Here's an interesting interview by Andrew Denton with Johnny Lee Clary.
Life is full of journeys but rarely do any of us travel as far as Johnny Lee Clary. A former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, now a Christian preacher, his journey from a world of hate to one of tolerance has been remarkable indeed. (Continued at ... http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s1453904.htm)
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Thursday, September 21, 2006
mistake made
In a previous blog I made a mistake and attributed a list of wisdom to Bill Gates but apparently its from http://www.snopes2.com/language/document/liferule.htm.
I was reminded by a friend to always check stuff out - a very good policy when it comes to internet information.
The blog is corrected and now titled below as 'things school will not teach you'.
I was reminded by a friend to always check stuff out - a very good policy when it comes to internet information.
The blog is corrected and now titled below as 'things school will not teach you'.
advantages of sex before marriage
From http://www.stanford.edu/group/tlw/dormtalks/socialemotional.html
Those who live together before marriage have a 50% higher rate of divorce than even the national average! (Bumpass, Sweet, and Cherlin: The Role of Cohabitation in Declining Rates of Marriage, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol. 53, 1991, pp.913-927) So sleeping together first to ensure compatibility does not necessarily make a marriage stronger. Another study says that Couples not sexually involved before marriage and faithful during marriage are more satisfied with their current sex life and also with their marriage compared to those who were involved sexually before their marriage. (Mayo, Larsen, Meier, and Mayo: Behind Closed Doors, unpublished manuscript, Feb, 1994. p. 84-85) Ensuring before marriage that you are sexually compatible does not guarantee that you will enjoy sex more in marriage. The opposite seems to be true.
From http://marriage.rutgers.edu/Publications/pubtenthingsyoungadults.htm
Contrary to the popular belief that married sex is boring and infrequent, married people report higher levels of sexual satisfaction than both sexually active singles and cohabiting couples, according to the most comprehensive and recent survey of sexuality. Forty-two percent of wives said that they found sex extremely emotionally and physically satisfying, compared to just 31 percent of single women who had a sex partner. And 48 percent of husbands said sex was extremely satisfying emotionally, compared to just 37 percent of cohabiting men. The higher level of commitment in marriage is probably the reason for the high level of reported sexual satisfaction; marital commitment contributes to a greater sense of trust and security, less drug and alcohol-infused sex, and more mutual communication between the couple.
Those who live together before marriage have a 50% higher rate of divorce than even the national average! (Bumpass, Sweet, and Cherlin: The Role of Cohabitation in Declining Rates of Marriage, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol. 53, 1991, pp.913-927) So sleeping together first to ensure compatibility does not necessarily make a marriage stronger. Another study says that Couples not sexually involved before marriage and faithful during marriage are more satisfied with their current sex life and also with their marriage compared to those who were involved sexually before their marriage. (Mayo, Larsen, Meier, and Mayo: Behind Closed Doors, unpublished manuscript, Feb, 1994. p. 84-85) Ensuring before marriage that you are sexually compatible does not guarantee that you will enjoy sex more in marriage. The opposite seems to be true.
From http://marriage.rutgers.edu/Publications/pubtenthingsyoungadults.htm
Contrary to the popular belief that married sex is boring and infrequent, married people report higher levels of sexual satisfaction than both sexually active singles and cohabiting couples, according to the most comprehensive and recent survey of sexuality. Forty-two percent of wives said that they found sex extremely emotionally and physically satisfying, compared to just 31 percent of single women who had a sex partner. And 48 percent of husbands said sex was extremely satisfying emotionally, compared to just 37 percent of cohabiting men. The higher level of commitment in marriage is probably the reason for the high level of reported sexual satisfaction; marital commitment contributes to a greater sense of trust and security, less drug and alcohol-infused sex, and more mutual communication between the couple.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
missed the point
Steve Irwin, what an incredible life, and we should thank God for his dedication to preserving God's creation. But the saddest observation for me about the great life he lived is this, he missed the fundamental point of life, to know and bring glory to God.
Upon his death he received the accolades of the world, the profound love of those who knew him, but it appears to me that he has missed the greatest accolade of them all, to meet face to face with God and hear the words "Well done good and faithful servant."
Let's never devalue his contribution, indeed let's continue his legacy of valuing and preserving the environment, but let us always remember the real point of life, to know and love God as revealed through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Mother Theresa wrote this poem which is something that I hope can be said about me at the end of my life.
Ever sustained by profound faith.
Nourished by unceasing prayer.
Fearless in unshakeable hope.
Deeply in love with God.
Upon his death he received the accolades of the world, the profound love of those who knew him, but it appears to me that he has missed the greatest accolade of them all, to meet face to face with God and hear the words "Well done good and faithful servant."
