out of this world

so I had decided to not continue my university studies
didn't want to move back to Sale
my previous place of residence
where i grew up a fare bit
i couldn't really see anything for me there
and i had some really good friends in Ballarat
i also figured God had wanted to send me there for more than one year
so i had to find a place to live
and a job too
i stayed at the bachpad for a bit
before finding a spare room at an ex-bachpader's place
so i moved in with Russ and Nick two good Christian guys
who i knew through different people
so my time at 1114 Lydiard street began
and a good time it was
i had two great postive influences right there every day
two guys who loved God and including me there was three
i was looking for a job
with not much luck though
i had only ever had a summer job between yr12 and uni
i was a kitchen hand (dishey)
that work didn't really meet what i was after
as i had other commitments in the youth ministry at my church
and also had decided to do a couple of subjects
with Harvest Bible College
i was studying youth ministry in a traditional church setting
youth ministry1 and youth ministry 2
completing one a semester
so i had my involvement with the youth ministry
going to church
my studying youth ministry
hanging out with my friends from church
as i had lost pretty much all contact with my uni residence friends
going to prayer meetings
and hanging at home with my two christian housemates
now the youth ministry studying
was an amazing time
i was doing this online
me and three girls
meeting once a week in a room in the church building
streaming the audio from an online study site
i must say that these three girls who had been best friends for years
changed my life that year
i dunno how to explain it
but they kinda just made me one of their best friends
and now they really are my best friends
Tab, Kelly and Heather
loved each other alot and they showed it every week
we pretty much hung out together every weekend
and if it wasn't all four of us
i was at least hanging out with Tab
we became really good friends
and now to me she is like my own sister
so pretty much my life consisted of
all "christian" things/people
my whole world revolved around church things
going to church services twice a Sunday
oh i was a very good Christian
or so it may have seemed to some
i mean hey i did devote all my time
to serving God inside the church
but see i had one real big problem
all of my week by week interaction
was with poeple who knew God
apart from the checkout chicks at supermarkets
not that i knew any of them personally
so this went on pretty much most of the year
until in about september i got a offer from centrelink
to do some job search training as i had no job
so partly just to fill in time
and to actually learn some stuff about getting a job of course
i went along to my interview at BEST
and started the two week training course or was it four?
so for pretty much everyday i think
for two, three weeks or something
i was stuck in a room with four other people
each who had no real connection with God at all
they were in a way the best weeks of that year
i had some kind of what seemed like a weird joy that week
for some reason i didn't quite understand
but was beginning to
i really enjoyed being around these people
and the only thing we had in common was we were all un-employed
except the guy doing the training of course
see here i was a follower of Jesus
the guy who told his followers to go and make disciples
to go into the world
to find people who don't know him
and to reach them with his love and for most of the year
i had barely spent a moment with anyone who didn't know Jesus
hold on i was a follower of Jesus???
not following Jesus???
now here comes all the interesting questions
could i infact be a follower of Jesus if i wasn't doing
one of the greatest things he did
and asked his followers to do??
(matt 28:19-20, mark 12:31, acts 1:8, matt 9:10, luke 5:30)
i mean i did do some other important things in following Jesus every day
pretty much what i learnt from that year was
not to immerse yourself in church "stuff"
so you have no meaningful contact and with the real world
that their is a real joy
in being Jesus with skin on to those who don't know him
and that it doesn't really matter
if you live with people who are christians or not
as long as you are not
out of this world
just like i was that year
for most of it anyways

so which is better

i have been living in Ballarat for almost 3 years now
i moved here to study at the University of Ballarat in feburaury 2002
after completing my VCE (highschool)
my first year in Ballarat was a good one for me
new friends, new place, new church
i lived on residence at the uni
in a 10 room unit with Ten people
and next door our sister unit the same
i spent alot of time with these 20 or so people
often even more people due to the surrounding units and community life
the nearest person i knew who was a Christian
a girl who lived a few minutes walk up the hill
i think this was for me a great experience of
living in the world and not of it
i had a really great year that year
and the weekly trek to "the bachpad"
each weekend helped me to not be too influenced
into ways in which God would not have for me to go
see the thing is i have thought about this alot
i had alot of joy that year
so much so that
one of the guys who used to come visit Tom a guy i lived with i lived with
nicknamed me smiley :)
but see i think alot of the joy i had came from knowing that
God was with me and i had alot of people there to influence for him
after a month of me going "God why on earth did i have to live here with all these people"
(see i hadn't had such close friends who don't know God for a few years)
he said "you are here for them they are your mission field"
i didn't winge to God about being there anymore after that
now it was hard and there were times of stumbling and falling over a bit
but i stayed the course and kept on going
and i did have good success
one of the people i lived with even asked me to pray for them
so which is better
to live with people who don't know God
or people who do know God
neither
just to be in constant contact and relationship with those who don't know him
i will blog about the next years almost opposite experience next time

