for those of you {which is most “normal” folk} who are not wrapped up in the ghetto of christian media and entertainment: Derek Webb is an american dude who had a fairly successful christian band called Caedmon’s Call. i wouldn’t call myself a big fan, though i have a few of their albums. i appreciated the band and Derek Webb because there was an essence of authentic-ness to his lyrics and even his vocal delivery… i hadn’t thought about him or the band for a few years until i heard on the grapevine about some broo-ha-ha over his new album. i looked into it and apparently it’s because he says the word “shit” on one song.
sigh.
really?
are we -{and i am using the word we because i am a christian and part of the church in the truest sense of the word.} – still so immature that when one of our artists passionately expresses himself in ART he might use a “profane” word? are we that weak that we can’t take one little artists out pouring? could it be that he HAS to use whatever is in him to convey exactly what he believes Father has shown him?
Anyway…
so i finally heard some of the new album, and blow me down, it is excellent. Right up my alley. The production is fantastic, gone are the rootsy folksy christian nashville sound of Caedman’s Call, and instead there are loops, samples and chopped up electronics. I LOVE IT.
and as for me: i believe that on so many levels:
musically
creatively
artistically
spiritually
and just honouring Father because you are jumping out into that abyss of creating and loosing yourself in it all….
this is the best stuff that i’ve heard Derek Webb do.
but what do i know hey?
just a little while ago my oldest son Drummond hopped out of his bunk bed and came into my office and i said “yes???” {waiting for some sort of excuse to be out of bed} – Drummond said “i was just thinking…” and as i grabbed him i finished off his sentence with “thinking of how your going to have a sore bottom if you get out of bed again?” he replied “no dad, i was just thinking about Hell, and i don’t want to go there. i’ve been thinking about it…” as he said this with such an ernest look on his face and the trust he had in his eyes i immediately regretted the crack about him getting a smack for getting out of bed. So i asked him more about what he meant, what he was scared of and what he wanted to do… we ended up in me and benita’s bedroom looking at what Jesus says about Himself and what Paul says about being “saved”. Drummond has heard all these stories since he was small, but tonight it began, just a little bit, to fall into place. in his 5 and 1/2 year old heart and mind he knew that he didn’t always do what was right, he knew Father was perfect & Jesus is the way to Him. i did my best as his dad and as a christian to explain that Hell is Hell because you are separated from Jesus & Father and alone, while Heaven is only Heaven because you are with Father & Jesus and you are not alone. i ended up asking Drum if he wanted to talk to Father {pray} and he did, and he thanked Father for Heaven and for Hell. he thanked Father for Jesus and he told Him he believes. He told Father that he hopes that one day he will be in Heaven with Him and with his two brothers Galvin & Judah. Benita cried a little. i asked Drum if there was anyone he wanted to tell about all of this, he said “yes, Galvin” i said “no Galvin is asleep, is there anyone you’d like to call on the phone and tell?” “Papa Will & Mama Dot?” {benita’s parents} – so he called them and there was much christian grandparent joy. i tucked Drum back in his bunk bed and kissed him, told him how proud and thankful i am of him, he told me “i just don’t know what Heaven looks like…” i told him that i didn’t either, but i told him what a few scriptures say… as he was thinking that over he rolled over and fell fast asleep in a couple of minutes. i wonder what he is dreaming about right now?
tonight is a special night… i wish this quite joy and thankfulness i feel as a christian parent could be shared with all others. i am thankful and so grateful for so much more than i deserve…
some people thought that because of my last post that i was “pro mccain” – again let me just state: i am incredibly NON political, and i’m australian! i strongly believe all politicians are liars and will say anything to please people. a USA election only holds fascination for me because i loved the west wing tv show!
on a spiritual level i do believe strongly that as a christian politics are something that i should be aware of/ educated about but not overly concerned with. i know Who really is in control.
so, as far as i go in such matters, i am happy for Barack Obama and the american people who voted for him. i was moved by the Big Picture’s coverage on him – some amazing pictures!
but i get very bewildered by super Patriotism. no matter if it’s here in Australia, over in the USA, in Germany, China, South Africa, wherever, that flag waving fervour just get’s me a little worried. i mean, i am proud to be an Australian, i love this country and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. but i get suspicious of people who have to australian flags all over them to feel as if they have some sort of “identity”… and americans are the kings of such super patriotism, but they mix it all in with some weird version of christianity and it’s just plan scary to me.
