been there to report, or at worst one of our mums has been there!

Is your kid the bully? (She towers over other kids her age.. so it’s a legitimate fear.)

Will she just scream for 8 or so hours? (She DEFINiTELY has a good set of lungs!)

All of our fears came to nought. She forgot us before we had even left & then she played happily with other kids, charmed all of the workers & slept…. like a baby!

That has meant that I have been able to let go of that concern & worry about other things.

Fun things to worry about… like when my package of American foods will arrive?

The moral to the story is “don’t get into late night conversations with your sister on Skype, or you’re likely to buy almost anything!” I got some cinnamon chocolate chips for her, while I got some liquid smoke (to go in “Not Quite Nigella’s ‘Bacon Jam’”), but I also had to make up a minimum purchase price, so a bottle of Habanero chili sauce, and a Dr. Pepper flavoured Lip Smacker had to be included too!

The sauce… yeah, it’s hot. And the lip balm tastes great! As for the Bacon Jam, that is coming soon (and don’t worry Al, you’ll get some sent to you… even if I don’t recieve a CD of sermons… )

So there you go. It’s been a fun time for sending children out & getting packages in! I have received one or two other things, but they will get their own posts later! Meanwhile, here are a couple more pics…

Shona did a good job of hiding the fear in her eyes!

This is what it’s all about!

I may attempt preaching without a voice tomorrow morning…..

I’m over this cold!

I happen to get facebook updates of certain high-profile American preachers.

One preacher in particular is currently in Haiti. He’s reporting on what he is doing there & on the devastation and needs that he sees during his time.

It’s been interesting to see his perspective, but I have to ask the question (who knows, maybe unfairly?) “Why did he go there in the first place?”

I wonder which option would have been for the greater good for people, to go himself, or to give up his spot for an extra doctor or aid worker?

Of course, there are two sides to the scenario.

On one side, by virtue of the fact that thousands of people follow him on facebook & millions of people listen to his online sermons, maybe he is opening up a whole new opportunity for people to be informed, for people to be inspired & for people to make donations that will help the haitian people.

On the other side, he could have reported all of this from home, while people who were more skilled in the area of disaster relief were able to make a physical difference in the lives of people that are suffering? COuld he not have had greater ability to mobilise people from home?

Is it a sense of vain glory that says that he, personally, need to be there to make a difference?

Or am I being too harsh? Maybe this man has identified a greater need, and that is for people who are suffering tremendously to know the God who promises that those people who trust in Him have the sure hope of a future that has no weeping, loss or death?

What do you think? Should high profile people go to disaster areas, or send more “useful” people?

As startling as it may be to those who think this way, the biblical gospel is not fundamentally about our love or our power. To be a Christian is not merely to live in love, or to live by the power of positive thinking, or to do anything that we can do ourselves. The gospel calls for a more radical response than any of these things allow for. The gospel, you see, is not simply an additive that comes to make our already good lives better. No! The gospel is a message of wonderful good news that comes to those who realise their just desperation before God.

Wise words from Mark Dever in his book (my latest read) “The Gospel and personal evangelism”

It’s probably quite wrong that I spend so much time pondering the nature of fast food, but really, I think think they are one of the biggest cultural icons the modern world has! It’s interesting how subtle changes in the way that they do things can say something much bigger about our society.

Case in Point.

How did this fascinating little burger, chicken & pizza places come into being? The name of the genre announces the need that has been perceived. People want food & they want it fast. “What if I don’t have 2 hours to cook anymore, because both parents work & the kids get too hungry?” Well now you can stop off on the way home & three minutes later you have a meal for the whole fam!

expeditious service was the perceived need & fast food was the answer. BUT In the last 5 or so years we have seen a subtle change.

As a culture we’re becoming more refined. As a byproduct of having so many options in life, expediency now has to compete with the question of quality!

There is an option that can meet my timing needs, but how do I know that I am getting the best possible product? Here our friends in the fast food industry heard the cry & they responded with verve!

Have you noticed that now, when you go into most fast food places they cry out “Made fresh to order!” Joe consumer is happy to wait for a couple of minutes if it means that they (can feel like they) are getting the best quality product.

Add to that the secondary strategy of creating “Gourmet Options” so that the consumer feels like they can chase the expedient meal & still get something “a little bit fancy.” (The SMH wrote a great article on the genius of this idea.)

One can’t help but wonder whether or not we, the consumer, approach the spiritual world like we do the culinary world? For mine, I suspect our greater interest is in expediency rather than quality. The question being asked is “What can give me a sense of well being without impinging on the business that is the rest of my life?”

