Star-trekking
Well from the stunning-ness of Wellington, to the vastness of Tauranga, via the suburban hood that is Hamilton, to the tourist Mecca (with associated cost) that is Rotorua, 3 intrepid adventurers have sort to, well, have advencha.

We left Wellington on Boxing day, traveling up to Tauranga for Jess McClean's 21st. It was really cool, especially driving and catching up with Sam and Jacqui. The weather was perfect, hot, sunny, but with a bit of a breeze. We also made good use of the CDs I got for Christmas (She will have her way- Female vocalists do the Finn Brothers songs, Shawn McDonald live in Seattle and Back to Bedlam- James Blunt) and Sam's new iPod. It was kinda crazy when we finally got to Tauranga. We had just stopped at a BP to freshen up, when we got a text from Pierre to come pick him up... from the other side of town. You don't really appreciate the compactness of your own city until you have to drive across Tauranga. It is really quite long and straight. Give me Wellington's obscure windy roads any day.

After finally making it to Jess' place, we were faced by the sight of about 100 people, all there to celebrate Jess. It was really cool, neat people, heaps of food, fun games like touch and Singstar. Bragging point! I beat Sam at Singstar! Despite the fact that Sam can sing and I can't. However I don't think I'll be auditioning for NZ idol anytime soon. It was also good seeing people like Joe, Justin, and Anne-Marie again. Ah, how did I not get to know these people better? It was also wicked hanging out with Jess' family again. Her parents are really neat.

The next day was spent at Mt Maunganui with Alice and Lyds, and goodbyes were said to Jess and Pierre. I can see why that's one of the best beaches in NZ. It was soooo nice. Pity the waves weren't a bit bigger. Still a good time was had by all, and props to Jacqui and Justin swimming out to the island, despite giving Sam, Alice and myself some concern as to whether they were still alive as they slowly drifted with the current. The lifeguard went to see if they were OK and stayed with them while they got back to sure. They did return safely, well OK, Jacqui did get cramp in the shallow bit, and I stood in some chocolate yoghurt, but that was all the injury toll.

We had to return to the Mount the next day, as the water ran out at the McClean's. I have never appreciated a cold outside shower so much. Then on to Hamilton, the lesser traveled way. Due to my interesting navigation choices and miscommunication with the others, not only did we go exactly the opposite way away from the food court, we also took the wrong way to Hamilton. Ok, so it was only half an hour, and we did get to see places like Waihi and Paeroa (with the big L&P bottle), but yeah, I did feel a bit stink... especially cause we didn't eat lunch until 2pm.

When we finally made it to H-town, Justin took us to his favourite spot, the Hamilton Gardens. They had this section dedicated to different gardens of the world. It was really cool. There were Chinese, Japanese, renaissance, modern, Indian styles of garden to name a few. They were really cool. I've got some photos on my new digital camera, so I'll have to post those when I get home. Stayed the night at Justin's place and met his family. They were pretty cool.

We are now in Rotorua. Just laxing out. Stayed in a $10/night backpackers above an Irish pub last night. It really wasn't bad. $10 dinner of shepherd's pie, peas and mashed spuds was quite hearty as well. Afterwards we went for a swim at the aquatic centre and saw "The Legend of Zorro". The pool was ok, and the movie was predictable, but both were entertaining without being too taxing, which is what I was definitely after for the night.

From here, where to? Probably up to Whakatane tonight, then back to Tauranga for New Years. I was hoping to see the East Coast and I've got some friends staying there, but we probably won't because its a lot of driving, and Sam's the only one insured for the car, so he's doing it all. 13 hours or so driving in 2 days doesn't seem fair, so it'll probably be missed. Never mind, I'm sure it will still be there next time I'm up this way.

Till next time,
Bing

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Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope that whatever you got up to it was fun, enjoyable, and at least for part of it you got to reflect on God choosing to enter this messy world for our sake. I'd have to say that this Christmas has felt really un-Christmassy. Perhaps its something in the water, maybe something to do with the extra day to repair, or maybe it's what I've been thinking about Christmas the event this year. I dunno, probably a combo of all 3.

