I made this fella and a bunch of his mates because I was struggling without any sweetness in my life. You see, I gave up chocolate for lent. Usually I don’t go a day without chocolate, so this new endeavour (now just a day shy of being a MONTH!) has kicked me for a bit of a loop!
There has been a part of me that felt like I was cheating by having Gingerbread men. After all, if I were at an addicts meeting, they’d probably just tell me that I was swapping one addiction for another. There has been an even bigger part of me, however, that felt that this was a silly exercise all together. That “Capital “R” Reformed” part of me that says that occasions like lent are purely for Catholics & I ought not be involved in an activity that appears to promote the role of works in my salvation!

I’d say now that I need to repent for that mindset.

I was chatting to my boss when I first thought about the whole exercise & she challenged me to look at things again…

Are there things that are in my life that actually create some kind of barrier between me & God? Are there things that I have a greater sense of loyalty to than God? I have to say that I was probably more consistent over the passage of a year eating chocolate than I am reading my Bible! The boss challenged me that maybe lent isn’t a time for “Showing God that I can suffer too,” but rather, a chance to try & break down some of those barriers.

Is there time eating chocolate (or fast food, the other one to go) that might be spent in prayer or contemplation? Or maybe can I just gain some balance in my life again. Remember what things in my life are the rare pleasures & what aspects are really supposed to be part of my every day?

So my little ginger friend gets to stay. He reminds me that I’m not chasing after a physical proof of some kind of extra-human commitment… and he certainly helps cure the craving!

When I logged into my web application thingy, I had no idea what I wanted to write about?

I had been thinking about blogging on [“Up in the Air”](http://www.theupintheairmovie.com/) which I enjoyed a great deal (not surprising, since it was created by the same man who did two other favourites, [“Thank you for Smoking”](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427944/) and [“Juno”](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0467406/)). There’s lots of great themes in the movie: the nature of relationships, our reason for being, the question of what is happiness & can it ever exist consistently?

Instead I decided I wanted to ask a question.

This is possibly a very stupid idea, given that my readership is maybe 5ish…

My question, for all 5 of you is “Why do you go and see movies? To turn your brain on or to turn it off?”

I know a number of people who only want to go to movies if they can guarantee at least one explosion every 10 minutes. They need action, adventure & possibly some gratuitous violence.

I on the other hand love a movie that causes me to think. I want to know what I would do in any given situation, or whether or not I agree with the philosophical presuppositions that the main character holds. Is their moral viewpoint logically consistent? Even better, does some activity in the movie cause me to ask whether I am morally or ethically consistent?

Even something like Avatar has levels to consider. Are we a culture that is getting caught up in nature worship? Is a technological societie’s ability to dominate a weaker (if more ecologically friendly) society just reflect the same kind of relationship we see in nature between, say, the Lion and its prey?

Even when a movie doesn’t ask a deep moral question, I still prefer the “Brain turned on” movies. Something that is dialogue driven, that keeps you thinking, that distorts one’s perception of time or space… It’s nice to inhabit a reality that is profoundly not mine, yet stretches my understanding of my own reality.

What gets you going in a good movie?

It seems to garner more controversy in the US, though I have had some interesting chats with baptists here in Australia too.
For mine, there are two reasons why I happily baptised my baby (actually, there are lots, but these are two big ones)
Firstly, I would say I am an advocate of the normative principle over the regulative principle. That is to say, if the Bible doesn’t prohibit something, generally I might be comfortable in doing it. The Bible doesn’t cover what it means to baptise children, and I think it is a reasonable thing to do, so away I go.

Secondly, I think there is a sense of community that we see in the Bible that we have lost in the modern day world. In the first instance you have the patriarchs of families declaring their whole family Christian & then being baptised in the Bible. Secondly, there is an expectation that the children of a person will be brought up in the tradition of their parents. Baptism for me is an expression that the child is mine, will be brought up as a Christian. Pumpkin may make a decision to go another way when she is an adult, but that is no different than any other adult who has been baptised who then choose another path.

Of course, it is also a tradition of the Anglican church & has been a traditional practice of the church as a whole for at least a millenium & most likely a fair bit more!

Anyway, I know most of my readers are more interested in the pictures (if you haven’t already seen them on facebook) so here they are!

Here we are making promises about our faith & how we intend to bring up our bub. From left to right it is Matty, Simone, Rosemary, Me, Shona & the Pumpkin.

Splash and Dash? I’d be just as happy with full emersion. Happy to baptise this way too!

Here is the pumpkin about to open a present from her Aunty Bec.

I was really happy with this pic, but have to admit that it was a fluke to have her face reflected in the bowl.

Pumpkin’s concentration on her very first sugary delight is topped only by her enthusiasm in the following picture.

A passion is born! I hope she follows in her father’s footsteps, falling in love with photography. I’ll be happy if she doesn’t inherit my sweet tooth though…

Twitter has been a real phenomenon for many people.

There was that big race to see which star could manage to get a million followers, a million people who wanted to know all about how much BBQ sauce they put on their steak, how long the queue was at the bank or any other kind of mindless minutiae from their lives.

I’ve always preferred actual blogs for that reason. People usually think a little more about what they’re saying and you have a delightful insight, not just into their preference in condiments, but into all those things that are important in their lives.

It was some of famous bloggers that got me interested in being online. It’s endlessly fascinating to see how the life of [Wil Wheaton](http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/), has changed and grown since his early days as [Wesley Crusher](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Crusher) and [Gordie Lachance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_by_Me_(film))
For all of my hopes, gaining an insight into the lives of the rich and famous, I never thought I would get the chance to read a blog by the great [Thomas Cranmer.](http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/)

Apparently being burned at the stake in 1556 wasn’t enough to keep him down, and now he has lots of spare time to comment on politics and theology. According to Dan (who passed the link on to me) he even has an email conversation with Richard Dawkins!

Will the wonders of the internet ever end?

*Calvin:* Hobbes, do you think our morality is defined by our actions, or what’s in our hearts?
*Hobbes:* I think our actions SHOW what’s in our hearts…
*Calvin:* (after a moment’s contemplation) I resent that!!!

I love so much about the cartoon. I own a bunch of the collections & I re-read them every year or so. In particular, I like the fact that Bill Watterson engages with big questions about the nature of existence, art & theology. For example, the dialogue above (Watterson was quite outspoken about his thoughts on merchandising & copyright, so I won’t breach by posting the actual cartoon) really cuts to the heart of human nature!

We like to think we are good. People generally appeal to “the good inside,” but really, when you look at our actions nationally, and personally, one realises that we really are quite immoral people.

I guess it’s symmetrical to see Calvin the cartoon actually supporting his [namesake’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Calvin) theological viewpoint!

I was reading a blog the other day & the writer had made the statement that she could “never be a part of an organised religion.”
It made me wonder, would you want to be a part of a disorganised one?

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'”](http://www.notquitenigella.com/2009/10/08/bacon-jam-your-wildest-dreams-come-true/)), 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”