The Chronicles Of…

Finally here is a blog post, possibly my 2nd for 2011… this is to update the “other 2″ people who still stop by and maybe read thechroniclesof.net, and partly to allay that pang of guilt I feel when I see my contributions are conspicuously missing amongst the posts of Pete & Chris…

So, what do you want to know?

Currently I’m in Forest Hill, London, UK visiting my sister and her family for the entire month of December. This is my 3rd trip to the UK in a decade which is as surprising to me as it is to you, I honestly thought that after the visit for Mel’s wedding in 2006 I wouldn’t be back here until 2050, but parents spending your inheritance early has some perks!

We’ve more or less staying in England this time around with a weekend visit to Manchester for a Champion’s League match between Man City & Bayern Munich (2-0 BTW and it was excellent! Manchester is a surprisingly beautiful city even if it is bitterly cold), a week long visit to Norfolk staying at the Cranmer Cottages, and a 3 day visit to Berlin to see Michael & Sarah Isaak (which I know is not in England but I did say “more or less”) and we did go to Berlin Legoland which incredible! I could spend days there. I’ll put up some photos.

2011 has been a good year, we’ve successfully managed to not get cancer, lose any children, get divorced, or become destitute, “but for the grace of God go I”. Highlights have been moving Salt Youth Group to a different time and the much bigger church hall and managing growth to fill the space. Bazz is still a champion minister to work with. My friend’s are more gracious than ever. I continue to love & cherish the wonderful people of All Saints, and their generosity to me continues to highlight the generosity that God himself has displayed. On the flip side, we’ve had a number of close friends and acquaintances struggle with faith in Jesus, not a bad thing in itself but some look like they’re losing the struggle, some even giving up, and that always shakes me and Fi… I’ve had 3 valued friend’s and youth leaders move away, and that comes with mixture of joy and sadness in itself (joy for them that is).

2012 is unknown, which is a dumb thing to say because the future is always unknown… But what I mean is that 2012 is shaping up  as vastly different from the routine of life which I’ve become accustomed in the last few years. I’m heading off to Moore Theological College for 2 year to study a Bachelor of Theology. Depending on you’re opinion of Moore college (& I’m discovering people have very strong opinions), you may see that as a good or bad move. I’m obviously anticipating that it’ll be a good move in helping me further know God, his Word, his Son, his Spirit and how I can be a better minister of his gospel to his people.

In my favour, I have been given a credit for the entire first year of the course because of the Diploma in Theology I’ve already obtained through Youthworks College; I also know 3 Moore College staff personally from church and they’re really warm, wise and lovely people; All Saints is supporting me financially, I love the Bible and have 7 years of full-time ministry behind me. Not so advantageous is that I’ve never studied at degree level, I’m coming into the second year of a course that I last studied 3 years ago, and I feel mildly retarded.

You can pray for me about that.

In other news, I bought Scala & Kolacny Bros off the UK iTunes (they did the version of Radiohead’s ‘Creep’ for the Social Network film) and it’s great! They cover Coldplay, U2, Alanis Morrisette, and Metallica among others. Hauntingly beautiful. And I’m listening to “Les Fleur” by 4hero on repeat as well.

For Christmas I got a remote control helicopter from Hamley’s Toy Store on Regent Street (after crashing the first one & getting a free replacement I’m getting quite pro), the Pearl Jam 20 DVD (YES!!!!!), special edition of Kick Ass on DVD, QI board game, a book, and loads of food and love.

Oh yeah and I just bought 2 motorbikes (back in Sydney from a friend of a friend), crazy! They’re both 1983 Honda CX500s. One is complete stock and registered, the other is a 95% complete cafe racer project which I’ll finish off and road register. I then plan to sell the stock one to dad and keep the cafe racer. C R A Z Y.

Thankyou, you’ve been a wonderful audience.

Need anything from the UK?

See you in the New Year!

You’re that guy that tells people you’re reading books but you’re really blogging from your iPhone…

Here’s something I heard at a conference I was at on Friday:

“the treatments we prescribe in weight loss for fat people are the same unhealthy problems that we are diagnosing in thin (anorexic, bulimic) people…”

Quite profound me thinks, especially as I note the Biggest Loser finale on TV at the moment…

There’s sometime wrong…

You know that I know you know that I know you want to know what I’m reading, of course the whole world wants to know that I’ve picked up a book and that I’m using the literacy that was taught me over years of training in the NSW education system.

So this is what I’m reading right now:
‘Batavia’ by Peter Fitzsimons
And ‘No Country For Old Men’ by Cormac McCarthy.

There you go.

I should clarify… I don’t hate your birthday – I really quite enjoy other people’s birthdays, I just don’t like my birthday.

This feeling about my birthday has been a fairly long standing emotion, at least since primary school, and each year as my birthday comes around I try to work out why I despise it so much… I’ve tried to articulate it to Fi but I find it hard to even articulate it to myself. It’s not that I don’t like getting older, I’m still in the age range where I quite look forward to getting older (& hopefully wiser), I’ve not reached the stage yet where all I want to do is be young again (mid-life crisis is hopefully still plenty of years away).