But what's in an extra day? A lot apparently. I did the majority of my present shopping yesterday (and met this delightfully happy hippy lady in an Island Bay art gallery whose joy really was infectious) as well as organised some work for after New Years and weed-eated my parent's lawn. Gillian (my pastor's wife and a GP) was commenting about how unstressful it was to have that extra day as she prepared this massive turkey for Christmas lunch. So I think it is everyone noticing the extra space- maybe cause for an extra day's holiday?

Apart from finding less fulfillment in Christmas outside God, I've also been thinking about God's gift (Jn 3:16). About how exuberant, self-sacrificing and personal it was to each person. So despite not finding so much fulfillment in material bits per se, I have actually enjoyed buying presents for people this year. It was also really cool seeing them like what I brought. It's funny how no matter how far you go with God, it seems those original truths become more and more real.

Also as I was going to Stillwaters this morning I was thinking about this verse
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal 3:28).
And how Jesus' love did cross all social boundaries, which is definitely in the spirit of the season, but should be all year round admittedly.

Ok, I'm starting to rant. And I still need to choose CD's for tomorrow's trip to Tauranga. Flag, I'll do it tomorrow.

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What does Christmas mean?
Our family had Christmas dinner last night. Yes I do realise that we may appear chronologically challenged, but it was to accomodate travel plans of members flying to Oz on Christmas Day to be with other members of afore mentioned family. Anyway, after dinner we headed out to look at Christmas lights. I only went to two, but they fully left me with some fat to chew (Mmm, fat). Before I start, I should note that I am not against anything Christmas-related anyway, and no I do not believe that Santa Claus is evil (although can be mistaken for God sometimes).

One was a very simple, although very well done church nativity scene. Actually I shouldn't call it simple- there was a 23 metre tall Christmas tree and a 3 metre angel. The other was a home, nay a shrine to all things little and shiny and Santa Claus. There were Santa's everywhere, reindeer, candycanes and presents galore, not to mention all the lights! Apparently it took up to 5 weeks to put up, and was fully in excess of $1000 of decorations. It looked really beautiful. But it really challenged me because it felt so empty.

No don't get me wrong. I'm all for spreading Christmas cheer, festive spirits and goodwill to all men. And that was fully evident there with children looking in wonder, families coming together, charities receiving donations and lots of other good things (as my mother rightly pointed out). But without Christ it felt really empty. At the nativity scene, there were also a few families with children laughing, mainly as they tried to hit the huge angel, and not many people were donating money, but to me that felt like the real reason to celebrate. That although sharing, caring, giving etc are all good things, they all plae in comparison with the one who started it all.

Recently one of the guys at work said to me that he wasn't really into Christmas, that all the presents and stuff meant nothing to him. That it was a real hassle, and that there was nothing on TV. And I guess I felt that last night at the really nice Christmas display. Emptiness, a falseness if you will. That even though its all good now, it's only fleeting. That there's n nothing real behind it. Unlike knowing Christ. So this Christmas, I'm grateful that I am celebrating a new hope, the hope that came with the birth of a promised one, a saviour, a friend. And as I think about it, I feel a lot fuller.

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Spiritual Adventures
My spiritual life received a real kick up the backside this week. It'd been really flat for a couple of weeks, as I'd really unwilling to die to a couple of things, and it seemed easier to avoid God and "be busy" than aqctually ask God to help me with this stuff. So when First Monday rolled around, it was actually very uneventful from my point of view because I was quite disconnected from God. From His point of view, it was a huge success, as there was a salvation occuring quitely in the back rows. In fact the highlight for me was Irene agreeing to play piano for our worship band with like 24 hours notice, then not having any music to play from, and making it up as she went. It was really cool.

After speaking with several people, I began to realise that I had been slacking heaps in my spiritual life and began to make some changes, like getting up with my alarm rather than 30 mins later, and making sure my Bible got some readership. This was hard, but actually felt like I was moving back in the right direction.

Our Church hosted the Drug Arm Carols by Christmas Lights for streetworkers, homeless people and other "people of the night". I got to go out in their vans, which serve coffee, tea, milo and food to anyone in need of it. It wasn't as full on as I expected because we went out earlier than usual to invite people to the carols. Still I saw some places where people lived that I couldn't imagine living. Incidentally, we were exploring some old bunkers out in Straphmore during smoko, and came across this urine drenched bunker with a mattress and blankets there. It's really creepy to think that people are living like that, but its also a reality that reminds me of the shallowness of some places. The carols themselves were cool, and I got to meet a few streetworkers and one really interesting person from the women's refuge. Church looked so awesome with all the Christmas decorations up. I'm really glad that we got to keep them up for another week or so. We finished packing up at 2:30, and the lights looked like it would have taken at least another hour to take down, plus it means that everyone can see how cool church looked.