wGoOrDld

i recently bought some stuff from Word and Koorong during their after xmas sales
one thing i got was a dvd called "livin' it"
it is a skate and bmx film by Stephen Baldwin and Keven Palau
all the skaters and riders are christians
all of them are pro's in thier chosen
some are among the best of the best in their chosen
some are just among the best
everythig they have to say is cool
it is just straight from their lives in pro skate/bmx
then there is the other bits
where Stephen Baldwin says stuff and does stuff
he is the brother of Alec Baldwin (famous actor)
Stephen is also an actor just not quite as famous
he has been a christian since somewhere around end of 2001
it is easy to see that he has gone from being a
hollywood rich actor who only says God when he wants to blame someone
to a man who found God and got grabbed a hold of and went to extreme church makeover
so he now doesn't look like your average block but some sort of freak
who tries to be cool and maybe once was
but now talks about Jesus and makes the impression that
i have to become like him to become a christian
totally change the clothes i wear so they all have christian God slogans
and symbols all over them
pretend like i am invincible
and forget my old friends to have more Godly ones
the problem i have is that i wonder how much he is immersed in the american church lifestyle
(generalisation i know)
and how well he can relate to the people he works with in the tv and movie business
by dressing and acting the way he does on this movie

see being incarnational is something i have been both learning about and dealing with
being all things to all people (for those aware of this ironic statement)
looking like a normal person to those around you, someone they can relate too

for instance i have for a long time had this idea that
listening to "Christian" music, watching "Christian" videos, and wearing "Christian" clothes
would help me in being a better Christian
when really it just helped me be apart of the one culture that is already reached

for instance I got some friends of mine to print on a t-shirt i bought "Jesus is my Super Hero"
'cause he is and i like super heros and the slogan sounded cool to me
but to people who don't know God they don't really care that Jesus is my Super Hero
he isn't theirs so there is no common ground to be building on there
true i could wear it to encourage other Christians to remeber that
Jesus is the one we are to look up to 'cause he saved us
but then i would only need wear it when meeting with only Christians
does happen but only for short periods of days not like a whole day

as well while it might be highly benficial for me to listen to positive "Christian" music
my friends at work have no flamin' idea who Relient K and Jars of Clay are

so what to do???
have a balance
like my Tooth and Nail Records trucker cap
first of all it's a trucker cap (everyone has them at the moment)
secondly it is a record company who have bands that consist of people who follow Jesus
thirdly it is known to be MXPX's old record label of years old
fourthly MXPX are highly respected punk rockers world wide
it is something that relates to both God and the world

which brings me to something else not having the whole secular and sacred separation thing
so actually my cap relates to God being in the world
cause he is

that's enough for tonight i think is late/early and time for sleep
wGoOrDld

it's a monday 2 - the sequel

so my day went from good to bad to good
there are like only 8 minutes to go
and i plan on keeping it on the good side
talked to my follks tonight
asked my mum about a loan
just a little to pay for some on road costs
for when i get a car hopefully in the next few weeks
was rough today and i drank a fare bit of coffee
3 cups fresh grounded and brewed in the avo
then one of instant i just finished before
thinking back on today
'friendships are something to be treasured
and good ones never let go of'
'real friends will always be there
and never let you go'
'friendships take time to develop
and good ones not easily attained'
'being a guy and having one of your bestest friends a girl is not easy
and having more than one is even harder'
'i thank God for my man Dave
he is a much simpler guy'
'i love my friends - i love you guys
how much we will miss each other when we say our goodbyes'
'but that won't be the end
just the beginning'
'of our lifelong friendship
till together in heaven'

it's a monday

i was having a good day
but now i'm not
i'm confused, sad and mad
it's not a nice feeling
i am an emotional mess
i wanna leave town
if i didn't have to stay
i think i would go now
that's a pathetic soloution i know
but thats what some people think about me
the lyrics of this song show sometimes how i live
it's by Relient K my favourite band
off their latest album mmhmm
the song is 4. I so hate consequences
"And I so hate consequences: running from you is what my best defence is:
Cause I know that I let you down: And I don't want to deal with that"

hey my friend? i'm sorry for letting you down :(

was a good day now it's a bad day
it's a Monday

to follow him is really all i know

well life is interesting to say the least...
up and down like a roller coaster until
i decide i had better start climbing that mountain
then its up and up
and around and around
one of my best friends asked me last night
so which direction is God taking you?
that is a good question i replied
i didn't say much else then
but i suppose in a little different direction
to where i thought i was going for a while
first to training with YWAM as long as i get in and all
then possibly more training with say Forge probably
and where i will be?
ballarat?, sydney?, melbourne?,geelong?, newcastle????
i dunno
i will just see where God wants to take me and place me
to follow him is really all i know

My Blue Trike Life