so… anyway… all the best to Barack, i hope he really digs into the true faith in this job. i hope he does well. i just hope he doesn’t start believing his own hype and i hope the american people settle down and realise he is just a man, by all accounts a very smart dude and someone who should be able to do the job well…. but he’s not the saviour and he’s not the antichrist. he’s just a president. who gives a flying fig about the amount and type of melanin he has. it does not matter. it’s all about the job he does. after all being a politician is just a job. a dirty dirty job that usually only insane power crazy people might want….
today is Blog Action Day 2008, and this year the theme is POVERTY…. and so here is my story in two parts: part one is my working for World Vision as a display coordinator. part two is the amazing “co-incidence” of receiving the first letter from Xolo our sponsor child on the 15th of October 2008: the very date of “Blog Action Day 2008: Poverty”.
part two: the positive.
as i already mentioned in my last post, we signed up to sponsor a child thru world vision australia. we did what is called a special request, we asked for a boy the same age as our oldest son Drummond, give or take a month and we also wanted him to be from South Africa {my wife Benita is South African coloured}. so after a few weeks we got XOLO in the mail….
you can see a bigger version of that here
it isn’t the world’s greatest picture of XOLO, it’s a janky pixelated washed out picture of an unhappy looking little guy, as a photographer i long to go over and take pics of a lot of the kids i see come through our displays… anyway inside the XOLO’s picture folder it has his stats:
you can see a bigger, readable version of his stats here
So we have had little XOLO’s picture folder in the kitchen with us, Drummond has been learning all about him and has gotten with the programme straight away, he has been putting aside part of his pocket money for XOLO and he even get’s a mention every now and then in Drum’s bedtime prayers.
We’ve been meaning to write to him, have the boys draw him a picture, take a picture, etc etc, but things have been busy over the last month.
Today on the 15th October, it is the actual day of Blog Action Day on Poverty, so this morning i was thinking about whether i will blog anything about the subject… and then in today’s mail there is a cool looking envelope:
my mind was seriously on everything else under the sun and i had no idea who could be sending us a letter from SA, it must be Benita’s relatives or something… and then we opened it and was knocked out that it was a letter from our sponsor child XOLO!
Well XOLO is about to turn 5 so it’s not written by him of course, it’s actually written by one of the WV co-ordinators there in SA, the hand writing is a little tricky, but we now know that he lives with his 72 year old grandma who has bad eyesight. he lives in a little village with a well that is about 20km’s from the closest town, XOLO’s mum is away in Durban looking for work, no mention of XOLO’s father.
talk about timing, God has a great sense of comedic timing. on the actual day i receive the letter from my sponsor child. classic. so of course that has moved me to write today. and come to the conclusion of what i think we should do about poverty… HOW DO WE RESPOND TO POVERTY? by doing something!
something tangible, personal, and ongoing. and the most common sense thing i can see to do is make a difference in one child’s life.
it costs about $1.50 a day.
$10 a week.
you blow more than $10 a week on crappy take away food, coffees and drinks that are killing you. i don’t care who you are, you can afford $10 a week to save the life of a child.
if you want to save a child’s life with your spare change please contact me. i can help you make it happen today. don’t just blog links to resources or read the thousands of blogs out there posting about the problem, and though it’s helpful i think just giving a one time donation is not as powerful as actually connecting with an actual child in need personally.
do something. sponsor a child. i’d love to help you make that happen. there is nothing in it for me, i get no commissions, i get no gold stars, i get nothing out of it other than joy of making it happen.
today is Blog Action Day 2008, and this year the theme is POVERTY…. and so here is my story in two parts:
part one is my working for World Vision as a display coordinator. part two is the amazing “co-incidence” of receiving the first letter from Xolo our sponsor child on the 15th of October 2008: the very date of “Blog Action Day 2008: Poverty”.
part one: the negative.
like you i have grown up in “average” conditions in a western country and pretty much live everyday thinking how life would be better if i only had more stuff; if i only could afford that new MacBook Pro… i can’t wait till that new 5D Mark II camera comes out… etc etc… and if you work for yourself then you know the joys of wondering how you will pay rent next week when you have no work coming in… this is the stuff of our lives, committing to going on a diet tomorrow but tonight i will cruise through mcdonalds drive thru for one last fast food meal. we are wrapped in our own worlds doing the best we can…
and like you i’ve grown up seeing starving children on my TV and hoping that one day i could make a difference, do something, anything.
but here’s the killer, MOST people {including myself} NEVER do ANYTHING. oh yes we are full of good intentions and we promise ourselves that one day we will get around it. {just like that diet, or that gym membership} and that is the killer. we just don’t actually do anything. we can justify spending hundreds of dollars on films, DVD’s, albums, phone bills and the stuff we “need”, but we just never quite get around to looking into sponsoring that child, donating that money or finding about that organisation.