Let's never devalue his contribution, indeed let's continue his legacy of valuing and preserving the environment, but let us always remember the real point of life, to know and love God as revealed through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Mother Theresa wrote this poem which is something that I hope can be said about me at the end of my life.
Ever sustained by profound faith.
Nourished by unceasing prayer.
Fearless in unshakeable hope.
Deeply in love with God.
Monday, September 18, 2006
great speeches
Are you interested in hearing or reading some the great speeches of history. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" and many others are available from http://www.americanrhetoric.com/
things school will not teach you
I made a mistake with this one. Previously attributed it to Bill Gates but apparently its from http://www.snopes2.com/language/document/liferule.htm.
Have added the last three which were previously missed out.
Things school will not teach you.
Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
Rule No. 12: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you're out cruising, watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his mouth. That's what you look like to anyone over 20. Ditto for "expressing yourself" with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.
Rule No. 13: You are not immortal. (See Rule No. 12.) If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is romantic, you obviously haven't seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.
Rule No. 14: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school's a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you'll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now. You're welcome.
Have added the last three which were previously missed out.
Things school will not teach you.
Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
Rule No. 12: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you're out cruising, watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his mouth. That's what you look like to anyone over 20. Ditto for "expressing yourself" with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.
Rule No. 13: You are not immortal. (See Rule No. 12.) If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is romantic, you obviously haven't seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.
Rule No. 14: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school's a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you'll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now. You're welcome.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
happiness
Every once in a while I write a list of things I'd like to have that I think would make me happy. What most amazes me the most about this exercise is upon reflection I realise there really is a limit to the happiness level one can experience in this world.
I'm reminded of the astounding book "Inside Out" where Larry Crabb makes the observation that humans can never find ultimate happiness in this life precisely because we are not made for a flawed world. The fact is God made us for a perfect world, and therefore though we can have moments of real bliss and joy, that we cannot continue at the level all the time.
This thought has been really helpful to me. It's made me realise that in the times I experience real despair and sadness, that there might actually be no concrete thing I can point my finger at as to why I'm feeling that way. And so I'm come to recognise that pain and sadness and part of the human condition, not something I like, but something I cannot avoid if I am to be honest about life.
The real point is this. When I realise that pain and sadness are not always the result of something lacking, then I stop trying to gain the toys I think will make me happy, and I concentrate more on deepening my relationship with Jesus who after all is the only true source of absolute and unconditional love.
I'm reminded of the astounding book "Inside Out" where Larry Crabb makes the observation that humans can never find ultimate happiness in this life precisely because we are not made for a flawed world. The fact is God made us for a perfect world, and therefore though we can have moments of real bliss and joy, that we cannot continue at the level all the time.
This thought has been really helpful to me. It's made me realise that in the times I experience real despair and sadness, that there might actually be no concrete thing I can point my finger at as to why I'm feeling that way. And so I'm come to recognise that pain and sadness and part of the human condition, not something I like, but something I cannot avoid if I am to be honest about life.
The real point is this. When I realise that pain and sadness are not always the result of something lacking, then I stop trying to gain the toys I think will make me happy, and I concentrate more on deepening my relationship with Jesus who after all is the only true source of absolute and unconditional love.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
great preaching (updated Sept 2006)
I've decided that I need to put more time into developing my communication skills. One way I want to do that is to listen to great preaching. Below are some links of sites where you can download sermons. I'll keep updating this as I come across good preaching.
http://www.goodnewsline.com/sermon/
http://www.crossroadschurch.com/media/ - Sermons by Barry McMurtrie, Crossroads Church
http://www.mhbcmi.org/listen/index.php - Rob Bell, Mars Hill
http://www.rzim.org/publications/realaudio_index.php - Ravi Zacharias, RZIM
http://www.preachingtodaysermons.com/ - This lot you have to pay for. Sometimes you get what you pay for, so worth checking out the variety of great preachers at this site.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/main.asp - Not yet checked out.
http://www.sermonindex.net/ - Not yet checked out.
http://www.biblicalpreaching.info/ - Not yet checked out.
http://www.spiritualdisciplines.org/audio.html
http://www.goodnewsline.com/sermon/
http://www.crossroadschurch.com/media/ - Sermons by Barry McMurtrie, Crossroads Church
http://www.mhbcmi.org/listen/index.php - Rob Bell, Mars Hill
http://www.rzim.org/publications/realaudio_index.php - Ravi Zacharias, RZIM
http://www.preachingtodaysermons.com/ - This lot you have to pay for. Sometimes you get what you pay for, so worth checking out the variety of great preachers at this site.
http://www.sermonaudio.com/main.asp - Not yet checked out.
http://www.sermonindex.net/ - Not yet checked out.
http://www.biblicalpreaching.info/ - Not yet checked out.
http://www.spiritualdisciplines.org/audio.html
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