peter geizer.blogspot.com

Haikou & the South China Sea

2010-06-27T22:54:00.000-07:00

Haikou Cityscape

2010-06-27T22:52:00.000-07:00

@ the Volcano Tree Root Garden, Hainan

2010-06-27T22:49:00.000-07:00

Chinese Transport

2010-06-27T22:42:00.000-07:00

Cactus Garden, Hainan

2010-06-27T22:38:00.000-07:00

God Creates the City, Haikou

2010-06-26T05:37:00.000-07:00

Hainan, Hawaii of the Orient

2010-06-25T22:57:00.000-07:00

Kokoda

2010-05-30T15:22:00.000-07:00

Having walked the Kokoda track in ’08, I read with interest Paul Ham’s 2004 book by the same name. The book is well researched and written with poignancy. It is an insight to the politics between Churchill, Roosevelt and Curtin, the frail state of Australian defences in 1942 and the self-aggrandisement of Allied Generals who lacked first-hand knowledge of the conditions in which their fighting forces were confronted. In fact, the Allied ignorance of the terrain over the Kokoda track was appalling. As late as July ’42, the Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit were given orders to build a road over the Owen Stanley Ranges to Kokoda and to have it built by the end of the following month.... an absurdity of monumental proportions.

The Kokoda account is a record of soldiers who battled tropical diseases, faltering supply lines and unforgiving terrain. For the first time Australians were fighting a jungle war against an experienced and committed enemy. Allied units in the Kokoda campaign suffered causality rates of at least 80% and many as high as 90%. This history also contains the remarkable story of the Australian militia. The militia battalions were made up of men who did not enlist for overseas duty. While most were volunteers, many were conscripts. Hence the Australian military had a “two-tier” structure which caused considerable contention. The militiamen were popularly derided as chocolate soldiers (“chocos”), who would melt in the heat of battle. It was militia from the 39^th Battalion who were the first to encounter the Japanese on the Owen Stanley Ranges at Kokoda and Isuarva. By the end of the campaign, the Australian militia had won a distinguished place in military history.

Ham’s book abounds in testimonies of shocking hardship and despair. One quote from Major-General George Vasey communicates the general pathos. Vasey, a true hero who served with his men on the front was asked what he did immediately after a battle. He responded, “The first thing I do is call for the causality list. I go away to my tent...not to be disturbed.... to be alone with my God and my conscience. It weighs heavily....(the realisation that) you have no option but to be responsible for creating all these widows, fatherless children, these mothers robbed of sons....”. And while few prisoners of war were taken by either side, the following verses suggest moments of transcendence did exist:

As I cursed the irony of my fate

I received the compassion of a people of an alien land,

And more deeply than in my homeland

It touched my heart.

On a white cot in the hospital

Those who came to comfort me

Were men of a strange country?

Who made me weep...

Having become a prisoner of war

For the first time I know

The human kindliness of the Australian soldier.

The Japanese dream of a Greater East Asia empire collapsed along the beaches and on the mountains of Papua New Guinea. Paul Ham walks the reader through the Kokoda campaign from the perspectives of the ordinary Allied and Japanese soldier... soldiers who found themselves in “the world’s worst killing field”. For anyone interested in Australian war history, Kokoda is a compelling read.

Cinderella of the Parables

2010-05-17T00:37:00.000-07:00

Over Easter I had the chance to finish reading the 2008 released book by John Broadbanks Publishing titled, “A Packet of Surprises: The Best Essays and Sermons of F W Boreham”. The first chapter in this compilation is the essay “A Box of Blocks” which was taken from Boreham’s original book called “Rubble and Roseleaves” published in 1923. The thought in the box of blocks appears to have inspired a later essay by Boreham called, “The Cinderella of the Parables” (The Tide Comes In, Epworth Press, 1958). I can understand why the 2008 publication begins with the box of blocks, with each block representing a letter of the alphabet. It is a favourite message.

Boreham comments on the grand statement that Jesus makes, “I am the alpha and the omega” (Rev 1:8) and how Jesus is “weaving the alphabet into a parable”. It sets thoughts soaring when we see the comparison Jesus draws between his life and ministry and the letters of the alphabet. It is a sublime moment of self-revelation that Jesus gifts to His church.

The alphabet is foundational. Our school life begins with learning the A,B,C’s. It is the foundation on which all our learning is built. A is for apple, B is for ball, C is for cat and D is for dog. I always confused my B’s with D’s. Perhaps a slight case of dyslexia. Instead of writing “Big dog” I would write, “Dig bog”. Confusing B’s with D’s creates all sorts of problems. What we fail to grasp in grade one only compounds the difficulties in grade two! Confusing “B’s” and “D’s” is problematic but not nearly as problematic as when we fail to discern the “Alpha and Omega”, Jesus Christ, the A and the Z of the school of life and of the spirit. He is the first and final lesson for life and without Him all else is difficult and mostly impossible.