So what is it?

As I do my annual reflection again this year I know it’s got something to do with expectations. I try not to have any expectations of my birthday because experience tells me that I will be disappointed, so I try to treat it as just another day, nothing special, just a day like any other… But of course it’s not a day like any other… on this day you get presents, people send you special messages and well wishes for this day, people you haven’t spoken to for too long make the effort to contact you on this day, this is not a normal day. And so, as much as I try to pretend it’s a normal day with no expectations, I find myself drawn in to the “specialness” by all the attention… But this is not really the problem itself, it is just the fuel for the problem.

You see, if I’m honest, I’m a selfish person. I want the world focussed on me. I want the attention. Herein lies the problem. The attention of a birthday feeds my selfishness and now those simmering expectations I’ve tried to keep at bay start to bubble to the surface of my consciousness… on My birthday I want to be waited on hand and foot. I want to do what I want to do when I want to do it. I don’t want to have to anything I don’t feel like doing. I don’t want to be told what to do. I want uninhibited free reign because it’s MY BIRTHDAY! I, I, I, I, I, I… want, want, want… me, me, me…

Of course, it’s unreasonable to think that way, to behave that way, to be so selfish! And it’s just a stupid birthday! You haven’t invented the cure for cancer or brought peace to the world, you were just pushed out of your mothers womb, took a breath, screamed and then crapped out half a kilo of meconium… congratulations! Why do I feel like I should be at the centre of the earth on this day?

This is why I hate my birthday: because every selfish, sinful, & self-serving desire – those desires which wage war so forcefully and consistently with my identity in christ – on this day they are at their strongest. On this day their shouts for autonomy and worship are heard at their loudest. On this day the fruit of the forbidden tree is pressed up against your face the hardest. And I hate that.

There. I feel better.

Please don’t hear that I’m ungrateful for birthday wishes, presents, cards etc. This is me not you.

You want to know how amazing Apple is?
I know you do!
I’m getting pretty well kitted out in all things Apple these days – I have the Macbook pro 15″ i7, iPhone 3GS, and now a wireless bluetooth Apple keyboard and trackpad.
I only just bought the keyboard and trackpad to help my posture when in the Mac, but then I’m thinking “hold on… will this thing link to my iPhone?” Why not? And yes it does!
So then I’m texting people, controlling my ipod all from my wireless keyboard, and yes even writing this blog via my wireless keyboard to my iPhone on the WordPress app and BOO YAH! a blog on the net without network internet and without a computer and without text typing thumbs.

Ahhh, Apple… surely you will be the rise and downfall of our civilization..

This is Mike Dicker signing off from anywhere there’ mobile reception!

c’mon hungry beast season 3 on ABC1!

Woohoo!

What is hungry beast? You can check the video below but basically think of the 7pm project on channel Ten except the journalism is good, funny, engaging, funny, and insightful.

So the whole gay marriage debate seems to be centre stage at the moment with the Get-Up campaign to promote gay marriage kicking off today, the gay & lesbian mardi gras coming soon, and the Fred Nile group organising themselves for a protest against gay marriage. I’ve noticed a few twitters on the subject and received a few emails from both sides…

At the risk of displaying my ignorance, I have a 2 questions:

1. Do homosexuals have full legal entitlements in a civil union?
2. If so, what are the other reasons they want to have marriage over civil union?

To my mind if homosexual people do not have the same legal entitlements as married people then it is probably our job as christians to fight for their right to those entitlements – that is, if we are serious about loving all people regardless of race, colour, creed or sexuality. The gay couple who live together in de-facto and then split are as much entitled to equal super, and equal ownership of shared material possessions as the heterosexual de-facto couple who split.

This is not a question of Christian faith but a question of justice and upholding the rights of the vulnerable.

If we want to make this an issue of christian principle then we should also deny the marriage of pagan heterosexuals. If we are serious in saying (as the bible does) that homosexuality is no worse a sin than heterosexual immorality (sleeping around, unfaithfulness, promiscuity etc) then we need to be consistent with our stand across the board. Homosexuals who are denying the lordship of Jesus are as much entitled to marriage as Heterosexuals who are denying the lordship of Jesus.

If you’re going to make a stand for one or the other, just be consistent in applying your theology – if Jesus gets angry about anything, it’s hypocrisy and double standards.

Personally, if homosexuals get married or not, what difference does it make? They still need to hear the gospel and be radically transformed by it.

I’m looking for a witty anecdote that goes with this formula:

“Couldn’t organise a ___________ in a ___________.”

Some popular ones are:

• “Couldn’t organise a piss-up in a brewery.”
• “Couldn’t organise a fart in a curry eating contest.”
• “Couldn’t organise a tea party in a dollhouse.”

There are few more that I know but really aren’t suitable for saying out loud or printing in text (if you know what I mean?).

So I’d like some which are a bit more clever and less likely to offend people with the language and content.

Got any suggestions?

Add a comment below. (No crude ones please).