I dropped of my friend's Ken and Mel, then this happened: (copied from an email to Michael straight after the event. Please bare in mind that it was written at 3 in the morning.)

Just got back from a bit of a random blessing from God. I was just
pulling up to my street after the carols, when these 3 guys jumped out
in front of me and started being a bit silly in my headlights. I felt
really angry, then one of them asked me for a lift into town. I said
that I was just about to park it, but I'd take them anyway. They were
estastic, and began giving me money, vouchers to Santa Fe (a local strip bar) and smokes,
most of which I managed to refuse, although they did leave me some
money. After I'd refused most of their offerings, they were quite
impressed with my principles, so asked me what I was about. I was able
to give a quick testimony about how God had given me my car for
practically nothing, and how I wanted to use it to bless people. They
were so amazed at that, and started talking further about God. One guy
was especially stunned by my actions and I was able to share further
with him about how God loved all of us even though we'd done dumb
stuff.

It was a bit of a random mission, but God fully received the glory in
those 3 guys lives. I am fully stoked.

So that's just how God was able to bless me with a bit of an adventure when I started to get back into Him. Won't always happen that way, but I know it will still be good. Imagine what would happen when I actually share so much I won't need to blog about it as an extraordinary event. Now that would be something worth chasing.

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Songs of Childhood Past
E te ariki

E te Ariki Oh Lord
Whakarongo mai ra ki a matou Listen to us
E te Ariki Oh Lord
Titiro mai ra ki a matou Look at us
Tenei matou This is us
O tamariki Your children
E whakapono ana matou We believe
Ki a koe Aue! Aue! In you
Te Matua te Tamaiti The Father and the Son
Wairua tapu e Holy Spirit
Words from http://www.maori.org.nz

This is a song from my childhood that was sung at Stillwaters last Sunday. I remember singing it as a J1 (5 year old), and not understanding the words because they were in Maori. Imagine my surprise when I found that it was a Maori hymn. Not surprising really, considering that my first teacher was a Maori woman who I bumped into at midnight mass a couple of years ago.

The song itself is really moving, quite mellow and what’s the word that I’m after… like chanting? It was a really cool song to worship to, and a nice blast back to the past.

My weekend was interesting. It started off with a very tangential Summer Cell group on Friday night with Sam, Isabel, Stacey, Louise, and Matt. This was followed by a 1970’s version of Trivial Pursuit with Sam and Isabel. It was hard, and I think we only got finished by midnight because of some excellent and creative clues.

Saturday began with Church cleaning. It was pretty cool really- finding out hidden gems like no matter how hard you vaccuum there will still be glitter on the crèche floor. My friend Irene then invited me over to her friend Tony’s place. Tony was a Chinese Christian, who knows Dan and works at parliament. He was a really friendly guy. I ended up hanging with him for most of the afternoon as he invited Irene and I to play touch with some other Chinese people from the Chinese Dragons sports club. I was under the impression that it was going to be a throw around. It turned out to be a full on hard out training game with tactics and everything. I was pretty exhausted after that. Still I managed to get back into town to buy a new pair of jeans and go see my friend Kat. There was an invitation to my friend Caleb’s birthday drinks, which I went to despite being shattered and it was raining. It was four guys playing PS2 whilst three drank beer. Woo, exciting. Still, none the less, an interesting way to celebrate an old friend’s birthday.

This left me shattered for Sunday, which I do regret a bit. I was just tired all day, and needed a sleep before going to Stillwaters that night. Still, I was glad that Nathan lead Cell group. I had such a cool time up at the windturbine and the bunkers appreciating God’s creation. I also ended up randomly having soup with some others after Stillwaters. There was some really awesome discussion on laws versus grace.

First Monday happened yesterday, but that can wait until tomorrow.

In other news briefly, there was a lightning storm today while we were working. We got wet.

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I accidentally deleted my last post so instead...

You are a Social Moderate (55% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (28% permissive) You are best described as a: Democrat Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

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