Sir Isaac Newton, the father of modern science, once said, “I was like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” It always amazes me that we can find a book in a library and provided we understand the meaning of the letters of the alphabet and the words they create, we can access the mind and understanding of the great thinkers and theorists throughout the ages. People like Newton who appreciated that a great ocean of truth lies before all of us – untouched, undiscovered and more acutely, unlived.

It also seems to me that all the wisdom of God has been encoded in Christ and can be decoded through Christ who has been made “wisdom unto us”. By discerning the “Alpha and Omega”, we find the key to understanding and living the ocean of truth before us and reading the meaning of life. Through Christ we find the means for knowing life and communing with the God who created it.

In his latter essay on the “Cinderella of Parables”, Boreham writes on the work of Australian Professor Gordon Childe who believed the most important steps in the development of civilization was the invention of coin or legal tender, the discovery of metals and their use and development of the alphabet as the means for written communication. Of these three, the Professor believed the development of the alphabet was the most important. Without the alphabet, society as we know it would not exist.

When Jesus was “weaving” the parable of the alphabet, He was perhaps telling us that the power of social transformation is found in Him. Life is held together in Him and by Him and without Him we lose the very fabric that holds community together. It is amazing what you can find in a box of blocks. To appreciate more of the best of Boreham, the book, “A Packet of Surprises” can be ordered through the COC on-line bookshop at www.coc.org.au/ssl/shop2.0.

Images of HCM City

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Free Wifi, HCM City

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Notre Dame Cathedral

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Footpath Parking, HCM City

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Windows in Notre Dame Cathedral

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Streetscape, HCM City

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Notre Dame Cathedral

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Pizza & Pasta, HCM Style

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Somerset Hotel, HCM City

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Old & New, HCM City

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Continental Saigon

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Opera House

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Local Transportation, HCM City

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Local Produce, HCM City

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War Museum, HCM City

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Vietnamobile

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Streetscape, HCM City

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Facing Dong Khoi Street, HCM City

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Along Le Loi Street, HCM City

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Communist Vietnam

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War Remnants, Vietnam

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City Museum, Ho Chi Minh

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Notre Dame Cathedral

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City Museum, Ho Chi Minh

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Notre Dame, Ho Chi Minh City

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History Museum

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City Museum

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Opera House

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2010-02-12T05:56:00.001-08:00

Ho Chi Minh City Museum

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Saigon City

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Saigon River

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Ben Thanh Markets

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Cu Chi Tunnels

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Notre Dame Cathedral

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Unification Fountain

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Thong Nhat Unification Hall

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Notre Dame Cathedral

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Land of Novelties by F W Boreham

2010-01-26T03:33:00.001-08:00

England is an antique. In Australia we invariably speak of it, reverently and affectionately, as ‘the Old Country.’ And yet the thing that strikes every Australian who visits England is the fact that, side by side with so much that compels his veneration, there exists so much that is startlingly, sensationally, audaciously new. And from that antique realm, these young lands import the vast majority of their new ideas.

Australia, on the other hand, is new. An Australian in England feels that he is representing a land of novelties in a land of antiquities, a land of oddities in a land of orthodoxies, a land of impertinences in a land of dignities. Everything about Australia strikes an Englishman as novel. The fact that we have Christmas at midsummer and go for our annual holidays in January; the fact that we get up when an Englishman goes to bed, and go to bed when he gets up; the fact that we go north in winter if we wish to be warm and go south in summer if we wish to be cool; the facts that our trees shed their bark instead of their leaves, that our birds display vociferous hilarity and that our native animals are all fitted out with pockets; these things strike an Englishman as distinctly quaint.

And yet, whilst Australia is a land of novelties, it is essentially a land of antiquities. Geologically, Australia is immensely older than England. Our Australian aborigines are of much more remote origin than the early Britons. Sir Arthur Keith has shown that, long before Mr. Rudyard Kipling's first cockney ‘pushed through the forest that lined the Strand, with paint on his face and a club in his hand,’ our Australian aborigines had made history of a kind—and were growing weary of the monotony of the ages!

F W Boreham, The Drums of Dawn (London: The Epworth Press, 1933), 104-105.

The Glory List

2010-01-25T18:35:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I watched the movie “The Bucket List” starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. I enjoy Freeman’s acting but Nicholson always reminds me of “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. (His characters always appear maladjusted). However, the bucket list is a wish list made up by two terminally ill men of the things they will do before they “kick the bucket”. The making of their to-do list is the start of a new journey. But there is another list. It’s not a list of things to do because we’re going to die, but a list of things we possess because we’ve been made alive in Christ.

