Philip Island

The family headed down to Philip Island last weekend. We booked a bonus week ($99) at the Island Breeze Resort. We enjoyed the pool at the resort and the weather was good enough for some time at the beach at Cowes. We also visited the Penguin Parade on Saturday night. We hadn't done it for a few years and the kids are old enough to appreciate it now.
Annette and the kids went home on Sunday and I stayed on to do a few days reading and writing on my Doctoral thesis. I'm still working on the history chapter of ministerial development in the Wesleyan Methodist church.

Kid's News

Kate - Passed her preliminary Piano exam. Passed is an understatement - she got first class honours - well done Kate.
Matthew - completed a poster of Blue Tongue lizards (see photo) and will also be starting basketball this season.
Thomas - Became a champion bike rider today and can take off, ride and stop all on his own. Now Mum and Dad need to get bikes and do some family rides.

Sweet Harmony

My latest gadget is the Logitech Harmony 525 programmable remote control. Our coffee table was cluttered with 5 remote controls and it was quite a complicated matter to switch from watching TV to watching a DVD. Changing input on the TV, changing input on the HiFi turning off the set top box, turning on the DVD then switching remotes to control the DVD once it was playing.
Everything can now be controlled through one remote. The Harmony uses a web based programming system based on knowledge of thousands of different device remote controls. You just need to know the model numbers of your TV, DVD etc and it finds the information and programs the remote accordingly. You can then set up activities such as play a DVD. You program the harmony to turn on the DVD player, turn on and switch the HiFi to the DVD5.1input, turn on the TV and switch to the HDMI input - you can even program it to to open the DVD tray ready for you to put in the DVD. I had a bit of trouble getting it to switch to the correct input on my Toshiba LCD because you have to scroll through the inputs but it works like a charm now. Very easy for the wife and kids to get Dad's toys working in harmony. Oh - I got it on sale at Dick Smith Powerhouse for $99.95 - a steal. I like my gadgets but usually wait until they've been out for a year or so and drop to half of their original RRP.

Lunar Eclipse

During our Christianity and Postmodernism class we went outside a couple of times to look at the Lunar Eclipse. There was a bit of cloud around so we couldn't get a good view. The Age newspaper has a great slideshow montage of the event which captures the whole event. Apparently a lunar eclipse was one of the evidences used to show that the earth was round as the shadow cast on the moon was curved.

Go the "Bow and Arrow Man"

Glenn Archer (or as Rex Hunt calls him - the Bow and Arrow Man) overtook Wayne Schimmelbusch as the Kangaroos' games record holder when he played his 307th game for North Melbourne against Carlton on Saturday. Annette and I and the kids (along with James and Grace from next door) went to see the game and we all enjoyed the 82 point win. Archer epitomises the North Melbourne never give up underdog spirit. He was named as Shinboner of the Century and although he may not be the most talented AFL player he is respected by most AFL supporters as the most courageous. Well done Glenn, it's a pleasure to watch you play.

Let's Get Real

I was re-reading the chapter on Authenticity in Exiles this week and it felt like I underlined the whole chapter - Frost is so quotable. Here is one that jumped out at me - “Part of the pervading phoniness about many Christian’s lives is that there seems to be an assumed difference between our public worship experience and our private lifestyle and practices.” (p. 93).
At a recent visit to a church I was again astonished at how forced and routinised (is that a word?) the meeting was - it was as though the church felt obliged to follow a particular pattern that actually discouraged real interaction bettwen the people who were present. Even though there were not people in the meeting who could assist with musical accompaniment there were songs played (on CD)in the regular places of hymns which everyone sat and listened to as though is was a requirement of the weekly ritual. I hope I'm not sounding too critical but I left feeling that this small group would have been much better off sitting in a circle (rather than in rows behind each other) and having a heart to heart discussion about a passage of Scripture, some sharing about what God was doing (or not doing) in their lives and prayer to encourage and inspire each other to continue the fight and press on toward the prize.
Luckily, I attend a lot of different churches for work, so this one will not easily be identified but more and more I am seeking a real engagement with other Jesus followers when I gather with them in various locations around the country. . . And don't get me wrong, I'm not against a formal liturgy I am just against a disconnected and lifeless liturgy whether it be formal or informal.

I'm So Confused

I will be teaching the Christianity and Postmodernism class at Kingsley this Semester and although I already had a fairly good grasp on things postmodern my preparation for the more philosophical aspects of postmodernity have been straining my brain just a little. Here's an example from Stanley Grenz trying to explain Jacques Derrida's understanding of meaning in language.
"A Language is a chain of signifiers referring to other signifiers, in which each signifier in turn becomes what is signified by another signifier."
Hmmmm. I know that understanding the philosophical underpinnings of postmodernism is important but I'm really looking forward to the discussions on the effects of postmodern thought on popular culture and the necessary response from the church.