for years i’ve been planning on doing something, and it never eventuated. until this year when i saw a job advertised for a part-time “display co-ordinator” on the Gold Coast for World Vision Australia. i had no idea what it entailed or exactly why i was doing it, but i applied, then got rejected, then got an interview, then got the job, then got the training, then was on the job…. and THEN i finally got a sponsor child.
yes it wasn’t until my first shift actually on the job that i actually signed up to sponsor a child.
my very part time {2 shifts a week of around 5 hours each, for about a six week “campaign” and then two or three weeks off and then another campaign} job with World Vision is what they call the grunt work, the face work, the rubber on the road work: i stand at a table covered in sponsor children in shopping centres and malls and try to get total strangers to stop and sponsor a needy child through World Vision. it’s pretty much the best and worst job i’ve ever had. i couldn’t even imagine what it would be like doing this job full time….
this job is actually lifting me to new ends of thinking too much and seeing life as this weird existential experience. i mean i stand in the middle of a shopping centre, surrounded by shops selling all sorts of useless crap and pampering services, the whole mall is designed to make people want to shop, and each shop within the mall is screaming out for attention with latest sparkly beads for sale, and here i am standing in front of a few card tables with a bunch of childrens pictures from around the world. it is seriously like sending out a Amish farmer in his horse and buggy to compete in the formula 1 grand prix… on a good day i like to think of it as David out to fight Goliath.
sometimes it is hard to not look at the entire western civilisation as some disgusting monstrosity, an example of the pinnacle of selfishness… i cannot tell you how many times i have watched a woman refuse to even return a “hello” to me when she realises what i am there for, only to walk straight to the display window of jewellery store. or to see couples in the twenties ignore you with their Boost juice and shopping bags in their hands. i cannot tell you how many families have walked past and said something along the lines of “we couldn’t afford it” and each of the children is chomping down on lollies while sitting in shopping trolleys laden with food, toys and the latest XBox games.
by far my “favourite” top two responses from the public walking past in shopping centres are:
The Head Snapper & The Concerned Lips. The Head Snapper is someone who is usually slowly walking thru the Mall/Centre in that shopping induced haze, they are not in a hurry, they are just idly walking and gazing around when their gaze slowly lands onto our World Vision display and before they can help it they are staring at all these children’s faces, they are trapped by all the orange of the sponsor children’s little cardboard picture folders. then all of a sudden they realise that i am there, a human being who wants them to actually do something about it, and they realise exactly what they are looking at. and then: WHA-CRACK! they snap their heads away from me and the display so fast i can almost feel the whiplash. The Concerned Lips is someone who walks past and maybe nods at you and the stand, but they have no intention of stopping so they give you that i-am-concerned-so-i-will-tighten-my-lips-a-little-and-give-a-concerned-tilt-to-my-head look, if you are really lucky they will even give you one of those and even a slight concerned moan or sigh as they slightly pause at a child’s picture…
but can i be straight up honest with you?
getting the everyday jo public to sign up for a sponsor a child is HARD. REALLY HARD! and even though i’m pretty new to it all, it’s getting harder every week.
personally i think the whole world vision approach at the shopping centres is a bit soft, i would love to do something radical and have massive banners and television displays with really confronting messages and images. we cannot compete for peoples attention in a shopping centre, but we could get attention with the “rude” reality of truth and the power of contrast. Big signs that say “SAVE CHILDREN NOW” or “YOUR CONCERNED LOOKS DON’T FILL HUNGRY BELLIES” or “STOP FEELING GUILTY, DO SOMETHING GOOD”… i know, i know we’d be booted out of the centres with a chorus of boos. because people don’t like to feel judged.
that commercial above is excellent in my opinion, it gives it to people straight, BUT the advert was considered a flop because jo public complained because it was too judgemental. people don’t want to feel like World Vision or the little starving children are judging them. well the bad news for such people is that they have already been judged, and they have been found wanting. history will look book at our generations with disgust, how can we in the west be spending so much on ourselves when we could easily make a massive blow to poverty? 700 billion just from the USA to bail out the rich crooks and banks? 70 billion just from China on the Olympics? we sit back in the glow of our televisions while Africa, the most amazing country on earth, implodes….
so how do i go on? what will keep us from throwing our hands up in the air and saying “too hard!”? stay tuned for part two: the positive.
from the story: {emphasis from me}
“The U.S. financial crisis making global waves is no excuse for governments and companies to walk away from helping the world’s poor, former U.S. President Bill Clinton and rocker Bono said on Wednesday.