During my devotions last week I came upon this verse from Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, “To Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (3:21). Meditating on the words, I felt the weight of Paul’s prayer. The verse was like a “rhema” or a “now” word. I could see that Paul’s petition was “to all generations, forever and ever” - which must include this generation and this moment in time. This prayer is for us and it’s for us now. That is, Paul is praying for this year, praying the glory of God to be in the church. And while he prayed for the church universal, he was also praying for the church local. That is, the prayer of petition is for this place. His glory is for this generation, in this place, for this time and for tomorrow.

What is this glory? What are these blessings? Again I felt the Holy Spirit provoking me with the thought, “What Paul prayed about, he first wrote about”. I read the first three chapters again. This glory Paul was talking about included all “spiritual blessings”. Re-reading the verses, I saw the glory God wants the church to receive anew. The chapters came alive with meaning. It seems to me that on the other side of the glory of God we find the blessings of the supernatural. Like a glory box which contains the items of personal value that have been inherited and purchased at great price, the riches of Christ are gathered together in His glory. In the glory that is from Christ and through Him, we find the riches of His grace.

In Ephesians 1:3, the Apostle begins with the synopsis, the summary of what is to follow. He is deliberate in his message; we are, “blessed with all spiritual blessings”. He then lists one blessing after another blessing to be appropriated for this generation and for this time. It is some list! The blessings gathered together in His glory are already here, waiting for us to receive. Let us agree with the prayer of Paul. Let us join our faith with his faith for this generation and let there be glory in the church. Here then is the glory list, starting with Paul’s synopsis......

· Blessed with every spiritual blessing (1:3)

· Acceptance by grace (1:6)

· Redemption and forgiveness (1:7)

· Wisdom and prudence (1:8)

· An inheritance in Him (1:11)

· Sealed with the Holy Spirit (1:13-14)

· Faith and love (1:15)

· Spirit of revelation in the knowledge of Him (1:17)

· Eyes of our understanding will be open (1:18)

· Power of God toward us (1:19:21)

· Lordship of Christ (1:22)

· Made alive (2:1)

· To sit in Heavenly Places (2:6)

· Riches of His grace and kindness (2:7)

· Made to be His workmanship (2:10)

· Created for good works (2:10)

· Brought near to the Father(2:13)

· Peace & Reconciliation (2:14-17)

· Access to the Father (2:18)

· Citizenship in the kingdom of heaven (2:19)

· Household of faith members (2:19)

· Christ made our Cornerstone (2:20)

· Fitted together (2:21)

· Made the dwelling place of God (2:22)

· Partakers of the promise of God (3:6)

· Manifold wisdom of God (3:10)

· Boldness (3:12)

· Strengthened with might in the inner man (3:16)

· Christ indwelling (3:17)

· Rooted & grounded in love (3:17)

And Paul’s concluding exhortation.... we are filled with all the fullness of God (3:19), knowing the power of God working within us (3:20).

Sacred Places, Australian History & D L Moody

2010-01-15T06:20:00.000-08:00

For some years I have enjoyed the writings of Australian historian Ken Inglis. His award winning, “Sacred Places: War memorials in the Australian Landscape” and writings on Australian monuments and ceremony offers wonderful insight into the egalitarian nature of Australian culture. (Inglis’ understandings in interpreting rituals and monuments of cultural history were, according to the historian, enlightened by the work of legendry American social historian George Mosse). A collection of essays written by Ken Inglis have been published under the heading “Observing Australia 1959-1999” (Melbourne University Press, 1999). The writings sample the breath of Inglis’ interests including his attraction to the study of relationships between religion and society.

Of personal interest is an article by Inglis first printed on the 4^th of June 1954 and written for the Current Affairs Bulletin titled “Billy Graham in Australia”. The writing briefly sketches the rise of Billy Graham and the impact of his crusades in Australia. In the process, Inglis provides the reader with some background on the rise of mass evangelism, drawing comparisons between Billy Graham and Dwight Moody, the famous world-travelled preacher of the 19^th century. And while much of the historians account is even-handed and obviously well researched, a brief description of Dwight Moody as “a tyrant” caught me by surprise. While I am sure the author had his sources, this description of Moody contradicts all accounts I have read.

I guess it is not the first time a preacher will be the subject of contradictions. But for the record, Moody was known as the soul-winner who won people over by his kindness (as described by his biographer, John McDowell). Moody, who believed one must “consecrate and then concentrate” in their Christian walk once said, “Love is the sap of the Gospel, the secret of lively and effective preaching .... Nothing but love can find out the mysterious avenues which lead to the heart” (D L Moody on Spiritual Leadership, by Steve Miller, 2004, p 46).

One of my favourite stories about Moody, which may best capture the heart of the man, recounts the way he served his students at the Chicago Bible Institute (now known as the Moody Bible Institute) which Moody founded in 1886. In serving students, fellow Minister Henry Drummond said of Moody, “At the beginning of each term hundreds of students, many of them strangers, arrive to attend the seminaries. At such times, Mr Moody literally haunts the depot to meet them at the moment they most need a friend” (as quoted in Heavenly Destiny, Moody Press, 1943, p 107).