So much of the “New Spirituality” for mine, is about spiritualising day to day parts of life, not so that we might consider the profound philosophical or spiritual truths that sit at the foundation of our decision making processes, but so that we can feel like we have had an easily digestible fix that allows us to go back to the more important things like…. me.

But expedience should always be the subordinate value.

A commitment to the Christian walk takes time. Once you have ticked off Sunday mornings, the healthy Christian is most likely also looking at a mid-week bible study, possibly a camp once a year, or (OR CMS Summer School if you are keen), there are all kinds of other church ministries, and of course there is private time for Bible reading & prayer.

Being a Christian is certainly not the expedient option, but it does appeal to the great value, being that it is actually good for you!

What we find in the message of the Jesus’ death and resurrection is not just an easy option in fancy packaging, but we have an offer that God has been preparing since the dawn of time! When Christ calls his disciples to take part in communion, he is offering a meal that satisfies in a way that nothing on earth ever will.

Couldn’t we all learn from those shrewd fast foodies, which are the superior & which the subordinate values….

John 6:35 Then Jesus declared:

I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty

I always intend to take pictures of my actual accommodation, but I rarely do.

To be honest the acccommodation wasn’t that special anyway. It was a fairly dirty & very simple cabin at the bottom of the Megalong Valley.

That said, it was roomy, and the views of the cliffs were pretty fantastic, so I really don’t have a great deal to complain about.

Added to that, the drive out of the valley up to Katoomba was a real highlight every day.

The winding roads were just lovely, filled with dense rainforest and flanked by golden sandstone. Most days we would emerge from our own little world into the thick fog of the mountain tops, souping our way through to our destination.

CMS Summer school is fantastic.

Mike Raiter was a warm & engaging speaker and the Missionaries from around the world were honest & challenging. When one can feel like one’s own ministry is so difficult, it is a new thing to meet someone who can’t even tell you the country they are serving in for fear of persecution!

I took lots of notes. I went to a number of the seminars, and I bought a couple of books while I was up there.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that we found a pub that had Leffe on tap, nor that we had Dan & Harriet, our good friends & diocesan buddies staying next door & sharing the cooking!

It also helped being able to put the Pumpkin into creche & enjoy a little time for Shona & I to be adults listening to a sermon. I’m excited at the prospect of doing the same thing each year for the next 20 or so. To let Pumpkin grow up through the different kids programmes, to listen to stories as the people we watched prepare for ministry come back on furlough.

Who knows, maybe we might even head to summer school one year as we prepare to head out on our own missionary journey? Like I said, it’s a good programme….

Don’t fear people.

I am committed to blogging regularly this year, but since I am at CMS Summer School over the next week, I don’t anticipate having internet access there. I’ll work on something special for you all!

Write me a comment while I’m gone, so I feel loved when I get back!

I remember some time ago on Al Bain’s blog, he posted a link to a Bible reading plan that he had, with the intention of smashing through the book methodically over a year.

(Here’s the one we’re giving a try)

Now I am not generally a “New Years resolution” type person, but since most of these reading plans start at the beginning of the year, I thought it would be a good thing for Shona & I to embark on.

It does always ask the question though. How does one differentiate between building a habit that might be hard at first, but you know is valuable and worthwhile, and being pharisaical in your observance of Bible reading?

For mine, I think people in the Christian world that I have observed jump quite quickly to say that anything that you have to work really hard at enforcing (that is, something that you don’t always do with an open, excited, free heart) is somehow like following the Pharisees, robbing an act of it’s joy and value.

My view is that most things of any real import take a fair bit of work. Owning a house takes 25 years or more of hard saving, gaining a wife takes months or years of hiding all of your foibles (I joke… no really I do!), should we expect that building a personal culture that sees one saturated in God’s word is something that should always be attended joyfully?

Accepting, as I do, the fact that people tend toward sin just as often as good behaviour, I think it natural that my sinful self might balk at putting the time and effort into reading the Bible, even thought I know how good it makes me feel when I am centred for the day, or I am contemplating healthy things.

I feel like I really understand Paul in Romans 7 when he says:

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do–this I keep on doing.

Rom. 7:14

So we start with our new reading schedule. So far one day down, 364 to go.

In other news (well, at least one degree of separation) starting new habits is easier to do when you can start in style. I decided that since we were in bed by 11 something last night, I would start my first night of the year in style. It started with a movie (maybe I will blog about it tomorrow) and it ended with reading my bible (surprise, surprise) and drinking a fine belgian beer!

It’s a rare indulgence, but an enjoyable one!

Al, if you’re reading, I would love to see the Bible reading chart that you had. I quite like this one, but I am not completely tied to it yet…