As Congress debates a White House-proposed $700 billion bailout for the worst financial crisis since the Depression of the 1930s, Bono questioned why wealthy countries had not been able to come up with enough aid for the world’s problems. “It is extraordinary to me that you can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can’t find $25 billion to save 25,000 children who die every day of preventable treatable disease and hunger,”the U2 lead singer told Clinton’s fourth annual philanthropic summit in New York. “That’s mad, that is mad.”
The Group of Eight wealthy nations vowed in 2005 to raise annual aid levels $50 billion by 2010, $25 billion of which was to go to Africa. But under current spending plans, the G8 will fall $40 billion short, according to a June report by the Africa Progress Panel set up to monitor implementation.
“Bankruptcy is a serious business and we all know people who have lost their jobs,” Bono said, referring to the bankruptcy declared by Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. “But this is moral bankruptcy.”
if you grew up in conservative christian circles in the 80′s / 90′s then you might be familiar with the mighty mullet & moustachioed one known as Ray Boltz…
he was incredibly popular with camps and “special numbers”… i can’t tell you how many times i’ve heard someone belt out Ray’s hit “Thank You” in church services through the years…
he was in my opinion the king of “schmaltz”: soppy emotional numbers that old ladies would weep to… not my cup of tea…
he released a gang of albums {15?!} in his career, married with kids and all round super christian dude in the nsahville “CCM” scene.
anyway today i learnt that a few days he ago he “came out” publicly as a homosexual. read about it here. you can even see how he looks with no mullet these days on his website here.
you know back in the day i might have been really upset about this, and i know that thousands of his previous fans will be devastated over this, his albums and music will be pulled from radio stations, from stores and a lot of his “product” will be thrown out by his once fans… but i don’t feel upset… for one, i never really liked his gig, but big picture wise, it’s not my place to condemn him, his story is not over yet, and i know Jesus is not finished working in Ray’s life. My world view and doctrine / dogma has not changed at all {i believe that quite clearly that Father has revealed through His word in the Bible that homosexuality is just one of myriad of deviations from His designed sexuality, right up there with adultery, divorce, lust etc}… but you know what has changed in me? my understanding of how LOVING Father is, how patient He is, how Big He is…. and i know all of that applies to Ray Boltz and his journey…. Father is not finished with Ray yet, and Jesus has not called me to sit on a little throne of judgement to condemn him.
does that make sense?
i am a “post organised church” christian {whatever that means}.
but i never get tired of being amazed at the absolute stupidity of the “charismatic movement”. i know that might sound mean and nasty, but seriously folks, how stupid does the “mass christian mob” act and look to anyone with one ounce of intelligence?
here is a “word” for the modern church: “discernment”.
look it up.
in the dictionary & the bible.
you are all after “gifts” and “signs”? well how about the gift of discernment? shoot for that one because that is what the world really needs… not sham healings, scam “revivals” and more christian in-breeding.
just grow up…please.
you know what troubles me about that blog post from “fire in my bones”? despite the quite thoughtful write up and excellent points and questions asked through out the piece, at the end mr J. Lee Grady still says: “I still believe that God desires to visit our nation in supernatural power. I know He wants to heal multitudes, and I will continue praying for a healing revival to sweep across the United States.” where in the world do you get that from Mr Grady? from any actual biblical source? from anything based in reality? or just a feeling? a “prophetic word”? just nationalistic jingo? watch your language, to say that you “believe God desires” is pretty full on. why not be honest and say with much more human-ness “i really hope” or “wouldn’t it be awesome” or “i wish”? to put that back on God as something He desires is…. just not based in any biblical reality… it is exactly that type of wanting something “more” that get’s people into the Lakeland type foolishness in the first place….
… that is all from me… for now… what do you think?
for movie lovers like me, finding a good movie community, website, podcast or reviewer is a precious thing…. well a while ago i found all of the above with SPOUT.com – i found it through their sponsorship of everyones favourite movie nerd show – filmspotting.
so anyway, a couple of weeks ago i downloaded all 40 episodes to date of the spout podcast “film couch” and listened to them all in a week or so, good show, i like it. i sent them an audio message- and… bammo i’m in the show, well my comment is anyway. you can check it out here: http://blog.spout.com/2007/10/12/filmcouch-41
my comment is right at the end – at 21:12 into the show…
what can i say? flattery will get you everywhere… but i am seriously looking forward to them doing a “spiritual” show. i hope they cover Dogville….
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for this 9th podcast i bring you a special interview with my man Oakbridge, hip-hopper & mate from Sydney Australia. we were in the car on the way to the airport, returning from my trip to blackstump. {more about blackstump later}