Another evangelist, R. A. Torrey, who later became a president of Moody’s Bible Institute described Moody as “.... one of the kindest men I knew. He was always on the lookout for kindly things to do.... Every morning we would find some little delicacy on the back doorstep - the first asparagus of the season, the first strawberries, or something of that sort; and we always knew where it came from...” (D L Moody: Lessons from His Life and Death, R A Torrey, Australian Christian World, 22 August 1902, p 6).

While Moody no doubt had his critics, as the comments by Inglis may suggest, I am happy to give the last word to the preacher - “If this world is ever to be conquered, it will be conquered by love, and there is no way to preach love like living it in our actions” (Northfield Echoes, A Report of the Northfield Conferences of 1872, Vol. 4, ed. D L Pierson, 1897).

Allan & Kari Taylor & the bonds of friendship

2009-12-25T22:09:00.000-08:00

At this time of year we usually find a few moments to reflect on the events of the last twelve months and consider the challenges and opportunities of the coming year. When I think over the last twelve months, there is one sad and tragic event that calls attention to the frailty of life and the bonds of friendship. In August this year, Sunshine Coast couple Allan and Kari Taylor were taken from this life in a car accident on the Sunshine Motorway at Sippy Downs. As the tragic news was broadcasted, my wife, in tears, phoned me at work and asked if I was sitting down. We still find it hard to believe that two precious people, who lived with so much life and energy, could be taken away so quickly.

During my time on the Sunshine Coast, I was fortunate to work with Allan and Kari. Their creative ability, faithfulness to the work of Christian ministry and love for others was known to many. Allan, at one time the principal of Suncoast Christian College, served as the first chaplain to public schools on the Coast. This was at a time when Government funding was not available and the local community helped to raise the funds to pay for Allan’s work which was to come under the covering of Scripture Union in Queensland. While Allan is always described as a larrikin (Allan could pull a thousand faces in a way that made Jim Carey look like an amateur), he used his larrikinism to build bridges between people, to bring a smile to a friend and to do the work of the evangelist. So versatile in his abilities, Allan was always in demand for hosting events and organising help for the needy. He was a human dynamo in sacrificing for others.

Ironically I can recall Allan as one of the prime movers in advocating for an over-pass across the old Bruce Highway from the Suncoast Christian College to the Palmwoods turn-off, concerned for the road safety of children and parents. I can also recall Allan’s love for surfing and once asking him if he had any fears about the risk of shark attacks. He said it was his habit of saying a simple prayer of protection when he went into the water - nothing was going to stop Allan from living life to the full.

Allan’s wife, Kari, was instrumental in the establishment of what was to become one of the largest church congregations on the Coast. Kari’s parents, Bob and Fran Sherwell, ran the first home meetings for the Christian Outreach Centre on the Coast and for many years served as church elders in addition to many other roles. Kari’s family are highly respected in business, sporting and church circles on the Sunshine Coast. Having worked in banking prior to entering full-time church work, I knew that the support the church received in its early days from financiers had a lot to do with the credibility and reputation of Bob Sherwell. Our prayers are with Bob and Fran as they support their family and with Ashleah and Kallan as they build their lives on the memory of their parents.

Kari’s ministry work was mostly given to the arts, having founded the Machaneh Dance school. At one time, Kari was wanting to encourage younger boys into the school and subsequently a “muscle and movement” class was formed that made room for boys to experience the joy of dance. Of the first class of more than a dozen, two of our children, Jordan and Jasiah, were members and gained some experience of being on stage and performing for others. Having attended the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in Brisbane, Kari had a classically trained singing voice. Recently Teresa and I had the opportunity to hear soloist Marina Prior perform at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on behalf of Scripture Union and the chaplaincy movement in Queensland. Both Teresa and I had to wipe away tears as Marina’s beautifully controlled voice reminded us of Kari and her ministry of song.

Allan and Kari were encouragers. Over the years they gave their encouragement to our family and to thousands of others. With their example of life and faith, we can all make the coming years richer with kindness and our calling to serve others fruitful and full of grace.

Opportunity

2009-12-12T22:38:00.001-08:00

On the 29^th of April 1770, Captain James Cook made his first landing on the Australian continent at Sting Ray Harbour. In recognition of the flora and fauna and the work of Botanist Dr Banks & Dr Solander, the harbour was later called Botany Bay. On their way further north, the HMAS Endeavour sailed past what appeared to be a “safe anchorage” which Cook named Port Jackson. The vision of the Endeavour sailing “about 2 or 3 miles” abreast of Port Jackson serves to illustrate the etymological meaning of the word “opportunity”. Of maritime origin, the English word opportunity comes from the idea of sailing “opposite a port”.

Eighteen years after Cook’s sighting, the Port Jackson “opportunity” was taken-up by Captain Arthur Phillip who was given the task of establishing the first European settlement in Australia. Phillip sailed into Botany Bay on the 18^th of January 1788 but found the location unsuitable for settlement because of its sandy infertile soil. Subsequently, on the 26^th, Phillip sailed to Port Jackson and anchored in Sydney Cove, followed that afternoon by the remaining ships of the First Fleet. In his first despatch back to England Governor Arthur Phillip stated, “..... we had the satisfaction of finding the finest harbour in the world.” When I think of the word opportunity I always think of Port Jackson and the First Fleet, the rest they say is history.

Time of Opportunity

2009-12-12T22:36:00.000-08:00

In the book of Ephesians there is a verse which exhorts us to be “redeeming the time for the days are evil” (Chapter 5 Vs 16). In this verse, the Greek word for time is “karios”. The word karios has the meaning of the right moment or the time when something ought to be done, that is, it’s the time of opportunity. Knowing the time of opportunity is always critical. The wisdom of the book of Proverbs tells us there are four things that never return: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life and the neglected opportunity. We can only be effective when we discern the karios moment. Unfortunately, this is never as easy as it sounds. It reminds me of the comment attributed to Mark Twain, “I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one!”

There is a potent example in the seafaring journey of Apostle Paul that brings out the importance of the karios time. In Acts Chapter 27 Vs 7-12, the Apostle is on his long journey under guard to Rome. On the voyage to Rome, sailing the coastline off Crete, they came to a safe harbour called “Fair Havens”. The seas had been difficult and Paul, with prophetic insight, advised that Fair Havens was the best port to winter in. (The location of Fair Havens is now known as Kaloi Limenes which translated means “good ports”). For Paul, sailing into Fair Havens was an opportunity. The owner and the helmsman however disagreed and persuaded the centurion officer to give the orders to sail on.

Paul’s pronouncements were severe. If the captain and crew failed to take this opportunity, the voyage would end in disaster. The ship and cargo would be lost and lives would be endangered. This dire warning echoes like depth sounding in my spirit. When church leaders lose sight of the karios moment, much is at stake. The same is true for our own personal journey. Discerning the time of opportunity can be the difference between safety and success or shipwreck.

Window of Opportunity

2009-12-12T22:34:00.000-08:00

The opportunity we see always depends on the opportunity we are looking for. That is, what opportunity we see or fail to see comes down to our frame of reference, the window we are looking through. What then is the window through which the author of Ephesians is looking? What is the karios moment the author sees and bids us to see also?

Author F W Boreham believed that the time of opportunity mentioned in Ephesians is qualified by the use of the verb “redeeming”. While redeeming simply means, “to buy back”, in Scripture it also contains the idea of buying back those in slavery to restore their freedom. In New Testament times, the Roman armies brought back their captives from conquered lands. These lives were destined for the slave trade; their future weighed in the scales.

“Redeeming the time” suggests the time of opportunity to advocate for liberty through Jesus Christ who has paid the redemption price for all. When Paul and Silas were in prison, an earthquake opened the prison doors and their chains fell off. It was an opportunity, a kairos moment, but what kind of karios moment? An opportunity to escape and save your life no doubt, but for Paul, it was the opportunity to save another. He cried out to the guard “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here” and subsequently led the Roman guard into true freedom (Acts 16:25-34). Like Paul, the window we need to look through is the window of redemption.

Challenge of Opportunity

2009-12-12T22:32:00.000-08:00

Opportunity always comes with opposition. Albert Einstein once said, “in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity”. The verse in Ephesians discussed above ends with the apt words “for the days of evil”. What we need to see is the day of evil is also the day of opportunity. In Revelation 12:12 it says the enemy knows his “time is short”. The use of the word “time” in this verse is also the word “karios”. This indicates the time of opportunity for evil is also our time of opportunity for doing good.

There is a redemptive power released through good works that we often neglect. We are called to overcome evil by doing good. It was once said that returning evil for good is demonic, to return good for good is human but to return good for evil is divine. Now is such a time to return good for evil. With a redemptive frame of reference and good courage, we can rise to the challenge of opportunity and the karios moment that is before us.

Images of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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Petrona Towers, KL

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Pavilion, KL

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Royale Christmas, Pavilion, KL

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Petrona Towers

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Petrona Towers

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Buba Gump Shrimp Co.

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Bukit Nanas to Bukit Bintang

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KL Monorail

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Sightseeing @ KL Tower

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KL Tower

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2009-11-28T01:28:00.000-08:00

Renaissance Hotel, KL

2009-11-28T01:26:00.000-08:00

Camel at the Curves

2009-11-28T01:20:00.000-08:00

Words to Remember

2009-11-21T00:09:00.000-08:00

There is a remarkable passage of Scripture at the end of the Old Testament written by the prophet Malachi. It seems that a book of remembrance is kept in heaven of words spoken between those who meditate on God’s name and the names of those who speak them. The prophet, whether by vision or dream we don’t know, but through some window of heavenly insight Malachi learns that “the Lord listened and heard” words worthy of remembrance (Malachi 3:16) and so “a book of remembrance” was written.

This book of remembrance seems to be a record of private conversations. I like to think it is a record of family discussions that takes place around the dinner table, whispers of “I love you” between mother and child, thoughts hidden away in a diary or the prayers mingled with tears spoken in the sacred closet.

High school history books mark the turning points of our past around dates, events and the public speeches made about those events. Often these are words spoken from behind pulpits, in parliaments or are quoted in the media at the moment when the public ear is ready to hear. That is, at the six o’clock news spot. History is the record of these words. But there is another history. A history of words spoken in private. A history we will not know until heaven chooses to reveal it. It will make incredible reading.

I find in the example of New Testament ministry there is a significant record of private words discreetly re-told. These are private conversations that take place under the cover of the night (e.g., Nicodemus; John 3:1) or words spoken across the dinner table in the privacy of one’s home (e.g., Zacchaeus; Luke 19:1-10). In fact, the ministry of Jesus is mostly told by private words spoken in private conversations that have found their way into the sacred text and the secret places of the heart (Mary; Luke 2:17-19).

So what are the words, the small talk, which God remembers? I suggest the following list includes the sort of words heaven counts worthy of remembrance:

Words that encourage (“encourage one another”; 1 Thessalonians 5:11)

Words that ring true (“speak the truth in love”; Ephesians 4:15)

Words that are full of grace (Colossians 4:6)

Words that bring good news (Isaiah 52:7)

Could it be that the most important words ever spoken are the words spoken in private? Is it possible that these words are the words that in fact make history and change history?

To be true

2009-11-20T19:57:00.000-08:00

It was Apostle Paul who said his greatest joy was to see his children walk in truth. I suspect Paul would attribute his inner sense of joy to the witness of the Holy Spirit. The great Holy Ghost leads us into all truth. In obedience to His leading and in the face of all falsehood, we feel God’s pleasure.

Walking in truth has a lot to do with being a values based person, to be grounded in certain gospel values and being lead according to those values. In the recent financial milieu, many have lost confidence as institutions gambled away their “trust factor”. Organisations worldwide have the hard and constant task of rebuilding trust. One Australian bank correctly discerned the times, with advertisements telling us they are “200 years young” and are keeping “to the trodden path”. If you survey the socialscape you will find the trodden path is narrower than what it used to be.

The great challenge in a post modern world is to be true.

To be true ... be true to our calling

2009-11-20T19:53:00.000-08:00

In the Gospel of Luke, there is a passage of Scripture where Jesus describes a generation where leaders have rejected the will to be true (Luke 7:31). Jesus describes this generation “like children sitting in the marketplace”. What a pregnant phrase! Are we grown-ups playing in the marketplace?

I recently had lunch with a friend who confessed to me his work was just about the money. For some, the entrepreneurs amongst us, making money is their calling and this gift can then be used in unlimited ways to serve the common good. For many others, the desire for making money substitutes for making a difference, and the calling to the marketplace becomes calculating and cynical. When it comes to the church in the marketplace, I often wonder if we take our calling seriously enough. Do we see the significance in our creative role in the cultural domain of our work? Alternatively, are we like the generation that played at their work and worked at their play?

To be true, let’s be true to our calling.

To be true .... be true to ourselves

2009-11-20T19:50:00.000-08:00

In the parable Jesus told, the children were playing the flute. A wedding celebration! Here is a bride and a bridegroom and the bridal party dancing through the streets mimicking the traditional celebration of that day and culture. Liked the piped piper, the children circled through the busy streets in their own world of make believe and romance. But when they tired of playing weddings, they changed the game to a funeral dirge - as it happened in the streets of the city of Nain the day before (Luke 7:12). The children were playing the sombre arrangement of a mourning party, at least until Jesus showed up.

When our children were younger they would play “mums and dads”. For children, it must be fun playing mums and dads because they get to make all the rules and the only one who gets in trouble for breaking the rules is big teddy! Like the children in the marketplace on the streets of Nain two thousand years ago, our children spent many hours role playing in a game of charades.

The game of charades takes me back many years when I was a new recruit to the corporate world. I had a line manager whose mantra on surviving organisational politics was a simple philosophy: “Peter, just remember this, it’s just a game”. He knew how to work the rules better than most and lived on to be something of a survivor in the world of office politics (where most games are played). His name, for many years, enshrined with mythical status. A true legend!

In Luke’s gospel, I am sure Jesus is playing with the children. Meanwhile, the crowd gathers in the marketplace, made up of people from all walks of life. Standing up, Jesus takes the lead from the children and gives the adults a lesson. While it may be fun to play charades, it appears this generation was acting and play acting to an extent they were living at a superficial level. A crowd of wannabes and make believers. It is like Jesus was saying they couldn’t recognise the prophets because they couldn’t recognise themselves. It all sounds very familiar. Not knowing ourselves, living a superficial life, lacking authenticity and moral authority. Is this a generation playing a game of charades?

To be true, let’s be true to ourselves.

To be true .... be true to the times we live in

2009-11-20T19:45:00.000-08:00

There is a final thought in this extraordinary parable recorded by the physician but spoken by the great Physician. John the Baptist came and it was a time fasting. Jesus came and it was a time of feasting (Luke 7:34). Fasting and feasting represent two different seasons in God’s divine timing. Like the alarm clock with the wrong setting, the first gospel generation came to fast when it was time to feast. Somehow this generation got out of sync with God’s timing.

If one thing is true it is this - we live in a time of great grace. While Moses turned the water into blood, Jesus ushered in a new dispensation by turning the water into wine. How radically different was Moses first miracle in Egypt and the first miracle Jesus performed at Cana. What could be so radically different as the first Pentecost in the Mt Sinai desert where three thousand died and the first Pentecost after the cross, where three thousand came to the saving knowledge of God’s son? The law came through Moses but grace and truth through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). This generation finds itself in the dispensation of great grace. We need to live and speak with great grace also.

To be true, let’s be true to the times we live in.

Historical Speeches & a New Birth of Freedom

2009-11-19T22:45:00.000-08:00

“But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate - we cannot consecrate - we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, the living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. ..... We here highly resolve that these dead shall have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

- Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg, 19^th November, 1863.

Rebel without a Cause

2009-11-18T21:33:00.000-08:00

Over the last month I caught up on some movie watching, having the opportunity to see some classics including Rebecca (1940), Double Indemnity (1944), Laura (1944), Rebel without a Cause (1955) and Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). It amazes me how movies made in the 1940’s can hold their entertainment value with today’s multi-million dollar productions.

My recent selections were well worth watching although “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” did not really live up to expectations despite the glamour of Audrey Hepburn and the winning score “Moon River” by Mancini Johnny Walker. I couldn’t figure why the producers included the part played by Mickey Rooney of a comical Chinaman. Granted that Hepburn’s character (Holly Golightly) depicts a slightly delusional woman living a rather wild bohemian lifestyle, the role played by Rooney just didn’t seem to fit. While it had the makings of a very good film, for me, not all characters came together in a balanced and believable way. Maybe the aim was to unsettle the viewers by the eccentricity of the characters?

The other four movies are classics in every sense. “Rebecca” won the Academy Award for best picture in 1940 and highlights the personal pressures and social stigma of trying to live up to the unrealistic expectations of others. It’s a great story with a twist that keeps you watching to the end. “Rebecca”, “Laura” and “Double Indemnity” are all in the murder mystery/thriller genre. My best pick is “Double Indemnity” - apparently based on a true case of murder and fraud. The story line is a masterpiece of deception and the unravelling of deception thanks to the intuitive sense of foul play by one insurance claims investigator and his determination to know the truth. While the movie failed to win the Academy Award for best picture in 1944, (although nominated), its story, acting and directing warrants its enduring appeal.

The last movie watched, “Rebel without a Cause”, is a cultural icon which reflects the rise of teenage rebellion and the emerging generation gap in the post-war years. Starring James Dean and Natalie Wood, the movie is Dean’s signature work. His troubled character Jim Stark, who along with girlfriend Judy (Natalie Wood) tell the problems of family life in middle-class society where parental affection and moral authority is absent. Dean’s performance and the story of dysfunctional family life leaves a powerful impression worth reflecting upon for any parent of teenage children. Sadly, it remains as relevant for today as it was in 1955.

Ten Favourite Movies

2009-11-17T22:15:00.000-08:00

Every now and then I like to review a list of favourite movies. I also have a list of movies I want to watch which may be difficult to achieve given some go back sixty years. A number of years ago I realised you can’t really understand many aspects of Western culture until you have gained, amongst other interests, an appreciation for cinematic productions and popular movies. Hence I am always on the lookout for a missing movie experience. (Although my main reason for watching recorded movies is a general dislike for commercial television and the modern small screen shows that offer little to edify). My list of current top ten movie favourites are...

Citizen Kane (1941)

Casablanca (1943)

Double Indemnity (1944)

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

To Kill a Mocking Bird (1962)

The Godfather 1 & 2 (1972 & 74)

Chariots of Fire (1981)

Schindler’s List (1993)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Gladiator (2000)

And if I was to make a second list of top ten movies it would probably include: Rebecca (1940); How Green was My Valley (1941); Rear Window (1954); Ben Hur (1959); Lawrence of Arabia (1962); The Sound of Music (1965); Gandhi (1982); Dances with Wolves (1990); A Beautiful Mind (2001); The Lord of the Rings (2001 & 03). Should I also mention “Back to the Future”, “Rocky” and “A Few Good Men”?

Empowerment & Elections

2009-10-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

Last week I was reviewing the 2009 notice of the annual meeting for Qantas. As a shareholder I had the opportunity to review the proposed order of business which includes the receiving of the annual financial and Director’s reports and the re-election of company Directors. The AGM meets later this month in Perth and consequently I will not be there. As is the usual procedure, the notice included a proxy form which enabled me to exercise my constitutional right as an owner of the business to make a vote on who I wanted to be elected as Directors. Three positions become vacant this year on the Qantas board.

Needing some help with how I should vote I asked my 9 year old daughter Promise if she could assist me. I carefully explained that we are shareholders of the company that has the airplanes with a big kangaroo and as shareholders we are owners in the business and need to decide who should run the company. I could see that Promise was taking it all in and the idea that we could hire and fire the board members of the company was a big responsibility. Her first question was, “But who should we vote for?”

As is the normal practice, the Company Secretary of Qantas had provided us with a detailed profile of those who were standing so we could make an informed decision. I read through the names of these people (General Peter Cosgrove, Gary Hounsell and James Strong) and their profile and asked Promise what she thought. She was rather undecided at this point in time and said, “I don’t know. What do you think Dad?” Well, I told her that I thought that Mr Cosgrove was a good person and to show her I knew a little about Mr Cosgrove I went to my library and found the General’s auto-biography which I read a few years ago. Promise looked at the pictures. Mr Cosgrove’s smiling portrait was enough to get her vote!

We then discussed Mr Hounsell’s and Mr Strong’s suitability for the director’s role and we made our decisions on the information we were given on whether to vote for, vote against or abstain. The form was then signed and sealed in the self-addressed envelope and posted off the next day. I now have the great pleasure whenever a Qantas advertisement comes on television of reminding my daughter that that the reason the company is doing so well is because she helped to vote for board members that are competent at doing their job.

Of course I am also hoping that her role in voting might spark an interest in finances and investing, of how public companies work, that is important that we take responsibility for the organisations we are shareholders, members or citizens of and that Boards can be and should be held accountable to their members they are trying to represent.

As it happens, this last week I was also at an AGM where for the first time in thirty-five years members had to choose between three nominations for the National Chairperson. Some members felt it was too uncomfortable making a vote and that the constitution should be changed so the leader is a leader for life!

Standing up and taking responsibility for one’s future or that of organisations we are members of is never easy. It means we need to be informed and we need to stay informed, it means we have to accept the responsibility and consequence for making decisions, it means we need to turn up to management meetings and it means that we have to take ownership for the vision and the ongoing stewardship of that vision. It also means maturity and empowerment. Until leaders are prepared to put ballot papers in the hands of rank and file members and in turn, until those members are prepared to take responsibility for making good judgements, empowerment and the talk of being empowered is just an idea not acted upon. I am so glad that last week, another step towards maturity and empowerment was achieved.

Queensland's Upper House

2009-09-24T01:14:00.000-07:00

In 1922 the Queensland Legislative Council was abolished, only five years after a referendum in which Queenslanders voted against its abolition. Since then, Queensland has operated a unicameral system of government, making the Queensland political system the potential weak link in Australian politics. (All other states in Australia operate a bicameral system as does Australia federally although both Australian territories maintain unicameral parliaments). There are many reasons why Queensland needs to consider a bicameral system including a restraint on government excesses, broader representation and better policy debate leading to improved decision making.

In a recent article in The Australian, Scott Prasser and Nicholas Aroney argued that Queensland needs to restore its senate. The call for the restoration of the house of review was made in response to recent statements by Tony Fitzgerald QC who criticised the ethics of the former and incumbent Labor governments in light of the Nuttall corruption charges.

According to Prasser and Aroney, “Long periods of incumbency in Queensland (politics) have provided fertile ground for corruption because they have endowed governments with profound political advantage and have so limited the impact of oppositions that government members feel invulnerable to attack and become careless about accountability”.

Recently I was in Singapore talking with a well positioned business leader. The topic of discussion turned to politics and I was asked about Queensland and its political corruption. I laughed off the issue by suggesting that Queenslanders “are as mad as a bag of cut snakes” but afterward wondered how much damage Queensland is doing to itself. While we focus our attention on getting good and decent people to represent us, we also need to focus on systemic problems in the structure of the State’s political process.

Some years ago I spoke to a retired state member about the restoration of the upper house. At that time he doubted anybody would be interested in voting for more politicians and incurring the cost of the same. However the issues of the day are moving the debate beyond the perceived resistance points. Queensland today is a lot different to Queensland in 1922. The re-establishment of the Legislative Council, provided members to the Council are elected and not appointed, ought to be debated for the sake of credible government in Queensland.